Page 65 of Hunted

I jog down a wide back porch and to the garden where a blonde-haired girl with pigtails is determinedly holding a ball behind her back as a boy tries desperately to grab it.

As soon as they see me, they start trying to out yell each other.

“Mommy!”

“Mom!”

I crouch in front of the little girl, sweeping the hair back from her face. “Sweetheart, what have I told you about sharingwith your little brother?” I kiss the top of her hair, inhaling her soft fragrance.

She sticks her bottom lip out. “But I don’t want to share.”

“Didn’t he share his last sweet with you, even though it’s his favorite?” I gently remind her, “

She releases a heavy sigh with a puff of air that blows up her bangs. “Fine.”

They run off, playing.

They are either the best of friends or enemies. Often within five minutes, but I wouldn’t give up this life for anything.

I watch them, smiling, as familiar arms wind around me, settling on my rounded belly.

I lean back as I inhale Mack’s warm cedar scent. “Are you sure you still want a football team? We have two and there are some days I swear my ears are bleeding with all this yelling.”

Mack presses a kiss on my throat. “Did you say something, love? My ears are ringing.”

I spin around and throw my arms around him, meeting his laughing eyes. “I love you, Mack.”

“I love you, too.”

His lips are touching mine when my world explodes.

Someone is shaking me, and the bedside lamp is blinding me.

“Mack?” I rub my bleary eyes as I focus on his frowning face.

“I have to go out,” he says.

“What’s wrong?”

He gets up from the side of the bed, walking over to the closet. “Bennett called. There’s been trouble at the hotel.”

I’m still more asleep than awake, so it’s hard to focus on Mack as he pulls a shirt over his head. “What kind of trouble?”

“Sara called Bennett. She said she heard growling and what sounded like animals fighting in the backyard. Then something rammed the back door.”

I sit up. “Something did what?”

He stuffs his feet into boots and crosses over to me. “She’s not sure if it’s foxes or whatever, but after that shifter scratched the tree, a wolf I’m starting to think wasn’t Clary like I thought, Bennett asked her to call him if she heard anything again and he’d check it out.”

“So the wolf is back,” I whisper.

He kisses my forehead. “And maybe back with friends. We’re going to check it out. Tina and Warren are already on their way. So are Penny and Colton. Bennett is picking me up here since he’s dropping Helena off with you.”

I open my mouth, ready to complain.

He kisses me. “You’re staying here, where it’s safe. And in case this is some kind of trap, Helena, Adela, your grandparents, Zoe and Chris will be here with you. No one is staying alone tonight.”

“I bet Adela loved you for waking her up in the middle of the night,” I say to distract myself from the ominous feeling churning in my gut.

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