Page 25 of Runaway Wolf
No, she would ignore Cory like his text never came through. She set her phone onto the charger just as a wolf’s howl rent through the night air.
It was back.
Or was it… was it Isaac’s crazy wolf? Was he taking a turn patrolling her cabin? Or was it someone else? Not that it mattered, really. Noah warned her to stay indoors. While he and the rest of the pack had their human consciousness present when they were changed, Isaac was different. His wolf was separate. His was a killer.
A scratching sounded at the door and that was what the wolf was doing last night. Howling, scratching, pacing the porch.
She shifted the sheers just a bit so she could peek outside.
Geez, that thing was massive. Was it bigger than last night? It seemed the same color. Had the same glowing, ice-blue eyes. Isaac’s eyes when his wolf shone through.
It stared right at the window again.
With a shiver, she let the curtain drop. It couldn’t get in. Right?
She curled up in bed; huddled under the covers. There was no way she’d be able to sleep. No way. Not with that howling and growling and whatever else the monster was doing.
Her eyelids were so heavy. It was warm inside the soft bed, the comforter thick and comfy. The sounds outside melted away as she fell into slumber.
She felt like she’d only slept for a few minutes when a light lit up the room. It took a bit for her brain to realize it was her phone. Maybe it was done charging. At least the snarling from outside had stopped. She reached over to pull the phone from the cord, but it was a call lighting up the screen.
Mom.
She pressed the accept button without thinking and immediately regretted it, but it was too late.
“Yes?”
“Caitlin Montgomery, you will come home this instant. I don’t know what you think you’re doing—”
She sighed. Right there, into the phone. “I’m visiting my sister, Mom. I’m getting to know Penny. I’m taking vacation that I haven’t used in years.”
“You have no idea how lucky you are. Do you think any other job in the world would let you take unapproved, spontaneous vacation? You left us high and dry, missy—”
“Yeah, I know. Because your next ‘job,’ has been texting me. While on vacation. What’s the matter, Mom? Penny refused him and you’re snaking me right into her old life?”
Her mother’s voice shook with anger. “You will unblock your father this instant. You will get into your car—I don’t care how early in the morning it is—and drive home now.”
Caitlin pulled the phone from her face to check the clock. It was one o’clock in the morning. “Really worried about my safety there, huh? You want me to get up in the dead of night and drive down pitch-black, winding mountain roads?”
“You got yourself there just fine, I’m sure you’ll get yourself home fine.”
“Is there ever a point in your life when you don’t do Dad’s bidding?”
The outright question made her mother’s raving voice falter. But not for long. “Your Father and I are a team—”
“Well, Penny and I are also. I just forgot that for a while. I remember now.” She moved the phone to pressed the disconnect button, but her mom’s loud voice made it sound like the phone hadn’t moved at all.
“You’ve gotten a little too big for your pants, Caitlin Jane—”
Wow, her mom hadn’t used that tone in a few years. Maybe she was deep into her wine bottle.
“If you’re not home by brunch, you’ll find yourself more aligned with your sister than you think. No more access to credit cards, no bank account, home codes changed. Nothing but the cash in your pocket right now.”
“Is that what you did to Penny?” Anger shook her voice. “You threw her out into the world penniless?”
Her parents ignored the fact that she and Penny were adults. That they earned their paychecks. But… she’d been stupid. As an adult, she should have made the move to her own bank account. Not the one she shared with her parents, who’d started it with her as a teen. She should have applied for her own credit cards, but her father had always provided them, so it never seemed important.
Now she realized it was a way to keep their daughters under their control. Just like Penny had said, but at the time, she thought Penny was being difficult.
