Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

12

Alex picked up firewood absentmindedly, wondering about her weird mood. For some reason, she kept avoiding to reach any conclusion about the situation. So she'd better quit wondering. Tom was a good guy, and she was glad she'd found him in time to save him from bleeding out alone in the woods. Period. It was nice, having somebody around who didn't shriek in horror at seeing her.

She paused by a dead branch. It would give them good embers for hours. She was about to pick it up when a gunshot echoed from the tent. She dropped everything to sprint back. As she got closer, she saw Tom standing by the fire, the Magnum pointing at something in front of him. Something wolf-tall.

She came to a sudden stop before stumbling onto a snarling wolf that stood right in her way, ears down, pursed snout showing sharp fangs. She stepped back cautiously. The radio hanging from her waist let out a static noise.

"Alex?" said Graham, as another wolf showed up. "We just heard gunfire! Was it you? Are you okay?"

The radio caught Tom's attention. He looked to his left and spotted her.

"ALEX!" he called out.

She had to jump backwards when he threw a burning stick from the campfire her way. It landed exactly between the wolves, scaring them off. Alex grabbed it, swinging the burning end at the wolves as she retreated to the tent.

Four more wolves had Tom almost surrounded. They looked ready to jump on him, but they kept their distance. Tom pointed the gun at a big wild alpha male, the biggest wolf Alex had ever seen. The burning stick kept her two wolves away, until she heard a howl behind her. She spun around and saw a white wolf jump onto Tom. He shot it in the chest and the wolf fell at his feet, already dying.

Graham's voice thundered over the radio. "ALEX! ANSWER ME! YOU OKAY?"

The wolves closing in on Alex seized upon her distraction and sneaked closer. Their growls made her turn around, in time to hit the snout of one of them with her burning stick, hurting the beast. She was just about to swing it at the other wolf when it jumped on her. A third shot echoed under the trees. The bullet hissed an inch away from her arm and hit the wolf between the eyes. When she looked back at Tom to thank him, she saw the huge alpha ready to attack.

"WATCH OUT, TOM! BEHIND YOU!" she shouted.

Just out of instinct, she threw her stick at the alpha with all her strength. It scorched the wolf's fur. The alpha turned to her and she froze at the blood-red glow in its eyes. Realization sent chills down her spine: a garthling!

The alpha growled, showing Alex huge sharp fangs. Tom aimed the Magnum at it again and reached out to her. She ran to him as the alpha leapt toward her. Tom shot, stepping up to protect Alex. His bullet scratched the alpha's haunch. From behind Tom, Alex watched it retreat, limping and snarling. What was left of the pack followed it into the thickets and vanished.

"You okay?"

Alex nodded, eyes still scanning the way the pack had fled. "Yeah, you?"

"Don't worry, I'm protected." Tom showed her a tiny bag of dark cotton hanging from his neck, closed with a strip of braided leather.

"What d'you have in there?" she asked, curious.

"Silver lace. It keeps—Hey!"

Tom stiffened when Alex yanked it from his neck, and couldn't stop her from throwing it to the fire.

"What d'you think you're doing?" His scowl was scarier than the Magnum still in his hand.

But Alex scowled back at him, annoyed. "Are you frigging nuts!? That alpha ain't no regular wolf! And this shit attracts it to you!"

Tom's reply was almost patronizing. "I know exactly what that beast is and I know how to fight it. Been doing it most of my life."

"Of course you gotta fight it! 'Cause you're wearing a damn magnet to shield yourself from iron bars! Nooksack People used silver lace when they were out to lay traps for werewolves and garthlings?"

Tom's face was a neon sign of his surprise. She expected the obvious questions—Werewolves? Garthlings? You kidding?

But he asked, "Why on earth would anybody want to attract them?"

Alex swallowed her own surprise. "To kill them? To prove you're the toughest badass of your tribe? How would I know!"

Tom's eyes moved away from her to look up straight past her shoulder. Alex froze, eyes on him as he lifted the gun slowly.

"We're surrounded" he whispered.

"More wolves?"

He met her eyes and glanced down. Alex did too, spotting the knife in his waist. They traded a quick look. She grabbed the knife and stepped back. Tom pointed the Magnum at the thickets behind her.

"FREEZE!"

Graham strode out of the thickets at Alex's back, shotgun to his face pointing straight at Tom's head. Four more men stepped up, surrounding Tom and Alex: Bass, his brother Jack and their hunting buddies, Phil and Sean—Markus was still in Chicago with George. All of them pointed their rifles at the stranger.

"Drop your gun!" Graham barked.

Only there Alex realized she and Tom looked like about to attack each other: Tom aiming the Magnum seemingly at her, while she faced him with nothing but the hunting knife to defend herself. She kept staring up at Tom. But now her eyes begged him to do as Graham said. He ignored her.

"Tom, please," she murmured, not daring to move.

He studied Graham and Sean—the only ones in his line of sight. They didn't know him. They thought he was some psycho capable of hunting down people for sports. They were convinced he was just about to hurt Alex. They didn't care about asking questions: they already had all the answers.

So he cocked the Magnum. The five men surrounding him did the same.

"DROP IT!"

Tom glanced down at Alex for the last time and her eyes widened.

"TOM, NO!"

Six shots muffled Alex's scream.