64. Clara
Clara
The festival is starting to wrap up. I feel like I’ve read the fortunes of nearly everyone in town. Some of them revealing far more than I ever wanted to know.
Stella leaves my tent, dragging her oxygen tank behind her and muttering about ungrateful grandkids, when the next person enters. I look up and freeze.
Deputy Henry stands in the entryway. "Can I get a reading?"
My heart is thundering in my throat. He’s in full uniform. Am I even allowed to refuse him?
"Actually, I was just packing up—"
"Oh, I’m sure you have time for me. Right?
" On the surface it’s a friendly request, but it’s a mask of the man I knew.
Was it always a mask? I think it was. How do some alphas do that?
Pretend to be someone their not just to get the omega.
His whole aura since I rejected him at the café for a date gas been toxic.
There’s a definite undercurrent of malice.
My breaths come in soft gasps, afraid that if I breathe too hard, he’ll fly into a rage. Everything about him screams unstable.
"O-okay." My hands shake as I pick up the deck, dropping a couple of cards in the process.
He chuckles, and it’s not a pleasant sound. "Nervous, Little Girl?"
The nickname grates, making me feel ill. "Clara is fine, thanks." I may be frightened, but I’m not a complete doormat.
A low growl rumbles from his chest, and I flinch.
"Cut the deck anywhere, please,” I say.
He does, and I gather the cards back up. I flip the first one, it’s The Lovers … but reversed.
"Ha. I knew it. Of course the first card would be The Lovers between you and me."
"It isn’t. The Lovers reversed doesn’t mean lovers, it means disharmony. One-sided."
He sneers. "I can read. It says ‘Lovers’."
I open my mouth to argue further, but he snaps, "Next," and his eyes promise danger.
Flipping the next card, my heart sinks further. Justice, reversed. It represents an inability to be held accountable, or, in this case, I’d interpret it as straight-up delusion. I voice none of this as Henry twists it into his own meaning.
"I am owed justice for what that pack has tried to steal from me,” he says. “I plan to tackle it very soon."
The next card is the Seven of Swords , deception and dishonor. After that, The Tower in the future position.
"What is that?" he asks.
"It’s destruction. Your downfall. Everything you’re doing leads to disastrous, even deadly consequences," I warn.
He laughs, a soulless, frightening sound, before slamming his fist down on the table, scattering the deck and forcing a yelp from my lips.
"You cannot—!" His yelling is cut off when a pair of tattooed hands grabs him by the scruff and hauls him bodily out of the tent.
I follow, stumbling in my skirts.
Vic tor throws Henry out onto the lawn in front of the tent. There aren’t many people left milling about, but enough to draw a few gasps.
"Call the Sheriff! This man’s assaulting a police officer," Henry calls, and it certainly looks that way. Victor, the town mystery, pushing around the Deputy.
Victor snarls in his face. "I told you not to ever come near my omega again."
He starts to prowl forward, but I grab his arm. "Please don’t. He didn’t do anything, just startled me."
"That is something. And it’s enough for me to rip his throat out."
"Please. As a gift for our courting date. Don’t." Not for Henry but because I don't want anything to happen to Victor.
His jaw works, a muscle ticking, but he nods.
A pair of headlights pulls up to the edge of the festival, blue lights running. The Sheriff.
Victor tenses, but I take his hand. Henry sneers at us, and we ignore him.
"What seems to be the problem?" Sheriff Corbin asks, looking between us.
"He attacked me just for getting my tarot read, Sheriff. I was just about to arrest him," Henry says.
"That is most definitely not what happened," Bax and Cali emerge from the crowd.
"We heard Clara shout. Everyone did. We were coming to help. Victor just got there first," Cali says fiercely.
Sheriff Corbin looks to me. "What happened, Clara?"
I go over the entire thing. All of his erratic and frightening actions tonight. Henry sputters out denials, but the Sheriff shoots him a cutting glance that shuts him up.
The Sheriff nods. "Deputy Lowe, please meet me back at the station. We have things to discuss."
Henry shoots me a final, knee-shaking glare and leaves.
"Ca n we speak in your tent?" the Sheriff asks. The crowd disperses. Cali and Bax give me questioning looks, but I nod.
The Sheriff surveys the strewn cards and overturned chair, sighing. "He was belligerent but there's not a crime here.
"So, what? He just gets to keep threatening her?" Victor snarls.
"Victor," I warn.
"No, it’s okay, Clara. If I were in his place, I’d be just as upset. I have to stick to the law. But I can put him on paid suspension until I investigate, and maybe have him evaluated. His behavior is more than concerning."
I sigh, too tired to argue.
"I’ll be keeping a close eye on him," the Sheriff says. "Someone like him doesn’t take long to mess up."
We head home. Victor holds my hand all the way.
When we pull into the drive, he turns to me. "I’m sorry that didn’t end as well as I’d hoped."
"That’s not your fault. I’m glad you were there."
In the moonlight, his eyes are two pools of darkness.
His hand comes up, skimming my cheek, threading through my hair.
My eyes flutter closed, leaning into him.
His lips brush mine, the cool metal of his lip ring sending shivers down my spine.
His grip tightens, pulling lightly, and I moan into his mouth.
A tap-tap at the window has us jumping. I scramble, heart pounding, Henry still fresh in my mind, but it’s just Bram, being nosy. Victor scowls at him, then catches my eye and rolls his own.
***
Whe n we get into the house, everyone is still up. To them, this wasn’t just a courting date, it was the night that might make or break the pack.
The first thing I do is assure them I had a great time. Victor looks simultaneously proud and bashful. It’s the first time I could call him cute.
Once we explain the run-in with Henry, their faces sour. Dagan stands, zipping up his hoodie.
"Where are you going?" I both sign and ask.
" To kill him, " he signs back. I block him. "Mine, move."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I need all my alphas for my heat so you're not allowed to go to jail."
That stops him cold.
"Apple," Jack says from behind Dagan, stepping forward. "When?"
I swallow. "In a week or two."
Bram is instantly on his phone.
Jack nods at whatever he’s searching. "What are you doing?"
"Making an appointment with The Nest Store,” he says.
I can’t help the excitement bubbling in my veins.
"Wait, I’m confused," Victor looks back and forth between us. "You haven’t done the nest yet? Why?"
"If an omega has a pack, the nest is decorated with the pack—with the entire pack."
His eyes go wide, then he looks away, breathing deeply. "Spooky Girl, I—" His voice breaks.
I wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me in, face buried in my neck, and I scent-mark him.
When he pulls back, his eyes are glassy.
I look around. Bram's proud, Jack happy, Dagan relieved, Victor grateful.
"Ca n we all stay in the pack bed tonight?" I ask.
There’s a pause where I panic, but then they’re all wrapping me in a hug. My exhaustion hits hard.
Suddenly I’m scooped into muscular arms, a chest smelling of pumpkin and cinnamon. I’m asleep before we even reach the omega suite.