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I was atte to fish one of his shoes out of the creek when I realized I wasnʼt alone

One the opposite bank,me

I choked back a scream and remained very still At least, I tried to be very still, just like those Discovery Channel shoays say you should when encountering a wild ani oron whether I should run, scream, or just hope to die quickly when my eyes locked with the decidedly human eyes of the wolf

"Alex?" It ca back towards the spot where the creek wound its way around the hill and out of sight

"Alex!" I called out, louder this ti I could have rationalized that the shock of the evening was causing my eyes to play tricks onfrom post-traumatic stress or temporary insanity Any of those options would have been so very easy to accept if he hadnʼt turned and looked at rey eyes before disappearing into the night

Chapter 7

Sleep was pretty much a lost cause My body was exhausted, but my brain was on hyper-drive I was shocked, scared, confused, and asha in arde film whose sole purpose is to leave the audience bewildered and jittery I was terrified of how much more I would see if I closed my eyes

I was curled up in the rooly comfortable overstuffed blue and yellow stripped ht in the roo dawn There were sofor attention, I couldnʼt concentrate on any single one Instead, I focused on the way the lightache I felt fro all over ht they were just part of the chaotic noise in my head It wasnʼt until I heard so just outside e of the heavy curtain and breathed a sigh of relief Alex was there, alive Unharmed Human His clothes were beyond dirty, despite my most valiant efforts in the Mapco stationʼs sood, actually

Getting out of the chair was a bit difficult with the pain that radiated from my tailbone I wrapped the fuzzy blue hotel blanket even lance at the heater where I had left my clothes to dry I could have tried to put them back on, despite the fact they were still damp, but I didnʼt The need to speak to Alex, to see if he was really okay, outweighedin an arctic breeze that caused an outbreak of goosebu "You knohat happens if they find us I canʼt believe you would risk that, risk everything, for soirlʼ! Itʼs about --" Alex looked up and noticedthe arded ive out, but the joy I felt over the fact that Alex wasnʼt dead or walking around on four legs keptback into the rooet to retted not taking the ti stellar things for s sticking out whereat the site of ot five minutes," Liam said to Alex with all the love and warone Understood?"

I watched in relief as Lia lot and climbed into a battered old Jeep Cherokee The ly aware of my unbrushed hair, make-up free face, and near-nakedness, which is why I just blurted out,

"Youʼre a olf"