Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,6
fearful.
Katelyn.
Katelyn.
You can’t hide.
I know who you are.
I shall do thee mischief in the woods.
Soon.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Claws on the hardwood floor.
Click.
Katelyn.
She jerked awake, lifting her neck painfully. She had fallen asleep at the computer. Had someone called her name?
She guessed it was early morning from the way the light was streaming in the windows. Stretching her neck left and right, she pushed back, and for an instant she thought she detected something else in the room, a clicking like toenails on the hardwood floor. She froze, listening. But she couldn’t hear anything.
“Ed? Grandpa?” she called softly. “Is that you? Are you up?”
No answer. But the sense that she was not alone grew stronger.
Her hair stood on end as she rose and took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked at the rifle on the wall and walked over to it. Put her hand on it and listened.
When she’d first arrived in Wolf Springs, she would have flown upstairs to her room and hidden under the covers if she’d felt freaky-scared like she did right then. But now she had people to protect — her grandfather and Trick. And maybe, just maybe, Cordelia was in the house, seeking shelter.
The werewolves of the Fenner pack had been ordered not to help Cordelia in any way, on pain of death. Katelyn had been there when Lee Fenner had issued the command, and he had singled Katelyn out. In front of everyone, he had forced Katelyn to swear to be loyal to him as the alpha and to obey him no matter what. She knew she had to prove herself to Mr. Fenner, and to the pack, to survive.
It was crazy, especially since the reason Cordelia had been banished was because she had been protecting Katelyn. Cordelia had known there'd been a chance Katelyn was going to turn into a werewolf, but she had wanted to know for sure before going to her father with the shocking news. Swearing not to help Cordelia when Cordelia had sacrificed everything in helping her was just wrong.
But he had forced her to swear. Technically, though, she wasn’t a Fenner werewolf. Mr. Fenner hadn’t given permission for her to be changed, and there was no proof that a Fenner werewolf had done it. Ergo, she owed him no loyalty.
And he’s not here. At least, that was what she told herself as she took the rifle down and made her way into the kitchen. And if Cordelia had come to her, Katelyn would do all she could for her. Cordelia was the one Katelyn was loyal to.
The back door flew open and she jumped back. Her grandfather stared at her, clearly startled as he stepped into the house. She sagged against the counter. “You startled me,” she said.
“Seems like,” he answered, eyebrows raised. He looked at the rifle.
“What — what were you doing outside?” she asked, then winced as she realized how paranoid and suspicious that sounded. And after all, Wolf Springs was a place of possible danger. Two girls had died this year, one of them killed in the forest just before her arrival and the other soon after. No one knew what had killed them, but it had people plenty shaken up.
Mordecai lifted one hand and she noticed that he was carrying a log. “Fire needed it,” he said with a grunt. “Log’s already dead,” he added.
Katelyn felt like an idiot. He took the rifle and walked out of the room. She busied herself making coffee to hide how jittery she was feeling. She was exhausted and was beginning to think about having to go over to the Fenners. She didn’t know how she’d stay awake to drive out, let alone make it back.
Which could be moot if they want to kill me.
The phone rang, and she grabbed at it.
“Don’t come here today,” Justin said. “Stay away.”
Her grandfather walked back in the room and headed to the sink to wash his hands.
“Um, but, what about our project?” she said into the phone.
Justin hung up. She replaced the handset and stared at it for a moment. She was getting what she wanted, but why? Had Mr. Fenner decided to get rid of her? She wished she’d been able to tell Justin about the night before and being shot at. If she’d had his number she could have texted him.
“She still mad at you?” Mordecai asked as he dried his hands.