Howl (Southern Werewolves Book 2), page 34
The other line rang and rang before the voicemail finally picked up.
“You’ve reached Abraham McCoy. I’m not available right now, so please leave a message.”
Just hearing his voice made my heart clench in my chest. It had only been hours, but I already missed him so much. I wished again that he was here with me.
At the same time, if I hadn’t come home early, I never would have found and plugged in my camera. It amazed me that all this time we’d been sitting on something so huge. I couldn’t believe it had taken me this long to try my camera, but what was done was done.
I scrolled through my contacts again and stopped when I found Evey’s. Her phone rang too before switching over to voicemail. I looked at the time in the corner of my screen and saw that it was after midnight.
Was everyone asleep?
Or was the party still going on and no one had their phones on them?
Jealousy raced through my system as I thought about all the fun my friends and pack were having while I was alone here in Raleigh.
I looked around my apartment and saw it in a completely new light.
This wasn’t home.
It hadn’t been in a long time.
I realized then that I’d been holding on to all the wrong things. Instead of listening to my heart and letting it lead me to Abraham, I’d stubbornly refused to change anything about my life. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my whole life had already been changed.
I was no longer Elizabeth Montgomery, criminal attorney. I was El or Ellie depending on who you were, and I was a werewolf.
Those two Elizabeth’s couldn’t coincide, and I’d been trying to get them to do just that for weeks. Like pressing magnets together that are the same polarization. No matter how hard you squeezed, the two just aren’t meant to be together.
I swiped through my phone until I found Callie’s number and called her too. The phone only rang once before there was a knock at my door.
My heart leapt in my chest.
It must be Abraham.
He’d ignored me and followed me back home. Now I’d get the chance to apologize properly before surprising him with this break in the case.
I was so happy, I practically skipped to the door. But, when I opened it, my smile slipped from my face.
“Hey, princess,” Calvin said with a smile.
Princess.
Princess.
Princess.
Suddenly, the finer details of the night I’d been attacked came back.
The killer had called me princess that night. The reminder of his cold whisper swam through my head and I fought off a shiver.
Instantly, all the blood drained from my face and my body went cold. I was frozen in place as my mind tried to catch up to what my body already knew.
I closed my eyes and opened them again, hoping I’d see something different when I did, but the image was still the same.
Calvin’s smile was marred by a chipped tooth on his bottom row. The gap formed a perfect triangle in his smile that I remembered noticing before now.
Calvin was the wolf that attacked me.
Calvin was the serial killer.
Calvin was here, with me, alone.
My brain swirled with these thoughts on repeat as my body stayed locked in horror.
Finally, Calvin’s smile dimmed. “You all right?”
I realized I had two choices. I could confront him, or I could act like I didn’t know who he really was. Considering he was about twice my size, I immediately knew that confronting him was out of the question.
So, I forced a smile on my face. “I’m fine. What are you doing here?”
Calvin ran a hand through his hair and I watched in sick fascination. Those hands had hurt me. Those hands had killed so many women. Those were the hands of a killer.
“I just couldn’t leave you here like this,” he said.
I snapped my eyes away from his hands and focused on his eyes instead. It didn’t make me feel much better.
How had I never noticed how lifeless they were? Like the light was on, but nobody was home.
“Elizabeth?”
I shook my head and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Sorry, I’m just tired.” I stretched my arm above my head and did my best to fake a yawn. “I was just about to head to bed. I’m fine, but thanks for checking on me.”
His smile fell a fraction of an inch. “Do you think I could come in for a little while? I hear you’ve got a great guest room, and I don’t think I should drive back to Asheville tonight.”
My stomach clenched, and my hands began to shake.
I couldn’t let him in here.
I gave him another weak smile. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I really just want to be alone tonight.”
Calvin’s smile completely fell from his face and in its place was stark determination. He took a solid step forward, and I had to back up if I didn’t want to be run down.
“I would really like to stay the night,” he said as he took another step and shut the door behind him.
“Calvin, what are you doing?” I whispered.
Where was the friend that I’d made? Where was the man who’d seen how upset I was and given me a ride home from Del’s show? Where was the man who was the calm antithesis to his surly brother? The one who was always there to calm him down and smooth over any rough patches.
I couldn’t believe that he was the one who attacked me in the woods that night, but the proof was right there in front of me.
Calvin took another step until he was so close, I could smell the liquor on his breath. “Did you know that I can smell your fear?”
I gulped audibly. “I’m not afraid.”
His smile was patronizing as he looked down at me.
“You’ve been drinking,” I said softly.
Calvin smiled and reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. “I needed some liquid courage.”
I knew I was going to regret it, but I had to ask. “Courage for what?” I whispered.
Calvin’s face morphed before my eyes. When before he’d simply looked like a concerned friend, now he had a sheen in his eyes that made my palms sweat.
“For this,” he said roughly before grabbing the back of my head and slamming his lips against mine.
I struggled in his hold as he wrapped his other arm around me. My body was begging me to shift, but I held off for now. I didn’t want to do that in the middle of my apartment if I didn’t have to. Charlie might get hurt or it could enrage Calvin and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Finally, he pulled away, a contented smile on his face. “I’ve been waiting so long to do that.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “What’s gotten into you? You know I’m with Abraham. Why would you do that?” Fear for my safety fled my mind and in its place was shock and indignation.
I couldn’t believe he’d just kissed me.
Calvin’s eyes turned hard. “You were never meant to be with him. I made you for me.”
Oh, so all pretenses were gone? Super.
“So, you tried to kill me, so you could be with me? How does that make any sense?”
Calvin shook his head angrily. “I wasn’t trying to kill you, I was just trying to subdue you.”
I took a step back and bumped into my couch. I had nowhere to go. He’d cornered me.
A voice inside my head whispered, and I took heed like I had every other time.
Do not show weakness.
I dredged up bravado I didn’t know I had and tilted my chin up in defiance. “Why, Calvin? What is all this for? What’s the end game here?”
He shook his head again and paced away from me. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” he yelled, and I jumped in place at his sudden outburst of anger. He rubbed his hands roughly down his face before looking at me again. “Abraham wasn’t supposed to interrupt me. I’d watched you for a while before I attacked. I needed to make sure you were perfect.”
I was so confused.
“Perfect for what?”
He turned to me with a fanatical gleam in his eyes. “I needed to make sure you’d be the perfect mate.”
My hands shook as I tried to understand what he was talking about. “But, I wasn’t a werewolf. Shouldn’t you be looking amongst your own kind?”
He shook his head. “No. I wanted you.”
His words settled in the base of my belly like a lead anvil.
“And now, that you’ve gotten past your first shift, I know we were meant to be.” He stepped closer again and ran his fingers down the side of my cheek. “We’re gonna be together forever.”
I did my best to not move as he touched me, afraid of angering him.
I’d never seen this side of him before. He’d always seemed so level-headed and calm. How had he hidden this perverse side of him for so long and from everyone out in Asheville? How had we missed the crazy that was lurking beneath his good-guy exterior?
I didn’t want to make him mad, but I thought maybe if I talked rationally, that I’d be able to make him see reason.
“Calvin, I’m Abraham’s fated mate. We can’t be together.”
His hand shot out and gripped the back of my hair, tugging my head roughly to the side so my neck was exposed. He leaned down and kissed the tender skin as he spoke. “You were made for me. You’re mine.”
I was trembling in his arms, my body begging me to shift, but I held off still. Once I took it to that place, there was no going back, and I wasn’t ready to give up on reasoning with him.
“Calvin, you’re hurting me,” I whimpered.
He released my hair and cupped my face between his hands. “I’m sorry. I never want to hurt you. I’m going to love and protect you for the rest of my life, you’ll see.”
I took a steadying breath and met his eyes. “Calvin, you’ve already hurt me.”
He pulled away and ran his hand through his hair. “That was necessary. I needed to bite you to make you into a wolf, so we could mate.”
I swallowed down my revulsion. “And you had to strangle me to make me a wolf?”
Calvin’s eyes flashed dangerously. “I told you already, I was just trying to subdue you. I wouldn’t have killed you.”
“What about all those other women in the woods? Why were you hurting them when you wanted me?”
He shrugged, like we were talking about the weather and not the murder of numerous women. “At first, after I lost you, I thought I could make another mate. So, I found them, and I bit them, but all their wounds got infected, so I killed them.”
I closed my eyes briefly as I tried to digest what he was saying so nonchalantly.
He took a step closer to me until I could feel his breath on my face as he spoke. “But then I realized none of them were you. You were special. And you were meant to be mine.”
“So why did you keep killing then?” I asked softly.
“Because I hated them.” He clenched a fist and smacked it against his other palm. “None of them were you, and I couldn’t have you, so I killed them.”
It amazed me that something like taking a life was so simple to him. He said it as easily as someone would read a grocery list. It was then that I truly knew how crazy he was. And how dangerous of a situation I was in.
I thought hard and fast, trying to come up with anything that could possibly dissuade him. “Calvin, if I’m away from Abraham for too long, I’ll get sick. You don’t want that.”
He shook his head. “No. You won’t. You weren’t sick because you missed him, you were sick because you missed me. Didn’t you notice how just being out in Asheville made you feel better? That’s because you were close to me. We are fated, not you and Abraham,” he spat.
Another realization struck me at that moment.
Calvin was not only a psychopath, but he was also delusional. I knew from years of working criminal cases how dangerous of a combination that was.
And I was stuck alone with him, hundreds of miles from anyone who could help.
Chapter 43
Abraham
I rolled over and punched the pillow beneath my head before tucking it under my neck and relaxing into the goose down. Seconds later, that position wasn’t comfortable anymore, and I turned onto my side. Soon, that wasn’t acceptable either, and I rolled onto my back.
It was no use.
I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.
Not after the fight I’d had with El.
I opened my eyes and stared at my ceiling, appreciating the way the posts of my bed looked like barren tree branches stretching upward. Shadows splayed across my walls from the moon outside my windows, and I wished for the hundredth time that she was here.
With a huff, I shook my head.
It was better that she left. I wouldn’t keep her anywhere she didn’t want to be, and she’d made it pretty clear she didn’t want to be with me.
I rolled onto my side again, my face smashing into the pillow. Taking a deep breath, I moaned softly in my quiet room. It still smelled like her. It was like no matter what I did, she was there. A steady presence, a smell, a memory. I couldn’t shake her.
Not that I wanted to.
I knew exactly who and what El was from the moment I laid eyes on her. When she’d opened her big, beautiful brown eyes, I’d known I was a goner. Even injured and barely conscious, she’d put up a fight. It was the first thing I’d admired about her.
That spitfire attitude had only intensified by the time she woke up here in my bed.
I groaned again as I imagined her here between my sheets. The way her soft, milky skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. The way her thick blonde hair would form a sort of halo around her face when she laid on my pillow. The way my hands itched to touch her every second of every day.
I would never get enough of her. I knew that to the core of my being.
She was meant for me, and I was meant for her. Nothing could come between us.
Except, of course, her.
She ran.
Again.
And even though I was sick of chasing her, I knew I’d do it until the day I died. There was no other choice for me.
Tonight, had been perfect. We’d laughed, ate, danced, loved. It was everything I could have ever imagined.
And El had been stunning.
I’m not talking about the way she looked, although she was as gorgeous as ever. I mean the way she effortlessly greeted our pack and friends with the gracefulness of a born leader. She’d stood by my side like she’d always been there, and I couldn’t have been happier.
And then, suddenly everything had changed.
She’d come out from the bathroom like an avenging angel. So beautiful and so furious, it took me a minute to even understand what she was mad about.
Even when I figured it out, I was still confused.
Countless questions had spun through my mind as she raged against me.
Why was this coming up now?
Where was this coming from?
Had someone planted these ideas in her head?
And the hardest question of all: Why didn’t she trust me?
I know we’d only known each other a few short weeks, but didn’t she know me better by now? Didn’t she know that I’d always do what was best for her? Put her needs above anyone else’s?
And why did this alpha position scare her so much?
It was clear to me, and I’m sure anyone else who saw her in action, that she was a born leader. She was fierce, kind, loving, protective. All the things that make a great alpha.
But she’d balked.
And then, she had this wild idea that the pack wouldn’t accept her as their alpha. Just the thought made my blood boil.
Sure, bitten wolves weren’t exactly at the top of the food chain in werewolf society, but our pack wasn’t like that. Most of these people were misfits. Wolves that didn’t fit into the correct mold in their old packs who’d come here to live freely.
It might take a period of adjustment, but I had no doubt everyone would come around.
But who had planted that idea in her head to begin with?
I hadn’t noticed anyone go into the lodge after her because I’d watched her the whole way. I’d even caught Wyatt’s eye and made sure he was standing nearby just in case she needed him.
So, what had happened?
The questions were endless, and I knew there was no way I was getting any sleep tonight.
A soft set of footsteps sounded out in the hall and stopped right in front of my door. I listened as whoever it was opened my outer door and padded across the room to my bedroom door.
I sat halfway up in bed, assuming it was another one of my sisters come to berate me for the fight with El.
I’d tried to explain to them that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they wouldn’t hear it. I was outnumbered, and I’d finally given up and gone to bed.
When my door creaked open and a small head poked through, I thought it might be Evey, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was Peyton.
I closed my eyes briefly before sitting up.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked, my voice gruff in the quiet room.
Peyton took a step through the door and closed it behind her. She wrapped an arm around her waist, almost as if she were trying to make herself seem smaller and unassuming, but I knew better.
Peyton had played me for years, using the innocent act to try to weasel her way into my bed. It hadn’t worked then and it sure as hell wouldn’t work now. There was no one else for me but El. Nothing would ever change that.
Peyton shifted from foot to foot as if she were nervous. When she finally spoke, her usually high-pitched voice was softer than I’d ever heard it.
“I thought you might want some company.”
“You thought wrong.”
She shifted from foot to foot again and her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “Abey, I think you need to accept the fact that things aren’t going to work out with Elizabeth.”
My hands clenched into fists in my lap. “That’s none of your business, and now it’s time to leave.”
She ignored me and took a step closer. “You know she’s all wrong for you. And every chance she gets, she runs. What kind of mate is that?”
