Chapter Four
“You need to call a meeting,” Nate murmured.
Liam sighed and rested his head back against the seat of his truck. He shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. Today had been eternal. “This is already blown way out of proportion.”
“Is it?” Nate asked. “I’m telling you the entire Pack is riled up over something you are doing, and you’re putting off calling a meeting?
What’s going on with you, man? Last week you would’ve called the meeting the second there was a murmur of trouble in the Pack.
You are the one getting us all back on track after everything.
You made that oath. And now the Elders are getting a call from an Arrangement, saying you’re with a human? ”
“I’m not with a human,” he snarled, slamming his open palm against the steering wheel.
“I’ve lived here for half a day! My shit is still packed in boxes.
How could I be with a human? I did what was asked of me, and met the Arrangement, on my move-in day, after my fucking house burned down, Nate.
A little grace would be appreciated. I’m sorry she felt slighted, but we barely had a connection. She was judgmental—”
“Liam, it’s your first meeting. Some of that will work itself out when you aren’t strangers anymore.
She says she’s willing to go on a second Arrangement meet, but somewhere that makes sense for both of you.
Not a human bar where you have eyes on some six, when you have a ten in front of you.
You insulted her, man. I’m with her on this. ”
“A six?” he gritted out. Nate was really calling Nory a six? “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Ask yourself something, Alpha. Why are you getting so defensive over a human right now? I’m telling you what needs to happen to get the Pack on track—”
“Remember your place, Nate, or I will strip you of your rank and put you at the bottom of this fucking Pack, is that clear?”
“But—”
“Is it clear!” he yelled.
He didn’t miss the soft whine that came from the other end of the line. “Yes. Crystal clear.”
“I will talk to the Elders. I will even talk to the Arrangement if it’s what they want.
I will message the Pack and set up a meeting first thing in the morning, but please remember what I’m dealing with.
” His house had burned down seven days ago, and he was up to his neck in insurance claim paperwork, still managing his shifts at work, and was just trying to find a steady footing in the middle of a horrible week.
“I will fix it, but no more lectures from you or anyone else on how I should be as an Alpha. I promised to drag this Pack up to prosperity, and that goal has not changed, but I need a second to fuckin’ breathe. ”
Nate heaved a sigh. “Where are you?”
“In my truck. I was going to go for a drive. I want to see my den.”
“It’s fine. I checked on it three times today. No one is messing with the rubble but the insurance guys.”
“I feel…” Liam frowned, searching for the words to describe the roller coaster that was consuming him.
He didn’t know how to say it, and he and Nate didn’t engage in conversations like that. They never had.
Movement caught his attention to the right.
Nory was walking across the parking lot toward her apartment building.
She cast a glance at his truck and held for a couple of moments before she dragged her attention back to the direction she was walking.
She looked cold, with her arms clasped tightly around her middle, and her shoulders hunched.
There was a bite to the air that probably felt freezing to fragile human skin.
On instinct, he reached for the jacket he kept in his back seat but stopped himself. What was he doing? She was almost home, and also, he had no business building any connections with Nory. He didn’t need to be her hero.
She was fine without him.
A slight motion dragged his attention, and he saw the corner of a blind fall from the bottom floor apartment window. Jackson, he bet.
A snarl rattled his throat, and Liam shoved the door open, strode for where Nory was disappearing up the stairs. He bolted for the mouth of the stairwell and witnessed her disappear around the corner to climb the next flight of stairs.
The door to the bottom apartment opened, and Liam froze, witnessing Jackson slink out to look up. There were gaps between the outdoor stairs, and a slow-boiling rage consumed Liam.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Jackson startled hard and started making an excuse. “I was just…I was—”
“No lies,” Liam said, approaching smoothly. “I can’t stand liars. You’re going to leave her alone.”
Jackson’s eyes went wide as Liam stepped out of the shadows and into the halo of Jackson’s porch light. Oh, he knew what his eyes looked like right now. They would be glowing with bloodlust.
“You…you’re…”
“Going to be a big problem for you if you can’t leave her alone. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I’ll call the police,” Jackson said backing toward his door.
“Good. We can talk about a restraining order and tell them all about your stalker habits. Don’t fucking threaten me, boy.
That’s a bad idea.” He blurred to him and grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the side of the building.
Liam smiled at the satisfying sound of Jackson’s choking sounds.
He lowered his voice. “If I hear of you showing up at the same place as Nory again, I’m going to hurt you.
” And oh, he felt that oath with every fiber of his being.
He would hurt him, and consequences be damned.
“Okay, okay,” Jackson choked out. “I won’t.”
Liam yanked him off the wall and shoved him into his apartment. “Sweet dreams, Asshole,” he snarled. He stood to his full height in the open door frame, glaring down at Jackson who laid on the ground, holding his sore throat. “Dream of what will happen if you keep hunting her.”
“What’s it to you?” Jackson asked hoarsely.
“She’s mine,” Liam said smoothly, and then turned and pulled the door closed so hard, it rattled the building.
She’s mine?
What the hell? He stared at the door for a few moments, replaying those two words in his mind. He could hear the truth of his own words, and it disturbed him down to his soul.
She’s mine.
No. No, no, no, she couldn’t be his. He’d just said that to Jackson to let him know where he stood. Yeah. Yeah, that’s why he’d said that without thinking.
Liam backed off the door and turned, making his way down the sidewalk toward his truck. His door was still open, and from here, he could hear Nate still on the phone, asking what the hell was going on.
Nothing good.
This place was messing with his head. This was why werewolves stuck with the Pack and stayed away from humans. He and Nory came from two different worlds. The rules were different. The violence was different. The consequences were different.
Jackson’s first instinct was threatening to call the cops, but for werewolves?
They didn’t threaten that. Police wouldn’t even register as an option.
Werewolves Changed into their animals, and they fought, and they bled each other until their differences were settled, or one of them died, whichever came first.
Liam didn’t belong here.
She’s mine.
No, she wasn’t.
For Nory’s sake, she couldn’t be.