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“What is it, Lauren?” My dad’s voice is sharp. “Do you see that wolf again?” He’s obsessed about the wolf situation, which is a problem now that I know it’s Abe.
“What wolf?” Luke asks. “The one that tried to come through your window?”
Dammit. Now I wish I’d never told anyone about that. Wish I hadn’t screamed and woken up the whole house when it happened.
Lincoln comes to stand beside me at the window.
“No, there’s nothing here.” I reach for the remote that controls all the drapes in the living room.
“Yes, there is–I saw something move!” Lincoln says. “Is it a grey?”
Fuck.
“Get the rifle there behind the door!” my dad instructs, and Luke lunges for it. “The Fish and Game Department hasn’t done a damn thing about putting that rabid beast down. I’m going to kill it myself.”
Apparently, Luke wants to be the hero, though. He throws the door open, rifle in hand. I don’t know if he even knows how to shoot the thing.
“No, wait!” I try to scoot out the door first, but the two of us get caught in the doorframe together, the long rifle between us.
A snarl sounds from the shadows.
“Wait!” I cry again, running down the steps and out to the landscaped path.
“Stay back, Lauren.” Luke is living out some kind of hero fantasy right now.
Over my shoulder, I see him running behind me, pointing the rifle wildly in my direction.
This time, the snarl sounds right in my ears. No–over my head. Because the wolf–Abe–soars through the air and tackles Luke to the ground with two massive paws on his shoulders.
The rifle clatters out of his hand and goes off.
I scream, looking around wildly to make sure no one was hit.
My dad runs for the rifle.
My scream draws Abe’s head around, and he and I both freeze, our gazes locked. “Go,” I mouth.
My dad picks up the rifle and aims.
“No!” I shout.
And then Abe moves, faster than I would’ve dreamed possible, bounding back into the cover of darkness and boulders and scrub.
I let out a slow sob of relief.
As my breath slows, I relish the sensation of my heart thudding against my breastbone. Knowing that I do care about something in this world.
If not my life, his.
Not the guy I should be worried about. The guy I’ve called boyfriend for the last year and a half. The one crawling to his feet and dusting off his designer jeans.
No, I’m not worried about Luke for a moment.
All my fear is for Abe.
He’s still the only one who reminds me I’m alive.
I may be barely functioning, a mere glimmer of my old self, but Luke’s visit shows me it’s not my old self I seek. There’s someone new emerging from this husk of a life. Someone only Abe can spark to life.
