Chapter 5

Isabella still felt the need to cry — she should cry for him, she wanted to cry — but the tears wouldn't come. She was too spent, too tired, too numb. She was an empty husk and it felt like she would simply remain this way.

Bella waited in a hospital visitor's room, her clothes still covered in his blood. She curled herself protectively into a small padded chair . The blanket police had given her draped over the seat next to her. It was well after three in the morning, but the bright glare of hospital lights kept her from falling asleep sitting up. Violent flashes of fur, fangs, and claws invaded her thoughts making her shudder in fear.

An orderly passed by the entrance to the waiting room and did a double take when he spotted her. Bella belatedly realized how alarming she must look. Blood splattered her white blouse and pale jeans. A large red spot on her right leg still marked where she had cradled Connor's head until the paramedics arrived — not that there was a chance anyone could have saved him.

Bella had been Connor's betrothed but they were never in love. Their few months of real dating were just to make her family happy. For someone who was part wolf, he certainly didn't seem to have any instinct to mate for life with any woman . Connor loved girls, loved life, and loved himself more than anything else. And yet, he was such a dork sometimes she couldn't really hate him. He was like his jokes: gross and idiotic, but they made her laugh. It was only now that she wondered if anyone else was a closer friend to her. He was indeed her best friend. As a part of wolf pack they shared a bond which never encouraged her to to be best friend with any human .

It took her a moment to realize she wouldn't hear him laugh again. If she knew his stay at California with her will lead his tragic end she would never allowed him to stay here.

"Ms. Isabella ?" The arrival of a nurse in blue scrubs interrupted her morbid thoughts. The nurse knelt down next to her chair and spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry you've had to wait for so long. It's been a busy night in the emergency room. If you can hang on just a little while longer, one of the police officers will be back soon."

"Okay," Bella answered. In her dazed state, she wondered why she needed more police. She'd already told them everything she could. She reminded herself of the details she'd made up. Wild dogs, No, she didn't see where they went. She wished she could tell them not to worry about it, that werewolves were just territorial like that. There was nothing to be done about Connor's death, nothing to investigate, no feral animals to track. Connor's pack would make sure justice was carried out. But that conversation would start with yes, werewolves are real and end with her in a mental facility. She couldn’t disclose their real identity which may cause harm to them and fear in human.

Bella never expected Connor to follow her all the way from their little hometown in Alaska. She hadn't expected him to show up at her front door in the middle of the semester. She didn't think he'd even wanted her as a mate after the way she blew up at him in front of the whole family and declared she would have nothing to do with their outdated practice of arranged marriages. And she certainly didn't expect to run into other werewolves, ones who were not as friendly as the ones she knew back home.

And now Connor was dead. Because of her.

She cursed herself for how stupid she'd been. She should have expected this. She should have prepared herself. Her parents had warned her about other werewolves out there. As a descendant of one of the old bloodlines, but not a wolf herself, she was more likely to produce a werewolf when mated to one. Bella thought the part about giving off pheromones when she was ready to mate was bullshit, but she knew about this commonly held belief among her kind. She just chose to ignore it. She considered herself a scientist and there was no science to back up such a wild claim. Besides, she thought the chances of running into werewolves beyond the ones she'd already knew were incredibly low. There were barely one thousand werewolves in the entire country. What were the odds even one would randomly find her?

And yet the others have found her easily.

Now she was out of tears and out of options. Connor's family would need to be informed. She couldn't think clearly. She couldn't process what she needed to do and in which order. She definitely couldn't stay in this city anymore, not without the protection of a pack, especially if there were others allied with the ones she'd encountered tonight. She didn't even have enough money to leave on her own. Bella pulled her smartphone of her purse. Her call took a few attempts before it went through.