Wilde About Her (Wilde Pack Series)(4)

Those were the days.

It was after spending an afternoon at the diner, Denim had returned to  the house to find Grandma Bea lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.  Immediately, she'd called an ambulance and her grandmother had been  admitted into the hospital, only to never return home again. Denim's  parents came down and after the funeral, she went back to Tulsa. After  that, she couldn't bear the thought of returning to Justice to that big  house and Grandma Bea not being there. Denim knew her actions had hurt  Pappy's feelings, but she just didn't think she could do it and in the  process she had convinced herself there was nothing left for her in  Justice. But in a matter of a day she relived the slow-paced charmed of  the town and its warm friendly residents and realized that maybe she had  it all wrong. Justice had once been her home away from home. Pappy  needed her, and selfishly, until she figured out which direction her  life was headed, she needed Justice and Pappy as well.

Denim pushed through the forest. She knew the area like she knew her way  around Macy's department store. As crazy is it sounded, she used to  camp out during the summer with Quinn.

Back in Tulsa she never would have dreamed of heading out into the  forest, but in Justice, as she moved deeper within the trees, Denim felt  a sense of peace she hadn't felt in forever. Maybe it was just being  hundreds of miles away from campus and her pathetic personal life.

As she reached a tall oak, she suddenly remembered the treehouse built  to look out over the rolling hills below. Grandpa once said he had built  it for her father and Uncle Luke when they were younger. Denim smiled  as she remembered how she used to dash out there and hide for hours  whenever she was unhappy with the world and somehow being up in the tree  always made things feel better. Oddly, she wondered if the treehouse  still had that magic. Maybe it would have the power to make her forget  her cheating boyfriend and skank ex-best friend.         

     



 

Denim climbed the steep hill, feeling the pull at her calf muscles with  each step. Goodness, when was the last time she had worked out?

Looking up, she searched through the trees and bush that had grown  considerably tall and thick since she had last visited, and Denim  spotted the tin roof up ahead. Sure enough as she stepped around a bush  there it was, her treehouse, on top of a large oak tree with a trunk so  thick she couldn't put both arms around the base even if she'd tried.  She walked over to the tree and tested the reins of the ladder that had  been screwed into the bark, before she felt confident enough to climb.  It took a little effort, but she finally managed to reach the top and  pushed herself into the cramped space. It was funny how at one time the  house had felt so spacious to her and Quinn and now there was barely  just enough room for her, and her alone. Denim crawled over to the  window and with her fist propped beneath her chin, she stared down the  grassy hillside. Acres and acres of land for as far as her eyes could  see.

Shifting onto her knees, Denim swiveled the telescope and pointed it out  the window. After all those years, she suspected the instrument was no  longer functional and was amazed that it still worked. She turned the  dial until her focus was clear and stared ahead. She had no idea how  long she sat there staring out at nothing before her mind shifted to a  time when she and Quinn thought they'd seen the boogey man. As she  chuckled softly, Denim caught movement out the corner of her eyes.

Wow!

All of a sudden there were horses. Dozens and dozens of beautiful horses, galloping wild across the land.

"Oh my!" she gasped and was happy to see someone had finally claimed the  land. While she watched the horses, she imagined riding on the back of  one. It had been years since she'd gone horseback riding. Maybe I'd get  another chance. She would certainly ask Pappy questions about the new  owner.

Denim watched the horses until her knees began to hurt on the wooden  planks and had just turned her head when she caught movement again.  Resting her eye against the telescope, she aimed over toward the trees  and saw something step out that caused her to gasp. It was a dog. No …  it  was bigger than a dog. A wolf maybe, except that it was the size of a  horse. Denim blinked and blinked again, making sure her eyes weren't  playing tricks on her. Nope. They weren't. Sure enough the supersized  dog was standing there at the edge of the forest. And then there was  another. And another. Three total. All humungous in size. Denim couldn't  scream. She couldn't move. She was mesmerized. Instead, she just  stared. They had to be wolves. Only they were like nothing she had ever  seen at the zoo. Not that size. And definitely not that color. They were  golden blonde and breathtakingly beautiful. She should have been afraid  and if she could have found her voice she would have possibly screamed,  not that anyone would have heard her. Instead, her lips were parted,  only nothing came out. She was frozen in awe as she watched.

They hurried down the hill and raced around the horses. Denim expected  the animals to be spooked and gallop away. Instead, they were calm as if  they were used to roaming with wolves. There was no way in hell this  was happening! Seriously … , wolves just don't get that big. Or do they?  And then Denim remembered Pappy had once said there were werewolves  lurking around in these parts. Grandma Bea used to tell her it was a  bunch of nonsense and Denim would cover her mouth and softly giggle, but   …  had Pappy been right?

As she watched, one of the wolves tilted his head back, howled, then the  other two stopped and did the same. The sound was loud, almost raspy.  Not at all the howling heard in the movies. It was almost as if the sky  had rumbled warning of a potential thunderstorm. To the horses, the howl  was a command, because they all turned and headed back in the direction  they'd come.

Denim watched as the wolves waited until all of the horses had  disappeared before they headed after them. But just before the last wolf  stepped into the thick of the forest, he stopped, turned his head and  she gasped. He was staring in her direction. No freaking way! She held  her breath as she waited to see what he did next.

I know you're there, rang in her ears as if he was standing right beside  her. Telepathy. Uh-uh! She was really starting to lose it. There was no  way she could hear what a wolf was thinking so she shook the ridiculous  idea aside.

Of course he couldn't see her acres away, up high in a treehouse, but to  be on the safe side, Denim reared back from the window. She waited,  heart pounding heavily as the wolf tilted his head toward the sky,  sniffed the air, and then he was gone.

Denim jerked away from the telescope and leaned against the wall of the  treehouse, breathing heavily. "There's no way," she told herself. All  those years of Pappy talking about werewolves … , had he been telling the  truth?         

     



 

She tried to wrap her brain around it. White wolves were practically  extinct and hadn't been seen in this area of Texas in centuries, and  yet, even if they were still around, there's no way they could have been  golden blonde and that freaking big. What she had seen had been like  wolves on steroids. There was just no way. In fact, something like that  wasn't even normal, and suddenly she was afraid.

Denim hurried down from the treehouse and raced through the forest and  onto the lawn, looking over her shoulder every few steps making sure  none of the wolves had followed. Once she entered the house, she bolted  the door and sagged against it.

Blonde wolves in Justice.

She had to tell someone, and yet …  other than Pappy, who would believe  her? The town would just laugh and think she and her grandfather were a  joke. They would just think the fruit didn't fall far from the tree if  she started talking about what Pappy had been telling folks for years.  Denim finally concluded she was tired and after a long day, her eyes had  been playing tricks on her. And maybe the wolves weren't as big as the  telescope had made them appear. After all, the instrument was old and  outdated. Yep, that's what it was. The lenses were warped. She breathed a  sigh of relief at her conclusion and decided to keep what she thought  she had seen to herself. Besides, if she told Pappy, what good would it  do? It would just get him all agitated and ready to go hunting and she  couldn't have that. She would never forgive herself if anything happened  to him.

Nope. For now, what Denim thought she saw would have to stay a secret.





4



The following morning Denim showered and came down to the kitchen. Pappy  was already making breakfast. He was standing in front of the deep  farmhouse sink when he turned to her and smiled.

"Good morning, Sweet Pea. You want any eggs?"

"No, coffee and toast is fine," she replied, rising on her toes to brush a kiss to his butter-pecan colored cheek.

He frowned. "You need to fuel your body."