Page 43 of A Wolf’s Wound

Ryder

“What is it?” Gavin asks, noticing that I’ve stopped moving.

“The scent,” I say. “Don’t you smell it?”

“No,” he says, looking concerned. “Where’s it coming from?”

“I don’t know.” I spin around a few times, looking all around us. “I think it’s coming from Stonehaven.”

“That’s miles away,” Gavin protests, but I’m already running back toward the boundary line. “Ryder!”

“Hannah’s in trouble,” I call back, as certain as I was that first night I met her. I increase my speed, running flat-out over the ground, leaping over fallen logs and tree roots.

At the car I wrench the door open and jam the key in the ignition. I speed through the compound, ignoring the messages lighting up my phone. On the road back to Stonehaven I push the car about one hundred miles an hour, afraid that I might be too late.

The scent grows stronger the closer I get to the city center. I pull the car to the curb and get out, following the scent down one street. Before I get to the end of the block, I hear Hannah scream.

I run in the direction of her voice, my heart feeling like it’s about to burst out of my throat. I turn the corner and see her and Shadow halfway down the block. “Hannah!” I yell, running toward her.

“Ryder,” she cries from where she’s kneeling on the ground. Shadow runs to me, and I scoop him up, feeling how hard he’s trembling.

“What happened?” I ask, crouching down next to her. “Are you guys okay?”

“There was a man,” she gasps. “He started talking to me and then it got creepy.”

“Where is he?” I ask, looking around. The scent is so thick it feels like a solid object, and I’m astonished that neither Hannah nor Shadow seem to smell anything.

“I don’t know.” She runs a shaking hand across her face and sniffles. “He just ran off.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she says, her voice a little calmer. “But he kicked Shadow. Are you okay?” she asks the raccoon, and he nods.

“I think he’s just shaken up,” I say.

“Yeah, me too,” Hannah says. “He seemed like a nice guy, and then all of a sudden, he got really intense. When I tried to get away, he followed me and then grabbed me. I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

“Are you okay to stand?” I ask, glancing around. The street is empty but I don’t like the idea of staying here. Hannah nods, and we begin walking back to my car, Shadow still in my arms.

The scent is the exact same odor as what was on the notes. I’ve been assuming it was the particular scent of the stalker, but now I’m not so sure. If this guy Hannah’s talking about is the stalker, why run away? He had Hannah alone. Isn’t that what he’s been wanting all along?

And if the guy isn’t the stalker, why am I smelling the same scent? Could the stalker have an accomplice, and that’s why the scent is the same?

Or maybe it’s more innocent than that. Maybe this guy just came into random contact with the stalker. Maybe they live in the same building or work in the same office, and that’s why the scent is so strong.

Then what? Hannah just happened to run into some random creep that just happened to have some connection to the stalker? That feels too coincidental. But the stalker running away seems too out of character.

I hate that I have all these questions. I don’t like second-guessing myself. I’m not used to it.

At the car I see my phone lying on my seat. “Hold on,” I tell Hannah, picking it up. “I’m letting Gavin know I found you and he can call off the search,” I explain as I type out a brief text.

“What search?” she asks, leaning against the car. Shadow hops out of my arms and stretches out on the hood.

“The search for you,” I say and she looks surprised.

“Why is there a search for me?”

“Because you left!” I say, trying not to sound frustrated. “You can’t be that naive, Hannah.”

“I’m not naive at all,” she says coolly. “But I also wouldn’t think that me leaving would cause you to put out an APB.”

“You were under the pack’s protection,” I point out. “You disappeared when you were on our land, on our watch.”

“I didn’t disappear,” she argues. “I went home.”

“Without telling me.”

“You were asleep,” Hannah shoots back.

“You could have woken me up!”

“I didn’t want to!” Hannah snaps. “I wanted some space to think.”

“That seems to have worked out great,” I say sarcastically. “What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t found you?”

“I was about to use some of the moves you taught me,” Hannah says. “So I think I would have been fine.”

“Really? Against some stranger who had already hurt Shadow?”

“I could have at least tried!” she says, her eyes flashing.

“Why didn’t you leave a note, at least? Then I wouldn’t have tied up the entire pack by having them combing the forest and compound and city for you!”

“I didn’t ask you to do any of that!” Hannah protests. “Ryder, I just needed to be alone. And I didn’t feel like I could be on your family’s compound. Or even in the cottage with you right there. Everything that’s happened—it’s been a lot and I wanted to sort out how I felt.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what to say, and I don’t think she does either. “Um, did you?” I finally ask, feeling a little foolish.

“No,” Hannah says with a wry smile. “Or if I did, all of those thoughts fell out of my head when Mystery Creeper showed up.”

“Did you get his name? Not that he couldn’t have given you a fake one,” I add.

“I didn’t. We didn’t talk for very long before I realized that something was off.”

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” I tell her and she smiles.

“And I’m glad you showed up when you did. Even though he’d already left,” Hannah adds.

“Hey, can you let me at least pretend I could have rescued the damsel in distress?” I joke and she laughs.

“Sure. How you doing, buddy?” Hannah asks Shadow as he sits up.

Shadow chirps something to her, and Hannah nods before looking over at me. “I think he’s feeling better, and I guess maybe we should go back to the cottage.”

“Maybe.” I nod. “Would you be okay with that?” I ask her.

Hannah surprises me by nodding. “I stopped by my place earlier and the door was just about done,” she explains.

“Oh, right,” I say, trying not to look disappointed by her incredibly practical response.

“And the cottage is pretty nice,” she adds casually, opening the passenger-side door and getting in.

“I’m glad you think so.” I grin, getting behind the wheel. Shadow curls up in the back seat as I start the ignition.

After a quick stop by Hannah’s place for her to get her bag, we’re on the road back to the compound. Hannah’s quiet, so I am too.

I notice that the scent hasn’t totally disappeared. Traces of it hover around Hannah. I hope they dissipate soon. I don’t want to think about the stalker every time I’m around her.

I run over Hannah’s story as I drive. Everything she’s saying makes sense, even her reasons for leaving the compound earlier. I don’t doubt anything she’s told me.

But I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t have the full picture of what’s going on. Something’s coming, something bad. I know that much. But what is it? And what if I’m not prepared for what it truly is?