Hidden in Sheridan (Tainted Series: Book 1)

Moon: FIRST QUARTER

Levi - The three of us stumble backward. I can see Sterling fighting the urge to shift. Neither one of us want to scare Ity more than she already is. But to avoid changing in front of her, might be an unrealistic goal.

The Brown-Female is fierce. Though she’s smaller than Hank, her speed makes up for it all. Her swift motions are deliberate, even calculated. Hank manages to dodge but each of his attacks fall short of his target.

Rory hit the shifty Gray-Wolf. He’s smaller and fast but the Gray-Wolf doesn’t seem to be putting all his strength into his attacks, which means he’s either underestimating Rory, or toying with him.

Moments pass as I stand frozen watching my friend’s family fight for our lives. Trinity pulls her elbow free and runs between the two separate wrestling matches.

Time slows. I can hear her boots pounding through the squish of snow and mud. Her brown hair whips behind her and side glances from every wolf shift in her direction, but not long enough to distract from their battles.

Shaking the shock from my head, time returns to normal as Ity slides, feet first, in the snow beside the motorbike. Which seems to wake me up,

Trusting Rory and Hank, Sterling and I follow Ity to the side of the motorbike. The extra adrenaline from our impending doom gives me the extra strength needed to pull the awkwardly shaped machine from the trees.

A yelp from Hank sends a shiver down my back, but it’s the smell of blood that makes me jump on the bike faster. Ity ducks behind the machine as I put all my weight onto the kick starter.

Nothing happens.

Sterling maneuvers between myself and the fighting. It isn’t going well. The smell of fear and worry rope off of him in thick vapors. He was preparing to shift and join the fight.

I reach down and flip the choke, trying again to start the machine, but in return nothing happens. Useless piece of junk. I knew it before I’d pulled it from the garage, but ramming it into a tree surely hadn’t been helpful either.

A glance over my shoulder reveals the worst. Rory had been pushed back, and Hank’s open shoulder wound is gushing bright red blood across his lovely white fur.

I slip off the motorbike crouching beside Ity, putting my arm around her shoulders. I’m not sure why I thought that was a good idea. Perhaps I thought it would help comfort her for what was coming.

Sterling lets out a howl seconds before he jumps and shifts into his wolf form. He charges for Rory’s attacker snapping low at his heels. The Gray-Wolf falls back and Rory takes a sharp turn, attacking Hank’s opponent from behind and throwing her off balance enough to give Hank a breath.

It’s comforting to see how fast Sterling is. He’s much smaller than all the wolves in the space, but the Gray-Wolf doesn’t expect him to be so fearless. That gives Sterling the advantage, at least for the first few moments.

I look to Ity, the shock of seeing a shift for the first time would be a lot, but unlike me, she doesn’t have time to process it.

Her face is ... confusing. Her eyebrows are pulled together, eyes darting back and forth, but she bit back on her bottom lip. It’s the fight she’s watching closely so I know there’s no way she could have missed Sterling’s supernatural change.

Her eyes shift to me, fully aware that I’m watching her. My face flushes with heat, while my mind empties out of all thought. Like my sheet of white college ruled paper on a Monday morning, right after my teacher instructed us to write an interpretive paper on one of Shakespeare’s sonnets … blank.

Sensing my adolescent moment, Ity shot up into standing position holding a large branch in her hand, the length of a baseball bat. I hadn’t noticed she’d been holding it, until it was towering over my head. She brought it down like a golf club toward me. Startled, I fall back on my jeans and watch it connect hard with the side of the motorbike. Almost sending it over on its side, but with one hand she steadies it.

Swinging her leg over the side, she jumps on the kick starter and it revs to life.

Her long arm covered in a red sleeve reaches down to me, luckily my blank mind knows enough to take her out stretched hand. My fingers wrap around her thin fingers and my first thought is how cold they are. She pulls me smoothly onto the bike behind her.

Together we crash through the brush head on. It’s a thicker path than I would have chosen. My hands reach out to stop branches from hitting Ity in the face. The prickles of pine needles and sharp twigs, cut across my hands and arms through my sleeves, but this doesn’t slow her pace.

For a moment I feels as if we might home free. And with us out of the way, the Wolfe family will drive the terrorist pack out of their own territory.

Too hopeful. Too soon.

The distinct smell of the Brown-Female, was not the first to reach me. What came to me first, is difficult to explain. I just knew she was gaining, and I couldn’t stop her. So instead, I did the only thing I could do.

I wrap my arms around Ity’s waist pulling her into me tightly before pushing us both from the bike. I manage to position myself between her and the ground, and close my eyes. The snow was soft but the thick roots and uneven terrain beneath it, rip across my back. I tuck into a roll across the forest floor.

Thankfully we came to a stop without the help of a tree or bolder, but as we tumble my body goes limp and Ity rolls out of my arms, stopping several feet away.

I shake the dizziness away in time to see the Brown-Female baring down on me from above. My arms lift to brace the impact but I catch nothing.

A large branch whips through the air connecting with the wolf across the face knocking her off course, far enough for me to roll out from under her and onto my feet, beside Ity.

Ity’s hair is full of small twigs and leaves. Her ripped red hoodie spotted with blood. She stands her ground with the same long tree branch gripped tightly in her hands.

My stomach tightens. I hate seeing her like this. Her life’s in danger and here she is trying to protect me. But I’m stronger than this …

What was I afraid of?

Was I trying to keep her from knowing I was different?

With my new strength I could pick her up. With my new speed I could run her to safety. True they these wolves are just as fast, and could run me down but this whole time, I have been trying to hide.

But she’s in danger. Sterling’s in danger. So why?

The heat began to burn in my chest. It spread so quickly I wouldn’t have been able to tamper it if I’d wanted. It rushes down each of my limps, into my fingers, tightening my muscles and up into my head filling my mind with adrenaline. The drug sharpens my sight, my hearing, and it explodes from my throat in an echoing roar.

Eyes wide, the Brown-Female stumbles backward. She spreads her stance to keep from falling but her head instinctively bowes, but only for a moment.

“Okay.” The voice beside me vibrated like a soft alto. I look over to see Trinity. Her sharp green eyes locked on me, her lips parted gently as her soft pink lips moved and she spoke, “You have my attention.”

CHAPTER END