Chapter 23
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Lina
Day three in Noah’s house, and things weren’t exactly better, but at least my body had stopped doing its impression of a malfunctioning radio. The random bursts of super-hearing had settled into a more predictable pattern of annoying but manageable.
Knox had finally left for “urgent pack business” yesterday afternoon after hovering around me constantly for two days straight.
The man had practically breathed down my neck, watching me with those gray eyes full of concern and want and a dozen other emotions I didn’t want to acknowledge.
Then he’d just... not come back last night.
Not that I was waiting for him or anything. Not that I’d noticed his absence when the house got quiet and the twins asked where “the sad wolf man” had gone. Definitely didn’t lie awake wondering what kind of urgent pack business kept an Alpha out all night.
Where the hell was he anyway?
No. Stop. I didn’t care where Knox was or what he was doing. All I’d wanted for two days was for him to back off and give me space. Now I had it. Great. Fantastic. Exactly what I’d asked for.
So why did I feel personally offended that he’d actually listened?
Fuck these stupid thoughts. I was not going down that road. The man had called me a warm hole and left me. I didn’t get to have feelings about his whereabouts.
The twins were napping after a morning of Noah teaching them “wolf games” in the backyard, which had mostly consisted of them chasing each other around while partially shifted.
Watching my four-year-olds bound around with wolf paws while giggling hysterically was still breaking my brain a little, but at least they were happy.
Noah had left too, mentioning he needed to check on something at the pack house. For the first time since we’d arrived in Werewolf Town, I was alone with my kids in this house.
I tried to focus on the book I’d found on Noah’s shelf, some thriller about a detective hunting a serial killer. Normal, human problems. No werewolves or mate bonds or children with supernatural abilities. Just good old-fashioned murder.
My enhanced hearing kept interrupting though, catching random sounds. Someone’s blender two blocks away grinding ice. Then complete silence. Then dogs barking somewhere to the east. Then nothing again.
A knock at the door interrupted my attempts at reading.
I froze. Noah had said no one really bothered him here, that pack members respected his space. So who was knocking?
Through the peephole, I saw a stunning blonde woman with a smile that looked practiced and perfect. Everything about her screamed danger, from her designer clothes to the way she stood on the porch.
I opened the door cautiously, keeping the chain on. “Can I help you?”
The woman’s nostrils flared, and her smile turned from calculated to vicious in an instant. “Oh, this is rich. You must be the human whore Knox has been hiding.”
“Excuse me?” The words hit me so unexpectedly I almost laughed.
“I’m Mary Thorne.” She said it as if I should recognize the name, as if she was someone important. “Knox’s fiancée. Well, soon to be.”
The chain snapped as she pushed the door open with casual strength, forcing her way inside. “And you’re in my way.”
I stumbled back, shock giving way to anger. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting a look at the competition.” She prowled into Noah’s living room, touching things with deliberate disrespect. A photo frame here, a book there, leaving her scent on everything. “Though competition is a strong word for what you are.”
“Get out,” I said firmly, moving to block her path to the hallway where the twins slept. “Now.”
“Did he tell you about our date last night?” Mary purred, examining her manicured nails. “He was very eager to see me. The council arranged it, of course, but he seemed quite enthusiastic.”
Date? Last night? That’s where he’d been?
“And later,” she continued with a satisfied smile, “he was very, very energetic. Though I suppose you wouldn’t know about his appetites anymore. You haven’t been taking care of him properly, have you?”
She scoffed, wrinkling her nose. “Typical human. Too focused on themselves to ever be good lovers. We wolves have stamina you couldn’t dream of.”
The implication hit me in the chest, but I refused to show it. Knox had spent the night with her? Been eager and energetic? Of course he had. Why would I expect anything different from the man who’d already proven he saw women as disposable?
“The pack expects an announcement soon, you know,” Mary continued, settling onto Noah’s couch as if she owned it. “Our mating ceremony will be the event of the year. His parents are thrilled.”
“I don’t care about your traditions or your delusions,” I snapped, ignoring the way my heart cracked at the thought of Knox with this vicious woman. “I don’t care about Knox.”
“Don’t you?” Her laugh was cruel, knowing. “Then why are you still here? Why not take your bastards and leave?”
That’s all I’d wanted to do since arriving, but I’d be damned if I’d let this bitch think she could order me around.
“Knox will be here any minute now,” I lied. “Leave.”
“I don’t think so.” She examined a throw pillow with disgust before tossing it aside. “I know exactly where he is right now, and I know where he’ll be later. With me, where he belongs. Where he’ll always belong.”
She stood, moving closer. “You’re just a charity case, nothing more. A loose end he’s tying up out of misplaced guilt. Don’t let your delusions get to your head.”
“My delusions?” I laughed bitterly. “Lady, I don’t want your psycho boyfriend. You can have him.”
“I intend to. But first, let’s discuss your... children.” The way she said the word made it sound dirty. “Your bastards. His dirty little secret that he’s desperately trying to hide.”
“Don’t talk about my children.” My voice dropped to a dangerous level.
“Oh, the half-breeds?” She smiled wider, showing teeth that looked too sharp. “I can smell them on you. Mongrels. Mutts. Neither wolf nor human, belonging nowhere.”
“Shut your fucking mouth.” My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms.
“The truth hurts? Here’s more truth for you.” She leaned closer, her perfume cloying and artificial. “Knox’s parents arrive next week. Marcus and Serena Raven. They eat humans like you for breakfast. Literally, in some cases.”
My blood ran cold at her obvious delight in my horror.
“They’ll take one look at those aberrations you call children and demand Knox fix his mistake.
And he will. He always does what daddy tells him.
” She straightened, smoothing her dress.
“Run now, little human. Take your mongrels and disappear before the real wolves decide you’re more trouble than entertainment. ”
I stepped closer to her, close enough to see her perfect makeup and smell her expensive perfume mixed with the wild scent all werewolves carried. “Call my children mongrels again. I dare you.”
“Mongrels,” Mary repeated slowly, savoring each syllable. “Mong-rels.”
My fist connected with her perfect face before I consciously decided to move. The crack of impact was satisfying until her head snapped back into place, nose already healing from what should have been a break.
“You little bitch!” She lunged at me with inhuman speed.
We crashed into Noah’s coffee table, wood splintering under our combined weight. Her nails raked across my arm, drawing blood, but my new strength surprised us both. I wasn’t just holding my own against a werewolf; I was actually landing hits that made her grunt in pain.
We rolled across the floor, a tangle of limbs and fury. She got her hands around my throat but I drove my knee into her stomach, forcing her to release me. My elbow caught her jaw and her fist found my ribs in return.
“Mama?”
The small voices froze us both mid-grapple.
The twins stood in the doorway. Thea clutched Mr. Unicorn while Rowan held his sister’s hand, both staring at us with wide eyes.
“Why are you fighting the mean lady?” Thea asked in a trembling voice.
Mary shoved me off with brutal strength, standing and smoothing her hair as if we hadn’t just been trying to kill each other. “These are the mongrels?” She looked at them with such disgust it made my blood boil all over again. “Pathetic. They even smell wrong. Tainted.”
“GET OUT!” The roar that came from my throat didn’t sound human. It carried power I didn’t know I possessed, authority that made even Mary step back in surprise.
She touched her throat where bruises were already forming. “This isn’t over. You’re nothing but a temporary inconvenience.”
“Leave now or I’ll show you just how inconvenient I can be.”
“Enjoy your time while it lasts,” she hissed, backing toward the door. “You have your days counted. Once his parents arrive, once the pack votes, you’ll be nothing but a bad memory.”
The door slammed behind her hard enough to rattle the windows.
I stood there shaking, knuckles bloody, ribs aching, adrenaline making everything feel surreal. My children stared at me with tears streaming down their faces.
“Mama?” Thea was crying openly now. “Are we really mongrels? Are we tainted? Is that why the mean lady hurt you?”
“No, baby. No.” I dropped to my knees and pulled them both into my arms, ignoring the protest from my battered body. “You’re perfect. You’re my perfect babies and anyone who says otherwise can go to hell.”
“But she said we smell wrong,” Rowan whispered against my shoulder. “She said we don’t belong anywhere.”
“She’s a jealous, cruel person who wanted to hurt us with words.” I pulled back to look at their faces, thumbing away their tears. “You belong with me. Always. And you smell like my favorite people in the whole world.”
“You were really strong,” Rowan said, his observant nature not dimmed by trauma.
“Sometimes we have to protect ourselves,” I said carefully. “But fighting isn’t good. I shouldn’t have hit her.”
“She was mean first,” Thea said loyally. “She called us bad names.”
“Still doesn’t make it right, baby.”
Rowan tilted his head, studying my face intently. “Mama, your lip is healing.”
I touched my mouth, feeling the split that should have been bleeding. Instead, the skin was already knitting itself back together, the pain fading to nothing.
Just another reminder that Knox’s bite had changed me in ways I was still discovering. Just another thing I couldn’t control or understand.
Just another reason that Mary might be right about us not belonging anywhere.