demands to know all the details. Val then proceeded to rant and rail about the sheriff, clearly a little too passionately, because when she was done, Hilary told her to go for it. Frustrated, Val ended the call with Hilary telling her not to do anything she wouldn’t do. Not likely…
After that, Val gave up and decided to head back to her temporary home in her rental car. As she pulled up, her phone rang with an unknown number. Shrugging, she’d answered it, and it chilled her when Lester’s voice hissed down the line
“Where are you?”
She paled. “None of your…”
“You’re out of town. You can’t hide forever. I will find you, you dirty, filthy, half…”
She’d hung up at that point and swung around, wildly searching the surrounding woodland for unknown stalkers. She calmed down. Lester, the freakazoid , was back in Georgia, back in Ursa. He didn’t know where she was; she was safe.
She couldn’t understand his reaction. They had one date, and it did not go well. Was this all because she wouldn’t go on a second date with him? Would any man really be that desperate to spend time with her? It wasn’t a matter of self-esteem, but she seriously doubted any guy would like her enough to become a crazy stalker. She just wasn’t the type to incite those kinds of feelings .
She’d considered calling the Detective back in Ursa; she still had his card in her wallet. But, it was late, and she doubted the Detective could really do anything anyway at that moment. Plus, she was safe in Rose. She’d consider calling in the morning, when she was less tired.
At that moment, all she wanted to do was sleep, ignore the creeping suspicion that she was being watched, and pretend her muscles weren’t sore and achy. Instead, she focused on the much more desirable image of the sheriff and allowed slumber to take over.
*
Jake rubbed himself against the trees surrounding Val’s cabin. Well, it was either that or pissing up against them, and he doubted she’d like that.
He’d finished the rest of his shift in a daze, not even caring about the insults Mrs. Martin was flinging at him and his department. Yep, there was only one woman he wanted to be insulted by, and he had taken to stalking her.
As soon as he could, he shifted to his wolf and prowled the edges of the construction site. He told himself he was doing it to make sure nothing else happened at the site, but deep down he knew the truth. He just wanted to see her . Everyone else had gone home, and Val had stayed and worked for hour after hour. He had huffed, puffed and growled. She shouldn’t work such long hours; it wasn’t healthy. The protective part of him wanted to burst right in there and drag her out, but the logical side of him realized that he really couldn’t do that. That would really make her mad, and as much as he enjoyed that side of her, he didn’t want to push her too far.
It had been a relief when she finally did leave. She didn’t see him, but he ran alongside her car, back to the cabin. He’d been a little disturbed when she arrived at the cabin and took a phone call. His hackles had risen as he smelt the fear suddenly emanating from her, and for a second, as her head whipped round searching the woods, he’d thought she knew he was there. But no, after a few seconds, she relaxed. He hadn’t heard that call, but he could tell it had upset her.
He had snarled lightly, irritated that he didn’t know what it was about and that he wasn’t in a position to find out.
He waited until all the lights went out in the cabin, and then waited another hour after that. By then, he was satisfied that she was asleep. Still a little disconcerted by her reaction to her phone call, he spread his scent around the area to ward off other predators, and went as far as to shift back to his human self and check all her windows and her door was locked. He wasn’t overly happy about leaving her, and would much prefer to take her back to his house, to his
After that, Val gave up and decided to head back to her temporary home in her rental car. As she pulled up, her phone rang with an unknown number. Shrugging, she’d answered it, and it chilled her when Lester’s voice hissed down the line
“Where are you?”
She paled. “None of your…”
“You’re out of town. You can’t hide forever. I will find you, you dirty, filthy, half…”
She’d hung up at that point and swung around, wildly searching the surrounding woodland for unknown stalkers. She calmed down. Lester, the freakazoid , was back in Georgia, back in Ursa. He didn’t know where she was; she was safe.
She couldn’t understand his reaction. They had one date, and it did not go well. Was this all because she wouldn’t go on a second date with him? Would any man really be that desperate to spend time with her? It wasn’t a matter of self-esteem, but she seriously doubted any guy would like her enough to become a crazy stalker. She just wasn’t the type to incite those kinds of feelings .
She’d considered calling the Detective back in Ursa; she still had his card in her wallet. But, it was late, and she doubted the Detective could really do anything anyway at that moment. Plus, she was safe in Rose. She’d consider calling in the morning, when she was less tired.
At that moment, all she wanted to do was sleep, ignore the creeping suspicion that she was being watched, and pretend her muscles weren’t sore and achy. Instead, she focused on the much more desirable image of the sheriff and allowed slumber to take over.
*
Jake rubbed himself against the trees surrounding Val’s cabin. Well, it was either that or pissing up against them, and he doubted she’d like that.
He’d finished the rest of his shift in a daze, not even caring about the insults Mrs. Martin was flinging at him and his department. Yep, there was only one woman he wanted to be insulted by, and he had taken to stalking her.
As soon as he could, he shifted to his wolf and prowled the edges of the construction site. He told himself he was doing it to make sure nothing else happened at the site, but deep down he knew the truth. He just wanted to see her . Everyone else had gone home, and Val had stayed and worked for hour after hour. He had huffed, puffed and growled. She shouldn’t work such long hours; it wasn’t healthy. The protective part of him wanted to burst right in there and drag her out, but the logical side of him realized that he really couldn’t do that. That would really make her mad, and as much as he enjoyed that side of her, he didn’t want to push her too far.
It had been a relief when she finally did leave. She didn’t see him, but he ran alongside her car, back to the cabin. He’d been a little disturbed when she arrived at the cabin and took a phone call. His hackles had risen as he smelt the fear suddenly emanating from her, and for a second, as her head whipped round searching the woods, he’d thought she knew he was there. But no, after a few seconds, she relaxed. He hadn’t heard that call, but he could tell it had upset her.
He had snarled lightly, irritated that he didn’t know what it was about and that he wasn’t in a position to find out.
He waited until all the lights went out in the cabin, and then waited another hour after that. By then, he was satisfied that she was asleep. Still a little disconcerted by her reaction to her phone call, he spread his scent around the area to ward off other predators, and went as far as to shift back to his human self and check all her windows and her door was locked. He wasn’t overly happy about leaving her, and would much prefer to take her back to his house, to his
Similar Books
