It had been a tense couple of hours. Dealing with Wyatt’s revelation had simply added to the turmoil in her head. She was planning murder. Wondering what Wyatt would be like in bed. Surely she should be at least a little concerned that she wanted to kill Conrad. That would at least make her a good person, but right now she wanted to be free, at any cost. Even your soul? He was still a person, no matter how horrible.
So when the howl went up, Jess shuddered but took the rifle in hand and moved to the entrance hall. Conrad would come for her, everyone knew it. So she would wait in the house where the light was best and Wyatt and the others would be outside. Only Old Charlie would be inside with her. But she had silver bullets. All it would take was one to seriously hurt the little shit. She had no idea if she would actually be able to kill him, but hurt him a lot, now that was something her conscience could handle.
Wyatt glanced at her. She held his gaze. What passed between them was mostly longing and a fair amount of fear. Then he ducked out of the front door.
Charlie sighed at her. “You know he’s willing to die for you,” he said to her.
She didn’t reply.
“Yup, that boy will hurt tonight, for you. I hope you appreciate it.”
“Charlie,” she said, but it came out as a wail.
“No you pull yourself together. And when it’s all over if we’re still breathing, you decide if you love him. He doesn’t deserve any games you might decide to play with him. You been hurt, so what? Who hasn’t? Just ‘cos he’s a bear, doesn’t mean he’s a bad man. I’ve known this boy’s whole family. They are good people. I don’t know you, but you seem like good people too and it’s sad when two good people let other, stupid things get in the way.”
He took a breath, “That’s all I gotta say.” He marched up the steps and was gone.
Jess stood in the front hall and shook. She was a mess and the more she tried to pull herself together the more she fell apart.
Noises began outside, howls and growls, grunts and roars. Then all hell broke loose. She twitched the curtains aside and just about screamed as a wolf soared through the air right at her. She cowered expecting a crash of window glass, but it never came. A bear, a huge black one, swatted it out of the air. All around the house wolves and bears fought. The wolves were quick, nimble and agile. But what the bears lacked in speed they made up in sheer power.
A bear caught a wolf and with a great paw twisted its neck until it broke. The creature hung limp in the bear’s claws until it was flung at an oncoming wolf. She could see so little and hear so much. The battle raged around her. All she could see were the moments when the security lights caught them in their mad fight for what, her freedom?
“Oh, God, I’m so selfish,” she said and flung the door open, stepping outside. “I’m here, Conrad, you spineless little maggot! Come and get me!”
A wolf stepped out of the darkness. It was grey and snarling. Somehow Jess knew it was him. It stood in front of her, blood dripping from its maw. Then it padded up to her and stood growling. She raised the gun and sighted down the barrel. Could she pull the trigger? Could she end him?
The moment hung, as though some celestial being had momentarily pushed pause. She felt the world turn, saw herself pulling the trigger, sighting right between his eyes. She saw Conrad fall to the ground as a wolf and lie there dying as a naked man, his pale skin shining in the moonlight.
And then time came back. Conrad pounced and Jess squeezed her finger on the trigger. The shot went wide and disappeared into the dark. Now she was running, through the house, out the back door and down into the garden. It was a mad dash, she had no plan. Thoughts fell like loose ribbons from her head. This was primal fear, this was what it had felt like back before fire, before the world was tamed. He was on her heels, could easily have run her down. But this was far more fun, watching her dash blindly through the grass.
Suddenly, something growled. Something else grunted and she felt Conrad disappear from behind her. A big bear with brown fur rose up in the grass. He and Conrad faced each other, circling. This wasn’t about Jess any more, she could somehow feel it. This was about bear versus wolf. This was a showdown years in the making. It was about blood.
Conrad made a faint at Wyatt, but Wyatt was watching his eyes. They growled and grunted at each other, while Jess stood on the sidelines helplessly. And then they moved. She didn’t see who moved first. It was all a blur of fur and blood and sweat. The battle was fierce, so horrible. The violence from it radiated outward. This was no longer two people fighting, this was a bear and a wolf and it would end in death.
She couldn’t take it. They ripped and tore at each other. Gashes forming in both coats. Jess, feeling more helpless and insignificant than ever, stood on the sidelines and screamed.
Eventually she sat in the grass, hands over her ears, rocking to and fro staring into the darkness until a gentle hand landed on her shoulder. She started in fright and turned to see Wyatt. Blood dripped from wounds all over his body. He was a mess.
She flung her arms around his neck and clung to him. “Are you okay? Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he said. “We heal quickly. By tomorrow there won’t even be a scratch.”
She begrudgingly let go of him and a gleam of pale flesh caught her eye in the blood soaked grass.
“Is he..?”
Wyatt’s golden eyes were sad. “No,” he said. “But he won’t bother you again. If he knows what’s good for him.”
Wyatt leaned heavily on Jess as the two of them slowly walked back towards the house. She had the rifle in her free hand and it felt like a lead weight. As they walked passed the crumpled form of Conrad lying in the grass she saw that he was a misshapen mess. Caught somewhere between human and wolf, bits of fur and skin mingled on oddly shaped body parts. His breath came in ragged bursts. There was a lot of blood. She turned away from him and looked at Wyatt who was watching her with concern. She smiled at him and in his golden eyes saw movement.
On instinct, the rifle came up as she spun around. Pushing Wyatt away, she cocked the weapon and fired. The silver bullet ripped through the leaping creature. It dropped to the ground with a wet thump.
Conrad was dead.