Howling Mad: A paranormal wolf shifter romance (Badlands Book 2) Read Online Free
Author: Rebekah Blue
a bullet through my brain. And you want me to trust you not to turn me over to Daddy and his tracker dogs the second you get the chance?” He shook his head.
Her temper sparked. “That’s not fair, and you know it. I’ve never given you any reason not to trust me. I’ve never understood why you don’t.”
His smile was bitter. “There’s a lot you don’t understand, seems like. Did you know he had me bugged?” He searched her eyes, unsure of the answer. “The fact is, your father never had any intention of letting me out of the Zoo. Ever. If the security system hadn’t messed up, the only way I’d have left that place was in a box.”
Naomi frowned. “My father doesn’t keep secrets from me.” Except…she hadn’t known about the listening device. And there was one thing he’d never told her, no matter how many times she’d asked. “What did you do?”
He got up off the bed, making the ancient springs groan. “Something your daddy couldn’t let go,” he said.
Chapter Five
Dinner was candy bars and lukewarm soda. They couldn’t risk leaving the motel – not everyone would be as clueless as the kid at the front desk.
“We should turn on the television,” Naomi suggested. “Did you see when we checked in? It looked like the news was showing something about the breakout.”
Byron walked across and turned on the ancient set, flicking through channels until he got to a news program. The picture was fuzzy with static, but as he came back to sit beside Naomi on the bed, they could make out what was happening clearly enough.
Her father was holding a press conference of some kind in the family room at the Dynamic Earth Rehabilitation Center. He looked grave and well-groomed but approachable – her father was the kind of man everybody liked, and although he’d seemed stressed out recently, he hid it well. She doubted anyone else had noticed he was anything other than his usual smooth, optimistic self.
Standing to his side and slightly behind him was the corporation’s head of research, Professor Stanhope. With sparse, wispy hair combed over his bald spot, he looked fidgety and upset, and Naomi was surprised he wasn’t sucking on his inhaler, as he tended to when under stress. He was an incredibly brilliant man, but highly strung.
When she was little he’d taught her about all sorts of exciting things – the constellations, kid-stuff chemistry experiments with vinegar and baking soda and food coloring…one of his favorite topics was dinosaurs. He’d called them the ultimate predators. He’d told her all the different names and described how they’d been wiped out in a fiery impact that had cast the planet into choking night…but always with a serious air and the occasional nervous cough, as if he was happy enough with the science but could take or leave the human interaction.
He’d never been comfortable around kids. Or, come to think of it, people in general. She was fond of him, but he’d always seemed a strange choice of friend and second-in-command for her charming, energetic, people-person father.
Byron snorted contemptuously. “I see they’ve wheeled out some of the more photogenic inmates,” he said, his tone laced with vitriol.
Naomi was startled by the venom in his voice. “What do you mean?”
He pointed to the screen, at the scene behind the two men. “Magnus. Big, crazy bear turned into a pussycat by the Zoo’s loving care. That chameleon kid who plays hide-and-seek with the wardens – he’s not exactly Hannibal Lecter. That girl who sees the future. They’re the acceptable face of what happens at the ‘rehabilitation center’.” The sarcasm quotes sliced nearly into place, cutting deep.
Naomi saw that he was right – Magnus, Jimmy and Cassandra were seated in the family room. Cassandra was completing a jigsaw puzzle with a female nurse dressed in a little cap and a crisply pressed white linen tunic. Naomi hadn’t seen the nurse before, but then the
Her temper sparked. “That’s not fair, and you know it. I’ve never given you any reason not to trust me. I’ve never understood why you don’t.”
His smile was bitter. “There’s a lot you don’t understand, seems like. Did you know he had me bugged?” He searched her eyes, unsure of the answer. “The fact is, your father never had any intention of letting me out of the Zoo. Ever. If the security system hadn’t messed up, the only way I’d have left that place was in a box.”
Naomi frowned. “My father doesn’t keep secrets from me.” Except…she hadn’t known about the listening device. And there was one thing he’d never told her, no matter how many times she’d asked. “What did you do?”
He got up off the bed, making the ancient springs groan. “Something your daddy couldn’t let go,” he said.
Chapter Five
Dinner was candy bars and lukewarm soda. They couldn’t risk leaving the motel – not everyone would be as clueless as the kid at the front desk.
“We should turn on the television,” Naomi suggested. “Did you see when we checked in? It looked like the news was showing something about the breakout.”
Byron walked across and turned on the ancient set, flicking through channels until he got to a news program. The picture was fuzzy with static, but as he came back to sit beside Naomi on the bed, they could make out what was happening clearly enough.
Her father was holding a press conference of some kind in the family room at the Dynamic Earth Rehabilitation Center. He looked grave and well-groomed but approachable – her father was the kind of man everybody liked, and although he’d seemed stressed out recently, he hid it well. She doubted anyone else had noticed he was anything other than his usual smooth, optimistic self.
Standing to his side and slightly behind him was the corporation’s head of research, Professor Stanhope. With sparse, wispy hair combed over his bald spot, he looked fidgety and upset, and Naomi was surprised he wasn’t sucking on his inhaler, as he tended to when under stress. He was an incredibly brilliant man, but highly strung.
When she was little he’d taught her about all sorts of exciting things – the constellations, kid-stuff chemistry experiments with vinegar and baking soda and food coloring…one of his favorite topics was dinosaurs. He’d called them the ultimate predators. He’d told her all the different names and described how they’d been wiped out in a fiery impact that had cast the planet into choking night…but always with a serious air and the occasional nervous cough, as if he was happy enough with the science but could take or leave the human interaction.
He’d never been comfortable around kids. Or, come to think of it, people in general. She was fond of him, but he’d always seemed a strange choice of friend and second-in-command for her charming, energetic, people-person father.
Byron snorted contemptuously. “I see they’ve wheeled out some of the more photogenic inmates,” he said, his tone laced with vitriol.
Naomi was startled by the venom in his voice. “What do you mean?”
He pointed to the screen, at the scene behind the two men. “Magnus. Big, crazy bear turned into a pussycat by the Zoo’s loving care. That chameleon kid who plays hide-and-seek with the wardens – he’s not exactly Hannibal Lecter. That girl who sees the future. They’re the acceptable face of what happens at the ‘rehabilitation center’.” The sarcasm quotes sliced nearly into place, cutting deep.
Naomi saw that he was right – Magnus, Jimmy and Cassandra were seated in the family room. Cassandra was completing a jigsaw puzzle with a female nurse dressed in a little cap and a crisply pressed white linen tunic. Naomi hadn’t seen the nurse before, but then the
Readers choose
Barry Ergang
Candace Havens
Sennah Tate
Sheri Whitefeather
Karin Slaughter
James Becker
Alan Watts
Evenly Evans