Her vision tunneled. Only the wolf running at her side kept her going, kept her pointed in the right direction.

There was a shout way behind her. Back where she'd been forced to leave Ben. Oh God, Ben.  All the things that could happen. All that would happen.

As if sensing her thoughts, the wolf growled and used his muzzle to push her faster. Harley's feet hit the ground hard as she sprinted through the trees. The road, she could see it through the tree line. And a bit further down, Ben's old Pontiac. She hit the road, the wolf close at her back. Protecting.

She clawed at the door and barely gave the wolf a chance to jump in before getting in herself. The fear was a real, solid brick in her chest . Her hands shook so bad it took her two tries before she could get her phone from her pocket.

They're right behind me. They're right behind me.

She hit redial.

Will picked up on the second ring. "You just can't get enough of--" he cut himself off when her sob echoed across the line. "Harley?"

"T-they're right behind me. Oh God, Will. They--they took Ben. They have Ben. I'm next. I'm--"

The wolf whined. He was on all fours, his front paws on one side of her legs, his back on her other, staring out the window. She had to pull back to have enough room to call Will.

"Where are you?" Will jumped immediately into battle mode. He shouted something off the line.

"Mason Street. In Ben's car. He--He--"

Will yelled the street name at someone. "Harley, focus. Let's focus on you. Do you have the keys?"

No. Ben had them. He'd stuck them into his pocket when they'd walked over. Why hadn't she grabbed them? Yet another reason she was going to die here. "No." The word came out watery. Wavy. The wolf whined again.

"Okay, you're going to have to hotwire the car."

"Will, I've never--"

"It's alright. Just follow my lead okay? Put the phone on speaker."

With shaky fingers she complied. Then set the phone on her thigh. "It's on."

"Find something pointy. Something sharp and strong."

She dug through the middle console like a mad woman. Receipts, spare change, duct tape, a manual. "Nothing. There's nothing but coins! Oh God."

"Check the glove box."

The wolf did not want to move over, but she pushed, ignoring his warning growl, and opened the glove box. Napkins. Bundles of napkins. And--yes! "I've got a Swiss Army Knife."

"Good. There's a plastic cover on the steering column. Right under the wheel. See it?"

Under the wolf? There was no way. "You need to move." She told the rogue.

The wolf bared his teeth. "Look, I don't know why you're here, but you have to work with me. Or we both die."

"Harley?"

The wolf moved to the passenger seat and kept upright, still watching the line of trees. Which reminded her of the time. They were running out of it.

"I'm here." She had to unscrew two screws, but finally the thing popped open. "Will, we're running out of time."

"No we're not. Not if you keep a steady pace. Stay with me. Now, see the bundle of wires?"

Yes. There were so many.

"Focus on the red wires. Those connect to the power," Will said. "There are two sets. One red, one off-red.

"Don't panic. You need to cut both, strip the wires, and connect like colors. Harley, you can't touch those wires with your bare hands."

She scrubbed at the frustration tears burning her cheeks. "What am I supposed to use?" Then she remembered the glove box items. "There's duct tape in the glove box."

"Perfect. Wrap your fingers."

It took her too long to get the wires together. She'd barely started connecting the second set together when the bullets pelleted into the car. She screamed, ducking low and praying for it to start.

Come on, come on.

One of the windows in the back fractured, the glass chiming as it hit the carpet seat. Harley whimpered, clicking, clicking, clicking the wires together.

"Harley! Harley what's happening?" Will shouted through the phone. She couldn't hear him as well through the clinking of bullets hitting metal.

"I can't--" The engine turned over.

Her heart in her throat and head low, she flipped the car into drive and punched it. The car shot off.

~

A mile away from the pack house, she slowed to a stop. Her hands shook too bad to continue driving and she knew if she didn't stop soon, she'd likely crash the vehicle. Even the simple task of pulling over to the side of the road had become an incredibly hard job, the wheel under her hands coated in sweat.. After the car stopped, Harley could hear her own heartbeat, like a pounding drum, in her ears.

The wolf's cold nose hit her jaw. He whined.

Her eyelids weighed down, and she shivered. Cold. Despite the summer heat it was freezing in this beat-up wreck of a car

The wolf leaned into her, his high keening shaking his body. She rested on him and used him for support. He was warm, his fur soft, and it was a comfort against her chilled skin.

"Think they'll find us?" She was so tired. And worried about Ben.

She'd left him there on the ground, at the mercy of whoever attacked them. Ben, kind, forgiving Ben. How could things have gone so wrong? Her brain flashed her images--Ben still on the ground, the sleek silver dart buried into the tree bark, the wolf with his hackles raised.

She smoothed a hand down the wolf's pelt. It was rough, but almost silky in patches. How had he found them? And why wasn't she freaking out? Being trapped in a car, a tiny enclosed space, with a rogue wolf was one of the biggest no-no's of wolf culture.

He felt...safe. Strangely, his actions to protect her made her comfortable around him. A rogue wouldn't have gone to all that trouble only to rip her to pieces.

Why her though?

The wolf whined again.

"I know, I know. It's not safe." Harley tried to keep her eyes open, but the after effects of all that adrenaline left her dead tired. "I just need two minutes."

The wolf growled low.

"Relax. It's all good." She hoped.

The churn of an engine approaching had her shooting up so fast her head spun. A car shot down the road. The driver slammed on the breaks at the last second. Doors opened.

And then she was wide awake. "No, no, no, no, no." She hit the locks again to be sure and yanked the wires hanging from under the wheel. With jerky strokes she started clicking the off-red wires together.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Someone shouted her name. The enemy knew her name. A whimper crawled from her throat. They wouldn't get out of this one. She couldn't be fast enough this time, couldn't get her hands and arms to work right.

"Harley!" A pound at the window. "Harley!"

She flinched so hard she dropped the wires. But the person at the window still banged, "Harley, it's me! Harley!"

The wolf pushed at her shoulder with his muzzle, nudging her to look.

A familiar face peered at her, concerned. She knew him...how did she know him? As if hearing her thoughts he said, "Harley, it's Will."

Will?

She didn't remember hitting the unlock button, but somehow he was there surrounding her. He picked her up. Her shoulder pressed into the warmth of his chest. She leaned her head on where his neck met his shoulder. "Will."

"I'm here. You're okay. You're okay." He kept chanting. As if he needed the reassurance as much as her. "Someone get me a blanket!" He shouted.

Her mind decided to take a vacation then. It shot her bits and pieces of the scene, the movement around her too much to absorb completely.

"I think she's in shock..."

Something fuzzy and soft cocooned her.

"Where's Ben?"

A wolf growling, snapping.

"Holy shit, that's that rogue wolf."

"Back away slowly..."

"It's not hurting anyone. Why isn't it going after us?"

The body pressed to hers vibrated with sound. "Wait, stop. Let it be. It seems to...like her."

"Ben," she tried to tell them. "Ben."

Above her head, Will said, "I know, Har. We're looking. I promise you, we're looking. Why don't you relax, take a nap for a bit. We'll keep..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Harley's body decided she would do just that. She drifted off.