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The police and the human I could handle. Even the werewolves, I wasn’t very worried about. There was something else that scared me, and I hoped Viper wasn’t smart enough to figure out what it was.
I walked down the road, looking around to make sure no one saw me before I ran to the porch. I knocked once, and just as I expected, the door opened. Even though it was way past midnight and there was no one coming to get a shot, he was always in his shop.
I had always questioned the location of his shop, set right in the middle of a living area, but today I was grateful for it. At this time of the night, it was quiet and empty, and no one was peeking from the windows wondering who the woman trolling through the street in the middle of the night was.
“I thought I was going to see you soon,” Kris said and opened the door for me. I walked in, and for the first time since I ran out of the Palace, I felt safe. “What have you gotten yourself into, Hayley?” he asked me.
“Deep pile of shit I can’t get myself out of,” I said. He didn’t bother turning on the light because we both didn’t need it. We were werewolves, and our night vision was impeccable. I walked to his fireplace and started a fire.
“You’re going to have to burn everything you’re wearing,” he told me.
“I know,” I replied. I was already thinking like a fugitive, burning evidence of my presence.
Thus began my descent into madness.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked.
“I should take a bath,” I suggested.
“You should. And you should stay here for the time being. I can hide you in the basement. No one even knows it exists. You’ll befine there for a couple of days, hell, maybe even weeks. Then, we’ll find a way to get you out of town. I can get you to Michigan. I have some friends there. They will take you in, no questions asked. You can decide what you want to do then.”
That was Kris, already thinking of how he was going to help me without even knowing why I did what I did. He was the oldest friend I had. In fact, he was more than just a friend. He was my father’s friend. He was a sort of godfather to me.
“I can’t stay here at all,” I told him. There was no way I would put him in danger. Viper would send someone here to look for me, and they will find me. He could mask my scent, but that won’t fool Ilad. Ilad can sniff through anything. He would find me here, and I didn’t want to put him in a weird position. I don’t want to make anyone liable. “I will just clean up and get out of your hair.”
“Rubbish. You can’t go back out there. He has a bounty out on you.”
I gasped at the mention of that. That was my fear. A bounty attracts all sorts of werewolves. The worst of the worst. Hunters who have been trained all their lives to track people. I didn’t think I would be able to handle them.
“How many?” I asked.
“The report is about twenty of them. A weird mix.”
“How much?”
“No mention. But you’re wanted alive or dead. Alive will attract a bonus.”
“I think people are hungry for the bonus.”
“Hayley hunters are not people to be messed with. They are mostly ruthless and callous.”
“More reason I can’t stay here. I will be putting you in danger.”
“I can help you. I’ve dealt with hunters in my life. I know how to fool them.”
“No,” I insisted. “I will clean up, you set me up with some provision for the road, and I will be out of here soon. No arguing that, Kris. This is the best you can do for me.”
He looked very much like he still wanted to argue, but he just sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to win the argument.
“This is insane,” he muttered as he walked into his workshop. I could hear some birds twittering. I walked into the bathroom, knowing it might be my last bath for a long time. It caused a chill to run down my spine.
The probability of me coming out of this alive was low. If it weren’t my life hanging on the balance, I would have staked a bet against me.
I got naked and then got under the shower, letting the water run down my body. How did I get here?
The lone wolf. A very simple answer.
He didn’t occupy the first spot on my mind anymore. Surviving had replaced it. I was still bothered about my reaction to him, and if I survived this, I would try to find out what it meant. Hell, maybe I would see him again.
