Page 94 of Wolf Cursed
Kai yanked me to a stop beside his motorcycle and grabbed the helmet. He didn’t bother handing it over and instead shoved it onto my head and threw a leg over the bike without bothering to snap the helmet in place.
“Ash,” he said urgently. “Ash, we have to go.”
“Oscar,” I said, the word sounding more like a desperate sob.
“He’ll be fine,” he said, meeting my eyes. “I swear it. But if we don’t get you out of here, it’s going to get ugly. Come on.”
He was right. I had no choice but to trust him.
He started the bike, and I swung my leg over, wrapping my arms around his chest and clinging tightly. From somewhere out in the field, a wolf howled.
Kai kicked the bike into gear and pinned the throttle. We shot forward, and I gasped as the back tire slid left then right, looking for traction. Then we hit pavement, and the tires realigned as we sped off.
We drove for miles and miles.
Up winding mountain roads. Around curves that hugged guard rails.
I stopped waiting for any one of the wolves we’d left behind to appear from the woods beside us and started to relax. The adrenaline waned, and the fear turned to shock. My hands trembled and eyes burned with tears at what had happened. Or, more specifically, what could have happened.
If Idrissa hadn’t come outside.
If Kai hadn’t shown up.
If Oscar hadn’t created that diversion.
By the time Kai pulled off at an overlook, I was a mess. Which, in Ash-talk, meant I was pissed at the world.
Kai cut the engine, and I climbed off the motorcycle, moving far enough away so that he couldn’t bump into me when he climbed off too. I looked out at the open view that, in daylight, probably would have been gorgeous. Now, it was just a shadowy space where the mountaintop ended and the empty air beyond reached out to meet us. A guard rail separated me from the edge, and I stared at it, my thoughts jumbled.
In the silence, the night creatures melded into a symphony of noise I’d come to find soothing. Kai’s expression when I looked up, however, was anything but.
“I swear to God, Kai, if you say I wasn’t supposed to be there, I will push your bike right over the edge of this mountain.”
He smirked, and for some reason, that was worse.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I snapped.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like we’re friends. We’re not friends. We’re not even friendly. We’re nothing.”
“Nothing is a strong word for a guy who just saved your ass.”
“Don’t talk about my ass.”
His lips twitched. “Got it. What can I talk about?”
“Oscar.” My lip wobbled, so I bit down on it until I could trust my voice again. “Will he be okay?”
“Oscar will be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen Oscar fight. He’s going to kick Silas’ ass.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
