Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,90

came closer, rubbing her dark head against my leg. I couldn't help but pet her, digging my fingers into the hair at the back of her head to ruffle her fur, then I sent her out. Olivia was right on her tail. Without any adult wolves around, the girls almost looked full grown. Their legs were just a little too long, proving they were still juveniles, but only barely. Their bodies were a little leaner than most adults', but they looked so mature, and I just wasn't ready for that.

Once the kids were gone, I made my way to the fire pit. We hadn't used all the split wood, so there was still a pretty good stack. I tossed a few logs in, headed back to my car for some paper, and paused to send Kim a text asking if she had lighter fluid and matches. I hadn't even thought to bring any. She said she'd just sent Roman back inside to get that, then would be here.

So I claimed my chair, leaned back and let out a heavy sigh. Maybe Kim would have some ideas about this bully. My gut said the boy wasn't going to suddenly stop picking on my daughter. The fact that he barked at her bothered me more than I wanted to admit. How could he know what they were? It was impossible, and the kids said they'd been careful.

The snap of a twig made me sit up quickly. Out of habit, I looked behind me at the parking lot, but Kim wasn't here yet. Then, my brain kicked in, and I turned in the direction of the sound. It wasn't the same way my kid had gone, but maybe something had fallen from a tree. Not impossible, and I didn't hear anything else, so I began to relax.

A wolf walked from the trees only a second later. It wasn't one I knew, though. I lifted a hand in greeting, hoping that wasn't as weird as it felt, but the wolf just looked around. Its head swung to the left, then the right, before finally settling on me. Slowly, I watched as its lips curled in a snarl. The hair rose on its back, and the beast slowly crept closer. The low rumble of its growl convinced me to get the fuck out of my chair.

"I don't know what I did to upset you," I said as calmly as I could, moving to put the wood of my chair between us, "but I'm sorry."

The wolf just moved around the fire pit, its yellow eyes locked on me. Yeah, I was not imagining this. This wasn't me not understanding some wolf greeting or anything. No... I looked at the wolf's face again.

"Karen," I breathed, because it could be no one else.

As if naming her removed the last of her restraint, the bitch lunged at me, her teeth clacking on the air as I jumped back. Unfortunately, that meant I'd also lost my chair as a shield. Desperately, I kept going, snagging one of the logs to use as a weapon.

"Stay back," I warned her. "I will hit you."

Not that it would do anything, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't know what else to do! In the back of my mind, I was trying to calculate how long it would be until the full moon, how sick I'd be if she got her teeth on me. In the front of my mind, I was looking for something to put between us, and all I had was an unlit fire pit filled with wood. Not exactly the best weapon.

Karen - if this was really her - was between me and my car now. My daughter was somewhere out on the trails, and Kim was coming. I just had to keep this bitch off me long enough to get rescued!

So I held the log like a bat and kept moving. We circled, slowly but surely going around the brick ring almost like she was playing with me. Then, without even a growl of warning, she lunged. My heart stopped, but not my hands. Swinging as hard as I could, I slammed the hunk of wood into the side of the wolf's neck. The beast yelped, but I was already running.

I spun around behind the chair, still holding my log at the ready, but she was coming at me again. This time, I kicked. She snapped, catching the end of my log. When she heaved, trying to shake it