Chapter Five #2
“He knew Penny was dating Noah. He still signed it. He can’t deny that he didn’t know what it meant for people because his own daughter was in the thick of it.
He had to research it fully, know that not everyone survives the change, you know?
How can you still sign something when you’re possibly putting your own child to death? ”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think he had pressure on him. You see, this passes here, and more states will follow. Maybe it’ll become a federal law.
And I know my dad has a senate seat on his horizon.
But you know what? He doesn’t have to become a senator.
If someone offered to put me in line for the candidacy and said the caveat was to put your child at risk? The job isn’t worth it.”
“There’s another problem they’re ignoring.
The public isn’t well aware of it so it’s been kept quiet.
When someone is forcibly changed? It’s not a quick process.
If Penny survives the change, it will take years—and a whole pack—to tame the wolf.
The animal wants the body, it doesn’t want to work together with the existing human.
It’s why rogues are put to death. If they change someone, there’s little to no chance that they can help that person transition.
A feral shifter is the stuff of horror movies.
Werewolf nightmares. If your sister’s wolf breaks away?
It’ll hunt a human. She’ll wipe out an entire town for dominance.
And when that happens? As soon as the wolf gives up the skin, your human police will lock her up.
You know how rumors start. The world will begin hunting all shifters, determined to wipe us out of existence on the off chance that someone will go crazy and hunt down humans. ”
“Oh, my God. No. I don’t remember ever learning that changing isn’t a matter of getting bit and waking up a civilized shifter the next day. Surely my father doesn’t—”
“That’s what Penny went back to confront him on during the shifter protests. She wanted to make the details known. Your father refused and signed the bill anyway.”
“She didn’t tell me.”
“She might eventually. But then again, if she doesn’t survive? That’s a lot for a little sister to go through. Maybe she didn’t want you to blame anyone for that. Not because she’s protecting your parents, but because she wants you to be able to heal.”
“Why? Why would he still sign it?”
Isaac shrugged. “Maybe he thought it would force her hand? That she would have to break things off with Noah if faced with death. But she didn’t have a choice.
They’re mates. It’s easy to see. His wolf picked her, the man picked her, and even with human senses, she chose him.
Because we don’t have a legal ceremony like marriage doesn’t mean a mating doesn’t exist. A mating is instinctual. ”
“My dad knew that too?”
“She explained everything to him. He demanded that she leave us. Cut off her credit cards. She ended up using her savings to rent that cabin. That’s when she and Noah fell hard in love.
They’d been friends, even dating, but when she stuck up for shifters?
They knew this was a forever thing between them. ”
“And she thought I’d reject him too.”
“You didn’t know anything about shifters. Everything you heard, you heard from your parents. If your father was a lost cause, she figured you would be too.”
Just then, Isaac stiffened. The air grew heavy and thick, hard to breathe, like they’d walked into a sauna.
“What’s happening—” she whispered.
When he turned to her, his eyes were the icy blue of his wolf. “Stay here. Don’t stray from the crowds of people.”
God, his voice. Growly, feral, deep. It froze her midsentence with the harshness. This. This was the man who she’d met this morning, not the one she’d gotten to know on the drive to town.
Her heart pounded and her breath came in deep gasps as she watched the man—no, the monster—walk away. Down, past the grassy areas, stood a group of five men. Not men, shifters.
One stood slightly in front of the other four and his glowing gold eyes never left Isaac as he approached.
Shifter.
But there was five against one. Noah was nowhere in sight. She didn’t even know which way Penny and Noah had gone, or she’d get him.
Maybe she could call Penny.
She reached down for her pocket and froze when the hair at the nape of her neck bristled.
A voice whispered near her ear. “Don’t try it.”
Every hair on her body stood on end.
He stood way too close and was he… sniffing her?
“Who are you?” she refused to take her eyes off Isaac, like she could will him to turn around.
“No one you know. Yet.”
Her heart ratcheted. She could feel power and anger pulsing from him—the same way it had when Isaac saw the group.
“See those males your alpha’s talking to? They’re mine.”
“He’s not my alpha,” she whispered.
“No, I know what you are.” He gave a deep inhalation. “Human.”
“So you’re distracting him.”
“Mmm. Smart girl.” With the barest pad of a finger, he swept aside her hair. And then he licked up her neck.
She stiffened, barely suppressing a shudder.
He chuckled. “His scent isn’t on you, Penny’s sister.”
“How do you—”
“The power of deduction. There can’t possibly be two humans escorted by the same pack who wear the same pink boots, right?”
Her heart thudded harder, so she waited for a brief moment to make sure she could speak without her voice quivering.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing yet.”
She stayed quiet, waiting for him to speak, her blood racing through her veins.
And then, thank God, Isaac backed away from the males. They moved backward also, as a whole, as if no one on either side wanted to give their backs to each other. Isaac turned, his face mottled with fury. He approached her, but his expression gave way to confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
The man behind her must’ve left. She released her breath on an exhale, but she didn’t think she could speak yet. The terror still had her spine stiff as a board, her arms and legs were starting to tingle from the adrenaline rush.
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding his hands out, but still glancing around like he was confused by her stance. “So sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I smelled their scent, saw them clustered together waiting for us. I had to leave; I didn’t want you anywhere near them—”
“Their alpha wasn’t there, was he?” she finally choked out.
“No. That was Jax, his second—”
It finally dawned on him. The fury from earlier crashed over his face and he moved so fast, he was a blur when he gripped her upper arms, yanking her to him. He lowered his head and sniffed up her neck.
“He was here.” He wasn’t really asking, and he sounded like he gritted the words out through clenched teeth.
She nodded, but she was trembling. “S-said I didn’t smell like you.”
He shook her slightly. “What else?”
“Nothing. He knew I was Penny’s sister. That’s all.”
And then she was wrapped up in big, muscular arms, pressed against his chest where she could hear his heartbeat thudding as loud as hers. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at me. I should have known they wanted you alone. He wanted me to know how close to you he could get.”
“Who is he?”
“Rhett Delano of the Blackmoor pack.”
He held her so tight, and he was rocking her back and forth against his chest, ignoring the swarms of people that walked by. But she sensed that his awareness was up, his attention was on her, sure, but he was alert to the dangers of the other males returning.
“Did he hurt you?”
“I think he just wanted to scare me.” This time, her voice did tremble.
“It’s okay. I got you now.”