Chapter Two
SHE WAS UP AT the crack of dawn, showered and sitting in Penny’s robe. She’d been up all night with the damn howling wild wolf outside, pacing, pacing. Up and down. And now she was kicking herself.
Penny accused her of thinking like Mom and Dad, of aligning herself with their wild theories… and she never denied it.
Her sister had run once before. Caitlin watched her leave last night—like a dumbass—with the boyfriend, no, the fiancé, that she’d picked over their parents.
A shifter.
She had no idea where he lived. Would Penny even come back? Did she offer her this cabin to let her guard down while she ran again?
God, she was such a dumbass. She was about to smack her palm to her forehead when the front door swung open.
Now she just looked up at the person standing there—like the dumbass that she was. But the relief in her was so thick, she wondered if they could feel it.
“You look like shit.”
“Thanks.” She wouldn’t admit she was up all night with a freakin’ wolf pacing around outside. Scratching at the door. Howling like it was rabid and wanted a human snack.
When she’d peered through the living room curtain, she’d swear he looked right at her.
Right at her. He knew she was there, he knew she was peeking through the sheers.
“Morning.” Noah greeted her from behind Penny, his hand on the small of her waist as he made his way around her. She didn’t miss the way his hand slid down to caress her sister’s butt. He carried a paper bag of groceries to the kitchen.
She got the feeling he was going to make himself scarce.
Her feelings were confirmed when Penny grabbed a cup of coffee and brought it over to the sofa to sit with her.
“I’m sorry about yesterday.”
Caitlin sighed. “No, I am. I… I didn’t know you were dating a shifter.” Her eyes darted to Noah, but he was busy in the kitchen. “Not until you told me. And last night I called Dad to ask him how long he’d known.” She let her words drop there because it was still too horrifying to say.
Penny peered over the top of her coffee cup, her eyes tired and sad, looking older than her years.
“He’d known you were dating Noah—”
“—since we met. When I left town,” Penny finished. “I never kept it from them.”
“He still signed Turn Limitations into law.” Caitlin’s voice broke on a whisper.
Penny nodded. “He told me Noah was only with me to try to get me to work Dad into going against it. And he would sign it anyway, just to prove to me that Noah was using me. It made no sense because the bill didn’t exist when I met Noah…
and then I realized either it did exist and Dad knew it was coming or he was part of creating it behind the scenes. ”
That was the conclusion she had come to. “I thought you were on a break up with Cory.”
“Cory Pyre? God, no. I went out with him once and he started talking about how I’d make the perfect politician’s wife since I was already trained. Trained! Like a flying monkey.”
Caitlin snorted. She couldn’t help it, she’d been up for too long last night with that damn psycho wolf pacing the perimeter of the cabin and now she felt loopy.
“I thought you’d been seeing him for a while?”
“I was. But romantically, it was the one date. The others were platonic, more like business arrangements. I’d told him I didn’t see a relationship going anywhere. I was polite, of course, but when Dad started mentioning that it would make a good pairing? I was done.”
God, her parents lived in their own reality. They often spoke about when Penny settled down with Cory that it would be time for Caitlin to focus on her future as well.
“I’m moving in with Noah,” Penny said. “The cabin’s paid until the end of the month if you want to stick around for a while.”
“Stick around?”
Penny narrowed her eyes. “Do you think Dad’s going to keep you employed? He’ll give you an ultimatum soon. Maybe since Cory’s free, he’ll offer you up next.”
Caitlin shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t—”
“That’s why I quit and went off on my own.
Oh, not right away, of course. But Dad put his foot down.
Said he could employ anyone for our wages and why would he keep us around, training us in the political realm, if we wouldn’t help him to secure deals with other politicians?
” Penny snorted self-deprecatingly. “I thought he meant being allowed to make a difference. When I told him of course I’d help him secure deals, he said I could start by going to dinner with one of their biggest contributors. ”
“He did not! That’s like… like, selling off his daughters.”
“One by one. And he’s got one left.”
Just then a ding signaled a text on her phone. Penny’s gaze landed on the coffee table at the same time hers did.
She picked it up and opened the lock screen. It was Dad.
When are you coming home?
She quickly typed a reply back. Not sure yet. Why?
There’s a fundraiser next month and Cory Pyre needs someone to attend with him. I want you to brush up on current events and the names of the attendees who will be there.
Caitlin raised her eyes from the text to find Penny watching her.
“Has it started?” she asked softly.
“Cory needs someone to attend a fundraiser with him next month.”
“That’s how it begins,” Penny said softly.
“A favor for Dad. Then another. Before long, he’ll have you paired up romantically.
If you deny Cory, they’ll just brush aside your feelings until you feel like you have to run away just to be heard.
Just to be able to say three little words. I’m not interested.”
Caitlin turned back to her text screen. Just email me the upcoming events. The list of attendees. I’m thinking about staying here for a few weeks. Catching up with Penny.
Don’t be daft, Caitlin. Penny’s on a path of self-destruction. You can’t fix your sister. She’s always been spoiled. That’s my fault. I gave her too much. You have more potential, if you play your cards right.
She’s moving in with her boyfriend. Last night, as a matter of fact. And soon they’ll get married. This is the last time I get to visit with her.
She flipped the power button off. “I think I’ll stay, if it’s all right.”
Penny smiled and there was so much emotion behind that quivery smile.
It occurred to Caitlin how alone her sister must’ve felt with their family muttering about how spoiled she was just because she didn’t want the same things that they did.
A secondary political career as a politician’s trophy wife.
Something even Caitlin thought was normal until it was her turn.
“Go get dressed,” Penny said. “It’ll all be okay. Noah’s alpha is coming over for breakfast. I’ll take you into the next town over. We’ll visit the mall outlets, okay? Down in Silverthorne?”
“Yeah, okay,” she muttered softly. Her mind was still on the text conversation with Dad though. What did it say about her that she automatically had believed Penny was to blame for everything?
She ran a wide-toothed comb through her drying waves and added a little shine serum that Penny had in the bathroom. Same brand she used, which kind of made her smile a little. She dug her makeup bag out of her purse and swiped on mascara, then added a little tinted moisturizer.
She pulled her skinny jeans out of her suitcase and added a deep burgundy Henley to her ensemble. She could toss a vest over it if it got chilly in the mountain air when they stepped out. Probably everyone else would be adapted to the higher altitude here.
She added a thick pair of soft socks and headed back out to the main room of the cabin. As soon as she hit the hallway, the heady smell of bacon permeated the air.
Standing at the small table pouring orange juice into glasses was a man. Probably another shifter. He looked up, caught her eye.
She froze, taking him in.
She knew him, knew his features, knew his eyes.
But no, that couldn’t be, he was a total unfamiliar stranger.
He was even bigger than Noah, and that was saying a lot.
His blue T-shirt stretched over his torso, a flannel in black and blue over it.
He wore a pair of khaki pants and work boots.
His golden-brown hair was longer on top, but shorter on the sides, making the hair there appear darker.
He had the perfect amount of scruff on his lean, square jaw.
And when he glanced up to look at her? Piercing amber eyes that contrasted beautifully with the darkness of his scruff and yet also matched the golden color of the top of his hair.
No, she didn’t know him. She just felt like it.
When it seemed like they stood staring at each other for way too long, Penny spoke.
“Caitlin, meet Isaac. Isaac, my sister. She stopped by for a visit yesterday, but now she’ll stay here until my lease runs out.”
“Smart move,” he murmured, his voice deep and rumbling. It sent shivers rolling down her spine. “Take advantage of a rent-free vacation.” Slowly, he held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet you.”
His piercing eyes never left her face, almost like daring her to touch him.
She slipped her hand into his and God, he was warm. So warm… and strong. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
He held her hand longer than necessary, almost to where it grew awkward. God, he was so warm. Then, as if he too sensed it was weird to keep holding her hand without shaking, he disengaged.
She was left standing there, not knowing what to do with her hands. Was it stupid not to want to touch anything else with the hand that last touched him? It still tingled with the feel of him.
“Let me get your chair,” he snapped, almost as if she’d done some kind of breach of being a guest. So rude. Before she knew it, he was around the table, seating her with the manners she’d screamed at Penny just yesterday that shifters didn’t have.
Maybe he knew.
Pink shame tinged her cheeks. The color must have been obvious, she felt the heat and was aware of his eyes as they dragged there.
“Here we go,” Noah said, bringing a heavy platter of French toast to the table. Penny had a plate of sausage and bacon that she put down also.
Isaac came around the table to sit with her. Too close, really, his huge shoulder practically rubbing up against her.
He reached for the silicone-covered tongs and grabbed two pieces of thick, egg-drenched toast, and plopped them down onto her plate.
He didn’t even pause, reaching out for sausage links and strips of bacon to lay on the side of her plate.
Odd to serve a stranger, like he was the host. But maybe it was because she was a guest?
“Thank you,” she murmured, darting a quick glance at Penny and Noah. Neither one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it was the man’s personality to take charge? Was that what made him alpha?
“I didn’t remember Penny had a sister,” Isaac said. “Much less that you were visiting. Shouldn’t you have come sooner? She’s been here a year.”
He was speaking to her, his voice abrupt. Annoyed. Not to Penny, not to Noah. To her.
God, animals were territorial, weren’t they? Did Penny have to ask permission for her to be here?
Suddenly she wanted to protect her sister, just the way she had in the past.
“Penny didn’t know I was coming. We hadn’t gotten along in recent years.”
“We’re going to fix that,” Penny said softly, and Caitlin looked up to catch her gaze. A charged moment passed between them, and it was like the good old days. The days when they would pass secret looks back and forth.
Caitlin cleared her throat. She’d reward her by complimenting her boyfriend—because that showed acceptance of their relationship. And while she didn’t know Noah very well, he didn’t seem creepy. Not like Cory. Noah loved Penny and she loved him. “This is delish, Noah. You’re a fabulous cook.”
“Thank you.”
“So,” Penny said, cutting into her toast and looking over at the alpha. “Mall today? Noah and Caitlin and I were hitting up the outlets.” She turned to Caitlin. “One of the gals in the pack works there, so I’m sure Isaac would want to come too. Just to check up on pack.”
“True,” Isaac said.
Her heart fluttered in her chest, for reasons she couldn’t figure out.
On one hand, she got to be with her sister.
On the other, she was forced to endure their unpleasant leader.
“Umm, sure. The more the merrier. Can we take my car? It’s empty and I’m afraid I’ll run out of gas if I head out of here alone. ”
“Yep,” Penny agreed. “We’ll stop off at the station and head out.”