Chapter 1 #2
Liam’s eyes jump to mine, and I think I see fear in them. Ella and Cindel turn, but he hesitates, lingering. He looks at me, and I think I see my best friend. Then he mouths one word.
Run.
If he’s telling me to run, it’s clearly going to be really bad for me if I do appear for the gathering. Right. Maybe I can break a leg or something up on my mountain.
I stare at them until they’re gone, and only once I’m sure I’m not going to get jumped, do I open my door to my truck and climb in. The groceries can wait. If the pack is here, then I need to be elsewhere. I can come back tomorrow. I’ll be cutting it close, but it would be safer.
Once I get halfway home, I pull over. My hands are shaking, and I feel sick; the warmth of the day is gone. Even the pine-clean scent of the forests I’ve claimed as my own isn’t bringing me peace.
They claim this place is haunted, so the human townsfolk won’t come here. My pack is too lazy to run up and down mountains. When the witch, old Freida Jones, passed, she willed me the tiny plot of land and the cabin.
It’s been home for years now. Just me. Alone.
Why does that feel so heavy today?
I get back in the truck. The drive is long, and, normally, I take peace in the bumpy ascension, but today I’m just itching to be home.
I want out of these layers of clothes and want to be in my own space.
The smell, the stench! I want this damn scent off me.
I slam my foot on the brake as soon as I reach home and jump out of the truck, ripping four layers of shirts off me until I’m in a tank top and jeans.
I close my eyes and tilt my head to the sky, letting the sun fall on my face. Remembering what my mother would say to me. Keep your anger leashed until you need it. Never let them see how strong you are, not until you can take them all down.
My mother was an omega, like hers before her. Just as I am. Whether I have a wolf or not, they can’t take that from me. And omega wolves cannot be controlled.
My phone’s shrill tone breaks the silence. I reach for it absently and accept the call while I unlock my front door and kick it shut behind me.
Home sweet home. My expensive couch and TV take up a lot of the space. There are four bedrooms, but I only use the one on the other side of the kitchen. A back door down the hallway and miles of beautiful views out old rustic windows.
I love it here.
“Casey, thank fuck.”
I sit up more alertly. “What’s wrong, Liz? Who do I have to kill?”
Liz is my only friend. My best friend. We catch up for coffee once every couple of months and talk a few times on the phone during that time.
I’m aware that I put a higher value on our friendship than she does, but I need her.
I honestly don’t have anyone else. She’s human, but married to a wolf, so she’ll never be accepted. Not fully.
“No one. It’s nothing like that. It’s just a simple thing, really. A huge favour.”
I wrinkle my nose and trot back down to my truck, pulling out the few bags of shopping I did manage to buy before I got cornered. I carry them up to the front of my house with my phone squeezed between my ear and shoulder. “What kind of favour?”
“The kind that would save me. I’m desperate.” She does sound bad; she sounds scared.
“Uh-huh. What kind, Liz?”
There’s a tense silence. “Dog sitting.”
I laugh at her and put my shopping on the old cut-up wooden bench in my kitchen. “Dog sitting. I can’t dog-sit.” I scoff at the very idea of me with a dog.
“Please. I’m begging you.”
“Liz, I can’t,” I growl into the phone. “I’m in the mountains; they could get eaten or worse.”
“It’s for one day.”
I pause. I need this friendship. She’s the only person left who speaks kindly to me.
“Casey, one day. I have my in-laws coming over.” I despise Liz’s new husband. He is a lazy bastard of a beta, so this makes me less inclined to help. A typical Foster wolf. “And his youngest sister, she’s ten, and she’s deathly allergic to dogs.”
I hesitate. It’s really rare for a wolf to have allergies, but then, we don’t all end up as wolves, do we?
“Please, Case, I know it’s a lot to ask, but no one will help me, and I…I just want to get them to like me. I know you can understand that.”
And I could. I tried so hard with my family until I learned better, but some lessons need to be learned the hard way in order to stick.
“How many?”
“Five!” comes the tiny reply.
“FIVE?” I laugh at her again, really get in a good belly laugh, because she’s insane. “Five dogs?”
“Yeah, but they are super well-behaved. They know all their cues, they listen well, and they’re all pretty old, so they mostly just sleep during the day.”
There is a long, deep silence. We both know I’m going to say yes. She knows I will give her whatever she wants. Money, clothes, my undivided attention. Our friendship is toxic, but she’s all I have.
“If they get out, I can’t guarantee they’ll survive.”
“Oh, no, they won’t. Please…” Liz whines.
I think it through. Five dogs for one day. Could I do this? It would help Liz, and I want her to be happy.
“One day, and you better be here to pick them up,” I warn.
“Oh, thank you. So, you’ll take the five of them? You will take my dogs?”
There is something odd in the way she phrases that question. It’s like there is something hidden, like I’ve missed the punch line.
“Yes,” I groan.
I feel the hot slither of magic wrap around me. Something cold and hard snaps up around my wrist. I stare at the silver cuff with five stones on it. Ruby, silver, bronze, onyx, and white.
Fear cascades through me. You don’t fuck with curses.
“Liz, what the fuck?”
She sobs on the phone. “I tried everything, but it won’t work. They are ruining my life. I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry. Honestly, Casey, I’m sorry.”
“Liz!” I shout, but the phone cuts off. I dial her back, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Liz, what the hell did you do to me?”
I pull at the cuff, but I know it’s no use. Magical binding contracts are impossible to remove unless the terms of the contract are met.
The scraping of claws on wood has my head jerking up. I’d know that sound anywhere. Fear has me frozen.
A brown wolf stares at me from the other side of the island.
“That’s not a dog!” I mutter. “That’s not a fucking dog, Liz!” I scream.
I slam my fist onto the island, trying to break the cuff. The monster just stares at me, judgement dripping off him in waves of hostile derision.
And then another one appears behind his brother, slinking out of the shadows of the house like it’s been there all along. Black as coal. With golden eyes that regard me with too much intelligence.
“Not a dog and not a wolf,” I mutter, backing up and reaching blindly for my knife.
A deep, vicious bark has me freezing. I slowly lift my hands up to show I mean no harm.
A flash of white, and I look down to find another one sniffing my clothes. He lifts his muzzle and snarls. I whip around just as a red one, his coat like flames, lands on my island. He shakes himself, sending half my groceries to the floor.
No. No, this is bullshit.
I whirl towards the red wolf, ignoring all the others.
“Do you want to starve or eat?” I shout at him. “Get. Down.”
He jerks his head in my direction, red fur flying. I’ve never seen a wolf this colour. Mind you, I’ve never seen any of the colours these wolves are. They are vibrant and pure, unlike the Foster pack, which are muted down.
I round the bench and start picking up the groceries, putting them back on the island. I’m on my hands and knees when the silver appears.
My breath catches, and I’m stuck, staring into his grey eyes. He’s beautiful. Like a dream.
I’ve had dreams about a wolf like this who arrived to save me. A hero. A rescuer. Someone who can take me away.
Why now?
Why when I have nothing left?
I look down at the broken jar of pickles and swallow hard.
“Not dogs,” I say softly. “Oh, seriously, fuck this day.”
I sit there with my eyes closed, ignoring them for a couple of minutes, and then I slam my head back on the island. I thump it three times, and when I open my eyes, the silver is too close, sniffing my hair.
I jerk back and put half the room between us.
“Okay. Okay. So, this isn’t going to be for a day.
This is…crap. Okay, focus, Casey.” I look up and meet the brown’s eyes.
He hasn’t taken his gaze off me; I can feel his stare like a heavy weight.
“You can shift if you can. There are beds down the hall. Food is in the kitchen. I’ll go back into town and get you more tomorrow.
There are clothes in the wardrobes that might fit.
We can talk tomorrow when I can…think clearly. ”
I get to my feet, turn around, and stumble, back and back. The man is huge, all muscle with long silver hair that’s shaved on one side. His eyes are the same grey colour as the wolf. He’s wearing an old pair of jeans and a black singlet.
“What’s your name?” His voice is a delicious rasp that fills me with panic.
“Casey.”
“Casey,” he tastes the sounds of my name, somehow making it sound indecent. “I’m Wrath.”
I swallow hard. “Wrath.”
He looks me up and down, real slow, making it feel like a physical caress. I’m stunned and lost in it. So, his words take a moment to penetrate.
“Congratulations on becoming the new owner of five adorable, ruin-your-fucking-life shifters. Hope you’re ready because this war has only just started.”
Beautiful…but an asshole just like every other wolf I’ve ever met.