Page 26 of Flare
A cabin where no one would hear her if she screamed.
Emily felt sick. She’d trusted Maggie and her family. Thought she was safe here.
She’d sat across from Ward at dinner, thinking how sweet he was, how different from Andrew. All the while, he was hiding the same monstrous secret.
Emily took a shaking breath. She couldn’t afford to fall apart now. She needed to think. To plan her getaway.
But where could she go?
Andrew had the resources to track her anywhere she fled. And if the Swansons were like him, what was to stop them from tracking her too? They had her scent now.
And is that even a real thing, or just something from movies?
She didn’t even know what was real anymore.
Run. Jump in my car, floor it, and never look back.The urge to get the hell out of Bearpaw Ridge was overwhelming. She had some cash left, plus her debit and credit cards. She could drive through the night, find a motel somewhere, and figure out her next move in the morning.
But first, she needed to get out of this house.
Emily tightened her grip on her purse and inched out of the dining room, trying not to make a sound.
She had made it two steps down the hall before a floorboard creaked beneath her foot.
“Emily?” Maggie’s voice called from the kitchen.“Is that you?”
Emily froze, heart in her throat.Caught.
Emily felt like a deer caught in headlights as the kitchen door swung open.“I-I-I forgot my purse,” she stammered.
Maggie paused in the doorway to the dining room, her expression a mixture of concern and worry. A heartbeat later, Ward appeared at her shoulder, looking resigned.
“You heard us,” Maggie said.
It wasn’t a question.
Emily nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
“Emily, wait. It’s not what you think.” Ward’s deep voice was soft, almost pleading.
“Really? Because it soundedexactlylike what I think.” Her voice cracked.“You’re… likehim.”
She backed away, unable to stop herself from putting more distance between them.
Maggie flinched as if Emily had slapped her.“We’re notanythinglike Andrew Brunborn!”
Emily clutched her purse to her chest like a shield.“Youknew.” Her voice rose as anger, hot and acidic, bubbled up through the sludge of her terror.“You knew what Andrew was, and you didn’t tell me you were the same. You let me come here—stay here—without warning me!”
Ward and Maggie exchanged glances. The silent communication passing between them only heightened Emily’s sense of being nothing but an“ordinary” in their secret world.
“We’re trying to protect you,” Maggie said gently, taking a careful step toward her.“Iwantedto tell you. But you were in shock when you arrived, and I didn’t know how much Andrew had told you about us. About bear shifters. I was afraid we’d scare you off.”
“You should’ve told me!” Emily burst out, continuing to back toward the front door. Her knees were shaking.“I saw him change into a bear, and I thought I was losing my mind! I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“You can believe this,” Ward said, stepping forward, his voice low and steady.“You’re not in danger here. Not from me. Not from Maggie. Not from anyone in this family.”
Maggie nodded vigorously.“Grandma Elle promised you sanctuary. We Swansons protect our own. As long as you’re in Bearpaw Ridge, you’re under our protection.”
Ward’s hazel eyes locked onto hers, intense and unflinching.“If Andrew comes here looking for you, he’ll have to go through me.”
