Bloody Paw Prints

Ch 38 False words

The wolf stalked through the forest almost silently, his paws sinking into soft snow as he moves. I lay silently; waiting and watching him weave around trees like a ghost.

His eyes dart across the forest, searching for something. I stay frozen, not sure if the wolf could smell me or if he knew about hunters who had rebelliously entered the forest to hunt wolves while the law banned it or if he was simply hunting.

I chose the latter, since a rabbit shot out from its hiding place and the wolf darted after it. Quickly and quietly I jump up and follow the wolf, careful to stay a safe distance away.

The rabbit squeals as the wolf’s claws sink into its back but its screams are cut short as the wolf breaks the rabbit’s neck with a snap of its jaws.  Still ignorant to me advancing on him, the wolf starts tearing at the small animal’s carcass, ripping it to pieces as he devours it.

Ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach I pad towards the wolf.

Blood soaks into the snow at the wolf’s paws, staining with splashes of crimsons and red prints.

I watch the wolf, trying to debate if the wolf was who I wanted. His fur was brown, his muscles standing out from under his thick pelt. Unfortunately Ember had never told me what Luke looked like, wolf or human, so I sat waiting. I wasn’t expecting him to change into human and shout ‘I’m Luke’ or anything, but that would be very helpful.

Shaking out my coat I move closer til the wolf turns to me, snarling as me, muscles tensed as he prepares to either attack or defend himself. He bares his fangs, ears back and tail high.

I snarl back but lower myself to the ground so he knew I wasn’t looking for a fight. The wolf stays where he is, blood dripping from his muzzle into the snow.

Still sceptical I shift back, cursing at the cold snow which pricked into my stomach and chest, making sickness coil inside me. “Are you Luke?” I ask slowly, fearing the wolf was going to lunge at me and kill me mercilessly, just like how he’d killed the rabbit.

The wolf simple growls at me, still ready to strike.

“Are you?” I push myself onto a sitting position as the wolf growls again. I couldn’t tell if that was a yes or not but continued to speak anyway. “Embers dead”

The wolf’s growls falter. He stares at me, looking lost suddenly, like what I said made no sence.

“Are you Luke?” I repeat, softer this time.

The wolf in front of me melts away, leaving a man in his wake. “What happened?” he demands.

A second passes as I study the man, unsure how much I should tell him. He was kind of handsome with a sharp jaw with a sexy 5 o’clock shadow and short cut brown hair. His dark eyes were daggers, piercing me like I was something he despised most of all.  He appeared to be in his mid-twenties but seemed so much older as he watches me with old eyes. “She was hit by a car. The driver shot her to put her out of pain”

I don’t know if the man in front of me noticed me flinch or not, because if he did he didn’t care. He study’s me for a minute before baring his teeth at me threateningly. “I don’t believe you”

I freeze, unsure how to react. When I went searching for Luke I hadn’t thought about the chances of him not believing me. I had through I could tell him and he’d take my word for it. Guess not. “I’m telling the truth”

“It was Bray, wasn’t it?” He growls and I could see the wolf in his fighting for control. His muscles tense and he crouches slightly, ready to leap at me without warning. “He killed her because she was going out with me” There was no doubt in his words, no uncertainty of what had happened.

“No, she was hit by a car and shot” I say, carefully getting to my feet.

“Don’t try to tell me lies!” he lunches forward til he was glaring down at me, his face inches from mine, but he doesn’t touch me, makes no move to strike me. “I know that big-headed, arrogant fuck-head killed her. Just because she was pregnant, he kills her!”

“He didn’t know she was pregnant, I was the only one who knew” I say cautiously. Something in his eyes wasn’t right.

I suddenly find my back pressing into a tree and an arm pushing against my neck. “So you sold her out” he growls.

“No! I didn’t tell anyone” I say trying to pushes him off, but he obviously worked out and was crushing my windpipe easily. “She was hit by a car” I cringe, not knowing what else to say. I stare at him, trying to pin point what was making me confused, his face wasn’t set right; his eyes looked at me the wrong way.

He glowers at me for a long minute before releases me and steps back. “I don’t believe you”

As I watch him I realize what had been off about this the whole time. There was no grief in his gaze, only anger. He wasn’t upset that Ember was dead, he was only pissed that she wasn’t commingback. “You never loved her, did you?” I ask before I realize what I’m saying, but I knew it was true.

He stares at me for a minute then steps forward, his eyes softening. “No. I love you-”

Revolted I jerk back into the tree, growling at him. “Now who’s lying! You don’t even know me!” I hiss.

“That’s true, but I’ve seen you around, and it was love at first sight” He steps forward, his face morphing into one of love.

I slide around the tree, avoiding his hand by a hair. “I’ve never seen you before!” unless we were wolves trying to kill each other…

“But I’ve seen you. You’re beautiful and I love you” he says in a voice that would have made me melt if my stomach hadn’t been churning with a sick feeling. My skin prickles like I’ve been threatened and the wolf part of me balks, recoiling from words that weren’t meant to be said to me by a stranger.

“You’re sick!” I bark moving away from his advances. Part of me wanted to flee, the other wanted to leap at him, to attack him for saying such things. Movement catches my eye, a shadow in the trees.

“I am. I’m love sick” he mutters moving closer. I was so busy trying to see the movement again I didn’t move in time before I felt a hand on my cheek. I recoil instantly, snarling at the touch of his skin.

“Don’t touch me, you lying bastard. You never loved Ember, you don’t love me. What are you playing at?” Annoyance, fury and nausea made my blood boil. He had no right to say he loved me. He had no right to touch me. I’d thought it was a good idea to tell him Ember was dead, but all I ended doing was finding out he was just using her. He never loved her and now he was trying to play me too. I should rip his tongue out for saying things like that, I could have punched him, but I didn’t. His sudden advances were freaking me out and putting me on edge.

“I love you” he insists and makes another move to touch me.

I react instantly, retreating from him as my wolf takes hold of me, forcing me into a state where I could better defend myself. I snarl up at him, fur on end. He smelled of wolf but my eyes saw human, I wanted to attack but knew it would end badly because a new scent alerts me of another wolf.

And it wasn’t a friend.