Page 73 of Wolf's Redemption

He pursed his lips and sucked in a good pull of air. "Yes, but he only did it for you. He wanted to help."

"I told him not to interfere," I growled. I turned and walked away without another word.

I wanted to drive home and tell him straight up what I thought, but the road was covered with glass, and some patrol cars were still blocking the road. There was no way my car would get through.

"Cathy, I can take you to Eric. My car isn't far," Andrew yelled at me, but I kept walking.

My heart was beating slowly, I felt like my blood was turning to fire, and for a moment, I forgot all the discomfort I had and walked to the other block clutching my cell phone, thinking of all the things I would say to Eric when he answered the call.

"Hey, love, I'm just picking up Elliot from kindergarten," he greeted me.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, biting my tongue. "Why did you snoop into my business when I asked you not to."

I heard the sound of the wind bumping the phone's microphone and Elliot humming a tune, but Eric was silent for a moment.

"I did it because you weren't well or sleeping properly. You were neglecting your health."

Eric was also holding back, and it was so our son wouldn't hear us arguing.

"But I had been very clear. That was something for me to do," I said. "I'm not a damsel to be rescued. I can fight my own battles."

I could hear Eric's breath hitching.

"I did it for us and for Elliot," he said. "He's noticed your absence. Anyway, I don't plan on talking about this on a call. Tell me where you are, and I'll come to get you."

"No, I can take a cab," I said, hanging up the phone, not hearing what he was about to say.

I crossed a road to a bus stop to wait for a cab. As never before, the street was almost empty except for a black car parked on a corner. I heard the sound of another car and got out, thinking it was a taxicab, but it was just a white van, so I turned around to sit back down.

The van pulled up to the stop, and the doors opened very fast. I tried to turn around, but I felt a jab in my neck. Whoever was behind me put a black cover over my head.

"What do you want from me?" I screamed.

I tried to struggle, but my body was going numb. My legs couldn't hold me anymore, and before I passed out, I heard the sound of another car approaching.

***

I felt like my body was submerged in the freezing sea, but my mind was sailing through the clouds near the warm sun.

Wake up!A familiar voice whispered in my ear.Cathy, it's time to wake up, don't let your guard down.Then I realized the voice was the same one I heard in my dreams; it was my inner wolf trying to reach me.

I came out of my trance, still dizzy; it was hard to open my eyes, and the rest of my senses were still numb.

"I thought you would sleep all day," said a voice that I immediately recognized.

Someone removed my hood, and I could see a little blurry. I was in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, and there was dirt all over the place, plants that had grown on the walls, a pile of rubble, boxes stacked in a very bad state, three men in balaclavas, and John Smith in front of me with his one hand in his pocket and the other holding a revolver.

"She's still asleep. Pour some more water on her," John said.

One of the men took a container full of water and poured it straight into my face. The water was ice cold and got into my mouth and nose, causing me to choke.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, catching my breath.

He laughed with a smirk, and the other men did the same. "I want you to pay for what you did," he told me. "You and your boyfriend somehow managed to sneak into my store and steal some documents and take some pictures, and thanks to that, now the police shut me down, and my face is all over the news."

"How did you escape?" I asked, spitting out the rest of the water.

"They never caught me. I had an informer in the police department," he added with a winning smile. "He warned me, and I was able to flee without being seen."