Hereditary (A Holloway Pack Mini) Read Free Page B

through
naked overhead limbs. But for the wind’s taunting, icy whisper,
only quiet meets my ears.
    A rustle ahead
reveals Gabe’s position as he crosses bracken and leaves decorating
the ground in an autumnal shroud. His eyes glint as he comes into
sight and the air condensates as his breath merges with the
coolness.
    A low whimper
is sent our way.
    “Go on,” Mia
tells him. “We’re fine.”
    A second
whimper and deep inhalations into his upturned nostrils precede a
final step toward us, as though to double check—before he takes off
into the woods.
    Watching his
flight, I take a sip of my flask and send Mia a reassuring smile
through the dimness.
    The expression
is returned and she takes my free hand.
    We already know
it could be a long night. Last time, we were here until dawn.
    We don’t mind,
though. Gabe has yet to master the art of timekeeping whilst as
wolf, so he isn’t to blame.
    The only one to
blame for all this is me.
    ***

 
Note from the
Author
     
    Hey, you made
it through to the end! \o/
     
    Hereditary was originally written as an investigation into
characters introduced in Resonance of the Holloway
Pack series and featuring in other, following titles of the
series. To begin, I wrote this short to satisfy my own curiosity.
However, I liked it enough to story-fy (it’s a word) it, to give it
a title, and Hereditary went on to be featured in the online
magazine Golden Visions in the summer of 2011. Since regaining the
rights, it has taken a while for me to put it out there this way,
but it’s my responsibility to make my stories as available as I’m
able for my readers, and so here it is.
    So, whether
you’re a Holloway Pack fan come to discover more about (now)
familiar (to you) characters, or you’re not a Holloway Pack fan but
figured you’d try it anyway, or if you just thought ‘Hey, it’s
free, why not!’ … however you have come to be reading this tale, I
hope you enjoyed it.

 
Acknowledgements
    As usual, my initial
thanks goes out to my family. Mr B: You’re my rock, dude, and my rock dude—love ya to pieces; without your support, I
wouldn’t get to write, which means my readers wouldn’t get to spend
time with The Pack and I would probably go insane from incessant
characters yelling in my head or my brain would swell until it blew
up into a million pieces ............ To The Boy and Mini-me:
You’re both cool beans (if a little noisy at times). Stop growing
up, though—you’re both starting to take up too much room.
    To my publisher
for the Holloway Pack series, for supporting me when I approached
them about wanting to do this.
    To Aimee Laine,
who endured my nagging and created a cover for me that matches the
rest of the series: Thank You!
    To my
fantabulous street team: Jen, Rachel, Ambur, Melanie, Sheryl,
Maghon, Keri, Sandra, Lola, Stephanie, Terri, Wendy, Denise—you all
take some of the load off, which is why I’m able to do something
like this. THANK YOU!
    To the folk who
have beta read this over the years: the good folk of Scribophile
(mostly my original team Pens Sisters. Still love you girls, even
though I’m skulking in the shadows); my sister; my bestie Carla
(she has no choice—I MAKE HER read everything, heh); and more
recently, Terri, Lola, Wendy and Rachel.
    And finally to
YOU. For picking this book up. For reading. For making it to the
end. Thank you for taking the time.

 
Read on for a
glimpse at the first chapter of Caged : Holloway Pack 3
1
    “… from the
Shropshire area. Following Carly McDowd’s disappearance on the
fourth, and Andrew Doherty’s on the seventh, this is the third
incident this month …”
    I turned from
the square-jawed newswoman on TV to Dad, where he sat in his corner
armchair.
    His attention
remained on the screen, a frown across his brow.
    “… the duo of
friends were first reported missing late last night by their
parents, after they discovered neither of the teenagers …” The
newscaster’s voice infiltrated once