She went for the closets in the different rooms next, downstairs and upstairs. Those were chock-full of clothes. Clothes for boys, men, and women. She had no trouble finding something warm and comfortable for her and Russel. Sweaters, stretchy pants, socks. All of it was clean and mostly free of dust. They had that old closet smell, but that was hardly a complaint given the situation and the place she and Russel had just come from.
After dressing, she sniffed Russel out and found him in one of the ground floor bedrooms. The room was mostly spotless, aside from the dust like the rest of the house, but this room also had a dash of personality. Whoever had stayed in this one liked model airplanes. A variety of them were on display inside of a glass case. At least that little personal touch made this room feel like it was lived in at some point. It felt warmer somehow. Maybe that was why Russel chose it.
Stella tossed some clothes beside him where he lay on the bed. He was almost passed out from exhaustion, but he got up anyway and shifted with a quick crackling of bones and receding fur. He dressed without a word and with eyes half closed.
“The water works so you have to get a drink and wash your face and hands, arms, whatever you can clean quick, before bed,” Stella instructed. “I’d make you take a bath too, but I think we’ll just get some sleep for the night. Baths in the morning. Okay?” Washing up was something they didn’t get to do very often, so when they did, she made sure to teach Russel to do it well.
“Okay.” Russel nodded as he left the room to get a drink and wash up.
When Russel came back, Stella had the dusty cover on the bed removed, and pulled down the thick comforter concealed underneath. She buried herself inside of the amazing warmth and savored the feeling of the plush mattress and pillows. She held out her arms for Russel, and he crawled in beside her.
“Mom,” Russel said, his voice scratchy and tired, “is he really gone?”
“He’s really gone,” she assured and hugged him a little tighter. “We’re safe.”
She hoped she was right.
Chapter 5
IT WAS A GOOD thing Nathan gave him that Jeep Grand Cherokee. As Cedric figured, no one had been out to the cabin in years. There wasn’t a clear path for him to get there, so he was basically making his own path as he plowed through untouched snow. Luckily, it wasn’t too deep.
When he pulled up to the cabin, he got hit with a wave of nostalgia. This place held his fondest memories. He and Nathan were closer as kids. Keyword: closer. It didn’t mean much. His parents didn’t seem as distant back then either—by a little bit. Those were the warmest times he remembered, but they still weren’t warm. It was like that lukewarm uncomfortable feeling when the hot water started running out during a long shower. It was the cold association of familial ties that held all Snows together.
The cabin was frozen in time. Except, it had some wear and tear. It was built well, strong and sturdy, but something neglected would always fall to ruin in the end. It was time to resurrect it. Cedric didn’t know how much maintenance would need to be done, but it’d all work out. He was confident in that. He’d make due.
Cedric pulled out bags of groceries he bought on the way here since the place was probably stripped bare, and any food he might find inside would probably be grossly expired. It was best to come prepared. He was about to step inside the cabin when he noticed a sheet sort of fluttering in a window. The window was completely smashed in. Odd. Or maybe not. This was private property, but Cedric supposed a hunter could have come down this way for the wildlife and decided to be a vandal. It still seemed strange though.
He walked over to the busted in window and his sharp eyes scanned the newly made tracks around the cabin. A couple of someones had been here recently. Wolf and human. Or wolf shifter. There were two pairs of wolf tracks and two pairs of human tracks. Likewise, one wolf’s paws were adult size, the other adolescent. The same went for the human tracks.
Wolf shifters then.
Cedric’s thoughts floated back to what Rogue was saying about Berserkers in Kansas City. It made his skin prickle.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. He was so not equipped for Berserkers. He wasn’t a complete sissy or anything like that. He knew how to hurt somebody if he needed to, but it really wasn’t his favorite pass time. Snows preferred to reason things out when possible. The pen is mightier than the sword—except for when the sword is coming right at you and doesn’t have a brain with which to reason. Then the pen meant nothing. Good thing he knew how to tear out a predator’s eyes with his sharp talons.
He unlocked the front door, keeping as quiet as possible. He didn’t hear or see any movement, so he carefully set his groceries down at the entryway and shut the door behind him.
He looked at the sheet recently ripped off a piece of furniture and how it was currently doubled over on the window rod to block the cold air coming in from the broken window. A big puffy chair was backed into it to keep it in place. It was doing a sort of decent job of keeping out the cold, but that was the best Cedric could say about that. And that it was most certainly not the work of Berserker wolves. Thank God. The window would definitely need to be replaced, though. Sooner rather than later. The heat wasn’t on, but it was amazingly not freezing inside. The place was built with good insulation. Even the broken window hadn’t frozen the place over.
Cedric followed the tracks in the dust, but they circled all over the place, so he narrowed it down to a trail that had been taken by both wolf shifters more than once and reached a closed bedroom door. He could distinctly hear deep and quiet breathing coming from the other side. They were asleep.
This was the room Cedric stayed in as a kid. He and Nathan did their own thing on the base floor while his parents did whatever they did on the second. He knew his mother and father had their own rooms though. They still did. The only time they slept together was when they needed to conceive so they could continue the Snow bloodline. He was certain of that much.
Cedric opened the door slowly. Two people were on his bed, snuggled together and covered with his warm comforter. He couldn’t see them well because of the obstruction. He decided to move closer. A floorboard creaked. The wolves were awake.
The covers flew into the air and a wild woman emerged, landing on her feet in front of him and growling with fingers clawed. Cedric instinctively jumped back, ready to fight if he had to, but then he saw the boy cowering on the bed and hiding behind her, fear distinct in his wide golden-brown eyes. The woman snarled as she came at Cedric. He caught her arm, using a self-defense technique taught to him when he was young, another Snow tradition, and flipped her over his shoulder and onto the ground. It didn’t do much to stun her, though. She was back on him in a second, grasping at his pant leg and trying to pull him down to the ground with her. Fucking hell. Wolf shifters were obnoxiously strong.
“Fuck! Stop!” Cedric shouted as she clawed at his leg. He managed to rip away from her, tearing off a chunk of fabric from his jeans in the process and leaving him with shallow bloody cuts. He backed away from her slowly since sudden movements seemed to make her jumpier. He held his hands out in front of him in surrender.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said carefully as she glared at him with bright and accusing blue eyes from the floor. She was back on her feet and looked like she was going to jump on him again at any moment, but she was staying there for now. He didn’t know what was going on, but this woman had a kid with her, and he didn’t want to get into a bloody fight.
The boy whimpered. The woman hunched over, and Cedric heard a familiar snapping of bones as she moved to take off her sweater.
“Don’t fucking shift,” Cedric warned. Then he repeated, “I’m not going to hurt you.” He sighed. “I brought in some groceries.” The two of them were emaciated, and the woman was sporting some nasty bruises, so food seemed like a good peace offering. “So maybe you could calm down for a minute and get something to eat instead of us shifting and ripping each other into bloody pieces, yeah?
Sound good?”
The woman stopped her shift, left her sweater (actually his mother’s) on, and looked at him as if he were fucking crazy, which maybe he was. They did break into his cabin, and he did just invite them to eat with him.
He heard a stomach growl. Cedric and the woman looked at the boy. He was hunched over and clutching his barely-there stomach. God, a kid should not be that skinny. Cedric noticed the woman’s gaze soften. Wolf shifters who escaped some bad shit? Definitely. They were dirty, scratched, bruised, and their fight or flight instincts were in overdrive. It seemed it was Cedric’s turn to help out a couple of wolf shifters just like wolf shifters had helped him. Fair was fair, and seeing the two of them like this messed him up. It literally made his chest hurt.
He had never felt empathy for those in need before, but until a witch tore into his soul, he hadn’t known the need for help himself.
When the woman looked back at him, she wasn’t snarling anymore. Her full lips were pursed, and she was scrutinizing him, but at least she wasn’t in attack mode anymore. Her eyes were… beautiful. He thought they were blue at first, but they had a clear lilac undertone. She had long eyelashes that fanned those same eyes, eyes that had seen way too much but still held a fire. Shit, she gave him goosebumps. He couldn’t help imagining what she’d look like with some meat on her bones. Plump and soft…
“You!” the woman exclaimed. Her eyes lit up with what could only be recognition. “You’re Cedric Snow. The world has been going ballistic over you.”
Cedric flinched, but then his muscles turned into mush. Her voice was a beautiful song in his ears. He could listen to her speak all fucking day long. He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, here I am. Reporters don’t know what they’re talking about.”
The woman growled again, teeth bared sharp, white, and dangerous. She walked up to him aggressively. He stayed put, and she fisted her hand in the light and generic winter coat he was wearing
“I’d tell you to get out,” she informed, “but that would mean drawing eyes, and we can’t have that. I don’t know why you ran away, Cedric Snow, but now you don’t have a choice. You have to stay hidden. If someone as big as you can hide from the world, then you’re exactly the guy I need.”
Need. He knew she didn’t mean it in a sexual way, but his dick sure thought she did. Damn, this wolf was sexy. And kind of scary. But he liked her fire, her do-whatever-it-takes attitude. She wouldn’t let anyone push her around. It turned him on.
The boy’s stomach growled again.
“Why don’t we get something to eat and then discuss this?” Cedric suggested.
The woman gestured to the door. Apparently, she wanted Cedric to go first. As much as he didn’t want to turn his back on her, he did anyway. He hoped she wouldn’t be inclined to attack him again. The cuts on his leg were shallow, but they stung.
In the past, he probably would have thought the worst about her and her son with how unkempt they looked and the fact that they broke into his cabin, but he had jumped to conclusions about Ava before and decided he wouldn’t do that again. He wouldn’t label them and seal them away in some box. He just needed to be strong and cool like ice and malleable like snow. He had to put on a front that said he was unaffected by her abrasiveness, but he also needed to bend and change his actions based on her reactions. Good thing he was a Snow—although, not a very good one.
“Sandwiches all right?” Cedric asked. “They’re quick, and then you can dress yours up how you want.”
The she-wolf responded by placing her fist again Cedric’s back and urged him to move faster. Not in the mood to talk then, and sandwiches would work well enough. She was analyzing him just like he was her.
Cedric picked up the groceries he left at the front door and hauled them into the kitchen. The wolves followed him like shadows. He set the bags on the counter while the woman hovered really close to him. The boy at least took a seat at the breakfast bar.
God, the she-wolf was so close Cedric could almost feel her brush against him time and time again. It was doing weird things to him, raising his hairs on end as if to signal he’d get an electric shock if she touched him for real. And it would feel so good.
The goosebumps coating his skin disappeared with a warm flush that spread through his body. Every inch of his skin was tingling. What was this feeling?
As he pulled out bread, a couple different meats, toppings, and condiments, Cedric asked, “So what are your names? You know mine, but I don’t know yours.”
“You don’t need to know our names,” the woman said severely.
“No, but it’d be easier if I know your names since it sounds like we’re going to be spending some time together.”
She frowned. Her lips were chapped and cut because of dehydration or the weather or something, but they were damn sexy lips. The way her lower lip pouted out, protruding from her top lip, made his stomach flip.
“I’m Stella,” she said after mulling it over. She looked over at the boy. “That’s Russel.”
“You two related? Siblings?”
Stella folded her arms. “He’s my son.”
Son. Stella did not look very old. Early twenties he guessed. Russel was at least ten and possibly a little older. She got pregnant as a teen then. That was the most likely explanation. She was way too young. Little pieces of information started forming a picture in Cedric’s mind, a picture of who this woman and boy were.
“What kind of bird are you?” Stella asked as Cedric pulled out some plates. They had been stowed away and protected from the dust, so that was nice.
“Snowy owl,” he replied. “Hey, Russel. Come on over and pick out what you want.”
The boy stayed right where he was as he looked to his mother.
“It’s okay,” she said evenly.
Russel came up and looked at the food with wide eyes. The way he was ogling it, Cedric would have thought this was some kind of feast fit for a king or the world’s largest collection of candy or chocolate. He hesitated like he didn’t know where to begin.
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“Here.” Cedric pulled out a plate and put a little bit of everything on it. “Might as well try it all and see what you like best. Then you can come back for seconds.”
He held the plate out to the boy who looked up at him with wide eyes. He cautiously held out his hands. Then he snatched the plate away from Cedric and sat back down at the breakfast bar. He picked things up and sniffed them, savoring the meats, appreciating the lettuce and onions. Cedric had never seen anyone entranced by food before. What had this kid been eating his whole life?
Cedric handed Stella a plate and moved out of her way, placing the condiments next to Russel on the breakfast bar. Stella set to work making her own sandwich, piling it high with everything available.
Cedric went to the kitchen sink, leaned against the counter, and folded his arms as he watched the hungry wolves. Something was seriously wrong with where they came from. He figured that when he first laid eyes on them, but seeing this, seeing how hungry they both were made every muscle in his body tense. He needed to piece everything together soon, but he wouldn’t be able to ask too many questions without inciting Stella’s wrath.
Stella. Star. Her eyes were like stars. He wondered if that was how she got her name.
Patience was the key here, but patience wasn’t high on Cedric’s strong points, especially not right now. He didn’t come to the Snow’s vacation cabin to hide indefinitely. He simply wanted time to talk to his family and figure things out with his personal life before the rest of the world started prying its way in. He needed to see Terry and Opal, and now he was under house arrest.
Soon.
He would convince the wolves that he was trustworthy. He would help them because it was obvious they needed it. Then he would confront Terry and Opal. He thought about the picture Rogue had. It was in Cedric’s pants pocket now. His family. His wife and kid. He was anxious to see them again, but he was also
dreading it. He wouldn’t blame them if they wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, but it would hurt. He would do his best to show them he changed, that he cared. He would plant and grow relationships that never had a chance to exist.
Soon.
Chapter 6
THIS SANDWICH WAS THE best thing Stella had ever tasted. It was just a sandwich. It wouldn’t have been anything special to anyone else, but to Stella it was like a slice of heaven. Cedric bought quality stuff, the best of the best. Artisan bread, premium meats and cheeses. He had expensive taste. Surprise, surprise. She had almost forgotten what real food tasted like. Hunting and scrounging were all she knew for years. Tyler either brought them back a kill or food picked from the garbage—when he brought them anything at all. It was no wonder she and Russel scarfed down their food in no time and went back for more.
She never took her eyes off Cedric as he dug in the fridge, putting perishables away. In particular, her eyes kept drifting to his hair. It was such an odd color. She wasn’t sure what to call it exactly. It seemed to change with the light and sometimes it almost looked silver.
“Glad this place still has power,” he murmured to himself.
Yes, this place was in running order. It just hadn’t been loved in a long while; the layers of dust were proof of that. Where had Cedric stayed before he got here? Had he moved around a lot?
So many questions.
Stella didn’t trust Mr. Snow worth a damn. He was likely biding his time, looking for an opportunity to get rid of her and Russel, but she wouldn’t let that happen. She and her son were done being treated like shit. Worse than shit.
Russel and Stella sat together at the breakfast bar, eating their second sandwich.
Her Noble Owl (Marked By The Moon Book 4) Page 4
