Claimed by the Beast Bundle (41 page)

Chapter 3

Crystal closed her mouth and turned back to the others. She lifted her head and howled into the night sky, only to find her body jerking and her chest aching for breath. She blinked and reached out to push the tarp away, but her arms were still tied down and trying to move them made her shoulders feel like they burst into fire again. She buried her mouth in her left shoulder as she coughed, trying to muffle the noise as much as she could.

How long had they been gone? Could they hear her? Were they coming back? She gagged some more and mistakenly tried to cross her arms to cradle her sore chest. Her ribs ached and she still felt like a tiny animal was chewing its way out into the center of her chest.

Crystal managed to move her head enough to push the tarp covering her aside. It didn’t help; she couldn’t see any better. She tried to hold her breath and open her eyes wider but her entire body was tingling like she’d licked a nine-volt battery. Or a few hundred of them. Her arms and legs were twitching and jerking as her healing heart struggled to pump blood through her tired body.

She had to get away. They knew about her friends. Maybe not who they were, exactly, but Chad’s dad and his twisted order knew they existed. She’d fooled them, but if they came back, she wouldn’t be able to do it again. Getting away while tied down by ropes that felt like they were electrified was her next challenge.

A fresh tear coursed down her cheek. How could she possibly escape? She didn’t even know where she was!

Crystal took several deep breaths, flushing out her lungs and forcing her chest to expand. It ached at first but after a dozen such breaths, she was breathing easier. She shrugged her shoulders and felt a little stiffness in the left one. Her right shoulder still throbbed with a raw ache. Moving it renewed the burn and brought a snarl to her lips.

A vision of the rabbit flashed through in front of her eyes. The rabbit had been a symbol. Or maybe something more—an angel? The angel of death? If she’d caught it, would she have been gone forever? She wasn’t sure, but she shuddered at the thought. She wasn’t ready for that. She had someone she loved and someone who loved her. She had her whole life ahead of her, and it would be a long life if what her pack-mates said was true. Life, love, a family someday. Yes, too much to live for. She’d just died and come back. Escaping some stupid ropes was nothing!

She arched her back and pushed up against the ropes. They itched and burned the harder she pressed against them. Silver in the ropes? She tried to contort herself to bite the rope under her arms and over her chest but she couldn’t reach it. She gasped and fell back, her breasts burning from where the cord had dug into them. She shook her head and ground her teeth. This was stupid, she was a—

Crystal’s eyes widened. She wasn’t just some stupid high school senior. Well, she was, but she was more than that. She was special. She’d been changed by the Beast. Not the same Beast that Mr. Dixon and Mr. Edgerton spoke of, but the real one she knew all too well. She’d beat the Beast. Killed it with her own blood and her own hands. She was a wolf, and she needed to get away.

A wolf didn’t accept capture or defeat. It would chew its own foot off to escape a trap. She couldn’t reach her hands or feet, but that wasn’t the point. She knew now that the unstoppable will to live was part of her. Maybe it always had been? Maybe that’s why the Beast wanted her in the first place.

Crystal smiled and shifted. She was done asking, begging, and trying to force it. She just did it. She’d gotten her body to heal itself and she’d made her hands and feet shift before. She’d sprouted fur when her body felt it needed it. Now it was time for more. Just like the time she’d helped her neighbor’s son who she babysat learn to ride a bike. The body knew how; it just needed to be told to do it.

She wasn’t ready for the pain. Every time she felt her feet shift, she felt the stab of agony that faded within seconds. This time, she felt her bones shifting everywhere. Joints and ligaments twisted and burst. Some bones lengthened, stretching muscles and ligaments, while others shortened. Even her skull changed, putting a pressure that made her black out long enough for her heart to beat three times. Granted, it was hammering in her chest again, but it still filled her with panic.

Her skin burned where it dragged against the ropes. Fur burst from her pores, so fluffy and white it seemed to glow in the shed. It protected her from the silver cords but did little to soothe the burns left behind.

Crystal lay on her side, panting, when the shift was completed. Her body trembled from the memories of the pain. She felt better, mostly, but she was afraid to move. That much pain couldn’t go away without leaving something behind. She picked her head up and looked down at herself. The movement felt strange. She blinked several times and tested her legs. She tried to laugh in delight but huffed instead. Her following grin felt more like a snarl.

Crystal worked herself out from under the chest and waist cord. It slid across her fur without bothering her in spite of how clumsy her movements were. She slid off the edge of the wooden table and crashed to the floor, twisting instinctively but still landing on her side and hip. Or in her shifted form, her haunch. Her breath burst from her chest and she growled softly as soon as she could.

Crystal lurched to her feet, worried that the noise would bring the killers back. She stumbled and fell again, her legs unsteady. Crystal lay still for a moment and then crawled forward, inching under the table, and then stopped at the far side of it. She stared up at the door and frowned. Could she work the button latch without a thumb?

She took a breath and glared at the floor again before trying to climb to her feet. She pushed with her front paws and reared up on her hind legs. Her head smacked the bottom of the table and knocked her back onto her belly.

Crystal growled and had to roll onto her side to glare up at the table above her. This was harder than she expected!

She rolled back onto her belly and tried her hind legs first. She set them and lifted, coming up with her haunches in the air. She slowly pushed her front legs out and straightened until she was standing on all four legs. She lowered her head and twisted her neck to look back at herself. “Cool,” she tried to say but it came out as a soft woof.

Crystal turned her attention back to the door. She needed to get it open and get out. She could shift back and open it, but she had no idea where she was and what would happen outside. She took a few awkward steps and craned her head up to stare at the light in the ceiling. They’d turned it off at some point. Probably when Mr. Edgerton stabbed her and left. That meant electricity. They had to be somewhere civilized. A naked girl running through a neighborhood was not the way to hide.

So she needed to stay a wolf. She nodded at her decision. She could shift and shift back, but the memories of the phantom pain made her shiver and growl. Even if she did try, she couldn’t do it like Hank and Ember did. It took her time to shift. Seconds, if not longer. Plus it made her black out. There was no telling how many bad things could happen in that time.

Not to mention she didn’t know how to run and hide. She turned and looked at the dark shed. It wasn’t big by a long shot, but it was at least twice as long as she was and half as wide. She nodded to herself again and turned to try walking. She had to figure out how her new form worked if she was going to use it.

She’d paced up and down the length of the small shed more times than she could count when she decided she’d had enough. She went back to sit in front of the door and stare up at it. She looked down and saw a glint at the bottom of it. She lowered her head and sniffed. A few tiny notches in the seal at the bottom let fresh air in and reflected tiny beams of sunlight. That meant it was daytime. A few hours or more? How long had she been out from the shot they gave her?

Crystal moved back to sitting and reached out with a paw to press against the door. It was solid. She huffed and picked her other foot up. No change. Moving slowly and carefully, she stood up on her hind legs and climbed the door with her front legs until she was at the level of the latch.

Crystal stared at the latch and then looked at her front paws. Could she shift one of them back to a hand? She snarled, her lupine version of a frown, and shifted her paws until one was on the wall beside the door. She used her other paw to tap the button on top of the latch, popping it loose and then letting it fall back in place.

She snorted and leaned forward, opening her mouth to bite at the latch handle. She felt her teeth clamp against it and used her paw to pop the button again. She pulled, opening the door and flooding the shed with light, even though it was only open a crack. Crystal let go and dropped down, nudging the door shut and latching it in the process. She stared at it and growled as a scream built up in her.

Crystal forced the scream back in her throat and set herself to try opening the door again. This time without making any stupid mistakes. Being a wolf was a lot harder than she thought it would be!

Chapter 4

Crystal opened the door and pushed herself away from it. It swung open enough to let a sliver of light in, along with fresh air. She breathed it in and almost yelped with joy. She smelled exhaust from cars and the dryer vent from someone doing laundry.

How long had Mr. Edgerton been gone? He’d left her and shut the door five minutes ago? Ten? Thirty? Where had he gone? And why would he leave her alone? To rot, more or less. Even if the police were on his side, wouldn’t his neighbors smell something?

Crystal looked at the door. It had a rubber seal around the edge that used to press against the doorjamb and keep the door insulated. Age had left some tears in it, but not enough to stop it from keeping any decomposing bodies safely hidden inside. Crystal’s lip curled up in a snarl.

She had to get away. She reached out with a paw and pulled the door open until she could stick her head through the opening. She glanced up at the sky and saw the sun was more than a quarter way to the horizon. It was afternoon. The injection they’d given her had knocked her out for hours!

She risked sticking her head out the door and glanced around. The shed was located in the backyard of a house. A well-maintained lawn with a pool took up a large chunk of real estate near the back of the house. Directly ahead of her, she saw a gate in the tall privacy fence that was wide enough for a car or truck to drive through.

The house had two back doors: French doors led into the house off a deck and near the side, closer to the shed, a normal door was standing open that led into what looked like a garage. Crystal licked her lips and focused on the garage door. Was Mr. Edgerton in there?

She heard a car driving down the road. She tilted her head and lifted her ears. By turning, she found she could amplify noises and hear them much better. It made her suck in a deeper breath than usual. Maybe it wasn’t a replacement for a thumb but between that and being able to smell things so much better, it filled her with wonder.

She let out a soft huff, irritated with how easily she’d been distracted. The car sounded familiar to her and, sure enough, she heard the tires scrape across the pavement of the driveway in front of the house. If this was Mr. Edgerton’s house, then that meant it was Stephanie’s house too. Crystal couldn't shake the feeling that Stephanie had just gotten home. School was probably over, so everything lined up.

Would he dare try anything with Stephanie home? Or was her body supposed to be left until dark, when he could sneak her out and toss her in the swamp? Or maybe he planned on burning her, like they’d done to Chad. She shivered and turned her gaze on the gate again. The privacy fence looked like it was as tall as she was. When she looked like a norm, that is.

Crystal took another deep breath before she started forward. Her shoulder bumped into the door and that knocked her other shoulder into the wall. She stumbled as she crossed her right front paw under her left and dropped to her chest and chin. She let out a yelp as she bit her tongue with her canine teeth and scrambled back to her feet. She bumped the door in the process, pushing it open wider.

Firmly on her feet again, she stepped through the shed door and turned to survey the entire backyard. It was big—bigger than hers, at least—and surrounded by the fence. Her only way out was the gate. Either she had to work the latch like she had on the shed or find another way out.

She took her first step out and noticed how different the world felt. Everything was taller, for one, but that didn’t bother her. The smells were stronger than ever, from the budding flowers in the landscaping boxes to the fertilizer used in the grass that contained poisons to kill dandelions and weeds. She snorted and risked lifting a paw to rub her nose. It tickled from all the scents in the air.

She sneezed again and started forward. The fence was on her left. Tall, plastic, and painted white. It almost matched her fur. She moved along it, keeping close and watching the garage door until she was in front of the gate. She jumped up so that her front feet were on the gate and looked at the latch. A lock hung from that latch, the bar secured inside of it and the key nowhere to be found.

Crystal snarled and dropped back to the ground. She looked around again, desperate for another escape. The garage was it. That or she could shift back and pray no one saw her. Then she could try to climb over the fence. But Stephanie was out there. She’d see her and then Steph would try to help her. She’d want to get involved because Steph loved her.

Crystal snarled again and shook her head. Why did she have to screw up and make the cheerleader fall in love with her? She’d never even believed in magic! How could she possibly cast a spell? She growled and jerked her head to the right, silencing herself instantly. She’d heard a noise in the garage.

Crystal turned her attention back to the fence. It was time to find out if she was as special as people kept telling her she was. She backed up, bumping into the fence twice before she figured out how to walk backwards in a straight line with four feet. When a dozen feet lay between her and the gate, she dug her claws into the grass and lowered herself.

She burst forward, her powerful hind legs driving her so fast she almost drove her face into the ground. She caught herself and got her balance back a few steps later but the gate was in front of her. She jumped again, using her front legs first to lift herself up before driving her rear legs into the ground. She rose up and watched the edge of the gate as she passed it by.

Crystal reached out and slapped one paw against the gate in an attempt to pull herself over. She twisted in midair and stopped moving upwards as she lost her momentum. Crystal snarled as she saw what was about to happen.

Gravity, she’d learned in physics class, was very different in real life than it was in movies. A person falling fell without hesitating. The world didn’t slow down around her. She dropped like a stone and had no time to react or even brace herself for what was guaranteed to happen.

Crystal slammed into the top of the gate and scraped along the hard plastic edge. It rubbed across her teats, lighting them on fire even worse than the impact that her ribs already felt, and then dug into her haunches when she jerked to an abrupt stop.

Crystal yelped in pain and shock. She was staring down at the ground, her front paws pushing against the gate while her hind legs were caught on the top of it. She turned and craned her neck to look back at them. Yep, they were caught. Not trapped, just hung up on the edge of it. She snarled and tried to move her legs. They moved, but it hurt since they were grinding against the edge of the molded solid plastic parts.

She pushed with her front paws again and contorted her back, twisting while pulling her leg and kicking with the other. Her leg slid over right as she realized the flaw in her plan. Gravity, again, attacked. She crashed to the hard-packed ground in front of the gate with a loud whuff of air bursting from her mouth.

Crystal lay there panting for a moment. She had to get up; she’d made too much noise. Someone was going to check. If it was Stephanie, that would be a problem. If it was her dad, it would be worse. Much worse.

She rolled onto her belly and lurched up to her feet. Her hips ached and her belly was on fire from the scraping it had taken. She wanted to curl and lick her wounds but she didn’t have time. She could deal with them later, if they hadn’t healed. She glanced around and saw that she was at Stephanie’s house. She’d seen it from the front and even been inside twice, just never in the backyard.

Crystal started at a jog. The garage was on her right and it offered cover, but that would put her closer to Stephanie and her car. She heard a car engine shut off. Stephanie’s car.

“What was—Didn’t you shut that?”

Crystal spun and heard a man’s voice behind her. It was followed by Mr. Edgerton. “Yes! I made sure it shut! Hurry up and check. Stephanie just got home.”

Crystal spun back to the front and bolted. Her fear of discovery overpowered her fear of being seen by her friend. She tore through the side lawn, kicking up dirt and grass with her feet she pushed herself so hard. Her legs stretched out and contracted like she’d dreamed they would, working in tandem to keep her moving at an impossible speed that made the pink Camaro, Stephanie, and their house, and the houses of their neighbors’ pass by in streaks of color.

“What—Hey!” Stephanie called out behind her.

Crystal didn’t look back. She turned to the left to cut across the neighbor’s lawn but she was moving too fast. She lost her footing and went down, sliding and rolling half a dozen feet until she managed to get under control. She leapt back up and ran again, leaping more than halfway across a two-lane driveway and continuing across the grass until she managed to make her way into another yard. Someone shouted from across the street and a moment later a woman screamed from her front porch.

Crystal tucked her ears and ran harder, panting and desperate. A car drove along on her right and honked at her. She turned away and jumped a row of bushes that came up to her shoulders. Child’s play for her now that she was getting used to her body. She kept going and darted through open backyards, zigging and zagging until she crossed a street and then ducked through another. She bolted into the line of trees of a park at the edge of town and followed them, anxious to get away out into the country so she could catch her breath and figure out what she was going to do next.