Chapter 3: Central Park

It didn’t take long before Rory discovered she had made a very bad mistake. She paused at a long stretch of dark sidewalk in Central Park and realized she had no idea where she was.

The distinct sound of footsteps echoed behind her, and Rory jumped, her heart racing. The clouds shifted, and moonlight illuminated two men walking her way. Spotting her, they paused and said something to each other that Rory couldn’t hear. Immediately, she knew she was in trouble. The men were not taking a nightly stroll.

“Hey sweetie,” one growled.

“What are you doing out here so late?” the other asked.

A block ahead, a street light flickered on, illuminating the underside of a bridge Rory recognized. She spun on her heels and booked it, running as fast as she could and wishing desperately she had worn sneakers instead of heels. The men were ready, and the only sound louder than their boots hitting the sidewalk was the voracious pounding of her heart.

Adrenaline doused her, and she suddenly felt incredibly sober. Apparently, she wasn’t. Right before she reached the bridge, the point of her right heel caught in a gap in the sidewalk and the entire heel snapped off. She tripped, her elbows and knees catching her fall and scraping against the concrete.

Adjusting her glasses, she groaned at the sudden rush of pain, momentarily forgetting why she had started to run.

“Aw, look, she’s waiting for us.”

Rory gasped and flipped over on her back. The two men had slowed to a walk and were eyeing her with a terrifying hunger. She got to her feet, careful not to turn her back on them.

“Get away from me,” she snapped.

“Oh, she’s got spunk.”

“And pepper spray,” she added, reaching into her purse for pepper spray that didn’t exist.

Suddenly the men froze, their eyes growing wide. “Oh–sh*t!”

“Go, go, go!”

They spun around, sprinting away from Rory. She stared after them, shocked her threat had worked.

“Hah!” she shouted. “That’s right you creeps! Run! Get out of here!” Relief flooded her, and she grabbed her chest, feeling her heart starting to slow. And then behind her, a guttural growl broke the silence of the night.

Rory’s breath caught as she suddenly remembered the news story from earlier. She slowly turned around. Standing in a halo of light on the other side of the bridge was a massive gray wolf, the one who had escaped the zoo. As the animal lowered its head, its lips curled back, revealing giant fangs. Rory didn’t need to be a fan of shows on Animal Planet to know she was in serious danger.

She bolted, racing back the way she’d come, her gait uneven with her broken heels. Even in sneakers, she never would have stood a chance. Her speed was nothing compared to the animal.

Its paws slammed into her, and this time when she fell, she twisted mid-air, crashing to the ground on her back. The force knocked her glasses off her face, but they were the last thing on her mind. The wolf lunged for her neck, and she threw up her hands to protect her face, a decision that most definitely saved her life.

The wolf jaws clamped around her forearm, its fangs penetrating skin and muscle. Rory screamed out in agony, the pain beyond anything she had ever experienced.

At 25-years-old, Rory had experienced more death in her life than most people she knew, an experience that had made her question her mortality.. Not only was wolf attack not on her list of ways she might die, she suddenly realized how much she wanted to live.

She managed to get her foot beneath her. Using what momentum she had, she kneed the wolf in its side. The animal’s jaws released her, its hot breath mixing with the smell of blood. Still, it was too strong, its weight pressing down on her chest. She didn’t stand a chance in a fight.

A gust of wind rushed past her, and the pressure on her body was lifted. She rolled over gasping for air. Blinking away tears, she stared at a shocking sight. Without her glasses, the world was a blurry mess, but as she squinted into the darkness, she realized what had happened.

A second wolf had appeared, knocking the first one off her. The second wolf howled, a piercing sound that vibrated her bones. The first wolf growled, squaring off, but the second wolf was larger, carrying a dominance the first one seemed to understand.

Rory’s heart leapt as she spotted her glasses. She yanked them off the ground and pushed them up her nose, just as the second wolf lunged for the first, grabbing it by the neck.

The first wolf cried out in pain. and ripped its giant paw through the air in self defense, its claws connecting with the second animal. The bigger wolf didn’t back down and kept advancing. The first wolf realized it stood no chance, and growling, backed into the shadows and disappeared into the darkness.

The second wolf looked at Rory, its amber eyes glowing in the night, a fleck of green in the irises. Rory stumbled to her feet, certain this wolf was determined to finish what the first had started. Cradling her arm, she started to run, but an overwhelming sensation slammed into her.

The park started to spin, and she could no longer see up from down, left to right. Her arm felt like it was on fire, the bite wound an electric vibration that coursed through her body, shocking her muscles and joints, turning them to jello. She had only taken two steps when she collapsed. She was unconscious before she ever hit the ground.

***

The shift back into his human form was usually less painful than the opposite, but this time, Micah felt the pain. Injuries in his wolf form always intensified when he shifted back, and the Shifter had slashed his shoulder, blood dripping down his arm. The injury was nothing compared to the wound on Rory’s arm.

He reached her, lifting her head gently up and checking her pulse. It was weak, but she was alive, which surprised him. Even a mild bite from a Shifter could kill a human, the poison in their fangs instantaneous.

It was because of this, new Shifters were rare, only created with human approval and the company of the pack in a controlled environment. Even that only happened once every few years, the decision to add to the pack a lengthy, monitored process. He knew the chances of Rory’s survival were slim, but he couldn’t leave her here.

Not just because she deserved to die in peace, but because a body in Central Park would shine a spotlight on the Shifter who had killed her. The people they’d bribed at the zoo wouldn’t stay quiet if someone died.

He scrambled for the ditch he’d stored his pile of clothes in and grabbed his cell phone out of his pants pocket, quickly sending Stony a text and dropping a pin of his location.

He spun around and nearly pissed himself.

Rory was standing on the sidewalk, staring at him. It was impossible. He’d seen humans bitten by Rogue Shifters before, and even the ones that had survived only did so after being in a coma for over a week.

She cocked her head and looked him up and down. “Micah? You’re naked.”

Her eyes rolled back into her head, and as her knees gave out, he caught her before she hit the ground.