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I held out my hand. "Hello, Frank. Thanks for coming out to rescue me."
He laughed, flashing teeth that were yellow-stained and crooked. His hand wrapped around mine briefly, his grip firm and strong. "Wouldn't be neighborly to let our newcomers get themselves lost the first few days they hit town, now would it?"
"I guess not."
I began to sip the water and it was the sweetest thing I'd tasted in a long while. Which wasn't saying much given the state of my memories.
Evin drew the steps inside the plane then closed the door and sat down in the remaining seat. As the plane's propellers roared to life, he said, "We arrived in town a day ago. Your accident was reported this morning."
Which didn't really explain the state of the various wounds on my body. I might be a wolf, but I was one who apparently couldn't change, so why were there so many half-healed wounds on my body? The one on my shoulder looked bad, and it surely should have taken more than a day to heal without a shape change. "What was I doing alone in the car in the middle of nowhere?"
And why couldn't I remember hitting a roo?
He shrugged. "You said you wanted to be alone for a while and went for a drive."
"An odd thing to do if we'd only just arrived in town, wasn't it?"
His sudden grin crinkled the corners of his eyes and warmed his bright eyes. "We'd been cooped up together for ten days in that car. We may get on like a house on fire, but ten days is a long time. So no, it wasn't surprising."
"Why were we traveling?"
His smile faded. He studied me for several seconds, his expression serious and eyes suddenly sad. "You don't remember?"
Something caught in my throat, and I had an image of that truck again, and that crumpled black car, rolling over and over. I licked suddenly dry lips and said, "Remember what?"
He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Maybe it's better if you remember in your own time."
"Remember what?"
I grabbed his arm, my fingers tightening reflexively. He winced and, for a moment, seemed surprised by my strength. Which struck me as odd, given he was my brother and should have known what I was. What he was.>Wolf.
I was a werewolf.
The relief I felt at that realization was incredible. It flowed through me sweetly, giving me an odd sort of strength. If I could remember that, then I would remember everything else with time.
Besides, a wolf could easily survive in wild places like this. She could find food and water that I, the humanoid, would never spot. She also had a thick red coat to protect her skin from the sun. I needed that protection -
needed it badly.
I closed my eyes and called for the wolf within. But instead of power, what rose was another wash of pain. It was thick and fierce and hit like a punch to the gut, leaving me winded and shaking.
The wolf was there. I could feel her, fierce and angry. But she couldn't answer. There was some sort of barrier between us, something that was stopping her, and I had no idea what that something was.
I screamed then, and it was a thick and angry sound filled with frustration and pain.
Damn it, what the hell was going on?
How could someone stop the wolf? She was a part of me, part what I was. How could that be stopped?
I hope you enjoy the week you have remaining, that arrogant voice had said. But I very much doubt you will.
Fear surged again, its taste so bitter that I almost gagged. A week. I had a week, if that voice was to be believed. A week to discover who I was, where I was, and what the hell was going on.
It suddenly didn't seem like a whole lot of time.
I swung my fist savagely, hitting the tree trunk and sending bark flying. Pain rippled up my arm, joining the various other aches that ebbed and flowed across my body. I swore again, this time at my own stupidity, and shook my bloody hand. Hitting the tree wasn't going to achieve anything.
I glanced up at the sun again. I couldn't go out in that. My skin was already red and tender, and it felt like I was burning from the outside in, meaning the sunburn had gone fairly deep. Shape-shifting would have solved that problem, but that was - for whatever reason - out the question. I'd have to wait out the heat and travel at night.
