Rachel Deagan - Caged Moon

"Wait. Do you know who was here?"

"No." He shrugged. "Yes. It doesn't matter. They're not going to bother you anymore."

My jaw dropped and I stood up. "Who was it?"

Liam's face twisted. "My friends. They weren't going to hurt you or steal anything. They were just curious."

"Your friends?" My arms crossed protectively around my chest. "Curious about what?"

"Nothing." He wouldn't look at me. His gaze fell to the hole his heel had dug beside the log.

"Not nothing, tell me."

"You." His whisper seemed loud in my ears. I felt dizzy.

I tried to stay lucid. "Why me?"

He lifted his head and slowly inhaled.

"What...are you doing?" I asked.

"Your scent. It doesn't make sense, but it's there. Even from your car I could smell you."

"My car?" I felt a little cold. "What are you talking about?"

He sat so close, that his scent, too familiar, confused me. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

"Liam?"

He opened two blazing gold orbs on me. I scrambled off the log, nearly falling backwards. Howling broke just past the covering of the trees. Liam whipped his head in its direction.

My body shook.

A low reverberating sound came from Liam's chest. "Stay here." He took off into the woods, leaving me alone.

I sunk to the ground in front of the log and pulled my knees to my chest. The sounds of vicious snarling filled the air. I buried my head in my knees, praying it would all go away.

The snarls finally waned, replaced by high-pitched yelps and barks. I heard paws scampering away from the camp.

I jumped when Liam reappeared out of the shrubbery, dusting off his worn jeans. No way. He didn't just fight those wolves. Clearly, I had lost it.

"It's okay. They're gone." He glanced back towards the tree line. "Immature pups."

"What?"

He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Nothing." He reached an arm out to me. "You okay? Here, let me help you up."

I didn't know if I was scared of Liam or grateful, but I slowly opened my fingers to take his hand. He easily pulled me to my feet and steadied me. I trembled. He took off his jacket and handed it to me.

"Thank you." I swallowed hard and wrapped the jacket around my shoulders. "What's with all the wolves around here?" I tried to joke. "What am I a wolf magnet?"

"You have no idea."

"What?"

"Nothing." Liam cleared his throat and shifted his stance. "Why are you so afraid of canines anyway?"

I watched him. He avoided my eyes, kicking and poking at dying embers with his sneaker.

"I got attacked by one when I was really little. It bit me pretty badly. Still have the nasty scar to prove it." I nodded.

"What?" His head shot up and he stared at me like I had committed a crime. His shoulders trembled.

"What? I'm okay now." He looked terrified. "It's okay. I don't even remember it. My parents had to tell me why I had the scar. I was only five when it happened. But I think something in my subconscious remembers it. I've been afraid of dogs ever since."

"Where's the scar?"

"On the back of my shoulder." I pointed. "Really, I'm fine, Liam. It's okay." I wished he would relax. I didn't expect this reaction.

"Let me see it."

"I...I don't think so." My stomach tied in knots. "I'm really self conscious about it. Maybe another time."

Another time?

I couldn't think straight.

He ran his hand roughly through his hair. His breathing seemed irregular and shallow. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Besides, that's impossible. It happened years ago."

"What are you talking about Liam? What's impossible?"

"Nothing."

"Everything's always nothing with you, do you realize that?"

He shrugged and the corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm sorry. This is why I don't usually talk to people. Things get confusing."

"What do you mean you don't talk to people? Why are you talking to me?"

He cleared his throat and looked down at his sneaker as it fiddled with the dirt. "You seem different. I had to find out."

Different? "How? And find out what?"

He smiled and my cheeks felt hot.

"You're cute when you blush."

"I'm not blushing and you're evading my questions." I sat back on the log and wrapped the coat around my shoulders. "Why are you so interested in me? Why were your friends here? What do you want from me, Liam, if that's even your real name?"

The grin on his face widened. I tried not to look. "First of all, you're adorable." I shot him a glare and he chuckled with a little shrug. "Secondly, something about you seems very...familiar."

The choice of words made my stomach flip. My eyes stung. "You know what? I don't even know why I'm talking with you." I got up and then started towards the tent.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Charlotte, what's wrong?"

I paused. "It's nothing. I'm fine. I'm going to bed. You can leave now."

"Charlotte..."

"Please." I couldn't look at him.

"What'd I say?"

I sighed a shaky breath and shook my head. "It's nothing. I'm going to bed. Night, Liam."

"Charlotte Patterson, have you been paying attention?"

I couldn't think. Snickers erupted around me and the back of my neck felt hot. Someone in the front row said something, temporarily catching the teacher's attention.

A small ripped piece of paper landed on my desk with the answer written in pink ink. I turned around to see who had sent it. A short, curly blond girl waved her pen at me.

"Thank you," I mouthed.

My hand clamped down on the paper just as the teacher glanced back. "The Gettysburg Address," I said, answering his hanging question.

His brows narrowed and I forced a poker face. He grunted and walked back to the front of the class. I sighed and stuck the note in the pocket of Liam's jacket. I still wore it. The warm musky scent felt like home.

The bell rang. I dumped my book into my backpack and took off into the crowd of students.

I scanned the halls for Liam. Not a sign of him anywhere. Maybe he didn't go to school here. I hadn't seen him since the night at the campground.

"Hey, Charlotte, wait up."

I took a chance and stopped amongst the swarm of oncoming teenage traffic. The corner of someone's plastic folder nearly took off my ear, but I wanted to find the voice.

"Over here." The tiny blonde from class waved. Why couldn't it be Liam?

Seriously. I had issues.

"Wait there," she said.

I couldn't have gotten to her if I tried.

"Hey," she said again, once the current brought her closer. We both followed the other students down the hall. "I'm Ty. Well, Taylor Jacobs to be exact. But I prefer, Ty."

I couldn't help but smile at her perkiness, and she did save me from the clutches of Mr. Castrow. "Hey. Thanks for helping me back there."

"No problem. You're the new girl, right?" She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Of course, you are. Glad to have you on board. This school so needs more interesting people."

"I'm not that interesting."

"That's where you're wrong Charlotte. Everyone around here's so into fitting in and who's on the cool list. It's plain tiring. You're the first person I've met who seriously doesn't seem to care." She motioned her head to the oversized bunchy jacket of Liam's that hung to my knees.

"Ah, thanks, I think?" I didn't exactly know what to say.

Ty laughed, nudging me in the shoulder. "See? Don't worry, that's a good thing. So what class do you have next?"

"Oh, um." I fumbled with my backpack and pulled out my schedule. Three days here and I still didn't have the thing memorized. "Chemistry with Mr. Phelps. Sounds thrilling. You?"

"Sweet. Me too." You would have thought she'd won the lottery. I chuckled.

I didn't have a clue what Mr. Phelps said during the lesson. I spent the entire class texting back and forth with Ty. The class bell rang and I eagerly looked forward to lunch. "Ready to eat?"