huge.
He dwarfed Charles with his massive neck, hulking shoulders
and thick arms. His broad chest crowned a thick torso and
wide hips that were supported by thighs the size of telephone
poles. Even though his back was to her, Kat could see the blush
creep up the pale skin of the ears that stuck out on either
side of his red ball cap.
"I wouldn't hug a girl like that, Charlie,"
the man said seriously and as if Charles should know better than to
say such a thing. "You got to be careful with girls. They're like
Mama's china tea cups and break real easy. And no huggin' lessin'
she's your girlfriend," he continued as if reciting a rule. "I
don't got no girlfriend. But you do," he said slyly and turned and
winked at Kat.
Three voices sounded at once.
"Buddy!"
"No, she isn't."
"N-no. I'm not." Kat was as quick to
answer as Charles and she hoped the others thought her stutter
was caused by the comment and not by her first good look
at Buddy's face.
Buddy Gregory was an albino with snow white
hair, colorless brows and lashes and pale, almost transparent blue
eyes. His lips, too, showed only a hint of color against the
gleaming white of his teeth bared in a childlike grin. It was hard
to put an age to his innocent and unlined face, but if she was
forced to guess, she'd say his late twenties.
The white haired giant blushed fiercely. "But
Mama said if Charlie was gonna be..."
"Maybe you better pay less attention to your
Mama's mutterings and more attention to your manners," Mrs. Martin
interrupted before Buddy embarrassed them both. "Instead of tossing
Mr. Goodman around, maybe you should have been holding out
your hand and introducing yourself to the lady."
Poor Buddy looked like he wasn't sure what to
do. He looked at his mother, looked at his hand, and looked at
Kat.
Kat took pity on the confused man and held
out her hand. "Hi, I'm Kat. It's nice to meet you, Buddy."
"Kat?" he grinned as he shook her hand, very
gently, she noted. Still shaking and grinning, he looked to his
mother. "You were right Mama. We got us another Kitty Kat." Buddy
laughed at his joke. "Our other one died," he explained to Kat,
"But I didn't eat it. We don't eat cats." He emphasized each word
with a shake of his finger as if it was another rule.
"I'm glad to hear it" she laughed.
Chapter 7
"What do you mean he's not there?"
Charles was shouting so loudly into his
phone, they could hear every word from the kitchen. He was pacing
like a wild animal held in a cage, back and forth, back and forth,
in front of the windows looking out over the patio. He'd been
making phone calls for the last half hour, becoming louder and more
frustrated each time the people he tried to contact were
unavailable.
By the sound of it, he'd gone back to the top
of his list.
"Don't give me that out-of-town shit, Henry.
We both know he's not on vacation. Saint Marshall wouldn't leave
his precious Rabbit Creek unattended." His jaw clenched as he
listened to what Henry had to say.
"Bullshit! Elizabeth'll be ready to whelp any
day now. Hell, half your female population must be ready to drop
their cubs, so you know as well as I do, nobody's going anywhere
any time soon."
Whatever was said on the other side of the
line made him grin, but no one would know it from the sound of his
voice.
"You're welcome," he snarled, "If you weren't
my cousin, I'd come down there and rip your throat out. What kind
of a Second are you? You don't know where your Alpha is. You don't
know where the goddamned kids are and you don't have a contact
number for Eugene Fucking Begley." He held the phone out and looked
at it as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I didn't call him," he yelled at the phone
in his outstretched hand, "Elizabeth did. She said she'd take care
of finding me a housekeeper for this place and a teacher for the
kids." A pause. "Yes, dammit, but she knew damn well they weren't
both supposed to come here. Shit, the teacher isn't even one
He dwarfed Charles with his massive neck, hulking shoulders
and thick arms. His broad chest crowned a thick torso and
wide hips that were supported by thighs the size of telephone
poles. Even though his back was to her, Kat could see the blush
creep up the pale skin of the ears that stuck out on either
side of his red ball cap.
"I wouldn't hug a girl like that, Charlie,"
the man said seriously and as if Charles should know better than to
say such a thing. "You got to be careful with girls. They're like
Mama's china tea cups and break real easy. And no huggin' lessin'
she's your girlfriend," he continued as if reciting a rule. "I
don't got no girlfriend. But you do," he said slyly and turned and
winked at Kat.
Three voices sounded at once.
"Buddy!"
"No, she isn't."
"N-no. I'm not." Kat was as quick to
answer as Charles and she hoped the others thought her stutter
was caused by the comment and not by her first good look
at Buddy's face.
Buddy Gregory was an albino with snow white
hair, colorless brows and lashes and pale, almost transparent blue
eyes. His lips, too, showed only a hint of color against the
gleaming white of his teeth bared in a childlike grin. It was hard
to put an age to his innocent and unlined face, but if she was
forced to guess, she'd say his late twenties.
The white haired giant blushed fiercely. "But
Mama said if Charlie was gonna be..."
"Maybe you better pay less attention to your
Mama's mutterings and more attention to your manners," Mrs. Martin
interrupted before Buddy embarrassed them both. "Instead of tossing
Mr. Goodman around, maybe you should have been holding out
your hand and introducing yourself to the lady."
Poor Buddy looked like he wasn't sure what to
do. He looked at his mother, looked at his hand, and looked at
Kat.
Kat took pity on the confused man and held
out her hand. "Hi, I'm Kat. It's nice to meet you, Buddy."
"Kat?" he grinned as he shook her hand, very
gently, she noted. Still shaking and grinning, he looked to his
mother. "You were right Mama. We got us another Kitty Kat." Buddy
laughed at his joke. "Our other one died," he explained to Kat,
"But I didn't eat it. We don't eat cats." He emphasized each word
with a shake of his finger as if it was another rule.
"I'm glad to hear it" she laughed.
Chapter 7
"What do you mean he's not there?"
Charles was shouting so loudly into his
phone, they could hear every word from the kitchen. He was pacing
like a wild animal held in a cage, back and forth, back and forth,
in front of the windows looking out over the patio. He'd been
making phone calls for the last half hour, becoming louder and more
frustrated each time the people he tried to contact were
unavailable.
By the sound of it, he'd gone back to the top
of his list.
"Don't give me that out-of-town shit, Henry.
We both know he's not on vacation. Saint Marshall wouldn't leave
his precious Rabbit Creek unattended." His jaw clenched as he
listened to what Henry had to say.
"Bullshit! Elizabeth'll be ready to whelp any
day now. Hell, half your female population must be ready to drop
their cubs, so you know as well as I do, nobody's going anywhere
any time soon."
Whatever was said on the other side of the
line made him grin, but no one would know it from the sound of his
voice.
"You're welcome," he snarled, "If you weren't
my cousin, I'd come down there and rip your throat out. What kind
of a Second are you? You don't know where your Alpha is. You don't
know where the goddamned kids are and you don't have a contact
number for Eugene Fucking Begley." He held the phone out and looked
at it as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I didn't call him," he yelled at the phone
in his outstretched hand, "Elizabeth did. She said she'd take care
of finding me a housekeeper for this place and a teacher for the
kids." A pause. "Yes, dammit, but she knew damn well they weren't
both supposed to come here. Shit, the teacher isn't even one
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