Chapter Four
Henrietta
The market in Cedar Run hasn’t changed much, with the weathered wood siding, and bins of fresh produce out front. I have ten dollars in my pocket that I have earmarked for shampoo and conditioner.
I can’t dip into the Moonstone Pack’s payment. We’ve bought ourselves a little breathing room, but that’s all. We don’t have to beg for food from the Shadowpine anymore, we can buy the pack’s children new shoes and clothes, but we can’t go crazy. We’ve got a whole corn season to get through.
I make my purchase quickly. I don’t bother browsing the aisles; there’s no point looking at what I can’t have. I walk back out into the April sunshine and take a deep breath.
The parking lot is quiet. A couple of Moonstone wolves are loading groceries into a truck. The bitter, pungent smell of coffee drifts from the Late Shift diner down the block.
As I approach my ancient Ford pickup truck, lost in thought, I don’t hear him coming. One second I’m alone, and the next a shadow falls over me
“Henrietta.”
Roderick Frost, nephew of the Frostbane Alpha.
He’s big. Not Andrew big, but bulky in an awkward kind of way.
Dark gelled hair, pale blue eyes, expensive leather jacket.
I’ve never spoken to him directly, but I know who he is.
I’ve got memories of him being a nasty little bully when we were kids.
He liked to sneak up on kids and scare them. It looks like nothing’s changed.
I straighten up and meet his gaze. “Can I help you?” I lace my tone with impatience. No invitation whatsoever.
His eyes move over me slowly, top to bottom.
He runs his tongue over dry, cracked lips.
“Maybe. I heard you were back in town. You filled out nicely.” He stares directly at my boobs, then reluctantly moves his gaze back up to my face.
“A plant mage with your kind of talent - we could use someone like that.”
His mouth caresses the word “use”, and my breakfast churns in my stomach. My wolf lets out a low snarl.
“Well,” I say pleasantly, “I hope you find someone like that.”
Something flickers behind his pale eyes. “Don’t give me any sass.” His lip curls up in a snarl. “You don’t have an Alpha. You’ve got a weak as shit broken-down old man playing pack leader. If I say you’re mine, then you’re mine.”
He takes a step forward. I take a step back and hit the truck door.
“We’re guests of the Shadowpine pack,” I say. My voice comes out steady, which is a genuine achievement. “We’re under their Alpha’s protection.”
Are we, though?
Kieran Holt let us stay on Shadowpine land, but we never asked if we were now part of the pack again. Maybe we were afraid to push our luck.
Roderick’s smile doesn’t waver.
He’s close enough now that I can smell his sour coffee breath.
A shrill voice rings out through the air. “Roderick! Help me with the groceries!”
Two older women have come out of the market, both of them Frostbane. Their arms are overflowing with brown paper grocery bags. Roderick’s gaze jerks over to them distractedly.
That’s all I need.
I yank the door open, leap into the seat, slam the door, and start the truck. I reverse. Fast. The tires kick up a satisfying spray of gravel that patters against his expensive jacket.
My heart pounds in my chest as I pull out of the parking lot. I’ve escaped – for the moment. But the Frostbane pack wolves never back down.
I’m halfway back to the Shadowpine pack lands before I realized that I dropped my shampoo and conditioner in the parking lot, and there’s no way I can go back for it.
Damn this life. Damn Andrew for what he did to us.
* * *
The apple orchard on the northwestern edge of Moonstone territory has been there for countless generations. The trees are gnarled and blooming pale pink. I stop in front of the first row and just breathe for a second.
I’m a few minutes early. I press my hand against the base of the nearest tree and let myself feel it properly. It’s strong, but pests are chewing at it, and I can give it some relief.
Should I tell Andrew about Roderick?
Here’s the thing: Andrew is – for now - my fated mate, which means somewhere underneath all that composed Alpha exterior, his wolf is instinctively, insanely protective. If I tell him that Roderick wants to claim me, he’s liable to declare a pack war.
I don’t want war. I especially don’t want to be the cause of it. The last thing my family needs is to arrive back in Cedar Run and immediately become the reason two packs are at each other’s throats.
I’ll just avoid Roderick this spring and summer. Maybe he’ll find some other woman to focus on, someone who actually wants his nasty, annoying ass.
Maybe pigs will fly.
I hear footsteps behind me and turn to find that it’s not Andrew.
Marion Ward is a tall woman, although her sons easily have a good eight inches on her. She’s got dark hair threaded with silver and eyes that are warm and kind.
I remember her from when I was little. She was always pushing food on me and smoothing my hair. She radiated maternal warmth. I don’t know how she produced the kind of son who did what Andrew did.
Maybe Andrew didn’t know that he was lying – but the way my father told me the story of what happened that day, and the way Andrew apparently told it to the town elders, were very different from each other.
Marion looks at me now and smiles. “Henrietta. I’m so glad to see you back here.”
I blink. “Oh. Thank you.”
“I mean it.” She’s standing beside me now, both of us looking at the apple trees. “I hated the way things happened when you were little. We were sad to see you go.”
I swallow and clear my throat. “Well,” I say. “Thank you for that. I mean…I was sad to go.”
Her brow furrows in a frown. “I always had the feeling there was more that happened that day than any of us knew about.”
I choose my words carefully. I like Marion, I can’t blame her for what Andrew thought he saw, but I’ve also endured a lifetime of hearing my father’s name taken in vain, and he’s not even here to defend himself.
“My father was dealing in medicinal herbs,” I say. “Very powerful ones. Powerful enough that the local healing mages felt threatened because their services would no longer be needed. They had more political pull than us, so we were chased out.”
She nods, and doesn’t try to argue. “Well, anyway, you’re back here, and we’re so happy to have you. Do you need anything at all?”
How about our reputation, our dignity, and a pack that actually welcomes us with open arms?
“Maybe a bottle of shampoo and conditioner,” I blurt out before I could stop myself. “No, never mind. Just kidding.”
“We’ll send them over this afternoon. What else?”
My cheeks heat with embarrassment. I am tired of using the watered down remnants of the hair products I bought months ago, but I also am tired of being a beggar.
“You are helping us immensely by fixing our corn crops, and honestly we’re underpaying you,” Marion says briskly, as if she can read my mind. “Tell your Uncle Silas to hold out for fifty percent more next time. I know my son is a tough negotiator, but we shouldn’t be robbing you like this.”
“Henrietta!” Andrew calls out, and my wolf does a little happy dance inside me, panting like the ho she apparently has become.
He’s coming through the far row, hands in his jacket pockets. He spots his mother first and shoots her a suspicious look.
She reaches out and squeezes my arm, then turns and walks back toward the main buildings, passing Andrew on the way. He watches her go with a small furrow between his brows, then looks at me.
“What were you talking about?” he asks. “Please tell me she isn’t matchmaking.”
“Gross. No.” I make a face at him.
“I didn’t say you were gross,” he snorts. “Just that we’re obviously not meant to be together.”
I take a step back and curl my lip at him. “I’m the one who’s grossed out.”
“Oh yeah?” He arches one thick brow. “I can scent your arousal from here.”
“That’s my dumbass wolf. My mind is shuddering in disgust at your mere presence.”
Andrew rolls his eyes. “Let’s go spend a miserable morning touring the apple orchard and remind fate how stupid she is and what a ridiculous mistake she made with us. Then let’s have lunch together, just to make it even worse. And maybe even dinner.”
I give him a skeptical look.
“Kidding!” he barks. “Obviously I don’t want to have dinner with you.”
“Try again,” I suggest.
“Okay. Fine.” He lets out a long, miserable sigh. “My wolf wants to have dinner with you. And I hate that about him.”
“I know.” I nod sympathetically. “Mine too. Our wolves are stupid jerks and we are never, ever going to shift in each other’s presence because if those two crazy beasts got to meet each other...ugh, I can’t even think about it. Let’s just get this wretched day over with.”
Why can’t I dread it more? Why do I feel so safe, so protected, in his presence?
Off in the distance, I see Marion standing silently, watching us. And she’s got the faintest smile on her face.