by D. Fischer
I look at Bre with innocence. “What? I wasn’t trying to be rude. I’m curious.” I shrug and turn back to Victoria.
“I did the housework for Mr. and Mrs. Kenner,” Victoria says, a defensive tone thick in her voice.
I lift a brow. “Is that what you call them?” Even Craig, our old Alpha and Evo and Bre’s father, never asked us to address him as such. Craig, or Alpha, was fine with him. “Did they have you wear the teeny tiny black dress to go with it?”
“That’s it!” she growls at me. “Out in the hall. Now.” Bre grabs my arm and yanks me toward the hallway.
I let her drag me out of the office with a smirk on my face. Brenna can be pushy sometimes.
She tows me down the hall into the main living area before she stops and faces me. “You don’t treat people like that, Flint.” She wags her finger in my face. “These are going to be new members of our Pack. Can you at least be welcoming?” She flings her hands into the air. “I know you’re having a hard time with what happened to you here, and then the issues with your mate, but for fuck’s sake.” She places her hands on her hips. “These people have been through enough, too.” Her face is a light shade of red while she huffs loud breaths and waits for my excuse or apology.
I don’t have one.
I purse my lips, stuff my thumbs into my back pockets, and rock on the back of my heels. How do you answer a chick whose face is as red as a tomato and steam is coming from her ears?
“I have the right to remain silent. Anything I say or do will be used against me.”
She flings her hands into the air again and stalks out of the house. I take a deep breath, fighting the urge to smile, and follow behind. I watch as Bre stomps all the way to the moving van, gravel crunching under her shoes, and closes the back doors while ignoring my presence behind her. It’s better to not apologize now. I’m still on her shit list.
Shortly after, Ben, Romaine, Victoria, Jessup, and Evalyn exit out the front door and head toward us. A raindrop hits my arm and I lift my head to the darkening sky. The wind is picking up and the clouds are low and rigid shaped.
“The fun and games are over, folks. Time to get going,” I mumble as Ben passes me.
Irene Scott
I move my legs to rock the wooden swing Kelsey and I sit on. “What time are they supposed to be here?” I ask her.
Jeremy, Kelsey, Kenna, and I are all on the front porch watching a vicious storm roll across the sky. It’s a distance off yet, so we have some time before we need to head inside. They want to be front in center when the new wolves arrive. Since this isn’t my Pack, I tag along out of curiosity.
For balance, Kenna uses the wooden rails outlining the porch while she stretches her lower back. Her large baby bump is stiff and unmoving as she stretches from side to side. “I talked to Ben a minute ago. He said they were on their way. I guess there are only four wolves moving in.”
Kelsey rocks the swing off center when she abruptly straightens her back. “Four?” she screeches. “I thought there were more than that.”
Kenna stands upright, waddles her way to the porch swing, and gingerly takes a seat between us. “There were. We’ll discuss that later.” She grunts as she lowers herself. “Evo wants to hold a Pack meeting when the new ones arrive.” She turns her head toward me. “Are you all moved in?”
“Sure am,” I say as cheerfully as I can.
I’m not looking forward to this. As much as I love this Pack, I’m liking it less knowing I’ll be living in the same building as my mate. But at the same time, I’m finding myself intrigued by the idea of Flint. He’s sure something to look at. Hell, I saw him naked. There’s not much left to the imagination besides vivid fantasies.
I’ve heard the rumors about him—that he’s a lady’s man. That doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is dragging him into my shit, and having yet another person’s life to be responsible for.
Kenna wrinkles her nose. “Your smile doesn’t match your mood,” she comments dryly.
I shrug, pretending indifference. “I imagine I’ll be homesick, is all.” She snorts. It’s not easy remembering that she can detect a lie. I quickly change the subject to avoid further probing. “When will they be back?”
Jeremy checks his watch. “They should be back any minute.”
Kenna rubs her swollen belly. “Are you sure everything is okay with the baby? I have such a bad feeling about this.” She runs the other hand through her long, dark brown hair and fidgets with the ends.
I place my hand on top of hers. “Right now, there’s no cause for concern. Don’t panic. There are millions of women who deliver healthy babies with your same condition.”
Kelsey looks around the porch. “Where is everyone?”
“My mom is nesting—she seems to do that a lot. Better her than me,” Kenna chuckles. “Dyson is running patrol and Evo is in his office obsessing over the weather.”
Curious about the wolf shifter that seems to be avoiding his Pack, I ask, “How is Dyson doing?”
Kenna sighs as she finger-combs her hair into a bun. “He has a lot of regret. Sometimes I feel shame, but I don’t fully understand that. Evo and I are trying to give him some space.”
Kelsey scratches her cheek. “I’ve noticed he and Flint aren’t on speaking terms.”
“Yeah,” Kenna says, dropping her hands back into her lap. “I imagine something went down at the Gray Pack that we aren’t privy to. My mom said they roughed Flint up pretty good but left Dyson alone for the most part. She doesn’t have much information—she said she snuck out of the interrogation as soon as Flint shifted.”
I look back at the sky. “I imagine going through something like that would strain a friendship,” I mumble.
“They’ll figure it out,” Kenna says with hope before she frowns. “They better fucking figure it out. Dyson’s a good guy. Flint knows that.”
Kelsey stands up. “They’re back.”
The moving van rounds the curved gravel driveway with two more cars behind it. The storm follows them. A crack of thunder rumbles the dark, angry clouds.
All the vehicles park and the doors fling open. Flint, Ben, and Bre hop out of the car and wait for the four new wolves before they head to the house. Two females and two males glance around the territory before looking at the sky. One of the females, a petite gal with short red hair, gives a small wave to us on the porch.
Being the first in line, Bre climbs the steps to the porch. “What are you guys doing out here?” she hisses.
Kenna frowns at Bre’s attitude. “What do—” she cuts off when the sirens wail in the distance.
Silence stretches inside the porch as we turn our heads toward the sky. The landscape darkens, lightning flashes at an alarming rate, and clouds rotate, dipping occasionally past the blanket of dark gray. I watch, fascinated, as a sheet of rain makes its way across the lawn.
“There’s a tornado warning. They issued it just a few minutes ago,” Bre says.
She grabs Kenna by the elbow and steers her toward the front door. I hold back while the others follow her, content with being last in line. Tearing my eyes away from the sheet of rain, they’re caught by the eyes of my mate as he takes the three slow steps up the front porch, his arms loose at his sides.
Flint approaches me with his hands up, like he’s talking to a frightened deer. “Irene—” he begins.
I turn toward the door. “We should get inside,” I mumble. Inside me, my wolf rustles uncomfortably as I turn my back on my mate. She and I have always had a good, equal relationship. But since I found Flint, she hasn’t agreed with my choices. She doesn’t understand the meaning behind blackmail.
ChapterSeven
Flint Rockland
I follow Irene behind the rest of the Pack as they make their way to the kitchen. Evo’s footsteps rumble down the stairs the same time Dyson, in only a pair of shorts, walks through the sliding glass doors off the dining room. Heading into the kitchen, Bre leads the group.
“Where th
e fuck are we going,” Kenna asks Bre as Darla joins the group.
Bre opens the pantry door and lifts the rug off the floor. She throws it into the kitchen and it slides across the floor, landing with a thud against the bottom cabinets. A hidden door lays on the floor of the cupboard that leads to the basement.
Darla frowns at the rumpled rug Bre threw. She seems to be a touch on the side of ‘neat freak.’ She and George must have that in common.
“When the fuck did that get there?” Kenna asks. I hear the panic in her voice. She must not be a fan of storms. At least, the tornado welding kind. They don’t frighten me. Not a whole lot does anymore. And the probability of one hitting us is very slim.
Jeremy turns while waiting to descend the stairs. “Is there an actual tornado on the ground?” he asks with mild curiosity. The Pack, including the new members, turns toward Evo as we wait in line to descend the stairs.
Kenna screeches, yelling something about giant, hairy, man-eating, eight-legged creatures. She must not be a fan of spiders, either.
Kelsey grumbles agreement to Kenna from the top of the steps. “I’d rather chance the tornado.”
“There’s a radar indicated tornado,” Evo answers Jeremy. “That’s all I know.” He nods his head to the stairs, silently asking us to continue moving forward, eager to get to his pregnant mate.
Jeremy steps down the first step, following the new Pack members, with Irene right behind him. I watch her generous ass take each step and feel Evo lean closer to my ear. “Are you going to follow or are you going to continue watching the show?” he whispers with a hint of humor.
I smirk a smug smile and follow Irene down, adjusting my pants against the strain of my growing erection with each step.
The basement is indeed full of cobwebs. Not as many as one would think for not being down here in a while. The tankless water heater is off to one side, while the rest of the space is empty. I can feel the grit of dust under my shoes as I step onto the concrete floor.
Irene walks to the far wall and sits down, isolating herself from my Pack. Or me. Kelsey and Kenna, distracting themselves, greet the new wolves as Bre introduces them. Darla stands beside Bre and shakes each of their hands. Dyson stands off in a corner while Ben, Evo, and Jeremy stand in their own circle, discussing the weather and possible scenarios.
Since there’s no place to run and hide, I decide now is as good of time as any.
I walk over to Dyson’s secluded corner. He picks a cobweb off his bare shoulder and crosses his arms, averting his gaze from mine as I approach. I stand next to him, watching the Pack converse. Occasionally, my eyes stray to Irene, but I’m careful not to stare too long. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
His bare shoulders bob as he shrugs. “Not a whole lot to say.”
I remain quiet, careful that my anger doesn’t seep through my voice and alert the others. “Want to tell me what the hell you were thinking?”
He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “I was trying to keep you alive.”
I snort and Evo looks in our direction with mild interest before returning to his conversation. I didn’t mean to draw attention to us, but the noise came out before I had the time to stop it. “The safety of our Alphas come first.” I turn my head and look at the side of his face. He has yet to look at me. “The only hide you were saving was your own.”
He drops his arms to his side and shifts his body to face mine. His eyebrows raise in disbelief, wrinkling his forehead. “Is that what you think? They were going to kill you, Flint. Was I just supposed to sit by and watch that happen?”
Faceless people, peppermint, shouts, pain. Flashes of that memory surface and my jaw ticks. My wolf growls and paces inside me, disliking the flashback. “They were going to kill us anyway. You really think they would’ve handed us over? If the Pack hadn’t stormed their territory, we would’ve been dead by morning.”
His eyes narrow and his shoulders rise and fall at a faster rate. “Just remember, Flint, you’re not the only one who suffers,” he says before turning on his heel and stepping away from me. With not many places to go, he walks over to the adjacent corner and slides to the floor, resting his arms on his knees. An angry sneer is pasted on his face and he doesn’t spare me another glance.
I stuff my hands into my pockets and lean against the stairwell, thinking over his last statement. I guarantee I suffered more than he did.
Taking a few deep breaths, I take in the scene around me. Like a magnet, my eyes land on my mate again and I visibly relax, content on memorizing her finest details. I watch as she brings her legs up and rests her elbows on her knees, exactly like Dyson, though I doubt she realizes it. She’s a confident woman and danger, even of the weather variety, doesn’t seem to faze her.
Her skin is flawless, each feature symmetrical. She turns her face to the ladies chatting with the new Pack members, but I can tell she isn’t paying them any attention. Her ear is tilted in Ben, Evo, and Jeremy’s direction—she’s eavesdropping on their weather topics. I mentally add ‘being informed’ to my mate’s capabilities and personality traits.
Slowly, her head turns in my direction and her eyes capture mine. My heart skips a beat and my wolf takes notice. I blink slowly, keeping my eyes on her. She holds them for a moment before I make my decision.
Striding over to her, I unhook my hands from my pant pockets and slide myself to the floor next to her. I give her points for not shifting away from me, even though the slight flare of her nostrils tells me she’s dreading my presence. She’s either deciding if she wants to sit by me or she’s displeased with my company altogether. Maybe both. Probably both.
I bring my knees up and rest my elbows on them, mimicking her position. “How long do you plan to pretend I don’t exist,” I quietly ask her.
Without looking at me, she responds in the same hushed tone, “Long enough for you to realize I’m not interested.”
I chuckle. “Could have fooled me.” She fidgets her posture uncomfortably and I smirk. “That’s what I thought.”
She whips her head to face mine. “Wipe that sexy smirk off your face. This may be news to you, but not everything is about you and what you desire, Flint Rockland.”
I quirk an eyebrow, holding her smoldering gaze and watch her eyes fall into the depths of mine. That’s the second time in minutes that I’ve been told I’m selfish. “Then why don’t you explain it to me,” I say, caressing this spitting kitten with a seductive tone.
She flings out an arm. “You really think this is the place to hold such a conversation?” she asks, the fight leaving her voice toward the end of the sentence.
I let my arm brush against hers and instantly regret it. Shivering heat travels up my arm, to the pit of my stomach, and straight to my groin. I adjust myself, not caring if Irene witnesses the action.
“It’s as good of a place as any . . . seeing as we’re stuck here and all,” I mumble. She shifts nervously again. I double blink, my eyelashes brushing my cheekbones. “You’re nervous.” She frowns at me. “You’re not nervous of the storm,” I say, remember my earlier assessment. “Are you . . . do I make you nervous?” A half smile lifts my right cheek. It’s a cocky grin, but at this moment, I can’t help it.
She wipes the frown from her face and gives me a blank stare. “Do you want a cookie for your observation skills?”
I bark out with laughter, letting the back of my head drop against the cement foundation. That wasn’t the response I was expecting. My laughter dies down and I clear my throat before speaking. “You can’t run from me forever.”
“I can try like hell.”
“It’s here,” Evo announces to the room.
The conversation dies down and all eyes are on Evo. He has his phone out with the radar flitting across the screen. Now, with silence in the room, I can hear the wind outside. It’s louder than it should be. Like a train. I’ve always heard it described that way, but I never thought it would actually sound like one.
“Shit,�
�� I mumble, my legs dropping from their propped-up position.
For the first time, I see a moment of fear cross Irene’s face. I grab her shoulders and fold her top half inside my frame, covering her body with mine. The house shakes as it fights against the wind. I don’t spare a glance to the rest of my Pack, concentrating only on Irene. She whimpers in fright as the lights go out. I shush her soothingly and rub her thigh where my hand had rested on while working like hell to restrain my wolf. I mentally shove my weight into the barrier, keeping him in place.
He’s fearful, and again, wanting me to shift so he can flee. My body shakes, but I use Irene to root me to my human shape. If I shift, I could hurt her.
The wind gets louder and a few of the women scream. I squeeze Irene tighter, our breaths synced to each other’s as it comes out in heavy, frightened huffs.
The lights remain off as the howling wind dies down. Jessup, Evalyn, Romaine, and Victoria huddle together in one corner while Ben, Evo, Kenna, Bre, and Darla are in another. Jeremy, Dyson, and Kelsey are gathered under the stairwell.
“Everyone okay?” Evo asks the group, peeking up past his mate’s shoulder.
“Like fucking hell we are,” Kenna spits at her mate. “That was a fucking tornado, wasn’t it?” She moans and presses her hands to her tightening stomach.
Irene jumps from my lap and rushes over to Kenna.
“Come on,” Irene says, pulling Kenna up from the cement floor. “We need to get her upstairs.”
*****
Jeremy whistles low as he, Ben, and I stand in the backyard. The tornado never hit the house, but the damage outside is significant. The first few rows of trees are still standing, but bare of new budding leaves. Past that, trees are broken from various places of the trunks where the tornado had taken a clear path. Branches, newly grown leaves, and twigs are everywhere—all over the yard—as well as shingles and siding of the house.
The sirens can still be heard from a distance, but the threat for us has passed.
