Chapter 14: Kali

14

KALI

" H onestly, you don't need to do this, Jack," I say, edging toward my little car and secretly praying she'll start in this damp weather.

If she doesn't, I don't want anyone else around to see it.

Jack just blinks, pointing at my car. "Just get in. I'll follow you home and make sure the road's still clear. I don't want your boyfriend turning up on my doorstep tomorrow, telling me you never made it home."

The wind whips through the trees around us, and I shiver, my coat far too thin for an evening like this. Now that I'm working, I'll be able to get myself some new gear.

"Fine. But he's not my boyfriend." I grumble. I hate accepting help, and I'm suspicious of everyone, but it's something I'll need to get over if I'm going to become part of the community here.

Jack smirks at my obvious unhappiness from giving in, before reaching into the back of his truck and pulling out a large coat with the tag still hanging off it.

"Ha. You might need to tell him that." Yanking the label off, he holds out the coat. "Here. You're making me cold just looking at you."

Draping it over my shoulders, he finds a woolly hat and yanks it down over my ears. The clothes swamp me, obviously meant for someone much larger. If they're Jack's, they're larger than everyone.

"It's going to be cold when you get inside. Just humour me and take these." He nods, satisfied once I'm bundled up to his liking, and then he's gone before I have a chance to argue, climbing into his truck and slamming the door.

I stare after him, fighting the urge to strip them off and give them back, uncomfortable with his generosity.

Has anyone other than my family ever done something for me for no reason? There must be an ulterior motive.

A flash of lightning has my stubbornness melting away, and I slide behind the wheel, blasting the heat as soon as the engine is on. When I turn on my lights, a glint of something in the trees catches my eye. That wasn't just a branch swaying in the wind or leaves falling.

Griffin. He's out there, watching, instead of just leaving me alone. No wonder Holly's freaking out.

Ignoring him, I back out slowly and pass Jack's waiting truck, which pulls out right behind me.

As we cover the short distance home, I reluctantly admit to myself that I'm glad Jack is following. Broken branches and toppled saplings litter the road, along with miscellaneous debris blown from people's yards and houses. Things get worse as we turn onto the narrow lane where my house is.

Jack's headlights bob behind me as we bounce over the potholes that weren't this big before.

I slam on the brakes when I round a corner and find a thick tree blocking the road a short distance from my place. While I contemplate whether to just leave my truck there until daylight, Jack climbs out behind me.

Without even hesitating, he hooks his arms under the trunk and lifts it. The veins in his neck bulge as he gets it far enough off the ground that he can shuffle it over to the side, dropping it with a loud exhale.

Holy shit.

I assumed he was like us, but there's no way even Evan could lift a tree by himself.

Ducking his head against the driving rain, he gives me a salute and then jogs past before settling back behind his steering wheel, waiting for me to continue.

When we finally crawl to a stop outside my house, Jack rolls down his window. "You good, or do you want me to drive you back to Maisy's?"

Waving his offer away, I shake my head, trying not to be concerned that he seems to think my home is going to get blown away. A little wind and rain aren't enough to send me running.

"I don't think your man would appreciate me coming inside," Jack says, tipping his head toward the door. "Go in and make sure everything is okay."

"He's not my man." I argue weakly, but not keen on standing in the pouring rain making small talk, I race to the covered porch and fish out my key. Opening the lock as fast as I can with freezing fingers, I try not to remember the fun I had out here last night. A shiver snaps me out of my daydream, and I twist the key, eager to get indoors. My beast has never been as strong as the others, and it doesn't have the same ability to keep me warm. Defective, pale genes strike again.

Shoving the door open, I rush inside and try the lights, breathing a sigh of relief that they work, and glad I don't have to face an entire night by candlelight.

Ducking back outside, I give Jack a thumbs up.

He honks the horn, waving one big arm out the window, and then backs out onto the road.

I stare as his taillights fade into the distance before I go back indoors and start the fire. It takes a while to get going. I'm afraid to admit that I'd let my dad oversee lighting it at home most days. When the small fire finally takes hold and starts giving off some heat, I shrug off Jack's coat and wander into the small kitchen to heat up some leftover dinner from yesterday.

Feeling guilty for not telling Holly her stalker is only Griffin and nobody to fear, I pull out my phone and type out a message to Evan, groaning when I see no reception. The storm. I'm just about to grab a drink, when I peer out the window, and I swear, I see two glowing eyes in the distance.

Fucking Griffin. First, he runs out in the middle of the night, and now, he's acting like a stalker. Does he really think I'm going to let him come in again after what happened? No way. He's good, but I'm not above making him grovel if he's serious about being sorry.

"I know it's you. Just leave me alone," I mutter, forehead pressed to the glass, as I try to get a better look. With one last irritated scan of the trees, I grab my leftovers and plonk myself onto the sofa. A good book and a full tummy are all I need for a cosy night in.

Griffin is not an integral part of my plan right now, which is to focus on creating a life for me. I don't need him, even though he did look ridiculously hot, better than I remembered, if that's even possible.

Closing my eyes and rubbing my temple, I try not to think about what him turning up here means. His beast must be riding him hard to have him posted outside in a storm. Still, I can't feel sorry for him. He'll get the message and go back to Maisy's eventually. He's not going to melt.

Griffin might be sorry, but that doesn't mean he won't trample all over me again if I let him in. He's going to have to do a lot more grovelling than a poorly thought-out apology at my job to turn this one around.

Finally, I'm feeling positive about my life and not letting anyone walk all over me. I'm going to focus on that. I am not, I repeat NOT, secretly thrilled that he's miserable, or hoping he will stick around and prove that he really is serious about liking me. Not one bit.

After the third attempt at reading the same page, I set my book down and snuggle deeper under a blanket, listening to the wind howling through the trees outside. The sound is eerie, and I shiver, glad to be indoors.

My beast is on high alert, even though rationally, we know the tap tap tap sounds against the glass are branches and flying twigs, and not anything more sinister.

But then my ears tune into something else that has me jumping to my feet. A whistle. A loud, high-pitched one. Immediately, I know something's wrong. Very, very wrong.

Ben and Evan used to make John carry one in his pack as a joke, so he'd be able to call them if he fell into a ditch or something. It can only mean one thing: someone out there is hurt. And if they're carrying a dog whistle, they're human. And likely someone I know.

While I'm not the strongest beast around, I can't sit here and do nothing. Hopefully, it's a false alarm, and it's just someone lost or injured. But with three missing women in town already, I can't help the icy dread that slides down my spine as I grab a rain slicker and hat, and then open the front door.