Pup Among the Big Dogs

"Oh my God!" I screamed, phasing back into a human and dropping to my knees beside him. Ian's wolf body was absolutely a mess. His fur was ripped off in places and blood seeped through any wound it could. He was panting heavily and not moving at all other than his tail wagging slightly.

"Isabel," he yipped softly, beating me with his tail. I stroked his fur softly, careful not to harm him.

"Yes," I choked out, trying not to cry.

"You're okay then. Good." I shook my head, looking away from him.

"No. It's not good. Ian, look what I've done!" The tears spilled over silently as I hid my face behind my hair. What had I done?

"No, it's not your fault," he insisted, still laying way too still for my liking. I looked back to him, tears still pouring down nicely.

"Have you seen yourself lately?" I asked him, shaking my head furiously. "Have you seen our town? Everyone refuses to come out. They're locked up in their homes out of fear! And I led those damn vampires here! If I had just listened to you and not tried to phase in the middle of the night this wouldn't have happened!" I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated.

"You also wouldn't have phased, Isabel." Ian sat up cautiously in his human form. I helped him stay steady. He was already beat up enough without getting dirt in his cuts. He bit his lip against pain presumably. "Careful, that spot's tender."

"Sorry," I uttered softly, removing my hand from his arm.

"Now, where were you?"

"All over the place. First I was with Zach. Then I was with Gabriel. Apparently he bought me. Honestly, that has to be illegal in this country!" Ian laughed slightly, making sure not to cause more pain. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked, somber again.

"Yeah. It won't take too long, really. We heal at a faster rate than humans, Bel. Don't worry, I look a lot worse than I really am."

"How long have you been like this? When did you leave home to come find me?" I asked, feeling more horrible with each passing second. Come on, I had caused this boy to go through so much.

"Well, at first I thought you were just in the forest. You know, trying to phase. That or you wanted some alone time. So I wanted to give you that, hoping that would let you know that it's okay to love me. I mean, I figured if you trusted me and you knew that I understand that you need things sometimes, then we would be back on track quicker.

"So I decided to give you an hour or two. But soon it was six in the morning and you were still gone. I didn't care if you hated more for coming to interrupt your alone time, it wasn't healthy to try to phase for that long. In fact, it would make it more difficult to phase in the end." He glared at me and I laughed uneasily. That explained things. "Well, anyway, I went in there and called your names for hours, but nothing. So I thought you were hiding or you ran away...again.

"So I checked your house first. Nothing there and your parents were asleep, so I couldn't ask them. I ran through the forest in my wolf form, but there was no sign of you. Not a scent was left behind. I returned back to my house and in my own backyard was where your scent was the strongest. But you were gone without a trace. It's like you vanished from thin air.

"But that had to mean you were stolen. I knew from the horrid odor that vampires had been by. So I did the sensible thing: I wrote your parents a letter, telling them I was off to look for you and all the vampiric details. I guess while I was gone there was an ambush. But I was searching for at least two months and still there was no sign of you. I found Zach's place, but you were gone to another place!

"Long story short, I ran through some vampire territory and they didn't like it too much. So I've probably been here for a few days. You should have seen me right after they attacked me. Ugh, but they thought it would be fun to make me suffer into death, not make it quick and painless. And here we are now."

"I am so sorry." I had to resist the urge to hug him. I didn't need to hurt him more than I already had.

Physical or mental; my torment knew no bounds.