Page 91 of His Wild Mate

I'd never heard Emmett whistle before.

My wolf growled in my head.

Emmett would never be this quiet. And he would be frantically looking for me to sooth his wolf.

Someone was in the house, a stranger. It could be innocent. Maybe the owner came up to check on things or something. But I never heard a knock, and a normal person would have yelled out to alert us of his presence.

The whistling told me he wasn't necessarily trying to be quiet. Maybe he thought no one was home.

Suddenly feeling more naked and vulnerable than I'd ever felt in my entire life, I quietly toweled dry and put on my underwear and one of Emmett's shirts. My hands were shaking and my heart was racing. It was hard to imagine that this stranger couldn't hear my pounding heart. But it gave me some solace in knowing he must not be wolf.

Still, it was hard for my mind not to conjure up worst case scenarios of my latest stalker having found me.

Relax, Paige. Just breathe. There's a logical explanation for this. Stay quiet and hide until he leaves. There's no need to confront him. Clearly, he thinks he's alone. He'll leave soon and never know you're here. The stalker is back in Collier, miles from here with no way of finding you. Just breathe.

My personal pep talk started to calm me, until I realized the whistling was getting closer.

Fight or flight?

I considered my options.

Stay put. He'll have no reason to come into the bedrooms. Why would he?

Try to get to the safe room. But I knew Emmett had gone through the house, ensuring all the doors and windows were locked. That also made me wonder how this guy got in. Clearly, he must have a key. But I knew I couldn't go out to the deck and make it downstairs and back in through the basement to safety.

I could try to get there through the house. It was a big place and I had the added element of enhanced hearing. If I were careful, I could make my way there without being seen or heard. But I didn't know the house all that well. The path I did know had several exposed areas that I couldn’t hide. He could easily catch me.

Or I could leave. Fleeing the house wasn't ideal. If I shifted and was caught in my wolf form, whoever it was could freak out and call the authorities or something. It would be best to leave on foot andthen shift when I reached the woods. I could find a place to stay low until Emmett returned.

But what if the stalker somehow found me?

I couldn’t get that thought out of my mind no matter how irrational it was.

While I continued to ponder my options. I found myself pacing the room. The carpet muffled the sound of my footsteps. Forcing myself to stop, I sat down. The mattress creaked beneath my weight.

“Who's there?” a male voice yelled out.

I knew from his whistle that he had to be towards the kitchen. There was no way he should have heard me unless . . .

Footsteps were approaching quickly as he ran through the house. I didn't have any time to think or plan out my escape, so I opened the door to the deck and then climbed under the bed hoping the noises from nature outside would make him think I left, or at least mask my heartbeat.

He wasn't even trying to be quiet now as heavy footsteps entered the hallway.

I rolled as far back against the wall as possible, grateful I was tiny enough to fit under there.

He opened the door across the hall. I couldn't make out the muffled sounds to grasp what he was doing, but suddenly he was at my door. He sniffed loudly and sighed.

“Your scent is so strong here. Mine.”

A shiver of repulsion wracked my body but I forced myself to remain calm and not move a muscle.

“Are you here my little wolf? I've come to take you home and claim you for myself.”

I wanted to scream in protest, but I refrained, staying as still and silent as humanly possible. Under this bed there was no way for me to shift into my wolf form even if I was more confident in fighting that way. Being in my skin was terrifying.

The doorknob jiggled, but it was still locked from my earlier bought of paranoia. I fought back the urge to sigh. The door on the deck was still open. If he made it out there then he could easily getinside. I cursed myself for not thinking about that. There was no way to fix it now. I either had to stay put or run, knowing it would take him a bit to find his way outside.

I was resolved to flee, but he pounded on the door realizing it was locked. I jumped and pressed myself as close to the wall by the headboard as possible, pulling my knees up into a fetal position.

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