Addie Parker finds the shackled young woman and sets her up in an old house hidden from everything. And that’s where Dawn stays for eight lonely years.
Ellis Emerson is in a rut. He can’t seem to do anything right. He thinks he’s found his mate, but can’t get close enough to her to be sure… And that’s a huge distraction that’s turned their construction job from a week ahead of schedule with a huge bonus, to barely three days ahead. And when Addie asks him to assemble a small crew to fix one of her houses, his foreman, Dan, is all for Ellis getting away for a while.
Ellis finds his skittish mate hiding away in Addie’s home, but will she let her guard down long enough for him to convince her that their destiny is each other? Or will her Uncle Basil step in and finally take her prisoner again? Find out in the next installment of Emerson Wolves―Ellis.
Buy Links
Smash Words https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/577818
KOBO Coming Soon
Winner Of A Mystery Paperback is Kim Kushibab Please check your email for info on how to claim 
Happy Reading
Eight years ago
“Where are you, girl? Girl? Where the heck have you gotten yourself to now?”
Dawn curled tighter into the hole she’d found for herself and tried to control her
breathing. It would not do to get caught when she’d gotten so far this time. “Girl?
You’d better darn well answer me. It’s not gonna go well for you if you don’t come out
now.”
She had no intentions of ever going back. Dawn knew that if she was caught this
time, not only would she be beaten again, but she’d more than likely die. Or she’d try
her best to die this time. She was too tired to keep doing this. When her uncle moved by
where she was, Dawn curled tighter into her ball and stopped breathing. He stood not
two feet from her, and she knew that he’d only have to turn just a little to find her.
As soon as he moved on she was tempted to bolt again, but that had been what got
her caught before. He wasn’t faster than her, but she was weighted down with the
chains still on her ankles, and there wasn’t any way for her to shift and outrun him
either. Staying still, even with the need to run now beating at her, Dawn closed her eyes
and tried to think of anything but him.
She had been seven when she was brought to her uncle and aunt—brother and
sister-in-law to her mom—and at first it had been nice. Her mother had been in prison
for about three months before they’d figured out she had a kid, and the authorities had
come looking for her. Stealing food had made her feel horrible, but she had a plan to
pay everything back. That hadn’t worked out so well so far.
About a year after she’d started living with Uncle Basil and Aunt Neva, he’d
supposedly lost his job. She never really understood what it was he’d done, but just one
day she was sat at the table and told that she was no longer going to have the luxuries
that she’d had before. Not that she could remember having any, but Aunt Neva took
great pride in the fact that Dawn was going to lose them.
“And you’ll work around here too. Cooking one meal a day for us, and we’ll do the
rest.” Again, something that she’d been doing anyway. “There will no longer be a ride
to school. You’ll have to walk back and forth, and starting tomorrow, you’ll pack your
lunch. No more free lunches for you.”
“But I do that already.”
The slap had knocked her off the chair and into the stove behind her. As she lay
there, stunned and hurting, Aunt Neva stood over her screaming at her to get up. Dawn
did finally get up and sit back in the chair, only to be knocked back again, by her uncle
this time. She didn’t remember much of what happened that night after that. And it
continued over the years, but mostly with her aunt giving out the hits and Uncle Basil
just telling her what a disappointment she was, and how he wished he’d never said yes
to taking her in.
For many years her routine had rarely changed. Dawn did the laundry, another job
that had been added to her list when she’d been caught sitting at the table reading the
newspaper that had been wrongly delivered to their house. While the laundry was
washing or drying, she’d make their meals and then clean up after them. The living
room had to be cleaned after they went to bed, but no vacuuming. Their bedroom was
cleaned daily, the bed made, and the bathroom had to be spotless by ten or there would
be hell to pay. While it wasn’t the cleanest house in the world, it was all she’d really
known. Dawn could recite every story they’d told her about her mom—every evil thing
that they said she did—and what Dawn should and should not be doing to help them
out, as they were so good to let her stay with them. Then she’d turned eighteen.
Her birthdays were never acknowledged. The day would only be noticed by her,
and for the most part, she was fine with that. At any given time up until that point she
could have told anyone the days, hours, and even the minutes remaining until that
particular time in her life came to her. She was leaving them then. It was her right as an
adult.
Her eighteenth birthday had started out just like any other Tuesday. She had
gathered the wash up and was putting the first load in the machine when her belly
began to churn. Not like she was hungry—she knew that feeling all too well—but like
she was going to be sick. Going to the bathroom had produced nothing more than a bit
of bile, but she didn’t feel any better.
As the day wore on, she began to sweat. Her body felt strange, and she could swear
that there was a monster inside of her…a monster that wanted out of her. By dinner she
could hardly move, her muscles ached, and her skin felt as if it was going to peel away
from her.
As the dinner simmered on the stove, Dawn had gone into the yard to get some
fresh air. Screaming with the pain, she fell to her knees, and just as the consuming pain
took her breath away, it was gone. She knew that something was wrong…so terribly
wrong. Dawn fell twice trying to walk, and then realized that she was no longer Dawn,
but something with fur and paws.
Dawn was able to move around after a few minutes, and had liked the way she felt.
Her body was…she supposed it was stronger than her human body had been, and for
some reason she’d not been scared or freaked out by the change. Just wonderfully
happy. Then her uncle had come out of the house, and things went bad fast.
Her uncle stomping by her again brought her out of her thoughts. She didn’t move,
and for now that seemed to be working for her. He was getting madder by the second,
and she nearly smiled at that. But him being pissed would only be harder on her if he
caught her.
“Darn you, girl, when I find you, I’m going to whip you with a stick. Where the
heck are you?” She saw him twice more as he moved by her hiding place. Her legs were
cramping up and she had to pee, but those were minor things compared to what he’d
do if he caught her again. “Girl, you are starting to really make me mad at you, and you
know how it hurts you when I lose my temper.”
Dawn stayed where she was until the moon was high in the sky. She’d not heard
her uncle in a long time, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t out there somewhere just
waiting for her to get up and show him where she was. But she had to move. It was that
or be so sore she’d not be able to get away if he was gone.
Moving slowly to let the pins and needles move out of her muscles, Dawn picked
up her bag of things and slowly moved her head above the hole where she’d been
hiding.
Nothing. Lifting her nose to the air, she could smell him, but it was faint now. His
scent was faded, long gone from where she was. Pulling the bag and her chain with her,
she moved out of the hole. Still cautious, she moved from tree to tree, hardly making a
sound as she did so. It was the most delicious feeling she’d ever had.
Walking with the moon in front of her, Dawn knew that she’d make it to a town
soon. It had taken her four different failed escape attempts before she got to this point.
And she had made better decisions on what to take with her too. Food was a necessity,
but it was the compass she’d found one day when she’d been in the big shed, as well as
all the money she’d been stashing away since her eighteenth birthday, that was going to
be the most help. It had only been a few dollars here, some change there, that she’d
found when doing the laundry. Lucky for her when she’d been caught all those times
before, neither of them had found those two items.
It was dawn when she stopped. The town was ahead of her; she could see the glow
of the city lights. But Dawn knew that going into the little burg would be a mistake. She
had on clothing that was filthy, and there was a shackle on both her ankles. The long
chain was attached to another one that was around her neck. It would be hard to hide
and even harder to explain. Dawn was sure she looked like a prison escapee.
Instead of going to the town to beg for help, she made it to the big barn that was
near the road. Spending the day there was preferable to anything that she might find in
town. She hid in the top of it, where the sweet hay was the nicest bed she’d had in a
long while, and fell asleep.
The voices woke her. A man and a boy were talking about the sheep that had been
stolen. Dawn knew who had stolen them. Her uncle took great pride in his ability to
turn a buck at someone else’s expense. Listening to them talking, she knew what it was
costing them to have so many of his herd taken.
“We’ll have to cut corners, you know.” The boy said yes, and Dawn wondered
what sort of punishment he’d put on the little boy because of her uncle. “Maybe we’ll
only be able to get one popcorn instead of two when we go see that movie tonight.”
“Oh, Dad. You don’t even like popcorn anyway.” The child and man laughed, and
Dawn smiled at the sound of it. “Maybe we can use my savings to go tonight. I been
saving and saving.”
“No, that’s your money, son. You’re going to go to college with that, and can take
care of your old dad when he’s too senile to take care of himself.” They laughed again
and moved out of the barn. Dawn sat back, thinking about the conversation as she ate
her banana.
She was now twenty years old and no one had talked to her like that since she’d
been a child. Not in the whole nearly fourteen years she’d been with her aunt and uncle.
Even then her mom would yell at her for hours about an A on her report card and not
an A-plus, and no matter how many times she’d tried to explain to her that they didn’t
give that kind of grade, she expected her to have them. Dawn knew now why she’d
done it. Her mom had wanted her to have a better life than she had right then. Fat lot of
good it had done either of them.
Lying back down, she decided that she’d stay one more night, then move on. There
was no way she was going to get caught now. This was the furthest she’d ever gotten,
and she was going to make the best of it somehow.
Dawn stayed for three days. The first night, after the house had darkened, she
searched the barn for anything to remove the shackles from her body. She finally found
a long screwdriver, but ended up stabbing it into her foot and not removing the chains
at all. It had hurt like hell but she did a good job of cleaning it up, and by the morning
of the fourth day of her freedom, she was ready to move on.
She hadn’t gotten far when an expensive looking car nearly ran her down.
The lady had been really nice to her, talking to her calmly while Dawn had tried to
clean most of the blood and dirt off her pants. These were her cleanest pair, and as she
had no way of knowing when she’d be able to wash them, it frustrated her to no end
that they were dirty. When the woman reached out and touched her fingers to her
hand, Dawn felt a burn up her arm like she’d touched a hot burner.
“He’ll find you tomorrow if you don’t let me help you.” Dawn fell back again,
soaking her pants through as she stared at the woman. “My name is Addie Parker. I live
up the road about three miles. But your uncle is going to find you tomorrow while
you’re in a restaurant asking about a job.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The woman nodded. “I’m just out taking
a walk.”
Her voice had been scratchy from lack of use, and she was sure the woman thought
she was nuts. Then she knelt down to her level, uncaring of the mud and mire that was
getting on her nice clothing, and put her hand on the shackles. She touched the one
around her neck and finally spoke.
“He put this one on you when you first shifted. He said that it was the only way to
keep you from killing them in their sleep. It was used to chain you to the wall in the
bathroom.” Dawn nodded at her, terrified beyond anything she’d ever been before.
“These he put on you after he read that if you shifted while wearing them that you’d
sever your feet. He’s not a nice person, is he?”
“No. Neither is my aunt.” The woman nodded. “How do you know these things? Is
he…do you know him? Is he talking to you about me? I’m not going back there.”
“No. You’re not. But he’s going to find you if you don’t trust me.” A car drove
around them, and Addie shielded her from being seen by its occupants. Then Addie
helped her into her car. She spoke as she drove, telling her about where she would be
safe from now on. “I have a cottage on the property not far from where you lived
before. It’ll be safer for you there. No one knows about it but a few, and it’s too close for
him to think you’d go there. No one ever goes out there anymore. They used to use it
for a hunting shed, but it’s been a long time since anyone hunted on the property. I’d
take you to my home, but I’m afraid he’d figure it out. Not that I’m afraid of him, but
people will talk and he’ll get to you.”
“Why are you doing this?” Addie drove for a few minutes, and Dawn started to ask
her again, but she finally answered.
“No one should be abused. And you seem like a nice person.” She glanced at her.
“You are a nice person. I want to help. And in turn, you can help me.”
“I don’t have anything to help you with. I don’t have but a few dollars.” Addie
grinned and told her how much she had to the penny. “How do you know that?”
“I can read you…your mind and your body. You’re very malnourished. The wound
on your foot is healing, but you need to rest for a while. You’ve been beaten up a great
deal, starved when you pissed them off, and you don’t have nearly enough fluid in
your body to keep you well.” As they turned down an overgrown drive, Addie
continued. “I need someone to keep an eye on the place. Keep strays, including people,
out of the house. I can pay you, in money or food, but I’d suggest food for now so that
you won’t have to travel into town. There is still the chance that he’ll find you.”
“I’m not going back.” Addie told her she didn’t want her to either. “His name is
Basil Combs. My aunt is Neva. He lost his job when I was eight, and they’ve not had
much in the way of income since.”
“How long ago was that?” Dawn told her it had been fourteen years, give or take a
few months. “I’m so sorry you had to live like that. It’s not right that anyone should live
like an animal, the way they were treating you.”
Dawn wanted to cry. She didn’t, but she wanted to. When they pulled up in front of
the little house, she wanted to beg Addie to let her stay there forever. As they moved to
the house, Dawn held her chains to her, wondering if this was all a scam and her uncle
was going to be in there waiting for her. Addie turned to her before she opened the
door.
“No one is here. I swear to you, so long and you don’t leave this area, he won’t find
you.” Dawn nodded. “I’m going to let you in, then go to the barn. There should be
something in there we can use to get these off you. Go ahead and look the place over,
and we’ll see what you need to keep you safe for a while.”
The house was huge in comparison to the one she had lived in, with two bedrooms
on the second floor and one on the bottom. The kitchen was outdated, but it had a big
stove and oven and a nice refrigerator. There was a tall freezer in a sort of walk in room
with no door, as well as a washer and dryer. It, too, was outdated and had a strange
smell when she’d opened it, but it was nothing she couldn’t clean up. Everything
needed a good scrubbing, but Dawn was used to hard work.
When Addie came back in, she had some tools and what looked like a small saw.
As Dawn was told to have a seat, Addie gave her some information about the house.
“The linens are in a large plastic tote in each bedroom closet. I think there are some
quilts there too, but I’m not sure. I’ll bring you heavier blankets if you need them the
next time I come here. There are cleaning supplies, I think, under the sink, as well as
pots and pans. There are other things you might need in boxes in the pantry over
there.”
Dawn looked in the direction she nodded to as the small saw was turned on. When
Addie put it against the metal on the first shackle, Dawn nearly told her not to do it, but
then the heavy weight hit the floor. “That was easy.”
Cutting off the other shackle on her ankle was just as quick, but the one at her neck
took a bit longer. Not that it was any thicker, but Addie was afraid of cutting her. Dawn
told her she’d gladly leave it on herself just to be able to walk around without tripping
over the chain, but an hour after starting, Dawn was free.
She wanted to shift and run free. Do something that she’d not been able to do for
over two years. Her other self seemed to know that she was free as well, and moved
along her skin like it was ready to be out. Dawn calmed her by saying that they would
run as much as they wanted soon.
Addie told her she’d be back in the morning, but for Dawn to hide when she saw
her car until she saw Addie. Her car was sometimes used by other people, and she
didn’t want her seen.
“There’s a man that works for me—he and his wife really. They are Bill and Carrie
Price. He might bring you things when I can’t, all right?” Dawn nodded. “Only them.
And here’s what they look like so you know to trust them.”
After showing her the picture of the couple, Addie moved around the house with
her, pointing out things that might need a once over and where to find things that were
not readily available. Then when they were in the living room again, the furniture now
uncovered of the heavy plastic, Dawn turned to her again.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t have to, and I’m pretty sure that you have
better things to do than to help a runaway, even one as old as I.”
Addie nodded and looked around the house before she answered her. “My dad is
sick. Dying. He has cancer, and he’s been told he only has a few years left at most. I
might…would it be all right if I come out here and just unload on you once in a while?
Not often, but sometimes?” Dawn nodded. “Then that’s why I’m doing it…along with
the fact that no one should have to be treated as you’ve been without someone helping
them out.”
“I don’t know what to say. I mean, thank you seems so little for what you’ve given
me.” Addie nodded and turned to the door again. “This thing you can do with my
mind…can you do it to everyone?”
Yes. I’ll check on you once in a while this way too. You won’t know it, but I’ll do it. Her
voice echoed in her mind, and Dawn thought it wonderful. You should be able to do it as
well. Just think of me and we can talk. You can tell me when you’re having troubles this way as
well.
I’ve never done this before. Addie laughed, and so did Dawn. It was strange to hear
the sound coming from her mouth too. You’ll be safe now, right? I mean, I don’t want
anyone to hurt you now that you’ve been so kind to me.
I will, and you will too. Don’t come out of the house, or wherever you decide to hide, unless
you see that it’s me. Dawn asked her how long she could stay there. For as long as you
desire. Forever if you want.
Dawn nodded, not sure if she could believe her or not. After Addie made her way
out to the car, she pulled things from her trunk and handed them to Dawn. What Dawn
couldn’t carry, Addie sat on the porch. Not even looking into the bags, Dawn had gone
into the house to put the first load on the table when she heard the engine roar to life,
then gravel crunch in the drive. By the time she came back out to tell her good-bye,
Addie was gone.
Unpacking the bags, Dawn was surprised to see all the food. There were things that
had to be put in the freezer, and even though she’d not had time to clean it, Dawn put
them inside with the plastic bags still around them. Milk and eggs, too, had to be put
into the fridge, but she knew that it was going to be the first thing she cleaned.
Pulling out the cleaning supplies that had been in the large pantry, Dawn got to
work. While she did this, she thought of all the things she’d have to do before going to
bed. It wasn’t as daunting as it would have been had she been at her relatives’ place, but
exciting. Almost fun.
It took her nearly five hours to get the place clean, and that was only the kitchen
and the bedroom she was going to use. Crawling into the bed, bathed and with a pretty
night gown on, Dawn decided that she’d have to figure out a way to pay Addie back.
For the next few days, she cleaned and aired the house out. There wasn’t any
television, but she didn’t care. Dawn hadn’t watched much before and doubted she’d
miss it now. Mr. Bill came by twice…once with his wife just to meet Dawn, then the
second time to bring her more food. She had so much that she spread it out on the
counter and just looked at it. And he’d brought her a loaf of homemade bread, as well
as some scones. Dawn cried for an hour after he left, not believing that someone could
be so nice to her.
Dawn started making lists of things she needed to pay Addie back for. First was
food and clothing. Then there was the cell phone she had for emergencies. Bill told her
he’d call her when he was coming out so she’d know to watch for him. He’d brought
her a radio, too, and some music to listen to. All in all, Dawn had it better than she’d
ever had in her entire life. And all thanks to a perfect stranger.
Dawn was happy…happier than she’d ever thought she’d be. As she sat down to
her meal, the first in her wonderfully clean house, she dined on the bread and some
soup while classical music played softly in the background. After that she went into the
yard, stripped down, and turned into her wolf. As she ran deep into the woods, ever
careful of her surroundings, Dawn knew that if she had to go back now after her taste of
freedom, she surely would die.
No comments:
Post a Comment