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Don’t be stupid, Mel, there are no wolves in Port View. Besides, I don’t think they sound that high-pitched. I dig into my brain for animals that scream into the night like that mystery creature.
Hyena, maybe.
That’s even more stupid. A hyena, really? On this continent?
When the noise comes again, closer than the first time, I reach over blindly for Brutus and Django. I pet one of their sides, but they make no move to come up to my side. I lift my head from the covers and peek at the dogs. They’re peacefully sleeping at the foot of the bed, as if a terrifying creature didn’t just howl so close to the house. Fine. If they can be brave, I can be brave too.
When the sound comes again, I jump out of bed, shaking the dogs awake. They simply blink up at me before going back to sleep with little grunts.
This is ridiculous, Mel. You are in the house! How the hell would whatever’s howling outside get to you? It probably doesn’t even have thumbs to turn a doorknob!
It’s ridiculous to be afraid but I can’t help it. This place is so eerily silent, save for the howling, and now that I am out of the covers, I realize how cold it is too.
I rub my hands over the large hoodie Roland gave me to sleep in and shiver. Suddenly, I wish I’d eaten more of the chicken soup he’d made me for dinner. The dinner was delicious but the strange vibe between us forced me to feign exhaustion and leave before I’d really eaten my fill.
I bet he’s warm right now, skin so hot it would immediately warm me up. His hands had been scorching against my skin earlier when I was bathing. Even with the hot water, every brush of his fingertips was lightning hot. I loved it. I wish he hadn’t stopped, and I think he maybe wishes the same.
I know we’re practically strangers, but Roland doesn’t feel like a stranger to me. It’s probably weird to feel so safe and protected around someone I’ve only met today but that’s how I feel around him. I bet he could take down whatever’s howling outside with his bare hands. There’s no way anyone maintains muscles like his without fighting a wild creature from time to time, right?
“Ridiculous,” I mutter through chattering teeth. Shit, it’sfreezingin here.
I start for the door and pause. I can’t just walk to his room right now. What am I even going to say? That the weird noises outside are scaring the crap out of me? Or that I need to use his furnace of a body to warm myself up on this weirdly chilly summer night?
Neither option sounds good.
I turn to Brutus and Django. They’re both still sleeping, neither particularly worried about the noise outside or the fact that I’ve left the bed. And to think I thought they loved me. What a lie.
When the howl comes again, coupled with the rattling of the windows from what could be a ghost or the wind, I grab the doorknob without a second thought and sprint out of the room. I run down the hall to the room Roland had told me was his, ignoring the stinging ache in my foot as I go.
I burst into Roland’s bedroom and rush to his bedside, expecting to find the man asleep. I am startled when I find his eyes trailing on me. The lights are off but the moonlight streaming through the window is sufficient enough to light the room with a dim glow.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” I ask, tugging at the hem of the hoodie. His gaze feels hot on my skin, but not hot enough to keep away the cold.
“You would have if I was already asleep, but I wasn’t,” he says.
“They kept you up too?” I ask, debating how to ask him to scoot over and make room for me in the bed he’s clearly warmed up just for me. “What is it, a wolf?”
“Coyote,” he whispers, a smirk slipping to the edge of his lips. “And no, I was up for an entirely different reason.”
There is a strange glint in his eyes that makes me curious to know what he is talking about, but I don’t care to ask right now. “Oh, good, so, uh, I know this is weird but—”
Please don’t make me ask. Please, please don’t make me—
“You’re shaking,” Roland murmurs, his brow furrowing. I let out a sigh of relief when he moves over so I can join him in bed. I slip under the covers before he can change his mind, letting out a little gasp when he draws me into his arms, chasing away the shiver from my bones. He’s shirtless, I realize. Of course he’s shirtless in this freezing room.
“You’re so warm,” I whisper, burying myself deeper in his arms and nuzzling his neck. “You smell so good too. Like the rain on soil. …”
Roland makes a strange choking sound but doesn’t say anything, only pulling me closer to his chest when the howling sound comes again. I find myself barely paying attention to the scary noise and more to this huge man.
“Are you not curious?” I finally ask.
“About what?”
“About me showing up to your door in a wedding gown. Anyone else would have bombarded me with questions, but you haven’t once asked me why I showed up here alone in a big white dress.”
“It wouldn’t change a damn thing,” he says, his voice quiet. Before I can ask what he means by that, he adds, “But I need to know, are you in love with the person you were supposed to marry today?”
“Love?” I scoff at the thought of falling in love with that predator. “I wasnotin love with him. I doubt I would have run away if I was marrying someone I liked at all. But my father wanted me to marry a complete scumbag.”
