Читать книгу Silence of the Wolves - Hannah Pole - Страница 10

That was a weird dream, Tamriel thought as she woke with a grin on her face. She stretched out in her bed, wishing she didn’t have to get up. Glancing at her alarm clock, she was surprised it was only 6 a.m.; usually she overslept and had to rush to work, yet she felt like she’d had the best night’s sleep of her life. Still, her limbs ached and her muscles seemed to protest at the slightest of movements, but she put that down to sleeping in an awkward position. Rolling out of the duvet, she wandered across to the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Wrinkling her nose, Tam scowled. Her bathroom stank of bleach; it was like someone had soaked the entire room in the stuff!

Christ, it was as if she could smell every single chemical she’d ever used to clean the place. She’d always had a better than average sense of smell, but this was excessive!

Holding her nose, she wandered into the living room/kitchen area. Had her flat always been this dusty? She’d never noticed quite how much dust covered the place but, hell, how did she miss it?

It was as if her senses had heightened, somehow becoming much stronger than they were before. And that was saying something! Her vision was now so incredibly accurate that, even in the dim morning light, she could clearly see every fibre in the ugly grey carpet.

Someone in the flat beneath hers slammed a door, making her wince. The noise seemed deafening.

What on earth had happened to her senses? Why where they so sensitive?

Shrugging off her confusion and putting the coffee on, she wandered back into the bathroom and stepped under the shower spray with a sharp in-breath as the water hit her skin; it truly felt as though someone had scalded her back. She was so ridiculously sore. Gritting her teeth, she scrubbed some shampoo into her hair, and even that stank, the ‘strawberry’ scent smelt more like chemicals. It had been her favourite shampoo for years, why did it now seem to smell awful? She rubbed the stuff in and washed it out as quickly as she could, using her plain soap bar to wash her skin rather than the scented body wash.

When she’d finally finished, she brushed her teeth and walked naked into her living room, she’d never been one to shy away from being exposed. In fact, she relished the freedom of nudity; after all, it was only natural.

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Tam opened her fridge door. No food. Damn, living alone could be irritating. Her stomach rumbled as she closed the door. God, she felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. She stalked over to her landline and quickly dialled the cafe down the road from her. She was good friends with the owner, and she knew he’d get someone to run some food up to her apartment. Thankfully, they were always open for the morning rush of people heading to London, so they would be able to feed her at this ungodly hour. She ordered her usual: a bacon, sausage and egg roll, and added a bagel and a bacon and cheese pastry to the order for good measure. She was so hungry, even that didn’t seem enough.

While she waited for her food, Tam slipped into the bedroom and pulled some jeans and a T-shirt on. Naked was natural, comfortable, but the bacon guy would probably have a fit if she answered the door in the nude. She pulled her favourite jumper on over the top and drew a sharp breath in as it rasped against her skin. Why on earth was she so damn sore?

It didn’t take long for her order to arrive; the delicious bag of greasy, baked goodness smelt amazing, the scent seeping into her very pores. The delivery guy nodded at her as he accepted the cash she’d pulled out of her emergency money jar and told her that her hair was looking ‘mighty sexy’, which was weird as the kid had never complimented her before. She grinned as she walked back into her kitchen. Perhaps today was going to be a good day.

Tamriel slid her laptop from beneath the sofa cushions, where she always kept it. If someone was going to break into her apartment, it’s the last place they would think to look, she always thought.

As she chewed on her roll, she opened the computer and pulled up her files for the latest story she’d been working on. With a grimace, she scanned the first few lines of her report and rolled her eyes. A baker had made ‘Folkestone’s biggest loaf of bread’. Yay! How exciting!

She snorted. How was she ever going to make it to hard-hitting journalist from junior reporter with god-awful stories like these?

Absently chewing the bacon and cheese pastry, she clicked open her personal stories. Ninja granny beats gun-wielding burglar with her husband’s golf club. Much more interesting, and a story that only she had at the moment. She was in the area when it happened, and managed to get in there and get as much as she could from the woman before the police arrived to take her statement. They told the woman not to talk to the press, but the feisty old lady was still reeling from beating the crap out of the intruder. She wasn’t the terrified old woman you’d expect, but a kung fu granny who was champing at the bit to wallop him another one.

Tam frowned as she reached into the scrumptious bag of goodies, only to discover she had eaten everything already; the roll, the pastries, all gone. And it hadn’t even touched the sides. Her stomach growled at her, but she shrugged. There was no more food in the house, so it would have to wait.

Her computer pinged, notifying her that she had fifteen new emails from the office. That was a bit excessive, and not something she wanted to deal with now. It was still before seven, she would think about work after nine.

Tam picked up the newspaper from the mail slot on the door to her flat and tucked it under her arm as she poured herself another coffee, and checked the fridge and cupboards again just in case. Still nothing. Damn.

Folding herself down onto a chair at the breakfast bar, she chewed on her lip for a moment. Her mother was coming over for dinner this weekend… Or was it next weekend? She’d have to check. The fridge would need filling up before then. With a sigh, she checked the front page of the paper.

Oh hell.

‘Hardcore eighty year old beats burglar with a golf club,’ read the front page. Tam cursed long and hard. It had only happened a few days ago and the police weren’t releasing it to the press yet. She had been waiting for it like a dog with a bone since she’d come across the lady and her out-of-this-world pummelling skills, and now someone else had scooped it up before she’d even had the chance? Goddamn.

Tam frowned and sipped her coffee, flicking through the rest of the paper; nothing of any interest. The only good story in Folkestone for weeks and she’d missed out on it!

With a sigh, she told herself to call an end to the pity party. She would need to start getting ready for work soon but, for the moment, she was just enjoying sitting in her kitchen, doing nothing of any great importance. Drinking coffee, with long-life milk because the fresh milk was stale. She considered reading a book; there was a new one she’d been meaning to sink her teeth into for ages, but hadn’t had the time. Maybe now was a good time to start. Yet as she ran a hand through her wet hair, she realised she’d need to blow-dry it and get her crap together for work before she could truly relax into a good book, otherwise she’d lose track of time and have to rush.

Tamriel gave the novel in question, currently sitting looking lonely on her coffee table, a long, wistful glance, and strode over to the recycling box to shove the paper into it. As she bent down, something in her mailbox caught her eye. Another newspaper. With a grunt of confusion, she lifted the lid on the thing and tugged it out, along with several others. Why did she have so many newspapers in her box? She was only supposed to get one a day for Christ’s sake!

Glancing at the date on the first one she frowned, October 6^th. The next, October 7^th. What on earth? Frantically grabbing the paper she had been reading out of the recycling box, she read the date. October 10^th? What now? Last time she’d checked, it had only been the 5^th!

How in the hell did she lose five days? No wonder she’d lost the story; that was a full working week she’d just… Forgotten? What on god’s earth was happening?

Memories of a medical clinic flooded back to her, broken memories. A man with a deep voice.

As a headache came on hard and fast, she pushed the memories away, taking a deep breath.

Crap. She’d missed an entire week of work! Grabbing at her coat, she searched frantically for her mobile. Where was the damn thing?

The zombie smashed it, her inner voice said. No, she thought, that was crazy. Zombies?

That kind of thing was all fiction, wasn’t it? She must be going mad.

Giving up on the mobile search, she grabbed her house phone and dialled work, gritting her teeth as the hold music kicked in.

‘Hello, Kent News. Jennifer speaking.’

‘Hey, it’s Tam. Is—’

‘Tammy! Oh my god! Are you OK? Are you feeling better now?’

‘What? Yeah, I’m good. What do you mean, better?’

‘Tam, you phoned in last week and said you were feeling really rough and wouldn’t be in for a few days. We’ve all been worried about you!’

‘Oh, I did? I must have forgotten. Yeah, I’m much better, thanks. I’ll be in later on today. Thanks, Jen. Bye!’

What the hell? Maybe she’d been so sick she’d just forgotten the last few days? Can that even happen? It would explain why she ached so much though.

Storming into the bedroom she had another quick search for her phone but to no avail, and decided to start getting dressed. Surely putting some make-up on and some nice clothes would make her feel better. Grabbing her make-up bag, she sat at her dressing table and… Holy crap, what had happened to her hair?

The formerly black, silky strands were now streaked with red, highlighted with the stuff. What the—? Had she been to the hairdressers? No, she never dyed her hair, not ever!

Yanking a brush through the long waves, she smoothed it out and leant in, checking her roots. What on earth was going on here? She felt like tearing her hair out, screaming, slamming doors, throwing the contents of her tiny flat around. She was just so frustrated with the many questions running through her mind that she just couldn’t answer, she felt as though she was on the brink of bursting into tears. Giving up on the make-up front, she looked around for her handbag. Work. She needed to work. Get back to something normal. It might be dull. She might hate the place. But at least it was normal.

Leyth watched Tamriel through her flat window. She was up and looking pretty healthy. That was good, right?

He should leave. She would be fine now.

But he couldn’t seem to tear himself away from the window.

When she’d come out of the shower naked, he’d practically had a heart attack, dipping his eyes to give her some privacy. He’d figured she’d go and put some clothes on but no, she had stalked straight into the living room and poured a coffee, butt-naked.

He had to respect a female who was so comfortable in her own skin. And when she’d ordered herself a meal fit for several kings, and proceeded to wolf the entire lot down, he just stared at her in awe. A female that could pig out with the best of them? He never thought he’d see the day!

Shaking himself, he tried desperately to pull himself away, but he just couldn’t leave her.

‘Hey, it’s Tam.’ He heard her voice.

Damn, he’d forgotten that he’d asked Sapphire to call in to her workplace and pretend to be her phoning in sick. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was get her fired!

Tamriel had got through the fever well, her body had handled it and she’d slept like a baby for two days afterwards.

Leyth, on the other hand, felt like death. He hadn’t allowed himself to sleep all the time she was suffering, and when it was finally over he’d carried her to her bed and sat in the corner of the room, just watching. He could really use some shut-eye. But the storm wasn’t over yet…

Snapping back to reality, he found her gasping at herself in the mirror. Her hair looked beautiful. Halfway through the fever it had started to change colour; bright streaks of red running its way through the silky black strands. Generally when females or males went through the fever they took on the colours they were born into, but red? He’d never seen anything like it. It was such a beautiful colour. Staring at Tam, Leyth reached out and touched the cold glass. What he wouldn’t give to be able to stroke those silky strands once more.

A wave of exhaustion hit him. He’d been awake for five days now, and he barely had the strength to stand up, let alone consider talking to Tam and trying to explain away the last few days.

More than that, he wanted to keep details of her heritage to a minimum. If she didn’t go through the fever again, he wanted her to live a normal life, not constantly wonder about what could have been.

The bone-shattering tiredness hit him again, making him wobble on the windowsill he was perched on. He tried to wrap the darkness tighter around himself, trying to stay relatively invisible in the early morning sun, but the energy it took to keep himself hidden sent him over the edge; his muscles failed him and he lost his grip on the windowsill. In that brief moment of weightlessness he tried desperately to shift in mid-air, to turn and land on his feet. No such luck, he passed out before he even hit the floor.

Tamriel heard the whimper loud and clear and snapped her head round in the direction of the noise. She practically jumped out of her skin! There was a huge man with shaggy dark hair crouched on the ledge of her window. Hell, he barely squeezed into the tiny gap; his broad shoulders pressed against the edge of her window, a black bomber jacket dominating the small space. His heavy boots were perched on the little flower basket she had hanging from the windowsill, and she couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn’t broken it. How the hell did he manage to climb two storeys up to her window? And how had he managed to squeeze himself onto such a small window ledge?

Why hadn’t she noticed him before? And what was he doing, watching her?

As hundreds of unanswered questions assaulted her mind and she locked eyes with the man, she recognised him instantly; not that she could understand why or where from, she just knew him.

Working for a newspaper wasn’t necessarily a good thing; she’d researched stories on criminals, abusive men, rapists – the works. He could easily be one of the people she’d written about, maybe she recognised him from his picture? Crap.

Her thoughts were cut off instantly as the man reached out to her. He looked so tired. So lost. As he lost his balance and fell, she cursed, ran out the flat door, down the two flights of stairs and burst out of the entrance. She wasn’t fast enough though. She rounded the corner as he hit the floor. Hard. It was something she felt right through to her bones, rather than actually saw. The crack that rang out was loud enough to shake walls. Running to where he’d fallen, she skidded to an abrupt halt.

He was nowhere to be seen. Instead, on the grass in his place was a big black and grey wolf. Shoving the brief prickle of fear that rose up her spine away, she walked over to the animal. As she reached it, she bent down and slowly reached a hand out; smooth soft fur met her fingertips.

The wolf was out cold but breathing steadily, its chest rising and falling like the tide. By the looks of it, the animal had broken its back leg; the limb was bent at an awkward angle. There was a lot of blood on the floor which appeared to be coming from a large cut on the wolf’s side. Tam scanned the area for the fallen man. Sympathy overwhelmed her as she jogged back to where the wolf had been, though as she reached the grassed area she wasn’t entirely surprised to find the space empty. The wolf had gone. Vanished. All that was left in its place was some sorry-looking, flattened grass and a smudge of blood.

Tam gazed around to the surrounding area. He had to be here somewhere. He couldn’t have gotten far with a broken leg. Stalking over to the pathway, she checked left, then right. Town was to the right; the hills were to the left. Her gut told her to head towards the hills. She broke into a jog and, hammering the pavement, she quickly made her way towards the far end of Folkestone, marvelling at how fast she was going. Yeah, she jogged sometimes, and yes, she’d raced at school, but Christ, she was keeping up with the few cars that were out at this time of the morning.

Then she pushed the thought away and continued on towards the hills. She couldn’t see the wolf anywhere, but she knew she was going in the right direction. How? She had no idea, but over the years she’d learnt to trust her intuition, her instincts. They had never led her astray before and she was certain that now would be no different.

Tam rounded the corner. She could see the roundabout at the top of the road, and knew that just beyond that was her destination. Folkestone’s rolling hills fanned out in front of her, the early morning sun peeking through the tops of them. She kept her pace up, dashing across the roundabout, and leaping over the fence separating the road and the field at the bottom of the hills in one movement. Crap. It definitely wasn’t natural to be able to jump that high and that far, was it? What on earth was happening to her?

Right now, she didn’t care. She needed to find that wolf. She had absolutely no idea why she was chasing down an animal that would, in all likelihood, maul her, maybe even kill her but, hey, it would make front-page news if she managed to survive to find out why there was a wolf in Folkestone. What a killer story! It might even make her career as a reporter. Maybe enough to make her a full-time journalist, rather than just a junior.

The cold winter air brushed past her as she listened intently, but the only sounds to be heard were the distant rumble of car engines on the motorway just across from where she knelt. Inhaling deeply, Tam was amazed at the different scents she picked up on, grass and moisture were the first that she noticed, but picking past these, she could smell mice, rabbit… wolf. The scent was particularly musky, almost manly, in a strange way.

Allowing her eyes to follow her nose, she scanned the bottom of the hills in the direction the scent seemed to trail into, as her inner predator came roaring to the surface, heat soaring from her very core, warming her flesh from the inside out. It was almost as if there was a beast that lived deep inside her, a beast that was just begging to be let out. Because you’re more than human the voice inside her pointed out, the very thing she’d feared for years. She’d suspected that she was different all her life, but she’d never wanted to believe it. Why now? Why were her age-old fears coming to the forefront of her mind?

Because your senses are getting stronger, the other half of you is getting stronger. Just as she was telling her brain to get a grip, her eyes skimmed over something that made her heart skip a beat, the very tip of a black and grey tail disappearing into the wooded area that surrounded the base of one of the many hills.

How she had managed to spot that from this great distance, she had absolutely no idea, and honestly? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. Instead, Tam forced her feet forwards, breaking into a flat-out run towards the small woodland. She ran lightly across the lumpy grass, finding her footing easily, not tripping or wavering. She was built for woodland, for nature, for this. Her heart told her that this was home, this natural place of beauty. Not the urban environment she’d chosen to live in.

It took only seconds for her to reach the edge of the woods and, without thinking, she dove straight into the thick of it, launching herself into the surrounding trees, coming to an abrupt halt as she let her eyes adjust. She could barely hold in a gasp as she found herself staring straight into the grey eyes of the biggest, most beautiful wolf she’d ever set eyes upon.

He was hunched against a tree, a deep, rippling growl reverberating out of his chest, the defensive sound thrashing against her eardrums, causing fear to rise up her spine. Oddly though, she found the sound strangely comforting. She’d heard it before, but lord only knew where.

For a few seconds, the two of them just stood there, staring at each other, assessing the situation. With her heart in her throat, Tam drew in a shaky breath. What now? She’d chased this wolf into the woodland, not really knowing why or what she was going to do when she found him.

And now she was almost nose-to-nose with a goddamn wild animal, she had absolutely no idea how to react.

She was so stupid. The wolf was injured which, in theory, would give her an advantage if he tried to attack her, but you didn’t have to be an animal behaviour specialist to know that dangerous wild animals like this wolf were even more dangerous when they were injured and felt trapped or threatened.

She could almost see the headlines now: ‘Local woman mauled by wolf’; ‘Local reporter killed after chasing a wolf into the woods alone.’ What an idiot she was.

Out of options and ideas, Tam slowly held her hands out in front of her, doing her best to show the wolf that she meant him no harm.

He didn’t move, didn’t react, just kept his beautiful eyes locked onto hers.

‘Shh, good wolf…’ she whispered, not really knowing what else to do.

The wolf huffed, glancing at her before quickly spinning awkwardly on his back legs and hightailing it deeper into the woodland.

Tam launched herself forward after him. Trees sped past her as she struggled to keep up with him, damn he was fast, even with what she thought was a broken leg!

He twisted and turned, changing direction every now and again, creeping underneath bushes and going through streams. He was obviously trying to lose her, but she would be damned if she was going to let him get away from her! Breaking free of the trees, he climbed up the side of one of the hills; she followed him, gasping for breath as she hefted her way up the thing.

She stopped in her tracks as he paused at the top of the hill looking back down at her. For a moment, a fleeting feeling of recognition slipped through her, though lord only knew why; she’d never seen a wolf up close and personal before.

But he’s not just a wolf. Tam pushed her mind’s voice away. This was not the time for her ‘craziness’, as her school friends had put it, to be resurfacing. Her strange obsession with the supernatural had brought her nothing but grief in the past.

A heartbeat later, he was off again, bolting down the other side of the hill. Tam didn’t pause, just got her feet moving again, detouring around the edge of the hill rather than struggling up and over. As she reached the other side, she caught a glimpse of his beautiful tail disappearing into some bushes.

She didn’t hesitate, just dived in after him, catching her T-shirt on the branches and ripping the thin material. Her hands grazed against the rock and dirt beneath, and her kneecaps hit the ground with a thud, jarring her legs, but she didn’t stop. She crawled underneath the bush, bursting out on the other side just in time to see the wolf attempt to leap over a fallen tree.

He didn’t make it though. As he began to jump, his front paws left the ground but his back legs gave out on him, the wounded one collapsing under his weight and sending him awkwardly spiralling towards the floor.

Tam didn’t move, didn’t breathe. She couldn’t. She just watched as the wolf awkwardly righted himself, but stayed crouched on the ground, whimpering slightly as he tried to move his leg but couldn’t.

Slowly, carefully, Tam moved. Only an inch as she lowered herself to the ground and, in one painstaking movement, she knelt before the wolf.

Her knife was clipped to the side of her bra and her hands itched to reach for it, but she knew it was a bad idea. Currently the wolf was showing no signs of aggression and she didn’t want to spook him again.

As she looked into those beautiful grey eyes, she saw no anger, no malice. She saw fatigue, pain and confusion. She could read the emotions behind them like a book.

As she watched him, it seemed as though he was being as careful as she to move carefully. It was almost as if it were he who didn’t want to spook her rather than the other way around. He lowered his back end to the ground, shuffling a little awkwardly around his back leg. He then proceeded to lie down completely, resting his head on his paws, keeping his eyes still locked onto hers. It was as if he’d visibly given up.

Tam slowly edged forward. She must be absolutely crazy, knowing this was a vicious wild animal and that it could tear her apart easily. Yet her gut told her the wolf wasn’t going to hurt her.

She must be going mad. She was going to end up being that weird woman that was nearly killed by a wild wolf because she thought she could be friends with it.

And yet, this moment, this intense, terrifying, incredibly special moment, was one she would treasure for the rest of her life; one she would write about and talk of over and over again to friends, family and, maybe, one day her children.

The day mommy made friends with a wolf.

Holding her breath, her heart beating so rapidly she felt as though it was going to jump out of her chest, Tam slowly lifted her trembling hand, watching the wolf intently. If the wolf so much as flinched, she was going to hightail it out of there. Carefully, she extended her arm. The damn limb shook so much she was sure it was going to vibrate right out of its socket.

Reaching a little further, she gingerly let the very tips of her fingers brush the fur on his beautiful black and grey face.

And he was oh so beautiful. From the tips of his ears, down his spine and through to the tip of his tail was black fur which blended gracefully into the grey fur that ran down his sides and across his face, running into the white fur that covered his underside and jaw. He was absolutely huge.

Tam had always imagined wolves to be roughly the size of a large dog, but this wolf was practically as big as a full-grown man. Maybe even bigger. He was absolutely stunning; beautiful but deadly.

Slowly, carefully, she let her hand dip a little lower until her fingers were running through his soft fur; it felt like velvet underneath her fingertips. She inhaled deeply, his dark, almost chesnutty scent filled her nostrils; a scent she recognised. Tam knew she had smelt this musky aroma before; it was so oddly familiar.

Broken memories flooded her, but disappeared as quickly as they came; she hadn’t a hope in hell of trying to decipher them. In that moment, any fear washed away, to be replaced with the absolute certainty that this wolf wouldn’t hurt her; he was nothing to be afraid of and, if anything, he would undoubtedly protect her.

Christ alive, she must be going crazy, this was a wild animal, not something to feel relaxed around, let alone safe with!

Yet, even as fear prickled her spine, and images of what could happen to her flickered through her imagination, the wolf made her feel safe. He gently leant into her touch, allowing her to stroke the side of his head. He turned his muzzle slowly towards her, resting his chin briefly on her open hand before licking her palm and moving back to rest his head on her.

Tam watched him almost in a daze, she had no idea how long the two of them sat there for, staring at each other. It was the most intensely surreal moment of her life. Her heart was thudding so sporadically, so harshly, she was almost sure the damn thing was going to break through her ribcage. The certainty that this wolf wasn’t going to hurt her, wasn’t going to attack her, did little to calm the instinctual fear riding her gut, but she would be damned if she was going to let that ruin this moment. The wolf moved his head, only an inch, yet even so, she flinched at the motion; she couldn’t help it. As if the wolf knew she was feeling particularly jumpy, he moved slowly; steady movements that seemed so gentle. It was almost as if he was doing everything he could to not spook her, to make sure she didn’t fear him.

Any lingering fear she may have had was hastily stripped away as the wolf moved forward, positioned himself so he was lying directly in front of her, pawing at her feet, a motion that almost looked like he was making sure he had her attention. Looking up at her, his eyes could only be described as regretful as he let rip a howl that could crack windows. She watched in disbelief, terror freezing her to the ground, as the wolf’s arms and legs started to bow and distort, his entire body beginning to move and writhe. It looked for all the world like his body was breaking down and rebuilding itself. His face started collapsing in on itself, jaw cracking, tail shortening until it was no more, the beautiful black and grey fur that covered him in rippling waves disappearing into his skin until, finally, it was over.

It took only seconds until what was left…

…was a naked man lying on the cold forest floor.

His eyes had stayed locked on hers the whole time.

‘Tamriel,’ he choked out. ‘I’m so sorry…’

He carefully reached a hand out towards her, gingerly brushing a finger across her arm. She wanted to run, to shove his touch away, but she didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the man before her.

‘Wha…?’ She cleared her throat. ‘You…you were the wolf…’