face took on a grim expression, as if all traces of romance had been wiped from her body. She was a being of vengeance, ready and willing to go after those who had caused her pain and make them suffer in the way she had suffered.
“I’m going to find him,” she growled, “I’m going to find him and I’m going to make him tell me why he did this. I’m going to make him look me in the eyes and tell me why he led me on all this time only to leave me with nothing but an empty bed.”
Angelica tried to stop her and tell her that she was only acting out of hurt and that it wasn’t a rational decision but Ana would not listen. She couldn’t be dissuaded from the course of action that she had settled on. Aunt Rose had been right. Ana laughed as she thought about how much energy and time would have been saved had she just listened to her aunt. She felt foolish for giving Colton another chance. When he came crawling back she should have left him to rot and not be taken in by that sob story.
She drove out to his cabin, her hands clenched the wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white. She had as much loathing for herself as she did for Colton. She knew what he had been like. She knew what kind of creature he was and yet she had let herself be taken in by his charm. She looked at everything that happened in the cold light of day and saw that at the heart of it he was simply a bad-tempered man who knew the right things to say. He and his cousin were just the same, and she made it a point to go and find Glenn after she had spoken to Colton.
She followed the directions Colton had given her and pulled up when she got to the end of the path. By this time it was night but she was so full of anger that she didn’t even flinch at the prospect of going into the woods alone. She marched forward, her eyes blazing, and just barely noticed that the moon was full again. The last time there had been one she had been with Glenn, and he had been telling her that the full moon signified a great change. So far the only things it had signified were heartbreaks and she was sick of them. She cursed the day that she had met the Huntington’s because her life would have been better off without them.
Her eyes adjusted to the dim darkness and she found the cabin. It stood alone in an opening with thick trees around it. The whole place was creepy, and if she had been in a sane state of mind she would have felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and stand up. As it was she strode up to the door and banged on them with her bare hands. Again and again she thumped against the thick wood, feeling the sturdy walls stand firm against her small fists. She walked up and looked in the windows but she could see nothing inside. She called out for Colton to come and face her.
“You think you’re some tough guy but you’re really a coward. Who spends all that time with someone and then leaves without saying a word?! I don’t care what you went through in your childhood. It doesn’t excuse your behavior and whenever you tell that sob story to your next victim just remember me and how much you hurt me. I’m done with the both of you. God damn it come out and face me! I’m sick of these games! All I want to know is why. Why did you treat me this way? Why could you never just show me who you really are?”
By this point she was out of breath and figured that Colton wasn’t at the cabin. But if he wasn’t in there where was he? All of a sudden she was acutely aware of her surroundings and the encroaching darkness, and when she heard a sound in the distance her breath caught in her throat. She peered into the inky blackness of the night and then twisted her head sharply as she caught the sound of rustling. Then a loud, animalistic roar echoed around her and her heart beat fiercely in her breast.
She went to flee but she was so frightened that she became paralyzed and there was nowhere to run to anyhow. She searched
Shannon Delany, Judith Graves, Heather Kenealy, et al., Kitty Keswick, Candace Havens, Linda Joy Singleton, Jill Williamson, Maria V. Snyder