Chapter 517

Olivia

The dark shadow of the wolf standing in the entryway to the cave was almost enough to block out the light. Its eyes, glowing yellow through the mist, were fixed unwaveringly on us. Its teeth were bared, its upper lip pulled back to reveal a row of yellowed fangs.

“Freya,” I whispered. “Freya, is that you?”

The wolf didn’t answer. In fact, there wasn’t so much as a hint of recognition on its face.

“Liv,” Angela breathed, grabbing my arm, “I think… I think she’s angry…”

As if on cue, the wolf let out a low, rumbling growl and took a step forward. If it weren’t for my flashlight, it would have fully blotted out the light now that it stepped into the entryway because it was so enormous.

“We have to run,” my wolf said, her voice echoing and bouncing off the walls of my mind. “She’s dangerous. I don’t trust this.”

I swallowed. My wolf was right; Freya wasn’t recognizing either of us. But the entrance was blocked, at least for now.

As I fumbled for the flare in my pocket, hoping to use it to scare her away, I called out one more time.

“Freya, it’s me,” I called out. “It’s Olivia. Remember?”

Still no answer. The wolf took another step closer, its growls rumbling deafeningly in the small cave.

“I need your help, Freya,” I pleaded, hoping that some way, somehow, my voice would bring her back. “Please, we’re just here to talk.”

The wolf paused, tilting its head to the side. For the briefest flicker of a moment, I swore I saw recognition flash through those yellow eyes.

But it was gone just as quickly as it came, and another growl rumbled through its throat as it continued stalking toward us.

“Liv,” Angela said, her voice rising with worry. “Liv, we’ve gotta go—”

Angela was right. With a flick, I lit the flare. The cave filled with a sparking sound and a flash of glowing red light, causing the wolf to stop in her tracks again.

“Back off!” I called out, waving the flare back and forth. “Back off, or I’ll—”

Suddenly, the wolf let out a massive roar. I felt my hair whip back, my eyes instinctively closing against the sudden wave of sound and wind. Beside me, Angela grabbed my arm tighter than ever and shrieked.

When I opened my eyes again, the flare had gone out.

And the wolf was charging at us.

I’m not sure what happened next. It all happened so fast, yet somehow in slow motion at the same time. All I remember is white fangs rushing at me, those piercing yellow eyes, and…

Some sort of force erupting around me when I screamed.

Whatever it was, it sent the wolf flying backwards. Angela and I wasted no time. I felt her grab my hand, and then we ran; we ran past the wolf, out of the dark cave and into the misty air, and we kept running for our lives through the forest.

At some point we shifted into our wolf forms, our newfound legs pushing us faster through the woods.

We passed the giant redwood tree, but I hardly noticed. We leaped over fallen trees and wove around large, moss-covered boulders, and all I felt was the wind in my fur and the pounding of my heart.

At some point, we burst out of the woods and onto the road where we had parked. Panting, we shifted back and bolted to the car, and didn’t stop until we were inside.

“I think we lost her,” Angela breathed as I frantically turned on the ignition. “What the hell was that, Olivia?”

I swallowed, putting the car in drive and peeling off down the road.

“I don’t know,” I gasped. “But I think it just saved our lives.”

…

By the time Angela and I pulled up in front of her house, the sun was high in the sky and the morning mist had long since dissipated. When I put the car in park, we just sat there for a few long minutes in utter silence, still too stunned to speak.

“Liv,” Angela said, nodding her hands toward the steering wheel. “You can let go now.”

I followed her gaze, only realizing now that I was still white-knuckling the wheel. I finally let go, and it felt as though my fingers had glued themselves so hard into that clenched position that it hurt just to stretch them out.

“What now?” Angela finally asked.

“We’ll have to go back at some point,” I said firmly despite how I felt on the inside.

Angela’s eyes widened. “Olivia, you’re joking,” she said. “You can’t go back there! She’s gone crazy!”

I swallowed and turned to face her. “Angela, she’s a danger to herself and to others,” I explained. “We can’t just leave her out there. Someone could kill her.”

For a few moments, Angela just stared at me; but I knew that she realized I was right. Feral wolves like that were often hunted down by nearby packs before they could cause any issues. If Alvin had gone any further with the antics he had been pulling last year, he would have faced the same fate.

Finally, Angela sighed, her shoulders slumping a bit. “Alright. But we’re not going back alone, and we’re not going back without a better plan. You understand me?”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, Angie. We’re not going back there until I have a way to get her to shift back.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Angela asked.

“Then we’ll have to stop her from hurting anyone,” I whispered. The thought sent a chill down my spine.

Angela and I said our goodbyes, too exhausted after our mad dash through the woods to even sit and talk for a while. Then, feeling ready for a six-hour nap, I headed home. It was only when I finally plopped my backpack down on the floor inside the foyer that I saw that I had received a text at some point.

Furrowing my brow, I opened the text. My eyes widened when I saw that it was from the stranger, and I felt my heart pound when I saw the contents. In front of me sat a picture—a new one this time.

It was a photograph of Nathan with… that woman again. I recognized her dark hair and her tall, slender form immediately.

Only this time, they were no longer in a private room, but rather at a dinner table, surrounded by candles. There were others with them, too: Dan and someone else, some younger blonde woman whose face I couldn’t make out.

I knew it.

My hands shook as I stared down at the picture. There was no message attached, nothing; nothing except for the photograph of my husband in a smoky restaurant with a dark-haired woman leaning on his arm.

But it didn’t matter, I told myself—because he wasn’t going to be my husband for much longer.

Without a moment of hesitation, I turned on my heel and stormed back out of the house. I may have been exhausted from a near death experience, but there were divorce papers waiting for me at the attorney’s office.