Read Online Howl (Winter Pass Wolves Book 1) by Vivian Wood, Amelie Hunt - Free Book Online Page B

on his chest and hugged him fiercely, and Harlan thought he would burst from the swell of happiness that filled him. He hadn’t felt this way in… well, ever.
    He’d never been this happy. Penny was some kind of fucking miracle in his crappy life, and he was going to do his best to make sure she was every bit as happy as he was.
    The radio near the door crackled, and Harlan groaned. The happy-making was going to have to start tonight, after he’d informed Paxton and Chase of last night’s events.
    They were not going to be thrilled, to say the least.
    “I have to go talk to the guys,” Harlan said, easing back from Penny.
    “Sure, okay,” Penny said with a shrug, but he saw a flash of worry in her eyes.
    “It’s going to be fine. Let me deal with them. In the meantime…” Harlan went over to the hall closet and flipped some switches and scooped up his laptop. “I thought you could start looking for some stuff online to make your life here a little more comfortable. We can go back to get your stuff from the city when you’re ready, but until then you’ll need… well, I don’t even know.”
    “Oh, Harlan…” Penny said, nibbling her lip. “I don’t have my purse with me. Even if I did—”
    Harlan cut her off with a laugh.
    “I forget, you don’t know much about me or the Triad. We’re what you would call very sharp investors… A lot of futures trading and well-timed sales.”
    Penny gave him a curious look.
    “Yeah,” Harlan drawled. “Suffice it to say you don’t need to buy anything for yourself. Hell, you don’t ever have to work again unless you want to. And when you’re ready, we’re going to build ourselves a nice big house to live in.”
    “Wh… I don’t… Where are we building this house, exactly?” Penny started to look a little overwhelmed.
    “Here, maybe. Or wherever you want to go,” Harlan said with a shrug. “We can talk about it when I get back. I got some nice steaks, I could maybe make you dinner. Kind of like a date?”
    Penny laughed, settling into Harlan’s armchair.
    “That sounds really nice,” she said.
    “Don’t go anywhere,” Harlan said, giving her a wink. “I’ll be back in less than an hour.”
    Grabbing his jacket, Harlan steeled himself for the argument ahead.

Chapter Eight
    W hen Harlan was gone for more than the hour he’d promised, Penny started to worry. At the two hour mark, she put on her cold-weather gear and waded out into the snow, noting that the sun was packing it down a little and she should be able to get her stuff out of her car soon.
    She approached the main lodge, frowning when she saw four big black pickup trucks pulled up there, snow chains on their tires. It had only been a couple of hours since she’d left the lodge this morning, and there hadn’t been any trucks around then. Plus there were four trucks and only three guys living at Winter Pass… the math wasn’t right.
    Then she heard voices, far too many to be just Harlan, Chase, and Paxton. Creeping up the lodge’s back steps, Penny pressed herself against the building and snuck around the veranda until she was close to the voices. When she chanced a glance around the corner, she saw that three of the trucks were backed up into a semicircle, their beds holding three massive, gleaming metal cages.
    Three silver cages… holding three snarling wolves. Even from a distance, she could sense Harlan’s presence, and she thought he might hurt in some way.
    She blinked, realizing that she could make out the smallest details of everything around. As she scoped out the seven men in white camo, she could see the freckles on the back one man’s hand as he stood and smoked, chatting with the others.
    What was that about? They were hundreds of yards away, but she could see… everything .
    Shaking herself, she tried to focus, tune out the suddenly-loud sound of their voices, the grating worry she felt as the wolves snarled and snapped in their cages. Penny checked to see if any of