She lowered her eyes and tucked the pill in her purse. Right at that moment, Kate wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted.
Chapter Thirteen
Heat came in the form of sweat beading down her face and neck like the flow of a river. She had to hurry! Why, she didn’t know. If she didn’t her life would change forever, and not for the better.
She had to find him, quickly before the others did. He would die if left alone.
The sky was dark, illuminated only by the light of the full moon. The air was thick, humid like a summer day in Ohio.
Kate stopped. Her lungs struggled for breath.
Her chest heaved with every ragged bit of air she pulled into her body. She twisted in circles trying to hear him.
Nothing.
Then, a howl went up, shattering the silence.
“Oh God, no!”
She started running again. He had to be close.
The wolf told her he was…
Kate shot up in bed, her breathing erratic.
“Dammit!” She shook the dream from her head and tossed back the covers of her bed. Her empty bed. Every night since Richard left her side, she had the same dream, each one more intense than the last. She went over to the window, opened it, and tried to catch a night breeze. The still air coming through her window wasn’t enough to erase the nightmare that woke her.
Grabbing her robe, she opened her bedroom door and silently walked down the hall to the stairs.
The backdoor would chime, but only three little
beeps. Kate didn’t care. She needed air, and she needed it now.
Outside the night fell around her. The cool late spring evening wasn’t cold by any means. Refreshing was a better definition.
Kate walked over to the night blooming jasmine and took a deep breath. The sweet smell of flowers calmed the rapid pace of her heart.
Her life was out of control. It didn’t take a psychologist to analyze her dreams. Useless and unable to get out of her current situation left her feeling vulnerable and unsure. Kate remembered similar dreams before Joey was born, dreams of running, hiding, and fear.
They had returned, and with them the same sense of dread and trepidation a pregnant teenager faced.
She needed to get her life back. Kate closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair in frustration.
The sound of a twig snapping on the backside of the pool caught her attention and had her straining to see the cause.
Kate searched the darkness, her heartbeat started to rise.
Crickets chirped or did whatever it was that made their noise, and the occasional hoot of an owl kept the night from complete quiet.
Off to the right, a blur of movement had her swallowing hard. Something was there.
Her breath caught, her eyes grew wide.
I’m losing it. It’s probably nothing more than a rabbit or a raccoon.
Still, the uneasy feeling of someone or something watching, weighed upon her like the thick dark of night.
****
He couldn’t sleep. Three days and three nights had passed since their argument. They said very little to each other in that time. During the day, the
house overcrowded with family and friends, all wanting to see Brandy and to congratulate the new parents.
His parents met Kate and Joey. Both, separately, gave him their approval. Not that he’d asked for it, but his parents had never mastered the art of staying out of his personal life.
Avoiding Kate’s bed to clear his mind was a challenge. Finding her in the Emergency Room sent him a message of uncertainty.
Oh, he understood her motives.
What he didn’t understand were his own.
Kate didn’t do anything wrong ‘taking care of their careless behavior,’ in fact she simply did what Richard had hoped many of his past lovers would have done in the same situation. But with her it was different.
Wrong somehow.
Tossing back the sheets, he reached for his boxers and pulled them on.
Outside his door, he heard the soft chime of a door opening.
Instantly on alert, he turned on his monitor and scrolled through the video surveillance of Max’s home.
Outside on the back porch, he saw her. Both hands rested on the wrought iron rail. Her head hung between her shoulders in a defeated stance.
Glancing at the clock, he noted the time, 2:30 in the morning.
He walked down the hall and heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw Max coming his way.
“Did you hear the door breach?”
“It’s Kate, she’s out back.”
Max nodded and glanced back toward his bedroom.
“Go back to bed. The baby’s bound to be up anytime.”
“All right.” Moving like a zombie, Max retreated.
Neither he nor Janet had recouped from the delivery before Brandy started making demands on their every hour, Richard thought.
Richard smiled and made his way down the stairs.
The smell of fear and scent of a stranger hit his nose long before he made it out the back door.
Kate peered off in the distance and didn’t hear his approach. A sixth sense told him they weren’t alone.
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
Kate’s scream pierced the air as she turned in his direction. “Don’t do that,” she yelled.
Movement in the bushes beyond the perimeter of the yard caught his eye. Without a word, he pulled Kate into the house and hit the floodlights illuminating the whole yard.
He stepped out and lifted his nose to the air.
Turning his head, he heard the faint sound of running. He considered giving chase, but from the scent, the man was too far away to catch.
After walking back inside, he shut off the lights and closed the door behind him.
“Was someone out there?”
“Yes. You shouldn’t have gone outside at night without someone with you. What are you doing up anyway?”
Kate ignored his question and peered through the glass of the door. “How could you tell? I didn’t see anything. I thought it was a rabbit.”
“It was a man.” Only a man, he added for himself. Not a werewolf. “If I hadn’t heard the door chime, he could have snatched you right off the porch.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“He won’t be back.”
Kate put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. “How can you tell? How do you know it was a
man?”
“I just do. You have to trust me.” Now wasn’t the time too explain his ‘soon to be furry existence.’
His eyes met her pinched brows.
“I’m not a child, Richard. I would appreciate you not treating me like one,” she scolded.
“When are you going to realize the threat to you is real and stop taking unnecessary risks?” She backed away, eyes flaring. “What risks? I’ve done everything you said for almost a month.”