Cats And Dogs: A Shifter Novella Read Free Page B

quickly. Then she went and sat back on the
edge of her bed, her heart heavy.

    With dread, she waited for what
she was sure would come next…her uncle’s heavy footsteps pounding
up the stairs, the shouting, the threats…but it didn’t
come.

    Instead, she heard angry voices
rising up from her aunt and uncle’s bedroom below her. She rushed
to the heating vent and pressed her ear up against it; they didn’t
know it, but the ducts carried the sound of their conversation up
to her room.

    “ He’ll just have to adjust his
plans. He can move up the wedding date, for God’s sake. He can just
hold her on his property until  they get married.”

    Her heart froze in her chest.
Wedding date? Nobody had asked her to get married. What were they
talking about?

    And what was all this about holding her on
someone’s property?

    “ What if he says no? What if he
wants his money back?”  That was my uncle’s voice.

    Wants his money back? They’d sold her to
somebody? But who would even want her  enough to pay for her,
and why?  They couldn’t sell her - this was 21st century
 America!

    “ He won’t want his money back. He
was very clear  how much he wanted her,” my aunt
insisted.

    “ That was when he thought that
nobody would miss her. What about this werewolf?  He could be
a problem.”

    “ Well, we’re not going to tell him
about the werewolf, are we?” Her aunt’s voice was angry.
 “There’s no way that I’m giving back fifty thousand
dollars.”

    Belle’s mind was racing.

    “ We could still try to see if she’d
marry him voluntarily,’” her uncle  said. “Point out how rich
he is, how she has no future, tell her we’re going to kick her out
on the street and he’s her only hope, he can give her a good
life....”

    “ That might have worked before that
stupid werewolf bastard came along and ruined everything,” her aunt
grumbled. “Now if she thinks she’s got a shot  at  being
mated with that wolf, there’s no way she’d agree to marry Raymond
Charucki. Why would she? He may be rich, but he’s old and ugly and
everybody knows his reputation.”

    Belle’s heart dropped to the bottom of her
stomach.

    Raymond Charucki? He was a
sixty-year-old panther shifter who was well known as a mobster who
owned half the politicians in Montana. He’d also been accused
by half a dozen woman of kidnapping, rape and torture.
 And every single woman had quickly dropped the charges,
refusing to prosecute.  There were rumors of intimidation and
threats, and  several of the women had disappeared
afterwards.

    If he wanted Belle, she was doomed.

    But why would he want her?
     
    She quickly pulled her cell phone
out of her pocket and dialed.

    “ Agnes, my aunt and uncle are
talking about selling me off in marriage to  the mobster
Raymond Charucki. He paid them $50,000 for me. That’s why they’ve
been watching my every move these past few weeks. I am going to
sneak out of the  house right now, and  I’m going to have
to leave town. Please tell Axel I’m sorry. I don’t  dare go to
the police about this; they’re good friends with my aunt and uncle.
I’m going to have to go into hiding.”

    She was sick with worry. What
would happen to Agnes when she was gone? Maybe she could find a way
to secretly send Agnes  money from another town...but how?
She’d have to send it by mail, the postmaster would probably be
keeping an eye out on Agnes’  mail...

    Head whirling, she stripped off
her clothing so she could switch to panther form in case her family
tried to confront her  as she snuck out.  In panther
form, she’d have a fighting chance against them.

    She closed her eyes and
concentrated, letting the panther form take over, and then sank
down to the floor and grabbed  one of the pillowcases
 full of clothing, holding it in her mouth.

    Carefully, silently, she slipped
out of the door and down the stairs.   She rushed
 through the living room, down the hallway, and