Melinda’s Wolves(101)

The scent of something burning increased so fast Melinda scrambled to jump off the bed. She spun in a circle, thinking to grab her clothes, but Keegan set a hand on the bedroom door, opened it a crack, and then slammed it shut. “Shit.”

Her eyes bugged out at the flash of fire and smoke she’d seen. She spun around to find Trace opening the bedroom window, flames licking at the glass from the outside. How had a fire spread this fast? It had been less than a few seconds since they’d first scented the smoke.

No way in hell they’d been so consumed by lust they had missed the signs. No. This fire had taken on a life of its own with great haste.

Melinda screamed. She froze in the center of the room, unable to think what to do. Keegan grabbed her by the shoulders. “Melinda,” he yelled. “Shift. We need to jump.”

She couldn’t move. She stared at Trace by the window as he shifted before her eyes and leaped toward her. He pawed at her leg. “Shift,” he commanded into her head.

She glanced at the window. The flames were too high. They wouldn’t make it out alive.

Keegan yanked on her arm. “Look at me.” She could barely hear him. “You have to shift now. Do it, honey. Now.” He was screaming so loud she could see his throat working hard, but she was numb.

Trace growled, pawing incessantly at her legs. “We won’t leave you, baby. Never. Please.”

She snapped out of it with those words. If she didn’t shift, all three of them would die in the flames. She dropped to all fours and let the change take over her body with the most haste ever. When she finished, she turned to find Keegan also in wolf form at her side. He nudged her forward. “We’re going to jump.”

It wasn’t far. The house was a ranch. It was just that the flames were licking higher by the second.

“Go. Melinda, jump.” Trace’s insistent voice in her head sent her into action.

She stumbled forward almost awkwardly in her confusion, and before she could consider the repercussions, she leaped through the open window. The heat of the fire singed her fur, but she ignored it as she twisted around as soon as she hit the ground to watch both Keegan and then Trace jump out behind her.

Her heart pounded. She lifted her gaze as soon as she was sure her mates were both safe. The house was totally engulfed. A whimper escaped her lips. Their narrow escape was more than she could handle as she sank to the ground, all four paws collapsing.

“Baby, we need to move. We’re too close.” Trace grabbed her by the scruff of the neck with his teeth and lifted her off the ground. “Head for the tree line behind the house. We’ll be safe if we get out of sight before someone sees us.”

Keegan bounded in that direction while Trace released her to nudge her forward. With strength that could only be explained by the adrenaline rush, she followed Keegan, sensing Trace on her heels.

As she darted into the tree line, she turned around to glance at the back of the house. She froze, blinking in confusion at the sight. Surely her eyes deceived her.

•●•

Wayne had backed away from the house as soon as he tossed the match. He’d been shocked at how fast the flames consumed the structure. The amount of gasoline he’d doused the outside with had been more than sufficient.

For a moment, he stared at the structure as it was consumed. There was no way in hell the sleeping occupants would be able to escape.

He’d meant to ease into the trees behind the house and disappear into the night, but a presence behind him made him spin around, his heart pounding with the fear he’d been caught.

Nothing was there. He scanned the area, squinting in the darkness. And then he blinked as he imagined a dark shadow seemingly emerge from the trees. He had to be hallucinating.

He blinked again, stepping backward toward the house. The inky blackness came closer, coalescing as it approached. It gathered in on itself.

He blew out a breath and chuckled as he realized it had to be smoke from the fire. His imagination at work to turn the blackness into something else entirely. But his mouth fell as the black thickened, gathering tighter, coming at him.

He wavered on his feet, feeling the heat of the flames at his back. He knew he needed to run for the trees, but the strange force in his face seemed to exert control over him, hypnotizing him with its intensity.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to run. But he was pinned in his spot, at the mercy of the creature. It was a creature, right? Almost like a black bear now. An enormous presence that commanded him to back up closer to the house.

It infringed on his space until it was inches from his nose. All he could see was black, a frightening inky black that wouldn’t abate. The heat at his back was too much. He was too close to the flames of the fire he’d started.