Chapter 5

Her eyes opened slowly before her hand came up to her forehead. Olivia blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision. Her body lurched up to a sitting position before she swung her legs over the cushion, suddenly realizing the cover on top of her was now on her lap. She was completely naked from the waist up.

Olivia looked down at herself, feeling the clay that lay crusted along her ribs. “What the fuck?” She groaned, prodding the clay.

“Shit! Sorry.” Isaiah blurted out and turned around, giving her privacy.

“Where the hell am I?” She asked, pulling the cover up over her chest. “Who are you?”

Her eyes were locked on him as he turned and approached her, looking a little more than embarrassed.

“I’m Isaiah Avery. You’re in my home.” He took another step and gave her a wide smile while trying not to stare.

Olivia raised a hand in defiance, a single finger raised in the air to try and halt any more advances towards her, “That’s far enough.”

Isaiah stopped dead in his tracks, as not to show any hostility or threat to Olivia, “I found you last night in the snow unconscious. By the wounds on your body, it looks like you were attacked.”

Olivia’s brain started going haywire as she tried to think back. The hike. Her group, and the wolves. Everyone was dead.

“Oh, Jesus.” She whispered, closing her eyes and running a delicate hand through her long black hair. Her hand rested in front of her mouth before she looked up at Isaiah who was standing a few feet away. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans that fit snug on his hips. Her eyes could see the well-defined V leading down below his waist that disappeared beneath the denim. Completely barefoot and no shirt.

His dark black hair was rustled like he kept trying to tame it with his fingers and his eyes were a brilliant light green. She quickly looked away and tightened the blanket around herself. “I need clothes. Can you get me some?” Her eyes glared down at his hand that was holding a spatula. Isaiah had started on breakfast shortly before Olivia had awoken, flipping some eggs, and frying some bacon in a pan.

“Yeah, sure. But you might want to take a shower first.” He said, cocking an eyebrow. “You mind telling me your name? Maybe what happened?”

She tilted her head and looked at him contemplating what to say. Twisting her head from side to side, her hair fell roughly over her face, stating in a deadpan voice, “Olivia. I was attacked and my group didn't make it.”

Her intentions were not to have her tone come off as this flat, with no emotion behind it, but it was all that she could muster.

All she felt right now was anger. She had given up her quest, her obsession to find her father’s killer over six months ago. That’s why she packed up and moved to Crimson Creek. She had tracked those bastards for over a year. She had covered so much ground including every square inch of Madison which was four hours south of Crimson Creek and she couldn’t even find so much as a scent. It was like they never existed. It almost drove her to the point of insanity. The delirium that came with the long days of searching and short nights of rest took their toll on Olivia. There was always the constant dread of losing herself to obsession and insanity, travelling through rat holes, dingy bars and vagabond filled alleyways, all in the hopes of finding the men that killed her father.

Fear had subsided by rage and determination. Her mind was sharp and focused, even though it would often wander to darker thoughts of letting herself go to the inner demons. Those demons that would leave her helpless and pitiful, drunk and drugged up, abandoned and terrified; however through it, all Olivia never broke. She held strong and stuck to her virtue and convictions, and just around the corner, it seemed, she found them. The same wolves that attacked her and killed her father. She sat there in her own stupor wondering how many of them were in the pack.

“Did you hear me?” Isaiah asked, waving his hand in the air to get her attention.

She looked up at him with a puzzled look and asked, “What?”

“I asked who attacked you?”

“Listen,” she started, standing up and wrapping the blanket around her body, “I really appreciate your help but I need some clothes and I really need to get out of here.”

Isaiah scratched his forehead, staring at her for a moment before saying, “Follow me.” She watched him walk past her, following closely behind him through the living room and up the stairs leading to the second level.

Her eyes landed on his ass and she couldn’t help but stare. It was perfect, along with his muscular thighs that were wrapped perfectly in his denim jeans. His back was threaded with muscles. He obviously worked out, she thought.

The pair reached the second platform and she followed him down the hall when he turned and entered a room. She peaked in seeing a king sized poster bed with a deep blue comforter on top.

Her eyes followed him as he walked over to a closet, pulling out a gray hoodie, and then to the dresser where he pulled out a pair of black jogging pants. He bunched them up and handed them to her. “Here you go.”

Olivia cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Underwear?”

Isaiah grinned and walked over to his nightstand and asked with a smile, “Briefs or boxers?”

She couldn’t help but smile shyly at him. “Boxers will probably stay on me a little better.”

Isaiah was twice the size of her. She was only 5’5 and weighed maybe 120 lbs.

He, on the other hand, had to be at least 6’2 and well over 200 pounds of pure muscle.

His scent was unmistakable and smelt like heaven. He was definitely a wolf as well, but she thought it would be better to just keep her mouth shut for now.

He grabbed a pair of boxers and led her out of the room and down the hallway. Olivia followed him into the bathroom. It was bigger than her apartment for Christ sakes. He laid the boxers on the counter. “Everything you need should be in here. I’ll try and radio Frank for you. The phones and cell service are out due to the storm.”

“Thank you.” She said, holding the blanket around her. She watched him leave, shutting the door behind him and then she locked the door. Olivia walked over to the mirror and dropped the blanket. She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to inspect for any more damage. There was clay or mud everywhere on her body. She frowned and then yelled out, “What the hell is this shit all over me?”

She could hear his voice from the hallway, “It’s a homemade healing remedy.”

Her eyes went back to the mirror and she twisted her body around to try and take a look at her back. She recalled the deep pain she felt the moment the claws struck her back. How every fiber in her body seemed to ache and scream in pain, and now it was as if nothing had ever happened.

She pulled out a drawer and found a bundle of hygiene items that were bound together with an elastic band. She took it and laid it on the counter.

She turned on the shower, feeling the water with her hand until it reached a comfortable temperature and stepped inside.

The hot water ran over her aching body as she placed her palms on the cool ceramic tile. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth soothe her aching muscles. She let her thoughts wander back to her father as the hot liquid ran down her face.

Olivia never met her mother. She had died giving birth to Olivia, but her father had always kept her mother alive with her memories and the stories he would tell her as a child. Her father was her best friend. They were always so close.

She had lived in Madison her entire life and her father always took her on annual hiking trips deep into the forest. It allowed them to shift and run free without worry and just be themselves. He taught her everything about survival: hunting, hiking and a little about some extreme sports such as rock climbing and cliff-hanging. They both loved the adrenaline rush that it gave them and it allowed them to bond.

The one hike they did every year was a 10k hike and it allowed them to catch up and spend time with one another. Not that they didn’t have a special bond, but it was the best way, spending time with her father in nature, the two best things she could ask for.

She vowed she would find and kill the wolves that performed that senseless act on him. The only man she truly loved.

Olivia ran a hand through her hair as the water rolled down her face and body. She couldn’t control her thoughts as they consumed her and they drifted back to the day that her father was murdered. She would never forget that wolf. He was large with brown fur and had one black line running up his forehead.

Olivia sat on the rock beside her father. The boulder was perched high up on the mountain so they could see the beautiful scenery around them clear as day.

Her eyes scanned the valley below them. It was beautiful. Almost magical. The lush green vegetation, the large trees and then the small city below with the river running next to it. Olivia could never get enough of the view. That is why this hike had quickly become their favorite.

It was her mother’s favorite and now she had shared it with her father.

“We should get going, Liv. It’s going to be dark soon.” Her father stood and stretched his back.

She stood and smiled. “Beat ya to the bottom ol' man!” Olivia let out a loud laugh, shifted and took off down the trail. She could sense her father behind her as her claws dug into the forest floor and she gained speed, launching herself into the air.

She flew over a large log and skidded to a full stop when she sensed it. Something was wrong. She turned and looked back. Her heart raced at the sight before her. Five hundred feet away, she watched as five wolves circled her father. She bolted and leaped through the air, taking out two wolves simultaneously, as her father attacked another one.

Her head shook violently as she broke the neck of one wolf and then tried to bite at another that bit into her leg. She looked up to two of their attackers lying dead on the ground. Driving her large paw forward with every ounce of strength in her body, she connected with the wolf’s face, forcing him to release his grip. Within seconds, she was on him again and ripping into his neck.

When she looked up, she could see that her father was badly injured. She couldn’t move. Her leg was broken and twisted at an awkward angle. A sinister chill ran down her when the large wolf looked at her. Amber eyes tinged with green. Nothing like she had ever seen before.

A moment later, she watched helplessly from a few hundred feet away, as the wolf showed that it took pleasure in ripping out her father’s throat, grunting and groaning with every twist and shake of its muzzle until her father lay dead on the floor. It turned to face her once more, and for a moment she believed she could see the fire in its eye and a smirk on its face before it turned to the forest and took off into the confines.

She waited silently until she thought it was safe. Once she transformed, she dragged herself to her father’s lifeless body, weeping in agony. When there was no longer a threat presenting itself, Olivia broke down. Here, the man that she loved so dearly lay dead before her very eyes, cradled in her arms as she screamed for help. No one would hear her, not out here, and if anyone did they wouldn’t come to the rescue.

Not that her father had any hope of rescue. He was dead and there was nothing that anyone could do to help him now. This was her way of giving what seemed like the best last salute off she could before she had to make her way back out into the world, where the cycle of hunting those bastards would begin.

Olivia shook her head as the water fell down her face. A moment later, the sobs came and her arms wrapped around her torso as she quietly wept underneath the warmth of the shower.