The Better to Bite (Howl #1)(22)

Rafe and Brent looked at each other. Okay, what was up with that almost angry look? If I hadn’t been bleeding and hurting and scared, I would have yelled at them both. Oh, why not? “We’re all moving!” My voice was definitely close to a yell.

“Let me have him.” Rafe gently pushed me back and pulled Brent’s arm away from me. “Is it your ankle or knee?”

“Both,” Brent gritted. “But just give me some time, and I’ll be fine.”

Right. Some time, a doctor and a hospital stay. “Tell me your motorcycle is close by,” I said to Rafe.

He shook his head. “Not close enough.”

What? “Then how’d you find me? How’d—” Never mind. I was bleeding, wolfie could come back at any moment, and priority one was to get to safety ASAP. “Tell me who owns the closest house or the name of the closest gas station or—”

“What?” Brent sounded lost.

Good. Soon, I wouldn’t be. “Tell me.”

“Brent’s house is the closest,” Rafe told me. “It’s up to the—”

Brent’s house. I closed my eyes for just a second. “I know.” Then I scrambled back to the truck. Found my trusty mace—a girl couldn’t leave home without it—and I started walking. “Come on!” My voice definitely snarled then. Couldn’t help it. I was running on fumes. “Follow me!”

“She doesn’t know where she’s going,” Brent said, his voice low. “You need to take her—”

I glanced over and met his stare. “I know. Now just trust me, and come on. I bet I know how to get there faster than you guys do.”

They didn’t speak.

But Rafe inclined his head. Good. Relief had me feeling a little light-headed. Or maybe that was the blood loss.

I took up a position under Brent’s left shoulder, wanting to help, and we started moving.

My breath seemed too loud in my ears as it sawed from my mouth. Rafe and Brent were almost too silent. I glanced at Brent and saw the lines of pain on his face.

I guided them, taking them up higher, higher, as we twisted through the trees.

“How do you know where to go?” The question was Rafe’s. I didn’t answer. Just kept walking. Explaining then would have taken breath and energy that I just didn’t possess.

Soon we could hear the faint beat of music and see the lights from Brent’s house through the trees. I called out, yelling for help, but no one came rushing toward us.

“They won’t hear you,” Rafe said. “Not with the party going on.”

I yelled for help anyway. There’d been no sign of the wolf again, but I’d sure been looking over my shoulder a lot. The goosebumps on my arms told me that I was being watched.

No, not just watched, hunted.

We burst from the trees. Brent’s house—more like a mansion with glass walls that overlooked the mountainside—seemed to light up the area. I could see people through the glass. Jenny, Troy…about thirty more kids. Dancing. Laughing. Paying no attention to us as I screamed, and we hurried forward.

Then we were at the door. Rafe kicked it open, and we pushed inside.

The laughter stopped. The music kept blaring, but all eyes turned to us.

I didn’t even try to wipe away the blood that dripped down my cheek. What was the point? By now, I was covered in blood and dirt.

“Call an ambulance!” Rafe barked.

Troy grabbed the nearest phone.

Guys rushed toward us and took Brent. They put him on the couch. Jenny stared at me, her eyes so big they nearly swallowed her face. “OhmyGod! What happened to you?”

I glanced over my shoulder, back at the dark woods. No wolf howled now. But you’re close, aren’t you?

I could almost feel him.

I looked down. I’d bled on Brent’s expensive white carpet. The drops littered the floor.

“Come here.” Rafe took my arm. “You need to sit down before you fall.”

Brent had been placed on the couch. All the football players were huddled around him, and they look scared.

“Don’t worry about him.” Rafe guided me to a chair. He bent in front of me, blocking me from the others. “Trust me, Brent will be fine.” He licked his lips. “Look, you need to be careful what you say—”

“Anna!” Jenny’s head popped next to Rafe’s. “Tell me what happened!”

I swallowed to ease my dry throat. Desert dry. Probably from all that useless screaming. “W-wolf.”

If possible, Jenny’s eyes got even bigger. “No way.”

“A big, black wolf.” My voice came stronger now as I clenched my hands. Now I’d gone and bled on the chair, too. I was leaving my mark everywhere. “It charged at us. Brent swerved, and we crashed.” Then the wolf came to take a bite out of me.

Silence. The really, thick, uncomfortable kind.

My gaze darted to Rafe. A muscle jerked in his jaw. “She hit her head,” he said into that silence. “She doesn’t know what happened. Just give her some space, okay?” His voice cracked harder than any whip.

Jenny jumped back.

I frowned at Rafe. “I know exactly what I saw.” I wasn’t confused or hysterical. Scared, yeah, but in control.

He leaned toward me and brushed back my hair. His mouth hovered over my ear and he whispered, “You need to be very careful what you say.”