Page 15 of A Shade of Myself
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Makingmyself as comfortable as possible on the ground next to the trail, I prepared a story about how my ankle was lightly sprained and I was waiting for my husband to come back and assist me the rest of the way. I could have saved my energy, because not a single person asked if I was all right, all of them determined to reach the view at the top in record time. Or, more likely, the beer and food.
It was nearing noon and the hot August sun had driven all but the insanely determined—and me—away. I did my best to follow the shifting shade, my stomach growling loudly and my throat thick and sticky from lack of water. The only upside was that I’d sweated everything out and didn’t have to pee, since there were no outhouses on the Grind.
Had another dybbuk burst onto the scene, I’m not sure I would have had the energy to deal with it, but luckily, the situation didn’t arise.
Dappled sunlight filtered down through the tree canopy, the birdsong a soothing music, and the air rich with the scents of mulch, cedar, and pine. Rich with my body odor too, but I was mostly nose blind on that one by now. It was peaceful and lovely being here by myself, and I fell into a meditative state, my normally whirring brain quiet for once. This was not due to some zen achievement on my part, but because I no longer had the energy to think or move.
Even the thrum of anxiety that I’d lived with since meeting the man on the beach was muted. I hadn’t heard from Ryann that they’d caught him, but I doubted he’d followed me up here without me noticing.
A cracking twig startled me out of my trance, and I nervously glanced over my shoulder, in case the universe had taken my earlier request seriously and sent a bear to eat me.
It was so much worse.
I blinked at the sight. Rubbed my eyes and shook my head to clear it of the hallucination, because there could not be a white wolf prowling out of the forest.
There was no way it was Laurent because he was in France, except that left the alternative being a real wolf or a strange shifter. I grabbed a fallen tree branch and jabbed it at the beast. “Don’t come any closer.”
Flicking his tail, the wolf shot me a “seriously?” look, annoyance clear in a pair of very familiar emerald eyes.
I shot up onto my feet, simultaneously smoothing my hair and cleaning dirt off myself. This could not be happening. If Laurent was having second thoughts about the two of us sleeping together then seeing me looking less appealing than a Dickensian urchin did not bode well for my sexual satisfaction.
I was going to kill Tatiana for not mentioning that he was back.
Right after I finished committing lupicide.
Was a heads-up text too much to ask for? Perhaps from the bottom of the mountain before he just trotted up here in a ridiculously short amount of time not even winded? I chucked a pebble at him. “Shoo.”
Deftly avoiding it, Laurent marched around the circle of shimmering air. He sniffed it; he pawed at it. He even growled at it.
Nothing happened.
I flashed him a thumbs-up. “Doing great there, Huff ’n’ Puff.”
The wolf scampered about ten feet down the trail from me, turning back to flick his tail again.
I crossed my arms. “What? You just show up, snarl at the air, do nothing, and I’m supposed to run along and let more hikers get eaten?”
If wolves could frown, I’d swear that’s what he was doing, but when I didn’t react, he growled softly.
“Got it. You’re the big hero. I’m just the grunt who climbed the mountain and found the problem in a gazillion acres of forest. Knock yourself out. Fix it.” I flicked a leaf off my arm. I may have been hungry, filthy, and dehydrated, but I’d tapped into a well of anger and I was drinking deep. It was refreshing in a toxic sort of way.
He raced back up and butted me in the hip with his snout.
“If you have something to say, then shift, because a hiker could appear at any time.”
He shot me a “duh” look.
“Oh.” I rocked back on my heels. “Is that what you wanted? For me to keep anyone from coming up?”
The wolf huffed. Animals shouldn’t have the ability to convey irritation so clearly.
“Jeez. Shoot me for not being fluent in wolf.” I stomped back down the trail to the nearest bend and planted myself in such a way that I could see both oncoming hikers and Laurent.
Golden light spread from the wolf’s back paws, blossoming up his legs and across his torso.
At the sound of cheerful whistling, I spun away from the hypnotic sight. “Sorry,” I said to the hiker. “There’s been an accident. Search and Rescue is dealing with it, but you need to hang on a moment.” I glanced over my shoulder, spying a flash of blinding white that made me quickly look away, and pointed to a spot several feet away where the wolf could not be seen. “Wait there, please.”
