Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Koda whined, then everything was silent.
“Noo,” I moaned as quietly as I could. “Nooo.”
I prayed. I prayed for the first time since Jet died. Prayed that Koda wasn’t hurt too badly. Prayed that she’d be okay and that Casten wouldn’t lose her.
I heard the glass crunching against the floor with each heavy footfall of the person who was now in the house and moving in my direction.
But I never saw any lights, and I didn’t hear anything else for very long minutes afterward.
I had almost convinced myself that this was all a figment of my imagination. That is until the plastic bags that were covering me crinkled as someone touched them.
But just as soon as the movement came, it was gone.
Why?
Because someone was coming.
I heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance.
The sound of the bags crinkling with their movement abruptly stopped, and I heard the heavy footsteps stomping toward the back door.
I stayed where I was, as still as I could possibly be, and held my breath.
The motorcycle idled out in front of the house for a few short moments before it cut off.
I closed my eyes, hoping that whomever was on that motorcycle hurried.
Heavy footfalls sounded once again as the owner of the motorcycle made his way throughout the house, slowly and methodically.
“It’s clear,” a man called.
Mig.
“She’s alright.”
How he could tell, I didn’t know, but apparently he could.
Another motorcycle pulled up out front, and I had to force myself to stay where I was.
If they’d wanted me to get out, they would’ve told me…right?
Voices, one raised, had me straining to listen. But it wasn’t until I’d counted to nearly five thousand in my head that another motorcycle pulled up, and I started to worry.
“Koda!” a devastated voice called through my darkness.
I was up and running before he’d even gotten the last syllable out.
I made my way into the kitchen, not stopping until I hit the dining room, where the backdoor was located.
“Casten,” I gasped once I saw him. “What’s wrong with her?”
Casten’s hands and arms were covered in blood, and he was clutching a sheet around his dog.
When he didn’t answer, I dropped down to my knees beside where he rocked.
“Casten,” I whispered. “Tell me what’s going on. Is she okay?”
Casten shook his head. “No.”
No, his best friend, the animal that had saved his life in Afghanistan, was most definitely not okay.
And with the way his shoulders were heaving, I knew that that Koda was seriously injured, if not already dead.
“Watch her,” he whispered to Mig as he stood up with his dog in his arms and walked out of the room without as much as a backwards glance.
Woodenly, I stood and walked back to the bedroom that Casten and I had shared an amazing night in, not knowing what to do with myself.
It didn’t feel the same.
It felt like my whole life had changed in the blink of an eye.
Turning around and giving the lovely night my back, I hurried to my room where I got dressed in jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a pair of boots.
“Let’s go,” I ordered as soon as I made it out of my bedroom.
Mig narrowed his eyes at me.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he muttered.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“We are. The question is whether or not you’re going with me,” I countered.
He shook his head, totally unmoved by my little show of aggression.
“We really aren’t. I don’t want you killed because you wanted to go see him. There’s nothing you can do there,” he shook his head.
I walked to the counter with my keys and snatched them up.
“Whatever,” I muttered.
My only dilemma right now was figuring out where he’d take Koda.
Or so I thought until Mig stopped me from moving out the door like I wanted.
“I wasn’t joking,” he said.
I snorted. “I didn’t think you were. But you’re not the boss of me. Promise,” I said, pushing him.
He didn’t even budge.
“Mig,” I growled through clenched teeth. “Move.”
He shook his head.
Knowing I wouldn’t get past them, I sat down at the kitchen table and glared at the men that were surrounding me.
I knew them all, thanks to my sister’s marriage into the club, but this side of them, this freaking scary side, was intimidating.
None of them were smiling like they were doing the last time I’d attended a party with the lot of them.
Ridley was sweeping up glass, a scowl the size of Texas on his face.
Peek was leaning against the back deck railing, speaking to someone so fast that I couldn’t make out a single word.
Mig was barricading my way out.
Griffin was outside with a huge piece of wood, finagling it over the gaping hole of a door.
Wolf was cleaning up the blood.
I watched as he smeared it across the floor instead of actually cleaning it up, so I got up and walked to the counter to grab a package of towels.