Silver Kiss (10 page)

It was clear she was in no condition to
fight. She was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans and she was
visibly, painfully scrawny. She was also battered and bruised, cut
and scratched all over her face and arms. I’d no idea how long
she’d been out here, but I did know that she couldn’t stay any
longer. I’d need help to get her to a doctor.

I tipped my head back to the iron-grey
clouds and howled, a long, thin howl that would bring Vince and
Joel running. If they weren’t too busy shagging, that is.

After a few seconds I heard
Vince’s answering howl and relaxed a little. They were coming. The
girl flinched and moaned at the sound, turning her face away from
me again. God, she was scared. I could taste it, metallic and hot
on my tongue.
Scared of me, another
wolf?
I was Pack—she ought to be relieved.
Wasn’t that the instinct that powered through us all, as undeniable
as the moon’s call? Pack was safety. Pack was home.

But her fear was a living thing, setting me
on edge. I whined and decided maybe she’d feel better if I was
human-shaped. Then I could at least talk to her, try to find out
what she was doing out here. I stood and forced myself to
change.

It was always harder to shift back to human
then it was to shift into wolf. My body preferred wolf-shape and
since my hunt had been abortive, my wolf-self felt cheated. She
wanted to run and stalk, pounce and kill. She had no desire to
change back yet. It was a desire so deeply rooted I had to fight,
had to wrestle myself back into human form. After a few blistering
minutes, I dropped to my hands and knees in the snow, panting for
breath, sweat dripping down my body.

The girl never moved the whole time I was
shifting, just lay there and cried, which made me feel weirdly
guilty. I crept closer to her.

“
Hey,” I said, pitching my
voice low and calm. “Hey, are you alright?”

She lifted her head to glance at me from
under a matted mess of hair. Recognition flashed through me and I
froze, shocked and disbelieving. “Molly? Molly Brady?”

She didn’t answer, just dropped her head
again. I shuffled closer, then hesitated. Should I try moving her?
She might have internal injuries. If she had broken bones and I
moved her, they might heal in the wrong position. I tried to dredge
up anything useful I’d picked up over the years about first aid,
but all that came to mind was the recovery position. I didn’t think
Molly was in danger of choking to death on her vomit, so I decided
to leave her where she was until Vince and Joel arrived.

I could hear Vince howling, not too far
away, and that shook me out of my stupor a little. Maybe Molly
wasn’t about to choke to death, but it was clear she was badly hurt
and probably in shock. The best thing I could do was try to keep
her conscious and aware, if I could.

“
Molly, look at me. Can you
look at me, Molly? My name’s Ayla. I’m going to help you. My
friends and I will get you to the hospital and everything will be
fine, okay? Molly? Dammit, please say something. At least look at
me.” I sucked my lip ring into my mouth, panic threading through me
when she failed to respond. I resisted the temptation to shake her,
afraid of hurting her, and just kept up my stream of chatter. She
twitched and whimpered every now and then, but that was all I could
get out of her. My panic mounted by the second, the cold beginning
to sink into my bones. If I was feeling it, she had to be.
Hypothermia was just as serious for werewolves as
humans.

To my relief, Vince and Joel burst into the
clearing a few minutes later. Vince had shifted back to his human
body, but Joel was still in his wolf shape, gleaming gold in the
moonlight. He bounded past Vince to Molly, snuffling loudly. The
girl looked up sharply, suddenly alert, and met Joel’s eyes. He
huffed in her face. She screamed.

Joel jumped back from her with a bark of
alarm and Vince rushed forward to grab his mate, dropping to his
knees and slinging his arms round Joel’s neck. Molly staggered to
her feet, then collapsed into me as if unable to support herself. I
caught her, slumping backwards under her weight and we hit the
ground in a tangle of limbs. She clung to me, sobbing against my
bare shoulder.

“
Please, please, please,”
she gasped, digging her nails into me until I squirmed.

I craned my neck to look past her to Vince,
who was still hanging onto a clearly baffled Joel. “Maybe he should
shift back?” I suggested. It was obvious Joel had upset her, even
if it wasn’t obvious why. I didn’t see the point in upsetting her
further.

Vince stroked Joel’s head and released him,
stepping back. Joel let out a wolfy sigh and shifted back to human.
I looked away, holding Molly awkwardly. She was trembling in my
arms, refusing to look up and still mumbling nonsense at me. It
always felt wrong to watch someone change back to human. They were
vulnerable then, exposed to danger, and averting your gaze
felt…polite. A way of showing the other wolf you meant no harm.

When Joel was human again, he sat down in
the snow, knees pulled demurely up to his broad chest. “So what’s
going on?” he asked calmly, as if a strange, teenage wolf hadn’t
just shrieked in his face.

“
I found her,” I said. “We
need to get her to the hospital.”

Vince stepped forwards and crouched down
next to us, reaching for Molly with gentle hands. “Hey kid,” he
said gently. “You wanna let go of Ayla and let us take a look at
you?”

I was surprised when she responded, given
her reaction to Joel. But Molly loosened her death grip on me and
glanced up at Vince warily. He beamed at her. “There we go, let’s
see those pretty eyes,” he crooned, sweeping her filthy hair away
from her face. “Hello, gorgeous. Come here then.”

With a sniffle, Molly peeled herself away
from me and moved into Vince’s open arms. He hugged her carefully,
stroking her hair as he had Joel’s. “Okay then,” he said. “We
should get you somewhere safe and warm, shouldn’t we?”

I got to my feet, mentally
running through everything we should do.
Call Shannon. Call Tina. Call the police. Call an
ambulance…
But looking at Molly, battered
and bloody and wrapped in Vince’s embrace, I knew he was right.
First thing we had to do was make her feel safe.

“
Can you carry her?” I
asked Vince. “We should take her back to yours.”

He nodded and swung Molly up in his arms
with ease. She didn’t protest, just snuggled further into his
embrace, eyes screwed closed. He headed back towards the house.
Joel and I fell into step behind him.

“
What’s going on?” Joel
asked again, whispering to me. “Who is she?”

“
Molly Brady,” I whispered
back. “I just stumbled across her—God knows how long she’s been out
here, but she’s in a bad state.”

“
That’s the girl Shannon’s
been looking for? Shit, that’s weird.” He whistled. “We should call
the police.”

Even though I’d thought the same thing
seconds ago, I shook my head. “Not yet. She might bolt again. Let’s
get her home and see how badly she’s hurt first.” Molly was a
troubled teen, I reminded myself, already had a criminal record. I
was pretty sure she’d disappear like a shot if the police showed
up.

We trudged back to Vince and Joel’s place in
silence after that, feet crunching through ice and slush. I’d run
further than I realized on my hunt and the walk home stretched out
miserably, the night getting colder and colder, anxiety gnawing at
me. When the warm lights of the estate emerged from the shadows,
the sight sent a shiver of relief through me. I sped up, dragging
Joel with me so we overtook Vince and Molly. Joel unlocked the back
gate and the four of us were soon ensconced in the kitchen. Me and
the boys dressed hurriedly, then Vince went to find a blanket for
Molly.

She sat in sullen silence at the table, a
big tartan blanket draped around her thin shoulders. Joel set a cup
of hot chocolate before her and she stared into the creamy drink
without seeing it. I glanced at Vince. She’d responded to him
before, where she’d ignored me and screamed at Joel. Maybe if we
left them alone, she’d talk?

“
Joel, should we…um…” I
waved my hands vaguely towards the door, then looked significantly
at Molly.

“
Oh. Yeah, I suppose.
Vince, we’ll be in the living room.” Joel caught my hand and
ushered me out of the kitchen, closing the door behind us. Then we
both huddled against the wood, listening to Vince chatter to the
young girl.

“
So you don’t like hot
chocolate,” he said brightly, as if all this was perfectly normal.
“How about something stronger? Coffee?”

“
Vodka?” Molly asked. Her
voice was raspy, as if she hadn’t used it for a while.

“
Hmm, not sure I can
stretch to vodka…” There were a few bangs and slams as Vince rifled
through the cupboards. “How about a beer? Honey beer?”

“
Sounds gross.”

“
It is.” A hiss as a bottle
cap popped. “But it’s alcoholic.” Chairs scraping on tiles; Vince
sitting back down. “Now,” he said. “What’s your name,
pet?”

“
Molly.”

“
And what were you doing
out in the woods, Molly? Did someone hurt you?”

Joel and I both went still keen to hear her
answer. For a few long seconds, she said nothing. I heard gulping
as she swigged from her beer. Joel sighed in my ear, impatient. I
nudged him, every ounce of my attention on the girl behind the
door. When she spoke, Shannon’s case would be cracked.

“
I don’t know,” Molly said,
crushing my hopes. “I don’t remember anything.”

And then she inhaled sharply and there was a
thump and a crack. When I opened the door, Molly was slumped on the
terracotta tiles, unconscious.

SEVEN

“Bloody hell, Vince, what did
you give
her?” Joel exclaimed, rushing to his mate’s side as I dashed to
Molly’s.

Vince reached for the kitchen phone, alarm
lighting his eyes. “Did she hit her head? Is she bleeding?” he
asked as he punched in the emergency number.

I lifted Molly’s head, checking for new
wounds. “No, no blood,” I said. “But she needs a doctor. God, we
should have taken her straight to hospital. What was I thinking?”
If Molly was permanently hurt or seriously injured, it would be my
fault. I cradled her head in my lap, chewing my lip. “Can you call
Shannon and tell her?” I asked Vince once he’d called for an
ambulance. “She ought to know—she needs to tell Tina, too.”

He nodded and dialed again. I bent over
Molly, pressing my fingers to her throat. Her pulse was strong, but
her skin was icy and pale. It sent a frisson of fear through me,
stirring the wolf’s protective instincts. I pulled the girl into a
hug, pressing my cheek to hers as if I could force my body heat
into her. She smelled of mud and blood and that unfamiliar-familiar
smell I’d noticed when I first found her. It reminded me of…
Lawrence. Floral and bitter at the same time.

Silver
Kiss
. God, that stuff was everywhere. I
closed my eyes, trying to think it through. I wanted to be a police
officer; this was my chance to try it out. Molly starts smoking
Silver Kiss. Disappears. Then shows up beaten black and blue. Oscar
starts smoking it and develops wild mood swings. There had to be a
link somewhere, didn’t there? I just couldn’t see it. Especially
when Lawrence hadn’t changed at all since he started smoking
it.

I growled softly, frustrated. It was like
trying to do bloody Sudoku: I knew the numbers had to go in the
grid, I just couldn’t see where they went. I needed Shannon for
this stuff.

“
Shannon’s on her way,”
Vince said, as if he’d read my mind. He squatted down beside me.
“How is she?”

“
Cold,” I said and Vince
huddled close to us so he could embrace us both, adding his warmth
to mine. I gave him a nervy, affectionate smile. “You lanky
git.”

Joel got round on my other side to join in,
the same Pack need to protect and nourish sparking in him. The
three of us clung to Molly desperately; willing her to be okay,
regain consciousness. I don’t know how long we sat there, but
eventually I heard sirens wailing in the distance, cutting through
the unsettling quiet that had cocooned us. Seconds later, a car
screeched to a halt outside the house and I heard Shannon calling
my name, hammering on the front door.

Squashed as I was in a Vince-Joel sandwich,
I couldn’t get up to answer. Instead, Joel detached himself from
our group hug to go. When I next looked up, the kitchen was
swarming with paramedics. I relinquished my hold on Molly and
stood, looking for Shannon through the knot of people while they
fired questions at Vince. How long had Molly been unconscious? Had
she taken anything? Where did we find her?

“
Ayla!” Shannon elbowed
aside a paramedic who was bringing a stretched into the room. “What
happened?”

I caught her hands, suddenly numb all over.
“I found her in the woods. I think she might be really hurt.”

“
Move aside!” one of the
paramedics barked. “Don’t crowd her.”

That numb feeling intensified as I watched
them lift Molly onto the stretcher and attach an oxygen mask to her
face. God, why didn’t we take her straight to hospital? How much
more damage had we done her by wasting time bringing her back here?
And Vince had given her beer, for God’s sake!

“
Ayla?” Shannon cupped my
cheek, blue eyes brimming with worry. “Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine, I just… I’m
scared for her.” I nodded to Molly. They were taking her out now
and she looked so fragile and young and suddenly I was thinking of
Adam again. He hadn’t been much older than her.