Page 54 of A Wolf’s Wound

Hannah

As soon as Ryder tells me to run, I turn on my heel.

But I’m no shifter. Brian beats me to it, grabbing my forearms before I’ve taken more than a step. Ryder bristles beside me, but I shoot him a warning glance and then pour all my focus toward Brian. Like a rabid dog, I can’t afford to take my eye off him.

Fortunately, I know how to handle rabid dogs.

“It’s rude,” he murmurs. His eyes are glossy and distant. “Leaving without a proper good-bye.”

Ryder ignores my warning and muscles in between us. He clasps a hand on Brian’s shoulder familiarly, like they’re friends.

They were friends , I think. At least, Ryder thought they were. Nothing Brian’s done speaks to friendship. He’s a predator, an opportunist.

My heart hurts for Ryder. Brian betrayed him, and knowing Ryder, he’s blaming himself.

I can see the self-recrimination in his eyes now, see how the weight of his guilt pulls his broad shoulders down.

The way his face twisted when he remembered turning Brian still makes me ache. He doesn’t deserve this.

“Brian,” Ryder says. His voice sounds off, but Brian doesn’t hear it. “I’m not going anywhere. I just want to talk.”

And just like that, Brian’s attention is swallowed by Ryder. His lips twist into a manic smile.

I could leave now. Ryder’s bought me enough time, and he’s close enough to fight Brian and keep him at bay long enough for me to escape. And maybe I should, maybe that makes the most sense, but my heart can’t stand the thought of leaving Ryder alone with this madman.

What if I can’t find anyone in time? What if I make it back too late?

I imagine it briefly. Brian is hanging on to whatever’s left of his sanity by a thread, and if he suspects Ryder allowed me to leave, there’s no telling what he’ll do.

On an even playing field, I have no doubt Ryder will win in a fight with Brian.

But Brian isn’t playing fair, and life isn’t predictable. Brian isn’t predictable.

What if he lands a lucky blow, and there’s no one around to help? Worse, what if Ryder, weighed down as he is with guilt, can’t let himself hurt an old friend?

There are too many risks, too many unknowns. I square my shoulders and plant my feet. I’m not going anywhere.

Ryder gives a frustrated growl when he realizes I’m staying, and Brian misinterprets it. He lets out a growl of his own, relishing in its deep bass tones.

“God, I love doing that,” he says.

“I just need to know why you’re doing this,” Ryder pleads. “I just…why? Is it like a compulsion? Are you…driven to do it since I turned you?”

“A compulsion! Ha! Ryder, stop looking at me like that. Like you’ve done anything wrong.

You haven’t. I promise you. It was a gift,” he assures Ryder, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

“God, it was a gift . Being purified, being changed into a purer form. I don’t know how I’ve lived without it.

It was a way of proving myself worthy, the same way all of them should. ”

“Them?” Ryder asks, confused. “Who—”

“Humanity.” Brian smiles beatifically. “ All of them, my friend. Look what they’ve done to the planet, to nature, to the world that birthed them.

Every single day, there are more articles.

They write and talk and bitch about everything they’re doing to destroy the planet, and they don’t do shit about it.

They just drive more animals to extinction while they fill up their fucking cars.

It makes me sick. Doesn’t it make you sick?

We talked about it that night. You remember? ”

“I think so,” Ryder says hollowly. “I don’t remember the part where we discussed killing everyone. I think it was more along the lines of promoting solar power and advancements in nuclear fusion.”

“You see?” Brian makes finger guns at Ryder. “That’s why shifters should be in charge of the world. We could save it, Ryder. I know we could, if we weren’t stuck hiding away.”

Ryder seems horrified by this line of discussion, but with every step he takes away from Brian, Brian takes another toward him.

“Aren’t you proud of me?” Brian asks.

Ryder doesn’t say anything. He just stares.

“I did it all for you,” Brian insists. “All of it. And I know it might seem a little ‘crazy.’” He makes exaggerated air quotes and laughs again. “I get that. I do. It’s a lot. But we’re saving the world, man. That takes a lot.”

Oh my god, he’s completely insane.

The shining fervor in his eyes never fades.

He believes every word he’s saying, believes that he’s doing the best thing.

God help us, Brian thinks he’s helping. I’d thought this was some twisted attempt at revenge, that he’d betrayed Ryder out of some sick form of jealousy or rage.

But all this rambling about saving the world is true, at least in his mind.

Brian truly thinks he’s the good guy here.

He turns to me, suddenly, and Ryder moves to step in between us again.

“I’m sorry,” Brian says, smiling over Ryder’s shoulder. “About the councilman. That was an accident. I assure you. Omelets and broken eggs, you know? You get it?”

He looks at me expectantly, so I nod, playing along. “Right. Totally.” I’m assuming he did something to the councilman to send him after me then.

“Do you forgive me?” he asks in a playful, singsong voice that turns my stomach.

There’s nothing innocent or playful in anything he’s done.

He’s destroyed lives in the most brutal, horrific way possible.

And he jokes about it like he’s forgotten to take his muddy boots off before skipping along the floor. “Do you, Hannah?”

Nodding makes me nauseated, but he’s completely unstable. I don’t want to set him off. So I nod and say, “Of course I do, Brian. You’ve only done what you have to do.”

He laughs and smiles triumphantly at Ryder. “I knew you’d only date a girl this cool,” Brian tells him. “She gets it, man. She gets it . Not like all those other bald primates who think they run the planet.”

Ryder doesn’t dare look away from Brian. He takes another subtle step, blocking Brian from my view. Or maybe blocking me from his.

“I don’t know how you guys have resisted getting rid of them this long.

Humans,” he spits the word like it tastes awful in his mouth.

“But now things are going to be perfect. Only the strongest of them will survive the change, and with every shift, our pack will grow stronger. We can overthrow them all, man. We can change the world.”

Ryder’s shoulders hunch together and his fists clench and release, clench and release.

“We can change everything. I just need you,” Brian says. I see a dimple in his cheek when he grins, guileless. “I just need you to help me. So what do you say?”

Brian doesn’t look like he doubts what Ryder will decide, but I know Ryder better. He will never agree to help Brian. It goes against everything he stands for. He was horrified enough when he saw that failed shift in the woods. I still remember the haunted look in his eyes.

There’s no way he’ll ever agree to do that willingly to anyone else. He’s going to try to talk him down, or maybe just stall him until help comes looking for us.

To my shock, though, Ryder nods.

He can’t possibly be on his side? He’s just playing him.

But Ryder steps forward, hands lifted placatingly. With every step he takes forward, my stomach sinks. What is he planning?

Knowing Ryder, probably something stupid and self-sacrificing.

Whatever it is, I can’t let him go through with it.