T hey were fucking again.
I sighed and flopped down on the hot tub cover. This time at least it wasn’t for Caden to mark his territory and make me uncomfortable. If Logan needed that anchor, I wasn’t going to begrudge her. Even if it did put me in proximity to these freaky-ass woods.
I knew some of the stories. Not many, but even if you lived under a rock you’d heard of Mothman and Bigfoot and other things better left unnamed.
Even shifters had no idea if what was out there was us or something…
else. I wouldn’t be keen to wander into those endless trees in the middle of the night.
I switched over to my big-cat form to take advantage of the senses and the comfort of being big enough to deter most predators.
I felt every whisper of the wind in my fur and whiskers.
It was too quiet. The rustles of tiny creatures were magnified by their rarity and made my ears twitch. Something bigger was out there.
It was hard to concentrate over the sounds Logan was making, but I did my best to focus on the woods.
I chanced a look back into the cabin. That was a fucking mistake. Caden had her face first against the wall, his dick in her and his hand between her thighs. Her dark eyes locked on me when I turned before they scrunched shut as she came with a shuddering, breathless groan.
Fuck.
I whipped my gaze back to the woods.
Everything was fine.
Absolutely fucking perfect.
More than fine.
I one hundred percent wasn’t thinking about bending Logan over the balcony railing to force her to make that same sound for me.
Nope.
Such a thought would never enter my head.
The lust washed away under a swell of guilt. I couldn’t think about her like that. Not after what I’d done…after what I’d let happen to Rachel. Caden still hadn’t forgiven me, and to be honest I hadn’t forgiven myself. I couldn’t repeat that mistake with Logan.
The wind called my name and all my fur stood on end.
Oh. Fuck no. I turned around and booked it right back inside the cabin. To hell with whatever state they were in, I wasn’t going to let something out there eat me.
Caden pressed Logan tighter to the wall and used his arms to shield her as I bolted into the room, skidding on the patterned carpet and taking out the coffee table before finally coming to a stop.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Caden snatched a blanket off the couch and wrapped Logan up like a burrito. He left himself naked. I’d seen his dick a million times growing up, so it never mattered.
I refuse to be outside. Those trees are hiding fucked-up things. I huffed and threw myself into my human form and whipped every curtain shut.
“What kind of fucked-up things?” Caden asked. “What did you see?”
“I didn’t see anything. I felt it. Heard it. It called me.”
“Ope,” said Logan. “Yeah, stay in. That’s the rule of the Appalachians.”
Caden looked at her curiously. “What?”
“If you think you see something in the trees, no you don’t.
If you think you heard someone call your name in the woods, no you didn’t.
” She freed her arms from her burrito, and I tried to ignore the way her gaze swept over me; really I did.
My dick wasn’t so good at ignoring. If I’d been wearing pants, I’d be pitching a serious tent. Gods, I wished I were wearing pants.
A growl rose in Caden’s throat and I clapped my hands over my jewels, awkwardly angling my forearms to hide my dick lest he decide to shift and take it out with a well-timed paw slap.
Logan disappeared to get dressed but Caden hung around to make sure I didn’t go anywhere near her. It was only when she emerged wearing a pair of galaxy leggings and a black sweatshirt, her long hair hanging in a thick rope over her shoulder, that Caden left to get dressed himself.
Logan wandered over to the curtains and I scooted away, unwilling to be naked and nearby when Caden returned. She pulled the fabric aside a tiny bit and peeked out.
“Someone’s standing at the edge of the woods.”
Goosebumps rippled up my back. Forgetting to keep my distance, I grabbed a throw pillow to cover my junk and chanced a look through the gap. “I don’t see anything.”
Logan looked at me, confused, before checking again. “But she’s right there. The woman in the jeans and peasant top.”
I looked everywhere, but saw nothing.
“What’s going on?” Caden asked as he entered the room.
“Lo says someone’s out there.”
Logan huffed. “She’s there.”
Caden pushed me out of the way. His gaze flickered this way and that, scanning the area. “I don’t see anyone.”
Logan whipped the curtain open and pointed to a gap in the trees. “There.”
Caden and I exchanged glances.
“You guys . There’s a whole-ass person out there. How do you not see her?”
“Lo,” I said softly. “There’s no one there.”
She turned desperately to Caden and he could only nod.
“But…” She focused back on the window, her eyes locked on something out there. “I see her.”
Logan moved to open the patio door, and Caden locked a hand on her wrist. “You can’t go out there.”
“What if she needs help?”
“You’re the one who told me not to go,” I said. “What happened to ‘if you think you see something in the trees, no you don’t’?”
Logan bit her lip and I was immediately thankful for the pillow obscuring my dick. I slipped into my smallest form and wove through her ankles.
Open the door for me. I’ll check it out.
I didn’t want to, but I wanted her going out there even less.
She cracked the door open and I slunk through, walking gingerly to the edge of the deck.
I still didn’t see a damn thing. I lifted my nose to the air, sniffing out anything weird, but there was only pine and earth.
The wrongness that had been hunting us wasn’t here.
Even so, I was still hesitant to go any further.
Is she still there?
“Yep.”
I didn’t like that I couldn’t see what she did. A ripple of cool air washed over me and my fur puffed out like a pom-pom.
The glass slid open and Logan stepped outside, scooping me into her arms.
“Hey!” she snapped. “Quit scaring him.”
Caden had his arm around her waist, trying to pull us both inside.
I clung to her, claws digging into her arm as Caden hoisted us away from the patio. He locked the doors, closed the curtains, and went to the kitchen to dig out a salt shaker from the cupboards. While he sprinkled the ground along the door, Logan held me cuddled to her chest.
I can’t believe you yelled at a ghost .
“Is that what it was?”
Not a fucking clue . I bumped her chin with my head. You’re a badass, Lo.
She scratched my ears and I melted into her touch, my purr vibrating through me.
Magic fingers.
I squawked as Caden scooped me up by the belly, lifted me off, and dropped me onto the floor.
Caden eyed me. Stop it .
“I wish we had more than salt,” Logan said.
“We have more in the trunk, but no one is going out there to get it. This is better than nothing.” Caden paced the cabin and I snuck back to Logan since she was nervously picking at her cuticles.
I could think of much better ways to work out nervous energy.
She pet me without even looking, her hands too in the habit of responding to something warm and fluffy nearby.
Caden glared at me, but didn’t come to toss me this time.
He double- and triple-checked the locks, not that they would do much against a ghost.
If you want me to do guard duty tonight, I’ll need to get some sleep first.
Caden nodded.
I wasn’t keen on running forever. We needed to find someone who could tell us what the fuck was following us.
Caden let out a low growl. He had to be pissed right off that he didn’t know how to keep her safe. I had no idea either and it was making me antsy.
I wanted to know how fucked we all were.
Table of Contents
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- Page 16 (Reading here)
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