I'm Not Afraid of Wolves (The Cotton Candy Quintet Book 4) by Erin Hayes Page B

by the rules right now,” I said. “Especially since your kind doesn’t.”
    “And what is my kind?”
    “Werewolves,” Sara whispered behind me.
    He waited a beat and then burst out laughing. “Werewolves?” he asked. “Seriously?”
    I clenched my jaw, refusing to yield. Doubt, however, creeped into the back of my mind, whispering thoughts that I was very, very wrong and made a terrible mistake.
    No, I told myself firmly. He has to be one of them. Why else would he be out in the woods at this time of night?
    After everything in life, I no longer believed in coincidences.
    “You were outside our cabin,” I told him. “After midnight.”
    “I was doing my rounds,” he said.
    “Uh-huh,” I said. “And do your rounds involve getting out of your truck and trespassing on private property?”
    I didn’t exactly know the law, but he’d have to have a warrant or something, right?
    He only glared up at me in answer. “So what do you think I was doing?”
    Sara cast a look of worry my way, but I kept my eyes on him. “I think you know what you were doing.”
    He shook his head with a short laugh. “No, I don’t!”
    “Christine,” Emily said from the couch. I tried not feeding into her worry. Although I knew, that out of the four women here, I was the only one standing alone in this conviction.
    “He was outside, on the property, after I chased off the werewolves!” I said, pointing at the park ranger. “You don’t think that’s weird?”
    “No,” Officer Donnelly said, “what’s weird is seeing a naked woman running through the woods after midnight, and then she knocks you out and ties you up.”
    “Maybe we should just let him go,” Emily said uncertainly.
    “He’s a werewolf,” I insisted.
    “I’ll have you know that drugs are a Federal offense too,” he threatened. Was he insinuating that we were on drugs? I almost laughed. “In fact, you’re breaking so many laws down here…”
    “I had nothing to do with this!” Andrea shouted behind me.
    Emily sobbed, confused with the entire situation.
    “We were attacked, Officer,” Sara pleaded, stepping between us. “Pardon my sister, we’ve had such a bad night…”
    “Sara, get back,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
    I spoke too late. The tape that I had thought had secured and restrained his limbs shredded as he lunged out at her from a seated position, transforming into a werewolf as he did so.
    Two thoughts entered my mind. First, that my instincts were correct, he was a werewolf and he was dangerous.
    Second, that I had to protect my sister.
    I roughly shoved Sara behind me, transforming into my werecat form as I did so. So much for saving this dress—it tattered and shredded as my body changed and morphed. I threw myself between them, making my body as big as possible, looking as threatening as possible. The beast that was Officer Donnelly paused, taking in the sight and the fact that I was a mountain lion.
    Screams filled the claustrophobic space of the basement, Sara, Emily, and Andrea. My sensitive ears picked up on it, and if I’d been human, I would have winced. As it was, I had to push their screams away from my mind.
    Even in his wolf form, Donnelly looked confused at my sudden transformation. Like he hadn’t been expecting it.
    I wasn’t falling for it. I bared my teeth and paced between them, daring him to try something, anything .
    Instead, he stayed where he was. As if he was dumbfounded by this turn of events.
    But he should have seen this coming. After all, he’d been one of the wolves from earlier. He saw me in the woods. He was here at a weird time, for Pete’s sake. He was a werewolf .
    Do it, I told him silently. Fight me. I dare you.
    A pity that I was going to have to mess up his rugged, handsome face.
    “Christine,” Sara said, diverting my attention for just moment.
    I turned so that I could keep one eye on him and one eye on my sister. She was backing up to the couch, white as a sheet. Emily and