Chapter 7 #3
I flicked my gaze at the girl, who was quietly listening to the adults while she played with a drawstring on her hoodie. “Did someone touch her? She’s getting older, and some of the wolves in town are sketchy.”
“It was Marvin. She isn’t talking, but if he did something, we might need to take a field trip over to his house tomorrow and teach him a lesson.”
“Sign me up.”
After Archer headed upstairs, Montana tossed Robyn over his shoulder and cut through the game room on their way to bed.
She playfully patted his butt on the way. “Don’t get too excited. We’re watching Jasper, remember?”
“Fine. Then you can be the little spoon tonight.”
“I wanna be the big spoon,” she argued.
The back door slammed. Tak had a distinct walk, even barefoot. He announced his presence before entering a room, and by the ominous thunder of his hurried footsteps, he must’ve suspected something was up.
I dipped against the fake plants to hide, the quilt wrapped around me.
“What’s going on?” Tak said, his strident voice silencing everyone. “Why is Krys’s wolf tearing up the yard? He snapped at me, and there’s blood on the back doorknob. I’m trying to have a private date with my woman.”
Which… clearly, he was.
The adorable pink-and-white apron made me wonder what games they were playing out there. His round butt cheeks were on full display like two golden-brown rolls, whereas pink material trimmed in lace covered his front.
Lakota gestured to Cleo. “They got into a bar fight. Cleo hit someone.”
“Everyone out,” he snapped.
The pack obediently made themselves scarce while I hid in the greenery.
Tak bent forward. “Tell me the truth. You shouldn’t lie to your Packmaster.”
She worried her lip. “Some guy was making fun of Uncle Archer. I don’t want him to know because… because it’ll hurt his feelings.”
“Archer can handle his feelings.”
She peered toward the game room as if someone might be listening. “But it was about his missing arm. They were laughing, so I hit him with the pool stick.”
“Why did you do that?”
She shrugged. “To make him stop.”
Tak heaved a sigh. “Violence always escalates. You can’t throw a punch without expecting to receive one. Do you understand? You can’t provoke Shifters or you might awaken their animal.”
“But animals don’t hurt kids.”
“Cleo, you’re growing up. You’re still a girl, and most wolves won’t attack a female, but you can’t go through life assuming people will do the right thing.
I don’t have to remind you about the evil men in this world.
Bad wolves attacked your aunt Hope when she was a girl.
Someday, I’ll show you there are better ways to get under a man’s skin without violence.
That should always be your last resort.” He straightened up.
“When I was a boy, one of my cousins was always embarrassing me. If I had punched him, it would’ve shamed my father.
Nobody wants to follow an impulsive, hotheaded alpha who can’t control his emotions. ”
“So what did you do?”
“I waited until the day he was being honored in a ceremony for reaching manhood—a rite of passage for young teen boys. I put laxatives in his drink. He didn’t make it through the ceremony,” Tak said on a chuckle.
“I bet he left you alone after that.”
“He never knew.”
She jerked her head back. “So he kept picking on you?”
“If I had told him, it would’ve escalated. I knew that because of his personality. I chose my moments and enjoyed them.”
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
He shook his head. “Don’t plot against others. What you did standing up for Archer was noble, but you’re a child, and violence begets violence. What happened after you hit him?”
She tugged at the hem of her short hoodie. “He got real mad and grabbed my shirt. Krys punched him and—”
“He touched you?” Tak asked, his words tightly caged.
“Not really. He just yanked my shirt and—”
“That’s putting his hands on you.” After a quiet moment, Tak asked another question. “Who was it?”
“They said his name was Marvin. I don’t know.”
Tak glanced over his shoulder toward the hallway but didn’t appear to see me.
“I need you to do me a favor,” he said. “Run to the heat house and tell your aunt Hope an emergency came up and I’ll be back later. Knock on the door. Don’t walk in.”
Without question, Cleo shot past me like a bullet.
Tak cursed in another language while trying to untie his apron, but it wasn’t the apron that had him upset.
I tossed my quilt onto a recliner and approached. “Need a hand?”
“Get this thing off me,” he growled.
“Going somewhere?”
“Out for a run.”
I smiled while loosening the knot. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting frisky with your mate?”
“I’m going to have a talk with that jackass who thinks he can discipline a child in my pack.” Tak threw the apron onto the floor.
“Maybe you should put a few laxatives in his beer the next time you see him.”
The door swung open, and Tak charged out.
I leaned against the doorjamb as Tak shifted into a large black wolf and torpedoed across the yard. Before he made it to the trees, I cupped my hands around my mouth and called out, “What happened to ‘violence begets violence’?”