He glanced at me. “But what?”
“But then she died.” Was murdered. “She was killed in Chicago.”
“I’m sorry, Anna.” He sounded it.
When had this become about me? “Don’t worry about it, I mean—I just…you’re not the only one who knows what it’s like when a parent leaves, okay?” Only in my case, she’d left forever. “You’re not alone.”
His eyes glittered at me. “No, I’m not.”
That stare of his seemed to see too much. I looked away, darting a fast glance toward the windshield and—“Brent, watch out!”
The truck swerved as his hands jerked the wheel.
I stared with wide eyes as a wolf—a big, dark wolf—raced right toward us. The headlights made the beast’s eyes seem to glow yellow and its jaws hung open, all of its sharp teeth bursting from its mouth.
Oh, crap, it was gonna hit us.
“Brent!” I screamed again.
He yanked the wheel to the left, too hard. I knew it, I knew—the truck wouldn't come out of the swerve this time. Instead, it spun, once, twice, and the world disappeared in a fast blur as we tumbled, sliding over the edge of the road and rolling down the mountain slope into the woods. Pine trees slammed into the truck. The glass shattered in the windshield and rained onto me. I couldn’t scream anymore, my breath was gone.
My head snapped back, and the last sound I heard was the wolf’s howl.
Chapter Five
I opened my eyes to total darkness. Darkness…and pain. I pushed up with my hands, and something hard and sharp—glass?—fell from my fingers.
My eyes adjusted slowly, and I could make out the smashed interior of Brent’s truck. I turned my head to the left and hissed at the pain that rolled over me.
A tree had shoved through the windshield and plunged into the driver’s seat.
My heart stopped then. “Brent!”
He wasn’t in the seat, thank God, but the glass was everywhere and blood dripped into my eyes. “Brent, where are you?”
Lost…an image clicked in my mind immediately. I saw Brent’s body, sprawled face down, near some a group of pine trees. Was he moving? Was he alive? I had to get to him!
The truck was tilted at an angle and the seatbelt bit into my chest. I unhooked it, and my upper body immediately dropped forward and hit the dash. I barely felt the impact. That had to be a bad thing. I should have felt it.
I tried to shove open my door. Like the windshield, my passenger window had shattered. When I put my hand on the door, tiny pieces of glass cut into me.
And the damn door wouldn’t open.
“Brent!”
If I couldn’t open the door, I’d have to crawl out.
That was when I realized my legs weren’t moving.
I could feel my legs, could wiggle my toes, but the dash had shoved inward so much that I was pinned and no matter how much I twisted and turned, I couldn’t pull free. The airbag, now deflated, rested in front of the dash, and it felt like a shroud covering me.
Have to get out.
I punched at the bag and the dash. I tried to jerk up my right leg, but it caught on something sharp and my skin tore open.
No!
Breath heaving, my gaze darted around the vehicle. There…there! My bag had gotten tangled around the gear shift. I grabbed it, fumbling with slick fingers, and yanked out my phone. I’d call my dad. He’d get me out. Dad to the rescue, again.
I lifted the phone and saw the glowing screen. Yes, thank you—
No service.
There weren’t any freaking bars, and I couldn’t get a dial tone. We’d rolled—I didn’t even know for how long—but we were far away from the road, and my damn phone wasn’t working.
I screamed then, in rage and fear, as I sat pinned in that truck. I knew no one up on the main road would notice the truck. It was too dark, no lights up there, and we’d gone right over the edge.
My scream echoed around me, and then I heard the howl.
The same long, eerie howl that I’d heard before the accident.
My heart was racing now, racing so hard that my chest ached. My fingers fumbled with my bag once again, and my hearing seemed to become super acute because I could swear that I heard the wolf’s footfalls on the ground. A twig snapped.
My gaze darted to the left, to the right, and my legs attempted to kick—no dice. I was trapped in there and every time I tried to move, I cut my flesh. If I kicked too much harder, I’d break a leg.
But what was worse…a broken leg or—
I could hear the wolf’s breath. Panting.
I looked to the right, glancing through my broken window, and I saw the wolf’s glowing yellow gaze.
I threw my phone at the wolf. “Stay away from me!”