Chapter 318 318
Sabine POV
The wolf doesn’t behave the way I expect it to.
It doesn’t snap or snarl it only keeps biting frantically at the metal trap clamped around its ankle. Every time Didier reaches for it, he jerks his hands back as though he’s been burned.
He swears under his breath, then steels himself and tries again only to recoil once more.
“I’m sorry… I can’t,” he whispers to the wolf at last. His shoulders slump as he finally admits defeat.
I don’t understand what’s happening. Or why Didier would involve himself like this at all. The farming couple wouldn’t have hesitated—they would’ve shot the animal on sight.
“Move,” I say quietly. “Let me try.”
I crouch beside him and reach out slowly, deliberately, stroking the wolf’s side in a calming, reassuring motion. I keep my touch light, my movements careful. I’m not keen on losing fingers if she decides I’ve crossed a line.
“Is the trap hot?” I murmur to Didier, keeping my voice low.
“Why?”
“You keep pulling your hands back like it’s burning you.”
I brace myself as I touch the trap expecting heat, pain, something.
Nothing.
It’s stone cold.
I glance back at the wolf, examining her leg more closely, and that’s when I notice it.
She’s female.
Something twists sharply in my chest. A thought sparks impossible, ridiculous yet it refuses to leave.
No.
That can’t be right.
I didn’t come all this way just to never truly escape my old life.
“Where’s Caroline?” I ask, lifting my head and scanning the trees around us.
“She’s back at the farm,” Didier replies quickly. “She went ahead to get help.”
He doesn’t look at me.
Lie.
The first sign. And there’s something else he’s rocking slightly, almost unconsciously, as though the wolf’s pain is echoing inside him. As though he’s connected to her.
“And she hasn’t come back?”
“No…”
“How long have you been out here?”
Nothing adds up. There’s no chance none that Didier would let his sister walk ahead alone. He doesn’t even leave her alone with Gilles. He would never risk her wandering through woods where she could get lost for days.
I keep stroking the wolf, murmuring soft, soothing sounds. And she watches me. Really watches me. As though she understands every word.
Her eyes lock onto mine.
And suddenly
It clicks.
This isn’t a random wild wolf.
This is Caroline.
My thoughts race faster than I’m used to. Farm life has slowed me down everything out here is quieter, steadier. But my instincts snap awake.
If Caroline is a wolf… then Didier is too.
Shit.
Shit.
And triple shit.
I can’t have my old life catching up with me now. Every instinct screams at me to run. I already have my backpack. I don’t even need to return to the caravan.
But I can’t leave her.
She’s in pain. She’s fourteen.
And they’re my friends.
“Caroline,” I say firmly, keeping my voice calm. “You need to relax. Can you shift?”
The wolf’s head lifts slightly.
Didier turns to stare at me, shock written plainly across his face.
“You know?”
“Yes,” I say, already repositioning myself. “If she shifts, we can get her leg free.”
“This is going to hurt,” I add briskly. “So we need to be fast.”
“It’s coated in wolfsbane,” he says. “That’s why it burns every time I touch it.”
That explains everything. Why the trap felt harmless to me yet scorched his skin.
I shrug my backpack off and dig out a loose T-shirt dress. Something for Caroline to wear once she’s human again.
We move quickly. Didier positions himself at her head, ready to pull her back the moment she shifts.
“One… two… three.”
I wrench the trap open as Didier hauls his now-human sister free.
Her screams tear through the woods. Birds explode from nearby trees, fleeing the sound of her agony. Even I have to fight not to look away skin torn, blood pouring from her ankle where the metal had bitten deep.
But I stay focused.
Months of farm work have taught me how to stay calm under pressure.
“She needs a hospital,” I say, already lifting my backpack and preparing to move.
“No,” Didier replies tightly. “She’ll heal. It’ll kick in soon.”
“Thank you, Sab,” Caroline murmurs weakly, already going limp in his arms.
Didier scoops her up effortlessly, cradling her against his chest.
“I can clean the wound back at the caravan and put her to sleep,” he says.
“Okay,” I nod. Then “Where’s Gilles?”
He was supposed to be with them. He was meant to go into town too.
“I don’t know. He ditched us last minute. I thought he might’ve stayed back to wait for you.”
We move fast. Faster than I’m used to but I keep up. Caroline needs care, urgently.
I suggest Didier lay her on my bed once we reach my caravan. I’ll make pancakes for when she wakes. The protein from the eggs will help rebuild her strength especially after healing burns through energy so quickly.
She’s unconscious by the time we arrive.
Didier goes straight for a medical kit to clean the wound. I leave him to it and boil the kettle instead, making him a hot drink. They both look shaken God knows how long they were out there.
When he steps back into the main area, he finds me at the stove, flipping pancakes.
He sits at the small table, watching quietly.
I bring him a mug of coffee, then return to the hob, turning another pancake. An awkward silence settles between us. Heavy. I knew it was coming.
So when he finally speaks, I’m not surprised.
“So,” he says slowly, eyes fixed on me.
“How do you know about werewolves?”