AllFreeNovel
Share Us
THREE
The wolf caughtme in less than three seconds, but he didn't tackle me or anything. He simply ran beside me.
It was so dark that I had a hard time staying on the road. But the sides of the road were sort of raised, so as long as I stuck to one of the raised edges, I knew I could make it.
I didn't stop. It was dark, so I could barely see a thing. My lungs burned, sweat poured off me, and I panted like I was the wild animal instead of him as we ran.
The wolf was nearly silent, remaining steadily beside me even as my jogging slowed to walking. My legs shook like Jell-O as I wheezed, trying hard to keep going.
When I couldn't go any further, I plopped my hands onto my knees and bent over, sucking in deep lungfuls of air. I was only wearing a sandwich shop t-shirt and a pair of high-waisted cotton shorts with my Converse, so I wasn't exactly dressed for exercise.
"Damn...you...wolf..." I wheezed.
He licked the back of my knee.
I let out a truly hideous screech, kicking and flailing at him. He easily sidestepped my half-hearted attempts to wound him, so I turned to threats instead. "Don't lick me if you want to survive.”
I paused, gulping down air.
When I could breathe, I added, "I am not one of those people who touches every dog they see. Your germs are not welcome on this body." I gestured to all of me.
He gave a pathetic whine.
"I don't care what you think I am to you, werewolf. I know you were Veggie Guy, and I am not amused by any of this. I'm going home." I wiggled my finger at him like a crazy person. "So just sit there while I catch my breath, or go back to wherever the hell you and the rest of your not-football-team came from."
The wolf snorted, but he sat.
I bent back over, hands on my knees once again. I was still traveling alongside the dirt road, and though it felt like I’d been running forever, I would’ve walked for an entire week if it meant getting away from the werewolves and back to my dorm.
But it wasn’t going to take an entire week. The paved road couldn't have been much further.
"Alright, Tea. You've got this. Just a little further, and you're home free," I lied to myself as I started jogging down the road again. The wolf made a weird sound, and I glanced at him. "What are you laughing at?"
He didn't answer, obviously.
Because he was a wolf.
Although, cartoon-style talking animals wouldn't be that crazy compared to what I'd just discovered existed.
"You are truly infuriating," I told him, shaking my head as I kept running. "I'm not going to be what you want. Your mate or whatever. That's not me. I've got dreams, and goals, and plans. I'm not going to be the housewife who sits at home and pops out a baby every year. I have school, and I have stuff to do, and things to accomplish. So just walk away. Go home." My voice raised as my rant continued.
The wolf ignored my lecture, his gaze on the forest in front of me.
I huffed, but kept running. It wasn't like I had another option. The kidnappers and their van were way behind me, and probably heading the opposite direction. After all, I was going back to my college town, and they'd been driving down the dirt road toward wherever they'd planned to take me.
Though it was suspicious that they hadn’t come after me.
Were they just going to leave me with the wolf?
According to them, he was hunting me. And that was terrifying.
But shouldn't hunting be more violent than just running with me and refusing to leave?
I didn't know. And without the rest of the kidnappers, I had no one to ask.
Glancing at the wolf, it occurred to me that he hadn't had anything to do with the abduction. I mean, he'd been there, but he wasn't one of the guys who grabbed me. Jesse had started going wolf after meeting me, and the other guys grabbed us both.
He had clearly been with them, though. So he wasn't innocent, and I couldn't trust him.
