Call of the Wolf by Madelaine Montague Page A

. She'd slept fitfully the night before, not only because she was in such an ‘alien’ place, but also because the damned house had way too many shadowy nooks and crannies. It creaked and groaned almost constantly and the wind whistling around it sounded like moaning ghouls.
    She'd finally locked herself into her bedroom and barricaded the door, but even that hadn't really made her feel safe. The huge windows in her bedroom were as tall as fucking doors and made her feel as if she was sleeping in a department store show window even with the blinds tightly closed.
    After nibbling her way through half a sandwich, half an apple, and half of a container of yogurt, she finally decided she just couldn't find what she needed to appease the gnawing in her stomach—because it wasn't actually hunger. Grabbing up the folder that outlined her job, she debated briefly whether to try one of the rockers on the front porch or head out back. She finally decided sitting on the front porch might look like an invitation and headed out back.
    The ‘late model’ car agent Milner had told her about looked like an unmarked police car—and probably had been. Ignoring it, she headed toward the grouping of lawn furniture she'd spied in the very back of the yard. The air was a little crisper than she really liked, particularly since tall trees still shaded the yard, but the tall privacy fence prevented anything more than a light stirring of air. Deciding she'd just go back inside if she was too uncomfortable in her shirt sleeves, she brushed the sprinkling of colorful leaves out of the chair she'd chosen and curled up in it. Pulling the information she'd been given out of the folder, she settled to reading it to refresh her memory for the following day's trial by fire.
    She already had a headache forming when she heard the grumbling growl of motorcycle engines. Settling the stack of papers in her lap, she lifted her head to listen, wondering if they were just returning from somewhere or just leaving. They'd gone out the night before, she remembered. Maybe they'd ‘scored’ and were just wandering back in?
    It actually seemed probable. As good looking as that bunch was, the local female population had probably thought they'd died and gone to heaven when they sauntered in to the bar in all that sexy leather—with ‘bad boys’ written all over them, almost literally.
    The engines were shut off, which seemed to confirm her suspicion and then she heard male voices. Struggling to dismiss them from her mind, she picked up her reports again and tried to find where she'd left off.
    "Getting ready for your first day?"
    "Shit!” Abby exclaimed, bouncing in her seat and throwing papers in every direction. Flicking a quick survey around the yard and then at the fence, she finally spied Seth staring at her frowningly above the top edge of the fence.
    "I was,” she muttered irritably. Scrambling out of her seat, she got down to gather the bulk of the papers, shoved them into the folder, and then began to chase the others that the wind had managed to strew around the yard.
    Seth, she discovered, had joined her. She didn't feel any real dismay, though, until she noticed him glancing curiously at the pages he had chased down. Striding across the yard, she snatched them from his hand. “Thanks!"
    The look he sent her was filled with speculation, but she didn't think he could possibly have read much before she'd reclaimed her ‘report.’ Glancing away from him to scan the yard to be certain she'd rounded all of the pages up, she discovered Cameron had joined them. Leaning down, he snatched a wayward page from the ground.
    She rushed to him and grabbed one corner. Unfortunately, he didn't let go and she only succeeded in tearing one corner off. Glaring at him, she caught the edge of the paper and tugged at it until he let go.
    She didn't like the way he looked at her when she'd retrieved it.
    Turning away, she discovered that Seth had sauntered to her chair