Hunted: A Shifter's Magic Series

by Maggie Bandy

  I ended up grabbing my keys and going into town. I guess tonight’s as good as night as any to see the town. I leave a note on the counter for aunt Linda telling her I’m going into town to get some food just in case she comes back before I do. There’s a big chance she may because knowing me I’ll probably end up getting lost again. Especially since it’s dark out and I’ve never been in town on my own before.

  As soon as I step outside, I get that creepy feeling of being watched again. It sends a shiver down my spine, but I brush it off. I walk down the yard to the garage where my car sits. It’s an old black 1969 Chevy Camaro.

  It was my dad’s car. He gave it to me last year on my sixteenth birthday as a surprise. It made me tear up just looking at it, but I loved this car. I couldn’t believe it when my dad handed me the keys and told me it was all mine. I about gave him a heart attack when I took him for a ride in it.

  Needless to say, dad never rode with me again because my driving apparently scared him. He made me take a driving safety class before letting me drive it again. Mom wasn’t entirely thrilled with me driving it either. She said I was gonna end up killing myself in that car one day and he was gonna regret giving it to me when I wrecked it.

  Shaking off thoughts of my parents I got in my car and started it up. For a moment it didn’t want to turn over, so I tried it again. It started right up the second try. I pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the main road. Now if only I could remember which way to go…

  Chapter Two

  Things That Go Bump In The Night

  I decide to take my phone out and try out the GPS but go figure- no signal. So, I decide to just wing it and turn left. I continue on this way for a while until it becomes clear I’m going the wrong way. There’s nothing in sight- no houses, no stores… nothing. I started feeling uneasy when all of a sudden, I hear a loud pop. I know it’s my tires when my car veers off to the right side. Great, I blew a tire- in the middle of nowhere, with no phone service.

  I get out of the car to see the damage and see that my whole tire is shredded. I pop the trunk and look for the spare but it’s not in the trunk. Wonderful. I decide to lock the car up and walk to see if I can get enough signal to call a tow. That creepy feeling of being watched returns and I hear a howling in the distance. I wonder if it’s the monstrous wolf I saw in the woods earlier. I shudder. I did not want to come face to face with that thing again.

  I keep walking and pick up the pace. The quicker I get signal the quicker I can get out of here. I hear a rustling in the corn-field beside me and jump. I hold my keys preparing to use them to stab whatever comes out of there. Letting out the breath I was holding, I laugh when it’s only a bunny.

  I turn around and run right into a solid wall of muscle. I scream when strong arms hold me steady as I try to run. “Whoa, calm down there princess. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said smirking. I could see the clear amusement written in his eyes- he thought it was funny to creep up on people on scare the living hell out of them. Well, it’s time to show this jerk some manners- Sophie style.

  I reached up and punched him in the shoulder- hard. Surprise scattered across his face then anger. “What the hell was that for?!” he said holding my arms away from him so I couldn’t punch him again. “For creeping up on me like some perv! It isn’t polite to sneak up on someone in the middle of the night!” I say seething.

  He chuckled, “Well, it isn’t polite to punch someone who is trying to help you either, princess.” I pushed out of his grasp. “Don’t call me that, I’m not some princess who needs saving. I can take care of myself,” I spat at him.

  He let go and said, “Duly noted.” I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Who are you and where did you even come from anyways? I don’t see any cars and there’s no houses close by,” I say accusingly. He looked put out for a moment. I guess I should be grateful that someone wants to help. But seeing as it’s dark, there’s no one else around and I don’t know this guy- I’m not taking any chances.

  He has asshole written all over him. He was gorgeous I’ll give him that, but he knows it too- that’s the problem. He had short dark brown hair, stormy grey eyes and summer tanned skin. He screamed bad boy in his black leather jacket and tanned muscles.

  Another amused smile lit up his face, damn he must have caught me checking him out. Damn it, why do I keep losing it around hot guys? Get it together Sophie. “I’m Carter, and my family owns these fields,” he says pointing to the corn-field.

  “I was checking on it when I saw you, figured you needed help.” Damn, he was just being nice, and I pretty much accused him of being a stalker. “Thanks,” I said trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was actually just close by and wanted to help. “My car broke down about a mile back, I was just looking for signal to call a tow.”

  He gave me a lop-sided grin and said, “I can have a look at it if you’d like.” I shook my head and told him no thank you. “It’s ok, it’s a blowout. Not really anything you can fix. I just need a new tire and unfortunately I don’t have a spare.” Smirking at me he says, “What kind of idiot doesn’t keep a spare in the back?” I glare at him ready to punch him again. “This one apparently. Look if you’re just going to make asinine comments all night, I think I can handle this myself,” I say shoving past him.

  “Good luck getting signal out here,” he calls after me laughing. Without looking back, I flip him the bird and keep walking. After a few minutes of walking I hear the rustling noise again. Not wanting to walk by myself I sigh. “Fine, you can walk with me till I get service and can call a tow. But if you try anything funny just know there’s more where that right hook came from.” Laughing, he walks in step next to me and says, “No worries here, princess. I don’t want you to hurt yourself trying.” I swat at his shoulder, but he quickly moves out of the way. “Asshole,” I muttered under my breathe and hear him laugh.

  “So, what were you doing out here in the middle of no where tonight?” Carter said looking over at me. “There’s no houses for miles out this way, the only neighbor we have is Ms. Tyler, and she lives alone.” I stopped walking and say, “You’re my new neighbor?” I keep walking and muttered, “just great” under my breath. “What do you mean I’m your new neighbor?” he says looking at me with curiosity. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I moved in with my aunt today. I guess that makes us neighbors…” I say wishing it wasn’t true. He was going to be a pain in my ass, I could already tell.

  “So, you’re Ms. Tyler’s niece Sophia?” he grins eyeing me appreciatively. “And how do you know my name? I’m starting to reconsider that whole stalker thing again. It’s kinda of creepy that you know my name and I don’t even know who you are,” I say side-eyeing him.

  He just laughs. “No creepy stalker here,” he says holding up his hands in surrender. “But it’s a small town and people talk. There’s been rumors of you coming to live with her, but I thought it wasn’t supposed to be till next month.”

  I sigh, of course everyone would know my business before I even got here in a town this small. “I wasn’t but I had to sell the house after my parents…” I paused not able to get the words out. “After my parents died. The only way they would buy it was if they could move in immediately,” I finished, tears stinging my eyes.

  I turned my face and wiped my eyes quickly. I hated crying in front of people, it made me feel weak. And I did not want to cry in front of this asshole. He stopped walking and grabbed my arm stopping me with him. “I’m so sorry, Sophie. I didn’t know about your parents or I wouldn’t have brought it up,” he said taking his hand and gently wiping away the tears that were now falling freely. I turned away from him and kept walking. “It’s ok… I don’t want to talk about it.” He nodded letting it go, sensing I wasn’t going to say anything else.

  We walked in silence while I kept checking my phone for signal. “Finally,” I say when I look and have one bar. I try to call my aunt, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Damn it!” I sw
ear to myself. I quickly try Paul’s number but get voicemail again. “What’s wrong?” he said coming up behind me. “Nothing, my aunt just didn’t answer, and I only have one other person I can call. I don’t know anyone else here,” I say not sure whether I should call Cole or not. “Do you know the number of a tow truck?” I ask him hopeful.

  “I do but they will charge you way too much to come all the way out here. I can haul it back myself with my truck tomorrow evening if you want,” he says giving me another one of his lop-sided smiles. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose,” I say unsure of whether I should take him up on his offer or not.

  “Yeah, no problem,” he says waving his hand. “It’ll cost you though,” he says glancing me over. I roll my eyes and say, “What do you want?” He turns to me and says, “One date. Have dinner with me tomorrow night.” I shake my head, “Sorry, I already have plans with my aunt for dinner tomorrow night.”

  He grins and says, “I’m sure she won’t mind if you cancel.” I look at him smugly and say, “Sorry, I don’t date assholes. Not my thing.” He laughs and says, “Fine, good luck with that tow truck.” He starts walking away. After a moment, I sigh realizing he was my best bet.

  “Fine, I’ll see what I can do but I’m not making any promises. And this is not a date- it’s just dinner,” I say making sure he understands. I don’t want him getting any ideas. I don’t know how I’m even going to get through dinner with this jerk. He turns and starts walking back. Smirking he looks me over and says, “You can call it what you want, but it’s still a date.” Whatever, I’m not arguing with this asshole. If he wants to think it’s a date, he can think what he wants.

  We were finally close to my aunt’s house; I could see it from the road. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for walking me home,” I said walking towards the house. I wanted to put as much distance between me and that jerk. As I did a huge grey wolf came out from behind the trees and snarled down at me.

  Before I could move out of the way, I was tackled from behind by a big white wolf. I screamed and tried to push the wolf off of me, but it wouldn’t budge. I thought it was trying to attack me but now I can see that it’s blocking me from the grey wolf. The white wolf took it’s paw and pushed me down gently as if telling me to stay down.

  He stood over me and faced the grey wolf and growled. The grey wolf tried to circle around and get to me, but the white wolf was always there blocking him. They stayed locked that way for about twenty minutes- the grey wolf always looking for a flaw in the other wolf’s defense of me. The grey wolf gave me one final look before he took off into the woods. This wouldn’t be the last time I saw this wolf. I knew it in my gut. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know something weird is definitely going on in this little town.

  I looked around for Carter but didn’t see him anywhere. I can’t believe he left me. I mean I shouldn’t be surprised but I am. I really thought under all that attitude was a nice guy. I couldn’t be more wrong. The white wolf looked at me with sad eyes like it didn’t want to leave me and took off after the grey wolf into the woods.

  Well, at least I know the wolf will chase off the grey one. I don’t know why it protected me the way it did, but I was glad for it. I would have been toast if not for him. I ran for the door and didn’t look back.

  As soon as I reached the door I ran inside and locked the doors and ran upstairs to my room. What the hell just happened? All thoughts of food gone, I get a quick shower and try to lay down. I was exhausted after walking all night and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.

  My dreams weren’t pleasant though. I dreamed of being chased by wolves through the woods. Running but never fast enough to get away. The result was always the same- with me being torn apart by the wolves.

  ◆◆◆

  I woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. I must be dreaming because I didn’t think aunt Linda cooked. I head down the stairs to check it out and see Paul standing at the stove cooking breakfast. “Good morning sleepy-head. I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” aunt Linda said from the kitchen table. “Morning Sophie, want some pancakes?” Paul motioned to the table where there sat a huge stack of pancakes. My stomach growled and answered for m., I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, so I was starving. “Yes, please,” I say sitting down.

  I took a big bite of pancake and my mouth watered. “These pancakes are delicious, Paul. I didn’t know you could cook,” I teased. Paul laughed, “Well, someone has to cook- this one,” he nodded to aunt Linda. “Doesn’t cook,” he said laughing when aunt Linda swatted him in the arm.

  Aunt Linda was lucky to have someone as loving as Paul. He seemed to like to take care of her. He was insanely gorgeous too, what is it with this town and the men? Must be something in the water. He was in his early thirties like aunt Linda. And he had a chiseled face, with warm honey-brown eyes, sunny blonde hair and sun-tanned skin. And like every other guy in this town, he was ripped. They must all go to the same gym or something, I smirked to myself pulling my gaze away from him.

  He gave her a loving look and said, “I’m sorry love, you know it’s true.” I laughed and said, “I figured as much when I saw the fridge last night. Looks like it’ll be me and you cooking.” Aunt Linda looked embarrassed for a moment before saying, “In my defense, I wasn’t expecting you till next month so I hadn’t been shopping yet.”

  We spent the rest of breakfast joking around and picking on each other. It was the first time since mom and dad died that I was truly happy. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here after all.

  After breakfast I decided to get dressed and go on a walk. I went upstairs to my room and looked through my clothes. I hadn’t unpacked them all yet, so my selection was slim. I grabbed a pair of my jean cut off shorts and a black tank top. Sitting on my bed I slipped on my shoes and pulled my phone out to text Cole.

  Me: Going for a hike, want to come with?

  Cole: Sure. Give me a sec to get dressed and I’ll head over.

  Me: Ok. Meet me by the edge of the woods?

  Cole: No, just wait for me and I’ll come get you.

  Me: Ok, see you soon. (:

  Cole: See you soon. (:

  About twenty minutes later there’s a knock on the front door. I rush to answer it, but aunt Linda beats me to it. She smiles and says, “You must be here for my Sophie, come on in.” She winks at me as she shuts the door after Cole.

  Oh no. I did not want her to meet Cole yet. What if he tells her about the other night? I’m so screwed, I’m never gonna be able to leave the house again. I give Cole a don’t say anything look hoping he gets the hint. “We were just leaving,” I say grabbing Cole’s hand and leading him back towards the door. God help me, I know I’m being rude, but I don’t want her to freak out.

  “What’s the rush?” she says pinning me with a stare letting me know I was being rude. Cole chimes in and says tactfully, “We were heading out for a walk then going to grab some lunch. I wanted to show Sophie some of the town.” He smiled over at me. I’m assuming because he finally got my name.

  Aunt Linda seemed to buy his excuse and told us to have fun but not too much fun and winked. God kill me now- why do adults always say that thinking it’s funny? It’s really not, it’s just embarrassing. Cole just laughed and smiled at me mischievously and winked.

  She is so going to pay for that little comment later. My cheeks turned beet red. Cole’s smile got even bigger when he saw how embarrassed I was. Jerk. He took my hand in his and laced his fingers in mine and lead me down to the edge of the woods. “Come on, I want to show you something,” he said pulling me towards the water. We followed the water’s edge for until it came out into a big beautiful waterfall. “It’s beautiful,” I said leaning my head on Cole’s shoulder. “Not as beautiful as the woman standing next to me,” he said leaning his head against mine.

  “You’re so cheesy,” I say teasingly, and kissed him on the cheek. “Hey, if cheesy gets me a kiss, I’d say I’m doing pretty good
,” he said cheekily. I playfully swat his arm and he laughs. We sit down on a rock by the stream and watch the waterfall.

  “So, how was the rest of your night last night after I left?” he asked watching for my response. I let out a big sigh and say, “Not great. I decided to go to town to get dinner, got lost and my tire blew out. Shit! My car, I completely forgot about my car. I left it on the side of the road last night.”

  Cole looked at me with concern in his eyes, “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come and picked you up.” A rush of warmth hit me at his words. It was nice to have someone I can count on. “I didn’t have signal until I started walking and I ended up running into my neighbor and he walked me home…” I say trailing off.

  “Only he left when I got attacked by the wolves.” Cole shot up out of his seat and was in front of me in a flash. “You had a run in with the wolves again?” he asked concerned. “Yeah, it’s weird. It’s like it was waiting for me to come home. What’s even weirder is another wolf came from behind me and tackled me down. I thought I was a goner, but it was just trying to protect me. It looked at me like it knew me and then it took off into the woods after the other wolf,” I said confused.

  “That is weird,” he said directing his attention to the waterfall. “And he’s an asshole for leaving you with the wolves. Who does that?” I look down at my hands and add, “I also kind of have to go to dinner with this guy tonight…” I look over at Cole who suddenly looks annoyed. “Not that I want to, he offered to tow my car for me but asked me to dinner. I didn’t want to be rude after he offered to help me. But I don’t know if I’m even going,” I added quickly.