Mated Girl (Wolf Girl #4)(6)

It was closed.
Sticking her nose to it, she inhaled.
Blood. Pain. Deer. Bear. Fear.
The mixture of smells wafted through a tiny crease in the door and my wolf suddenly went semi-solid. When in my wolf form, I never had to strain to do anything or think about it too much. If I wanted to walk through a wall, I just did it. I wished my human side was more like that. Human Demi questioned everything, even herself.
When she was through the wall, she stayed semitransparent and I knew that she would be invisible to others who looked at her, the same way she’d been invisible during the meeting with the vampires, when only Sawyer saw her.
Weaving through the crowd, I noticed there was a fight going on. I recognized the yelling and the sound of fists hitting bone.
“What’s happening?” Sage whispered beside me, pulling my attention from my wolf.
“She’s in. There’s a fight going on. She’s looking for Marmal.” I slipped from my saddle. I wanted to be ready to run up and greet my troll friend.
“I’ll tie off the horses,” Sage informed me, and I just nodded, seeing through my wolf’s eyes as she scanned the room.
Big male, small male, ugly male, Trip, animals in cages … it was all the same until I noticed a girl hunched over the largest cage in the place.
Marmal.
She was doing something to the dragon! I’d completely forgotten about the dragon creature we’d seen last time until now. My wolf burst forward, weaving in and out of the melee until she was at Marmal’s heels. My beautiful troll friend was covered in dirt, on her knees and scrubbing the talons of the dragon through the cage with a bristle brush and some water. One of the talons had been shorn off completely; the end of it was flat and chipped in some spots.
“I’m sorry, girl,” Marmal cooed to the dragon.
Even though my wolf was invisible, the dragon suddenly jerked her head in my direction, staring me right in the eyes. The light in the barn filtered through the bars, lighting up those milky pearl scales, and my wolf froze, entranced by her deep turquoise eyes. She was the most magnificent creature I’d ever seen.
“What’s—?” Marmal said and turned her head just as my wolf solidified.
Marmal jumped a little. “Who are you? How did you get out of your cage?” She looked over her shoulder, anxiety playing across her features as she scanned the room for Trip. My wolf stepped forward and nuzzled Marmal’s leg, causing Marmal to frown. Reaching out, Marmal stroked my wolf’s neck. “Come on, girl, you can’t be out of the cages or I get in trouble.” She dropped her scrub brush and stood, just as my wolf darted across the room.
“Get back here!” Marmal whisper-screamed, taking off after my wolf.
Now was my chance. In human form, I opened my eyes and ran from where I’d been quietly standing, near the place Sage had tied the horses off. Pumping my legs, I booked it through the trees and up to the back door of the barn, knowing that’s where my wolf was going to lead Marmal.
Marmal had never met my wolf, so she wouldn’t recognize her. I skidded to a stop just in front of the door at the same time my wolf leapt out of it, going from spectral to solid. The door flung open then and I was met with Marmal’s bewildered face, arms outstretched to grab my wolf. The moment she looked up at me, I pulled my hood back slightly, and she paled before breaking into a grin. Slipping out the door, she glanced over her shoulder and closed it to make sure she wasn’t followed.
Neither of us said anything, we both just opened our arms and pulled the other into a tight hug. It was crazy how you could bond with someone so deeply in such a short amount of time. I’d known Marmal only a few days and yet I knew I could ask anything of her. I knew that in the core of her person she was good.
“I thought you were dead,” she croaked, pulling away to get a better look at me.
My eyes trailed over a reddish scar on her right arm; it was angry and puckered and big. It looked like a burn. “I’m so sorry about your farm. Had I known, I would have—”
She cut me off, grabbing me by the armpit and pulling me away into the trees. Her eyes looked cagey, like she expected someone to come out and grab us at any moment.
“You can’t be here. The bounty on your head is unfathomable.” She reached up and pulled the hood back up around my face.
I frowned, an unfathomable bounty price was not good, but I didn’t like the way she was acting, like she was scared.
“Is Trip beating you? Have they hurt you?” There was a growl in my voice and my wolf went erect beside me.
Marmal looked up at me then, shaking her head as she hugged her arms against her chest. “No, but they hurt the animals and that might as well be the same thing.”
Oh God.
I shook myself. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time. I’ll explain on the way. Is there anything you need to grab before we go?”
I started to back up and lead her to where Sage and our horses were. Marmal frowned, the tiny white tusks in her cheeks bent inward, making a divot into her skin.
“What?” She sounded bewildered but slightly hopeful.
“Mar, I’m not leaving you here! Sawyer is in Magic City Prison. Come with us to get him out and then you can come live in Paladin Village forever. I’m the alpha.”
A slow grin pulled at her lips. “Alpha? I knew there was something special about you. Is that … your wolf? I swear I recognized the scent. You smell the same but…”
I nodded, and my wolf went spectral before leaping into my chest. Marmal staggered backward, eyes wide.
“Split shifter. Come on,” I pleaded. “I’ll explain on the way. There is a troll who broke out of Magic City Prison like ten years ago. Help us find him and then we can all go home together.”