time. More time! The hammering of Wolf’s heart told me we were out. He pressed his lips to my temple, and I wished it could be the last thing I felt in this world.
Chapter 14
Alex pushed his way through the crowd, though most of them jumped out of his way, and made his way to the front where Wolf and I stood tied at the stake. “Hey! HEY! STOP!”
The crowd went silent again and the man with the torch paused. Alex glared at me as if to say, “Could you be any more trouble?”
He faced the crowd, pointing at Wolf. “This man is not responsible for the killing of your livestock.”
Several people shouted back in challenge.
“He’s a wolf!”
“Burn him!”
“Those were my cows he killed!”
The man with the torch bent forward and started to touch the fire to the bits of kindling. Alex saw him and grabbed the torch out of his hand, throwing it into a nearby horse trough.
“He did not kill those animals!” he yelled. The anger in his voice silenced many of them, but not all. He took a different tactic and reached into his coat, pulling out something that shined.
“You doubt the word of a Sentry from the House of Hood?”
He held it up for the people to see. As he moved his hand around, I caught a glimpse of it. A badge. This time the entire crowd went as silent as a graveyard.
“I saw the creature that killed your animals,” Alex continued. “When I went to investigate the matter for myself, I saw it feeding on one of the cows.”
He stopped, letting them absorb what he was saying.
“What was it?” a woman finally yelled. A murmur of approval went through the crowd.
“It looked like a,” he hesitated, as if saying it would make him certifiably insane, “a werewolf.”
Gasps and shrieks went up from the crowd.
“It can’t be!” a man shouted. “Werewolves were banished long ago.”
The crowd started to agree.
“Apparently they’re back,” Alex snapped. “And that’s what you should be hunting. Not burning this man.”
“Why didn’t you kill it?” someone yelled.
“I didn’t have enough time to get a shot off. It ran away into the woods to the east.”
The people went silent again, unsure of how to handle this new information. They knew they had a wolf in custody, but with a Sentry telling them he was innocent and a werewolf was wandering nearby no one seemed to know what to do. I tugged at the ropes around my hands. They bit into my wrists, refusing to budge.
“Well,” one man started, “we still have a wolf. We should burn him anyway!”
That got the crowd going again. Wolf growled, straining at his bonds.
“You will do no such thing,” Alex yelled over the commotion. “He is innocent, and therefore you will let him go.”
“You’re a Sentry! Why do you want to let a wolf go?”
“Because he’s a half-wolf. A half-wolf is half human as well. He is what he is through no fault of his own.”
“No good can come from any wolf!”
The mob started to get more violent. Alex pointed at Wolf again.
“This man saved my life!”
The square went quiet. The whole area was like a crazed see-saw, and it was all Alex could do to keep his side down.
“He saved my life,” he said again, “and I owe him a debt.” He gazed at the sea of faces. This new bit of information seemed to be more than they could comprehend. “And what is the matter with all of you? Burning an innocent woman as well?”
“She’s a wolf lover!” a man next to Alex yelled.
In one swift movement Alex had his crossbow out and pointed at the man’s chest, acting in a way he thought a Sentry might act.
“One more word out of you fella, and I’ll sink a bolt into your heart.”
I had the best damn stepbrother ever. Finally I managed to loosen the rope around Wolf’s wrists enough and he jerked his hands free. But instead of trying to escape he wrapped his arms around me protectively.
“I’ve had enough out of all of you. Get up there and release them. They’re coming with me.”
After several agonizing minutes, a few men finally came up and grudgingly untied us. I jumped down behind Alex, Wolf right at my heels. Alex moved forward and the crowd parted. Some of the people looked cowed, others angry, and some just plain confused. Once we were away from the square, we made our way to the phantom building. On the way, Wolf