Page 5 of The Wolf's Surrogate

“I know,” I told him. “I should be doing financialstuff, but I can’t find my stupid phone, Mems.”

I frowned while searching around the edge of the bed. Where the heck had I put my phone? Since it stopped ringing, I wasn’t sure how to find it. I glanced at Memphis, half-tempted to ask my cat to search the place for it. Our home wasn’t big. He could probably cover the square footage in minutes.

Then again, he probably couldn’t understand English and even if he did, he probably didn’t care.

One day I’ll find someone who cares, I thought as I got on my hands and knees.Then I can start a new family. One with humans in it instead of just cats.

The carpet was scratchy, dry, and likely in need of replacement. I tried not to think of how many times I’d spilled coffee in the same spot over the past two years, that dark circle reminding me of many clumsy moments.

“Pbbbrt,” Memphis chirped from above my head.

I glanced north to find his radiant green eyes peering over the edge of the bed. Judgment sat in his slitted pupils.

I huffed. “Don’t start with me, young man. You forget where you put your mouse toyallthe time.”

Another round of ringing drew me to the dresser. Muted music came from inside the first drawer. I sighed while tugging it open, locating my outdated smartphone sitting under one of my bras. The screen shed light through the lace cup. That wasn’t one I wore often, but sometimes I just needed a confidence boost.

I plucked my phone from the drawer and leaned against it to close it. One glance at the screen had my heart in my throat.

Private caller.

I hit the volume button, silencing the cheerful ringtone abruptly. I didn’t answer calls from private numbers. No matter how much I wanted to knowwhowas calling, I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Truth be told, I’d just had bad experiences with private callers, and they usually ended in a crying fit.

I worriedly bit my lower lip.A lot of times, it ends in me packing my things and heading to a new town.

My phone screen went black. Seconds later, I had a new voicemail. A text rolled in several seconds after that.

I didn’t want to look. Even with every fiber of my being on high alert and begging to know what was happening, I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to have to run again. Two years in one place by myself felt nicer than I had anticipated, and Memphis was partially to blame for that because he was such an anxious cat. He hated moving. I did too.

Hesitantly, I unlocked my phone and went through my call logs. So many private numbers had called this morning. Each of them had gone to voicemail. And each of them hadlefta voicemail.

Nope. I wasn’t about to start doing this again. If I deleted the messages, then they didn’t exist, right? I could keep telling myself that just to get through the day. Besides, I had a pile of bills to get through—not that I could pay them.

Paying them wasn’t as important as just getting through them.

Memphis hopped to the ground and sauntered over to me. He flickered his fluffy tail up while slamming his hip into my shin. Those green eyes comforted me on the spot. It didn’t take much for me to set my phone aside and scoop my furry child from the ground. He purred while nuzzling my chin.

Usually, I would chastise him for rubbing his cat drool on my face, but right now, that was the least of my worries. Especially when my phone started ringing again. Hot tears stung my eyes as I buried my face into his fur. The loud purring drowned out my ringtone and calmed me enough to face reality.

Phil was after me again. I knew it without checking the messages. And if I didn’t stand up to him now, then he would keep at it. I rolled my eyes and snatched my phone from the dresser.

“How many times do I have to do this?” I asked Memphis. “You’d think I would have learned by now, right?”

Memphis tilted his head back and squinted at me. I took that as his judgmental way of agreeing with me.

Yes, ma’am, I could hear my cat say to me in his special cat way.You’ve taken me from New York to Florida. Now we’re in South Carolina. Where are we running to next?

I took a sharp breath and opened the texts. Fresh hell waited for me in every word. Good Lord, I had no idea how to handle a man who was obsessed, but I sure did know how to attract them. I scrolled through the messages to get the gist of what he was saying—essentially, he was begging for me to go back to him.

I set my cat on the ground as memories brought on fresh tears. All that hurt and pain came back like a spear slashing my skin. It burned to remember how I would cower in the corner of the room during his drunken fits. It made me ache to recallthe way I had to step around his feelings, trying to read his expressions to see if it would be a bad day or a worse day.

Memphis pawed my leg. I peered around my phone to see my little boy just trying his best to comfort me. Poor thing had been through the ringer himself. Phil had never liked Memphis. Why the man thought I would go back to him after he threw out all of Memphis’s toys was a wonder.

A sharp sting on my shin made me wince. Memphis had his paw on my leg with his claws extended. I chuckled while scooping him back into my arms. We were safe now. We didn’t have to worry about Phil finding us, or anyone else bothering us for that matter. We would never have to suffer something like that ever again.

As Memphis started purring, my phone rang in my right hand. I checked the screen to see Sterling calling.

I hung my head. It didn’t look like I would be getting to the mountain of unopened mail today if I had to go to the clinic. And surely a call from Sterling meant I had to go back in. That was fine with me. I needed a better distraction than debt.

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