Page 25 of Such a Naughty Girl

In my arms.

In my bed.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

IZZY

Unease made the hairs on my neck stand to attention as I stumbled through the snow, tree roots tripping me with every other step.

A crunch sounded to my left, and I squinted into the darkness, turning my phone’storchlighttoward it.

You're imagining things.

I should have hit the road already. My hasty decision to leave Emmett’s cabin weighed down every step, regret gripping my ankles like leaden weights.

A howl made me stop in my tracks, my blood freezing at the terrible noise. Wolves wouldn’t bother with a human. Similar to sharks. Allexaggerated.

Right?

Swinging my phone in a vast arc, past trunk after bark-covered trunk, revealed nothing.

Taking a few more steps, with the cold creeping up my soggy pants toward my thighs; I tried to reason with myself. I couldn’t be that far from the car. Or the cabin. It’s not like I was going to freeze to death.

A clawing feeling tore at the inside of my chest as an image of me laying face first in the snow hit me. My skin and muscles would freeze until warmer weather arrived, before sloughing from my bones in a rotten puddle.

Fear urged me onward.

By the time I’d panic-stumbled a few more meters, something moved to my right.

The beam of light passed over the space, lighting up two distinct yellow orbs.

Oh god.

I stepped backward before a snarl had me turning my phone light in the other direction. Three mangy-looking wolves stared at me, teeth bared over their shaggy-coated chests. Ribs protruded. They were skinny.Hungry.

Holy hell, what had I done?

‘Help me,’I screamed, hoping the noise would set their tails between their legs and send them running. Or that I was close enough to the cabin that Emmett might hear me.

A wolf pressed its paw forward, shoulder snaking as it crept toward me.

What should I do? Run? They were bound to be faster than me. Climb? My fingers were half-frozen and the tree's thin branches would likely buckle beneath my weight. Fight? With what?

My breath clouded in front of me in heated puffs.

With the yellow-eyed beasts inching toward me, panic won over any thought, and I turned and ran as fast as my chilled legs would carry me. Sharp-fingered branches tore chunks from my clothing as I tumbled through the snowy woods, fear driving every pained step. A scrape against my cheek drew fresh blood.

‘Izzy!’Emmett’s call came from the dark, dragging a sob from my throat. I didn’t have the air in my lungs to shout back, light footsteps following close behind.

‘Help,’I whisper-called as I stumbled into a tiny clearing, the trees opening out to create a circle. I stood in the centre, my back to a thick, sturdy tree trunk, my phone's light flashing into the yellowed eyes skulking at the edge of the clearing.

‘Help!’I screamed, my throat ragged and my body fighting for air. It wasn’t loud, but it was all I had left in me.

The wolves advanced, licking at their ragged chops.

One burst through the trees, heading straight for me. My heart all but stopped until IrecognisedChunk.

‘Chunk, oh my god,’I cried, dropping my phone and clinging back against the tree.

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