2、

My husband Paul hesitated, but Mike jumped in. "Two grown men, scared off a viral photo spot by a few wolves?"

"We've been chasing dogs off since we were kids. A handful of wild wolves. If the guys ever heard we were too scared to go, we'd never hear the end of it over drinks."

Paul nodded and muttered, "He's got a point. Can't back down from this."

But I panicked. I turned to my husband. "Paul, don't let them talk you into this."

"Wolves aren't dogs. This isn't like chasing off strays when you were a kid."

Mike was losing patience. He said flatly, "Can you get your wife under control or not? Such a small thing, and here you are dragging your feet."

Marianne stirred the pot right beside him. "Oh, maybe he's the type who's scared of his wife. Mike, don't push the poor guy."

"Not like me. Wherever we go, I do whatever Mike says. That's what a good woman is."

That one line lit the fuse in my husband. He said to me, hard, "Letitia, that's enough. Majority rules. You're going to behave and come with us to the viral highway for our photos."

I opened my mouth to say something, and before I got half the words out, a hard slap cracked across my face.

Paul's expression had already gone dark. Even reborn, he still hit me the same way.

"I already told you not to cross me on this. You're making me lose face."

In that moment, my heart went to ash.

In my past life, it was exactly this kind of grievance that ended with me dying in the jaws of the wolves.

Now, reborn, and Paul hadn't changed in the slightest.

I knew it plainly then. A man like this was beyond saving.

I fell silent.

From the back seat, Marianne sneered, "A woman who won't listen has to be beaten. Skip a day, and she's up on the roof tearing off the shingles."

Mike ran his hand along Marianne's cheek and said with a grin, "So are you a woman who listens?"

Marianne curled back into his arms. "I listen. Of course I listen."

3、

Inside, I was sick to my stomach over the way Marianne was behaving. But I knew better than to fight them head-on.

There was a real chance they'd dump me on the side of the highway, and then I'd be the one in danger.

So I settled on a compromise. I turned to Paul and said, "I'm not trying to ruin anyone's fun."

"Sweetheart, all I want is to keep everyone safe. Think about it. Even if you two big strong men aren't scared of the wolves."

"They're still wild animals. What if one of them bites you?"

"Then I'd be the one hurting for you."

"I don't want you to get so much as a scratch."

The hard set of Paul's face softened a little.

I pressed on. "When we get to the spot, let's just stay in the car and feed them through the window. How does that sound?"

Paul grunted, and it seemed like I'd won him over.

But once we actually reached the stretch of highway everyone came to photograph, Marianne started up with her nonsense again.

Our car sat pulled over at the edge of the road while three big wolves with gray manes swayed their tails, wagging like lapdogs trying to win us over.

Marianne rolled down the window and tossed a hot dog outside.

One of the wolves snapped it up, chewed a couple of times, then rolled around in the dirt.

That set Marianne off laughing. "These wild wolves are adorable. Look at it begging for attention."

She hurried to snap a photo and posted it to her feed. A little while later, one of her contacts, some jerk I couldn't name, actually left a comment: "You didn't pet the wolf? What does the fur feel like?"

That was all it took to light Marianne up. She grabbed Mike's arm and put on her wheedling voice again. "Mike, let's get out and pet them."

My face fell. I'd worked so hard to convince everyone not to get out of the car, no matter what.

The second anyone stepped out, the horror from my past life would play out all over again.

I turned to Marianne. "Didn't we just agree? Feeding them is fine, but nobody gets out. Did you forget already?"

Marianne's temper flared instantly. "That was your husband Paul talking. I never agreed to anything."

I kept my temper in check and tried again. "Marianne, I'm doing this for everyone's sake. I know you've never liked me, but this time you have to trust me. I don't have any other motive, I swear."

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."