Page 49 of Howling Night

I reached into my purse, pulling out my phone. Maybe if I told him first that I was leaving, and I knew he understood, it would be different. I stared at his contact info for several minutes before pressing the call button.

Ring… ring… ring.

Ring… ring… ring.

Voicemail.

“Hey, Ryder, it’s me. Um, I just wanted to check in with you regarding our recent conversation,” I said, sounding like I was making a professional call to a business associate. “If you could call me back at your earliest convenience, that would be great. Thanks.”

I paced the living room with my phone in hand, waiting for a return call. It was almost 10 PM, and I still hadn’t heard anything from Ryder.

A knot of worry tightened in my stomach. He should have called or texted by now, and considering Trevor hadn’t been able to reach him either, it made it all the more nerve-wracking.

What if something had gone wrong? From what it had sounded like from Ryder and my own experience with Kellan, he didn’t seem exactly stable. If Ryder had confronted him alone, maybe something could have gone wrong.

No.

Ryder could handle himself.

He was a pack leader.

Perhaps his phone died, or he was driving. Maybe he was dealing with something at his business, although that seemed unlikely given the time of day.

I flopped down on the couch, placing my phone on the coffee table where I could see it. I’d give it a little longer before trying to call again. For all I knew, Trevor and Gage had found him, and they were just busy doing whatever the hell werewolves do.

My eyes felt heavy from the stress of the day, and I fought against closing them. Just a few minutes of rest, I told myself, still listening for the sound of a truck in the driveway.

I jolted awake to darkness, momentarily disoriented. The living room was exactly as I’d left it, except now bathed in shadows. I fumbled for my phone on the coffee table — the screen lighting up to show it was just past midnight.

No calls. No texts.

A cold feeling swept through me. Something wasn’t right.

The sounds of shouting erupted from somewhere outside. I got to my feet, moving quickly to the window to see if it was Ryder or someone from his pack.

The voices weren’t coming from my yard. Across the street, every light in the neighbor’s house was on, and I could see two shadows moving behind the curtains, but I couldn’t tell what was happening. My heart crashed hard against my ribs as I pressed my ear to the glass in an attempt to make out any of the words.

None of the words came together until there was one sharp word that cut through the air like a blade. “Help!”

ChapterTwenty-Three

I jerked away from the window, my breath lodged in my throat. There had been no mistaking the word, even though I desperately wanted to deny it.

I walked backward, fumbling my phone as I picked it up off the coffee table. My fingers tapped the numbers for emergency, but when I clicked to call, nothing happened.

“No fucking service again?” I threw my phone onto the couch and returned to the window. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing, could I?

A man was holding up his hands defensively as someone approached him slowly. As far as I could tell, they weren’t holding a weapon, but he called out for help again, even more desperate than the first time.

“Shit,” I said, searching the yard for wolves as far as I could tell there wasn’t anything out there.

I opened the door and cautiously stepped out onto the patio. I looked carefully into the trees around my yard, checking for any sign of wolves or shadows moving between the trees. The night was still, almost unnaturally so. There was no howling or rustling bushes or anything to suggest supernatural creatures were nearby.

“Hey! If you’re out here, I think someone needs your help across the street,” I whispered into the shadows.

No response.

I didn’t want to think about why they weren’t there and the possibility that Ryder was in serious trouble. It had to be something else. But why would he leave me unguarded after everything we’d talked about?

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