Bloody Claws (Camren) Book 3

Chapter 9

Lauren was quiet on the drive to her place. She guided the Tiburon onto I-40 when my cell phone rang from my coat pocket. I caught a glimpse of Dinah's name on the caller ID before flipping the phone open to answer it. A bad feeling tugged at the pit of my stomach.

"Dinah, what's wrong?"

"Camila, so nice to hear your voice again." My stomach dove unhappily.

"Taylor," I said. "Where's Dinah?"

"She's here," Taylor said and her voice sounded distant, as if she were distracted by something on her end of the line.

"What do you want, Taylor? I get this feeling you don't want to sit down and talk over coffee."

"That would be an accurate assessment of the situation," she said, her voice too calm compared to the energy I was sensing. I felt a heat beneath her words that didn't match her tone.

"Great, glad to hear it. What do you want? Where's Dinah?" So far, I was doing really well at controlling my temper. I took a steadying breath, counting silently in my head.

Taylor Swift, alpha female of the Blackthorne pack was no friend of mine. In fact, I kind of despised her. I'd only met her face-to-face once, but that one time was enough.

"We need to talk. You know where to meet me. If you're not here within the next thirty minutes," she slowed her words, making sure I got the full force of what she was saying, "you lay your wolf at the hands of my mercy. I suggest you hurry."

The phone clicked silent. Could this night get any better?

"This is so not my fucking night," I growled.

Lauren gave me a sympathetic look before exiting the highway early to turn the car around.

"Reach into my pocket and use my phone to call Normani and Vanessa," she said, lifting her hip a little.

I leaned over and slipped my hand into the right pocket of her slacks. I retrieved her phone and stared at it.

"Lauren..."

"What is it, Camila?"

"I have no fucking idea how to use this."

"Press the small button on the top of the phone."

The screen blazed to life, shining brightly in the dimly lit car.

"Touch the screen."

I touched the screen and looked at her, waiting for instructions before I resorted to a button-pressing fit.

Lauren described a symbol on the phone and I found it, clicking on it and bringing up a very long list of contacts.

I was looking for a scroll button when Lauren stopped at a red light. She laughed when I gave a rumbling growl of frustration. She held her hand out expectantly.

I frowned and dropped the phone in her hand, then watched as she scrolled through the contact list.

"You could have told me that was all I had to do," I said.

Lauren tucked a curl behind her ear and held the phone up to it. She glanced at me before guiding the car back onto the highway. "This is easier."

I didn't disagree with her. She called Normani first and told her to pick up Vanessa and meet us in the clearing where the wolves met.

I sat back and tried to relax, though every muscle in my body was suddenly tense. It'd been a little over a month since I'd accidentally marked Dinah as my wolf, since I'd accidentally psychically claimed her. It'd been a little longer than that since I'd executed Austin Mahone, Taylor's psychopathic serial killer half brother.