Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,26
. sexy.
“You get used to it.” His face softened. “I don’t really even remember what it was like before. Like the world was flat, or something.”
She let that sink in. She heard the pleasure in his voice. He was genuinely happy for her. To him, she had won the lottery.
“So, what’s next on the training schedule?”
“Swimming,” he said.
She was startled. “It’s practically snowing,” she said, glancing out the window at the gray sky.
His teeth were very white against his tanned skin as he smiled broadly at her. “You won’t be cold. You’re a werewolf, Kat.”
By the time they reached the cabin, he had managed to shift her mood so that she was actually looking forward to their afternoon tomorrow. After he drove away, she hurried into her room to look at the books she had taken from Cordelia’s cubbyhole. She opened the diary first.
I think I have a friend! She’s the new girl, Katelyn McBride, only people call her Kat. She’s really sweet and funny. I know I can never tell her the truth, but it would be so nice to start over. I pulled away when Justin and Jesse moved in, and I can’t seem to get back in good with my old friends.
Katelyn smiled wistfully and read on, reliving the story of their growing friendship. And then . . .
I don’t know why Daddy hates the Gaudins so much. As soon as I mentioned Dom’s name at dinner, he hit me across the face and told me to go to my room. He said he would rather see me dead than with Dom. Dom says he thinks something is wrong with him. And I can only be with Dom if our packs unite, and Daddy gives his blessing. Otherwise, that would be the highest disloyalty, and I’m a Fenner born and raised. The weirdest thing of all is that a couple of years ago Daddy was the one who suggested I should look to Dom as a possible suitor.
And then . . .
I know I saw it. I know the Hellhound was at my window. And I know it’s going to kill somebody. And I think it might be Kat. She’s a mistake.
“God,” Katelyn murmured, shutting the book. She could barely speak. “Oh, God.” Justin spoke of protecting her, but he didn’t even believe in the Hellhound. As far as she knew, she was on her own.
She thumbed through the rest of the diary for more mentions of the Hellhound. Cordelia had written about so many things that it would take hours to go through her diary. Laying it aside for the moment, Katelyn picked up the Switliski book.
She opened it and came face to face with an old engraving showing a monster ripping apart a man. Enormous glowing eyes blazed from inky washes of blurred shadow, huge fangs dripping with the man’s blood as it ripped open his stomach, and two front claws were wrapped around his neck, yanking his head off. Beneath the illustration, a caption read:
THE HELLHOUND.
The old-fashioned illustration picture was so graphic. The Hellhound. Violent. Savage. That was what it did to you if you couldn’t get away. Tore you apart. Mauled you to death.
Was that what Cordelia had seen? Was that what had been outside Beau’s grandmother’s window? And that had mauled two girls to death?
Is that the thing that calls to me in the forest?
She forced herself to look at the picture. There was a reason Cordelia had hidden this book from her. A reason Mr. Henderson had wanted to find it.
And now they were both gone. Cordelia was in hiding and Mr. Henderson was missing, maybe even dead.
No; they hadn’t found his body, yet they’d found the others so fast. He couldn’t be dead. But she still had the sneaking suspicion that she would never see the archaeologist-turned-history-teacher again, alive or dead.
She picked the book up and began to read.
Many believe that the Hellhound is, or was, a real creature. Some say it might have been a large bear, perhaps mutated or deformed in some way. The more colorful stories about it can be found in In the Shadow of the Wolf, along with a complete discussion of the dark and violent history of Wolf Springs.
She groaned in frustration. That had been another book that had been missing from the school library. She and Beau had been searching for it. Maybe Cordelia had had that one, too.