Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 20

Echo Pov

The doorknob jostled as I pulled the door closed, making sure it fully clicked into place before I stepped back. Yesterday, I had returned from my date with Kodi to find that the lock on the door still hadn’t been fixed. Since I didn’t see Harrison at the front desk when I came back, I decided to leave it for the time being. It wasn’t the most secure, but as long as the door still shut, it would do.

With how quiet this town was, one would think Harrison would be more accommodating to his few guests, but he wasn’t necessarily competing with other inns. Even as I passed the lobby now, Harrison was nowhere to be found.

It was late in the afternoon and I didn’t have a shift at the pub tonight. It had been too long since I had the chance to go for a run. This time, I would be running in my human of course, just to be safe. It was clear that while my mate was a hunter, he likely wasn’t the only one. When we had surveyed the scene of the attack in the pack’s territory, there were multiple scents for the hunters. There was no telling how many there were hiding out in this remote town.

Setting out on the lone gravel road reminded me of what it was like coming into this town for the first time. I ran in solitude, feeling the earth thrum against my sneakers rather than my paws. My breathing picked up the longer I ran. Though I hadn’t gone for a run in what felt like ages, wolves didn’t get out of shape. Running was still as second nature to me as following my sense of smell.

Over a mile in, I still hadn’t passed a single car or person on the clearly deserted road. As I approached the town limits, I turned into the forest that was nestled into its western border. It hadn’t been my intention to complete my run in the woods, but I wanted to go for much longer than the road would take me without leaving town.

If Kodi had been confident to take me into the forest for a date, he and his hunters must have kept them pretty clear from wolves. This area didn’t belong to any packs. By running through the woods, I could loop around to the pub and find my way back to the inn from there.

I could make it back to my room by sundown, but the light in the sky was already waning as the sun prepared to finish its descent. The fading daylight was even more apparent as I entered a trail beneath the foliage. Light peaked through the branches, but the woods were overall more dim than they had been during my outing with Kodi yesterday.

The thought of kissing him replayed in my mind. A selfish part of me was glad that the hunters had found their way into Derek’s territory. My left hand absentmindedly found its way to my abdomen where the wound from the silver bullet had completely healed as though it had never happened at all. But I could still remember the searing pain even if there wasn’t a mark to show it. I never would wish that harm on myself or any of the other pack members, but I would never have found my mate if they never stumbled upon the pack.

I was snapped out of my reverie as I tripped on a tree root. I cursed the moon goddess as I surveyed the scrape on my knee. Blood welled up out of the torn skin. I judged that it would be fine if I continued to run, though it might be best to end a little earlier than I had hoped for.

Running in human form had given me some feeling of release, though it couldn’t compete with being in my wolf form. If the entire pack was still restricted from shifting, I could only imagine how tensions would be rising between them. Having a wolf side was like this pent up energy constantly building up inside, waiting to be released lest it needed to claw its way out.

Then, a noise that rose just over the sound of the breeze caused me to still. It was the sound of paws grounding into the earth, the way an animal would do right before it was about to pounce. Every movement after that became highly scrutinized. I stood up. Not too fast, but not too slow either so I didn’t give away that I now realized there was a pair of eyes on me.

I began to run again, this time veering more towards the edge of the forest. Getting out didn’t mean I would necessarily be in the clear, but there was a chance the creature would let me go if I got out of its way.

As I neared the edge of the forest, I picked up my speed gradually as though I had wanted to build up to it, not that I was trying to get away. I bit my tongue to hold in a curse as I heard the distant movement from behind me. From the way two sets of paws thudded against the ground, I was confident it was a wolf. Had one of my assailants from the pack come all this way to finish the job without consequence? Watching me trip and letting me get a headstart had been part of the game. He had been waiting for the perfect moment to come after me. I didn’t dare look back.

My breathing picked up along with my pace as the line of trees began to thin. The strides of the wolf behind me became quicker and more powerful. Just as they would when a wolf was ready to pounce. I gasped as I reached the break in the trees and lunged for the ground.

Grass and dirt scraped against the already open skin of my knee. My hands went out in front of me on instinct as the momentum carried me forward down the hill I had not seen in my haste to dodge the wolf.

Diving for the ground had been the right move as my attacker miscalculated his jump and sailed over my head. Though I failed to keep myself from rolling towards him, I had at least managed to avoid his sharp teeth or breaking my neck upon impact.

I used the momentum I had built to throw my feet forward first so that my heels now dug into the ground, slowing my descent. The wolf was now circling back to face me, though he didn’t make a move to lunge at me again. Likely he didn’t want to make the same mistake of overshooting his target. This time, he would wait until there was nowhere for me to go.

As if the moon goddess was truly looking out for me, the bottom of the hill was littered with fallen branches from the forest. As I stilled, the wolf held my gaze and snarled as though he would savor my demise. Without breaking his stare, my hand slowly reached out to the nearest limb it could come in contact with.

In near slow motion, the wolf finally made his move and pounced. Before he could stick the landing, I had just enough time to pull the fallen branch into my second hand. I held it out in front of me as my last line of defense.

Bark dug into my palms as the wolf clamped his jaw onto the branch. Though it did the trick to keep the wolf an arm's distance from me, it wouldn’t hold forever. I winced as spittle dotted my cheeks. This close to the wolf, I could easily pick up on the stench that gave him away as a rogue wolf.

He growled again, making me more nauseous than afraid at the new wave of bad breath that attacked my senses. Soon, the branch would give way to the force of his bite. If I had any chance of defending myself against him, I would need to shift into my wolf.

Whilst survival should have been the priority without a second thought, I couldn’t help but linger on the fear of someone seeing me. Besides the forest at our backs, I had no idea what our surroundings looked like. If anyone were to witness my shift, there was a high probability that I would be sent running from this small town by the hunters. Maybe even by my mate.

The sound of a gunshot saves me from having to make that choice. I can’t see where the gunshot came from, but I do know what the intended target was by the wolf slumps on top of me. The wolf lets out a final whine as it releases all of its weight onto me.

I don’t let up my hold on the branch to keep his weight off my chest. I squint my eyes tightly to focus on something other than the weight of him and the warm blood that is now pouring onto my side.

When I open them, Kodi and an older gentleman who resembles him quite closely are pushing the wolf off of me and onto the ground. I don’t wait to be fully free before I begin to sit up.

As soon as the two of them are done moving the wolf, Kodi wraps me in his arms. His breathing is quick and shallow, partly from the exertion of moving a giant wolf, but also from the panic of seeing me under it.

When Kodi finally pulls away enough for me to meet his eyes, I see the small boy who just lost his parents in the same way. There’s a high probability he didn’t expect to see me get back up after the attack.

“Are you okay, Echo?” His hand finds its way to the back of my head for him to help steady me.

I nod, feeling disoriented but least still in one piece. “I’ll be alright.”

“Here.” Kodi takes both of my hands in his and helps me stand. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

I don’t resist as Kodi leads me in the direction of a log cabin that I hadn’t noticed when facing the threat of a wolf. It turns out that shifting into my wolf might have been just as fatal an option as we were within 50 meters of his residence.

“What about,” I started to ask, looking back at who I assumed was Kodi’s uncle as he kneeled down next to the incapacitated wolf.

“Don’t worry about it.” Kodi put his hand on the small of my back and kept us moving towards the cabin. “Lyle will take care of it.”