4、
Marianne twisted her mouth and shot back, sharp and needling, "You've got no ulterior motive?"
"You saw my feed. My friends are all waiting for me to touch the wolves, and you won't let me out. You just want to embarrass me. You want me to lose face in front of everyone."
I actually laughed. I hadn't known a person could be this fake, fake enough to stop caring whether she lived or died.
I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You're hilarious. There's more than just you in this car. You open that door, and every one of us could get hurt."
Marianne's face went scarlet, like a monkey worked into a rage, and she grabbed straight for the door handle, ready to get out and prove the wild wolves outside were perfectly tame.
I slammed my hand down on the lock button and kept her from getting out.
She yanked at the door a few times, and when it wouldn't open, she grabbed a fistful of my hair in a fury and started dragging at it.
"Are you sick or what? What are you locking the door for? One little trip, and it's always you causing trouble."
I wrenched her hand off and warned her, "Let go. If you've got a problem, we can talk about it, but don't pull my hair."
"What have I got to talk to you about? If you don't let me out today, I'll claw your face off," Marianne kept screeching.
And my husband, Paul, just sat there with both hands on the wheel, not saying a word.
I'd hoped he would talk his friend down. Instead he stared out the window and came out with, "These wolves look pretty harmless. Not the terror Letitia made them out to be."
When I heard that, something in me went cold and dead.
I was being beaten, and Paul didn't lift a finger.
It was Mike who broke it up in the end, prying Marianne's hand loose, grinning. "All right, all right, enough."
"Letitia's a coward. Don't stoop to her level."
Only then did Marianne let go, tossing out one last line. "Run your mouth again and see if I don't hit you."
Then she ignored me completely, threw the door open again, and climbed out to feed the wolves.
The wolf was meek as anything, gulping down the chicken sausage she held out, tail wagging, groveling for more. It made her smug.
She even crowed at me, "Letitia, open your eyes and look. Look how tame these wolves are."
She called back to Mike, still in the car. "Mike, get out here and take some pictures for me."
Mike climbed out, took her phone, and started snapping away, with no idea that several wolves had already crept into the brush and were watching this way, hungry-eyed.
From the driver's seat, Paul watched Marianne stroke the wolf's head, and the way the animal obeyed her set his own hands itching.
He moved to get out. I caught his arm and tried once more. "Paul, you can't go out there."
He shook me off, his face all impatience. "Get off me. I bring you out to the mountains and everything you do is a buzzkill. You're driving me insane."
In that moment, something in my eyes changed.
Fine. Fine. If you've got a death wish, then there's nothing I can do.
Paul got out and joined the others.
He reached out to pat the wolf's forehead too, grinning as he said, "Good boy. Tame as the old yellow dog back home in the country."
But the words had barely left his mouth.
All at once the wolf's eyes turned vicious, and it clamped down on Paul's arm, so hard that Marianne started shrieking.
"Ah! Help me!"
Marianne dropped flat on her backside, and ten wolves burst out of the brush and knocked her to the ground.
At that, Mike spun around and bolted for the car.
But I'd lived this once already and come prepared. I kicked out the wolf that had slipped into the back seat, drove it out the door, and locked every door tight.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Mike pounded on the door like a madman, shouting, "Open the door! Letitia, open the door, now!"
I looked at the people outside, my face gone hard and cruel, and spat back, "No chance. The second I open this door, those wolves come pouring in."
