"Kayla," eighteen-year-old Kayla Holbrook shifted and groaned, reluctant to wake from her slumber. She felt a strong hand shake her shoulder. "Kayla, wake up."
"What?" Kayla snapped grouchily, turning to glare at whoever woke her.
"Easy, Kay," Kayla's twin brother, Logan, chuckled softly from the driver's seat of their car. "We're here."
Kayla rubbed her tired green eyes and pushed her long brown hair out of her face before looking out the car window into the inky blackness of the night.
"We're in the middle of nowhere," she argued, her voice still scratchy from sleep.
"I know," Logan nodded. "The cabin's about a mile up the road; we'll hide the car here, scout the area, and get settled."
"Are you sure no one can link this place back to us?" Kayla asked hesitantly, looking over at her brother with worry in her eyes.
"Positive," Logan told her confidently. "It belongs to some distant relative of ours who won't be back for months; I did my research. No one will ever think to look for us here."
"Good," Kayla's tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Come on," Logan opened his door and stepped out of the black sedan that had carried them this far. He had pulled off the road, and tucked the vehicle in between some trees. "Help me cover this thing."
Kayla reached into the back seat and grabbed the two duffle bags and two backpacks that contained all of their worldly possessions, then followed her brother out into the cool spring night. Together, they used branches and leaves to obscure their car from sight. When they were satisfied that it could not be seen from the road, they left their bags beside it and headed back out to the road.
"We'll split up," Logan said with a sigh. "We'll cover more ground that way; circle around the cabin, make sure no one's hanging around there, and we'll meet back here for our stuff."
"Sounds good to me," Kayla said with a sigh, seeming much more awake in the chill of the night. "Be careful, okay?"
"You, too, Kay," Logan smiled at her. Kayla smiled back at him, and her green eyes began to glow bright gold as her vision sharpened, enabling her to see clearly even in the darkness. Her brother's eyes did the same, and the twins took off in opposite directions, dashing through the trees with inhuman speed. Their heightened sense of smell aided their search for potential enemies. They were alert to any sound, any movement, and any smell that they couldn't easily tie to an animal, ready to run for their lives at a moment's notice.
Kayla was starting to let her guard down about three-quarters of the way around the clearing in which their temporary refuge stood. She'd seen nothing to make her suspicious, and she was checking areas that her brother had already cleared, so she didn't see why she should have to be so on edge. Her answer came when she made one single error, a misstep that caused agony to shoot through her. Her foot came down on the trigger of a bear trap, and the steel jaws sprang up to crush her ankle in their grasp. The young girl fell to the ground, and a wolf-like howl of pain, which quickly transformed into the easily-distinguished scream of a girl, tore its way free of her throat. She scrambled back on her knees and turned over onto her back, trying to see the damage. What she saw almost made her throw up. It almost looked as though her foot were about to be severed. She screamed again, as much in horror as in pain.
"Kayla!" the trapped teenager looked over her shoulder when she heard Logan call her name. He dashed into view just as she looked, and when he saw her, Kayla heard his heart skip a beat as tears spilled from her eyes.
"Oh, God," Logan breathed, sprinting over to her, dropping to his knees on the soft pine needles, looking at her leg in horror.
"It's fine," Kayla gasped through clenched teeth. "It's fine. I'll be fine. Just get it off."
Logan looked at her with wide eyes, then nodded shortly and moved over to her bloody and broken ankle. He grabbed each part of the trap and started pulling them apart with all his strength. Kayla screamed again in agony, tilting her head back and squeezing her hands into fists.
"I'm sorry," Logan said quietly. His muscles were shaking from the effort of trying to pull the trap apart; for some reason, it just refused to break. "I'm so sorry...Kayla, shh...You've gotta be quiet..."
After struggling for a few minutes, Logan lost his grip on the blood-slicked metal, and the little progress he'd made disappeared. Kayla screamed again, unable to stop herself, and Logan looked at her with regret and guilt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said breathlessly. "I'm sorry, it won't break. I can't break it."
"It's okay," Kayla told him after a moment, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "It's okay; go."
"What?" Logan gawked at her. "No. No, no way. I'm not leaving you."
"Logan, don't argue with—" Kayla began with a growl. She silenced herself when she heard rustling footsteps off deeper in the trees.
"Go," she hissed painfully, her eyes wide. Logan looked at her, then in the direction of the noise, and shook his head, grabbing her shaking hand and squeezing it, his veins turning black as he took away some of her pain.
"Not a chance," he whispered. Kayla shook her head at him, but didn't argue.
After a minute or two of anticipation, a man in his twenties emerged from the trees. He was about six-foot-two, with dark hair and clear hazel-green eyes. He was solidly built, and was not at all dressed for hiking in the woods. His boots probably felt more at home on pavement than pine needles, but that didn't seem to be slowing him down any.
"Stay away from us," Logan warned shakily.
"Take it easy, kid," the man said calmly. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Logan stood up and stepped between his wounded sister and this man who claimed he wouldn't harm them. His eyes lit up like glow sticks, claws grew from his fingertips, and his top and bottom canines sharpening into fangs. He growled viciously as hair grew on his jaw and his ears tapered into points.
"I said, 'stay away from us,'" the teenager snarled threateningly. To his surprise—and slight horror—the man didn't seem at all shocked at his transformation.
"Growl all you want, kid," the man sighed. "But it's doing nothing to help her."
"Why would you want to help us?" Logan challenged.
"Because her foot is stuck in a bear trap," the man said evenly. "And that looks pretty painful to me."
Logan hesitated, trying to decide if they could trust this man, if they could afford to trust this man. Finally, he decided that they had no choice, and he nodded in agreement, retracting his claws back into his fingers. As his appearance returned to normal, the man stepped forward, turning his attention to Kayla. Logan resumed his position beside his sister, holding her hand as she tried to block out the pain. The man took a look at Kayla's trapped leg, and grabbed each half of the trap, pulling on it just as Logan had.
"I already tried that," Logan told him impatiently. He was about to continue when the trap broke away, freeing Kayla's mangled ankle.
"How did you...?" Logan trailed off, too amazed to finish the sentence.
"Well, unlike you two, I have a pack, which gives me strength," the man said with a sigh, standing up and offering Kayla his hand. The teenager took it hesitantly, and accepted Logan and the stranger's help as she got to her feet, immediately shifting all her weight to her good foot.
"I'm Derek," the man introduced himself. "And you are...?"
"Just leaving," Logan interrupted before Kayla could answer.
"You don't have to be so defensive," Derek said with a slight smile. "My pack and I can help you."
"Look, Derek, I appreciate what you did for my sister, but we can take it from here," Logan said firmly. He reached down and took Kayla's feet out from under her, carrying her with ease. Without waiting for a response, he ran off, headed back to the car. When they arrived, Logan put his sister down, letting her lean against the car.
"Why didn't we go with him?" Kayla asked, still shaking and pale. "He's obviously like us; maybe he could have helped us. With a pack, we'd stand a much better chance of living to legal drinking age."
"Kayla, if we can't trust our own family, then we have no business trusting random strangers in the woods," Logan growled. "He could lead them right back to us. If they tracked us to this area and they found him or his pack, it's not like he'd lie for us. We can't trust anyone, Kay. I know you don't want to hear this, but we're on our own. We can't afford to make alliances."
Kayla opened her mouth to argue, then shook her head, knowing it was no use.
"How's the ankle?" Logan asked after a moment.
"It hurts like a bitch," Kayla admitted. "But it'll heal."
"Alright," Logan nodded. "We'll wait here for a bit, until he's gone. Then we'll go to the cabin."
Kayla agreed with a sigh, though she didn't seem entirely happy about it. They waited about ten minutes, then grabbed their bags. With his sister in his arms, Logan walked the mile to the cabin, broke the lock on the door, and walked inside. He gently set the injured werewolf down on the couch in the living room, then went into the kitchen and grabbed some rags to put down under her ankle so she didn't get blood on the couch.
"You get some sleep," Logan said gently. "I'll take the first watch. You should be healed up by morning, so you can take over then."
"Logan, you said it yourself, no one is going to find us here," Kayla said with a yawn. "You've been driving all night; you need some sleep, too."
"The last thing we need is for me to overestimate myself and get us both killed," Logan shrugged. "I'll be fine; go to sleep."
Kayla hesitated, then settled down into the soft couch cushions; in minutes, she had returned to her slumber, though it admittedly was not as sound as it had been previously. Logan smiled at her, then got up and made himself some coffee, trying to prepare for the long night he had in front of him.
Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review! I have up to chapter 5 waiting if I get a good response.