The challenge lingers in the air, the bait we both know I’m going to take every fucking time.
“Will you be there?”
“Dying for my affection already, Devil?”
“More like your attention.” Tilting my head, I cast my eyes to the dog sitting calmly by her feet, “Seems to work miracles on the animals of this town.”
She smirks, “Ronan doesn’t need a grenade to keep me interested.”
“Bite all you want, darling, I don’t mind.”
It starts as a snort but turns into a laugh.
Throwing her head back, Calista laughs with everything she has. The good, the bad, the ugly meld together to create a cacophony of noise that’s so brutally honest it hurts.
I’m staring at her again, watching the divots and lines crinkle the smooth surface of her skin until there’s nothing but careless mirth floating through the air. It’s like watching a tidal wave crash into the beach, the fleeting moment of peace chased by the undertow waiting underneath.
“Don’t look so horrified.” Sweeping the tide away herself, Calista looks at me with a smile that doesn’t make it past her mouth, “Not all princesses are destined for a fairytale.”
She lets out a sharp whistle before I can respond.
Ronan springs to his feet, his massive body almost coming up to her spandex-clad hip that looks just as fine as it did earlier.
Blood and all.
“Evelyn White subjects her partygoers to whatever pharmaceutical horror her family’s been working on. Drinks, food, silverware… don’t touch anything you’re not ready to offer a lifelong commitment to.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“If you’re going to swim with the sharks, you should at least bring a pair of goggles.” Lifting her brow, Calista offers me thesame salute I gave Ronan, “And like I said, I’m not ready to miss that accent of yours just yet.”
“Miss Drache, are you starting to care for me?”
“Only in your dreams, Devil.”
Blowing me a kiss, Calista starts back the way she came. Ronan gives me a menacing growl before rejoining his owner, his ears perked and ready as he trots dutifully beside her.
“Oi! Aren’t you going to offer to walk me home?”
Her green eyes find mine over her shoulder, the coy tilt of her lips making me disappointed she didn’t bring up our kiss.
The one I interrupted with a grenade.
Any sort of response gets washed away by a bitter wind, leaving me high and dry on the side of a telephone pole. I watch her blonde head disappear into the forest, the soft sway of her hips swallowed up by the overgrown wilderness.
Wolf Hollow is a different type of jungle. The things that should kill me seem docile and meek compared to my fellow humans, the sick and the twisted left to their own devices until someone worse comes along to finish them off.
Normally, I’d rank myself pretty high on the pecking order. A wolf falls near the top of the food chain, the apex predator who shouldn’t have a problem telling the other beasts where to play. It’s been my spot for so long, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to feel threatened at every opportunity.
To be hunted instead of the hunter.
And I’ve got Calista Drache to thank for that.
Chapter 12
CALISTA
House parties have always been a source of entertainment for me.
