“I can’t. Get out. Please.”
He sighs and gets more comfortable.
I want to wail, to scream, to protest, but I can’t win this fight, and I know it. Physically, I can’t do anything to this alpha.
I walk over to the bed, grab my pillow, eye the blanket, but there’s no way I’d be able to move him in order to get it out, and stalk into my lounge room. I put the pillow on the couch and curl up in a ball.
The dream still lingers, dragging me back into it. The hands that grabbed. I can still feel them forcing their way into me. I exhale and toss on the couch, trying to dispel the memories. It’s been weeks since I’ve woken up like that.
Fucking Liam. Seeing him rips open those scars every time.
I’m half asleep, still lost in those bad thoughts when something warm hops up on the couch and curls up at my back. Warm and furry.
I should protest, but I’m sore and tired, and wolves aren’t as threatening as men. I’d take fangs and claws any day. Especially a wolf that looks like it came straight out of my childhood fantasies.
I twist around and find golden yellow eyes staring at me. They blink slowly.
“What are you doing?” I groan in token protest. I don’t have much more left in me, and the giant black wolf is warm and soft.
When was the last time I slept beside anything alive?
He huffs and lays his head down again as if it should be clear exactly what he’s doing and that I am being an ass.
“Fine, but just tonight. This whole thing is a mess, and I’m not sure what tomorrow is going to bring.”
There’s silence, but my guilt won’t let me sleep. So, I say the words that have been sitting on the tip of my tongue.
“Thank you, Riot. For checking on me.”
The wolf stiffens, and I feel rather than see him lift his head. Surprisingly, now that I’ve said the words, sleep pulls me back under.
Hazard
The menthol scent iseverywhere, but I’ve got the best sniffer of the pack, and I think that the menthol isn’t her actual scent but something she’s wearing. Something to deflect and hide.
I mean, no one moves out to a mountain and lives out here alone without some skeletons in the closet. I sniff through the entire house, finding the secret room at the back of the pantry, the attic stairs, the strange smells of an old woman that is almost gone, just a ghost of a smell lingering in the hidden corners, but all around is that overpowering menthol that Casey wears.
Interestingly, I find weapons hidden all over the house. Behind some paintings, a rolled-up wire hidden in a pot plant, three knives, and a mallet.
Who is our new owner expecting?
I continue to pace around the interior of the house before I let myself out and pad into the front yard. The wind carries the scent of the pines. I can’t smell any wolves, but that doesn’t mean anything. Whether they are wolves that walk on two legs or live on four, they will be around.
I take off, running in one direction. When I get to a certain distance away, I stop, lifting my head, sucking the different scents down into my lungs. Nothing. I turn and run in a wide arc, stopping occasionally to taste the air.
Finally, I get to a ridge and see the faint glow of lights. I watch it for a long time. When I finally feel satisfied, I stand up and turn away, only to stop when a howl lifts mournfully into the night, followed by a multitude more.
My fur lifts, and I almost dance over the ground, ready to attack or run. I swivel my ears, but these wolves are too far away for me to be able to catch anything from them scent wise. Still, I count more than twenty voices raised. Which rules out a natural pack.
It takes me a while, but I get back to the cabin. Khaos opens the door and steps outside to join me on the porch.
“What did you find out?”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, I don’t think there is anyone close to us but,” I say, watching as he tenses, “there is a large pack close to here, and judging by how many I heard, I think we’re looking at wolves like us. Shifters."
Khaos curses violently.
“She’s got weapons hidden throughout the house. I thought about removing them, but she had them before we came, so I don’t think we are the target.”
