Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,5

in?” she asked, wanting desperately to change the topic.

“Hid it,” he said uneasily, as if he didn’t want to discuss it. “You tell no one, hear?”

“Someone already knows,” she insisted. “Knows enough to put out a trap.”

“That thing was old. It didn’t even spring. It would have taken your arm off when you fell into it if it had been working.”

“But it doesn’t matter when it was put out,” she said, sensing she should shut up but not being able to. “It matters that it was put out.”

“Kat, I’m not an idiot.” When she opened her mouth to speak again, he said, “You should go back before your grandfather misses you.” Then he added, “Lee wants you to come over tomorrow.”

Cold chills washed down her back. She never wanted to see Lee Fenner — or any of them — again. She knew that was too much to wish for, but she had hoped for some kind of reprieve before it all started—learning to fit in, groveling like a kicked dog before that madman —

“I have homework,” she said rebelliously.

He smiled grimly. “You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to stay alive. Make up some excuse to your grandfather. Say you have a project with Cordelia for school.”

It had only been a matter of hours, but it was still hard to believe that Cordelia was gone. Nobody outside the pack knew yet, but sooner or later someone would surely have to say something, especially when she didn’t show up for school. Wolf Springs was a small place. Once word got out it would spread like wildfire and as soon as her grandfather heard, Katelyn would no longer be able to use Cordelia as an excuse for going to the Fenner house. She felt a rush of hope. Maybe Justin figured Cordelia’s banishment was only temporary.

“You should head on over around ten in the morning or so,” he said. “We have a big Sunday dinner around noon.”

She wondered if they chose to eat different foods when they were alone — but she didn’t want to give him any more reminders that she didn’t know anything about the way werewolves lived. Instead, she gave Justin a curt nod and brushed past him. After taking a few steps, she turned and watched him melt into the darkness. Then she could feel eyes upon her. Werewolf spies?

She felt a rush of wind and an invisible hand plucked at her sweatshirt. Something exploded against the tree just behind her and she jumped and let out a yelp. She clamped her hand over her mouth, ran toward the back of the cabin and then darted inside as quickly as she could.

She leaned against the kitchen door for a moment, then crossed resolutely to the window, meaning to shut the faded gingham curtains.

Then she glanced down. There was a hole in the side of her baggy sweatshirt. She picked it up and felt the warmth radiating from the area. A perfect little circle. She stuck her finger in and then realized there was a hole in the back of the sweatshirt as well. Something had gone clean through.

She clutched her sweatshirt.

Someone shot at me.

She began to shake.

Someone just tried to kill me.

2

Katelyn pushed away from the door. She hadn’t heard a shot. What did that mean — some kind of silencer? Maybe it wasn’t a bullet hole after all.

She knew who would know. Her grandfather — Dr. Mordecai McBride. Katelyn had called him Ed when she had first arrived, after her childhood nickname for him of “Extra Daddy.” When she didn’t call him “Grandpa”, of course — the name she knew he loved her to use.

But she stopped herself with a hand on the banister. She couldn’t tell him anything. Mr. Fenner had told her he would kill her — and her grandfather — if she said a word about her new life.

Maybe the shot was just meant to scare her, remind her that she was being watched and the stakes were the highest if she made a mistake.

Had Justin known someone had been waiting out there in the darkness?

Her knees wobbled and she plopped down in the chair in front of the computer station she, Trick, and her grandfather had set up a few hours earlier. She could feel her heart pounding and she struggled to calm herself down. They’d only shot once. A warning, surely.

Listening to each creak and groan of the trees outside, she sat in the darkness, stiff and