The Ripple Effect

The little girl still refused to walk beside me, but I wasn't going to push her so quickly—horrible things had clearly happened to her, and trusting a stranger was certainly not going to be in her book of "best ideas right now."

But it did make me nervous to not be able to check on her. She would skitter out of sight whenever I tried to spot her, no matter how much I tried to coax her out of hiding.

"Little girl," I called over my shoulder, trying not to let my frustration show. "If you're out there, we still need to think up a nice, new name for you. How about Annie?" Nothing. I mulled over my thoughts for a moment longer. "Okay, something edgier... Zeya? Saria?"

I glanced back, but she still skittered away. So I just kept throwing out names, hoping she would bite on at least one.

"Catherine? Mabel? Aria? Rita? ...Samantha? Elise?"

But a low growling cut my game into pieces, and my first instinct drew me closer to the ground and baring my teeth.

"Come where I can see you!" I snarled, scanning the area for an immediate threat. We were relatively close to a marked territory—but not close enough to warrant such abuse.

I had expected one wolf to emerge from the brush, but three more trailed after him—they were obviously patrol wolves. They all shared a common trait, a trait I had first noticed on the little girl: they were black wolves. I had not made the connection before...

"Are you this girl's pack?"

The lead looked right at me, and only then did I realise that the little girl was standing behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist. Her eyes were horribly wide and terrified, like she recognized the men personally.

"Help me, Mr. Luca," she whimpered as silent tears rolled down her cheek. "I'm not strong enough yet."

My eyes narrowed as they swept over these men.

"Did you hurt her?" My voice wavered slightly, but I swallowed the lump in my throat.

But then a slow smile crept onto the wolf's lips.

That bastard.

I don't even know what came over me... All I remember was a flash of red blinding my vision, and Iah broke loose with no intention of being reeled back in. He lunged at the grinning wolf, and the black wolf hissed as he was knocked onto his back.

"What kind of man hurts a child?" Iah hissed, slashing at his chest as blood pooled into his fur.

"Get off!" the revolting lecher demanded, panic flashing in his eyes.

His troop started rushing at us, so Iah sunk his teeth into the wolf's neck and tore open his jugular just as the three jumped at him. Iah ducked quickly, slashing at the nearest wolf and making him tumble to the dirt.

But the other two were rushing at the screaming girl, who was crouching on the ground with her hands over her head and pleading for her life. She feared these men for a reason, and I didn't want to wait around to confirm my theory.

Iah threw himself at the closest one, knocking him into a nearby tree before rushing at the final wolf and colliding with full force, causing the wolf to tangle with Iah as they tumbled.

"Go!" Iah screamed at the girl, turning his head and ignoring the thrashing wolf beneath him.

Iah howled in pain when a claw dug into his back, and I felt myself being pulled back into my body. This was bad, really bad!

But suddenly the wolf was knocked off, and Iah quickly bit into the wolf beneath him. He whipped around, and I scanned the area frantically in search of the girl.

A small wolf was lying by a tree, whimpering in pain beside the last wolf—who was lumbering onto his feet and obviously dizzy.

"You little bitch!" he spat out, turning and wobbling toward her.

"No!" Iah growled, and a burst of possessiveness coursed through our shared link as he lunged at the final wolf, tearing him to pieces.

If my wolf was smart, he would have kept one alive to interrogate... But we'd always been rather brash, and our first victim had effectively bled to death.

"Shift," Iah demanded of the little wolf as he ducked his head down to retrieve her clothes.

I was then given control back, and I turned away quickly as I dragged myself to my own pile of clothes. A low groan slipped past me, however, as my hand instinctively moved to ease the ache in my back.

Blood covered my hand.

I hissed in pain, immediately straightening my back as shock coursed up my spine. Those wolves were clearly not beginners...

"Mr. Luca... You're hurt."

I turned to face the soft voice, and I saw the little girl watching me with such a sorry look on her face.

"Because of me."

I shook my head and crumpled my shirt into a ball inside my hand. Clearly, I wouldn't be able to wear it anytime soon.

"I'll be fine. We just need to find a hospitable pack."

She looked down. "You won't find that with the way you're heading." She looked at me again. "If you keep going south, you're going to hit the Shadow Pack."

The blood rushed from my face.

"Is... Is that your pack?"

"It used to be..."

A harsh breath filled my lungs, causing a sharp pain in my back. I winced, doubling over and clenching my teeth so tightly that my jaw ticked.

"Mr. Luca!"

"It's okay," I forced out, slowly standing back upright. "You're right: we need to keep moving."

I started walking, just praying that she would follow.

"Mr. Luca..."

"Yes?" I managed to grunt out.

But a scream tore through my throat, and I jumped away from the girl who had just caused me so much pain! She smiled sadly, holding out my bloody shirt.

"You have to put pressure on it, to make it stop bleeding." She came at me again, but I backed away. Hell no! She sighed, "Mr. Luca, I've been out here for two years now. I think I know what I'm doing."

Two...years?