“Punishment.”
“Who are you to give punishment? Or pass judgment?”
He didn’t answer.
“Come here,” I said. I held up the lighter.
“No way. You’re not using that thing on me,” Nick said, backing away.
He didn’t get more than two steps before he bumped into something and lurched forward. He turned to see what he’d hit and came face to face with another wolf.
This one didn’t have the yellow eyes of the hybrids but brown orbs that shimmered with caramel flecks in the light. He had russet fur and broad shoulders. Even on four paws, he stood almost a foot taller than Nick, and he glared at Nick with a ferocity I hadn’t seen in weeks. “Do what she says,” Wes growled.
Nick hesitated, which surprised me more than anything. Did he really think he could beat Wes? But then he seemed to come to his senses and hung his head as he shuffled forward.
“Do it,” Nick said, obviously assuming I was going to hurt him somehow, which was ridiculous. I wasn’t a masochist.
I waited, drawing out the suspense as long as possible while Wes moved in behind Nick. Cambria scooted left and nodded at me. Ready, she mouthed.
I bent down so Nick and I were eye to eye and wiggled the lighter in my hand. “See this?” I dropped it on the ground in front of me and brought my heel down on it, drawing on my wolf for strength until it finally cracked and broke.
Nick winced.
“This is over,” I said, straightening. “I am alpha. Not you. Stop trying to force your own authority or you’ll regret it.”
Nick raised his head. The fiery temper was gone but there was something else. A thirst for something I couldn’t understand. Revenge?
“And give back his watch,” I added.
Nick went to his tent, stuck his nose inside, and came away with something silver in his mouth. He dropped it in front of Rafe and looked back at me. “Are we done here?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m taking a walk. Watch my tent.”
“We’ll do that,” Wes said before I could respond. Probably a good thing. I’d only come back with something sarcastic and I knew Nick wasn’t far from wanting to stay and make this into something bigger. Something he shouldn’t.
I let him go.
When he was gone, I knelt beside Rafe. “May I?” I asked, gesturing to the singed spots on his fur.
“Go ahead.”
The burnt hair was coarse underneath my fingertips, interrupted by the strangely smooth patches of exposed flesh. “Cambria, can you take him to the house so Fee can look at these?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said.
“I don’t need all that,” Rafe protested. “I’ll heal fine in my own time.”
“I know that, but Fee’s special tea will help the process along.”
Rafe made a face, his snout lifting until his front teeth showed. “That tea of hers is an atrocity. I’m sure I’ll heal without it.”I caught the laughter before it escaped. “It is an … acquired taste,” I agreed. “But I need you feeling better. I need us feeling better,” I added with a pointed look.
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll drink the tea.”
“Thank you.” I patted his head before I could help myself but he didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll check on you later,” I called as he followed Cambria back through the maze of camp.
“Check on me too,” Cambria called.
I cast a long look into the trees in the direction Nick had gone. If I expanded my senses, I could hear his footsteps as he moved farther away from camp. His voice in my head wasn’t as pronounced as I was used to. It felt muted. I strained to listen.
His mood was … gray. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it wasn’t the first time I’d sensed it from him.
“You all right?” Wes asked.
“Hmm?” I turned my attention away and found Wes studying me. “I’m fine.”
I began making my way back toward my tent before he could argue. I didn’t want to have this conversation here. Or anywhere, really.
“I’ll meet you there in five,” Wes said, bounding into the trees. Probably in search of shorts so he could reappear on two legs.
“Hey, Tara, is Rafe going to be okay?” Emma, a blond hybrid around my age who preferred her human form when her body would cooperate, stood before me with watery eyes and a trembling lip.
“He’s going to be fine,” I assured her. “He went up to the house to have some of Fee’s tea so he’ll get better even faster.” Emma grimaced.
I began walking again but she stopped me. “Is there anything I can do for you—or George, or anybody?” she asked. “I want to help.”
“Um, well. You could try to make some of these tents more stable,” I suggested. “Some look ready to keel over in the next big wind.” I suspected those were the ones whose owners couldn’t shift to their human form. Something that happened more and more often as the animal in them took over. No fingers and thumbs made bolting a tent down pretty hard.
“No problem. Janie and I will get right on it.”
“Thanks,” I said as she hurried off in search of her sister.
I picked my way back through camp, fielding questions and containing squabbles. Nothing like what’d happened with Nick. More like what came from living in close quarters with the same people day in and day out.
Wes was waiting for me when I finally made it back. He pulled me in for a hug and I pretended not to have a pounding headache as I listened telepathically to the rest of the pack try to figure out what’d happened. Or whether Nick had lost his mind.
Please don’t ask me to explain any of that because I have no idea.
“He’s getting worse,” Wes said when I pulled away.
“Yeah.”
“What’s his problem? Can you read him?”
I shook my head. “Not with this. It’s … I don’t know what it is. But it’s not him.”
Wes frowned but said nothing. I needed to change the subject. To move on—back to normal …ish.
“So what are your plans for the day?” I asked, making a special effort to lighten my tone. “Are you and Jack still heading out?”
“That’s the plan. Jack’s in the weapons room doing a reorganize. Figured I had some time.”
“He must be stressed if he’s doing that.”
Wes nodded. “The packs are getting nervous about this thing with CHAS. It’s rubbing off on him.”
“You know we won’t be able to find anything in there for days once he’s done.”
“I know. Fee started baking when she saw what he was up to.”
“Great. So I’ll stay away until at least tomorrow.”
“Probably best. What are you going to do this afternoon?” he asked.
I rubbed absently at my temples. “Get cleaned up and head over to the hospital.”
He didn’t answer right away. His arms tightened around me. “Well … be careful,” he said finally.
Obviously, we still weren’t going to talk about it.
“I will,” I promised. I kissed his nose before stepping away. “You too. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“I’ll call you tonight.”
The strain between us, though unspoken, tugged at me. At my tent’s entrance, I turned back. “Wes, the bond …” I paused, searching for the right words.
“What about it?”
“It wasn’t something I chose. You are.”
Coming August 6th 2013
Please enjoy the following excerpt of INESCAPABLE, by Amy Bartol
INESCAPABLE