Cael (Were Zoo Book 11), R. Butler [best management books of all time txt] 📗

home and taken a shower and changed. It appeared that the daughter was no longer living there, which was a complication he hadn’t expected, but it didn’t matter at any rate. His plan was to take Lori captive, lure Novi inside, and then take them both somewhere remote and kill them.

So they settled in to wait.

The minutes crept by, and his annoyance grew. He fidgeted until he couldn’t sit anymore and took to pacing from one side of the small room to the other.

“Where the fuck is she?” he demanded harshly, his voice just loud enough for his males to hear. She’d been gone for hours.

As if on cue, a car swung into the driveway, the headlights seeping around the edges of the plastic miniblinds. His bear snarled, happy to finally have the source of their problems within reach.

He would snuff out her life, and her daughter’s life, and move the hell on with his own.

The headlights stayed on, the engine idling.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

One of the males at the window carefully peeked between the slats. “She’s just sitting there. She’s staring at the house, but she’s not moving.”

Keir knew they couldn’t just charge out of the house and grab her from her car—she could simply drive off when she saw him. They had to wait for her to get into the house and then they could subdue her.

The lights swung away from the house and the tires squealed as the car revved and quickly disappeared. Keir raced to the window and ripped the blinds aside in time to see the red taillights turn the corner and disappear.

“Fuck!” he roared.

She must have felt his presence in some way, realized that danger was waiting inside. Humans did have an ancient fight-or-flight response when it came to shifters, they just didn’t know the reason they were afraid of some people was because they were also animals. He wondered if that was why she was able to elude him all these years, always be one step ahead of him. She was somehow tuned into him and knew when to run.

It was infuriating.

He needed to end her hold over him and soon.

“What now?” Donovan asked.

“We wait.”

Novi’s phone rang just as she’d tugged off Cael’s shirt. It was tempting to ignore the call, but she didn’t give her number out to too many people.

She kissed Cael’s pec and wiggled her brows at him as she reached for her phone on the nightstand.

Her mom’s name was on the screen. “Hey Mom,” she said.

Cael sat next to her on the bed.

“Novi!” her mom’s voice was panicked.

She lurched to her feet. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she said, breathing hard. “I pulled into the driveway and I thought...it felt like someone was watching me.”

“Are you still at home?”

“No, I left right away. I didn’t even get out of the car.”

She turned to look at Cael who was now on his phone. He whispered, “Tell her to come here,” and Novi nodded.

“Come back to the park, Mom. You can stay in the apartment next to ours.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom! Of course.”

“Ask if she’s being followed,” Cael said.

Novi relayed his words to her mom.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t see any cars in the driveway or on the street, but it was just this terrible feeling. Like something awful was waiting for me in the house. I haven’t felt like that since...” Her voice dropped off.

Novi finished her sentence, “Since he tried to run you off the road a few years ago?”

“Yes.” Her mom’s voice was high and strained.

“Aw Mom, I’m so sorry. I’m really glad that you trusted your instincts and left. How far away are you?”

“Um, ten minutes.”

“Sure you’re not being followed?”

“Pretty sure. It’s late, so there aren’t a lot of cars out.”

“Okay, good.”

She looked at Cael, and he said, “Tell her that I’ll be waiting at the gate to escort her here along with a few of the guards.”

She relayed his message.

“Okay, honey, thank you. I’m really sorry about all this.”

“What are you sorry about?” Novi asked.

“Because you begged me to stay there, but I was too stubborn and now I might be bringing danger there.”

“If no one is following you then you’re not bringing danger anywhere, Mom.”

“He found me. I don’t know how but he did.”

Novi wanted to argue that it could’ve been something else triggering her worry, but she knew in her heart that her mom had a kind of sixth sense about that sort of thing and if she thought it was Keir, then it was.

“It’ll be okay, I promise. The park is so safe.”

Cael kissed Novi’s cheek. “Alistair is meeting me with some other guards at the gate. Tell her we’ll see her soon.”

Novi nodded, relayed his last message and said, “Stay on the phone with me until you see Cael at the gate.”

“Okay.”

There was an awkward pause, and Novi didn’t know what to say. She wanted to alleviate the tension, so she said, “What did you and Cael talk about when he walked you to your car?”

“I’m not telling,” she said, with a chuckle.

“Boo. Fine, fine, keep secrets from your only daughter.”

“It’s nothing bad, I’ll just say that. And he did ask me about staying in the apartment. I should’ve listened.”

“We all make mistakes, don’t let it get to you, okay?”

“I see some guys at the gate.”

“Good. I’ll see you in a few.”

The call ended and Novi sat down on the bed. She let out a trembling breath, grateful her mom had made it to the park safely. Then she realized she wasn’t wearing her shirt, so she picked it up from the bed and put it on. She found her shoes in the family room and hurried to the door. She stood out on the walkway, listening