Spluttering and choking, she fell back onto her backside, the damp grass soaking her jeans as Leia licked her face, whining. “I’m okay.”
Kirsty pushed Leia’s wet nose out of the way. “I’m all right, lass, leave me be.”
Leia wagged her bushy tail, her nose sniffing Kirsty all over before heading back to the stream once more. Kirsty grabbed her pack, tugging it over to get some kibble out for Leia. It wasn’t how she usually fed her dog. Her Shepherd was used to being fed raw, not manufactured dry food, but since her parents died, and money had slowly dried up, it was the best she could do. Especially after the freezers in the barn had been depleted.
Leia seemed to know she was doing her best, and had only turned her nose up the first time Kirsty placed the kibble before her. Now she gobbled it up but Kirsty hated that she could not provide the food her dog was used to. She had noticed the difference in Leia too, her coat wasn’t nearly as shiny, her teeth not as clean and white as they used to be. What else could she do? She just didn’t have the money available to provide for her the way she used to.
Even if she did, how could she get the food delivered? She had no proper address anymore. Overall, she felt as if she were failing her pooch and that hurt her more than anything right now. She didn’t care she’d lost weight herself, she’d carried a few extra pounds anyway, but Leia was a different matter. Kirsty would have to find a way to get some more money soon if she were going to keep her dog with her. The alternative was not an option.
Her mind on other things, she hadn’t noticed Leia moving away from the stream. Or her body language. Tail straight out, hackles risen along her back, lips curled back showing her teeth. It was the low snarl that brought Kirsty out of her inner-thoughts and scrambling for the shotgun.
Snatching it up and quickly loading it before flicking the safety off. Kirsty was relieved her father had opted for a pump-action that held five cartridges, because she doubted one, or even two, would do much damage to a damn Wolf; not going by the size of the ones she’d caught glimpses of before she’d ran from her home.
She was under no illusion that if there were more than a couple that she’d be dead before the day was out. Although she could use the gun, and load it fast, she doubted she would be able to do it quickly enough to keep the rogues at bay.
“Leia,” she called urgently. “Come.”
Leia’s head spun around, then back the way they’d come, still snarling. Kirsty needed her dog to come to her and, hopefully, heed her command to leave. She couldn’t bear the thought of the Wolves tearing her apart. No. She could not allow that to happen.
“Leia.” Kirsty’s tone changed, commanding and harsh.
Leia slunk toward her, tail between her legs, looking up at her with eyes that tore at Kirsty’s heart. “Go, now. Go, Leia.”
Kirsty pointed away with the gun but the dog stayed in place, refusing to budge. “Oh hell, baby, you have to go. Now. Go.”
Her Shepherd whined, nudging her thigh but refusing to move from her side. Kirsty’s eyes filled with tears as she crouched down, patting Leia’s head. “You have to listen to me, baby, you need to go and hide. Please. I can’t lose you too. Go!”
Leia’s body language told her everything she needed to know. Her dog was going nowhere. Shit. What was she going to do now?
“Damn it, Leia.” Kirsty groaned, watching as her dog’s ears pricked up, her head swinging away and cocking to the side. Her eyes focused on the trees behind them, in the opposite direction from where they’d come. Kirsty’s heart sank. Her throat constricting as she muttered, “Oh great! We’re surrounded.”
Then Leia did something Kirsty did not expect. She took off running at full speed away from her. Kirsty watched wide-eyed as her large dog sped along the edge of the stream, then darted off into the trees, head low, tail high as she ran far quicker than Kirsty had ever seen her do before. “Oh now you go. Stay safe, baby.”
Kirsty’s heart ached as she lost sight of her cherished friend, sad and happy at the same time. Hoping against hope that Leia would avoid the rogues that appeared to be all around. “All right, get your arse in gear and take at least a couple of these bastards down before . . .”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Kirsty knew how this would end. Instead, she retrieved more shells from her pack, placing some on the ground, and some in her pockets. She prayed she would get the chance to reload before the Wolves reached her.
Kirsty needed some payback for herself and her parents and she figured that this would be her one, her only, chance.
Her body now drenched in a damp sweat borne of fear as she heard sounds of the approaching beasts. They were stampeding toward her, crashing through the forest with no thought of stealth. Kirsty shook her head, groaning. “Hey, if I were as strong as them going after me, I wouldn’t bother being quiet either.”
Double checking the shotgun, or was it triple checking, she made damn sure it was ready to fire as soon as she had a clear shot. She was good with the gun; her father had made sure of that, schooling her in the art of gunmanship since childhood. At school, the other kids thought it was cool, nobody else’s parents owned a gun. So she was an anomaly and was always being asked about it.
At the time, she’d been embarrassed. Now she was grateful for the fact she could at least have
