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What the fuck?
“You’re going for a run now?” Leo hovers, angrily waving his arm. “In the snow?”
“It’s always snowing.” She swings the pack over her shoulder.
“At night?”
“It’s always night.” She breezes past him, light and fast in her hiking shoes.
“The predators come out at night.” I catch her arm, stopping her.
“No, Kody.” She laughs hollowly, pulling away. “The predator is already here. Inside. With us.”
Free of my grip, she makes a beeline for the front door.
There was a time when she was afraid to go outside. That was before she knew what the real threat is.
My chest caves in.
“She’s right. It’s safer out there.” Leo paces to the wall of weapons and arms himself with knives and guns. “I’ll be with her.”
Without waiting for my nod, he darts out after her.
I let them go.
Because out there, we can kill the things that hunt her without consequences.
Strapping on my crossbow and quiver, I test the mobility of my hand. The damaged ligaments still scream when I cock the weapon, but it’s improving every day.
What I don’t know is if I can shoot the bow fast enough in a life-or-death situation.
I hope like fuck I don’t find out.
46
Kodiak
—
Outside, I stand on the edge of the property, draw in a steadying breath, and listen.
Footsteps. Crunching snow. My hearing exceeds the sharpest ears, sensing movement in the south, away from the hills and wolves.
Good girl.
As it turns out, I don’t need my ears to track her. The bootprints in the snow lead me through the valley, the path beaten down from constant use.
She must run this route every day. Perhaps multiple times a day. In the dark.
As calorie deficient as she appears, I don’t know where she gets the energy. Her resilience is mind-blowing, but at some point, it’ll fizzle out. Maybe running is her coping mechanism, an attempt to escape for a while, but what she’s doing to her body isn’t sustainable.
I don’t want to care. I can’t afford that weakness. I’m the detached one. The unbreakable one. The one who never surrenders.
No matter what happens, that cannot change.
The snow underfoot creaks and cracks. The frigid temperatures tingle my exposed cheeks and form frost on my eyelashes. I’m used to it, barely registering the conditions, as my senses tune in to possible threats.
The wolves don’t venture into the southern valley plains. There’s no prey. No cover. Nothing out here to lure them.
But other things roam this land. Bigger, meaner things. Like the beasts that share my name.
As I run, I single out the fresh boot tracks, the direction of the wind, the distinct howl of the river to the east, and finally, a voice.
Leo’s voice, up ahead.
Just out of view, I hunker down in the shadow of a shallow ravine with a direct line of sight to Leo and Frankie standing beneath the starlight.
“Talk to me.” He circles her, restless and fuming. “Say something. Anything. Don’t shut me out.”
Her arms hang at her sides, her shoulders stiff beneath the small pack. Unresponsive.
He won’t get anywhere with her while he’s spitting and pounding his chest.
“I’m sorry.” He grabs her face and kisses her on the mouth. Once. Twice. “I’m sorry for the role I played in your pain.”
She doesn’t kiss him back. I’m about to intervene until he drops to his knees.
“I shouldn’t have left you.” He clasps her hips and presses his forehead against her abdomen. “There are so many things I shouldn’t have done. The threatening, the cruelty, all the fucking secrets…I would take it all back if I could. Do you hear me? I’m so fucking sorry.”
“I know why you did it. I forgive you.” Her monotone rivals the chill in the air. “Now you need to let me do this. Let me carry this burden while you learn how to fly the plane. I’ll keep Denver occupied through the winter—”
“No!” He leaps to his feet, snarling and balling his hands. “If you continue this, you’ll unleash a thing so violent and destructive inside me that none of us will survive. You’re mine, Frankie. You’re fucking mine!”
“I belong to no one.”
You’re wrong, Frankie. You belong to us, whether you like it or not.
“You don’t believe that. He’s getting to you. Goddammit, this is what he does!” Head falling back, hands in his hair, Leo roars with all the rage, jealousy, and possessiveness eating him alive. “He fucking did this to you!”
It’s gutting to witness, to see his feelings so raw and exposed. He’s a goner for her, and I don’t know when that happened. The night she sewed up my hand? The moment he put his mouth between her legs? Or was it the bargain? Her ultimate act of selflessness. Proof that she loves us.
Everything has changed.
Including her.
She doesn’t flinch at Leo’s display of emotion. Doesn’t react at all. She just stands there with dead eyes and a vacant expression.
