"Hey Owen," Lee said from behind him.
As hard and grim as the man looked on the outside, when a female was around, especially Lee, he softened into butter. The man had a weak spot for the ladies. He rarely bedded any of them but would fiercely protect them to the end of days. Had a daddy complex if you asked Jack.
"Lee," he said with a nod. "Mind clearing out for a bit?"
"Sure," she shrugged. "Stay tough, big guy." Lee punched Jack’s shoulder as she walked by. He watched the jiggle in her ass as she left. Damn fucking shame.
"What happened?" his Alpha's hard voice chilled the room.
Jack bent his head to each side only stopping after a hard crack sounded in his neck. "He's gone. No way does he have any humanity left in him."
"What makes you say that?"
"I found him stalking a woman not 100 yards from her house."
Owen didn't say anything. He was frowning at a jar of cotton balls. Tyson and Owen had been close. Everyone knew the wolf's absence cut the deepest with their Alpha. Lately the pack bond had been making everyone depressed. Males were picking fights. Females were crying over the slightest thing. It was as if the entire pack all started their cycle together. Pretty soon marathons of Nickolas Sparks movies would be featured on the weekends and Hershey's stock would jump a few points. It was frustrating, to say the least. Owen's mood effected them all. Just like Lee's did and Jack's did. However, as Alpha he knew better than to let his own inner turmoil leak into the pack bond.
"I decided to follow him to make sure he didn't attack her. He didn't. Son of a bitch came after me." That was mostly the truth. Jack had gotten sidetracked when he saw the blonde hiking into the woods. He had followed her but only because she smelled so good. And her voice, sweet and crisp like a white wine. It was then that he had noticed Tyson tagging along.
Owen's eye twitched. "And the woman?"
"Can't say for sure. He got in a nice bite but I led him off a ways. If she had any sense she would have gone home before he came back."
He nodded. "Thoughts?"
"He's succumb to the wolf. No doubt about it."
Owen made a noncommittal grunt.
"He needs to be put down, Owen."
His eyes unfocused for a moment. Looking at nothing with a hard brow. And then he was back. Looking at Jack with cool eyes. "Rest up," he said before turning and leaving.
"Nonsense," Jack said when he was alone. "I have a woman to meet."
Chapter Two
"I need to call you something other than Wolf," Sadie yelled over her shoulder. She was attempting to tackle the organization of her kitchen. Empty boxes were piled in her living room waiting to be broken down and every dish, cup and utensil was lined up on her limited counter space waiting to find a home. The wolf sat just outside her back door on the porch. He refused to come inside. Which considering he was a wild animal, was probably a good thing. Sadie however, was beginning to consider him her pet. He was the dog she never had because of her mother's allergies.
"Well?" she asked turning towards him holding a whisk. "What's your name going to be?"
How did people name animals? Was there a book she was missing out on? She had tried out a few over the last day or two. Sadie had begun with her favorite cartoon character's name who also happened to have the same markings as her wolf. Genius, right? Well, apparently he had a thing against French skunks and snorted his nose with a rough shake at the name Pepe. Then she tried colors, and shapes, and food and generic names. Each and every one of them was shot down with a huff or a groan. Once, the damn over grown dog had even walked out on her.
She couldn't help it if her mind couldn't think of anything better than Snuggles.
For the first day she called him Sugar because he snarfed down three dozen sugar cookies when her back was turned. But he just didn’t seem like a Sugar to her. Sadie was out of options and creativity. Which to be honest, had never been one of her strong suits. If he only could speak, then she could find out what the other wolves called him. Probably something like "Disagreeable One" or "Snot Face." He did like to snort and grunt a lot.
"Oh! I've got it."
He raised his head and waited.
"Fred," Sadie said proudly. When he didn't move, she elaborated. "As in Drop Dead Fred. Only the greatest movie of my childhood." Still, he sat silently. "Oh come on! It's not that bad." His tail thumped once on the deck. "Whatever. I'm taking that as an ok. Fred is now your name. Deal with it or leave."
For a second she thought he might just get up and walk away. He looked to the tree line with thoughts of escape in his eyes, but then turned back to her and made a show of settling his head back down on his paws.
Now that that was settled she could go back to unpacking. Yay! The sarcastic cheer was all she could grant the project. Would it ever end? Moving had never felt like a chore before but this time...well, this time was different. She was doing it all on her own for one. Her mom and sister were still back in Buffalo, New York. They knew she was leaving, they knew she couldn't stay there, but they didn't know when she had planned on moving.
Good idea on her part? Probably not so much. However she had her reasons, as unfounded and paranoid as they were. Sadie had been an independent woman on the fast track to corporate success. At twenty-nine she was already Business Development Director at a New England based medical group that spanned four states. She was to be promoted in the next two years. Not anymore though. Now she was an unemployed single woman living in the woods to avoid the general populous.
That was probably a bit harsh of her to think but it was the honest truth. People were crazy and she wanted to have as little exposure as possible to them. Which was why she moved into a minuscule little town in the middle of the Adirondacks. Andora, New York was located in the center of the Adirondack Mountains off of the Hudson River. It was a small town of only a few hundred. Sadie lived about 15 minutes north of the town in the Adirondack Park. It was...pleasant. Not home, not yet. But a place that could be that eventually. Of the dozen people she met thus far, they were all kind and helpful people. Still, she kept her distance. Any one of them could turn on her in an instant.
Fred scratched on the door frame. Sadie looked up. "What?"
He looked to the trees behind her then back.
"Well, go on then."
Fred, her new guard wolf, did a perimeter check a few times a day. He would leave for twenty minutes then come back and sit on the porch. It should freak her out but in reality she felt safer with him there.
He waited. She wasn't sure why. The swish of his tail tugged at her lips. Sadie hadn't realized she had been frowning. His yellow eyes looked so friendly. Now. Sometimes when she looked at them she could see what they had been when they met, fearsome and murderous. As comfortable as she was becoming with Fred, she still hadn't touched him. Well, that was a lie. He had brushed against her leg once but she had jumped at the contact and knocked over a pile of boxes. Now though, with his bushy tail wagging and his head tilted to the side, Sadie wanted to pet him.
One step, then another. She moved across the kitchen with a quick determination. Do it fast or not at all. She reached for him with a shaky hand. Fred stood still and waited. His tail still wagged, faster now that she was close. It was just a slight touch, just a brush of her fingertips. Soon enough though, she had both hands in his fur. It was coarse and thick. His face was softer than the fur on his back, especially that of his ears. Oh, she could pet them all day. Fred sat back on his legs as she explored. She found he liked his left ear scratched more than the right, and just under his chin.
"Alright," she said after awhile, "thank you for humoring me. Go hunt things and pee on trees." Fred licked her hand before turning.
After he trotted off, she found her phone. Two voicemails. One from her mother making sure she was ok. That call was a daily one that could stop at any time. The other was from Officer Kent. He also was calling to make sure she was settling ok. Kent had been the first to find her. Covered
in a splattering of blood and cradling a gun across her chest, Sadie leaned against the counter with glazed eyes. Kent knew who the dead man in her bedroom was. Everyone knew by that point that she had a stalker. No one had wanted it to come to that. The Buffalo police department was informed and was doing all that they could by law to keep her safe. For the better part of a year she had photos mailed to her, angry letters left at her office, death threats and declarations of love. She didn't pay much attention to it all at first until he began to send her a dead bird or a lock of her hair. How he had gotten it had given her nightmares for months. Kent was assigned to her case after she went to the police with a box full of the things he had given her. It was disturbing when she had laid it all out for him. More disturbing than she had wanted to believe.
His voice had brought back the world she was trying to escape from. She was trying to start fresh but his voice was dragging her back. Sadie wanted to call him but it was too much, too soon. He'd have to wait till...well, she wasn't sure. Till she was settled? Till her breath didn't hitch at meeting new people? Till self pity didn't rule her day?
She'd find a job before trying to tackle all of those. Baby steps, she told herself.
The town had limited options in that department. The best thing she could do would probably be to just go door to door down Main Street asking if they were hiring. There was no doubt that she would be over qualified for whatever she ended up doing. However her savings wouldn't last her more than a few months.
She dumped the kitchen in its disheveled state, grabbed a stack of stuff and headed for the bathroom. For the better part of a week she had been showering with only the clear liner around the tub. Earlier, her teal damask shower curtain had arrived. After putting the towels away in the small linen closet beside the sink, Sadie tore open the packaging and began the neck wrenching process of threading the rings on the curtain.
Knock knock.
Sadie jumped.
Knock Knock.
Fear instantly clawed at her chest.
Knock Knock.
Her eyes widened and glazed over with visions of the past and present merging into one. The knocking, the tone, the beat so much like that night.
Knock knock.
She looked at the clock mounted on the wall above her bookshelf. It was 10:45 at night.
Knock knock.
She wasn't expecting anyone and most of her friends and family would call before dropping by.
Knock knock.
"He's dead. I'm safe,"
Tomorrow she had to be up at daybreak to set up for the charity 5K run. Sadie should have been in bed a while ago but had gotten distracted with the internet and all its wonder.
Knock knock.
"He's dead. I killed him."
She put her laptop on the coffee table and stood stretching her arms over head. Whoever it was, they were persistent.
Knock knock.
She had barely had the lock turned when the door opened with Peter standing in the doorway. In one sweep he covered her mouth with his hand and pushed his way inside. "Don't scream."
"He’s dead. I'm safe," she said after each knock. "He's dead. I killed him." Over and over the banging sounded. Each time the shaking would get worse until her whole body vibrated with violent tremors. Further and further she sank into the past. Replaying every moment like she was reliving it. The sting of the slap that split her lip stung just as much now as it had then. The tear of a thousand tiny threads as her shirt was torn down the center bringing with it the chill of the room across her goose fleshed skin. The moist spray of blood, warm across her face.
No...wait, that wasn't blood.
Sadie blinked hard twice. She was sitting in the far end of her bathtub clutching the shower curtain against her chest. In front of her sat Fred. He was licking her cheek. The knocking had stopped. Fred, however did not. He licked away her tears and nudged her with his cold nose. Sadie wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers dug into his fur and held on tight as the shaking went through her. Minutes passed as they sat there.
Sadie had triggers. They could be anything and for the most part she knew what they were. That didn’t mean she could control when someone would hit one though. The knocking was a problem. Getting a doorbell installed would be a priority.
"Thanks," she said while loosening the death grip she had on his fur. Fred's tail thumped off the sides of the tub. She laughed. What a sight they must be. A weeping woman and a wolf in a bathtub with a half hung curtain.
"What do you say I make lasagna for dinner?" Equal parts distraction and subject change, Sadie was becoming a pro at that. Although, he did deserved something tasty for the comfort he had given her. The thumping of his tail became louder and quicker. "Rice krispy treats for desert?" Even though she loved to bake, Sadie wasn't a fan of sweet treats. However, she would sell her left leg for a pan of rice krispy treats.
Fred barked.
"After you," she motioned her hand out of the tub. Fred jumped out but didn't leave her until she was standing behind him. Her legs wobbled as she stood. She steadied herself on the wall and then the counter. After a moment to collect herself she started forward on steady legs.
"Good dog," she said with a pat to his head and went into the kitchen with Fred trailing behind.
*****
Sadie had only driven down main street once before and that was on her way into town when she moved. At the time, she had only wanted to get to the realtor to collect her keys and go home. Now, she took the time to look around and acknowledge the town she had become a part of. Well, she wasn't really part of it yet. Right now she was that woman living at the old Kline place. She had no neighbors, or at least none within a safe visiting distance. Her house was well off the main road which meant in order to snoop they would have to make themselves present. The town had to wait till she came to them in order to get the details on the newbie.
She had put it off for as long as she could. But today would be the day everyone got a glimpse of the new girl.
Sadie parked in one of the angled spots in the square. On each corner of the center of town sat a business. There was a bar, diner, pharmacy and florist. The post office was a few blocks down the west side of town and the library down the east. A market stood sandwiched between the diner and the realtor's office she had previously visited. When she got out of her car, people watched. Sadie knew the basics of small town life. Her father grew up in a town much like Andora. She had visited her grandparents enough to know what the stares meant. They were curious more than anything. Some would be judging her, others just happy to see a new face. But everyone wanted to know about the new girl.
If the looks weren't bad enough back home, now she had to deal with them here. Staying under the radar would be hard to do but she would try regardless. Being in the spotlight and having all that attention was something she would rather leave behind her.
She ignored them all the best she could and walked into the market. It was small, nothing compared to the Wegmans she had used to go to. It contained only the basics and nothing else. She grabbed a basket and filled it with some things to get her by.
"Anything I can help you find, Ma'am?" an acne ridden boy asked from behind her.
Sadie turned after a slight moment of panic with a smile plastered on her face. "No thank you. I'm just stocking up."
"Oh, ok. I'm shelving pasta if you need any help."
By the time she had gotten to the checkout lane, she had been asked by three other people if she was finding everything ok. Two of which were people who did not even work there. She unloaded her basket and chatted cautiously with the cashier. The girl looked remarkably like the pimply boy but with less acne and a year or two older. They shared the same sandy blonde hair and deep green eyes.
"Do you by any chance, know if anyone is hiring?"
The girl looked stricken. "Why would you want to work in this hell hole?"
"Ashley Lee Ann Turner," came a horrified voice behind Sadie.
"You. Out." An elderly woman scooted around the counter and poked at Ashley's arm until she was out of the way. "Go help your grandfather." The girl groaned but obeyed. "Please excuse my granddaughter and her filthy mouth. My name is Caroline Turner."
"Pleased to meet you Mrs. Turner. I'm Sadie James." Caroline had to be in her seventies but moved faster than most teenagers. Her stark white hair was a mass of short curls but Sadie saw the same green eyes that the other two had.
"Did I hear you correctly? Were you asking about a job?"
"Yes Ma'am." Sadie smiled. Caroline reminded her of her Grams. Nosy as the day is long, but made a mean apple turnover. "I've just moved here."
"Oh!" She said, her face brightening. "Well that is excellent. Now tell me Sadie, are you married?"
Known the woman five minutes and already she was getting to the heart of the matter. "No I am not."
"Even better! I know so many nice young men that would do you just right."
Bless her heart. The woman actually thought to marry her off. Too bad she was ruined. "Well, it was nice meeting you Caroline but I have a lot to do today."
"Oh course you do, dear heart. Do you need any help with your bags?"
She didn't. There were only two of them. "I think I can handle it."
"You sure? I can call in Sam from next door. He's an electrician. Strong fellow with knack for things like this."
"For carrying things?" Sadie asked trying not to laugh.
"Why yes, of course!"
If she didn't leave now, she might be married off in the next five minutes. Sadie grabbed her bags and nodded her goodbye Caroline. "Have a nice day," she said as she escaped.
As it happened she ran into Sam the electrician right outside. Surprisingly enough, he didn't scare her one bit like most new men did. Poor Mrs. Turner was in for a surprise when she found out Sam was as gay as they came. He did however, help her open the trunk of her car and welcome her to town.
Too Far Gone (Adirondack Pack Book 1) Page 2
