Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,34
“A pleasure to meet you in the flesh.”
“Thank you for finding her,” Katelyn replied.
“She found us.” He gave her shoulder another squeeze. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Cordelia stepped out of the hut so he could get around her. She gave her head a little bob and he inclined his head rather imperiously. He looked at Katelyn.
“You need to lower your head to me,” he said.
“Oh.” She tucked in her chin and mentally rolled her eyes. God, if Kimi or any of her old friends could see her now . . . But in her encounters with other packmates, she’d seen lower-ranked were-boys go all Geisha like this, too. Turned out you had to behave a certain way according to your rank, not your gender—aside from a certain amount of human-woman tending of the male ego that seemed more common in Wolf Springs.
He chuckled and walked to the car. “Luc and I will go for a drive.”
Cordelia turned around and led the way into the hut. A fire was roaring inside a metal fireplace, and as soon as they were both inside, Cordelia threw her arms around Katelyn and began to cry. Katelyn did, too, feeling such tremendous relief that she had to sit down on the sleeping bag stretched out on the floor before she fell down.
Cordelia moved two grocery bags out of the way and plopped down next to Katelyn, burying her face in her hands.
“Oh, Kat,” she said brokenly. “I want to go home!”
“Why?” Katelyn blurted, then caught herself and put her arms around Cordelia again, and her friend leaned her head on Katelyn’s shoulder. “I mean, oh my God, Cordelia, look at your family. Your father’s . . .” She trailed off, realizing that Cordelia already knew how bizarre her family was.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be born a Fenner,” Cordelia said. “We have the blood of the Fenris Wolf running through our veins. In the werewolf world, we’re revered. We’re like gods.”
Katelyn thought about Regan and Arial, overdressed and over made-up, slinking around like they were practicing for some Southern Gothic play. The delight they’d taken in ordering Cordelia to run away as fast as she could before they caught her. Justin said werewolves were aggressive, but the Fenners were flat out extreme. That didn’t sound very godlike to her.
“What’s it like in Dom’s pack?” Katelyn asked. “You’ll be with him, and he’s the alpha, right?”
“Kat, Kat,” Cordelia hitched. Then she lifted her head. “I’m nearly eighteen years old, the daughter of the alpha. If I join another pack, I’ll be a traitor. How would you treat an outsider who had been branded a traitor?”
The question was absurd. Katelyn didn’t live in a world where thoughts like that occurred.
“I thought you called Dom,” she said, a bit at a loss.
Cordelia wiped her face with both hands. “I did. I didn’t know what else to do. But he wants me to declare my loyalty as soon as we get to Louisiana. In front of everyone. I — I need time.” She dropped her hands to her lap and stared pleadingly at Katelyn. “I need my daddy to forgive me and take me back.”
Katelyn played with the slick fabric of the sleeping bag, unaccountably disappointed. She didn’t see leaving with Dom and Cordelia as a clearer path to her own happy ending. Cordelia might be the daughter of an alpha, but Katelyn was just a mistake.
Except . . . I’m immune to silver, she remembered.
“Maybe Daddy just needs time,” Cordelia said, reaching into one of the grocery bags. She pulled out a packet of tissues and blew her nose. “If I can just go with Dom without declaring myself, and then Daddy asks me to come home . . .” She stared at Katelyn with huge, pleading eyes. “You’ll come with me, right?”
Here it was, the time for her decision. Katelyn looked at her friend, and her mind raced.
And then it came to her.
“Cordelia, your father wanted you to find the silver mine,” she began.
Cordelia nodded. “Kat, I — I hid some stuff from you. That book Mr. Henderson wanted? I had it. And my daddy had Mr. Henderson over for dinner and asked him to help him find the Madre Vena. I didn’t tell you that, either.”
Katelyn thought of the business card she had found. Maybe Mr. Henderson is not around because he’s busy looking for the mine.
No, she didn’t buy it.
“Mr. Henderson is missing,” Katelyn said carefully. “Could something have happened to him?”