Read Online Rivals (Shifter Island #2) by Carol Davis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carol Davis
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an odd movement of the muscles of his shoulders and back, something that made his neck look both shorter and longer.
He was going to turn into a wolf again.
And that couldn’t end well, if he intended to threaten or even attack the elders. Daniel might very well tear him to pieces.
No; Daniel would tear him to pieces.
“We mean her no harm,” Caleb replied, his voice almost emotionless. “She’ll be looked after, until we can return her to the mainland.”
Abby couldn’t bring herself to look at any of them. Certainly not at Daniel. She tried not to think about what they really intended to do with her, now that she knew they were all wolves.
I’ve seen TV! she wanted to scream. You’re just telling him that so he’ll cooperate!
“You said you’d remain at your father’s home,” Daniel said in a voice honed as sharp as a razor blade. “And that this human would remain at Granny Sara’s. Yet here you are. You’re untrustworthy, Aaron. You cannot be relied upon to keep your word. You need to be confined.”
“I’m no more guilty than any of you,” Aaron told him. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I won’t be confined, Daniel.”
“Come NOW!” Daniel bellowed.
The sound seemed to make the entire landscape around them reverberate. Abby, who had experienced a small earthquake during a vacation trip out West, thought this felt almost the same—like the ground was shuddering underneath them. As if to bear that out, a shower of leaves fluttered down from the trees, and she heard a sharp cry of protest from a bird.
Slowly, Aaron got to his feet. He didn’t take all of his attention away from Daniel and the elders as he extended a hand toward Abby, an offer to help her stand up. She grasped his hand tightly, but not because she needed the help; it was the contact she wanted, the comfort of his touch.
“I’ll go with you,” he told the elders, turning away from Daniel. “As long as you give me your word as elders of the pack that she’ll be taken care of… and that you won’t take her anywhere off the island.”
“She has no place here,” said Mason.
“Yesterday, you were willing to consider the question. Yesterday, you were going to give her a chance.”
The two elders did nothing but blink.
“Swear it,” Aaron insisted. “I’ll go nowhere with you unless you give me your word that Abby won’t be taken off the island.”
Finally, Caleb offered him a small, curt nod.
Aaron sucked in a breath that Abby could hear as he turned to her and cupped her cheek with his free hand. “Go back to Granny Sara’s and stay there,” he said quietly. “Don’t go any farther than the toilet house, no matter how much you think you need to. I know Micah is a nuisance, but he won’t harm you. Stay there in Granny’s care until we straighten this out.”
Though he didn’t address them, he was clearly talking to the elders when he said, “We will straighten this out, because this is absurd, and you well know that. I didn’t attack my brother. I would never attack my brother. Each time you bother accusing me, you’re ignoring the one who did attack him.”
Then he leaned in and brushed a kiss across Abby’s lips. “Tell Sara what’s happened. If she doesn’t already know.”
He gave her a look of great regret as he followed the elders away from the little clearing.
After he had disappeared from sight, her head began to spin.
For a moment, she was unsure how much time had passed. A minute? An hour? When she focused on listening, she thought she could still hear Aaron’s voice, but was that her imagination? Something inside her told her to run after him—that without him, she wouldn’t even be able to breathe—but he’d instructed her otherwise.
This was a thousand times worse than yesterday. Yesterday, she’d felt more or less all right at Granny Sara’s, until Micah had gotten on her nerves. But today, knowing that Aaron was really in trouble…
“Come with me,” a voice
He was going to turn into a wolf again.
And that couldn’t end well, if he intended to threaten or even attack the elders. Daniel might very well tear him to pieces.
No; Daniel would tear him to pieces.
“We mean her no harm,” Caleb replied, his voice almost emotionless. “She’ll be looked after, until we can return her to the mainland.”
Abby couldn’t bring herself to look at any of them. Certainly not at Daniel. She tried not to think about what they really intended to do with her, now that she knew they were all wolves.
I’ve seen TV! she wanted to scream. You’re just telling him that so he’ll cooperate!
“You said you’d remain at your father’s home,” Daniel said in a voice honed as sharp as a razor blade. “And that this human would remain at Granny Sara’s. Yet here you are. You’re untrustworthy, Aaron. You cannot be relied upon to keep your word. You need to be confined.”
“I’m no more guilty than any of you,” Aaron told him. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I won’t be confined, Daniel.”
“Come NOW!” Daniel bellowed.
The sound seemed to make the entire landscape around them reverberate. Abby, who had experienced a small earthquake during a vacation trip out West, thought this felt almost the same—like the ground was shuddering underneath them. As if to bear that out, a shower of leaves fluttered down from the trees, and she heard a sharp cry of protest from a bird.
Slowly, Aaron got to his feet. He didn’t take all of his attention away from Daniel and the elders as he extended a hand toward Abby, an offer to help her stand up. She grasped his hand tightly, but not because she needed the help; it was the contact she wanted, the comfort of his touch.
“I’ll go with you,” he told the elders, turning away from Daniel. “As long as you give me your word as elders of the pack that she’ll be taken care of… and that you won’t take her anywhere off the island.”
“She has no place here,” said Mason.
“Yesterday, you were willing to consider the question. Yesterday, you were going to give her a chance.”
The two elders did nothing but blink.
“Swear it,” Aaron insisted. “I’ll go nowhere with you unless you give me your word that Abby won’t be taken off the island.”
Finally, Caleb offered him a small, curt nod.
Aaron sucked in a breath that Abby could hear as he turned to her and cupped her cheek with his free hand. “Go back to Granny Sara’s and stay there,” he said quietly. “Don’t go any farther than the toilet house, no matter how much you think you need to. I know Micah is a nuisance, but he won’t harm you. Stay there in Granny’s care until we straighten this out.”
Though he didn’t address them, he was clearly talking to the elders when he said, “We will straighten this out, because this is absurd, and you well know that. I didn’t attack my brother. I would never attack my brother. Each time you bother accusing me, you’re ignoring the one who did attack him.”
Then he leaned in and brushed a kiss across Abby’s lips. “Tell Sara what’s happened. If she doesn’t already know.”
He gave her a look of great regret as he followed the elders away from the little clearing.
After he had disappeared from sight, her head began to spin.
For a moment, she was unsure how much time had passed. A minute? An hour? When she focused on listening, she thought she could still hear Aaron’s voice, but was that her imagination? Something inside her told her to run after him—that without him, she wouldn’t even be able to breathe—but he’d instructed her otherwise.
This was a thousand times worse than yesterday. Yesterday, she’d felt more or less all right at Granny Sara’s, until Micah had gotten on her nerves. But today, knowing that Aaron was really in trouble…
“Come with me,” a voice
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