Red and the Wolf (10 page)

“I kinda think you’re crazy now,” she said softly. She looked down at Rafe’s hand on hers. She studied it. It looked the same as it always had. It
felt
the same as it always had. Whether he truly was a lycan, or just insane, which seemed more likely, it didn’t change how she felt about him. She brought her gaze to his. He watched her, waiting.

“Why’d you stop writing?”

“I thought it would be easier if you forgot about me, and moved on with someone else.” His jaw tightened. “I had no idea Lowell was trying to be that someone else. I always thought he disliked you.”

“Me, too,” she said. “According to him, everything he did was because of jealousy.”

Rafe smiled grimly. “I wish I could hate him for it, but I can’t blame the guy. If it was me, and you loved someone else, I’d be jealous, too. And if he went away, I’d do everything I could to get you to love me.”

“How could you think I’d ever forget you?” she whispered.

Another howl ripped through the dark and Ruby shuddered.

“All those animals, was it Lowell?”

Rafe seemed to consider answering, but finally said, “Yes, it was.”

Ruby still didn’t know if she bought into the whole lycan thing, but the thought of Lowell transforming into a raging beast and slaughtering animals—particularly Bradford—caused a chill to ripple across her entire body.

“We’re trying to convince him to go to Alaska, but he won’t go as long as he thinks . . .”

“Thinks what, Rafe?” she pressed.

“As long as he thinks there’s a chance with you.”

Ruby was stunned. “Why me? What am I to him? Nothing, when compared to everything else.”

Rafe smiled, taking both her hands in his. “Ruby, you’ve heard that wolves mate for life, right? Well, we’re not wolves, but in that particular area, we are the same.”

Ruby didn’t know whether to laugh at the absurdity, or cry over the whole, ridiculous mess.

“But Lowell and I, we haven’t, you know, mated. We haven’t kissed or held hands. We haven’t even been on a
date
.”

Rafe was grinning now. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear that, Red.”

Ruby pulled one of her hands from his and shoved against his shoulder. “This isn’t funny, Rafe.”

“I know,” he said, using his now freed hand to caress her cheek. He leaned forward, hesitating before kissing her, as if asking permission. Ruby closed the distance.

She’d only kissed Rafe twice before. Once when she thought she had a lifetime with him, and once when he blindsided her when he first returned home. This was completely different. This time she knew that he loved her, that he’d stay with her if she asked it of him. This kiss was on a whole new plane from the other two as heat flowed between them, his mouth gentle and urgent at once on hers.

A shuffling near the entrance to the cave pulled them from their kiss. Behind the fire, in the darkness, a creature stood. Tall, broad, darkly furred, a long snout with sharp teeth bared, glowing eyes. Ruby let out a small squeak of surprise. Rafe scrambled away from her, sweeping up his rifle and cocking it, taking aim at the creature whose eyes were intent on Rafe.

“No!” Ruby cried. “No, Rafe. It’s Lowell. He’s your brother.”

The creature’s eyes swung her way with a ferocious growl and abruptly it was gone. A few seconds later it howled angrily into the night, the sound carried back to them. Rafe set the gun down, moving over to take Ruby into his arms. She didn’t realize how badly she shook until he did.

“I didn’t believe you,” she said shakily.

“I know. I wish it weren’t true, Red.”

The vision of the creature stayed front and center within Ruby’s mind. She’d never seen or imagined anything like it. It didn’t seem real. And Rafe was one of them.

“He won’t come back,” Rafe said. “We need to get some sleep if we’re going to make it to your grandma’s tomorrow.”

He pulled both blankets over them, lying down and settling her in front of him, his arm wrapped protectively around her. She faced the cave’s mouth, eyes wide, watching for Lowell’s return.

Part IV Grandma’s House

Rafe had granola bars for breakfast for them. Ruby feared leaving the cave and coming across the creature again, though so far there hadn’t ever been any daytime sightings of it. It might be Lowell shifted into some otherworldly form, but it wasn’t a Lowell that could be trusted.

They packed everything up and walked out onto the damp earth. At least the rain had stopped, and the skies, though gray, weren’t dark enough to indicate an imminent storm. However, in these mountains, that could change quicker than the shiver that shimmied across her skin.

They hadn’t trekked halfway to her grandma’s yet, so they walked quickly, not speaking much. Ruby didn’t think she could take another night in the forest.

Ruby balled her fists, attempting to ward off her nervousness. Now that she knew what Lowell was, and that he was somewhere out here with them, she couldn’t help but constantly scan their surroundings, watching for him. She wasn’t sure just how angry he was with her, or with Rafe.

When they came in sight of Anaia, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. The town was even smaller than Piera, with only about a hundred residents, most of them holdovers from the time when Anaia was a silver mining town. The silver had tapped out over forty years ago. Ruby’s grandfather had been a silver miner, and her grandmother had refused to leave their home after his death a decade earlier.

They made their way down the steep path leading to the edge of the small town. Ruby realized how vulnerable Anaia could be if Lowell were to decide to wreak havoc. If the barge were in town, it could be evacuated fairly quickly. But on foot, navigating the steep, treacherous path would prove challenging for many of the elderly residents, not to mention the trek through the forest to Piera. She only hoped that she wasn’t leading the wolf into the hen house.

As they came near her grandma’s house, Ruby stopped and turned to Rafe. “Do you mind if I go in alone? I want to tell her about my dad.”

“I want to ask around town, anyway. See if there’ve been any . . . sightings,” he said.

Ruby nodded. “Good idea. I’ll just be here, so come back later. We’ll spend the night and head back tomorrow.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “Ruby . . .” he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something. Instead, he just smiled and said, “Give your grandma a hug for me.”

“Give her one yourself when you come back,” she said, turning and pushing through the low white gate that surrounded her grandma’s yard.

“See ya, Red,” he waved, heading down the road.

Ruby watched him before turning to her grandma’s house. The small, unassuming brown house looked like something out of a fairytale. White shutters, thatched roof, dormers to allow light inside, and a sign welcoming visitors next to the front door were almost as familiar to her as her own house.

She walked up to the front door, opening it at the same time she knocked. There wasn’t even a question of whether the door would be locked, or if she was welcome to walk in.

“Grandma, I’m here,” she called, peering into the interior. Silence greeted her. “Grandma?”

She shrugged her backpack from her shoulders, dropping it on the living room floor. She moved into the kitchen, setting the basket of goodies on the countertop. The clean and tidy house had the feeling of being empty.

She walked back through the living room and down the hallway, peeking into the two guest rooms and her grandma’s bedroom. She wasn’t in any of the rooms, and the open bathroom doors revealed those two rooms to be empty as well. She walked back into the living room, hands on hips, stumped. She’d really expected her grandma to be at home, waiting for her.
Well, shoot.

She went back into the kitchen and pulled some plastic wrap from the cabinet, wrapping some of the muffins and cupcakes to put in the freezer. Once finished, she walked into the living room to wait. She opened the CD player and smiled as she recognized her grandma’s label-free “old lady mix”, as she called it, that Ruby had burned for her a few years ago. The mix included an eclectic collection of songs from a wide variety of genres. She turned the stereo on and pushed the play button. The song that kicked on was “Brother Warrior” by Kate Wolf. The irony of the artist’s name wasn’t lost on Ruby.

As she sat down to listen, she pulled her brows together in confusion. She knew this song, but didn’t remember putting this one on the CD. Had her grandma learned to burn CD’s—unlikely—or had someone helped her make a new one?

Ruby wondered if her grandma was relieved about her dad being in rehab, or angry it had taken him so long. His drinking had been a huge source of contention between the two of them for some time now.

The song ended and she laughed at the irony as Mozart’s “Turkish March” came on. What were the chances that she’d put a song by Kate Wolf followed by a
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart piece one right after the other? As she leaned back in the chair to enjoy the music, something pulled at the back of her mind, something she felt she was missing.

Suddenly, she sat upright. She hadn’t been sure about the Kate Wolf song, but she was sure that she hadn’t put any Mozart on her grandma’s CD. Clearly this wasn’t the CD she’d made her. So who had? A knock on the door pulled her from her musings.

Obviously it wouldn’t be her grandma; she wouldn’t knock on her own door. Ruby stood and opened the door, expecting either Rafe or one of her grandma’s neighbors. The blood drained from her face at the caller. An instinctive step back was read as an invitation, and Lowell stepped into the house.

“Hello, Red.” He moved to close the door behind him as she retreated.

“Um, hey, Lowell.” Ruby could hear the tremor in her voice, and Lowell reacted with a Cheshire Cat smile.

“I thought we should talk,” he said.

“Oh, well,” she waved a negligent hand at him. “Now’s not a good time. My grandma is on her way home, and I need to speak with her. Privately.”

“No, she’s not.” He continued his advance, the same disconcerting smile marring his features.

“Wha . . . what do you mean?” Ruby clasped her hands together, trying to hide their trembling.

“Your grandma isn’t going to be back,” his smile widened, “for some time.”

Fear crawled up Ruby’s spine as her insides turned to liquid dread. “Where is she, Lowell? What did you do to her?” she asked past her dry tongue.

“I haven’t done anything to her, Ruby,” he said, holding his arms out, placating. “Why would you think I had?”

“Lowell, this isn’t funny.”

Lowell stopped and Ruby glanced past him toward the door. She considered her chances of getting around him and out the door. As if reading her thoughts, Lowell glanced behind him. He lifted one finger and shook it back and forth, admonishingly.

The song on the CD changed, playing the Duran Duran song “Hungry Like the Wolf”. Lowell pointed toward the stereo as if surprised, one brow lifted, smile still in place.

“Great song,” he said. Ruby abruptly sensed where the CD had come from.

“Lowell, please, I don’t know what you’re doing, but—”

His smile dropped and he bared his teeth. “What I’m
doing
?” he roared. “What I’m
doing
is showing you, Ruby.”

“Showing me what?” she asked in as calm a voice as she could muster. She inched her way to the side toward the kitchen.

“How great we could be, Ruby,” he said feverishly. “You and I.”

Ruby stopped. “Lowell, there is no you and I.”

“Because of
Rafe
?” he spit. “Rafe is weak. He doesn’t understand power, how to grasp it and use it to become a real man, the kind of man worthy of you, Ruby.”

Lowell’s face shone red, and Ruby could feel the heat pouring off of him. She knew she had to tread carefully.

“Not because of Rafe, Lowell. Even if Rafe hadn’t come back—”

“If Rafe didn’t exist for you to pine over, things would be different,” Lowell said fervently. “He’s always been in the way.”

Ruby shook her head. “No, Lowell, it wasn’t Rafe in the way. She began moving again, slowly, incrementally. “You’re an extremely good looking guy, Lowell. And when you want to be, you can be very sweet. But we were never meant to be. I’ve never looked at you as someone who—”