Frostbitten
Page 85

"What the hell is that?" Reese asked, rubbing his nose.
Before I could answer, a massive form lumbered from the woods, stopping twenty feet away and turning to look at us.
"What the hell-?" Reese said.
The beast reared up, casting a shadow that reached to our boots.
"Holy shit!"
The beast dropped and charged. Reese grabbed my sleeve and tried to yank me to safety. When I wouldn't budge, he gave me a shove off the trail and raced past me into the forest. I calmly walked back to the path.
The beast roared… and ran around me. Then he turned, pawing the path, breath streaming from his nostrils.
"Eli," I said. "Cut it out."
"That's-" Reese said from his spot in the woods. "That's Eli? The Shifter guy?"
"Shifter kid. He's a teenager."
"I don't care how young he is. He's fucking huge. And fucking pissed off."
"No, he's just putting on a show, trying to warn us off. Do you want us to leave, Eli?"
He snorted, still pawing the ground like a bull, head down, eyes blazing.
"Okay, we'll do that," I said. "We'll go pick up Noah, and let your Alpha and your father handle this."
Eli growled. He lunged. When I stood my ground, he stopped short, snow flying from his massive paws.
"Go Change back so we can talk about this."
 
"SHIT, THAT WAS fast," Reese said as Eli lumbered out of the thicket where he'd Changed.
"That's one advantage they get," I murmured.
"Nice, but I don't think I'd trade," Reese said as he took a better look at Eli.
Reese quickly hid his reaction to the young Shifter, but Eli couldn't disguise his own response to the young werewolf, shoulders and jaw lifting as he drew nearer, eyeing Reese with the barely disguised envy of an awkward sophomore in the presence of the high school quarterback. I felt sorry for Eli, then. He wasn't an ugly kid, but at that age, no one-supernatural or human-needs to be reminded of his shortcomings.
He turned his back on Reese and talked to me. "She doesn't want to go back."
"Good. Then she can tell me that."
He hesitated, big jaw working. Then he pushed back his hair and scanned the forest, and I thought he was working on an excuse, but instead he said, "Fine. She won't like it, though."
He led me along the path.
"She does want to stay," he said as we walked. "She asked me to move her."
"All right."
"You don't believe me."
I glanced over at him. "Do you really expect me to take your word for it?"
He didn't answer, and we walked the rest of the way in silence.
 
WE REACHED THE cabin, another small backwoods, off-the-grid one probably used by anyone needing shelter.
When we arrived, Eli insisted Reese stay outside-apparently, he didn't want the cute, blond Aussie getting too close to his girl. That was fine, but I made Eli wait, too. If this girl was as set on staying as he said, then she needed to tell me that herself.
I opened the door. Inside, it was dark, the light having flicked off the moment we drew within sight of the cottage.
"I won't go," said a voice from deep in the shadows. "You can turn around right now. I'm eighteen, so I can make my own decisions."
Of the three missing girls, two had been twenty, which gave me a good idea who I was talking to. The one who'd been living on the streets, trying to escapes life of abuse and neglect.
"You're seventeen, Adine."
"Eighteen next month. Better off saving yourself the paperwork and pretending you never found me."
"I'm not from social services. I'm just someone who wants to make sure you're okay."
I turned on the nearest lantern. A wavering light filled the cabin. Adine sat on a cot in the corner, her face set, her expression saying if I was going to take her out of here, I'd damned well better have brought an army to do it.
"I know what happened to you," I said.
"Yeah? Same shit, different day."
I met her gaze and recognized that haunted, hunted animal look. I'd never been this tough, though, as much as I'd wanted to be.
"What happened to you is-" I began.
"Gonna leave scars. Scars no one can see. Yeah, I've done the sessions. If you're expecting me to say I'm fine, you're wrong. But I'm sure as hell going to get back to fine. And Eli's going to help me."
"He-"
"He's just a kid, I know. And something… something's not quite right about him. I know that, too. But I don't care. He rescued me and he took care of me, and he doesn't want anything in return, just to be with me, talk to me." She met my gaze. "You know what that's like?"
Actually, I did, but I knew she wouldn't believe me. And as I looked in her face, I knew she wasn't kidding herself. Eli wasn't her knight in shining armor. She didn't expect happily ever after. But whatever it was, it's what she wanted. What she needed.
"If she wants to join us, she may," rumbled a voice behind me.
I turned to see the Shifter Alpha in the doorway. Behind him, Eli's father had his son by the scruff of the neck. The Alpha stepped in and shut the door.
"This is not our way," he said. "But if the girl wants to come… " He looked at me. "We should not argue."
In other words, sending this girl back to civilization, angry and unhappy, really wasn't the best idea. She was likely to start talking about the Shifters. That might only land her a bed in the psych ward, but they couldn't take the chance.
He turned to Adine. "We live far away. You will not be able to visit your people."
"Fine by me," she said, chin lifted, defiant.
"We have a village, but we are hunters. We do not come to the city."
"I can hunt and I can fish, and I'm a damned fine cook-though I like the hunting and fishing part better. I've had enough of the city. It wasn't… " A look passed over her face, disappointment and regret. "It wasn't what I thought it would be. I'm ready to go back inland." She straightened and met his gaze. "I'll do my share. You won't regret it."
The Alpha's expression said he was pretty sure he would, but he only nodded.