Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,80
to relax slightly, enjoying the banter and the gossip, and most especially the turkey. Then she glanced toward the head of the table where Mr. Fenner was presiding, sitting in his chair as if it were a throne. Without warning, the hair on the back of her neck raised. Something felt wrong.
Regan was now staring toward Lee with her eyes practically bulging. Katelyn swung her eyes to Mr. Fenner and gaped in disbelief — his chin whiskers seemed to be growing into a beard right before her eyes. She blinked and realized it wasn’t hair, but fur that was sprouting, and his jaw was beginning to elongate. He was shifting into werewolf form right there at the table for everyone to see.
She twisted to look at her grandfather, who was turning to say something, and did the first thing that came to mind — she swept out her hand, knocking his wine glass into his lap.
“Grandpa, I’m so sorry!” she cried.
He pushed back from the table as Katelyn half rose out of her seat to obscure his view of Mr. Fenner. Grabbing a napkin, she risked a glance over her shoulder and saw that Justin and Doug had both leaped to their feet. The werewolf form of Lee bared its teeth at them. Jesse began to bounce up and down in his chair and clap his hands in delight.
“Not at the dinner table!” Jesse shrieked.
“Oh, it’s everywhere,” Katelyn babbled, determinedly placing herself in her grandfather’s line of vision. “I — I spilled the whole glass!”
“No harm done,” her grandfather said, grunting as he took the napkin from her, bent down, and dabbed wine off his pants leg. And when Katelyn glanced up again, Lee Fenner was back in human form, rushing from the table, having burst the shoulder seams of his jacket.
“It’s really okay, honey,” her grandfather said, clearly assuming she was upset about the wine.
But it wasn’t okay. The entire table had gone silent. Lucy had a hand over Jesse’s mouth.
Her grandfather looked around, surprise on his face. “It’s fine, everyone. If you can just show me to a bathroom . . .”
“Of course.” Regan practically jumped out of her chair and headed in the opposite direction to that which her father had taken. “Just follow me, Dr. McBride.”
“Jesse, sugar, can you help me in the kitchen for a moment?” Lucy asked. “Arial, can you get some paper towels? Or maybe that’s where your daddy went?” she added pointedly.
Jesse got up and followed Lucy out. Regan left with Katelyn’s grandfather and Arial dashed from the room, obviously going to check on her father. That left Justin, Doug, Albert, and Katelyn.
“Lu, do you need me?” Justin called. He had gone white.
“That would be nice, sugar,” she called back. Justin pushed back from the table and left the room.
Coward, Katelyn thought, realizing she had newfound respect for Lucy. The young woman had taken charge. It was Lucy who was dealing with Jesse, not Justin. Lucy, who had prompted Arial to deal with Mr. Fenner.
“Damn,” Doug grumbled. “This is going well.”
“Doug, be careful what you say,” Al murmured.
Katelyn could feel the thick, underlying tension. And anger. Fury, even.
“It happened because he’s stressed,” Al added. “Having company. A stranger.”
“Should we leave?” Katelyn asked. She was positive her grandfather hadn’t seen anything, but was that good enough for the pack? What was going to happen to them now?
“Not for us to say,” Al told her. “Maybe you should go check on your grandfather.”
She hesitated, not wanting to move out of earshot of the two Fenners. If she and her grandfather were in imminent danger, they needed to get the hell out of there.
“Then who does say? Who should I ask for permission to leave?” she persisted.
They both regarded her with carefully blank expressions.
“I mean, I know I should usually ask Mr. Fenner, of course, but if he’s not feeling well . . .” She trailed off, confounded by their neutral faces.
“He’s the only one who can give you permission to do anything,” Doug replied, and his voice was kind. “It’s not like you’re used to, Kat.”
Justin reappeared. His face was grim. “Go check in on your grandfather,” he ordered her.
She heard a lot of shushing. Then Jesse’s giggle. Lucy’s quiet voice. Craning her ears, she heard the word, “Secret.”
Just as she was about to head off to the restroom, her grandfather reappeared with Regan. He was dabbing at his suit jacket.
“All better,” Regan said. “Luckily he didn’t get any wine on his nice white