Chapter 9: Betrayed

The creature is stunning, at least to Autumn. His build is more muscular than she expected, and his teeth are massive. The wolf has his lips drawn up, exposing the only weapon it has. Before she realizes it, Autumn takes a few steps closer to the caged animal.

Blake reaches out and gently grabs her by the shoulders. Restraining Autumn appears to upset the wolf, as he lunges at the bars and starts biting them.

“You need to get rid of it,” Blake says in a hushed voice. His tone is serious with a hint of fear behind his words.

Autumn doesn’t look away from the specimen. “I only need a little time. I want him healed up before sending him off to another sanctuary. Please?” she begs.

She doesn’t want to admit her motives are more than that. Since laying eyes on this wolf she has felt oddly compelled to protect him. There’s something there that she can’t put her finger on, but Autumn doesn’t want the creature leaving the grounds until she figures it out.

She doesn’t want to lie to Blake, but he hasn’t been exactly honest with her since she got there either.

“This wolf is unique, Blake, even you can see that. I want to figure out what it is before sending it away. Will you at least give me that?” Autumn asks.

Blake still looks hesitant. “Fine,” he gives. “I don’t think you really want to know what it is, some mysteries are better left unexplained. Once it’s healed up, it’s out of here,” he says seriously without looking away from the wolf.

Autumn nods in agreement. It will take at least a week for the creature to be healthy enough for travel. That will give her all the time she needs.

Blake turns to leave. “Don’t let it out of the cage, and be careful,” he says before exiting.

Autumn turns to the wolf who appears to be calming down now that Blake's gone.

“They do say animals are a better judge of character than people,” she says to the wolf as she walks closer to him.

His eyes are beautiful, dark, and mysterious. “If only you could talk,” she says calmly while sitting down on the floor by the cage.

She’s trying to get a better look at the animal’s leg, but she can’t tell which one was injured. There is blood caked to his coat on both his back legs, but Autumn can’t see any injury to speak of.

“I could have sworn your leg was hurt. There’s no way you healed that quickly,” Autumn whispers while leaning in closer.

Her face is almost up against the bars when the wolf does something unexpected and out of character for a wild animal. He puts his nose against the bars and licks her face. Autumn is taken aback as the wolf looks her in the eyes and lets out a whine.

She can’t think clearly, but never in all her years has an animal from the wild ever been so comfortable around her to let its guard down and actually lick her. Autumn stands up and takes the blood sample she packed up before. She stops at the door and looks back at the lone wolf.

Something about the creature causes her to want to protect him. She finds comfort in his presence she doesn’t feel anywhere else. Autumn wonders if she’s going crazy. Until she knows what’s going on, she plans to keep her thoughts to herself.

She walks back to her trailer in a daze. Autumn can’t help but puzzle over what’s going on at the sanctuary. A weird owner with mommy issues, an unknown wolf in the clinical building, and notes from a coworker that haven't been updated in five years. Not to mention Lana’s comment about shifters.

Autumn walks up next to her car and places the box in her backseat. She needs to use the bathroom before heading into town. Roy hasn’t been around, so she will have to ask him to help her get other samples later. It’s important she gets this blood sent off as soon as possible to avoid spoiling.

While heading up to the trailer, she hears Ray’s truck coming down the road. In spite of her protesting bladder, Autumn turns around and walks to the dirt road to wave him down. Maybe her luck has changed. Autumn hopes she can ask Roy to take her back to the pack and get the last of the blood samples she needs.

“How’s the new wolf doing?” Roy asks after rolling down his window.

“He’s okay,” Autumn replies with a smile. “I was wondering if you’re too busy to show me the pack today. I really need to get the rest of the blood samples, and Blake appears to have a lot going on,” she asks, shifting from her left foot to her right.

Roy smiles and gestures to his passenger seat. “Climb on in. I need to swing by my place to pick up a few things, but I was just about to head out to their pen.”

Autumn’s relieved he’s willing to take her with him, but she really needs to hit the bathroom before heading out. “I actually have to run into the trailer really quickly. Do you mind swinging back through here after you pick up what you need? I can meet you right out here,” she replies.

“No problem,” Roy says with a nod. “I’ll be back here in about ten minutes.”

The truck sputters down the road as Autumn hurries into the house.

She makes it halfway to the bathroom before realizing her door was unlocked. She had locked it when she left that morning, but she hadn’t had to use her key to get in. Maybe I hadn’t closed the door all the way, she thinks while darting into the bathroom.

After taking care of business, and washing her hands, Autumn walks out into the kitchen to grab a water before meeting up with Roy. She opens the bottle and takes a swig, freezing mid-swallow. The flowers that Blake had brought her were missing from the counter. After stepping around the counter, Autumn finds them in the garbage on the other side.

“I assume someone picked those for you since you would never pick wildflowers for yourself,” a familiar voice says from behind her.

Autumn turns slowly around to find Dustin standing in the hall that leads to the bedroom.

Her mind races. She can’t help but glance at the front door and wonder if she could make it out before he catches her. Probably not. Every part of her is screaming for her to run. Autumn knows that if she does, he will catch her. She takes a breath and tries to quiet her thoughts.

“What are you doing here?” she asks as calmly as she can.

Dustin smiles and walks into the kitchen. He’s too close for comfort and Autumn has to force herself to stand still. She doesn’t want Dustin to know he scares her. If she lets that fear take over, she won’t be able to keep her wits about her.

“How nice to see you!” Dustin announces loudly while splaying his arms for a hug.

Autumn doesn’t move. She watches him closely and tries to figure out when would be a good time to make a break for the door.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she says, moving closer to the exit without making a run for it. “How did you find me and what are you doing here?”

Dustin sticks his lower lip out in an over-dramatized pout. “That’s two questions,” he says while taking a step closer to her.

Autumn wants to run. She can feel the danger in the room as her primitive senses kick in. All she can do is keep him talking until she gets a chance to do so.

“What, you expect me to be excited you tracked me down?” she says, deciding to play along. “You threatened my life the last time I saw you,” she reminds him, backing up slowly toward the couch.

Dustin places his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt, really. People say things when they’re upset, and I was very upset with you the last time I saw you,” he yells.

Autumn jumps as Dustin raises his voice. He smiles at her reaction, seemingly taking pleasure in the fact he scared her. His demeanor changes yet again, as he shifts from being angry to frustrated.

“Look,” he says, rolling his eyes and turning his back to her momentarily. “You were always so bad about telling me where you were going, so I had a tracker application put on your phone. When you went into that little dirt town down the road, it pinged you,” Dustin explains while turning back toward her with a huff.

He walks over to the fireplace. “It was a sign. I knew I had to come out here and patch things up. My future wife is not going to be rolling around with some stinky wild mutts for a living.” He raises his eyebrows at her.

Autumn would have fawned all over the place at being called his future wife. That is before he threatened to kill her and left a bruise on her wrist that still hurts. He appears to be annoyed that she doesn’t respond to the future wife comment though.

“Who let you into my trailer?” she asks loudly. Autumn hopes if they start yelling someone will come to see what’s going on.

She jumps again as Dustin brings his fist down heavily on the mantle of the fireplace. “Some women know their place,” he replies while a crazy smile distorts his features. “The owner, Lana, let me in.”

Lana? Autumn knows the woman doesn't like her, but would she really just let Dustin in her place?

Dustin turns back to the fireplace and Autumn sees her chance. She turns around and bolts for the door. The knob is in her hand when she feels Dustin’s arms wrap around her and drag her back.

“Now, don’t be rude,” Dustin says through clenched teeth. “This is why people never wanted to come over to our house, Autumn. You have no idea how to be a proper host,” Dustin says while trying to drag her down the hall toward the bedroom.

“Let go of me, please!” Autumn screams, no longer able to compose herself. There isn’t a doubt in her mind that she’s fighting for her life. Dustin’s lost it, and her eyes are finally open enough to see that he’s a very dangerous person.

After pushing her through the open bedroom doorway, Autumn trips over her own feet and tumbles to the floor. She hits hard and her elbows throb as they make contact first. A loud sob escapes her as the wind is knocked out of her lungs. She gasps for air while rolling up onto her side.

“So clumsy,” Dustin says matter-of-factly as he steps into the bedroom. He squats down next to her and brushes some loose hairs out of her face. He takes hold of her chin, hard, and tries to make her look at him.

“I guess I’ll have to explain the new rules to you before we head home,” Dustin says as he stands up and starts undoing his belt.

Autumn doesn’t know what to do. She’s beside herself and can’t catch her breath. She closes her eyes tightly and tries to will herself someplace safe.