Page 5 of Wolf It Down, Knot Me Up

He wrenches back. “Fuck!” Horror floods those pale eyes aimed in my direction, at my hand, my face. His reaction sends me into panic.

Then Roman shoves me in the shoulder. “Get out of the way.”

I tumble over sideways and fall. The world spins as my head smacks the ground with a thud that turns everything to stars.

Darkness comes in from the edges, and my fear deepens.

Except those eyes remain in my thoughts. Hazel brown, wide with fear.

I grasp on to those all the way down.

2

LUCY

Ijolt upright with a gasp, clawing at bedsheets, drenched in sweat. “Wolf eyes…” The words rip out of me before I’m awake enough to stop them.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A machine to my left makes repetitive noises. White walls and ceiling. The window floods with gold light that spreads across the thin blue blanket covering me.

A nurse walks into the room, smiling at me. I’m in a hospital—it finally dawns on me. I must have hit my head and passed out in the woods.

“Good morning,” she says with a neutral face.

“I don’t… There’s no wolf, right?” I give up and sag back into the pillows.

“You just woke up from being passed out.”

My brain is catching up as I glance over to my hand wrapped in a white bandage, and it throbs with my pulse. Except that thump doesn’t stay just in my hand; it rolls up my arm, then down my spine, and rushes low until it’s beating right between my thighs. That’s weird.

I press my thighs together under the blanket and stare at the ceiling tiles.

Do not think about that stranger, his eyes, or his teeth in my hand.

My, what sharp teeth he must have had.

The nurse moves to the side of the bed. Her name tag says, Suzanne. She flashes a little light across my pupils. “Must have been quite the knock to the head, hon, but you appear to be doing better now that you’re awake.”

“How did I get here?” I swallow around the dryness in my mouth.

“A man brought you in.”

I wait as Suzanne straightens my blanket, but she says nothing more.

“Did he leave a name? Anything?”

“Not sure, honey. I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.” She grins and strolls toward the door.

“Wait, hold on. How long have I been out?”

She glances over her shoulder at me. “Oh, since yesterday.”

“Oh!”

She’s already vanishing down the hall.

So much for reaching the lodge, instead, I’ve been lying here sweating through a hospital gown. I close my eyes and try to replay yesterday’s events to see what I remember, but I recall nothing after hitting my head, or who the stranger with those hazel eyes was.