Ripped Fur (Violet Eclipse Shifters #3)

Chapter One

Anathea

They are going nuts trying to find a replacement. It’s on the verge of feral. They are dating several omegas at a time. Update soon. Hope you are good.

The text from my sister Teri came through at the same time of day on the first of each month. The day when pack members didn’t have community duties. They took care of their own home and family and often, those who were allowed, went to the local town and bought things they needed.

Teri got service in the thrift store there, and since my parents shunned secondhand goods of all kinds, she could be alone and send the message without the chance of being caught.

I hoped she never got caught. It would put her in a precarious situation and me in danger.

Still, it made me happy to hear from her.

“Miss?” a woman called out from the candle section of the store. We tended to let people shop as they pleased since those who practiced spiritual rituals kept those things private for the most part, but there were exceptions.

“Yes? How can I help you?” I walked over and tapped the bell on the wall just because I could. The owner said ringing the bell rid the place of bad spirits, but it had become a fun thing to do. It lifted my spirits which was rare lately.

“What are these for?”

I explained what the candles could be used for as well as telling her that intentions mattered. Something I’d learned from the owner as well.

Morgana was a witch and taught us many things for our jobs but also for life in general. She was older and responsible for some of the incense blends. Some customers came in requesting her work specifically. There was talk that she could read auras, but she’d never said anything to me about mine.

Maybe I didn’t have one. My life was survival and hiding and steering clear of anything alpha-related.

All of them.

By the end of my shift, the customer traffic had slowed. The weekends were busy but the weekdays, not so much.

I didn’t answer Teri’s text. I never did.

She could see on her messages that I’d checked it.

In my head, answering might lead to someone finding the text and seeing my replies.

That would lead to the Vex pack learning I was in contact with Teri.

Then they would find me and call in their contract. Maybe.

Maybe was enough for me to be scared.

In reality, no one searched for me after I fled the pack and made my way as far as I could across the country.

Not my family.

Not my friends.

Not even the pack I was betrothed to.

But I still feared them. That one day, they would decide to call in the contract made between my parents and their pack and come find me. Force me to mate with them.

Why would anyone want to mate and be mated to someone who didn’t want them? Sounded like a horrible way to exist.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Morgana floated in from the back room.

I hadn’t even realized she was in the building.

She could’ve come in the back door, of course, but there were times the woman moved like a ghost. Stopping in front of me, she raised a hand and touched my cheek.

“Or maybe a quarter for your thoughts, my dear.”

I sighed and for the first time since getting the text, let my shoulders relax and unhinged my jaw. Didn’t even realize I’d been doing that. “I got the text from Teri,” I admitted.

Morgana knew my story, the parts I’d been willing to divulge. It was hard to tell her about my past without sounding whiny and weak but I did my best.

She once told me that people who changed their destinies were the strongest of all.

I had certainly done that.

“Not good news?”

For something to occupy my hands, I reached out and straightened the tray of business cards on the counter. We carried all kinds of cards from readings to psychics to tarot card readers but with the warning that the shop didn’t endorse any of those people and weren’t responsible for their business.

Morgana had once been reamed out by a customer complaining that she recommended the service of a psychic. The owner of the store and now my older advisor simply pointed to the sign and walked away.

I loved her calm.

“The pack is desperate, looking for someone to replace me. Dating all kinds of omegas at the same time.

She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “Men are always desperate for something out of reach. It’s like they love punishment, especially inflicted on themselves. And those poor omegas, thinking they’ve really caught themselves a pack of winners.”

I did feel awful for those women. Not awful enough to run back there but yucky.

Didn’t they believe in fated mates? In scent matches? In anything other than wealth and status and connections?

To be fair, I didn’t believe in those things either. Maybe a small part of me but the Vex pack ruined all of that.

“At least they’re not on my trail or even looking.”

Morgana patted my shoulder. “Their loss. And your gain. Why don’t we close up shop? I’m tired and there’s gardening to do.”

“Gardening?” I checked my watch. “It’s almost ten.”

She winked at me, and I felt myself smile. She wore some glittery eyeshadow tonight. Always full of surprises. “Gardening, dear. The kind that makes you feel good and forget and eat lots of snacks afterward.”

Oh.

Oh.

“Good a reason as any. I’ll lock up.”