Afflicted

by Novak, Ava

  “Not really. Actually I found out about some auction taking place this weekend.”

  Kellie whirled around to look at him, a bewildered expression on her face. She’d told him something completely different than what he found out at the bank from Victoria.

  “Kaden, you said you were going to leave it be!”

  “Yeah, you said that I should do that, but I thought I could do you a solid after talking to Rick, who was going on about fixing what Morgan’s done. Regardless I can’t believe you would let something like that happen. You know what the risk is.”

  He was the next in line after Morgan’s death to run the pack. In the end all responsibility shifted in his direction no matter what. Kaden was not going to let it be.

  “I told you not to worry about anything your father did. So what if those homes are up for auction. Ask yourself what have they done for you and me? Did they step in when your good for nothing father beat us until we hopefully passed out? Did any one of them think to stop him from taking that god awful whip to your back that day?”

  Kaden remember that day. How could he forget? He’d been seven at the time. And Morgan thought it was time Kaden learned his place. Only a monster could do that to a kid. Kaden couldn’t fathom treating his child that way if he ever had any.

  “No, just because of how things were for us that doesn’t mean we have to do shitty things to other people. Well at least I don’t agree with that.”

  “Honey, they deserve it and anything else bad to come their way. You should have been here to see how they reacted to your father and me allowing that girl, Victoria Lane, who works up there at the bank, move into one of the log cabins.”

  Kaden choked on the alcohol he’d been in the process of swallowing.

  “You allowed a human to move into one of the cabins? Are you crazy?”

  “She is a nice young lady, who needed a place to stay. Besides she always pays her rent on time and keeps to herself. It’s a damn shame how she has been treated.”

  “Treated like how,” Kaden partially growled. He didn’t mean to jump into protective mode. The wolf didn’t like the idea of Victoria being treated like crap.

  “Well, you know some folks are mad about what your father did, and she is just in the crossfire is all. All that was done to her was some young ones went and tp’d the cabin she is staying at.”

  Fuck me. This can’t be happening.

  Kaden hadn’t been in town for more than a day and shit was just haywire. Not only that, but Victoria was catching heat for something that wasn’t even her fault. He intended to find out the names of those who’d decided it was cool to toss toilet paper over her cabin. The pack was clearly in need of a leader. It wasn’t going to be him, it was his place, but he had the option to find a suitable replacement. He wasn’t going to be in this for the long haul. Kaden was going to hand over his title.

  “Which one is she staying at?”

  Kellie told Kaden the location. Against his better judgment Kaden decided he would go for a run tonight and make a pit stop by the cabin Victoria was staying at.

  “You know you should just be focused on picking someone who can take your place since you have no plans to stay. Just pick someone, be done with it, and spend the summer with your mom.”

  “Yeah, but first order has to be in place, before I do that, and you aren’t doing a good job of helping.”

  “Kaden” she screeched.

  “What? You seem to have this vendetta that is misplaced. No one in the pack is to blame for Morgan’s shit. We suffered and they suffered right along with us. I’m going to clean this damned pack up whether or not you agree.”

  “You are out of your mind.”

  I have to do what Morgan was incapable of doing.

  “Yeah and I’m going to make some changes around here. And first thing tomorrow morning you are going to make a stop by the bank. You are going to do what needs to be done.”

  “No, I will not. I’m not doing a damned thing Kaden.”

  “Mom,” Kaden yelled. Kellie ignored him as she ran up the stairs. “What the fuck?”

  Kaden rolled his eyes and grabbed his beer off the table. He downed the rest of it. Kellie slammed the door to her bedroom and Kaden heard the lock to the door click, Kaden shrugged his shoulders, he wasn’t going to follow her plot to make the pack worse than it already was.

  It was clear she had a bone to pick with members of the pack. Kaden loved his mother but if she wanted to be mad at someone it should be herself. There were countless times when help had been offered. Kaden remembered going into town and the woman in charge of the battered women’s shelter would always ask his mom if she wanted out. Kellie could have taken the help then, freedom was right there, no matter where it came from. Instead of peace of mind she chose to deal with a man who was deadly abusive to her and her only child. It took Kaden a long time to get over the fear to leave. Mostly he was afraid to be away from the pack and on his own out there in the open among the humans. Leaving was the best decision he ever made. There was no telling what type of person Kaden would have evolved into if he’d stayed and kept dealing with Morgan’s bullshit.

  ***

  Now she really needed that bubble bath and to top it off a massage. Victoria had returned home after work to find graffiti on the front door of the cabin she was renting. Some asshole thought it would be a good idea to spray paint the word bitch on the door in red. To top it off it took someone from the police department over three hours to finally make it over. She had to keep in mind that only five people worked at the C.P.D. but it still just pissed her off to have to wait that long. A report was made, pictures of her door were taken, then Victoria told the officer she had a clue why it was done, and yet she had no idea who exactly it was that vandalized the cabin door. She was certain this was connected to the darn auction.

  “I am so tired of this,” Victoria grumbled. She mindlessly tapped her fingers on the countertop as she waited for the Thai chicken from last night to finish reheating in the microwave. Everything was a go for the auction to take place. Victoria didn’t have one lick of remorse now. And so far she’d been nice and ignored all the stuff that was done. How far did it have to go before lines were crossed to the point of no return? Technically, a line had already been crossed at least several times. If there was a motel in town she would just pack up all her stuff and move. For some strange reason Victoria got the feeling no one would dare try that stuff in town in the open. Maybe it was a big fat sign telling her she needed to go back to North Carolina.

  After retrieving her heated food, Victoria headed to the bedroom, and sat down in the middle of the bed. She grabbed her laptop off the nightstand, flipped it open, and powered it up. There was one luxury that actually existed in this place and it was internet— slow dialup internet but at least she had some way to surf the net. So she wasn’t completely cut off from civilization.

  As soon as her laptop powered up Victoria pulled up her email. It was a good thing no one had her personal email address. No doubt about it Victoria would have an inbox full of messages about this auction. It was out of her hands. Soon it would be over, hopefully.

  “I don’t believe this,” Victoria said with a spoon full of food in her mouth. Her inbox contained five emails from her ex Mark. Without taking the time to read what he might have typed in his emails to her Victoria deleted the messages. He wasn’t worth her time. Even if there was a heartfelt apology she didn’t care to read it at the moment. She didn’t even care why he even decided to message her after all this time that had passed. Her cell number had stayed the same.

  Don’t even think about that dickhead Vic.

  “What else is in here today?”

  Victoria scanned over email after email reporting all the ones that were spam. Her eyes lit up as she ran across an email update from the company she’d purchased her replacement vibrator. Victoria clapped happily as she discovered it was an updated tracking of her package.

  “Oh it’s he
re,” Victoria squealed as she got of the bed and headed for the front door. She stepped outside to be greeted by a sky that was darkening. Victoria walked barefooted over to the mailbox. Inside of the mailbox she found junk mail along with a brown discreet package.

  “Yay, it’s about time my new toy got here, hopefully this one won’t blow out on me.”

  Can’t beat the real thing but it still gets the job done. And that’s all that matters.

  As Victoria stepped back onto the porch, she felt as if she was being watched. Turning around Victoria looked out into the dimly light forest. There was nothing to indicate there was someone out there. Then again if she had walked over to the edge of the woods and searched the area she’d have found the person who was watching. She was miles away from her nearest neighbor. Being alone, in the middle of nowhere was never a problem for her, and it certainly wasn’t until now with her door having been spray painted.

  Fear worked its way into her heart. She’d never really given it much thought to what lengths might be taken against her. Perhaps she’d been naïve in the situation. Victoria hurried back into the cabin, locked the door behind her, and set the alarm even though she didn’t see anyone. Suddenly she didn’t want to stay another night in this cabin, on top of being so far away town, and out of reach from the local police department. She wanted to feel safe.

  Oh I wish I knew who did this to the fucking door! The last thing I want to be right now is scared.

  Who knew what this person would do next? Victoria instantly got mad. This was the Wrights felt. Mrs. Wright has a son willing to pay the money that was owed on the properties. There was no point for this drama. All Kellie had to do was come into the bank, take the steps to get the account in order, and the only thing Kaden had to do was hand over the cash. Victoria’s life wasn’t worth losing over bullshit that wasn’t even caused by her but Morgan Wright. Victoria was having second thoughts about the woman that was kind enough to allow her to rent out this cabin. Victoria liked living in the small town, adored the seclusion, but it wasn’t enjoyable if people were going to be a wild indecorous bunch.

  Victoria walked back into the bedroom. She tossed her mail on to the bed. After retrieving her cell phone from her purse Victoria immediately scrolled down to Kellie Wright’s cell phone number.

  Keep it nice and short Vic.

  I’m moving out and breaking Lease. T.T.Y.L. Victoria didn’t haste to press the send button. Less than a minute later Victoria got a reply back to her text message.

  Call in the morning so we can talk. What is T.T.Y.L?

  Victoria typed back a reply.

  Sorry its text slang and it means talk to you later.

  Oh. Boy times are changing. Well I hope I can change your mind. Can you tell me why you want to break the lease?

  Let’s see I feel like someone is stalking me now. And oh yeah someone spray painted bitch on the front door. I am afraid of what is going to happen next and I don’t like that I am being targeted, Victoria thought as she typed in her reply. She cleared the message and decided to text a decent summary of her reasons for breaking the lease. It seemed better to just let Kellie know why she wanted to get out of here so fast and out of the blue.

  At first she wasn’t going to let the sprayed painted door get to her but now that Victoria felt like she was being watched her mind changed big time. She couldn’t have peace of mind, knowing that someone might be out there right this minute, and watching in the shadows like the fucking creep he or she was with no sense of decency.

  I will be over first thing in the morning to take a look at the door. Let’s discuss this when I come over.

  There wasn’t much Victoria that needed to be discussed. She had to leave and move into a different place. The chances of finding something decent to live in was going to be a tough find but she was more than willing to compromise. Whoever the person was, that decided to use intimidation tactics, needed to back off.

  Maybe I need to take a trip to the local pawn shop. It couldn’t hurt to buy a nice little handgun and learn how to shoot for protection. I can’t only rely on the self-defensive moves I learned in college.

  Perhaps buying a gun was the first thing she should have down when she moved here. She was living alone, becoming the ideal candidate for anyone that was aiming for ill intent, and no one would hear her screams.

  Well I’m just the perfect little target for a serial killer or worse a damned vampire if they actually existed.

  Chapter Three

  Kaden walked into the bar situated about ten miles away from town. The only bar in Collins, that his pack ventured to, operated by Rick Grant. It gave the pack some sort of entertainment, especially for those who didn’t like going into town to much, and mingling with the humans. The humans never came to Rick’s bar due to him purposely putting it out there that his place overpriced alcohol. It wasn’t true that he overpriced anything. It just was a lie to keep the humans from coming and to keep them going to the bar in town.

  “Hey Kaden,” Rick shouted out from his place behind the bar.

  Kaden nodded his head in greeting and strolled over to the bar.

  “You look like you are in need of a drink son,” Rick said as he started to pour Kaden a drink. “This one is on the house.”

  Kaden chuckled. Damn right I need one.

  He needed a drink badly. His problems were giving him a massive headache and on top of that he was insanely horny at the moment. Kaden had the urge to fuck— actually to make love to Victoria and only her.

  “I need a whole damn bottle,” Kaden grumbled. He took a sat on a wooden bar stool.

  “I suppose so with you stepping into the role of alpha.”

  Kaden grunted. The man thinks I’m joking about leaving again.

  “Since I saw you this morning my mind has not changed Rick. I am not staying no longer than I have too. This place is not for me and I am still not going to lead this pack. I’m just here to make things peachy before I head back.”

  “It’s your birth right kid.”

  “Kid…in case you haven’t noticed old man but this guy over here is a man. A man who knows hard work a-”

  “Ignores his responsibilities,” Rick leaned over and said to Kaden.

  Before Kaden left for Alaska Rick, who’d been a upstanding role model towards Kaden had always told him there would be a day, he’d become a person that everyone looked up to. He believed Kaden had the ability to make the pack greater, to be a proper leader, and all Kaden needed to do was believe he could do that. The only problem was Kaden had no desire to be a leader. He really wanted nothing to do with Collins and the pack. Kaden was done with this place.

  My life is back in Alaska. There is no way in hell I am staying any longer than I have to.

  “Where is that drink?”

  “Here you go.”

  Rick slid the drink over that he’d just poured for Kaden. He knew Rick wasn’t fond of the idea of him passing the torch on to someone else to be the leader, to become the head man in charge, and Rick had already informed Kaden he was going to object when the time came.

  Rick is always busting my balls.

  Kaden looked around the empty bar. Soon it would be full of patrons. No one else was there but the two of them. Kaden needed someone to talk too and right now Rick was the only person he could trust with this secret. Rick wasn’t going to judge him but give him advice. Kaden sighed heavily and turned back around to face Rick.

  “I need to lay something heavy on you and I need your help to… well make sense of it.”

  “Lay it on me.”

  Kaden’s lips twisted in self-disgust. He appeared as if he was in some kind of discomfort.

  “I think I met my mate today.”

  Yes she is mine. Shit… no she is not mine!

  “Aw shit who is it? Come on don’t keep me waiting,” Rick said as he reached over to pat Kaden on his shoulder.

  “I’ll tell you this much. She isn’t a shifter by a long shot. She’s human,�
�� Kaden said as he run a hand through his hair.

  “God damn it boy. So who is the lucky lady?”

  I can’t let anyone know its Victoria Lane not even Rick. What…is he serious… lucky lady? Didn’t he hear what the fuck I just said? She is human.

  “I’m not saying,” Kaden said. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Why the hell not…you can’t lay some shit down like that and leave out something so juicy. I have to know who this lady is and besides it’s funny.”

  “And why the fuck is this funny?” Kaden didn’t find any of it funny. His mate was human for Christ sake.

  “You ass has been anti-mate since you were sixteen. Now you found the one woman that has the power to change everything and I mean everything. Your ass is in trouble son but in a good way.”

  No I haven’t been anti-mate. I just don’t see the point in having one at the moment. Hell I don’t want a mate right now. So maybe I am anti-mate.

  Rick started to smile. He shook his head and laughed.

  “Did you forget the fucking part where I said she is human? Not one of us,” Kaden said through clenched teeth.

  “Yeah, nothing wrong with my hearing. Damn boy I’m old but I’m not that old. It doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t a mate is a mate. And I can’t wait to meet her.”

  Yeah right, Kaden thought as he rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned that wasn’t going to happen.

  “I’ve never heard of a something like this.”

  “It happens. You wouldn’t be the first. Before I settled here in Collins I’ve seen it. You just make sure you’re careful and she isn’t going to go jabbering about our kind.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I have no plans to stay here and I’m not going to entertain this mate stuff.”