Chapter 8
“Get up.”
I was face down on the ground, panting and groaning as I tried to force my limbs to obey me.
“Get. Up.”
“I’m working on it!”
“Work faster.” Before I could say anything else, Beatrice continued, “I’m not wasting my time out here watching you take a nap. You wanna’ learn to fight, get up and fight.”
But, that was the thing.
I didn’t really want to learn to fight. This was Abraham’s idea, and I’d gone along with it. That seemed more like a mistake the longer this little “lesson” went.
After yesterday, I’d really thought I could handle Beatrice. Sure, she was prickly, but if she was the best and Abraham believed it was a good idea for me to learn how to fight, I’d take his word for it and try to work with her.
But that was yesterday when a normal person had shown up to my lesson.
Today, I was being treated to what I’d heard referred to as Hurricane Bea, and I absolutely understood the moniker now.
With the last reserves of my strength, I crawled to my four feet and faced Beatrice in wolf form.
“Get into position.”
I did as she instructed, bending my legs and tucking my head down to protect my neck. With movements I just barely registered, Beatrice leapt from her spot a few feet away to tackle me to the ground.
We rolled across the grass grappling and snarling, but it was short lived.
Within seconds, Bea had me pinned to the ground and her jaw around my neck.
I’d lost.
Again.
She pushed off me and took a seat a few feet away.
“Get up. Let’s go again.”
“Beatrice, what is this teaching me? All you’re doing is kicking my ass.”
“Maybe you need to be put in your place a little.”
The blood began to simmer in my veins. “So, this is payback? You’re not actually teaching me a damn thing.”
She looked unphased. “You’ll learn. Or you’ll spend most your time on the ground. It doesn’t matter to me which it is.”
I growled and dragged myself back to my feet. Every bone and muscle in my body ached. We’d been at it for at least an hour, and I was out of breath, tired, sore, and now pissed.
Do not show weakness.
I marched closer to where she sat and stared deep into her icy blue eyes. “I’m not your punching bag, Beatrice. I only agreed to this because Abraham was so adamant. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna put up with your crap. If you’re gonna teach me something, then do it. Otherwise, this lesson is over.”
Beatrice climbed to all four feet and speared me with a glare of her own. It was the first time I realized I was a little bigger than her.
“It doesn’t matter to me if you learn to fight or not. I’m only doing this because my alpha ordered me to. If you don’t like the way I teach, then suit yourself.”
I stood staring at her for another few seconds. It felt like it was important to not look away in this instance. Like if I gave in here, every interaction with her from here on out would be tilted in her favor. I couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t give her the upper hand.
Finally, Beatrice snorted and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I have better things to do than babysit you.”
With that, she trotted over to her clothes, shifting, dressing, and leaving within moments.
I waited and watched until she’d returned to the lodge before I checked to make sure no one was around and allowed myself to shift back into a woman.
It felt good that I’d won this little battle of wills with Beatrice, but I knew I’d hear it from Abraham. He really thought that sticking us together would force us to play nice and teach me how to defend myself. Clearly, he was delusional.
No part of Beatrice wanted to make nice with me. She had her opinions already set in stone, and I doubted there was anything I could do to change her mind.
Knowing I’d have to face Abraham and explain why my fighting lessons had been suspended, I retreated to my seldom used bedroom instead of going to find him.
I opened one of the drawers, pulled out the freeze-dried chicken treats I’d picked up for Charlie, and took a cross-legged seat in the middle of the floor.
I shook the bag and opened it, watching as a pair of lime green eyes lit up under the bed.
“Hey, bubba,” I called softly.
I’d tried this same routine yesterday after I’d gotten back from the store with Evey. We’d sat here together, calling softly to him and tossing him treats in the hopes he would come out, with no success.
I reached in and pulled out a handful of the little morsels. “Come here, buddy.”
Slowly but surely, over the next twenty minutes, I coaxed Charlie almost all the way out from under the bed. Now that I had his full attention, I reached behind me and grabbed the little cat toy I’d picked up in town with the treats.
Charlie’s eyes widened at the sight of the toy, a little stick with a string tied to the end like a fishing pole, and a small, blue feather boa hanging off the end. I wiggled the toy in front of his face and watched his tail twitch. Finally, after a couple minutes of waving the feathery toy enticingly, Charlie sprung from his spot to give chase.
I spent the next few minutes leading Charlie around the room, playing with him, and purposely leading him closer and closer to me. Finally, I let him catch the toy and gave him a minute to revel in his victory before I leaned down to pet his head.
He arched his back and pressed against my hand for the shortest of moments before there was a knock at the door. Charlie hightailed it back under the bed as the door opened behind me.
“El. Thank God you’re here.”
Abraham was out of breath, with wide eyes and hands that clenched and unclenched themselves continuously. I’d had this man carry me up three flights of stairs before and not break a sweat, so I knew something was up.
“Of course, where did you think I was?”
He stalked across the room and pulled me into his arms. “I just ran into Bea, and she said your lesson ended a while ago. I thought you were gonna come get me when it was over.”
I shrunk in his arms. I had agreed to go find him after my lesson. In fact, I’d barely seen him since breakfast. After my meditation session with Doreen, I’d stayed out on the dock, practicing the technique she shared with me until it was time for my session with Beatrice.
“Sorry, I was trying to work on Charlie a little.” I pulled back, so I could look into Abraham’s worried face. “I actually got him out from under the bed, and he came close enough that I could pet him.”
“That’s nice, El, but I didn’t come in here to check on your cat.”
I jerked out of his arms.
He was never short with me.
Any other time, he’d ask about and listen to anything that interested me. That was one of my favorite things about him. I didn’t understand his brusque attitude now.
Abraham took a step back and reached up with both hands to run them roughly down his face. “I’m sorry, El. Come here.” He pulled me back into his arms, and I couldn’t help but melt a little in his strong embrace. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I was just scared.”
I froze in his arms and pulled back until I could see his face again. “Why? What happened?”
He swallowed once. “We found another woman in the woods.”
It felt like all the air in the room was suddenly gone. Like there was nothing left for my poor lungs to suck up. I was suffocating.
“What?” My voice was barely louder than a whisper, afraid that if I spoke too loudly I’d will this news into reality.
Abraham eyed me seriously. “We just found her a little while ago.”
“She’s dead?” I asked, although I knew. The serial killing werewolf didn’t leave survivors.
Except me.
“Yes,” he confirmed my fears. “It looks like she’s been there about a day.”
My stomach pinched deep inside as I put the horrific puzzle pieces together. “How do you know? How can you tell?”
Abraham pulled back and frowned at me. “Well, it rained out here Thursday afternoon, so she’d still be soaking wet if she’d been out there that long.”
“So, she was killed Friday.”
Abraham nodded.
“The day I was in the woods,” I deadpanned.
I watched the confusion slide off his face and grim acceptance take its place. “Yes. I know.”
The ramifications spun through my mind like a category five twister.
I’d been in the woods alone.
Unprotected.
With no way to defend myself.
The killer had been in those same woods.
The man who’d attacked me and tried to kill me had been traipsing through the same forest I’d been in.
“Do you really think he’s after me?” I asked, my voice weak. “Is there a chance he’s just forgotten about me and moved on?”
The thought made me sick.
As much as I didn’t want to be the focus of a psychotic killer, I also didn’t want other women to keep losing their lives if it was me he was looking for.
Abraham swallowed once before answering. “I don’t believe there’s a chance he’s not looking for you.”
My poor, twisted stomach plummeted inside my body. “Why do you say that?”
Abraham sat heavily on the mattress and pulled me down next to him.
“We noticed a pattern with the first four women that were killed before he attacked you. They all had dark hair and dark eyes and honestly, a few of them could have been sisters they looked so similar. But that’s changed since he attacked you.”
I had a really horrible feeling I knew what he was going to say, but I bit my tongue and listened.
“Since he attacked you, he’s been going after a completely different type of woman.”
My heart pounded so loud in my chest, I was convinced it could be heard from downstairs. I didn’t want to listen anymore. It was already more than I could deal with, but Abraham wasn’t done.
“The last three women we’ve found all look just like you.”
His words fell around me like a series of bombs that detonated on impact, shooting shrapnel and debris into my flesh.
“Why?” I asked, my voice thinner and softer than ever. If he hadn’t been a werewolf, he wouldn’t have even heard me.
Abraham looked away, his gaze darting above my head. He ran a rough hand down his scruffy face and finally spoke. “We think they’re surrogates for you.”
The impact was so sudden and violent, I didn’t even feel it at first. Like when you get hurt really bad and there’s no pain for the first few seconds. That’s what this was like.
“Abraham.” His name was all I could get past my frozen lips.
He reached over and pulled my hands into his lap. “It’s okay, El. I’m not gonna let him hurt you ever again. You know that right?”
I nodded slowly, my sluggish brain trying to keep up with everything I was hearing and trying to find room for this information.
There was a serial killer who was murdering women who looked like me because he couldn’t get the real thing.
The numbness vanished all at once and in its place was a frantic energy, like a buzzing under my skin. I jumped to my feet and began pacing the length of the room.
“We need to do something about this,” I said. “We can’t keep letting him kill these poor women.” A sudden thought struck me. “How is he finding so many hikers that look like me? That’s pretty specific.”
Abraham shook his head. “The last two weren’t hikers.”
“What do you mean?”
“They were both in nice clothes. Dresses and heels. Not something you’d wear to walk through the woods.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I didn’t think you needed to know,” he said with a shrug.
I stopped abruptly and turned to stare at him. “Why wouldn’t I need to know? This is my life, Abraham. It’s me he’s after. Why shouldn’t I be kept in the loop?”
Abraham stood from the bed and stalked over to me, grasping my arms with his big hands. “What difference does it make?”
I shook off his hands and began pacing again, veering wide around him when he wouldn’t get out of my way. “How can I help if I don’t have the whole picture?”
“Elizabeth. You’re not getting anywhere near this investigation. You’re not getting within a hundred feet of this guy.”
“Newsflash, Abraham! I’m probably within a hundred feet of him right now. I probably had breakfast with him this morning!”
Abraham shook his head quickly. “No. That’s impossible. Only the enforcers live here.”
“Yeah and what makes you think it’s not one of your enforcers?”
Abraham was still shaking his head. “None of them would do this.”
I scoffed and began pacing again. “If you ask me, an enforcer is a great suspect. Someone who’s constantly combing the woods around your land. Someone who knows enough to kill and dump bodies in your forest without getting caught for this long.”
I could see what my words were doing to him. His eyes were a mixture of hurt and betrayal as they quickly dissected the picture I was painting for him. He rose from the bed and began to pace the same path I’d been on, his long legs eating up the space and his eyes darting from side to side.
Finally, he stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face me. His features were torn and conflicted as he pulled his cell from his pocket and speed dialed a number. “I need you in Elizabeth’s room immediately. Bring Wes and Wyatt with you.”