Marked - Book cover

Marked

Tori R. Hayes

Chapter Three: Wounded Predator

I woke up with a start. My body was covered in sweat, and I was gasping to get a fresh breath of air.

I was awake, but the longing for the wolf I saw in my dream hadn’t disappeared. It had only grown stronger.

It had left me feeling weird. It hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt real. The wolf had felt real.

I stormed out of my room and headed for the bathroom. A splash of water would probably wake me up and relieve me from the feeling.

The white wolf was still burning brightly in my memory. The way its fur had been dancing with the flow of the wind and how gracefully it had been moving across the ground.

I could almost feel the wind on my own body.

I reached the cold handle and twisted it to enter the small room.

The tiles felt cold against the bare soles of my feet, but it was refreshing compared to the heat the rest of my body was generating.

My feet carried me to the sink, and I leaned over it to keep myself standing.

I looked up to study myself in the mirror and to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming anymore.

What met my eyes startled me.

I could see that I was looking at myself, but my eyes were glowing as blue as the glaciers you could find in Antarctica. My canine teeth looked like something you would see on a predator.

Was I still dreaming?

I turned on the water and splashed it on my face. It can’t be real… It can’t be. It’s just my mind playing tricks on me, I tried convincing myself before I grabbed a towel to wipe off the water.

My hands were shaking, and I almost didn’t dare to look into the mirror again. But I did.

I slowly removed the towel from my face and opened my eyes, but I looked normal.

My eyes weren’t glowing, and my teeth looked like they always had.

I sighed. It hadn’t been anything but in my brain. It hadn’t been real.

The longing was gone, and I could feel the wolf fading from my mind.

I threw the towel on the ground and agreed with myself that I could take care of it in the morning.

The minute I opened the door back up, I saw my mother standing in the hallway. As if she was waiting for me.

“Are you okay, darling?” she asked and came closer. “I heard you rush out here, and I just wanted to check if something was wrong.”

“I… I just had a nightmare,” I explained. “I was sweating and needed some water, but I’m okay now.”

I was smiling, but deep inside, her constant supervision was getting on my nerves. She always did this.

The minute I left my room at night and she heard, she would be there to make sure I didn’t do something I shouldn’t. It had always been like that.

And just like every other night adventure I had been on throughout my life, she would wait in the hall until I had closed the door to my room behind me.

I exhaled before I left the wall and found my bed again.

It was still warm.

I sat down and covered myself with the heated duvet. Before I leaned back onto the pillow, I turned around to check the time.

2 a.m. It was the middle of the night, and I hadn’t been sleeping for more than four hours.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

I decided to stay awake for a few more minutes.

The stars on my ceiling weren’t glowing as much as they usually did when I studied them before bed.

The sun hadn’t been shining on them for many hours, and they were slowly fading like the image in my dream. Like the white wolf.

My eyelids felt heavy, and I was finally ready to sleep again. To fall into the dreamless emptiness.

I closed my eyes and embraced the darkness, but I didn’t see the darkness I had hoped for.

I saw darkness, but it wasn’t completely dark. I could see trees lit up by the light of the full moon rising above them.

And a white spot becoming clearer the more I looked at it.

She was standing proud like the magnificent wolf she was. Just as defined as before I escaped to the bathroom.

I forced my eyes open again and sat up. I was already trying to catch my breath and sweating as if I had been lying in my bed for hours.

My hand instantly found the watch and looked at the numbers again. It had only been ten minutes.

Why wouldn’t the image leave my mind? Why did something so absurd feel so real?

Who was she?

***

I got out of bed and went to the shower, but I couldn’t shake the thought of the dream I had had.

I turned off the water and was hit by reality.

My bike… It was still out there, and I couldn’t ask my mother for a ride to school. She would know that something was up, and I had never pulled myself together to actually get a driver’s license.

Our town was small, and my bike usually got me to the places I needed to go to.

“Good morning, darling.”

Mom seemed to be in a good mood. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Tired.” I smiled.

“Not so young anymore,” she teased and placed the last pancake on my plate.

“You’re in a good mood today,” I said, trying to avoid a conversation about my birthday.

“I am off to meet my cousin, whom I haven’t seen in a long time.”

“That sounds nice. Can I come with you?” I asked.

“Haha, no, honey, you have school to attend.” She pointed at me.

“I was hoping to skip today,” I said.

“Rieka! My daughter does not skip school. You only have this last year before you head off to see the world, so you better enjoy the freedom while you can.”

“School does not feel like freedom.” I laughed.

After breakfast, I dressed and went out.

“Where are you heading this early?” Mom asked.

It was Wednesday, and my day didn’t start before noon. But this was the perfect time for me to get my bike.

“I just thought I would go for a walk. The weather is nice.”

I was afraid that she would see through me until she nodded. “Fine, but just be back in time for school.”

“I promise.”

The trip was long without a bike, but I managed and arrived at the moon-gazing hill. My bike was still there as I had left it last night.

I looked up to take a look at the place Archer had kissed me for the first time. Or kissed my hair at least. But it didn’t seem to look like we had left it from where I was standing.

I was too curious to let it go and found my way up there.

When I reached the top, I saw that everything had been spread everywhere. The blanket had been torn to pieces, and the food had been ripped from the bag.

I was wondering what could have done it when everything turned silent.

The birds stopped singing, even the wind was calm. A chill ran down my spine, and I almost didn’t dare to move.

I heard a deep growl behind me. Without any sudden movements, I looked over my shoulder to see that a mountain lion had found its way to the clearing.

The creature looked starved. Its ribs jutted out of its mangy, matted fur. Bright yellow eyes watched my every move, and a rope of drool dripped down from its mouth, exposing rows of sharp teeth.

I was about to be lunch.

I turned and sprinted for my bike, desperate to get away. But I wasn’t fast enough. Pain exploded on my left shoulder as the creature’s claws stabbed into me. I screamed as its weight pinned me down, scrambling to get away.

I managed to spin on my back and I tried to push away the snarling beast, but it was no use. Despite how bony the mountain lion was, its hunger made it strong. Its jaws lunged for my throat…and suddenly it wasn’t above me anymore.

I saw an enormous shadow sweep over me, ripping the creature away. For a second I just laid there, staring at the sky, trying to catch my breath. I heard the hissing snarl of the mountain lion, and a deep bass growling from something else.

I was still dazed, but I tried to sit up. My head swam, and my shoulder throbbed painfully. I felt warmth flowing down my back.

That’s when I saw it.

At first I thought I was hallucinating. The lion was fighting with a creature made out of the night. Jet black fur, rippling muscles, claws the size of butcher knives. I knew what it looked like, but it couldn’t be…wolves just didn’t get that big.

I tried to crawl towards my bike. These two wild animals were fighting over lunch…and I didn’t want to find out which one would get to eat me.

I was almost there when I suddenly realised that it was way too quiet behind me. I heard that deep, bass growling. I could feel it vibrating in the soles of my feet.

I turned around, and the strangest thing happened. I gazed into the wolf’s bright blue eyes, and suddenly I wasn’t afraid anymore. I felt…safe. I might have been imagining it, but the wolf looked worried for me. Not hungry.

Slowly, I reached out my hand, going to stroke the wolf with trembling fingers…

Suddenly, the wolf jumped away just as an arrow slammed into the ground in front of me.

“Rieka!”

I knew that voice!

“Archer?”

I saw him running towards me. I turned and saw the wolf disappearing into the forest, and I felt a strange sense of loss.

Archer crouched in front of me, looking at my wound angrily. “Are you okay? I can’t believe he would actually hurt you…”

I was so shocked that it took me a second to realize he was talking about the wolf. Archer called it a he

“A mountain lion did this,” I gasped. Now that the danger was gone, I was starting to feel woozy. “The wolf... it saved me.”

Archer’s expression hardened, his mouth flattening to a grim line. He cleaned my wound and bandaged it quickly, his touch so soft it barely hurt.

“Thanks,” I murmured, grateful to have Archer with me.

“Let’s get you home.”

“But my bike,” I said, woozy. That was the whole reason I came here.”

“I’ll come back for your bike, don’t worry.”

I was too tired to argue. Archer scooped me up in his arms. Normally, I’d be embarrassed, but I was so tired I snuggled into his chest. The sound of his heartbeat calmed me.

***

We reached the door to my house, and my dad answered.

“Rieka! What happened?!” he asked and helped me inside.

“She had an encounter with a mountain lion. I was just lucky enough to be nearby,” Archer answered.

“Thank you, Archer. I can take it from here. Watch yourself out there and get home safely.”

I met his worried eyes just before the door closed. “I’m sorry, Archer.”

***

My dad helped me clean up and made me go to bed. He would handle school and my mother when she returned.

As soon as he left my room, I released the tears I had been holding back.

I had never encountered a wild animal before, and it had been so scary. It was hard to put words to the things I was feeling because I couldn’t make sense of them either.

The mountain lion, the massive black wolf with blue eyes, Archer’s reaction… The dream…

I got up and opened my window, wanting to get some fresh air. But I suddenly realized I wasn’t alone. There was someone standing out in the street, looking up at me.

It was Shay. I thought I saw him smile when I saw him, and he quickly turned away and disappeared into the shadows. But not before I saw something flash in the moonlight. Something that reminded me of my encounter with the wolf.

His bright, electric blue eyes…

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