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“Shush.” I gasped, my eyes darting as I sat still and tried to track the movements I heard outside.
Breathing slowly so I didn’t hyperventilate and pass out, I listened intently. Gulping, I heard four distinctive movement patterns out there. Four. Because the Sheppard brothers were probably out there and ready to come in here and tear me—
“Stop that.” I sobbed, my chest aching from the harsh beat of my heart while tears filled my eyes and terror tried to choke me.
“Serendipity.”
I screeched when I heard the hiss just outside my little window and scuttled back with fright when laughter whispered through the ensuing silence. I was so scared I could barely think straight, and it was only when I had my phone clutched in my hand, with Caleb’s number brought up, that I calmed enough to think clearly.
I couldn’t call Caleb, and as frightened as I was, I knew that this was something I had to do for myself. If nothing else, I was going to prove I could take care of myself. Plus, well, the more my fears grew, the angrier I became.
“I’m so sick and tired of this. So tired of them taking and taking and taking, and then they think it’s okay. Fuck that.” I snarled the hurt, fear, and anger I’d been carrying around for months coalescing until I felt like I was going to explode with it.
I was done, Goddammit. So done with men walking over me and thinking it was okay because I was nice and small and weak. I wasn’t weak, dammit. And I was so fucking done being afraid.
Now Renny—
“First, he hurts me, breaks my heart, and takes my baby away, and now these idiots are harassing me? Enough. I've had the day from hell. Caleb hurt my feelings, and now this? No, fucking, thank you!” I snarled, slinging the covers back and stalking to the closet while pure rage filled me.
Now honey—
“I deserve to be loved, dammit. I’m a good person, and I treat people with kindness and decency. I don’t deserve to be harassed and treated like a second-class citizen!” I screamed, grabbing Shane’s old shotgun and loading it with shells.
Honey. Erm, listen, you need to calm down—
“Fuck that,” I yelled, my bare feet thwacking against the old linoleum when I stomped to the door.
Disengaging the locks, I kicked the door wide and glared, daring someone to be there as I shucked the shotgun. One step, and I was outside, so ready to actually kill someone, if I weren’t so pissed, I’d second guess my zeal for murder.
“You wanna play tonight, you bastards!” I screamed, pointing the gun around the empty yard and shooting at the dirt to let them know I was serious. “Come on! We can play. We can play all night fucking long. You wanna scare someone? That isn’t me, not anymore. Come on out here and let me see you, big, tough men. I’ll fill your asses right up and drag your filthy carcasses home to that old asshole you call a mother. Come on!” I yelled, twisting and so intent on shooting something, when I realized I was alone, it just pissed me off even more.
“Fucking cowards,” I yelled, storming back inside without engaging one lock.
Um, okay. So that was interesting.
“I’m so done letting men walk all over me and use me and hurt me.” I snarled, slamming the gun down and glaring at the door as if daring anyone to come through it now.
Babe. That was just…
Crazy, my wolf whispered, her shock and bewilderment finally penetrating enough that I fell back into the corner of the kitchen, my adrenalin crashing so fast I felt shaky.
“You could have been killed,” I whispered to myself, skipping between shock and the lingering anger that seemed to have set up residence inside me.
Yeah, well, you weren’t. You were awesome! So awesome, and now, people will know you’re not just some cowering baby. Good job, honey. Good job.
I snorted, not sure I should be okay with my inner crazy praising me. What I did know, as I cowered in the corner in shock, was that I was so done being afraid, and the next time someone thought they could hurt me, they were going to regret it.
Chapter 14 Caleb
She didn’t talk.
Hadn’t said a damn thing to me in days, and the longer it continued, the madder I got. She didn’t even talk to herself anymore, dammit, and I relied on that constant chatter to know what she was thinking. Snarling because I was both furious and nervous, I stomped down the basement stairs, ready to rip Ren a new one and demand she…just talk to me.
What I found instead was a peaceful scene. One that told me she was doing just fine and wasn’t the least bit worried about anything. In fact, Ren was so damn calm and serene when she looked up at me and gave me another polite smile; it made me want to roar.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled, my eyes skipping between that polite, vacant smile and the socks on the ironing board.
Socks?
