Wolf's Wife (Monstrous Hearts #1)

Chapter Two

The next morning, Magdalene slouched over the unsteady kitchen table while Alice made the usual hangover breakfast: four slices of toast and a mug of hot water with two wedges of lemon bobbing in it.

When Alice set the plate before her, Magdalene stopped rubbing her eyes long enough to look. "Where's the honey?"

Alice returned to toasting her bagel. She would have liked a fried egg on it but knew the smell would chase Magdalene out of the room. "I forgot to bring some and there isn't any in the cabinets. We'll have to go shopping. Unless you won't do this again while we're here..."

"We'll leave after I finish." Then Magdalene bit into a slice, the resulting crunch an effective period to their conversation.

The nearest town was Perry, a glimmer of civilization among the swathes of forest, its 1,800 head population spread out in modest homes and local businesses. From the cabin, it was a ten mile trip taken on the highway since the back roads were flooded from rain or churned up into useless mud.

Magdalene drove, having insisted the threat of vehicular manslaughter would better clear her head over feeling carsick in the passenger's seat. Alice had handed over the keys and now kept her mouth tightly shut while looking out the window.

The morning sky looked grey and grim, but the rain had stopped long enough for the puddles on the side of the road to turn back into gravel and grass.  Aside from the occasional car, Alice found no signs of other people. Just fir and cedars bristling in groups and jagged slopes of earth that fell and rose in the distance.

Then, sudden movement out of the corner of Alice's eye. A dark shape lunged onto the road in front of them. "Look out!"

Magdalene swore, cigarette falling out of her mouth while she wrenched the wheel. The car's tires skidded on the wet asphalt, but they stopped in time for Alice to see what they had nearly hit. A bear escaped to the other side of the road, its lurching run almost comical.

Alice sat there, panting while Magdalene fumbled to find the cigarette. The sound of baying dogs grew clear. So did the flash of oncoming headlights.

"Oh my God," she said, voice cracking while the first of several coonhounds burst from the bristling trees and leapt onto the road, furious and focused.

Brakes squealed. Alice squeezed her eyes shut, but nothing could keep her from hearing the dog scream. By the time she unbuckled the seatbelt and jumped out, the other car had swerved to a halt, blood and hair in its front grille while it sat askew, one back wheel lodged in the shallow, muddy ditch that ran along the side of the road. There was a family inside, the mother and father both twisted in their seats to check the children, but Alice's focus remained on the coonhound. It had collapsed on the road, rust-colored fur already stained with dark red. But she saw the frightened whites of the dog's eyes and heard its whining. It had survived.

Heart pounding, she crouched beside the hound, taking care to keep away from those teeth. Hurt animals were frightened animals, and frightened animals bit. The dog's sides rose in quick, shallow breaths and Alice could see the bright red of its gums. Early stages of shock. "Magdalene! Get a blanket from the backseat."

When Magdalene didn't reply, Alice risked glancing away from the dog and found her still in the driver's seat, face pale while she stared at the other car. Alice got the blanket herself and ran back.

Other cars appeared on the road from either direction, slowing when the drivers grew unsure. A few simply maneuvered around and continued on, but one, a battered camper van, pulled to the side and waited, the rough idle of its engine adding to the chaos.

Alice, aware of the increasing danger of being run over herself, yelled at Magdalene again. "Help me move him off the road!"

When Magdalene's gaze found her, eyes flat and hard, Alice knew she was still lost, reliving memories in her head. A motorcycle roared by, its tires feet from Alice and the dog. Alice tried once more, fear adding a ragged note to her voice. "Please!"