4

Especially while he was furry.

A furry werewolf.

Dammit, that was a lot to wrap my head around.

I wheezed at him as we jogged (well, as I jogged and he trotted), "You should definitely choose someone else to be your mate. You and your kidnapper buddies are not my kind of guys, and I'm far from the easy, party-loving, sorority girl that guys like you are into."

My honey-blonde ponytail swayed behind me, reminding me why people sometimes assumed I was something other than the book-smart nerd I really was.

The wolf ignored me again.

Tired of being ignored, I shut my mouth and just kept on running. I was slow, but still moving.

It felt like an eternity later when I heard a car's engine behind me.

Cursing, I practically threw myself into a bush off to the side of the dirt road. Branches cut me and scratched me, but if it was Jesse's friends, I couldn't afford to get caught.

Jesse—or the wolf that had once been Jesse—crouched beside me, his body hidden by the bush even though he wasn't inside the damn thing like I was.

Sure enough, the kidnapper van passed us. They didn't even slow down.

When they were gone, the forest seemed even darker than it had before.

"I'm going to die out here," I mumbled to myself, as I slowly extricated my body from the bush. The wolf was licking me again, running his tongue over my cuts and scrapes. "Stop it, dammit. I don't know you." I shoved at his face.

He growled.

"Go find your wolfy friends and leave me to escape on my own." I tried to shoo him away. He barely budged. "Damn you." I sighed, then started walking down the dirt road.

I walked, and walked, and walked. By the time the sun was rising, I was still walking.

When I finally saw a flicker of light ahead of me, I let out a whoop of excitement and picked up my pace.

Abduction averted.

It wasn't until I reached the edge of town that I realized I'd celebrated too soon.

The buildings were a completelydifferent style than the new, modern builds of the college town I lived in.

I passed by a wind chime with at least fifty shells and bits of sea glass hanging from it. It looked homemade, which was odd considering we were surrounded by the forest and mountains, and nowhere near the beach. The wind chime hung over the porch of an old building covered in what looked like newly-painted, sky-blue siding. The building was small and old, but charming and looked well-taken-care-of.

Stopping out in front of the porch, I looked at the wolf beside me.

"You knew I wasn't walking back toward my school," I said, my voice flat.

He batted his eyes at me. I think he was trying to look innocent, but he was a wolf. He could definitely see better in the dark than I could.

Which meant that he'd played me.

The damn wolf had played me.

Abduction not averted.

I looked back at the door, weighing my options.

I could knock and hope there was someone sympathetic inside, who could give me some water, and maybe some bandages to wrap my poor, sad feet in. Maybe they'd give me a ride back to my dorm, too.

Or... maybe the wolf would kill them.

Yeah, not worth the risk to those poor, probably-nice people.

I resolved to keep walking until I found a police station. Or maybe an animal shelter. One or another of those places would have a way to get rid of my wolfy stalker.

And hopefully, a ride home.

I kept walking. My shoes were soaked on the inside, and I hoped they’d been soaked by pus from broken blisters, or maybe sweat. The alternative was blood, and that idea made me want to puke. The shoes were at least six years old, but the worn-down soles and holes in them hadn't done a thing to help prevent blisters while I was walking.

My phone was back in my locker at the sandwich shop, so I had no idea exactly what time it was, but it had to be pretty early in the morning. Yet, the town was surprisingly active.

That was also completely opposite of my college town. The university and its students didn't seem to fully wake up until noon, even though there were early classes offered too.

The further I walked into the city, the more I found it strange that no one commented on the wolf following me.

Seriously, who wouldn't be afraid of a wolf walking freely around town?

I guessed maybe he could pass for a dog, but he wasn't on a leash or anything.

We stopped at a gas station so I could ask directions, and I walked up to a woman filling up her car with gas. I selected her thinking she looked like she wasn't a murderer, and looked nice enough that she wouldn't be pissed by me distracting her from her task and asking where the police station was.

I forced a smile. "Hi, do you have a second?"

"Of course." She smiled back, glancing at Jesse. Like the others we'd passed, she didn't look alarmed to see him.

"Do you happen to know where the police station is?"

"Oh, you mean the main alpha's house? Sure, if you keep going down this street, you'll run into a logged mansion. The main alpha lives there, along with his pack."

Main alpha? What the hell?

"Are you a werewolf?" I asked bluntly.

It seemed like the only logical answer, given her weird acceptance of the wolf beside me and her strange answers to my questions. And yeah, there was no tact behind my words, but I was exhausted and in pain and confused.

She laughed. "Of course. Everyone in this town is a werewolf. Welcome to Moon Ridge, honey." She gave a big smile, and I took a step back. When I stepped back, I bumped into Jesse, who licked my leg again.