AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you sure it’s safe to swim here?” I say. “I don’t want the wound to get infected.”
“It won’t,” she says. “Lycan—sorry, never mind.”
Okay…these people are definitely keeping secrets from me. “Lycan what?”
“I can promise you it’s safe, that’s all,” she says. “I mean, this is where all of our people bathe, and it isn’t like we have a bunch of disease-ridden folks walking around.”
Sure—if you don’t consider lycanthropy a disease, which some people in Homestead do. Plus, I haven’t actuallyseenanyone besides Reyes, Mateo, and Peaches. I guess I have no choice but to trust her.
My skin finally starts to adjust to the cold and I wade deeper into the pool, until I’m all the way up to my chin. I dunk my head under the water and rinse the blood out of my hair, threading my fingers through it and away from my face. It feels good to get clean, to rinse the night’s events away.
Then I touch my wound and realize I should be dead. I shouldreallybe dead.
Because it feels rough, at best. The stitches are tight and tidy, but the wound itself is jagged. I can’t believe I’m walking right now, let alone that I survived. The last time I was shot like this, I didn’t get up for two weeks.
I wonder if the pack’s medic noticed the matching would on my back.
My fingers trail lower, feeling the edge of the wound. All bad, but nothing unexpected. This is exactly what I anticipated from the way David shot me head-on, his finger probably slipping on the trigger when he panicked. It hurts, but feels like it’s at least a few weeks old, already healing over.
And then I find something else.
Something…strange.
My fingers trail along a circle on my flesh, a few bumps with four large punctures at the four directions. I frown as I touch it, and find that it feelsgood, sending a tremor up my spine. My pussy clenches at the sensation, and I draw in a harsh breath.
This isnota gunshot wound.
I scramble backwards until I’m standing against the wall, and push myself out of the water to gape down at the wound. It’s ugly—realugly, with black thread binding up my flesh. But below that is this other, new thing: a circle of red lines, with four deep purple puncture wounds at the edges.
A bite mark.
It’s clear as day.
I snap my gaze up to Peaches to find her looking at me, her eyes wide. Her mouth moves like she’s about to tell me how nice the pack is again, but I glare at her, gesturing to the bite low on my hip. Whoever did this had to have been right on top of me, their lips and mouth and tongue on me. My heart pounds as I remember a big grey wolf dragging its nose over my skin, the whole thing coming back to me in a rush.
“Reyes did this,” I breathe, watching Peaches’ reaction. The redhead bites her lip, her brown eyes sparkling like she’s ready to cry.
“You would be dead without it,” she says.
“I don’t…” I close my eyes, inhale deeply, try not to pass out. The memories are bombarding me now, everything coming back from before I passed out from blood loss. “I don’t understand.”
“The bite,” Peaches says. “It has healing properties. You were going to die.”
“I didn’t ask, though.”
“You were already….” Peaches sighs, shaking her head. “You should talk to Reyes about this.”
She’s already walking toward where the towels are laid out, snatching one up and toweling off her hair. Peaches slips back into her pants, then pulls her shirt over her head, all while I just watch.
I’m still in shock.
One of thesemonsters bit me.
“Will you help me escape?” I ask, looking up at her desperately.
Peaches chews on her lip, her brow furrowed. “Tilda…you know I can’t do that.”
“You said the Austin pack was different, but he did this against my will,” I say. I step toward her out of the water, unashamed now about my nakedness. I don’t give a damn about that when this is so much more pressing. “Help me escape, Peaches.”
