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“I thought I’d gotten it all off, but I guess not if you could smell it,” I continued, wondering if they were going to cop to their super sensitive noses. I’d scrubbed the bleach off the night before and thrown away the clothes I’d worn, but the smell must have lingered. I fought the urge to scratch my arms where the bleach had splashed, not wanting to draw any more attention.
“I doubt anyone else will notice,” Anna rushed to reassure me and I nodded, settling back against the seat.
“We only have weight training this afternoon,” Dominic said abruptly. “You can wait in the library again, but we should be done by the final bell.”
I nodded in agreement, before turning to look back out the window. A flash of white caught my attention and a second later I saw a tail dart through the trees out my window. My breath stuttered as a scrawny wolf seemed to follow the Jeep, keeping to the shadows of the forest.
“Guys,” I called, my voice cracking.
“What is it?” Dominic growled, picking up on my anxiety instantly.
“Are wolves nocturnal?”
“Yes,” Anna answered as Caleb said, “Generally, why?”
Dominic was already glancing around as his eyes switched from the road to the woods. “Where?”
“Over here.” I pointed out my window to where I’d last seen it and as Dominic glanced over, the wolf suddenly darted from the trees and across the road directly in front of Dominic’s Jeep. I screamed, but instead of swerving or hitting the brakes like I expected, Dominic pressed on the gas, the Jeep shooting forward, straight at the wolf in front of us.
“Dom! No!” Caleb shouted, but he didn’t seem to hear and I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself for the thud I knew was coming.
“Son of a bitch,” Dominic cursed a moment later and I opened my eyes to see we’d slowed down and I glanced back to see if there was a wolf lying in the middle of the road. I hadn’t felt a thump, but there was no way the wolf could have escaped unscathed.
“Damn it, Dom. That was too close.” Caleb looked angry and Dominic swiped his hand through his hair in frustration.
“You’re damn straight it was too close. It was entirely too close,” Dominic answered, his eyes darting to me in the rearview mirror. Adrenaline coursed through me as I slowly eased back in my seat, not sure to make of what happened. It had appeared like Dominic wanted to kill the wolf, but that didn’t seem like him. But it had also seemed like the wolf was following us.
I twisted my hands together, fighting the urge to touch my neck where the imprint of Dominic’s lips had suddenly begun to burn and pulse, the sensation distracting me from what just happened.
“Sometimes wolves get disoriented. He might have been sick,” Anna informed me faintly, her own face pale.
“Sure,” I murmured, not really paying attention to her as I watched Dominic’s hands fist around the steering wheel. The wolf’s presence had clearly upset him, and Caleb too if the tension in the Jeep was anything to go by. They weren’t speaking. At least not out loud, a small voice chimed, and my head thumped back against the seat. There was no doubt they had some method of communication, and I was sorry, but texting did not account for all of it. I couldn’t escape the knowledge that the more time went by the further I got pulled into their web of secrets.
Dominic and Caleb weren’t at lunch that day and Anna only gave me a soft smile as she passed the table I sat at with Leah and the other girls. Part of me wanted to stand up and follow her to the tables the Pack sat at, but I resisted the urge. I wasn’t ready to commit to their secrets, not even after what had happened the night before. Things seemed to be escalating and I knew it couldn’t all be because of me.
When the final bell rang, Anna and I lingered for a minute in the hall, neither of us wanting to go back to the library, but also trying to avoid the elephant, or more aptly, wolf in the room.
“I’m sorry you’re stuck riding with me every day,” I apologized finally, feeling like I was the reason she had to wait. She looked up in surprise before a sweet smile took over her expression.
“It’s not a hardship,” she replied, shaking her head, her gaze straying to the doors leading out to the field house and weight room. “I consider it an opportunity to get to know you better.”
“And spend time with Caleb?” I asked, knowingly. She flushed, her cheeks bright pink, but before she could answer, those same doors banged open and in walked Caleb.
“Coach let us off early,” he said, sending a wink to Anna that made her cheeks go a deeper shade of pink. “We’re meeting Dom at the Jeep,” Caleb glanced at the classroom we’d just come from pointedly, “He didn’t want to draw attention.”
