Chapter 29 Ch 29

I was brought to a cave. From the outside, no one would see the hole covertly carved from the lower lip of the boulder. The beast held me tightly against his chest as he hunched down and entered the cave. It was almost completely dark. A sliver of moonlight pushed through a crack in the top of the boulder, but even my sharpened wolf eyes could hardly see. I could hear the slow drip of water somewhere.

A low rumble built in the beast's chest as he slumped down on the floor. His grasp around my fragile, naked human chassis didn't loosen. I had originally expected this thing to truly be my friend, sweet Matt, but now I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't. And if it wasn't, what the hell was it going to do to me?

"Matt?" I squeaked, my voice shattering the quiet.

The beast's head tilted down so our eyes could meet. His cerulean orbs glowed like small fires.

"Are you in there, Matt?" I whispered.

There didn't appear to be any recognition in the beast's brain if it even had one. I lifted a shaky hand to touch his shoulder. He closed his eyes and rumbled his chest like a purr. Most wolves ran a warm body temperature but he felt far warmer to me than any wolf. Of course, he wasn't a wolf. He was something wholly different.

Running my hand up along the beast's shoulder to his neck, I was about to ask another question when he flinched and his eyes flickered open. They were narrowed. A warning growl vibrated all around me now, so I instantly reeled my hand back to my body. What did I do wrong? He whined and freed one of his own hands to touch his neck.

"What happened?" I asked. "Are you hurt?"

He whimpered and shifted me in his grip, one hand supporting my back and the other pulling my legs. I winced. The gashes on my knees from the gravel were scabbing over, so any kind of movement hurt. The beast lifted my wounds closer to his face to smell them. My heart jumped, panicked that the smell of blood might set him off again.

Rather than bite my leg off, the beast unfurled a long, pink tongue to lick my bloodied knees. I stared at the action in shock. Wolf saliva had healing properties, but I was stunned that this beast could be so gentle and caring as to lick my wounds. Wolves typically cleaned their own wounds.

"Thank you," I managed, trembling so hard my legs shook.

He pulled his face away and rested me comfortably back in his lap. My back rested against his chest. It became quiet, and I began to wonder what was happening. If only the beast could communicate, I could coax some answers out of him.

Eventually, the adrenaline wore off and I started feeling the effects of fatigue. Today had been too much. I needed to shut down and forget for a little while. My fingers slid through the beast's fur as I snuggled closer to him. His body heat permeated through me. I let the reassurance of security in the arms of a stranger soothe me to sleep.

When I came to sometime later, sunlight was streaming through the crevice in the boulder. I turned my neck to glance at the beast's face. His glowing eyes were closed and his body rose and fell around me in guttural snores. It was kind of adorable.

I briefly considered what it would look like if I stayed with him. One, I wouldn't have to go back to a life where my soul was torn by the presence of my mate and I could at least be distanced from him. Maybe our bond would grow brittle and shatter. We never marked each other, so I supposed it was possible.

On the other hand, I would have to figure out a way to survive here without the beast wanting to eat me. His intentions were still unclear and he would probably wake up hungry. I was certainly hungry. How would I survive in this cave anyway? I was a human—a naked human, at that—so every element was liable to have its way with me. My ancient ancestors survived off the woods in their human forms for generations, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad...but I wasn't acclimated to survival.

This beast probably wasn't Matt. We had probably been wrong. I mean, I couldn't explain why he hadn't torn me to human shreds by now but it was ludicrous to consider my human friend to be this monstrous creature of no name.

I needed to go. Once I figured out a way to escape this cave, I would return to my apartment. Then I would pack up everything. And I would leave. Somehow.

Steadying my breathing, I looked back up at the beast's face. He remained coddled by slumber. I gently tested the tightness of his grip around me and was shocked to find his hands mostly slack. Inch by tormenting inch, I moved each hand. Finally, I had enough room to lean forward and press a foot to the ground. The other foot followed until I, at last, stood between the beast's legs.

My eyes had now adjusted to the darkness, so I could see almost everything clearly. I could see the rocks and pebbles that would have otherwise given me away. Holding my breath, I carefully picked my way across the cave in the direction we came from last night. The beast let out a tremendous snore that made me jump. I nearly fell over on a rock before catching my balance. A glance back confirmed the beast was still asleep. So I crept onwards.

Heel to toe, I rolled my feet across the floor. The wide but short length of the cave mouth opened up. There was ample room for me in my human form, so I wiggled up through the mouth and dragged myself into the dead leaves and shrubbery. My brain was pounding from the amount of adrenaline moving through it. I couldn't stop to consider my feat, though. The beast could wake up at any moment and I would be the perfect snack.

I started to jog when I realized my knees didn't even hurt anymore. When I glanced down at them, the skin was slightly red but totally healed. Hot damn. That beast must have magical saliva. Once I was a hundred or so yards away from the cave, I shifted and picked up the pace. My hunger made me weak but I didn't let myself slow. Fear was a far stronger force than hunger.

While I followed my wolf's instincts, I thought about the actual act of leaving Bloomberg. The only place I had to go was back to my parents. They would be glad to have me back, but I knew I would have to explain everything. That would be hard for me. Impossible, practically. It would kill me to admit that I had failed them, that I had failed our kind and our traditions. Little Miss Perfect would be perfect no more. Still, I didn't have another choice but to go home. I couldn't afford to just move somewhere else.

My wolf slowed as we found the parking lot from last night. The car was exactly where it was, the keys laying still on the gravel. I shifted into my human again. Though the gravel still hurt my tender feet, I just grimaced through the pain and hurried to get in the car. The keys turned the engine over immediately, and I realized I had expected my car to fail me too.

"Shit," I hissed when I realized my clothes were on the hood and I was naked.

Leaving the car on, I pushed the door open and hopped to grab my clothes. I started hastily jerking them on. A distant roar made me freeze.

"Shit, shit, mega shit," I muttered, scampering back to the driver seat with my leggings around my knees and one arm through my blouse.

Nevertheless, I made it back inside and wrestled my clothes on. Then I thrust the gear shift into drive and hit the gas. Gravel spewed out from my tires. The forest in my rearview mirror was suffocated in a cloud of sharp little rocks and dust.