Page 26 of Howling Night

He glanced over his shoulder. “Sure.”

I moved around the house, turning on every light in the place. Ryder stood in the entryway with his arms crossed over his chest. When I finished, I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at him.

“I should get back to my friends,” he said, shifting his weight. “Get the SUV figured out.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, my throat dry. “Um, can I offer you any kind of payment… for the ride and the help?”

“Nah,” Ryder said, his eyes filled with concern. “Completely unnecessary. We’ll get the car back here as soon as we can.”

My head bobbed frantically. “Good, because I’m going to need it to get back home.”

“You are home,” Ryder said, his brow furrowed.

I shook my head, a bitter laugh escaping me. “No. Home is my apartment in Chicago. This...” I gestured around at the house. “This was a mistake. I’m not cut out for living in the wilderness.”

“Birchwood Hollow is hardly the wilderness,” Ryder said, his voice taking on a defensive edge.

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Because where I come from, wolves don’t surround people on dark roads. Men don’t...” I stopped myself, pressing my lips together.

Ryder took a step toward me. “Everly, whatever you think you saw?—”

“I know what I saw,” I snapped. “I mean, it’s totally insane, and I try to explain it all away to myself, but it’s not working. Paul and that Kellan guy were wolves, and then they weren’t. It makes absolutely no sense, but I’m positive. I’m home now, and I realize I wasn’t dreaming. It wasn’t a hallucination. It happened.”

“Kellan, huh?” Ryder said, drawing in a breath.

“Yes. Paul called him that, and Kellan seemed pretty pissed about it.” I crossed my arms. “It seemed he didn’t want me to know his name.”

Ryder swallowed hard. “Well, if he was harassing you, that makes sense, right?”

“Harassing? He put his hand on me. That’s assault, isn’t it?” I walked to my purse and pulled out my phone. There was service once again. “I should call the police, right?”

“Uh,” Ryder said, running a hand through his hair. “Let me take care of this.”

“What? How?”

Ryder looked away. “I’ll talk to Kellan.”

“You know him?”

“Unfortunately,” Ryder said, letting out a breath.

“I think he was going to kill me,” I said, my eyes wide as they searched Ryder’s face.

Ryder shook his head. “He’s a menace, but I can handle it.”

“It won’t matter because as soon as I get my car back, I’m gone.”

Ryder sighed. “And until then, forget everything you saw tonight.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“For your own safety,” Ryder said, taking a step back. “You should.”

I shook my head. “Safety? What the hell is going on in this place? It doesn’t matter. No one would believe me anyway.”

A wolf howled in the distance.

Ryder took another step back. “I have to go. Lock the door.”

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