Free Marked (The Pack) by Suzanne Cox Page B

off!”
    I’d come even with Eric who had also turned to face the animal. He caught me by the arm and didn’t say a word just stared.
    The wolf dog stopped, shook, and trotted into the woods in the opposite direction. My breath left my lungs in a gasp and I bent over, resting my hands on my knees allowing myself to hyperventilate at last. Eric let go of my arm and rubbed his hand over my back. I’m certain he meant to soothe, but in reality it didn’t help my ability to breathe at all.
    He stopped abruptly and I straightened.
    “Guess we showed him who’s boss.”
    Eric laughed. “Yep, we did.”
    He started along the path toward Louise’s house, and I hurried to catch him.
    “How’d you do that?”
    He glanced at me. “Do what?”
    “Make the dog run away.”
    “I thought it was your clapping and stomping.”
    “You know it wasn’t.”
    “I only stared at him and showed him we weren’t afraid. But I’m sure it was a combination of both of us that got him to leave.”
    I didn’t say anything else, but the idea that we’d defeated the enemy together made me feel better. When we reached the porch of the house Eric stopped as I opened the door using the spare key Louise kept hidden under a loose board on the flooring.
    “I’ll wait here while you go change.”
    I nodded and hurried upstairs. In only minutes I had thrown the skirt and lacy top on the floor and pulled on my swimsuit, a t-shirt and some nylon shorts. At the last minute, I ran in the bathroom to get a towel for the seat, remembering how it had rubbed my leg the other day at Channing’s. I threw open the front door and rammed into Myles, who was standing next to Eric directly in front of the door.
    “What are you doing?” I grabbed the handle to keep from falling.
    “I got tired of waiting.”
    “We weren’t gone that long were we?”
    “Long enough.”
    I eyed his sweaty face and the dirt and grass stuck to his legs. “Did you run all the way?”
    “Naw, it’s just hot.”
    I led the way back with Eric and Myles following. “Hey, you won’t believe it, but we saw one of those half wolf half dogs on the way up. It tried to follow us but Eric and I ran it off.”
    “Really, I heard some people around here have those. Were you scared?”
    Eric had come even with me and the back of his hand occasionally brushed mine as we walked. He shook his head at Myles.
    “My dad is in construction, and we go to a lot of homes with dogs. I’ve learned if you stand your ground and look the dog in the eye it will usually go away.”
    “And that worked?” Myles looked surprised.
    “Oh and Alexis did some shouting and clapping which probably helped.”
    We were almost to the jet skis when I saw it. On the bushes at the other edge of the path was a liquid that looked a lot like blood.
    “Myles look at this. Do you think that dog could have killed something?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. But let’s get going.”
    “Right. I’ll let Aunt Louise know I saw another one. There were four of them in our yard last night. She called animal control and they’re supposed to check into it.”
    Eric and I kept walking but I realized Myles had stopped. I glanced back without slowing up.
    “What, are you scared? Don’t worry we’ll protect you.”
    He laughed and jogged to catch us. “I’ll remember that.”
    We splashed to where the skis waited. Before getting on his ski, Eric flipped open the seat and took a cell phone out of a plastic bag. “My dad said he might need me this evening to help him with some work around the house, so I’m supposed to be checking my phone regularly.” He pressed buttons on the phone and nodded. “Looks like that’s it for me, he needs me to come home.”
    I knew the disappointment showed on my face. Eric caught hold of the handle of my jet ski as I sat on it and leaned toward me. “Maybe we’ll get to go again soon.”
    I nodded without a word, and he let go and was gone in an instant. I could only stare at