The men can try all they want to fight. They haven’t learned anything from this enemy; they only know the moon-mad are feral and refuse to stop.
They are singularly focused. And this war goes beyond any new battles. It’s been raging for years.
We got away from the thing outside the cabin.
Miracles don’t happen twice.
“Mandi,” Grayson says. “Please.”
I’ll never forgive myself for this. Will I?
With the fighting behind us, the awful tearing sounds followed by grunts and gurgles from the dying, we run. We run from the fight, both of us stumbling over ourselves and our reservations. The gates are locked but we hike to the right and slap our palms to the fence. It steadies us, stretching away from the gatehouse.
A few more steps. One after the other. Then we’ll be free and my people will be dead.
“If you can’t believe in them, then they aren’t as strong as you are. Not by a long shot,” Grayson breathes out.
Tension moves me like a puppet master. The heat rolling off Grayson scalds through my back and when he collapses against me, his weight takes us both to the ground. We hit, breath exploding from my lungs, my chin hitting the ground and teeth clacking together.
I bite the inside of my cheek on impact and the coppery tang of blood coats my tongue. With a groan, I push up, trying to get my legs and arms underneath me. My lungs seize and Grayson rolls to the side with a groan.
“Are you okay? Grayson?”
He doesn’t answer me.
When I push him onto his back, his shirt snags, and the spot he’s been scratching for the last two days is red and raw. The rash spreads across his entire arm, the skin peeling and flaying.
I’m hollow. The awful realization, a reality there’s no room to ignore, settles over me and constricts, the world’s axis tilting. There’s no way to avoid it now.
He’s got the moon madness without a doubt.
“No, no no! No, Grayson.” I pull him up by the front of his shirt, his eyes rolling around behind closed lids.
Slowly he blinks his eyes open.
I should leave him. The smart thing would be to cut my losses here and go help my family before the other moon-mad wolves get to Holly.Dad will never allow it.
Just like I know without a doubt I’ll never let myself abandon Grayson now.
He needs help, the kind we won’t find if we stick around. I glance behind us a final time, the roars distant, the screams filtering away to the silence of either defeat or victory.
“Can you move? Here, lean on me.” I duck beneath him and rise from my knees, taking us both up with the same movement.
“You don’t have to take care of me like this, Mandi.” His voice strains. “I’ll be fine. I’m not sure what’s wrong…but I’ll be f-fine.”
He most definitely won’t be. My throat constricts around the words. Soon I’ll have to let them breathe. But not yet.
We inch toward the tear in the fence and I settle Grayson before prying the chain link up. “Can you make it through?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“All I do is worry. You’re just at the top of my list.”
Hard decisions have replaced the blood rushing through me. I left my pack to get him help. It’s not about me anymore.
He ducks through the triangular hole on his hands and knees and I follow behind him, the sharp edges of metal tearing at my hair.
So, we leave.