The Wolf Within by Sondrae Bennett

Author:Sondrae Bennett
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc.
Published: 2011-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

* * * *

This was not good. Squatting outside Julie’s place, Brendan examined the remains of her front door. The knob had been torn right off. Whoever had done this had been not only determined but incredibly strong. More-than-human strong.

Claw marks surrounded the hole where the knob had been.

This had shifter written all over it. But most worrisome? There was no way he’d done this.

When Julie had said broken lock, he’d assumed he’d done something wrong. But this damage was something else entirely. This wasn’t a botched lock picking. There was no finesse in this damage—the lock was irreparable. In fact, the whole doorjamb would need replacing.

How had he not heard anything? The perpetrator couldn’t have been quiet while tearing the door apart. Then again, they hadn’t been quiet themselves. If whoever had done this had struck at the right time, it was no wonder they hadn’t heard anything. He shuddered as he thought about what might have happened had he not come over last night. The thought of Julie alone—of someone breaking into her apartment when he wasn’t around to protect her—left him cold.

Whether she liked it or not, Julie would be staying with him tonight and every night thereafter until he figured out who had done this and eliminated the threat. He refused to risk her safety.

Now the hard part, telling her without causing panic.

Worse, telling her brothers.

A car barreled into the parking lot, screeching to a stop behind him. He turned to see Julie’s three brothers pile out of the car. Judging by the looks on their faces, the secret was out. And it was apparent Julie hadn’t been able to talk sense into them.

If there’d been anger on their faces, he might have tried to explain, to reason with them. But the emotions seething in their eyes went deeper than mere anger. It was all Brendan could do to brace himself before Ethan’s punch landed. The force of the impact drove him to the ground. He was grateful his jaw hadn’t flown off. This might be more difficult than he’d originally thought.

Shaking his head to clear it, Brendan looked up at the three men from the ground. He held up a hand to stay them as they advanced.

“Wait. Just wait. There’s something you need to know. It’s about Julie’s safety.” If nothing else, the word safety would stall them. They’d do anything to keep their sister safe and happy. Beating him up was about protecting her happiness.

But in a competition, “safe” beat “happy” hands down.

“If you care about her safety, you have a funny way of showing it.” Jason gestured toward the broken door. A growl burst out as he saw the damage. “It’s worse than you said, Danny. I ought to beat you to a bloody pulp.” Jason took a threatening step toward him.

“Yes, I broke into her apartment last night. But—” he held up a hand as they started toward him again, “I picked the lock. I didn’t do this to her door.” He paused, letting the information sink past their rage.

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