Page 11 of A Wolf’s Wound

Ryder

I step away from the pool of blood. Logically I know it doesn’t matter, that all of the animals around me are dead, but I still move softly out of respect for their bodies.

What could have caused this? What is harming the animals?

The forest is quiet. The leaves on the trees hang down, shrouding the ground in shadows. It’s as if the entire area is in mourning. I sniff the air but only smell the blood on the ground. Is it so overpowering that all other odors are masked? Or is this really the only scent around?

I don’t know, and that makes me uneasy. Hell, this whole forest is making me uneasy. It’s too quiet, too empty. Too dead.

I begin walking back toward town. I’ll find Gavin and tell him what I’ve found. Then we’ll make a plan about what to do next.

And Hannah—I should check on her. She’s the vet, after all, and a healer. If any forest animals have survived whatever is slaughtering them, she’ll be patching them up.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a patch of white near a tree trunk. I go over to investigate.

The sight of the torn rabbits makes bile rise in my throat.

These poor creatures have been gutted. I turn away and see more torn animals mixed in among fallen leaves.

Squirrels, raccoons, birds, all ripped to shreds.

I blink back the tears that push against my eyes at the sight of their mangled bodies.

This carnage is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

The smell of blood is so strong I can almost taste it. But another scent hangs in the air too.

It’s something sweet and rotten—a spoiled flower, an overripe piece of fruit.

I don’t know what the source of this odor is, but I don’t like it.

The smell is strongest when I face south, so I walk in that direction. I keep my eyes straight ahead but can sense more dead animals around me.

The scent grows stronger as I walk, until I come to a clearing. And then I see its source.

Another dead body. This one is human.

Or is it a shifter?

I walk over to the corpse and squat down. The smell surrounds me. It seeps into my pores, invades my lungs, like mist. Like breath.

I look closely at the body in front of me. It’s definitely a human, not a shifter. But I don’t recognize this person. Just like the councilman’s, this body has been violently ripped up.

Whoever did this was angry. More than angry—furious. The same thought flashes through my mind as when I found the councilman. Whatever could someone have done to inspire such rage in another being? But maybe the better question is: What kind of being is capable of such fury?

Upon closer inspection, I see some differences between this body and the councilman’s.

The councilman was ripped up, like the animals I found earlier.

This person was killed in a different way.

Every bone in this person’s body was broken.

Every single one. Even the bones of the pinkie fingers.

And the muscles are torn. Maybe not each muscle; that I can’t tell without doing a proper examination.

But from what I can see, crouching next to this poor soul, more muscles look torn than whole.

It’s like this person was in a car accident. The kind of car accident where the vehicle was hurtling toward a brick wall at 120 miles an hour and no one even thought about stepping on the brake.

But of course, there’s no car around. There are huge trees that could definitely damage a car, but they’re intact and unharmed. I know this wasn’t a car accident. What I don’t know is how this kind of damage could be caused any other way.

I stand up and back away from the body. The wind picks up, and I take a deep breath, trying to force as much untainted air into me as possible. It helps, but not enough.

I look around the area more closely than before. The clearing is large, like many in the forest. Usually in an area like this, there would be animals: birds flying around, squirrels chattering from the trees. At the very least, field mice running over my shoes.

But there’s nothing. Not even any noise.

I walk around the clearing, eventually covering every square inch. But I don’t see any animals, and I don’t hear any birds calling or even crickets chirping. The clearing feels abandoned.

At least there aren’t any more bodies, either animal or human. I cling to that slim piece of good news as I wonder if maybe the animals fled in fear of whatever attacked the person.

Still, the corpse has been here for a while. The animals should have returned by now. The fact that they haven’t makes me almost as uneasy as the discovery of the body.

I need to tell Gavin about the dead person.

He made me promise that if another body was found, I’d let him know.

Still, telling him means he’ll take over the investigation.

And I’m not ready to let go of this. I don’t know if this death is connected to what happened to the councilman, but I do know he is connected to Hannah somehow. I feel it in my gut.

Telling Gavin will ensure that while I’ll still be part of the investigation, I won’t be leading. I don’t know why, but that feels like letting Hannah down, like I won’t be protecting her the way I need to.

“Hannah might not care,” I mutter to myself.

I haven’t even seen her for the past few days.

For all I know, she’s forgotten all about me.

Or she never thought about me to begin with.

But I don’t think that’s true. I might not understand why I feel this pull toward her, but I’m almost certain she feels the same pull toward me.

Almost certain won’t be enough to convince Gavin that I need to remain the lead. If I can’t even explain to myself why I need to be close to Hannah, I sure won’t be able to explain it to my brother.

I sigh and shake my head. This back-and-forth with myself is pointless. I’m a beta. I have to do what my alpha orders, even if that means putting distance between myself and Hannah.

“Maybe it’ll be for the best.” I sigh. It’s not like I can even begin to guess what killed and injured the animals or what destroyed this poor person. Or that I haven’t the slightest idea why all of the other animals are apparently in hiding.

If they never return… I can’t think about that. It feels like whatever happened here is connected to Stonehaven itself. Like if the forest is truly and irrevocably deserted, our town will be next.

I can’t turn my back on Stonehaven, no matter what. If there’s even the slightest chance Gavin will have some ideas about what to do, I have to be honest about what I’ve found.

I’ll just have to hope that bringing him in won’t push Hannah away.

Looking around the clearing again, I can’t help but shudder. This forest has been full of life for so long—for as long as I can remember. But now I feel as though I’m standing in a cemetery. It’s time to get out of here.

I start to leave but pause again by the body. The man’s eyes are open, staring up into the sun. I crouch down and place my hand on his cold forehead. Then I close his eyes. It seems like the least I can do.

“Who did this?” I murmur to the man. But the eerie silence is my only answer.