What Kane Was Hiding

"Kill the black one!" the man in the gray coat shouted. "Leave the girl alive!"

The wolves charged.

Lena stumbled backward against a broken pillar as the world exploded into snarls and flashing teeth. The black wolf spun and caught the first attacker by the throat, flung it aside, and turned on the next. He moved like he had been born for it, fast and brutal and so angry that she could feel it from where she stood.

"Kane!" she screamed. "Behind you!"

He ducked, and a gray wolf's jaws snapped shut on empty air. He slammed it into the ground, and it yelped and scrambled away. Two more rushed him from the side. One bit down on his shoulder, and Kane let out a sound that was half howl, half roar. Blood darkened his fur.

"Stop it!" Lena grabbed a fallen branch with both hands. "Get off him!"

She swung it at the nearest wolf and hit it squarely on the nose. It yelped and jumped back, shocked.

The pale-eyed man turned toward her, and for the first time he looked genuinely surprised. "Interesting," he murmured. "She doesn't even know."

"Know what?" Lena shouted.

"Take her now!"

A low, thunderous howl rolled out of the woods, and it did not come from any of the wolves around her. More shapes poured out of the trees, huge and dark and fast, at least ten of them. They hit the attackers like a wall. A sandy-haired wolf leaped over Lena's head and tackled the one lunging for her.

The man in the gray coat took one look at the battlefield and his smile vanished. "Retreat," he hissed. "Retreat!"

His wolves broke and fled into the darkness. He lingered one second longer, his pale eyes locked on Lena.

"Ask him what he is, Silver," he said softly. "Then ask him who his father really is."

Then he stepped backward into the shadows and was gone.

For a moment, everything was quiet. The only sound was Lena's own breathing. She was still holding the branch like a bat, and her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

The black wolf limped toward her, head low. Up close, he was enormous. She could have walked under his chin. His shoulder was streaked with blood, and his gold eyes were fixed on her face, searching.

"Kane," she whispered. "It is you, isn't it?"

The wolf lowered his head and pressed his forehead gently against her hand.

She dropped the branch.

"You're... you're a... oh my gosh."

The sandy wolf trotted over, shook himself, and flopped onto the grass with a groan. A heartbeat later, the fur melted away and the wolf became a lanky, grinning boy with messy hair, wearing nothing but torn jeans.

"Hi!" he said brightly. "You must be Lena. I'm Theo, I'm Kane's best friend, and I have so many questions."

Lena screamed.

"Okay, that's fair," Theo said. "That's a very fair reaction."

"You were a wolf!"

"Yes."

"You turned into a person!"

"I prefer to say I turned back into one. It's less dramatic." He glanced at the black wolf. "Kane, you want to explain or should I?"

Kane gave him a look that could have set the grass on fire.

"Right. Okay. I'll fetch some clothes." Theo jogged off into the trees.

Lena watched the black wolf shiver. His body shrank and shifted with a sound like breaking branches, and then Kane was on his knees in the grass, panting, with his hand pressed hard against his bleeding shoulder. Someone had thrown a jacket over his back. He looked up at her with tired, wild eyes.

"Don't," he said hoarsely. "Don't run."

"I'm not running." She was shaking so hard her teeth clattered. "I'm having an extremely normal reaction."

"Lena."

"Wolves, Kane. Wolves. You're a wolf."

"Werewolf, technically. Though I hate the word." He winced and tried to stand. She was at his side before she knew she had moved, ducking under his good arm to help him up.

"You're hurt."

"I'll heal."

"You're bleeding."

"I heal fast." His breath caught. She was very close, and his hand tightened around her arm. For a second, they just stood there, his heartbeat loud against her shoulder.

He let go and stepped back. "Why did you come out here alone?"

"Someone left a note in my bag."

"I told you to go straight home."

"And I told you I don't take orders from rude strangers."

"This isn't a joke!" His voice cracked through the clearing, and a few birds took off from the trees. He pressed his fingers to his temples and lowered his voice. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Those were Black Ridge wolves. They don't take prisoners."

"They didn't want to kill me," Lena said slowly. "They wanted to take me. The man said so."

Kane went very still. "What man?"

"Gray coat. Pale eyes. He said my mother's been hiding me for nineteen years." She swallowed. "He called me Silver."

Kane's face drained of color.

"Kane. What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me. Not tonight."

He looked at her for a long moment, then looked away. "It's an old word. It means something that hasn't existed for a long time."

"Is that why you looked at me like I was a ghost?"

"Yes." The word came out heavy. "No. I don't know."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have!" He dragged a hand through his hair. "I don't know what you are. But I know you're not human, and I know you're in danger, and I know I can't stand the thought of anyone getting their hands on you."

The clearing fell quiet.

Lena's heart skipped. "Not human?"

"I smelled it the first day," Kane said quietly. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"That's impossible. I'm an ordinary girl. I bake banana bread. I own a cardigan."

"I know it sounds ridiculous."

"It sounds insane."

Theo came crashing back through the bushes with an armful of clothes, saw their faces, and stopped. "Did I miss something?"

"No," they said together.

"Right." He handed Kane a shirt. "We should go. They might come back with more."

"Wait." Lena pulled the crumpled note from her pocket. "One more thing. The man said something about my father."

Kane's jaw tightened. "What did he say?"

"That Victor killed him."

Theo's grin dropped away. Kane's face turned to stone.

"That's a lie."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because my father is not a murderer."

"Is he not?" Lena's voice shook. "Then why did my mother run for nineteen years and suddenly marry him? Why won't she say my father's name? Why does everyone in that house look at me like I'm a bomb?"

"I don't know!"

"Then you can't be sure!"

"Lena—"

"Kane."

All three of them froze.

The voice came from the edge of the clearing, low and cold. Victor Draven stood between the trees in his dark coat, his face pale in the moonlight. Behind him, half hidden in the shadows, stood Naomi with her hand over her mouth.

"Dad," Kane said quickly. "It was Black Ridge. They came for her. I didn't—"

"I know." Victor's eyes never left Lena. "Lena. Come here, please."

"Mom?" Lena's voice broke. "What are you doing here?"

"I woke up and your bed was empty," Naomi whispered. "Oh, Lena. Oh, baby, what did you do?"

"A man told me something." Lena stood very straight, though her knees were weak. She looked from her mother to Victor and back. "He said Victor killed my father."

A terrible silence stretched out.

Naomi made a small, broken sound. Victor closed his eyes.

"Say it isn't true," Lena said. "One of you. Please, just say it isn't true."

Victor opened his eyes. They were full of a sorrow so deep she could hardly look at it.

"I didn't kill him," he said quietly. "I'm the one who buried him."