Chapter 9: What the Hell, Elias?

CLARA

I took a deep breath in hopes that I could sound authoritative and said, “I need you to tell me the truth. Have you brought me out here so you and your pet wolves can murder me?”

The confusion on his face morphed into surprise, and then, much to my surprise, he began to ~laugh at me.~ ~Could you believe that?~

Here I am, pretty sure I’ve actually found the serial killer that the whole town has been buzzing about since I arrived. Worrying that I’m about to be murdered because I, once again, fell for a dangerous asshole.

And he was ~laughing~ at me!

“No, Clara. I have not brought you out here to murder you. And I’m positive that the wolves would be offended if they heard you calling them my pets.”

His laughter was deep and rumbled like an earthquake in his chest.

“Come on. We’re almost at my favorite place in the forest.”

I still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a plot and was moderately offended that he’d laughed at my accusation.

But when he reached out and took my hand, I couldn’t help it. His grip was so warm and gentle that I melted into his side.

If I never made it out of the woods alive, at least I’d be spending my last moments with a quiet giant who made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

As we continued following the stream, Elias began pointing out various plants that survived the cold. He seemed to know the name and best use of every single plant in the forest, and soon my fear gave way to fascination.

He wrapped his big, strong arm around my waist and kept me tucked into his body while he imparted all of his knowledge. His warmth kept the evening chill at bay, and the rumble of his voice felt like a massage for my heart.

I hadn’t thought he had it in him to talk this much. But I’d been very wrong! Apparently, Elias just needed the right topic.

“And those are Canadian yew,” he said, pointing to a small shrub that looked like a baby pine tree. “They’re cold-hardy and like moist, rocky spots under the coniferous canopy.”

“How do you know all of this?” I finally asked, looking up to meet his eye. “It seems like you know every single plant in the entire forest. It’s really impressive.”

“I like plants,” he replied—and just like that, the spark faded.

It seemed I had interrupted chatty Elias, bringing back the stoic version of him.

I felt a little bit guilty about it, but he didn’t seem upset at all. He simply pulled me a little tighter to his side and pushed through what felt like a solid wall of pine branches.

Darkness was truly falling now, but when we got to the other side of the wall, I found myself in a beautiful meadow.

The sunset lit the space into a golden dreamscape, with the perfectly still pond in the middle of the clearing reflecting the heavens so sharply that I was convinced a portion of the sky had fallen to earth.

Elias led me to the edge of the water, and we sat in the dormant grass, brown from winter’s embrace.

“Look over there,” he said, pointing across the water to a thin stand of trees at the meadow’s edge.

I followed his finger and gasped as the familiar scene crashed into my memory.

It was the setting of my dream and of the half-finished painting on the easel!

I stood without even thinking and walked along the bank of the pond until I stood directly where I’d been in the dream. I looked at the tree to my left, a massive and ancient pine, and saw deep claw marks running its breadth and extending eight to ten feet up the trunk.

A shiver ran down my spine.

“Look familiar?” came Elias’s voice from right behind me again.

I whirled around and found him staring over my head at the little stand of trees himself. I nodded, and he nodded in return, as if I’d confirmed something much deeper for him.

“I thought it might. Do you have vivid dreams, Clara?”

I wrinkled my nose, confused by the question, but agreed. “Since I arrived in Melville, yes. Why?”

“I was just curious,” he replied, leading me by the hand to a fallen tree.

We sat next to each other on nature’s bench, and he placed his large, warm hand on my thigh.

“Tell me your history, Clara. Where do you come from?”

A shiver ran down my spine, and my body reacted strongly to the hand so intimately placed on my leg. I swallowed and took a shuddering breath.

“I, uh…grew up a few states over in Missouri. But my mom was from Melville, which is why I moved here when I got divorced, like I told you last time.”

“That makes sense. Were those marks I saw from your ex-husband?”

I instinctively tucked my arms into my armpits to hide my wrists, despite the bruises being ninety percent healed. “I’m…no, they’re…yes. Yes, they were.”

Elias began to growl, and I knew I had to be imagining it, but I was pretty sure his golden eyes began to glow.

“He better never cross my path, or I’ll have to restrain myself from teaching him a lesson.”

I probably should have been nervous that his reaction was so violent, but instead, I felt warmth beginning to grow in my belly.

It felt nice to have someone being protective over me rather than jealous.

“He definitely deserves one,” I agreed.

My stomach rumbled, and I looked around once more, losing interest in the scenery. “I’m getting hungry, Elias. Can we go back now?”

As if to agree with me, a sudden cacophony of howls began in the near distance.

Crashing and whimpering soon followed, and I felt my heart burst from the race gate.

Elias noticed my panic and calmly stood in front of me. He seemed entirely relaxed as he put his arm behind his back for me to take his hand.

“Just stay behind me and everything will be fine.”

I took his hand, because whatever was out there was scaring the hell out of me—and having a big, buff man-shield in front of me at least gave me some small amount of protection.

The sounds grew louder and closer, full of growls and squeals of pain.

The sharp crack of branches breaking followed by the crash of them hitting the undergrowth below made me wonder exactly how big these suckers were, whatever they were.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out just how big.

Out of the silvery twilight darkness, the massive form of a black wolf stepped into view.

Its pelt was littered with scars, and blood ran down its muzzle where the jaw had been laid open clear to the bone. Its top lip curled upward to reveal fangs that dripped with blood as well.

It let out a low and guttural growl, vibrating the ground between us.

I could feel my legs starting to turn into jelly, so I leaned against Elias and clung to his hand to keep myself upright.

Elias—who either had balls of steel or brains of peanut—stood his ground as if he wasn’t worried even a little bit about the ~giant massive bloody monster~ approaching us.

“Can you find your way back to the edge of the forest?” he whispered, and I shook my head against his back.

I heard his breath leave his lungs in a deep sigh, but I also felt his muscles tense.

“All right. Then can you at least climb a tree?”

I started to shake my head, then paused and half-nodded. I mean, I could climb a tree as a kid, so I should still be able to, right?

“If I can get myself up to the lowest branches, I could probably climb one of these pines, yes,” I whispered, partially because I thought I could, and more because I ~also~ wanted to look badass while staring down the beast.

Next thing I knew, Elias had spun around, picked me up by the waist, and hoisted me into the nearest tree.

I pulled my feet up just as the beast lunged at us, missing Elias by inches.

I began climbing as high as I dared, or at least as far as I thought I’d have to go to avoid becoming the next body at the edge of the woods.

I was still torn between steel balls and peanut brain when Elias lunged at the wolf beast and wrapped his arms around its neck.

“Back off, Xavier. You know this is ~my~ territory!” he growled.

Great, so he was one of those people who named wild animals. That might have been cute if said wild animal wasn’t currently ~attacking us.~

The wolf began to snarl, its blood and drool flying all over Elias as he tried to strangle it.

At least, that’s what I guessed he was doing. Which was ridiculous!

However, all I could do from my perch twenty feet in the air was watch with bated breath and hope that my forest guide survived to get me the hell out of there.

Even more strangely, I could swear I heard mumbling beginning somewhere in the back of my skull.

It was almost like I was just outside a room full of very angry people, but the walls were pretty well insulated.

And one of those voices…sounded very much like Elias.

The wolf flung its head up and sent Elias tumbling to the ground.

He landed on his back with a thud, and the wolf lunged for him. But he was able to roll out of the way with what I could only describe as superhuman speed.

While the wolf regained its footing from the fruitless pounce, Elias did this impressive move where he threw himself into the air from flat on the ground and landed on his feet.

Which was weird. But hot.

And then they were gone.

Elias took off into the trees, and I thought I caught glimpses of him moving ~stupidly~ fast. Like, I’m pretty sure this guy qualified as a superhero for that sprint.

And the wolf followed him, crashing through the underbrush like a freaking bull.