Blind Sided

Chapter 1

Settling In

Callie’s POV

The ride from the airport wasn’t a long one. I could tell that the three people in the car with me were nervous, but I wasn’t. When I noticed that we were driving through a familiar neighborhood, I found myself looking for Rose’s and Thane’s house. Both of the houses looked just the same, and I was wondering if they still lived there when we slowly came to a stop in front of a vibrant yellow house with black shutters. I was home. 

As I stepped from the car, the last hour ran through my mind. On the small jet, I pretended to be asleep, and after a while my rescuers started to talk. “Mrs. Malloy was so overjoyed when I called her and told her that we found her daughter.”

“As was I. For once, I’m glad we trusted that hunter.”

“When I saw her behind that dresser, I was shocked at how healthy she looked. I was expecting to find her almost dead and covered in scars.”

“And my brother-in-law said that she hadn’t been touched in any way. Beside the lack of color in her complexion, she’s the picture of health. But what I can’t understand is why they didn’t kill her right after they kidnapped her. That’s what others do to pups.”

“Do you think they tried…”

“They could have, but why go the all that trouble? Hunters hate us with a passion.”

“If they tried killing her wolf, the next few months will prove vital. We’ll have to keep a close eye on her to be sure. They didn’t give her liquid wolfs-bane, of that we’re positive. But they could have administrated it to her in another form: power mixed into her food or as a pill. Both would have to been given at least four times a day to be effective.” At that, my mind went into overdrive. One of them ‘woke’ me up just seconds after the plane landed.

Now as I stared at my childhood home, I wasn’t sure of anything. Suddenly the screen door flew open and I saw a woman with fiery red hair shoot towards me. It wasn’t until she was just a few feet from me that I recognized her. My mother threw her arms around me and held me tightly. “You’re home. My baby’s home.” She kept repeating over and over. My arms hung at my side as I stood there. I wanted to hug her back just as tightly as she was hugging me, but I couldn’t bring myself to raise my arms around her.

By the time she steered me into the living room, she was talking about Thane and Rose. I had been zoning out, but at the mention of their names, I came back to reality. “Last year Thane took over his father’s company. I heard that he’s done rather well by himself so far. Oh, and you should see Rose now. That girl’s a looker. And she has Thane wrapped around her little pinky finger. Her mother just told me yesterday that he proposed to her, but they’re not waiting for a long engagement. Their wedding’s in two weeks.”

At that announcement, my heart felt like it was breaking but I couldn’t explain why. I admit that I had a small crush on Thane when I first moved here. But now, it was nothing but a memory for me. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I look up at my mom. “When I got the call that you were coming home, I redid your room. You remember the way to it right?” Nodding slowly, I stand up and walk to my room. Opening the door slowly, I take my time to look around it.

The bright blue walls were gone, replaced with black paint and gold trim. On one wall stood a seven foot bookcase filled to the brim of reading material. Beside it stood a cedar desk and a rolling chair; sitting on the left corner of the desk was a laptop and printer. Directly across from my desk was a king size bed and a small night stand. My eyes drift to the floor. My hot pink carpet had been replaced by red oak floorboards. But all in all, I liked the changes my mom made.