Chapter 39
Leaving the Pack
One Month Later
Aloud bang from the roof tore me out of bed, but Roscoe remained fast asleep.
An actual bomb could go off, and he’d still be drooling, face-down in his pillow.
I only knew this because Steve and Blake had decided to play a little prank recently involving a pot of firecrackers under our bed.
I’d nearly died of a heart attack, but Roscoe had scratched his stomach, turned over, and kept on snoring.
Another boom rattled the house followed by what sounded like a pop and hiss from the bathroom. I was wide awake now, dashing through the hallway. A torrent gushed from a hole that had been punched through the drywall exposing the plumbing.
“What the fuck is happening right now?” I shouted as Steve slipped backward before falling into the tub.
“Ah shit,” he said, his ears falling back against his head as he struggled to right himself. Austin and Randall rushed in behind me. “Someone turn off the main line!”
Austin disappeared, and Randall helped Steve out of the tub, both now soaking wet as they tried to prevent the water from shooting onto the floor. I kept my distance but that didn’t help, because as soon as Austin cut the main line, the two shook all the water off their outer coats like dogs.
I stood in the middle of the bathroom with my arms out in shock, water dripping from my face.
“Ooooo… sorry, Cody,” Randall said before clearing his throat. “Habit.”
“What happened to my shower?” I asked, growing angrier as I spoke. The entire place was turning into a construction project; I hadn’t slept properly in weeks with all the noise and dust.
“Well, there was mold in the drywall, and I was gonna replace it and put in some really nice tile and a new shower.” Steve’s ears were still low, but the tip of his tail wagged a little.
“See, we’re gonna knock down this wall”—he pointed to the wall next to the bathtub with a window looking out into the back yard—“and extend the bathroom to put in a shower and a nice big jacuzzi bathtub. You’re gonna love it when it’s all done! ”
“You’re going to knock down a load-bearing wall?” I reached for a towel and began drying myself. “Need I remind you guys, I don’t own this house! Did you get permits for anything?”
The gray werewolf laughed. “Pfft, permits. Blake talked to someone on the phone who gave him the go-ahead.”
“You’re a fucking contractor, Steve! You know damn well we need this shit in writing!”
“Blake’s the one that handles all the agreements, so go yell at him.”
I took a step back, my feet splashing in a puddle of water that was now making its way across the wood floors. “You knocked out the drywall to take care of the mold there, and now we’re going to have mold everywhere.”
“Austin was gonna replace the floor anyways,” Randall said as Austin walked back into the bathroom. “Ain’t that right, mate?”
“I was gonna do it eventually.” Austin let out a sigh. “I still haven’t finished the extra foundation around the garage.”
“I can’t handle this,” I muttered before walking out into a waterlogged hallway, the planks of wood already warping under my feet.
It was seven in the morning, and I hadn’t had my coffee yet.
As I walked through the house, I found everything caked in the usual white dust, the wall dividing what was once the garage and the dining room now missing.
There were used paper plates and beer bottles lying next to air mattresses strewn across the area, and the kitchen looked like a complete disaster. My coffee pot was still half-full of day-old java that no one cleaned out, and both sides of the sink had piles of grease-covered dishes and pans.
There were six werewolves living in this house, and I had lost control of the situation.
As much as I tried to get ahead of the messes, a tsunami of fur, dust, grease and trash appeared faster than I could clean.
I stood gazing in awe at the mess, and something inside of me finally snapped.
It wasn’t anger—it was something a lot more disturbing. The room lightened to silver.
“Uh, Roscoe was gonna clean this,” Blake said. I hadn’t heard him come in from outside as the pulsing in my ears had become so loud it drowned out everything else.
The room faded back to a normal hue, and I turned toward the black werewolf with a widened expression.
“I will burn this whole place to the ground.” My voice was empty to match what I was feeling at that moment.
“We’ll get it clean, I promise!”
“I will burn this place to the ground with everyone still inside, I swear.”
“O–kay,” Blake took a step back. “You need coffee. I’ll make you a fresh pot.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I made my way to the dining room table before sitting on the chair, looking around at the devastation.
A week ago, Mosavi had insisted I live with him for a while so he could teach me elder things, but as usual, I had refused.
Living with him would likely keep me on edge, but I knew now there were much worse things in life.
Hell, I’d have chosen to live in the woods at the moment just to get away from all the filth and noise.
The door creaked open, and Adam trotted carelessly inside, his clawed hands covered in dirt from working in his greenhouse. Austin bought it for him using that stash of money under the porch. As he shut the door, he left a brown handprint on the wall next to it.
“Hey Cody. You mind going to the hardware store with me for some more soil? I need an extra pair of hands.”
The room turned silver again. It was getting harder to control the vironoct—every day, more fur sprouted up on my arms and legs. Was it possible to bring about the transformation through unbridled rage alone?
“Oh, you’re in a mood again,” he said, averting his eyes. “Maybe I’ll get Randall to do it.”
I remained silent. If I so much as opened my mouth, I knew what would happen. Once I started yelling, it was like Castle Bravo. Everyone seemed so happy lately, and I didn’t want to ruin what we’d spent months trying to fix.
There was little choice left. I had to leave the pack for a while.
I stood and walked over to the door, the floor in the living room now covered in the water that had made its way from the bathroom. After slipping on my wet sandals, I quietly made my way outside.
The elegant double doors opened. I had expected to see Mosavi’s butler, since he was the one that answered the intercom to let me into the estate. Instead, I was greeted by a grinning Darius, his sharp, white teeth glistening as if mocking me.
“You look a mess.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “I wanted to ask if—” Man, this was hard. With every word, his sharp grin grew wider.
“Yes?” The way he said that made me want to punch him in the face.
“Is the offer to live here still on the table,” I said quickly.
“Hmm. I don’t know. You were quite adamant and rude about not accepting my gracious offer when I made it the first time.”
“I was wrong, okay?” I was now speaking slowly through my teeth. “I would very much appreciate it if I could stay here for a couple months.”
“I’d have to discuss this with—”
“Is that Cody?” Willa’s voice echoed excitedly from inside the foyer as she descended the stairs.
“I guess you can discuss it now,” I whispered as he groaned, his wife obviously ruining his plans to make me grovel.
“My dear. I thought you were still sleeping.”
She strolled up behind him and smiled at me. “I was, but then I heard Cody’s voice and had to come down. Are you finally ready to stay here for a while?”
“Yeah.” This was so humiliating. “It’s a little too hectic at home right now.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember Darius on the phone discussing the construction plans.”
The elder werewolf’s eyes widened as he turned and shook his head.
“Oh. Was that a secret?”
“Wait,” I said as Mosavi turned back to me. “What exactly were you talking about?”
“It was an over-the-phone orientation, similar to what you all had to go through. I needed to make sure they followed the law.”
“Oh.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that you also gave them permission to remodel that old eyesore of a house?”
Everything in my vision turned silver. “It was YOU!”
“Careful, now. You don’t want to do anything you’ll regret,” Mosavi said, holding up a hand.
“If I were a werewolf right now—”
“But you’re not, so keep your temper in check.” Mosavi turned and gave a slight snarl to Willa as she smirked and flashed her brows at him. At least I had someone on my side in this town.
If she wasn’t living here, I’d have probably taken my chances in the woods.
“It’s a little chilly out, but let’s have some mimosas by the pool,” Willa said, pulling me the rest of the way inside the house. As angry as I was, her bubbly personality always cheered me up. “Don’t worry, we’ll have more than enough time to get back at him,” she whispered.
Winter Solstice
Darius stood snout-to-snout with his wilder brother, both of their hackles raised as they bared every sharp tooth in their mouths. This family reunion was going about as well as I expected.
Willa and I glanced at one another before she finally broke the ice.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said, pulling the larger feral’s attention away from the confrontation. “You certainly look different from your brother.”
“Are you the witch?” the elder asked, his tone hesitant.
“I prefer to be called a lady, but if we must be specific—yes.”
The feral looked back at his brother as if gauging his body language. “No tricks. No spells. No trinkets.” He turned away and began walking along a dirt path. This place was both familiar and strange. Even though I’d been here before, the forest always seemed to change, like a living maze.
Mosavi glared back at me, and I shrugged before following the feral elder.
“What a waste of time. We could be in the Caribbean,” Darius muttered.
“It’s almost Christmas. Wouldn’t you rather try to make amends with your family?” I asked, looking back in time to see Mosavi roll his eyes.