Red Moon Rising

30. stuck

"You don't get it," he tries, "I didn't mean to trespass, I did nothing wrong. I didn't even know there was a territory here. You've got to believe me, I don't know what it is you think I did."

"If you did nothing wrong, then why did you run?" Isaac's voice now. I stay far enough back that I can stay mostly obscured behind a tree, but I'm close enough to hear their voices, which means I'm close enough to be spotted if they look too carefully. If they have nothing to hide, then it won't matter. It's a stupid sentiment, though. I can feel in my gut the wrongness of the situation. We've had many wolves enter onto Rust Cove territory. We gave them a room, food, and a welcome until they were ready to move on. Why would Isaac feel the need to protect this land so aggressively unless there is something here I don't know about—that he doesn't want me to know about?

"You locked me in a fucking cage! Oh fuck, man, please," the man begs, crying now as Isaac comes closer to take his face in his hands. "Your buddy beat the shit out of me, did you know that? Why wouldn't I run?"

"Who sent you?"

"Jesus Christ, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you one of Paul's?"

"Who the hell is Paul?"

Isaac glances back at Reiner before leveling his gaze on the crying man again. "If you know what I'm talking about you better fucking say it now."

"I swear, I don't—"

It's all a strange and horrible blur. Isaac wrenches on his head and the man instinctively shifts to wolf to protect himself. But it's too quick, too brutal to complete, and there on the ground is something that I've never seen before, a man halfway contorted into a wolf with his head snapped horribly to the side. The silence is too oppressive, and I can't look away from that half-human face, jaw elongated and sprouting fangs with eyes sinking into the head. I feel the image searing onto my eyes, and then I'm on my hands and knees, retching into a bed of pine needles. When footsteps approach, I don't look up to see if my neck will be snapped next. I shiver when Isaac's hand slips across the back of shoulders, but then he pulls my hair away from my face and sinks to the ground next to me. I throw up again at the feeling of his hands trying to comfort me.

"You said she was asleep," Max says quietly. "Jesus, Isaac." It isn't a scolding tone, but one of knowing. Maybe he understands that I'm a liability now.

"Layla, what are you doing out here?"

I spit onto the ground and stand again, Isaac's arms coming around me as I step unsteadily back. "What are you doing?"

"He was trespassing. He was a threat to the pack."

"He was just a kid. How could you...how could you leave him like that?" It's unnatural, unholy, to let someone rest in that form. It doesn't matter what someone has done—that just isn't right. "I trespassed too. Are you going to kill me as well?"

"You know I'm not."

"Why?"

I dare to look up at him and his expression is strangely soft as he pulls me closer. But Isaac doesn't say anything.

"He has to have family somewhere. You at least have to tell his pack."

"Layla." Isaac cuts me off gently but firmly. "This is how we do things here. You don't have to like it, but you do have to accept it."

"That's bullshit," I manage, and I can feel Max and Reiner's eyes on me as I push against Isaac's chest. He lets me go and I stumble a few feet away.

Isaac looks at them and gives a nod. "Go back to the school. We'll follow you." I shift uneasily under the weigh of their gazes, and then they turn back the way they came. Only when they are out of earshot once again does Isaac speak. "I'm sorry you had to see that."