The Claiming

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A lonely cabin sits nestled against a cliff that surges up towards the top of the mountain. Winslow Wood might be on the other side... but it's hard to tell after walking for about an hour.

"Do you think we'll be safe here?" I say quietly. Alec knocks on the door with the off-chance of someone actually being home.

"It's hard to tell. I don't know if Vain is stubborn enough to come after us."

"He's greedy enough," I mumble.

No one moves inside the house. Alec pushes the rotting wooden door open with ease, being that it is literally hanging from its hinges. "Hello?" Alec calls out tentatively. I swat him in the chest.

"What if there's a serial killer hiding here?"

"A serial killer in the apocalypse. How cute," he says with a laugh. But I can tell underneath that he's considering it.

We step carefully into the dust-filled cabin, finding furniture covered with bedsheets and dead animal carcasses—old and new—scattered about. The intestines of a possum near the front door are scattered by the foot of a sofa, abandoned.

"Something's weird about this place," I say, covering my nose at the sudden stench of the dead animals.

Alec wraps an arm around me protectively. "I don't think we should stay here anymore."

"I was thinking the same—"

A bark erupts throughout the house. A single, bone-chilling woof that causes me to crash into Alec and hide against his chest as if I can't be seen.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a mangled beast surge out of an adjacent room to the entryway. It barks and barks at us, glaring at us through large black eyes.

But it doesn't attack. It merely stands protectively over its dead creatures.

"What do we do?" I whisper. "If we move, it might come at us."

"Get down," Alec whispers. "On your knees. We have to submit to it to show we are no threat."

"But that would also make us look like dinner handed to it on a silver platter!"

"Trust me, Belle," he hisses. "I learned about this in school in like third grade."

I wanted to ask why he remembered that, or better yet—why he was taught that, but I didn't bother. Alec is surprising me right and left today with all sorts of things.

We kneel down together on the ground, avoiding eye contact with the beast. After a few moments, the growling in the animal's throat stops. I glance at Alec to see he is outstretching his arm, the back of his hand toward the dog.

I want to smack his hand and book it out of there, but I can't convince the rest of my body to move. I just stare in disbelief as the beast steps curiously toward Alec, it's long nose starting to sniff in wonder. When the wet black nose touches the back of Alec's hand, Alec smiles and relaxes his grip on me. He starts to pet the animal's head, then its shoulders. The creature starts to wag its long shaggy tail as it sits before Alec. Its tongue lolls out beneath the thick mounds of fur matted all over it.

"What the—Alec, how did you—"

"I had a dog before I met you. We rescued him from the animal shelter in town... before Bayfell got rid of it. We had a mutt that was not happy to be there. But it turns out he just wanted to be loved by people. A lot of dogs do, turns out. They don't like being alone. That's why wolves live in packs. Dogs are the same way."

"But how did you know to do all... that?" I stick my arm out, imitating how he outstretched his hand.

"Remember the third-grade thing? That's what we were taught in science class when we were talking about canines and how to get them to calm down and warm up to you. This guy just needed to know our scent to know we were okay." He starts talking as if he were talking to a baby. "Isn't that right, boy? Isn't that right?"