Page 51 of Relics of the Wolf

I accepted his hand and almost hugged him when he helped me up. I longed to collapse in strong arms and let someone else deal with the aftermath.

But I didn’t. Once on my feet, I released his hand and straightened my back. I was the property manager. When bodies and crashed cars littered the parking lot, handling them was my duty.

With Duncan walking beside me, I headed through the woods until we could step out onto the lawn in the back of the complex, out of view from the parking lot and where there were fewer lights. I hurried toward my apartment. My phone was still in the leasing office, but I could grab it later. Once I was clothed.

We slipped into my apartment, and Duncan pointed me toward the couch. “You were kind enough to tend my wounds there when I was bleeding, so I’ll do the same for you.”

“Thanks, but mind if I put my robe on first? It’s a little nippy.”

He glanced at my chest before lifting his gaze higher. “Yes, that’s a good idea. I might otherwise be distracted.”

“There’s blood and dirt all over me.” I scraped my fingers through my hair and dislodged dead leaves and fir needles. “And less than desirable other things.”

“You, of all people, shouldn’t be surprised by whatdoesn’tfaze a werewolf.” Since Duncan had seen me retrieve my first-aid kit before, he knew where it was and fetched it, as well as dampening a towel with water to wash my wound.

Before heading to the couch, I made myself grab the phone in the kitchen. Attached to the wall by the fridge, it was almost as old as the rotary phone in the office. I dialed 9-1-1 and felt the weight of my lies as I fabricated a story for the dispatcher. I said feral coyotes or dogs instead of wolves had attacked strangers who’d been on the property for some unknown reason.

Meanwhile, Duncan spread paper towels on the couch, winking at me when he caught my eye. I snorted softly. He’d done that for himself when I’d told him not to bleed on my furniture. I had a feeling he was doing it now to amuse me, or at least lighten my somber mood.

The dispatcher said the police were already on the way because they’d received numerous calls about coyotes or wolves. I didn’t try to disabuse her of the notion that wolves had been involved. It didn’t matter that much. As long as nobody figured out there had beenwerewolves—and that I was one of them.

A knock on the door made me jump. Was that the police already? I hurried into my bedroom to grab my robe.

Less concerned about propriety, Duncan answered the door naked.

“Oh, uhm, hi.” That was Bolin, not the police. “Is Luna here? There’s been… an incident.”

“Has there?” Duncan asked innocently, then called over his shoulder. “Luna, are you here, or are you so exhausted in the aftermath of our lovemaking that you can’t talk to anyone?”

“Funny.” I winced at the pain in my shoulder as I shrugged into the robe, then stepped out of my bedroom. “Bolin, I didn’t know you were still here.”

“Showing an apartment. It’s on the calendar.”

“Yeah, thanks for handling that. Things have been chaotic lately.”

He looked toward the parking lot, though it wasn’t visible from my door. “Tell me about it. The police just got here. I think it’s the same officers as last time.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to talk to them?”

“I don’t know what happened. Are you okay?” Bolin squinted at my robe. “Is thatblood?”

“I’m not positive what exactly happened either.” That wasn’t a complete lie. Everything that had occurred while I’d been afflicted by the battle lust of the werewolf was a haze. “But if you already have a rapport with those officers…”

“Last time, they called me a spoiled punk.”

“Maybe rapport isn’t the right word.”

“It’s not, but I can talk to them.”

“You can tell them I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Ten minutes,” Duncan corrected and pointed to the first-aid kit.

Bolin looked like he might say something snarky, perhaps about all the nudity in my apartment, but he glanced at the blood on my robe again and didn’t. “Okay.”

He left, shutting the door behind him.

I was relieved Bolin was here and could talk to the police, at least to start with. They would inevitably question me. Having to lie made everything awful, but it wasn’t as if they would believe the truth if I shared it. Despite the long-term presence of the Snohomish Savagers, most of the local authorities simply believed what the naturalists told them, that wolves lived in the area.Mostof the time, we didn’t change in the city. This had been… an accident.

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