Read Online Pride's Run by Cat Kalen - Free Book Online Page A

wild
calls out to me, my wolf grows increasingly restless, itching to
run up that cliff, and lose herself in the night.
    Shhh, I whisper under my breath in an
attempt to settle her.
    When my hand closes around the door knob, I
tune the world out and focus on one thing and one thing only.
Escape. I blink the water from my eyes as I step inside and pull
down my damp hood.
    A quick casual glance around lets me know the
place is busy. I suppose that’s to be expected on a Saturday night,
but it does make zeroing in on my mark a bit more difficult. Not
that I’m going to hunt him, but I can’t deny that my curiosity is
piqued. That, and I have to let my handlers believe I’m doing my
job. Anything out of the ordinary will simply raise suspicion.
    I think more about my mark. From his picture
alone I can tell he’s no drug lord. So who exactly is he and why is
he so meaningful to my master?
    I shrug out of my jacket, step farther into
the establishment, and catalogue my surroundings. Using caution, I
look for possible threats and deadly enemies, as well as my best
escape route.
    Beneath a row of small windows a string of
padded booths are neatly aligned along the wall. I spot a few
couples talking quietly over drinks, their hands touching shyly,
and the normalcy of it all makes my gut clench.
    Squared wooden tables, scratched and dented
from years of misuse, are haphazardly scattered throughout the
floor and seem to be occupied by those who haven’t hooked up yet. I
take note of my exits. Other than the door I came in I can see
another door toward the back. A service entrance. Perfect.
    The crowd is young like me. But unlike me
they’re loud, rambunctious, and despite their barely-legal drinking
age, a vast amount of alcohol is being consumed. A plume of
cigarette smoke curls in front of me and the pungent scent mingles
with a mixed bouquet of perfumes and assaults my sensitive
nostrils.
    I crinkle my nose as I cut through the
throngs of people and the sound of balls breaking, followed by a
woman’s laughter, filters in from the back room. I shoot a glance
to my left and wonder if there is an exit back there as well.
    With my bodyguard at my back, I make my way
to the bar. When I take a seat on the hard wooden stool, I scan the
area behind the counter and take note of the glass shelves filled
with liquor bottles and the floor-to-ceiling mirror that allows me
to see behind my back without having to turn. The elderly gentleman
working the counter moves in front of me, blocking my view of the
mirror. He eyes me skeptically and I wonder if he’s about to card
me.
    “I’ll have a coke,” I say before he gets a
chance, then I shoot an innocent look over my shoulder. “My mom’s
checking in. I’m waiting for her.”
    As I sit there blinking up at him, he nods
and pours me a soda before moving on to the next client. I take a
small sip of my drink and spin on my stool.
    That’s when my glance lands on him.
    At first sight air hisses from my lungs and I
don’t need to weed through the smells clouding the air to know it’s
the boy I was sent to hunt.
    My hackles twitch as I watch the way he turns
toward me. He shifts in his seat, each movement careful,
purposeful.
    Dangerous.
    There is an intensity about him that I’ve
never seen before, one that has my wolf stirring in the most
bizarre ways.
    From across the room our gazes collide and
lock and, oddly enough, as we continue to stare at one another I
feel a little disoriented, a little thrown off my game. The rest of
the crowd seems to fade away and when my pulse kicks up a notch and
pounds at the base of my throat I get the feeling there is more to
this boy than meets the eye.
    Carrying himself like a skilled predator, he
has his back to the wall, keeping one eye on me and the other on
the door. He looks at me long and hard, and his gaze is so
unwavering and so penetrating that it practically robs me of my
next breath.
    Feeling a little peculiar inside, my glance
trails over