Violet (The Silver Series Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

eye. I hadn’t seen many werewolves at the
rehabilitation center, but they were usually gray, black, cream, or
white; my coat wasn’t too different from theirs, but no one else
carried the contrasting colors. My eyes were another matter.
Something had changed when I was turned into a werewolf in Dr.
Tannin’s labs. My dark blond hair had changed to black with purple
highlights, and my blue eyes were now a dark violet color that
unsettled me every time I saw myself in a mirror. It was yet
another reminder that I wasn’t the same person who had died when
Kaynan crashed the car.
    Rafe’s footsteps brought me back to the
present. He walked around behind the tree and picked up the shirt I
had been wearing. He then pulled the drawstring cord from his pants
and folded the shirt into a tight bundle. He moved to pull his
shorts off and I turned away just in time. If a wolf could blush, I
would have been bright red.
    “ Sorry. Modesty isn't huge
in the wild, but I'll take these with us. Easier than finding
clothes wherever we end up,” Rafe said with a hint of humor in his
voice.
    I trotted a few paces away to give him some
privacy and bent to smell a cluster of small purple flowers at the
base of a tree. A strange scent touched my nose and my heart
slowed. I turned, trepidation filling my chest. The woods behind us
looked clear, but the scent was stronger. I was about to warn Rafe
with a whine when a whistle sounded through the air; I ducked half
a second before a bullet sunk into the bark above my head.
    I darted to the left several feet, then
turned and saw men running at us from the direction we had come.
Rafe sprang out from behind the tree, a dark gray wolf whose
muscles rippled under his fur. The small pack made of our meager
clothes sat at his shoulders like a backpack. He snarled at the men
who backed up quickly at his sudden appearance. He darted between
them to my side and made sure with a quick glance that I was
alright. He then turned and I ran beside him into the trees.
    A whirl of bullets flew around us. Rafe let
out a slight yelp, then took the lead. He ran left down a river
wash to the bed. I followed him around the twists and turns of the
river bottom until he found a place to cross up the other side. He
slowed after a few more paces and we both tried to listen past our
racing hearts and heaving lungs.
    I willed my heart to slow and strained my
hearing. Everything was silent for a few seconds, then the roar of
motors touched my ears. I looked at Rafe and he stared back with
wide eyes. He jerked his head for me to follow him and we darted
into the underbrush.
    It took several miles of running to finally
lose them. The scent of blood, sweat, and fear wafted from Rafe by
the time we stopped. I started to shake, and Rafe found a small
cave between two slabs of stone. He mercifully phased outside, then
tossed in my shirt so I could be somewhat decent.
    “ You can come in,” I said
after I had pulled on the shirt. The cold bit into my bare skin
after the warmth of a wolf's fur; I shivered and pulled the thin
shirt closer around me.
    “ Are you sure?” Rafe asked
after a minute. “You could have the cave to yourself.”
    I smiled at his kindness. “It’s freezing out
there and we're safer in here.” When he didn't move, I took a
steeling breath and spoke the truth. “And I'm afraid to be
alone.”
    His bare feet scuffed the rocks outside the
small cave a moment longer, then he ducked through the opening, a
hand on his side. Blood ran between his fingers and his face was
pale.
    “ You need help,” I said,
alarmed.
    He leaned against the rock wall and gave a
wan smile. “Not too many doctors out here.” He took his hand away
and I gasped at the bullet wound through his side. He prodded it
gingerly. “Looks like it came in the back and went out the front,
otherwise I'd be dead by now.”
    “ Why is that?” I asked with
a pit in my stomach.
    “ It was definitely a silver
bullet the way it's taking so long