Chapter 10 - Mason #2
Flicking through, I read through each report and highlighted specific things that jumped out.
Reports of specific colored flames or similar starting points for the fire.
I tried to assess what had been destroyed—if the djinn were trying to damage a specific thing, like history books, or old proof of their existence, just as another hunch, but found no correlation—and before I knew it, I was at the report of Bryce’s cottage in White Bay.
Paper-clipped to the top, right-hand corner was a picture of Bryce and Cassandra, their faces so similar, aside from the different color eyes and hair.
They were both grinning, sat before an empty fireplace, in what looked like matching Christmas pajamas.
It was cute, and I thumbed over Bryce’s dark hair, curled prettily, her face made up dramatically, as if she’d been out that night and come back to a cozy night in with her daughter.
I lifted the back of the picture, finding a caption written in cursive that clearly belonged to Bryce, who wrote Cassandra’s message.
Uncle Jackson, this year will be my fifth visit from Santa!
Mommy said to tell you what I asked for.
Everyone in school keeps talking about their moms and dads, but I tell them about Mommy on her own.
So, this year, I want something from my dad, whoever he is.
Maybe just a picture, or something he may have owned.
Mommy says she doesn’t like writing this down, but I insisted because she told me to say what’s on my mind.
Some nasty girls at school said my daddy’s like Santa because he’s not real, and I cried a lot.
Anyway, this is me and Mommy in the pjs you got us! Merry Christmas.
Love, Cassie.
I smiled at the childish innocence coming through in her message, and the unflinching stubbornness.
She really was like her mom, the more I learned about her.
But the part about her dad made my stomach drop.
I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d received for Christmas that year, if Bryce did have something to give her that reminded her of her dad.
The curiosity niggled inside me. I’d come so close to asking her about Cassie’s father earlier, but figured it wasn’t my place.
At least not yet. I had no right to. I had to earn back Bryce’s trust first, and figuring out how to do that beyond watching over her would be hard, but there had to be a way.
It wasn’t just about finding out who Cassie’s father was, either.
It was simply about having Bryce back in my life, getting rid of the hostility, hanging out with her and Jackson as we once had.
I thought back to the picture Cassie had shown me on Jackson’s tablet, and smiled.
The girl was intrigued, and she clearly hadn’t known she would be a shifter one day.
How come Bryce hadn’t told her yet?
The questions were useless, falling about in my head, until I was on my feet, heading out of the station, and I didn’t realize where I was going until I hit the bakery.
Harvey’s—owned by Mr. Harvey, a retired pastry chef who’d come over from Europe in his fifties, and had started over in our town—wasn’t too busy at that time of the day, and I was just ahead of the dinner rush, along with a handful of others.
But I noticed it wasn’t Mr. Harvey himself at the counter, but his nephew, a man I’d already turned my back on.
He’d tried to infiltrate my pack once, feigning loyalty, only to have banded with Theo once upon a time to turn on Bryce.
They’d turned on others, too; younger wolves who had yet to learn the ropes.
I smiled tightly. “Freddie.”
He glared openly at me. “Mason.”
I sidelined any further conversation as I assessed the selection.
“My uncle just put these out fresh,” Freddie said, clearly trying to stir up something to talk about me with.
I didn’t even glance at him; I just nodded.
I was eyeing up some croissants with chocolate twisted through them, plus something else with chocolate drops and custard in it, when I heard the shift of movement on the other side of the counter.
Freddie was only a couple of years younger than me, a small man eager to prove his so-called large worth.
But he’d only succeeded in being an ass and making an embarrassment of himself.
“So.” He cleared his throat. “I heard Bryce is back in town.”
“Yeah? Who’d you hear that from?”
“Theo. We still hang out.”
“Still hitting those old abandoned lots where you do nothing but drink beer, wishing you had a pack? You didn’t want to be part of something. You wanted to belong somewhere, and I get that, but you weren’t willing to do what it takes to belong. Sometimes, that meant a lot more selflessness.”
I looked up to find his eyes narrowed on me.
I shrugged. “Freddie, it's the truth. That’s the reason I didn’t accept you into the pack. You’re immature, weren’t willing to change even with guidance. Even Theo changed. It took a while, but—”
“He hates her, you know,” Freddie sneered. “Told me only last night. He can’t stand the fat bitch—”
“Stop.” My voice was low, roughing into a growl. “Do not speak about Bryce like that.” God, I could have killed him back then for the things he’d said about her, but now my fingers twitched, aching to try and see how many ways I could hurt him for even daring to speak against Bryce.
Freddie just smirked. “You still hard for the girl?”
I pressed a fist to the glass, trying to rein myself in. “Stop now, Freddie, before I cause a scene you don’t want.”
“Oh, what? Big, bad alpha who turned his back on his own just so he could get some from literally the least hot girl in town?”
“I didn’t turn my back on you,” I snarled.
“You turned it on us. We asked you, time and time again, to man up, pull your weight, and actually have some respect. That’s what I’m making here.
“A pack that actually cares for Honeycreek and every single damn person who lives here. And yeah, even Theo. They’ve all said things—hell, I’ve said things—that were awful.
I regret every single one of them, and I know some others have.
I should have put you all in your places back then, and I didn’t, so I’m goddamn working on it now. I will not have my pack act this way.”
I shook my head. “Bryce never deserved any of what I let happen. I got rid of you, Freddie, because you don’t even know how to respect yourself, never mind others, and I won’t have you speak about her like that.
I won’t have any of them speak about her like that.
My pack will and is making Honeycreek safer.
From fires, from enemies, from other shifters, and from your sort of spiteful hate.
I want my pack to be welcoming. To be the one to go to when people feel unsafe in any capacity.
That was Bryce, and she could never turn to her own pack back then because of you and the group you gathered.
I won’t stand for it again. So, if you need a reminder of what I did to you last time you stepped out of line, I’ll happily step outside with you. ”
I glared at him, and it was only seeing Freddie’s pale face and wide eyes that made me realize how quiet the bakery had gone. I gritted my teeth against the prickle of attention. I wasn’t low in confidence by any means, but I hated berating someone I wanted to trust in front of others.
“Just let me buy the damn pastries and get out of here,” I muttered.
But as Freddie nodded quickly and bagged the items up that I pointed out, I realized it wasn’t just the public nature of it.
No. It was something else, and that had me turning, sensing the energy shift in the store. I came face-to-face with Bryce, who blinked at her, her mouth parted in disbelief.