Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,114

something, then drew her with him into a shadowy den of ferns and vines, turning her toward him. Her senses clicked into place and she could hear his heartbeat, fast. Smelled him, and only him. Every cell in her body hummed, as if tuning itself to his vibration.

Except . . . he wasn’t Trick.

He cupped her head between his large hands, licked his lips, and kissed her. Gently at first, and then his hand came around to the back of her head, cradling her as his tongue stole between her lips and he gave into passion. He yanked her against his chest and wrapped his other arm around her back, then moved down to her waist. Her hands found his face, the softness of the curls around his ears, the ropes of muscle across his shoulder blades.

One more kiss, she told herself, and then never again.

“I can’t stand it that you’re here,” he whispered. “People are going to die. I don’t want you to be one of them.”

“I won’t die,” she promised, but she gently moved out of his embrace. Her blood was singing, but she knew why, knew her wolf part was awake, aware. “I won’t die.”

He took her hand. “I’m going to get you out of here. We’ll run. They’ll be so busy they won’t be able to catch us.”

But she saw despair in his eyes. He didn’t believe that.

“If we ran, we’d die for sure, wouldn’t we?” she asked him.

He closed his eyes. Nodded. “Sooner or later, they’d come for us,” he said. “And they wouldn’t make it quick.”

She took a breath. “I didn’t tell you about the gun because—”

He trailed his fingertips over her lips, silencing her. “It doesn’t matter. It was the right thing to do. You don’t know me. You don’t know us. I told you that becoming a werewolf was a fantastic thing for you. But here we are, about to fight a rival pack.” He looked pale. “If anything happens to you, I’m going to kill my uncle.”

She believed him. Shaking, she laid her hand on his chest and tried to make herself breathe. Closing her eyes, she listened again to his heartbeat. Justin was a good man, but he just wasn’t her man. She hated what was happening to him and to his world, though. It was as if death kept circling her, them. She thought of her dreams and the voice in the forest; something had been stalking her every night since she’d arrived in Wolf Springs.

“I’ll kill him anyway,” he said. “None of this should be happening. He led us to this. They know he’s weak and they’re trying to take us over. They’ve been trying ever since I was a kid. That’s why we need to be strong.”

His heart was picking up speed, beating preternaturally fast. She found herself responding, excited by his ferocity, and she took a fearful step away.

“Kat, Kat,” he said, reaching for her. “When this is over . . . if I make it . . .”

“You will make it,” she said.

He took a deep breath. “If something happens, I know Lucy will take care of Jesse. Be sure to tell him how much I love him.”

Then he took her hand and walked her back to the group. Arial raised her brows at the sight of the two of them and she nudged Regan. Regan’s answering smile was poisonous.

Then Justin tightened his grip around Katelyn’s fingers so hard that he rubbed the bones together. Katelyn looked up at his face, then followed his line of sight.

Dom Gaudin and Cordelia moved from the trees. Dom was carrying a white flag, and his arm was wrapped around Cordelia’s waist. She was thin, and her red hair had grown a few inches.

“Cordelia!” Katelyn cried, and heads whipped in her direction.

She began to run to Cordelia, but Justin jerked her to a standstill. Arial and Regan flashed her looks of disgust, and Cordelia held out a hand to her.

“Kat!”

Dom murmured something to Cordelia; she lowered her arm and raised her chin. Her expression was strained and miserable, but her head was held high. A bit of the old Cordelia was still alive, then. Katelyn was relieved to see it.

Mr. Fenner gave Katelyn a long look and strode toward the couple. “Justin!” he barked. Justin moved to stand beside him. Cordelia didn’t hug — or even acknowledge — her father.

Mr. Fenner, Justin, Dom, and Cordelia disappeared back into the trees. The sky darkened into twilight, everything leeching to gray,