She froze in front of the last window as a realization hit her square in the gut. She wasn’t just smashing her father’s image, she was smashing her own. Deep inside, she knew what she was—a monster. No better than her father. Sometimes, she wished she’d never been born. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about the bear hibernating in her body, just waiting to unleash its fury on theworld.
“Freak.”
“Demon.”
The echoing voices of the vicious kids at school still haunted her at night. Why hadn’t she been born normal? Why did she have to be different fromeveryoneelse?
Sure, West Yellowstone had its fair share of shifters, but their presence wasn’t ever acknowledged. The humans in town had learned to coexist with them. As long as shifters never appeared in their bear form, the humans would leave them be. She knew what would happen if she let her bear run free. She’d be hunted. Shot. Stuffed. And then hung on a human’s wall as atrophy.
She shuddered. As she raised the hammer to break the last window, the sensation of being watched crawled across the back of her neck like an army of spiders. She whipped around and gazed through the glare of reflected sunlight. Nothingmoved.
As much as she hated being a shifter, she never ignored her instincts. Someone was out there. Watching.Waiting.
She shook the fear away. It was probably Logan, hanging around just waiting for her to give up on making the repairs herself. Well that wasn’t going tohappen.
She turned back to the window and proceeded to attack the remaining shards of glass. One piece stuck in the frame as if it had been glued in. But when she reached to remove it, the jagged piece dropped. It sliced through her sleeve before driving deep into her arm. She screamed as blood gushed from around the edges of theglass.
Without thinking, she yanked it out of her arm. She threw it into the snow then clamped a hand over the wound. Crimson droplets landed on the muddy snow at her feet. She swayed, dizzy from the shock of seeing so muchblood.
After sitting down hard, she cried. Snow seeped in to dampen her jeans and steal her warmth. She didn’t care. She couldn’t stop sobbing as the weight of her father’s disappointment rained down on her. She’d never been good enough for him, or for anyone else, and she neverwouldbe.
To think that she’d be able to repair the ranch by herself was just stupid. Logan was right. She needed help, but she couldn’t get her legs to move. The realization that she was utterly alone in the world broke her heart. If she’d been smart, she would have just sold the ranch to the developer andmovedon.
She missed Mittens. She missed her own bed.Screw this place.As soon as she could bandage up her arm, she’d call Mr. Milton and get rid of thisalbatross.
A trickle of warm blood ran down her arm. She lifted her hand just enough to get a peek at the wound. A gash, at least six inches long, exposed raw flesh. As a rancher’s daughter, she’d had more than a few accidents, but other than stepping on a nail when she was twelve, she’d never been hurt thisbadly.
She struggled to stand. “Stupidglass.”
After managing to roll onto her knees, she shuffled through the snow. Her half-frozen legs locked in protest, but she fought through the pain. She was just inches from the porch when someone yelledhername.
* * *
“What areyou doing on the ground?” Logan asked as he rantowardKate.
The coppery scent of blood hung in the frozen air. He sniffed.Fresh.
“Go away,” she said. “I can’t deal with yourightnow.”
His gaze shot from her face to her arm. Blood trickled out from beneath her hand. “What the hellhappened?”
“I fought the house. Itfoughtback.”
“What?”
“Never mind. I cutmyself.”
“Let me see.” He gently pried her hand away from the wound. Holy shit it was deep. “You needstitches.”
“I’mfine.”
“You arenotfine. You’re crawling through the snow, bleeding. Stop being stubborn for two seconds and let mehelpyou.”
“Fine,” shehuffed.
He leaned down and scooped her intohisarms.
She squealed in protest. “Put me down. Icanwalk.”
