Wolf Bonded (Wolfish 1)
One can only hope.
There’s no sense in me trying to hide now. My father will only break in if I wait, that much I’ve learned. So instead, I open the door to meet him head-on, with the lamp raised above my head.
“God, Sabrina, what the hell?” Jess says as she looks at me in shock from the doorway. “Do you always greet visitors by brandishing a lamp over your head at them?”
“Dude,” Tom says, taking a step back in only half-mock horror. “You know that lamp is still plugged in, right? That’s hella dangerous.”
Dude? Seriously, this guy is trying too hard.
“Sorry,” I say as I put the lamp down and allow myself to breathe again. “I thought you were someone else.”
“Someone like a serial killer?” Aimee laughs. She appears from behind the two of them like a poltergeist, and I almost club her over the head with the remote still glued to my other hand.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, hastily tossing the remote back over to the couch before I end up clobbering someone with it after all.
“Well,” Jess starts, “Aimee’s mom works with someone who’s sister works at the same nursing home as your mom …” It goes on like this for a while. I’m already lost trying to follow the work-related lineage, when she at long-last gets to the point. “And, she said your mom is working a double shift with her tonight. That means you’re all alone for the next day or so, right?”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling I’m probably not going to like the direction this is headed. “So what?”
“Soooo,” she continues as the other two start to laugh again. “You’re alone, your cabin is alone, and that mansion at the top of the hill is alone.”
Now I’m really su
re I don’t like where this is heading.
“Let’s go check it out! I’ve always wanted to see if that place was anything like we’ve heard.”
“No,” I say immediately. “I’m not going up there and neither should any of you.”
The sharpness in my voice surprises even me.
“Party pooper,” Tom says, not to be deterred. “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”
“No,” I answer truthfully, “I’m not scared of much.” Despite my jitteriness as of late, the only thing I can think of that I’m actually terrified of is my father, but that’s not information that I want to share. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s not our property. If we get caught, we could get in big trouble.”
“That’s the beauty of it though,” Jess says, grinning. “We have your cabin to run back to if anyone sees us and we need a place to lie low. It’s right here at the bottom of the hill, it couldn’t be more perfect!”
“Yep, I agree,” Aimee chimes in. “Three against one, we’re going.”
I don’t want to go up to the mansion, but I know when I’ve been bested. So, after only a moment to grab a warmer jacket and another to consider hitting Tom over the head with the lamp anyway, we set out against my better judgement.
As soon as the four of us start walking up the hill, Tom pulls several mini bottles of alcohol out of his jacket pockets and passes them around.
“No thanks,” I say, putting my hand up instead of taking it from him. But then, after the three of them roll their eyes at me simultaneously, I accept it and jam it into my hoodie pocket along with the key to the cabin.
They, on the other hand, crack open the little bottles and guzzle them down in one swig, only to quickly be replaced with more. Jess and Aimee laugh, and Tom tries to impress everyone with his ability to stick three bottles in his mouth at once. My turn to roll my eyes.
Why did I agree to this?
It’s hard to hear the sounds of the forest with the racket these three are making.
The more they drink, the more their footsteps stumble away from the path, and the faster and louder their voices arc. The racket they make pierces the night, basically announcing our arrival to anyone—or anything—we might come across.
I keep picturing Romulus’ face that night he came to the cabin. I keep hearing his warning.
“Hey guys,” I say, my mind turning over ways to avoid going up to the mansion at all. “There’s actually a—a barn over here that has that old vintage car inside. We should go check it out.”
“A car?” Tom asks. I knew that would sound enticing to him.