Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
God forsaken house, she thought to herself. Was there no getting away from the carnage it brought to her life? It had been bad enough when she had feared for her own life, but now she had a tiny person inside to protect.
“Paul, what are you doing?”
“My life has gone to shit ever since you arrived in this town. You stole my house. You turned King against me. He kicked me out of the club, told me to go far away and never come back.”
“Paul, if you want this house, you can have it. I was planning on selling it to you before you left. Just name your price and it is yours.”
“Nah, too late for that. I’m ruined here. I’ve been hiding in here like an animal, just waiting for someone to come and see what I’ve done. I’ve waited weeks after the construction crew left and no one came, not until today.”
“I’ve been busy, but I’m here now and I see what you’ve done. I see what potential the place has now. It is so much more than what I had considered doing. You have vision.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Jo. I’m not your stupid ex-husband. I gave him one call and told him you were out here fucking around on him and boy, did he come running. Got himself killed in the process. He was supposed to come while you were alone. King wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“You set me up for him to hurt me,” she said, trying not to grit her teeth as she said the words.
“I did, but it didn’t work out. I guess I’ll have to do the job myself if I want to be rid of you, but I can’t afford to go down like that. I’m going to set King up for it instead. He already killed once and got by with it. He won’t be able to explain, so easily, how his fiancée got ripped apart on the floor of her own house with no one around but him.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because he’s the only thing that stands between me and being pack leader. It’s always been my destiny, one he never showed much interest in until recently, when you happened along.”
“That’s not true. He was interested long before I showed up.”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe, but he had no chance as long as he was such a loner, refused to settle down. Now, here the two of you are, playing footsie and getting married, making him a shoe-in for president, but not if he’s in prison for murder. Too bad you aren’t further along. I could probably get him nailed for a double homicide.”
“You’re sick,” Jo replied.
There was a heavy thud against the door and she found herself looking into the large greenish yellow eyes of the black wolf she knew to be King as he charged through the door.
“Right on time,” Paul sing-songed, quickly shifting and lunging for the pair of them. Jo ran toward the door, but it was suddenly blocked by Paul, who leapt over it and snarled at her. His wolf was a drab brown color, its fur matted and patchy in spots. Whatever was wrong with him seemed to show up in his animal form as well.
Was it madness? Illness? Something was definitely amiss. She suddenly found herself being pushed back, hidden behind King as Paul stalked toward him again, his teeth bared. He charged them, snapping and biting at King’s leg as he did his best to defend himself and her.
She felt a sudden lurch, as if the world was tilted and looked around, puzzled. Something wasn’t right, but in all the chaos happening around her, she couldn’t quite grasp the situation. Paul jumped at them and King threw himself sideways. The other wolf skidded across the floor behind him and hit the back entrance door with a loud thud.
There was a distinct creak around them. It was loud, much louder than just a noise caused by hitting a door would be. Jo had that feeling of being tilted again and looked around. The walls to her left were tilted inward. Was the house collapsing inward? What had they done to the structure of it in Paul’s plans?
It was then that Jo glanced toward the right and saw those walls too were leaning inward. Her feet felt off kilter and she looked down to see that the floor was splitting open, it seemed. At first, it was just a little, but it was widening quickly. Paul had King pinned down and was not paying attention.
“King, we have to get out of here,” she yelled.
Her words were drowned out by a loud rumbling and ripping sound as the floor opened up beneath them. She threw herself to one side, clamoring for the open garage door and throwing herself forward. She looked back, baffled, as the ground gave way beneath the house and it was sucked into the void, leaving nothing but a huge hole where it had once stood.