Run: Beginnings (9 page)

              Several yards away from Mitchells Hardware Store, Natalie could already tell something was off. The windows weren’t glowing with the warm light of the store. And the front door still had its blinds down.

              She parked the car in front of the store and whipped out her cellphone. She rarely ever called Eric since they were rarely more than a stone’s throw away from each other.
Dating
, Natalie mused.
Can you still call it dating when it’s with a werewolf? It sounds so normal for someone so
un-
normal.
But her phone only rang and rang with nobody picking up on the other end.

              What was going on? The other shops were open for business. There was no weather disaster or national holiday preventing Eric from opening his store. And she couldn’t imagine such a meticulous and hardworking man suddenly deciding to be lazy for the day.

            
 
“
He came into town several years ago—from out of nowhere really
!
”

              Nurse Marci
a’
s words suddenly flashed across her mind. Eric had come into Lowell quite suddenly apparently. What if he had left just as suddenly as well?

             
Oh god, Evers, get a serious grip. You are redefining the word ‘drama queen’ right now.

              Natalie nodded. Yes, there could be a myriad of reasons why he wasn’t at his store right now. She couldn’t let herself dwell on all the possible what-ifs. And she couldn’t just keep running after this man while she put the rest of her life on hold. She hadn’t completely lied to Amber; she really did still need to pack. Natalie pulled the car out and back towards the house. She would be leaving for LA in two days. Hopefully there would be somebody waiting for her when she got back.

***

              Feeling ridiculously nostalgic, Natalie took out the bottle of wine she had served for Eric’s first dinner at her house and poured herself a glass. She took it out with her to the back porch with a blanket in hand, prepared for the cold night air.

              But what Natalie was not prepared for was the magical sight of thousands of tiny white snowflakes floating down across her lawn, leaving small patches of white fluff. She gasped as she took in the singularly stunning sight of raw wilderness receiving its first snowfall. Natalie was sure she had never seen anything so beautiful before.

              Slowly, she set down the wineglass on the porch rail. Natalie couldn’t sit down. She couldn’t just sit and watch this beautiful sight. It somehow felt wrong. The night was silent and the sky completely black. Yet she could see the dim glow around each flake through the moonlight. Each little flake was floating down so slowly, the whole lawn seemed to be covered in a beautiful snow curtain.

              She wanted to touch it. She wanted to feel the snow melt on her face. Natalie hesitantly took a step down when something in the distance caught her eye. Squinting through the snow, she saw it again. A flash of a face. A face in the woods. It was hard to make out through the haze of the snow but she was positive she had seen a male face weaving through the wooded trees.

             
Eric.
What was he doing in the woods? And after he had just made her promise to stay away.

              Natalie had one foot still on the porch step with her other foot hanging over the grass. Her instinct had been to run towards him and to grab him, feel his heat, and to ask him why he was suddenly pushing her away. But would that just rock the already rocky boat? He had had her promise to stay away from the woods.

              A snowflake fell on Natalie’s shoe. Natalie stared at the perfect white fluff. She would soon be going back to the land of 70º winters where snow like this would never stand a chance. She wanted answers
now
. Throwing her blanket away, she ran down the porch and across her lawn, into the dark woods.

Chapter
Nine

              Brush and branches clawed and clung to her as she tried to run through the thick forest of trees, trying to catch up with Eric. She had this irrational feeling that the faster she found him, the less time she’d be in the actual woods. And the less time she spent in the actual woods, the less upset he’d be at her for breaking her promise.

              But the snow was beginning to fall faster now. Clumps of it were clinging to her hair and eyelashes. Cold flakes would blow across her face, making her have to squint to find the next suitable footing.

              She ran till she found herself in a small clearing. She didn’t remember coming in this far into the woods last time. “Eric?” she called out hesitantly. Looking around, Natalie realized that she had come so far in that she could
n’
t recognize anything around her. And with the addition of snow, the bark and rocks had taken a darker, wetter color, making it even more disorienting.

              “Eric?” she called out again a bit louder. Would it be better for her to stay and wait a bit or to try and head back home? Going back home sounded more reasonable yet she was afraid to try. Nothing looked familiar and she was sure she’d just get even more lost.

              Natalie didn’t know if it was the snow, the air, or the moon but she could see that the trees indeed did look different. Up close, she could see that the leaves were all pointed outwards, like a cartoon character who’d had their hair shocked stiff. The pointed leaves made the trees look fuller and thicker.

              With a cold hand, Natalie gingerly touched a nearby tree. Immediately, she gasped and yanked her hand away. The tree was humming! She could feel a steady buzz vibrating through the entire trunk. Down by the tree was a clump of three large rocks, wet with snow. Somehow, Natalie knew that if she were to touch the rocks, she’d feel the same vibrations humming through them as well.

              The small hairs on the back of Natalie’s neck stood up. Something was different in the woods tonight. There was a tension that was hot and alive in the air. She could feel herself striking against it with every turn of her body.

              “Eric, it’s me!” Natalie called out, noticing the slight elevation in her pitch. She couldn’t help it. Every muscle was worn out from the extra exertion it took to run in the cold yet each part of her body, from her fingertips to her heels, was strung tight like a violin. Then tension of the outside seemed to be diffusing into her insides.

              Natalie shivered as more snow began to fall, quickly covering the ground in a thin layer of powdery flakes. Eric was not here. And if he was, he clearly did not want to be bothered. Natalie’s teeth chattered as she wrapped her arms around herself. No need in freezing for the man. She’d just have to find her own way back somehow.

              As Natalie looked for steady footing to begin her journey home, a hard thud fell across her back, making her stumble and fall. She landed hard against a huge fallen tree, scraping her hands against the bark as she tried to break the fall.

              Ignoring the stinging pain in her palms, Natalie quickly flipped around to see what or who had hit her. Facing her was a large brown wolf with his snout in a menacing snarl but emitting no sounds. It was just as big as Eric when he shifted into his wolf form. His chest was broad and with Natalie on the ground, he towered over her. With an animal so large, you’d think you’d hear them coming but Natalie had heard no sounds except the chilly wind blowing through her.

              At first, Natalie had felt a burst of delight at seeing the wolf until she saw its coloring. The fur was brown with fringes of gray instead of Eric’s gray and black. His yellow brown eyes were large and his brow was furrowed threateningly. This wasn’t Eric. But was it another shifter wolf? Or was it a regular wolf?

              Given its size, it couldn’t possibly be a normal wolf. And she could see the way the eyes watched her with a keen intelligence far beyond the level of a mere animal. Would this werewolf shift back into his human form? Could he see that she meant no harm to him?

              “Um…” Natalie chattered, shivering from more than just cold, “I-I was just trying to get back h-home.” She didn’t know what to say to a foreign shifter wolf, especially one that might potentially mean ill will against her.

              She scooted back, using her palms for leverage. “I-I just got lost,” she continued, unsure if her words were having any effect but unable to stop talking
.“
I could
n’
t find my way
.
” She tried to push herself up into a seated position.

              But as soon as she did, the wolf jumped on her, pushing a heavy paw down on her chest, shoving her back down. Natalie shrieked, surprised and frightened by the sudden movement.

              With the wolf completely on top of her now, she could fully appreciate the size of him. And the weight. His paw kept her firmly pinned to the ground leaving her without any chance of her squirming away. The wolf lowered his massive head, which was longer than the length of her thigh and certainly more than twice as wide. Natalie could hardly breathe as she looked straight into the pointed teeth of the wild and vicious beast.

              “Pl-please,” she whispered, scared to speak louder lest she angered the wolf even further. Her heart seemed to be beating with her whole body. Even with the cold, a hot sweat dripped down her neck.

              A low rumbling growl emanated from the wolf. Natalie could feel it vibrate through the paw of the animal and into her chest. Exposed underneath a curling lip, each gleaming white fang of the animal caught the moonlight, making them glow with a blinding viciousness.

              There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t possibly fight this animal. And no one knew where she was. If she were killed tonight, no one would think to come look for her. Her clinic would think she was in LA. Her family would worry when she didn’t land in LAX but they didn't know anybody in Lowell. Amber and her mom only had the number to her cellphone and her clinic. If they happened to catch a nurse before they closed up shop for the week, they’d still be too late. Her body would be lying cold and frozen in the woods, if not half eaten.
Did shifter wolves eat people?
she wondered inanely.
Oh god, Evers! You’re about to be killed and you’re wondering about feeding the killer. Who cares!

              As the wolf suddenly snapped its enormous jaw open, ready to bite down on her neck, a whir of gray fur whizzed past her from the left, knocking the attacking wolf off her chest. Immediately, Natalie took in a deep gulping breath as she tried to quickly scoot back. Bumping into the fallen tree, she awkwardly climbed over it, hiding herself behind it.

              The gray whiz turned out to be a large gray wolf. A large gray wolf with a black streak down its snout.
Eric
.

              Eric had knocked the brown wolf down, sending it skidding across the snowy clearing. But the brown wolf immediately got back up, shaking its head clear as drifts of snow plumed behind it. The two growled quietly as they slowly circled each other. Both wolves had their fur completely on edge, making them look even larger than they already were.

              Natalie could hardly breathe as she watched Eric face off against this menacing foreign shifter.

              Eric growled then snapped his jaw twice, making an odd rumbling sound. The brown wolf stopped circling but his snout was still up in a snarl. Eric stopped circling as well. He snapped his jaw one more time before lowering his head and shifting. Natalie watched in amazement as the form of a man was pulled out from all the fur and fangs. Within seconds, Eric stood naked in the howling wind, the snow clinging to his dark hair.

              Even though his back was towards her, Natalie could tell he was completely aware of her presence and where she was. Eric stood himself in front of the fallen tree, positioning himself directly between the attacking wolf and Natalie.

              But before Natalie could finish awing at the magnificence of Eric’s naked form, the brown wolf began to shift as well. She watched in part horror and amazement as another man began to take shape.

              Soon, there were two naked men standing in the clearing, looking just as ferocious as the wolves had. The second man was just as tall as Eric yet leaner. He had a long face with a scar running down from the corner of his lower lip to his chin, giving him an oddly fierce droop.

              Natalie couldn’t believe it.
Two
werewolves. She had just witnessed two werewolves shifting from their animal to human form. If her heart weren’t still thumping like a hummingbird’s, she’d pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. But looking down, her palms were still stinging from her scrapes and the back of her sweater was still wet from lying in the snow. These sensations were all too unpleasant to be part of any dream.

              “Marcus.”

              Hearing Eric’s voice, Natalie’s head snapped up. He knew this man? She squinted through the falling snow at the second man, trying to get a better look. Who was this new wolf?