Chapter Ten – Angela
Chapter Ten
Angela
Not long after that, I found Willa’s birth control pills in the trash. I pulled them out and confronted her. “What the hell are you thinking?”
She pushed my accusatory hand aside. “I’m thinking that I want to get knocked-up.”
She was so matter-of-fact about it, I was stunned. “Did you tell him?”
“Yeah.”
“And he…agreed?”
She laughed at me, gently. “Yeah. Angela—if you were here more, you’d know.
Look around. All the other girls—they’re all somebody’s mom or sister.
Like everyone here is really inbred, in a good way, you know?
Jamie’s got Jonah, and they have little Danny, and Nikki’s Daziel’s girl, and they’ve got their twins—everyone here is tight, like family. ”
I already had a family—and was scheduled for another call from my mother on Tuesday night. But Willa didn’t, and I knew how often she’d had to hide from her drunken father. “I like this,” she went on. “I want to be a part of it. All the way.”
“But how’ll you support it?”
“Duh—Gray will help me. And you.” She smiled innocently up at me. “Won’t you?”
I sagged to sit beside her on the bed. “Yeah—of course.”
“Thanks,” Willa said, beaming. “I mean, you could have one too, and then they could both be the same age and—"
“Maybe,” I said, to cut her off, while giving her a tight smile.
After that, Willa and Gray needed some alone time.
I mean, it wasn’t like we’d never been alone before that—sometimes one of us wouldn’t be up for playing, or someone might’ve gone out—but this was the first time I felt explicitly excluded, made worse by the fact that they were going to the Farm.
It was Gray’s suggestion—and Willa felt bad. “It’s just for a night,” she said. “I’m not even packing anything.”
“I know,” I said, trying to seem brave. “I get it.”
“We’ll be back soon,” Gray said before kissing me, seemingly oblivious to my plight.
They took the Pack’s communal car that sat outside, keys in the ignition, doors always unlocked, because it wasn’t like anyone would dare steal it, and I waved as they drove off.
I trudged back into the bar hang-dog, heading for my schoolwork in the back, when Wade blocked my way. “Just because they’re not here doesn’t mean you need to be alone.”
“No, but I’m really not in the mood, Wade.”
“Are you sure? I got you a present.” He offered out a box with a bow.
I took it from him, looking up. His eyes were crinkled, considering me. “Thanks.”
“Open it.”
I tugged the bow off and opened it up. Inside, two tattoo guns were nestled against foam. They were beautiful, their metal oxidized blue. “Wade,” I breathed.
“I got tired of you borrowing mine.”
“Thank you!” I closed the box and jumped him for a hug. He startled and then held me back, just a second too long, like he was out of practice.
“You’re welcome. But you know what that means now—"
“What?”
He turned toward the rest of the bar. “Fresh meat!”
I’d been watching Wade tattoo for months, and he’d been supervising me for weeks, showing me the best ways to translate my artistic skills to skin.
I’d done a number of small designs on assorted Pack members and their friends—there was always someone looking for a cheap tattoo—but I needed someone new to try these guns on.
“Murphy….” Wade cajoled, as a stout man came in from the back patio.
Sensing something was up, he said, “What? No.”
“You wanted me to touch up your girlfriend just last week. Let Angela have a roll.”
I knew Murphy had a wide image of a woman across his back. I hadn’t known it was personal.
“She’s the boss’s bitch,” Wade said.
Murphy snorted, unimpressed. “I ain’t letting her mark me until she’s got our marks.”
Wade turned to me. “He does have a point.”
I swallowed. My skin was just mine, so far. But every member of the Pack had a tattoo somewhere that’d give them away. I’d already seen a few bruised and bloody members earn theirs from Wade.
I looked around the bar. The rough world here—it was my world too. And if Willa was going to go and get herself knocked up, then I had to stay. I didn’t go out and party with the others like she did, so it was natural for them to wonder about my loyalty.
Did I want them? Did they want me?
I wanted Gray. And Willa.
“Where?” I asked.
Wade grinned broadly. “Usually we blood in blood out. But seeing as you’re Gray’s.…” Wade said, talking to himself.
“Somewhere she can see,” Daziel said, coming over with a drink in hand.
“Somewhere we can see,” Murphy grunted.
“All right,” Wade agreed. And then he reached for my tank top and stretched it down and out. “Right here,” he said, placing a hand on one breast where it curved up. “And here,” he said, touching the other one.”
“That’ll do,” Murphy agreed, and within minutes, Wade’s kit was set up.
I sat as still as I could. I won’t lie—it hurt. Each time the needles lifted it felt like I could breathe, and when they fell again I gritted my teeth.
I didn’t even know what Wade was tattooing, and he was freehanding besides—but soon it became apparent that I was getting a wolf print on each breast—like a wolf had stood up and was pushing me down.
When he switched out the needles to start filling in his outlines, Murphy brought me a drink—and then drank it in front of me.
“Don’t be an ass, Murph,” Wade said. Murphy laughed and offered me the other half the bottle.
“Unlike you, I can be sober and get a tattoo,” I said through clenched teeth. Wade pulled off the needles to laugh.
“Only because I’m going to have to be black out drunk before I let you touch me,” Murphy grumbled.
It didn’t go down quite like that—although whether Wade was ‘keeping him still’ or ‘holding him down’ was debatable—but I did get to use my new guns on him, and they were just as smooth as I’d hoped they’d be.
And that night I fell into bed alone with a quiet satisfaction, with the sheets off so my blood couldn’t stain them.