I could feel the life force slowly ebbing from Danica. The human part of my mind reasoned that, with Kenzie out of danger, the right thing to do would have been to release her, but the wolf in me refused to let go. The urge to finished the job and tear her throat out was so intense that I trembled from the effort to resist it.
The shouts of the crowd around me as they rooted for their pack leader to take Noah down and finish him off only served to drive my animal instinct to kill even further. I’m not sure if I’d have resisted much longer had Oscar not returned with Noah’s pack.
With the numbers on a more equal basis, Caleb’s pack quieted down. I took note of this fact. Apparently, not only was Noah a strong leader, but his pack was ready to fiercely defend him if the need arose.
From what I could see, they need do nothing. Although Caleb managed to get in a few good punches, bites, and throw downs, Noa
“I see two men around you,” I said as I pushed my long dark hair back over my shoulders, closed my almond shaped, sapphire blue eyes, and inhaled deeply through my nose. “One is a blue collar worker. He works with chemicals. Tar, I think. I can smell tar. The other is white collar and works around computers in some capacity. The blue collar worker looks to be in his early thirties while the white collar worker looks closer to forty.”The woman sitting opposite of me smiled with satisfaction and eagerly leaned forward as she said, “Yes. That’s right! My husband, Jim, works on a road crew. He’s thirty-three. The man I’m seeing works in IT. Do you know what that is? It’s information technology.”“I’m aware,” I informed her with a controlled, bland sounding voice.It was rare that I turned people away once I agreed to do a psychic
Approximately three-thousand people inhabited the village of Freedom. The residents’ primary support came from logging and lumber.Its main street sported an independent grocery store that also housed a pharmacy, a movie theater, two bars, a hardware store, a pizzeria, a Chinese takeout, and a thrift shop. Just around the corner on a small side street was Mildred’s Cafe. On the outskirts of town, near the entrance to the highway, was a gas station that had a McDonalds and a Dunkin Donuts inside the store cavity.Feeling lonely and out of place after unpacking my meager belongings that came nowhere near completing the furnishing of my newly purchased, three-thousand square foot Victorian style home, I’d decided to step out for lunch. I tended to eat light in the midday, so all I wanted was a bowl of soup and a cup of herbal tea. The only place in town to get that was Mildred’s Cafe.Little did I realize when I
If I considered myself a quiet people watcher who struggled to find small talk in a room full of strangers, it was never more so than during that dinner at my patio table beneath the brilliancy of the starry night. There may have only been one stranger amidst the trio, but his presence was so overwhelming that it felt almost crowded.Oscar Spears was a handsome, dark haired man with piercing dark eyes that I swore looked right into my soul. His six-foot, three-inch physique was lean and muscular beneath a form fitting tee shirt and denim jeans. When he stood next to me, I felt small and almost fragile. Even though I was petite and shorter than most of the people I encountered, it was a feeling that I wasn’t exactly comfortable with. Therefore, I kept my distance.Kenzie was five-feet-seven, which was an easy four inches taller than me. Her bone and muscle structure made her appear much larger and bulkier than she was when we st
“There’s no bathroom,” I moaned with dismay as I stepped out onto the front porch after inspecting the inside of the cabin.“There’s an outhouse,” Kenzie offered as she climbed the small set of steps that separated the porch from the dirt patch where she’d parked the SUV. “There’s electricity and running water, though.”“The lap of luxury, eh?” I chided with a mixture of amusement and irritation.Kenzie gave me a look of chagrin, “I guess I neglected to ask about a bathroom. It’s a good lesson in never assuming.” Heaving a sigh, she added, “The weather’s lovely and we have that huge lake just up the road. It looked like a healthy body of water. We can bathe there and, like I said, there’s an outhouse.”“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I was just a little taken aback, that’s all.”“
“I want to thank you for having the foresight to get the place cleaned for us,” Kenzie said as she put the last of the perishables into the refrigerator and closed the door.“Yes,” I added, “I thought we’d be spending our first few hours getting it livable. It was a pleasant surprise to see it so neat and clean.”“I’d like to take the credit,” Oscar admitted as he sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in the living room section of the great room and accepted the wine glass that Kenzie offered him, “but it wasn’t my doing. Noah uses this cabin a lot. He never knows when he’ll be able to come or if he’ll arrive in the day or the night so he has a cleaner from the nearby town come in biweekly to make sure it’s all up to snuff. The man hates dust.”“That explains why I didn’t need to prime the generator to get it going,”
The brothers had walked off into the woods to have their conversation. Since I hadn’t watched them leave, I had no idea of the direction they’d taken.“I need to use our trusty outhouse,” I said when my legs finally felt usable again. Heading out to the porch, I surveyed the clearing before asking, “Do you happen to know where it’s located.“I’m assuming it’s hidden behind the building,” Kenzie offered. “I didn’t see it when I was starting the generator, but I wasn’t looking for it. My guess is it’s back there.”“It’s a bit odd to hide an outhouse, isn’t it?” I asked with mild annoyance.“Do you really want a shithouse sitting in plain view of the cabin?” Kenzie asked with amusement. “Not to mention what happens when the wind kicks up.”“Egad,” I said with a roll of my eyes as I step
The male voices sounded distant as I slowly regained consciousness. It took my head a moment to clear enough for me to realize that I was being carried by one of them and he wasn’t being particularly cautious about jostling me about.Confused and uncertain of what to do, I kept my eyes closed while I focused on the words being passed back and forth between the two brothers.“I can’t believe you brought them here just before the full moon. What were you thinking?” snapped Noah.“I had no choice,” Oscar defensively said. “I’m on a time crunch. Kenzie’s the only one I could find to help at the last minute. When she asked to bring Lisa, what was I supposed to say… no psychics allowed?”“It’s bad enough that she’s psychic and could pick up on something, but she carries a touch of the bloodline,” Noah complained. “It’s faint, but I could smel
After directing Snow to settle in front of the fireplace at the far end of the great room and making sure that everyone was seated in a comfortable position in preparation for the talk, Noah was the first to break into conversation.Focusing his attention on Kenzie he said, “I’m aware that you and my brother go back some years.” When she nodded, he continued, “He thinks very highly of you which is why we’re trusting you with something that’s been held secret.”“Not just from you, Kenz. From everyone,” Oscar quickly interjected.“I see,” Kenzie said in a slow and thoughtful manner. “Is this a secret that I want to know or should even know?”“I’m not sure you’ll want to know it, but you definitely need to know it,” Oscar replied.Kenzie looked at me and said, “What about Lisa? I’m assuming she needs to hear this se