~ Chapter Four ~
Liz squinted at her phone.
It was new and quite frankly a hassle to work out. She'd gotten it for free, made one of the assholes that forced her into the forest a week ago (and almost got slapped with a law-suit) buy it for her. Her old one was gone without a trace, most likely at the bottom of the lake.
She shook away the intrusive thought pointing out that she should be there, too.
"Hey, Hannah!" she called over her shoulder as the phone suddenly switched off.
"Yeah?" Hannah, her roommate, answered from somewhere in the apartment.
Liz banged her head against the headboard. "The phone went dead again -- why does it keep doing that?!"
Hannah appeared in the door to her bedroom with her hair in a towel. "I don't know," she muttered. "Probably a manifacturing error with the SIM."
Liz furrowed her brows.
"You gotta go back to the store," she spelled out.
"But they're probably closed. And tomorrow's Sunday." She tossed the phone onto the covers and massaged her temples. "I can't catch a goddamn break."
"It's only seven o'clock. Y'know, just because you go to bed as soon as it gets dark doesn't mean everyone else does." Hannah gave Liz' huddled form a meaning look. She was under the covers, already wearing pajamas and having brushed her teeth.
"I wasn't going to sleep."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I was just napping."
"You wanna go out with me and Trent and the guys, then?"
Liz threw the covers off, grabbed her phone, and hurried out of the room. "God no," she said as she rushed past Hannah. "I have to go fix my phone."
×
Eyes watched closely as the human girl exited her apartment complex. The snow had settled but the frost was as aggressive as ever. Yet she appeared to have only thrown on a jacket and snowboots over loose fitting pajama pants.
She fixed her glasses and, to her watcher's alarm, squinted towards the bushes where he was hidden. Of course he hadn't made a noise - he never did - but doubted that was what had made her look over. On some level she must feel the bond, too, he guessed. He lowered himself further into the brush. It wasn't a very good hiding place considering it was only a small patch of trees and bushes in the human female's courtyard, but it hadn't mattered to him. He had to see her.
"Hello?"
He didn't respond but gravely disliked the quiver to her voice.
Liz crossed her arms and crouched slightly, feeling more and more certain that someone was watching her. Despite her jacket a chill raced through her body, alerting every follicle and making the hair on her body stand on edge.
"Come out!" she dared to yell. "Come out or I'm calling the police."
The man in the bushes didn't know who "Police" was but the mere thought of having her call to another male for help made him fired up enough to decide to face her. But not like this. It wasn't custom for her kind, he guessed - acting out of norm could be devastating for their bond. He shrunk further back into the brush as the human - his human - took a few steps in the opposite direction.
Despite the situation he couldn't help but note how she moved, the way her strong muscles held her upright. And she clearly had good instincts, backing away like that. Granted, he wouldn't hurt her even to save his own life, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.
She'd be a fitting mate, however strange.
At the same time the thought passed, she was gone.
Caught off guard, the man shot upright. His eyes scoured the courtyard but she was nowhere to be seen. He decided to turn towards the ground, to the footsteps in the snow leading towards the main road. She'd managed to get away. Nobody had ever managed to get away from him before.
×
Liz walked with quick steps, shone her flashlight at the surrounding trees. The main roads were way too icy to take her truck. Besides, the store where she bought the phone was just a mile or two away. She'd thought it was a smart decision to walk but now after the creepy feeling she'd gotten outside her complex (and walking ten minutes on the forest path) she felt a little scared.
Nearly drowning really made an impression.
"Hey, lady?"
Liz let out a yelp and whipped around. She quickly raised her flashlight to shine in a man's face. He covered his eyes with one hand and raised the other towards her. "Ow!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, embarrassed, and angled the light towards the ground. "You scared me."
The hooded man blinked a few times, then looked at her. His eyes swiped her body. If she didn't know better she'd almost think he was sizing her up. "I was just gonna ask if you know where the supermarket is around here?"
"Yes," Liz said, relieved, and turned around to point down the path. "Yes, it's just..."
Behind her was another man, dressed similarly, standing just a few feet away. His face was hidden by a hood but his body language told her he wasn't good news.
Without warning someone's arms snaked around hers, pulled her back into a chest. Her flashlight fell to the ground as she began screaming and kicking and doing whatever to get away. Nothing worked she soon felt a sweaty hand clamp down over her mouth.
"This was almost too easy," the man not holding her laughed. "I really hope this is good."
"C'mon already! She's fucking strong."
"Just hit her with something. It'll make this easier, anyway."
Liz realized as the man neared that she was facing death for the second time in less than a week. But as he stepped into the light of the flashlight she realized that this time she wouldn't be able to count on luck.
Thankfully for her, luck wouldn't be needed.
A furious wolf would do.
Illuminated only by the flashlight, Liz and one of her attackers watched as the man was thrown to the ground by a pair of ruthless hands. He fell on his back but didn't have time to fight before someone landed on top of him, just out of light, and hit him across the face.
Both Liz and the man holding her back watch in shock as her savior delivered three devastating blows to the hooded man. The last one was a sure sentencing, releasing a sickening crack! and leaving the victim's head to lull to the side of the path. Crimson liquid trailed from his mouth and onto the gravel.
He was too quiet.
Not even Liz dared to move anymore.
The unknown man stood up, leaving the man behind him without a shred of sympathy. He took a step forward, into the light, and Liz finally saw his face. It was solid, feral almost; a product of sharp edges and dark features.
His eyes moved from Liz' attacker to the hand covering her mouth.
He looked dangerous as hell.
"What the fuck, man!" the hooded man yelled right by her ear, finally understanding what had happened. "Y-you're sick!"
"You," he responded much quieter than him, but not calmer. "Get your fucking hands off of her."
"I don't-"
"Get your hands off of her or I'll fucking kill you." Liz could feel the hold on her loosen. He noticed too and curled his hands into fist, seeming to have trouble not following up on his words right there on the spot. It went too slow for him. He took a step forward. "Now!"
Liz wasn't ready to be released and pushed forward as quickly as she was.
She lost her footing and fell.
Two hands shot forward, steadying her whilst simultaneously pulling her away from her attacker. A solid chest pressed against hers and two arms encircled her back. "Are you okay?" the man murmured worriedly. Not knowing what else to do, Liz nodded with a soaring head. "Uh, yeah - yeah, I think so. Thank you."
"Hold on."
He swiftly maneuvered her to the edge of the path and placed her down by a tree. She was now looking into the forest, leaning against the bark while her rescuer disappeared. Her shaky legs didn't argue.
She pulled her knees to her chest.
On the other side of the tree she heard a scream cut short, then a guttural groan, followed by a heavy thump.
She jumped as the strange man was suddenly in front of her again. He looked her over with an upset expression. "Where does it hurt?"
"Nowhere," she assured, noticing a few black spots clouding her vision. "I'm fine."
"You're in shock," the man concluded disapprovingly. He looked past the tree as if wanting to go back and beat up the men even more than he already had. He didn't though. "I should get you home."
"No, I'm fine," she hurried.
"You don't have to be afraid."
"Really?" she braved to question. "Because I'm pretty sure you just killed two people."
He didn't argue against her, as she had hoped for, but instead locked her gaze in his. He looked way too calm. "They were going to kill you. It was a fair trade."
Liz made an effort to stand up but as she moved her shoulder, something made a worrying pain erupt. She gasped and quickly placed a hand to the spot that hurt. It was moist. Blood. "Shit."
Her rescuer seemed to have noticed her bleeding as well and was now on an even higher alert than before, studying her shoulder a little too closely. He looked panicked. "There's no tear. Why are you bleeding?"
"An old wound," she explained. "I must've tore it open - or, well, he must've."
"I can fix it. I just need mud, some elder and snow. Be right back. Stay here."
"Woah, hold on there, crazy," she got out through the pain, successfully stopping him halfway through getting up. "I need a first aid kit... but I don't have one at my place."
"I do," he interjected quickly despite not really knowing what that was.
"Really?"
"Yes," he lied again, just eager to get her out of harm's way.
Liz gave him a hesitant look. "How did you do that? To those guys, I mean."
He couldn't believe she wanted to talk about that now. All he could think about was the heavy scent of blood hanging in the air. "Just at the right place at the right time."
"I don't believe that," she murmured but still took his outstretched hand and allowed herself to be pulled onto her feet. "Who are you even?"
"My friends call me Red."
He pulled her to his side as she began staggering. Liz begrudgingly allowed it.
"And what do other people call you?"
"Red."
Despite herself, Liz let out a small laugh. Red almost fell over as the sound passed her lips, stumbling on a root protruding from the ground. "What's your name?" he quickly shot back, hoping she couldn't tell how much he actually wanted to know.
She could but didn't have it in her to overthink it.
"Elizabeth - but I prefer Liz."
"Alright, Liz," he responded as they got back onto the path. "Let's patch you up."
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