Growl (Winter Pass Wolves Book 2) by Vivian Wood, Amelie Hunt Page B

the main house before trotting off to his own cabin.
    Brooke let herself into the main house. Her brow furrowed when she stepped inside, noticing that the brand new front door lock they’d installed the day before was loose. The door was badly scratched all around the handle, making her wonder what the hell the handyman had been doing.
    Making a mental note to have the man come out and replace the whole thing at cost, Brooke toed off her shoes and looked around the spacious, dimly lit main room of the lodge. It was a huge open-air affair, with two back hallways. One led to a restaurant-quality kitchen and dining area; the other led to a few of the more lavish guest suites. Brooke was partial to one of the smaller bedrooms upstairs, the one she’d stayed in during college breaks, but Pax’s selection of one of Winter Pass’s nicest rooms made her smile.
    His choice was easy to identify, mainly because it was the only door open on the whole hall. That, and the fact that there was a little candlelight and soft music pouring into the hallway, beckoning.
    Apparently Paxton wasn’t above a little wooing, even after all they’d been through.
    Smile on her lips, Brooke shook her head. She needed to head upstairs and freshen up before she threw herself at Pax. Get out of her impractical leather dress, at least.
    Keeping her footsteps quiet, Brooke hurried up the stairs to change and primp a little. A girl needed to look her best when she was about to—
    Brooke stumbled to a halt in front of her door, then screamed .

Chapter Seven
    P ax toweled off after a quick shower — and he meant quick , doing just the bare minimum required, considering the things he was hoping to do to Brooke in short order. He’d managed to get his legs halfway into a pair of soft flannel pajama pants when he heard Brooke’s terrified scream.
    His heart thundering, Pax dragged the pants on and charged out of his suite, heading straight for his mate. He cleared the stairs between them in no time flat, bounding up to find Brooke standing in the hallway, clutching her throat.
    It didn’t take much deduction to find out what had upset her. Scrawled on the door of her room, in shiny-wet dark red, was a message.
    DIE, BITCH .
    One sniff told Pax that the words were written in some kind of paint and ketchup mixture and not actual blood, but that didn’t matter in the face of Brooke’s obvious terror.
    “Come here,” Pax said, drawing her into his arms.
    “What the fuck is happening?” came Chase’s voice. He appeared at the top of the stairs only a moment later, which made Pax think that Chase might have been snooping, making sure Pax and Brooke didn’t get into some kind of drunken fight.
    Standing here staring at the threatening message, holding Brooke’s shivering form in his arms, Pax had never felt more stone-cold sober.
    “We need to sweep the whole lodge,” Pax told Chase, who nodded.
    “Stay right here, B,” Pax said, pulling out his phone. “I’m calling Harlan and Penny to give them a heads up, but no one else should be coming. Okay? It’ll take us five minutes to check the whole place over.”
    “Don’t move,” Chase cautioned. Brooke just nodded, looking dazed.
    Following the familiar pattern set in their military days, Chase and Pax swept each room quickly and thoroughly. After making sure there was no one in the building, they sussed out the subtle forced entry on the front door. Pax also noticed a second-floor window that someone, likely the villain, had left propped open.
    Once Chase and Pax were sure that the whole place was completely secure, they agreed that Pax would bolt the front door from the inside, locking even Chase out. Pax also knew he was going to make Brooke stay in his room from here on out, but he figured Chase didn’t need to know that much.
    When he’d locked Chase out, Pax took the stairs two at a time until he reached Brooke. True to her word, she hadn’t moved an inch. Instead of looking shocked and