Bitten By Deceit Read Online Free PDF Page A

or run in wolf-form through the wilderness. Instead of cruising around town with other girls or guys looking for a good time, she’d picked up tools and showed the boys in the shop that she knew how to handle herself. He’d fallen in love with that girl.
    He sighed and stepped out of the car. This time, she followed.
    “Would it be a problem if I tagged along when you leave the car by the road?” she asked.
    “Go right ahead. It’s not like I can stop you.” He sighed. “Although I might need to be careful. Trouble seems to be wrapped around your tail.”
    She snorted. “You’ll be fine either way.”
    His voice turned serious. “Have you heard from Meg?”
    As they carried the first load of supplies into the house, she replied, “Only a brief text message while we were on the road. Apparently, Liam’s control lessens the farther he’s away from the other werewolves. The ones he left behind in Hadley aren’t as sick anymore.”
    “Well, if she can hold tight, you’ll be back soon enough to get her out of there.” He could have meant that both of them would go, but he wasn’t ready to admit that yet. Now that he had her near him, he didn’t want to let her go. Kyle needed time to think. But then again, she had a life back in Hadley looking after her sister. It seemed plausible she’d just leave him behind again after everyone survived. If they survived.

    With no running water, Emma used a splash from a bottle of water to cool off. The old ranch house didn’t have electricity either, so she opened the windows to let in the cool breeze of the approaching evening. The desert’s silence used to be a solace for her. The intermittent sounds of birds or coyotes would be a welcome pleasure, but now only silence prevailed. The dark corners of the cabin left her wary.
    She wasn’t sure how long the house had been abandoned. All she knew for sure was a long time ago a family had lived here. A family with children had sat on the now-broken kitchen chairs. Parents had cooked meals on the dusty counter top. The home must’ve have been lovely once, the kind of place that, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine living in one with Kyle. He’d still be working as a cop, coming through the door to place a kiss on her forehead. She would’ve spent the day working at the bank. Even if it had been a long day or something went wrong with pack business, he’d still wrap his arms around her, warming her with his embrace. Meg would be there, too. She’d probably be cooking dinner, griping about how nothing exciting ever happened in a small town like Hadley…
    When Emma blinked, nothing had changed. The same dreary room with the remnants of people who had long ago fled. People moved on all the time. She didn’t want her life to resemble this home—broken and incomplete.
    The murky shadows of tiny vermin skulked along the walls, but they didn’t frighten her like Liam’s voice.
    Bring him to me, Emma.
    How much longer could she resist the power of the bite? Liam’s commands came full force every couple of minutes, pushing against her resolve with every breath she took. When she couldn’t sit around and wait anymore, she headed outside and opened her cell phone. Barely a signal and no messages from Meg. She glanced around, searching for Kyle, and sighed with relief when she spotted him walking through the brush.
    “You finished setting everything up?” she asked.
    “Yeah, we need to take the car and leave it by the road.”
    The trip to position the SUV didn’t take long. She watched the road in the distance as the sun dipped below the horizon. She expected a caravan of vehicles to approach with Liam in the lead, but no one came. Her hands formed fists, and she prayed she’d have more time to prepare for the fight to come.
    A warm hand grasped her arm. “Time to go. He won’t come while you stand there and wait. Liam doesn’t operate that way.”
    They strolled back down the long road back to the ranch house,