Chapter 10

Kyp

Rolling out of bed, I stretched. I pushed away the mental image of Shelby, lying in a pool of her own blood, slashes covering her torso, leaves and muck covering most of the rest of her, her eyes pale and staring up at me, blinking once and nearly scaring me out of my skin. Wolf growled inside me as I shook my head, trying again to clear the image.

A hot shower took away some of the chill that clung to me and a toasted bagel and sausage patty along with the note Mom left telling me to have a good day cheered me. As did the thought of seeing Rachel soon. Mom’s interest in Jonathan made me wonder if something could be possible between Rachel and me? She didn’t seem to mind my mixed blood at all. That was more than I could say for any other girl I’d ever thought about. Maybe I should pay more attention to the twinges and flutters I got when I was near her.

Swallowing down a glass of orange juice, I headed back to my room and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, unplugging it and pulling up the home screen.

Two percent battery.

I frowned and looked back at the cord, shaking my head in disgust when I realized the plug had been knocked loose from the wall and hadn’t charged my phone at all overnight. There wasn’t anything I could do about it now. I didn’t have a car charger. I jerked the plug out and wound the cord up, hoping I could manage to charge it sometime between now and when school started. Sam and Dominic had no other way to contact me. I silently cursed my inability to connect properly with a pack—not that it would have mattered anyway, Wolf reminded me, since I wasn’t officially a pack member yet. But I would be. The date was set for next Wednesday night. The most important day of my life to date. I got giddy just thinking about it. This was what I’d wanted my whole life. A place to belong. A pack to come alongside. People who didn’t care about my hybrid genes. Sometimes I felt like I needed to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t all a dream.

I pulled up in Rachel’s driveway, my truck idling as Wolf came fully alert, and the hair on the back of my neck prickled and a tremor rocked my arms.

Something was not right here.

Rachel’s door wasn’t shut. Honeydew sat happily on the porch, chewing something resembling a stick of jerky. I glanced around. Rachel’s house wasn’t as secluded as mine, but there were no visible neighbors. Her long drive led out to a gravel road before it hit the main street. Trees and underbrush surrounded the manicured lawn on every other side. It was too still.

I got out of the truck, all senses on high alert, listening for anything that would tell me what was going on. I picked up nothing but the chatter of birds and the whistle of the cold wind through the treetops. Bounding up the steps, I scooped up the dog and poked my head inside the door.

“Rachel?”

No answer. I already knew she was gone. I put the dog down and shut the door firmly behind me so she wouldn’t get out again. I needed Wolf. Checking my surroundings again, I heard and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just the stillness.

Within ten seconds, I’d stripped and shifted to my wolf. I scooped up my clothes and shoes in my mouth and put my nose to the ground. My heart pounded when Wolf quickly picked up Rachel’s scent mixed with the smells of two others. The others were slightly familiar, and tumultuous churning in my gut warned me I was too late.

Wolf ate up the trail, which ended at a gravel road. I traced the road, back and forth. It must not be used overmuch. I ran my nose over the surface several more times before silently blessing old automobiles in general as I realized the only fresh vehicle smell would be easy to trace. It had an oil leak. Oil that needed to be changed. Badly. It was distinct, timeworn, and corroded. I’d be able to follow it, even if other vehicles had traveled the same road recently.

With an urgency I felt down to my bones, I ran.