Calico Cross (Cross Series Book 1) Read online

  Calico Cross

  Cross Series Book 1

  DeAnna Kinney

  Copyright © 2015 by DeAnna Kinney

  ISBN-13: 978-1508476412

  ISBN-10: 1508476411

  Published by Kinney Publishing

  Editing by Elaine Grice and Dandria Young

  Cover Design by COVER ME- Book Covers

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the owner.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places, or actual events are purely coincidental.

  Books by DeAnna Kinney include:

  The Charity Series:

  Charity Moon (Charity Series Book 1)

  Charity Rising (Charity Series Book 2)

  Raven’s Rose (Charity Series Book 3)

  Charity’s Storm (Charity Series Book 4)

  Exposing Kitty Langley (A Charity Series Novella)

  The Lavender Series:

  Loving Lily Lavender (Lavender Series Book 1)

  Leaving a Lavender Legacy (Lavender Series Book 2)

  Stand Alones:

  Exposing Kitty Langley

  Box of Gaza

  My Forever June

  *These titles are available exclusively online at Amazon. com

  Prologue

  “Hurry, Cali!” Fancy snapped, throwing my jacket at me with the urgency all of us felt but were trying to contain.

  I held my normal flippant remark because she was right; we had to get out of the house and out of town…fast.

  I raced down the stairs with the last of my things and was throwing them into the trunk seconds later. I could vaguely hear the stirring in the forest around us. They were coming! There was no time to waste!

  We received an anonymous tip from a member of their own pack that they were making their move tonight. It was now or never. If we didn’t escape this time, there would never be another. They had already picked off our parents so it would be easier to dominate and control us, but we had other ideas. This was one pack, all girls or not, that would die before submitting to their obnoxious, ruthless leader.

  The earth shook in rhythm and the forest critters scrambled for their lives as the heavy paws made their approach known.

  I smiled as I pictured that jerk, Creed’s face when the realization hit him that we were already gone. But then I was sobered, thinking about the one who had risked his life to warn us.

  I could picture it so clearly; the massive beasts finally appearing on the scene with only the dust from our tires to greet them, and one of their own would pay…with his life.

  I am Calico Cross. This is my story.

  Chapter One

  My oldest sister, Tabby was in the driver’s seat of our dark green SUV. We had been driving for several hours, and I had begun to feel restless. My butt cheeks had already fallen asleep for the third time and the waking up part was a pain, literally. I huffed as I bounced and wiggled in my seat.

  “Chill, Cali. We’re almost there.”

  “Oh, thank the maker,” I breathed, still squirming. “And I’m totally out of chewy Spree.” One thing about me, I was totally addicted to chewy Spree. I had to have a roll of the candy in my pocket on most days. Good thing I can heal quicker than most because I had tongue sores on a regular basis.

  Anyway, together we had picked the town we would call our new home; Appleville. We chose it because we liked the name, and it was sure to have loads of apple trees, my favorite. My mouth began watering at the very thought of having an apple picked straight from the tree. I knew I would make that a mission of mine once we were good and settled in.

  There were only four of us left; my sisters, Tabby, Fancy, Kiki, and me. Yes, I realize we all had cat names. Hey! My mom’s name was Precious. Don’t judge.

  Tabby and Kiki were twins and the oldest of us at age 24. They looked exactly alike, with their long dark hair and tall, lean figures. Neither one liked to watch much TV, except on movie night, or listen to music, which made me very grateful for my iPod during the long ride. They were weird but totally loyal and responsible. It was slightly unnerving to be honest.

  Fancy was, well just like you would think with a name like Fancy; she was serious about the way she looked and was always put together, even if she was just going to get the mail from the mailbox. She spent way too much time in the bathroom. But she had a free spirit that we all enjoyed. She was the more sensitive of us and was pretty gullible, which made teasing her a lot of fun. She was a bit shorter, like me, standing around 5’4, and her hair was cut in a cute pixie style and salon colored in a dark red.

  Me, well I was a different story all together. My hair was dark brown on top but had different colors throughout the rest; some of it was red, some blonde with even a little bit of black thrown in. Calico; yes I was accurately named. Sometimes people teased me, saying that I was adopted, because I was nothing like any of them, but that was just fine with me. I liked that I was unique. It used to bother me in school, but in the months since graduation, I no longer had to see any of those crazy kids anymore, and I got over it…and quickly. I mean, what was so bad about being different anyway? At least I wasn’t boring.

  “We’re here!” Kiki shouted as we approached the welcome sign. All of us sighed and sat up straight as we entered the town with the ‘sweet’ name.

  “Ooo,” we said in unison as we passed the first apple orchard. The trees were loaded with ripe, red apples. My mouth watered with anticipation. Tabby jerked the car to the side of the road and none of us said a word but sprang from the car and into the trees. We returned within seconds, each with only a single apple in hand.

  The ride into town was quiet, all but for the slurping sounds coming from each of us as we sucked the juice from the apples, eating them to the very core.

  Tabby stopped the car in front of the city hall building, grabbed her purse, and exited the car. “I’m going to check on rental homes before we go any further,” she said over her shoulder, walking toward the building. We all shrugged and continued licking every last drop from our treat.

  Ten minutes later, Tabby exited the building with two young men pointing her down the road. They must’ve been giving her directions and they seemed eager to do so. This was no surprise. Tabby, like her twin, Kiki, was very beautiful.

  “Here are the only houses that are for rent,” she said, handing the flyers to Kiki who was sitting in the front seat with her.

  Fancy and I leaned up from the backseat and peered over her shoulder to the flyers with the houses listed there. Kiki read the details of each one. We spent the next two hours trying to find them. The first one was on Apple Cider Lane. It was nice but small. With four girls in the house, we all needed our space.

  The next one was on Candy Apple Drive. It obviously needed some work and well, none of us were very good at that sort of thing, so we went on to the next house on Apple Crisp Court. It looked nice enough, but as soon as we stepped out of the car, two huge and scary dogs jumped at us, growling and barking like mad, from the neighbor’s fence just a few feet away. We quickly jumped back into the car and slammed the doors, locking them. That was one rule; no dogs…anywhere!!

  “This is looking bleak,” I mumbled to the girls.

  “Yeah,” they replied with a sigh.

  “Hey wait!” Kiki said, perking up as she spotted the road to the last house on our list. “This road is called Cottage Cake Drive. There is no ‘apple’ in the name. Maybe this one will be different.”

  We all sat up straight with anticipation as w
e drove down the long gravel driveway. My breath caught in my throat as we approached the loveliest house I had seen in a long time. It was a two story, older home with a wrap-around front porch. Our eyes lit up in unison as we glanced around at each other. This was it, and we all knew it!!

  “You guys look around while I go back and get the key,” Tabby said, turning the car around and heading back down the driveway.

  Peering through the window, I could see that the house was loaded with lovely, old furniture. I knew this house would suit us just fine. There was only one more house on the same road. We noticed it as we drove up the long drive. It looked to be a small farm even.

  Twenty minutes later, Tabby pulled up and jumped out with vigor. She was excited about this. It had been so long since any of us felt free, and we were definitely feeling it now.

  “I have the key!” she shouted, jiggling them in her hand with excitement. “I went ahead and paid the first two months’ rent as well. Now we can unpack.”

  With that, we all squealed and ran to the car to get our things. Once the front door was open, we burst through and headed up the stairs, and without haste, picked our bedrooms. The rooms were all very beautiful and elegant, but I picked the one with the lavender walls and the breathtaking view of the side yard. To the right, I could barely see our neighbor’s farm through the thick trees, but the view seemed somehow reassuring to me. I guess just knowing that we were not entirely alone in this obscure part of the adoring town felt nice. I had no idea who our neighbors were, or how welcoming they would be, but I was thrilled at the idea of finding out.

  * * * * * *

  Creed’s POV

  No one escapes from me! No one!

  “Find out whoever tipped them off to our attack and bring them to me!!” I commanded and the pack quickly scattered. I had a traitor among us, and I would find out who it was and destroy them once and for all.

  The Cross sisters were mine! And no one would rest until they were found!

  Chapter Two

  I took my time at unpacking, placing each item neatly in its place within the drawers of the dresser. It was so unlike the way I had shoved the items in to begin with. We were in a frenzied rush to leave so we wouldn’t die. The memory seemed slightly humorous now that we were finally safe. I guess it was easy to laugh at the danger later…after it had long passed, though it had only been a day. All I knew for sure was that I was overwhelmed with relief at being free from the clutches of a madman; a madman who had been given rule over so many people; a man who never deserved the honor and even cheated to get it. Just thinking about that psycho made me feel sick. I shook my head, clearing the thoughts, not willing to give him another moment of my time. He was in my past and that’s the way it would stay.

  “Hey!” Fancy said, sparkles dancing in her eyes. “I have a great idea. Let’s make some cookies and take them to our new neighbors.”

  “Sure,” I said, jumping up and following her into the kitchen. Neither of us was very good at cooking, but we figured anybody could bake cookies. How hard could it be anyway?

  An hour later, with a plate of chocolate chip cookies in hand, Fancy, Kiki, Tabby and I headed down the driveway and toward our neighbors little farm.

  “This is a charming place,” Kiki said.

  We all nodded in agreement as we glanced around to observe the beauty of the simple and small farm. What kind of farm it was I couldn’t tell. I didn’t see any animals around, not even a dog. Thank goodness for that, but there was a massive garden along the left side of the house.

  “You knock, Cali,” Tabby said as we stepped up onto the big front porch.

  “Umm, okay,” I agreed reluctantly as I stepped forward.

  I had my fist ready to knock when the door flew open and a man stood there glaring.

  He was gorgeous, like a lumber jack from heaven, or something. He was tanned, most likely from working in the sun, and his face was chiseled in a way that seemed ridiculous…and his hair! His hair was blond, shoulder length and wavy with an odd white streak across the right side. I then realized I was touching my own odd streaks and dropped my hand. I couldn’t take my eyes off the massiveness of the lovely man standing before me… and then he opened his mouth.

  “Get off my porch!” he barked, glaring down at me, his pale grey eyes beady.

  We all jumped at the unexpected outburst.

  “Umm, what?” I responded in shock, my hand going to my chest as if to calm my heart.

  “You heard me!” Then he looked over at the plate of cookies Fancy was holding and said, “Go away! I don’t want any girl scout cookies!” And then he glared down at me again and finished, “Or anything else you’re selling!”

  I’m sure my face revealed the horror I was feeling as he then slammed the door in my face.

  “How rude!” Kiki barked, and the others began to express their shock and irritation at his words.

  “We’re your new neighbors, you turkey!” Fancy yelled at the door.

  I glanced down at my clothing, wondering what he meant by ‘anything else you’re selling’. “Was he calling me a hooker?” I suddenly snapped, jerking to attention. The anger started at the top of my head and began to rush quickly through the rest of my body. Maybe I should shift right here on his front porch and rip his cocky little head off!

  Tabby, as if reading my mind, grabbed hold of me and held tight. “It’s okay, Cali. He’s a jerk! Don’t let it bother you. You are a beautiful and classy young woman. Rise above it!” Tabby was saying, but all I wanted to do was pick up a rock and launch it through the beast’s window. Hopefully it would land on his fat head. I actually glanced around for one.

  “Rise above it!” she said again, this time forcing eye contact. I hated that it always worked and instantly felt my pulse slow, but only slightly.

  “Fine,” I said, stepping away from her grasp and walking back down the steps. In irritation I grabbed one of the cookies from the plate Fancy was holding and took a large bite. “Yuck!” I spat it out as quickly as I had taken the bite. I then threw the rest of the uneaten cookie into his lovely and overflowing garden. It felt good… and then I began launching the cookies, one at a time, into the garden. After the third one, the girls joined me and we giggled as we unloaded the plate of cookies.

  “That will teach him to be nasty to four sweet innocent girl scouts,” I said smirking, throwing the last one.

  We all joined arms, skipped, and giggled uncontrollably all the way back to our lovely home on Cottage Cake Drive. No, we are not little girls, but sometimes it feels good to act like it.

  Chapter Three

  I had to admit that I stayed irritated for the rest of the day and sat by my window hoping the man would walk out to his garden and notice the cookies. I had found the perfect spot at my bedroom window where I could see his garden clearly through the trees. I ate an entire roll of Spree while I waited. I was going to take pleasure in every minute of his annoyance, and I wasn’t going to miss it.

  Sure enough, after another hour or so of waiting, he strolled casually, as if he had no care in the world, out to his garden. Thank goodness for my sharp, keen eyesight. I noticed the look of pride on his handsome face as he studied the garden. He leaned down and plucked something off a stalk and took a bite. It looked like a fat, ripe tomato. The juice dribbled down his chin, and I found myself melting at the sight. Suddenly I snapped straight up, remembering that I hated this man…with a great passion. He was a savage after all.

  My eyes widened and a grin altered my face as I realized he had spotted the cookies. His expression was priceless. It was a look of disbelief mixed with a fierce anger. At that moment, Fancy burst through my door to tell me something.

  “Shhhh!” I snapped, running to her and pulling her down to the window with me.

  “What?” she whispered.

  I pointed and her eyes followed. She covered her mouth and smirked.

  We both watched as he began picking out the cookies. When he had his hands full
, he stood… and then he glared across the distance of space, staring right at us. We gasped and quickly ducked down below the window.

  “Was he looking at us?” Fancy spoke, her voice expressing the surprise we both were feeling.

  “It looked like it, but how? He must be a were-creature of some kind. Great! Just when I thought we were leaving the supernatural world behind us.”

  “But what kind?” Fancy asked.

  I shrugged and then risked another look. Yes! He was looking straight into our window, and his glower was angry.

  And then his comment to me earlier rang loudly in my ears, and I squared my shoulders, sat up straight and smiled sweetly as I offered a polite but sarcastic little wave. Fancy giggled and jerked my arm down. The savage frowned and then shocked me as he began angrily eating the soggy and probably insect covered cookies, one at a time. My mouth fell open, but then I began to laugh. He was angry, but I thought it was funny. He was sending a message, but I wasn’t receiving it. Who was the one who was irritated now? I thought.

  We ran downstairs to tell the others what had happened. They were amused as well.

  “Serves him right,” they had said, and I agreed. Maybe he would think twice before speaking again, but I doubted it. A man like that only cared about himself. I sighed and shook my head as I lingered on the thought. What a sad waste of perfect hotness.

  As Kiki was getting ready to throw away the extra batch of cookies we had made, I flung out my hand to stop her.

  “Wait!” I smirked. “Don’t throw away those cookies. I have an idea.”

  * * * * * *

  Although our parents had left us some money when they died, we decided that we would be happier and better off if we all got jobs. So the next morning we got in the car and headed for town, but not before pulling up to our new neighbor’s mailbox and leaving him a gift… a big, delicious looking but nasty tasting, and hard (don’t forget the hard) chocolate chip cookie.