Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(3)
She heard a terrified scream and for a second thought it had emerged from her own throat. She was quickly proven wrong, however, when she caught sight of the horror-stricken Abby who had stopped running as soon as she had heard her friend hit the ground.
In an act of reckless bravery, the girl began racing back towards her fallen friend. She didn’t make it more than a foot, however, before Katherine felt an agonizing tug on her ankle, and before she knew what was happening, her body was being dragged backwards, the wolf’s jaw still clenched around her, and its eyes still intent on her face.
Not knowing what else to do, Katherine frantically thrashed her body about, trying to wrench herself free. Not only did this not help, but it intensified the pain in her ankle tenfold.
She could hear her friend yelling her name behind her and didn’t think the situation could get any worse when another enormous wolf materialized out of the looming foliage and began sprinting towards them. While not as large as the massive animal dragging her, it was menacing in its own right. No longer able to contain her fright, she clenched her eyes shut tightly, fully expecting the creature to attack her as the other held her down.
She was shocked when instead of feeling sharp claws or teeth dig into her body, she heard a surprised grunt and furious cry before her ankle was freed. Snapping her eyes open, she was stunned to discover the two wolves brutally fighting each other. She watched as the larger wolf – the one that had been dragging her – delivered a particularly violent swipe to the other’s face before she remembered that she could move.
Ignoring the excruciating throb of her ankle, she forced herself to her feet and hobbled as fast as she could towards her best friend, who had stopped running and was staring in shock at the warring wolves.
By the time Katherine reached her, Abby had come back to her senses and quickly moved to help her. Within a few minutes, the two had managed to travel up the length of Miller Road – Katherine leaning heavily on her friend – and were back into the relative safety of town.
Looking behind her and seeing nothing but darkness, Katherine finally collapsed to the ground. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as she tried to calm herself. Abby throw herself down next to her. The other girls were nowhere in sight.
For a while, neither could do anything but catch their breath. Eventually, Abby spoke. “Are you alright?” she inquired, looking at the bloodied ankle Katherine had stretched out in front of her.
Wondering the same thing herself, Katherine finally looked at the aching injury. The first thing she noticed was that her sneaker was gone – probably completely torn off her foot by the animal. The second was that it didn’t look nearly as bad as it felt. Her sock hadn’t even bled all the way through. Taking a deep breath, she brought the foot up closer to herself and carefully pulled off the ruined sock.
It was hard to inspect in the dark of the night, even with the bright moon still gleaming above them, but she could still clearly see the four puncture marks around her ankle, two on the left side of her foot and two on the right. They were slowly oozing blood.
She carefully rotated her ankle, trying to determine if it was broken or even sprained, but quickly realized it wasn’t. Surprised, but not ungrateful, she answered her friend. “Actually, I think I’m okay.”
Abby heaved a sigh of relief and Katherine managed a small smile when she was pulled into a tight hug. After a few seconds of basking in the knowledge of each other’s safety, they pulled away. Abby stood up and offered a hand to Katherine. “You say you’re okay now, but wait ‘til your parents see you,” she joked, voice still trembling a bit from the ordeal they had been through. “After lecturing you for hours, they’ll probably take you straight to the hospital the town over and get you tested for rabies or whatever.”
Katherine groaned at that very likely possibility, but grasped the proffered hand. Once she was on her feet, the two girls slowly made their way towards Katherine’s house. “The lectures I could do without,” she agreed quietly, “but the doctor is probably a good idea.” She grinned in a self-depreciating manner. “Knowing my luck, I’ve probably caught something.”
CHAPTER TWO
From out of the darkness, two piercing blue eyes stared. Their azure color was just as striking as she remembered. She could feel the intensity exuding from the passionate stare, the sensation causing her skin to tingle. The eyes were demanding – almost begging – something of her.
But she didn’t know what.
She was lost in the captivating stare and could only gaze back blankly, her own eyes silently asking the other pair what it was she was supposed to be doing. But she didn’t receive an answer. The blue eyes just continued to stare at her, their intensity never wavering.
“Katherine.”
She was becoming more and more frustrated with the demanding eyes. Wasn’t it obvious that she didn’t know what it was they wanted from her? Even if she desired to do what they begged of her – and to be able to softly assure the hard eyes – she couldn’t. She had no idea what they wanted.
“Katherine.”
Frustration and helplessness nearly overwhelming her, she silently pleaded with the azure gaze to give her a hint, a clue, anything.
“Katherine!”
Katherine woke with a start, her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she snapped her eyes open. It took a moment for her green orbs to settle on the figure in front of her and she was flooded with relief when she recognized her mother.