Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
The vampire is here.
This is the last moment I will know about werewolves or bear shifters…or Abe.
The two men drag my limp body inside. Tears smart my eyes.
Not knowing Abe, not remembering what we had together is a worse fate than the numbness that engulfed me when I moved to Wolf Ridge.
Abe brought me back to life. He made me feel beautiful and strong. He showed me a world I want to inhabit.
And now he’s about to be taken from me.
Abe
I play my ass off in the first quarter of the game, despite a bloody nose, raging headache, and a twitch in one eye.
What keeps me going is the belief that Lauren might be here somewhere. I thought I caught her scent in the breeze although I can’t spot her anywhere in the stands. I see Lincoln, though. He stands when he sees me looking and walks down the stairs toward the railing.
Relief sweeps through me. He has a message for me. Some word about Lauren. I jog over to the railing to meet him.
There’s an aggressive edge to him that I haven’t felt before. This kid is slender, he probably weighs half what I do, so I have to give him credit for the challenge.
“Do you want to tell me why the sheriff and your dad just took my sister to the station for questioning?”
Shock ripples through me. I sense the color drain from my face, and I’m running before I remember that I didn’t answer Lincoln.
I rip off my helmet and throw it onto the grass.
“Oakley!“ I hear Coach Jamison yell after me as I race out of the stadium. “Get back here right now!” He uses alpha command, but it has no effect on me.
My wolf is in charge, and he’s ready to kill.
When I’m out in the parking lot, I remember I don’t have a car. My dad dropped me off. That was probably intentional. I start running as fast as I can in human form.
Lincoln and Lauren‘s Tesla pulls up beside me.
“Get in,” Lincoln says through the open window.
I open the door after figuring out the weird handle and throw my body inside, my shoulder pads making it awkward.
Lincoln takes off immediately, and damn, can his car go fast. We are zero to ninety in probably three seconds.
“What happened?” he demands.
I shake my head. “It’s a misunderstanding. I’m going to straighten it out right now.”
“A misunderstanding.” Lincoln‘s voice has a deadly ring to it. Again, props to the guy for not being afraid of me.
“I’m going to fix it. I fucked up with Lauren today, but I’m going to fix that too.” I turn to look at Lincoln, whose normally laid-back expression is grim. “I really care about your sister. I didn’t mean to blow it with her. I had my head shoved up my ass so far I couldn’t see for a minute.”
Lincoln nods. He swerves at the turn and whips into the drive for the sheriff’s office.
I open the door. “Wait for me. Don’t come in. That will make things worse. I’ll be out with Lauren in ten minutes or less.”
“You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Lincoln demands.
I’m already out of the car. “Nope.” I slam the door shut and run inside.
The sheriff’s office is small. I ignore Betty Branson at the front desk and follow my shifter hearing to an interrogation room in the back.
“Hold up!” I hear her get up from behind the desk. “You can’t go back there, Abe.”
I ignore her and try the door. It’s locked. I don’t wait or knock, I tear at the knob with one foot braced against the concrete wall. The metal door bows, then gives way, and I rip it right off its hinges.
Betty shrieks.
I throw the door behind me. Inside, Lauren’s slumped over a table like she’s been beaten, her hands handcuffed behind her back.
“Get away from her!” I shove the sheriff’s deputy into a wall.
Huge mistake. Lauren’s head jerks up at the sound of my voice. The undead asshole standing in front of her leans down to look in her eyes.
“No!” I shout as I slam his head down into the table, busting his nose. And then everything happens at once.
My dad and the sheriff pull me back. The vampire moves lightning fast. One second he’s face down on the table, the next he’s right in my face, fangs descended, eyes darkened with blood lust.
“Easy, easy, easy. Take a breath.” The sheriff uses a soothing voice as he and my dad pull me backward, away from the vampire.
He’s not the same one I brought Lauren to before–it’s some leech I haven’t seen before.
My vision is twitching, my head about to explode from pressure and pain. “Let go of my mate, or I will destroy everyone in this room.” My voice isn’t my own. There’s a wolf-growl to it, like I’ve already half-shifted.