Chapter 5: The Stranger
1547 Words
River Road was a dead end.
Literally. The old bridge had collapsed ten years ago. Now it was just broken concrete and rusty rebar sticking out of the water. Weeds grew through the cracks. Graffiti covered the guardrails.
No cars. No houses. No people.
Perfect place for an ambush.
I parked my bike behind a fallen tree. Cade and Nellie stayed fifty yards back, hidden in the mesquite. I could see Cade's helmet just barely. Nellie's purple hair was less subtle.
"Stay down," I'd told her.
"I'll stay down when I'm dead."
"Nellie."
"Fine. But if you scream, I'm coming."
I walked toward the bridge.
The sun was high. Sweat dripped down my back. The journal was tucked inside my jacket. I'd read it four more times since morning. Every word was burned into my brain.
The wolf is not a curse. It's a gift.
Easy for Mom to say. She wasn't the one who felt like her bones were going to c***k open.
A figure stepped out from under the bridge.
He was tall. Lean. Wearing a faded denim jacket and boots covered in dried mud. His hair was dark and messy, pulled back in a short ponytail. A scar ran from his ear to his jaw.
Not a wolf. I didn't know how I knew. I just did.
"Lena Calderon," he said.
"You first."
"Fair." He sat on the bridge railing. "Name's Joel. I ran with your mom back in the day. Before she met your dad."
"Ran how?"
"We were both wolves. Same pack. Different crew." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Lit one. "She was the best of us. Fastest. Smartest. Didn't take crap from anyone."
"You knew her?"
"Knew her? She saved my life twice." He blew smoke. "That's why I'm here. To return the favor."
I crossed my arms. "Start talking."
Joel nodded. "Hale's been watching you since you were born. He knew the wolf was in you. He's been waiting for it to wake up so he could use you."
"Use me how?"
"Your bloodline is old. Powerful. The kind of power that can unite packs or tear them apart. Hale wants to tear things apart. Start a war. Sell weapons to both sides."
"That's insane."
"That's business." Joel flicked ash into the dirt."The rogue who came for you last week? He's dead. His partners think you did it. They're out for blood."
"I didn't kill him. He crashed."
"Same difference. Dead is dead." Joel stood up. "Here's the bad news. He had three partners. They're already in town. Looking for you."
My stomach dropped. "Three?"
"Two wolves. One human with silver bullets. They don't care about the bond or the moon. They just want the money Hale promised."
"How do I stop them?"
"You don't. You run." Joel pointed at my bike. "Get out of town. Go somewhere Hale can't find you."
"I'm not running. This is my home."
"Then you're going to die." Joel said it flat. Like he was telling me the weather.
"Thanks for the optimism."
"I'm not here to make you feel better. I'm here to warn you." He dropped the cigarette. Crushed it with his boot. "Your mom would want you alive. Even if it meant leaving everything behind."
I thought about Cade. About Nellie. About Tío Ray and the garage.
"I can't," I said.
Joel sighed. "Figured you'd say that. You're stubborn. Like her."
He reached into his jacket. I tensed. But he pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Map. Shows where Hale's operation is based. Hit him first, and his hired wolves might back off."
"Why are you helping me?"
Joel looked at me. Really looked.
"Because I wasn't there when your mom needed me. I was drunk in a bar three towns over while she was dying." His voice cracked. "I won't make the same mistake with you."
I took the map.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Those three are good. You'll need help."
"Kids on motorcycles?" Joel shook his head and dropped the cigarette. "You'll need help. Real wolves."
"I know someone," I said. "Damon Rourke."
Joel's eyes went sharp. "Damon? His father was a snake. The son might be worse."
"I don't trust him either. But he's the only wolf who might listen to me."
"Then you're desperate." Joel shook his head. "Fine. But keep a knife in your pocket when you talk to him."
Before I could answer, a branch snapped in the trees behind me.
Joel's head whipped up. "You brought someone?"
"My friends. They're hidden."
"Not your friends." Joel's hand went to his belt. There was a knife there. "Someone else."
I turned.
Three figures walked out from the trees.
The first was a woman. Tall. Muscular. Short blonde hair. She wore a leather vest with no patches. Her eyes were yellow.
The second was a man. Thin. Wiry. Tattoos covered his arms. He smiled like he knew something I didn't.
The third held a rifle. Silver barrel. I could smell the metal from twenty feet away.
"Well, well," the woman said. "The little wolf came out to play."
Joel stepped in front of me. "You're on the wrong bridge, Greta."
"Am I?" Greta tilted her head. "Hale said bring the girl. Alive. I prefer alive. Less mess."
"Then you'll have to go through me."
The wiry man laughed. "Old Joel. Still playing hero. Still losing."
They spread out. Surrounding us.
I backed toward the bridge. Nowhere to run. The river was twenty feet below. Cold. Fast.
Cade's bike roared to life.
The silver-rifle guy turned. Fired.
The bullet hit a tree. Splinters flew.
Then Cade was there. Helmet off. Face hard. He skidded to a stop between me and the shooters.
"Lena. Get on."
"Your friends are cute," Greta said. "But they're human."
"I'm not," Nellie yelled.
She came running out of the bushes. Yellow moped? No. She was on foot. Waving a tire iron.
"I have a tire iron and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Greta laughed. "Put it down, little girl."
"Make me."
The wiry man lunged.
Joel moved faster than I could see. He slammed into the man. They tumbled to the ground. Snarling.
Greta shifted.
One second she was a woman. The next, a gray wolf the size of a pony. Fur matted. Teeth bared.
She leaped.
Cade shoved me toward the bike. "GO!"
I swung my leg over. Kicked the engine.
The wolf landed on Cade.
He went down hard.
"CADE!"
I didn't think. I grabbed the tire iron from Nellie and swung.
The iron hit the wolf's ribs. She yelped. Backed off.
Cade scrambled up. Blood on his arm. But alive.
"Ride!" he yelled.
Nellie was already on the back of my bike. I didn't remember her getting there.
I twisted the throttle.
The bike shot forward.
Behind us, I heard Joel scream.
Then gunfire.
Then silence.
We didn't look back.
We rode until the gas tank was empty.
Cade's bike was behind us. He'd made it. Barely.
We stopped at an abandoned gas station on the edge of county lines. No lights. No people. Just us and the dark.
Nellie was shaking. I was shaking.
Cade pulled me into a hug. His arm was bleeding through his jacket.
"You're hurt," I said.
"Just a scratch."
"That wolf bit you."
"Teeth grazed me. I'll live."
I pulled back. Looked at his face. Dirt. Sweat. Fear.
"Joel," I said.
Cade's jaw tightened. "I don't think he made it."
The words hit me like a punch.
He came to warn me. Because of my mom. And now he was gone.
Nellie sat on the curb. She was crying. Quietly.
"I thought I was going to die," she whispered. "When that wolf looked at me. I thought…"
"You're alive," I said. "We're alive."
"Barely."
I pulled out the map Joel gave me. Unfolded it on the hood of a rusted car.
A circle in red marker. A building. Highway 14. About twenty miles from here.
"Hale's compound," I said.
Cade looked at it. "You want to go there? After what just happened?"
"I want to end this."
"Lena. You're not a wolf. Not yet. You don't know how to shift."
"I know." I folded the map. Put it in my pocket. "But I know someone who does."
"Who?"
I pulled out my phone. Scroll to a name I never thought I'd call.
Damon.
The phone rang twice.
"It's three in the morning," his voice was rough. Asleep.
"I need your help."
Silence.
Then: "Where?"
I told him.
He said, "I'll be there in an hour."
The line went dead.
Cade stared at me. "You called Damon."
"I called the only wolf I know who might actually fight for me."
"He wants the bond."
"He wants to prove he's not his father." I met Cade's eyes. "So do I."
Nellie stopped crying. Wiped her face. "So. We're really doing this? Attacking a creepy old man's compound with a guy we don't trust?"
"Yes."
"Great. I need more snacks."
Despite everything, Cade laughed.
I didn't.
Because somewhere out there, Greta was still hunting. And Joel was dead. And the moon was rising.
Full moon. Tomorrow night.
The wolf inside me stirred.
And for the first time, I didn't fight it.
- Writer
