I shake my head. “No. I got away.”
Andrew failed.
Though I still don’t know how it happened.
“You smell like you’re scared,” Sara remarks, her nose wrinkling. “And your heart’s going really fast.”
“Get. In. Here,” I grunt, kicking the door closed behind us.
My heart skips a beat as Sadie begins barking frantically.
“What the hell was that all about?”
“Kitchen sink,” Ron supplies, bouncing Bun gently. “It jumped straight in there. Guess it thinks it belongs there now.”
A knock sounds. Three sharp raps.
I consider lying again, but what’s the point? These kids have survived Fiddleback. Sugarcoating danger won’t help them. If anything, it might get them killed.
Ellie’s here.
Fuck pets.
“Stop it!” I hiss as sharp claws sink into my forearm. “I’m trying to save your ungrateful
asses!”
of th
I crack open one eye to see Jer leaning over the back of the dinette couch, Sara beside him. They’re both looking at me like I’m some kind of bizarre life form.
Jer nods, with a fierce look of pride. “Of course Grace got away. She’s one of us. We’re the best at being chased. Zip zoom swoosh, and away we go.”
His hand movements are hard to follow, but the gist is clear: he’s fast. Maybe with some parkour abilities of his own, though I’ve seen how he jumps around the couches. They’re probably not as good as whatever parkour skills I’d appropriated over the past ten minutes.
1/5
201 Grace: Like You Were Chased
My fingers fumble with the lock, twisting it with the last reserves of my strength. The second it clicks into place, every ounce of adrenaline that’s been keeping me upright abandons ship. I slide down the door until my ass hits the floor with an
unceremonious thud.
Oh, right.
Mine.
Sadie’s barking finally tapers off, though she continues to pace anxiously by the door, occasionally stopping to sniff at the crack beneath it.
“That’s from the cat.”
Jer snorts. “Is that why you’re bleeding?”
The cat yowls louder, twisting in my grip while Sadie drags against my hold, nearly pulling my arm from its socket. I stagger backward toward the camper, my arms straining with the effort of controlling two animals determined to run toward danger.
Sadie hasn’t given up her mission, frantically circling the small entryway, claws clicking against the laminate flooring as she continues barking at the door. The white cat, meanwhile, has vanished somewhere into the camper’s interior.
“Nothing,” I wheeze out, trying to sound casual and failing spectacularly. “Just… needed
some exercise.”
Thank Goddess I locked it.
I hope he’s okay.
My legs sprawl out in front of me, utterly useless, while,my hip throbs where I collided
with Andrew.
“I swear to all that’s holy and not,” I growl through clenched teeth, “if I get mauled by Ellie because you two decided to play hero, I’m coming back to haunt you both.”
I press my ear to the door, straining to hear whatever has set the animals off.
“Did she hurt you?” Ron asks, his voice suddenly deep and manly.
I glance down at my forearm where four perfect lines of red have bloomed, courtesy of our new feline friend. Blood beads along the scratches, not deep but definitely stinging now that I’m noticing them.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Grace of a Wolf (by Lenaleia)