Hunger of the Wolf (20 page)

             
“T
hese
are for you,” said Bonita, kissing her on the cheek
.
“We heard the whole story.
It’s
really
shocking.
Are you okay?”

             
“I will be. Luckily I was wearing the charm you
gave me for protection or
things might not have turned out so
well.” She held up her arm
to show Bonita the tiny arrow
.

             
“I wish it had stopped you from getting that knock on the head, but it really could have been much worse.”  They were all still there half an
hour later when Amber got some more
unexpected visitors.  She could barely believe her eyes when
Sharon
and Bob appeared in the doorway. At the sight of all the people in her room they stopped abruptly
,
and the conversation fa
ltered. The tension was palpable
. 

             
“We
just came by to give you these.
”
Sharon
held
out yet another bunch of flowers
for her
. “We’ll just leave them and be on our way. I’m glad you’re okay.” She handed them to Ambe
r and was about to leave when Tehya
stood up and offered the baby
to her.

             
“Why don’t you have a nurse of the baby before you
go
?”
Sharon
looked at her
before looking back down at the baby
,
and her face softened
.

             
“Well
,
I don’t mind if I do. You are
a cute little thing aren’t you.
” she cooed. “What’s
his name?”

             
Dakota. It means friends. I hope he’s always surrounded by people who love and cherish him
.”

             
“Th
at’s a very nice name isn’t it
,
Dakota.
You are a lucky
boy.”

 
             
It did the trick because suddenly the ten
sion eased
and everyone began
talking
again.
Amber was glad
everything had worked out and
so many people cared about her
,
but the only person she really wanted to see right now was
Jesse
. Finally he walked in the door.

             
“You had quite a busy night last night
,
I hear,” said Tom, patting him on the back.

             
“I sure did. But it really pales in comparison with what Amber went through.”

             
“Delivering a baby on my
own is an exper
ience I’m not sure I’d be up to,
”
she replied.

             
“Forget delivering a ba
by, try having one,” broke in
Tehya
and everyone laughed.

             
“
We haven’t forgotten about you Tehya, but seriously
Jesse
thanks for what you’ve do
ne for our family. It was
controversial but I’m glad
yo
u took care of our girl here,” said Tom. “I know she was in safe hands with you
,
and you were just trying to do the right thing.
”

After a while the visitors began to drift away
,
and
Amber was very pleased
when she heard
Sharon
offer to
knit some booties for the baby.  It seemed something
good
may
have come out of her
ordeal
.
Jesse was the last person left in the room, and he looked at her awkwardly before turning to leave, but Amber called him back
.

“Don’t go yet. Please stay and keep me company.”

             
“
I guess you’ll be heading b
ack to the city
as soon as you’re released. Poor Kat, she really looked terrible when I saw her at the station before I came here.
”
he said.

             
“
This might surprise you but
Kat and I have decided to stick around
here for a while. Kat needs
some time to get over things
before she goes home
,
and I’ve offered to stay with her as long as she needs me.  And now that
I know you’re not a
werewolf or a
s
erial killer I might
be able to relax a little.
Besides that
,
I have to
thank Shadow for saving me twice. He led me back to your c
abin and then jumped on Chris when he attacked me. At first I thought he was a wolf.
”

             
“Shadow
is
a wolf-dog cross and that’s why he is often mistaken for one.
He has many traits of a wolf.
I have to be really careful with him because he can be a bit unpredictable
with people
, but he’s taken a real shine to you.”

             
“What’s with the breathing?”

             
“He got into a fight
with a wolf
when he was just a pup and it damaged his airways. He’s breathed like that ever since. They wanted to put him down because he doesn’t fit in with other dogs
,
and he obviously can’t live with wolves. He’s kind of caught between two worlds. I took pity on him because I guess I understand what it’s like to be a misfit.”

             
“
The world would be a very boring place without its misfits in my opinion.”

Jesse smile. “
Anyway
,
that’s
very good news
that you’re staying for a while
. You know where to find me
if you get lonely
.
” He gave her a wink.
“
I hope we’ll be seeing a bit more of each other.”

             
“Oh
,
I’m sure of
it,” said Amber with a grin. “We
damsels in distres
s are always in need of a hero
,
and you seem to fit the bill quite n
icely.”

Jesse was suddenly overcome with shyness and Amber
took great pleasure i
n seeing a grown man blush
. D
espite eve
rything that had happened she
was glad she
had been given an opportunity
to get to know
him
bett
er because she had
the feeling that this particular misfit
might
turn out to be a
man after her own heart.

THE END

Other books by Francene Carroll
:

Shadows of Yesterday

Madeline Hart is torn between two men—and one of them is lying. Who should she trust, and why does Ravenswood exert such a strong hold over her?

Madeline has turned her back on her past to pursue her dream of opening a real estate agency in the country. When she is called out late one afternoon to look at a property called Ravenswood, she has no idea that her life is about to change forever.

As Madeline is caught up in a bizarre love triangle between Michael Denver, the mysterious owner of Ravenswood, and handsome Daniel Eastman, her business rival, strange things begin to happen to her. She becomes convinced that both men have something to hide, and despite her horrifying experiences within its walls, she cannot break the spell that Ravenswood has cast over her. When she hears of a ghost story involving a young woman who died at the house a century earlier, Madeline feels compelled to dig deeper.

Her search for answers uncovers a shocking crime and rekindles a love that even death could not destroy.

EXCERPT

Madeline sat in the silent room for what seemed an eternity trying not to think about where she was, or how she might have just upset Michael with her careless remark. The light from the electric heater had faded quickly, and she was left in almost total darkness.
He must have forgotten the candle
, she thought, expecting the lights to come back on any minute, but nothing happened. She was slightly apprehensive when she heard the door open again and Michael's footsteps approaching.

"Thank goodness you're back, I was getting worried. Couldn't you find the torch or candles?" The footsteps continued directly toward her and stopped a few feet away, but still Michael said nothing. She could just make out the dim outline of him in the darkness.

"Michael, please say something, you're scaring me," Madeline said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. When there was still no response the panic began to set in. "I have a torch in my car. I'll just go and get it and bring it back." She groped her way off the lounge and found her handbag on the coffee table before heading in the direction of the entrance hall. She just wanted to get outside and had absolutely no intention of coming back with the torch. If this was Michael's idea of a joke it was stupid, not to mention inappropriate, and despite his apparent normal behavior tonight she was having serious doubts about his mental state.

To her horror, the footsteps followed her all the way down the hallway to the foyer and the figure stood there as she struggled to open the door. Madeline quickly discovered it had been locked from the inside, and without a key she had no way of escaping. Michael had not dead bolted the door when they came in, she realized, so he must have gone back when the lights went out. He may have been planning this all along and only been warm and friendly to lure her in, she thought with a growing sense of dread.

"Michael, this isn't funny," she said with a sob. "Please let me out so I can go home. Casey knows I've come here, and she's expecting me to call her soon to let her know I got home safely." Things had gone far beyond a silly prank now, and as the figure took a sudden lunge toward her. Madeline found herself running down the hallway with tears streaming down her face. Thankfully she had a fairly good idea of the downstairs layout and managed to avoid injuring herself, but the silent figure remained a few steps behind her the whole time. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck, and she expected to feel his hands on her body at any moment.

Just as she passed one of the large front windows, the moon came out from behind a cloud and illuminated the hallway for a moment. Madeline turned her head so she could get a look at him, and she was stunned by what she saw. Instead of looking into the crazed eyes of Michael Denver, she saw a flash of blonde hair and a face she recognized from the photo before the moon disappeared behind a cloud again. It took Madeline a moment to comprehend that the person hunting her down the darkened hallways was not Michael Denver, but his missing wife Laura.