Read Online Longing for Wolves (Shifter Country Wolves Book 5) by Roxie Noir - Free Book Online

suit still fit, even though it was about eight years old, and as Calder looked in the bathroom mirror, he remembered what Sam had said:
    You look exactly the same .
    Calder swallowed. He felt like someone had taken out his eyes, stuffed cotton into the sockets, and put them back in. Every heartbeat thundered through his head.
    Sam was right, though. He was the same.
    With the terrible clarity of the hungover, Calder stared into the mirror at his pale face with bloodshot eyes, and realized the truth: that he’d substituted motion for change. He’d gone to a new place every month, every week, but there was no way he was ever going to escape himself.
    “Shit,” he muttered at his reflection.
    It was the worst possible goddamn time to have this sudden insight, when he was shattered and hungover and late as hell to his sister’s wedding to boot.
    Then he went to the kitchen, found Sam’s land line, and dialed the only number he could remember: his parents’.
    After three rings, a strange voice answered.
    “Waltz residence,” the man said.
    “Yeah, hi, this is Calder,” he said.
    “Where are you?” the man said. Calder was pretty sure it was one of Ingrid’s mates.
    “Someone’s house,” Calder said, not sure what else to say.
    “What’s the address? I’m coming to get you.”
    “8503 Sawgrass Road,” he said. “It’s a long driveway and the house is at the end. And, uh, thanks.”
    “See you in fifteen,” the man said, and hung up.
    When the car drove up, Calder was sitting on the front porch steps, not far from where he’d stood when Sam found him. He didn’t have shoes, but hoped that someone had rescued his from the parking lot the night before.  
    Sam still hadn’t come back. Calder wished he would but he knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on. At least Sam had given him the suit.
    The sedan pulled up and Calder got into the passenger side. The driver looked faintly amused, and looked at the house before pulling away.
    “Thanks for the ride,” Calder said.
    The guy laughed.
    “I got stationed at your parents’ house to wait for your call,” he said. “Ingrid and Greta figured either you’d show up at the wedding or call, and your phone was in the pocket of the jacket you left in the parking lot. They figured your parents’ house would be the only number you’d know.”
    “Ah,” Calder said. “How late am I?”
    “It’s not too dire,” Ingrid’s mate said.
    “Is Greta pissed?”
    The guy laughed.
    “It’s Greta’s wedding day,” he said. “Of course not. I’m not sure she remembers you exist.”
    Right , Calder thought.

Chapter Seven

    Annika
    Annika got to the venue early. She didn’t need to — after all, the wedding wasn’t for a couple of hours, and dessert wasn’t until that night — but it was her first job and she wanted to make sure everything got done right.
    Doing everything right took about an hour, and then there was nothing to do.
    Greta and her mates had rented out a big gold rush era mansion, currently owned by the Ponderosa County Historical Society, and so Annika decided to take a walk around the grounds, just to have something to do before the ceremony.
    As she turned the corner to the front of the house, admiring the roses, a car pulled up.
    A barefoot Calder got out, holding an empty Gatorade bottle in one hand, his tie completely undone. He saw Annika and waved.
    “You seen Greta?” he asked. The car left for the parking lot.
    “She’s in her dressing room,” Annika said.
    Calder looked at the big house.
    “Where is that?” he asked, as Annika walked closer. From a dozen feet away, she could see his bloodshot eyes and the circles underneath them.
    Then he turned his head, and she spotted one of the biggest, darkest hickies she’d ever seen on his neck.
    Her stomach sank.
    I guess he found someone else after I left last night , she thought. She made herself keep her head up, though.
    It just proves I made the right decision. No more