Dirty Lying Wolves

10. Over the Water

June

I moaned, a deeply contented sound as I smiled and stretched my legs on the viewing deck of the ferry. I'm sure I got a few odd looks from the other passengers. I don't care.

For three days. Three, long days, I had been cooped up in one car or another or walking across abandoned farmland. My butt hurts. My back was knotted all to pieces. I hadn't had a good stretch in far too long.

The moment our car was loaded into the belly of the ferry and we were free to go to our seats, I made a b-line for a free space to just... walk.

How weird would it look if I started exercising? A few lunges sounded useful right now, but they might be hard to do while wearing a backpack. I sighed and looked out over the water for a moment before retreating back inside.

I had been worried for nothing about fitting in on the boat. The werewolves were right at home, and Jerod and Amelia both managed to get seated without arousing suspicion from their obvious pain and disgruntled expressions. Jerod pretty much sat down and took a double dose of sleeping pills which freaked me out for a while until I was satisfied he was breathing evenly with a strong pulse as he slept. Amelia toughed it out for a while, but took a very large dose of ibuprofen and seemed to settle down a bit as she stayed put in her seat.

And I finally had a taste of freedom after being cooped up in the most bizarre and upsetting situation I have ever been in. I spent a good ten minutes hyperventilating in the bathroom as I came to terms with the fact that I was going to turn into one of those wolves. I had flashbacks of Carson shifting that first time in the woods. It still made me feel sick. More than once I had almost brought myself to tears with the idea of my body shifting like that into something else. At least I could distract myself with other thoughts, like my impending return to a job I don't like and my unemployed roommate's panic as we try to figure out how to make it another few months in our apartment.

Yeah, good times.

I glanced across the room as I came inside, spotting my empty seat between Dom and Jack. They all looked occupied enough... Maybe it was time to put a plan I had formed into action. They wouldn't notice if I was gone just a few more minutes. They didn't seem to mind that I wanted some air, anyway.

When we came in and got to our seats I learned about the little kiosks where I could use a computer. If I hurried, I might even have internet access before we got too far from port.

My heart raced as I found them. I had to wait a minute for someone else to finish before I could use a kiosk, but as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard I went straight to the site I used to send Kat money.

"Yes, come on... come on..." I furiously typed in my info, racing to get the transfer complete before we lost signal. In went Kat's email address, and out went most of my savings. At least Kat could keep our apartment afloat for a couple of months, more if she was careful. I hope she was careful.

I just logged out and stepped back when a voice made me jump out of my skin.

"All done?" Dom's voice rolled over me, my heart pounding.

"What? Oh, yes. I was..." I swallowed. "Just..."

"Come on. Walk with me," Dom said. He didn't wait for me, he just walked away from the kiosk and toward the door back outside.

Being night time and a little cold, not a lot of people were outside and they were coming back in with every passing minute. There were already fewer people there than when I had left only a few minutes ago.

Dom leaned on the rail, watching the water lap around us and not speaking. It was probably the most privacy we were going to get on the ferry, and I was dreading what he had to say. I eyed him sheepishly, feeling as though I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. There was no reason to feel guilty, I was just wiring money to Kat. But for some reason, I did anyway.