Such a Naughty Girl (Hot Creeps #2)

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EMMETT

I’d taken my time in the bathroom to let Izzy cool off.

She’d remarked on my uncombed hair, so after a cold shower, I took time to ease the tangles out of it with my comb, glad there was no one to see the pained faces I made while working through them.

Burrowing to the back of the under-sink cabinet, I’d located an old bottle of cologne. The green glass held barely a dribble-worth of the scent. Not enough for the spray function to work. I’d prised the top off and tipped the remaining drops onto my wrists before scraping them over my neck.

Chunk whined at the door as I walked out into the living space.

‘One minute, boy,’I grumbled, looking around the room. Why hadn’t Izzy let him out?

‘Where is she?’I asked him. The bed stood empty, the blankets still pushed back from when we awoke. The door leading down to the food store was ajar, but it ended up being empty too.

Had she gone outside?

At that moment, I saw what else was missing. Her shoes. Her coat. Fuck, what was she thinking?

The storm may have passed, but thetemperatureoutside was sub-zero, and the sun had already set.

Chunk eyed me,exasperated, like it was my fault she’d left. He scratched at the door before side-eyeing me.

‘I should let her freeze. She left,’I said, while pulling on my thick sweater. ‘Let the wolves get a proper feed. Wouldn’t be my fault.’

The laces tangled around my fingers as I rushed, tying my boot laces.

‘Would serve her right for being such a pain in the ass.’

My gun weighed down my jacket pocket as I took it from the safe and thrust it in. The wildlife rarely bothered Chunk and I, but the depth of the snow and the recent storm meant the wolves would be hungry. Desperate.

‘Stupid fucking girl,’I grumbled, grabbing aflashlightand a utility knife, just in case.

Finding Izzy being frozen to death or ripped to shreds wasn’t the Christmas I’d planned.

In all honesty, I had nothing planned for Christmas.

For years.

And she wascomplainingabout not having a tree. Hell on earth.

Chunk zipped through the door ahead of me, his ass bobbing in and out of my torch beam, a flash of fur amongst the white. Freezing my balls off only had one benefit: snow meant tracks.

I’d assumed she’d have headed toward the road, where she’d left her car, but within minutes her deep prints veered in the wrong direction, further into the thick trees. The snow lessened a little between theclusteringbranches, making it easier to walk, but harder to follow.

‘C’mon Chunk,’I urged. ‘Put that nose to use and find her.’

A distant howl had me wrapping my fingers around the gun in my pocket, my heart fighting its way through my ribcage as panic rose.

‘Izzy!’ I yelled.

As much as I tried to tell myself her safety wasn’t my problem, I couldn’t help but hunt for her. I wouldn’t rest until I had her back in my cabin.

In my arms.

In my bed.