“I don’t know what those letters mean, but okay. Have fun?” I said uncertainly.
She laughed. “It’s a dirt bike I’ve been drooling over forever, so yes, it’ll be fun.”
“Okay, cool. What about Isaac?”
There was a pause and muffled voices talking in the background. I recognized Amberly, the twins’ mom, and then Idrissa came back on the line. “He said he’s giving you the night off. Take a bath in some Icy Hot or something.” She snickered. “You probably need it.”
My muscles twitched in excitement over the idea of having a rest day, but I shook my head. “I can’t afford a night off,” I said. “Who knows when this thing will happen.”
“Relax, Ash. You need to give your body a chance to recover.”
“Tell Isaac I’ll come by after work and run some laps. He doesn’t need to do anything.”
“Can’t. He’s going out with some chick he met online with a foot fetish.” Idrissa shrieked as Isaac apparently responded to that by trying to inflict violence on her.
The next minute was filled with curses and screams and shrieks—from both of them. It would have been funny if I hadn’t been so caught up in the lost training.
“I have to go,” Idrissa said, breathless.
“Okay, call me tomorrow,” I said.
“Bye!” The call ended before she’d finished yelling the word.
I sighed and set my phone aside, returning to the invoice I’d been deciphering with much less enthusiasm.
An hour later, Kai walked in from the garage. He tossed a job order onto the counter.
“This one’s ready,” he said.
“Got it.”
I didn’t even look up from the invoice I’d been studying for the last ten minutes. Kai’s presence was something I felt on a subconscious level, and no matter how many times he went in and out, my physical reaction hadn’t dimmed. Heart racing, palms sweating, stomach full of butterflies. But that didn’t mean I had to acknowledge it. Or him.
This time, he didn’t immediately walk out again. Instead, he inched closer to where I sat leaning toward the computer screen.
Finally, I looked over and found him watching me.
“What?” I asked.
“Drive shaft,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“That code you’re staring at on that invoice means we replaced the drive shaft.”
I blinked. “Oh.”
Awkward silence fell between us.
I did not want to talk about drive shafts. Not unless it was code for exactly what I wanted Kai to do to me. My cheeks heated just thinking about it, and I looked away, determined not to let Kai see that I still wanted him even after his shitty treatment of me this past week.
“You’re welcome,” he said flatly then turned and walked out.
“Ugh.”
I didn’t see him again for the rest of the day. The only reason I knew he’d left was because I watched him ride by on his motorcycle as he exited the back lot and turned onto the main road.
Whatever.
I didn’t care.
Hot, broody wolf shifters could go to hell.
Muttering curses, I flipped the “Open” sign off and locked up, heading upstairs. A night off from training meant sticking to my normal dinner routine with Oscar. I’d prep and cook, and by the time he came upstairs from closing up shop, it was ready to eat. Not a terribly equal system, but I didn’t mind. It beat living on the street. Or worse. With Vorack.
“I bet your dad loved your cooking,” Oscar said around a mouthful of baked potato.
“Maybe.” I gave a small smile, but instead of holding it back like I would have with other people, I told him the truth. Dad was his brother, after all. And I’d already laid my cards out on the table, so to speak. There were no more secrets between us. “Dad stopped showing for family meals a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry, kid.”
“It’s fine. Honestly, I preferred it that way. Other times, he did show up and then passed out in his plate or fell out of his chair.”
“Shit, Ash. That’s not… You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”
I shrugged. “I’d rather that than—”
I fell silent.
“Can I ask you something?” I said after another bite.
“Shoot.”
“Was my dad happy here? Before he left, I mean.”
“I thought so,” he said, his forehead wrinkling in thought. “Then again, I thought we were close too. Turns out I was wrong since he didn’t bother telling me he was leaving in the first place. Or about you. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded a niece to hang out with from time to time.”
My heart cracked wide open at that. Grief. Love. So many emotions overwhelmed me as I pictured what life would have been like if we’d stayed.
“Once, when he was really drunk, he told me I was his greatest pride,” I admitted. “And his worst mistake.”
Oscar shook his head, looking pissed now.
“Your dad clearly became a different person than the brother I knew. Hell, Ash. If I’d known—” Oscar’s voice was gruff as he stared down at his plate.
I reached out and grabbed his hand.
When he looked up, I shook my head. “It’s not yours to apologize for. Besides, eating my dinners is enough.”
He nodded.
I released his hand.
The urge to cry welled in my throat, and I swallowed it back, along with another bite of green beans. I had a feeling Oscar’s warm-fuzzy quota had just been met. Hell, so had mine. I wasn’t about to add to it with waterworks. But, for the first time in a lot of years, I was looking forward to future family dinners, and that brought a strange sort of grief-gratitude that I didn’t know how to process.
Oscar did the dishes, which also nearly brought me to tears.
“Seriously, if you’re going for Uncle of the Year, it’s a lock,” I told him.
“Funny,” he deadpanned. “Don’t you have training to get to?”
“Right. I…” I almost told him training had been canceled. But at the last minute, I changed my mind. “I better get going,” I finished.
Grabbing my shoes and a sweatshirt, I slipped out and down the stairs before Oscar could somehow sense my lie.
It was stupid.
Completely reckless, actually. There were way too many wolves in this town who had it out for me. Going out alone was insane.
But I also couldn’t afford to lose a night of training. Not with the fight coming. Besides, if I slipped into the woods out back, no one would notice. I could be home before anyone knew I was really alone.
It wasn’t combat training. But a quick run was better than nothing. And for the first time in, well, ever, I actually had the urge to stretch my legs this way. Hopefully, that was a good sign.
Downstairs, I stopped to slide into my shoes and then unlocked the door and slipped outside. It wasn’t quite dark yet, and the setting sun cast long shadows across the sidewalk. The chilled mountain air was perfect.
I paused at the corner to stretch. With my arms dangling and fingers brushing my toes, I jumped at the sound of a voice behind me.
“I’m not sure stretching will help your odds much. Considering.”
I straightened and whirled to see Drake slouched against the brick, eyeing me with a mixture of amusement and appreciation. It was a good bet he’d just been staring at my ass.
He hadn’t spoken to me much since the night they’d captured the hexerei and interrogated me as a possible accomplice. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk now. But I needed all the advice I could get.
“What will help?” I asked.
He gave me a once over. “Calling up your wolf wouldn’t hurt.”
I sighed. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, don’t let them past your elbows.”
My expression must have given away my confusion because he added, “If they get that close—wolf or human—you’re dead.”
“Thanks,” I
said dryly.
Super helpful.
“You could still leave, you know.”
My eyes narrowed. “Nice try. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
It was an idea I’d considered more than once, but the thought of leaving Oscar made me strangely upset. He was my family. And the closest thing to a safety net I’d ever had. I couldn’t bring myself to give that up—no matter how risky it was to stay.
I pulled my ankle up behind me, stretching my quads. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Drake. He didn’t move to leave, and I couldn’t help but wonder what his end game was. When we were alone, he talked to me like I might actually be someone he wanted to help. But when the others came around, he shut down and went right along with Silas and the rest.
I didn’t trust him.
When I’d stretched both legs, I turned and looked back pointedly at where Drake still watched me with unabashed interest. Ugh. Asshole.
“Thanks for the help,” I said, not bothering to leave the sarcasm out of my voice.
He pushed off the wall and walked over to where I stood. “Look, leaving is the only way to survive this, okay?”
“Noted and rejected,” I said, refusing to back down or look away. He held my gaze so long that I felt like a kindergartener in a staring contest. Still, I didn’t look away. Drake was a prick. But I’d hold my ground and just pray this wasn’t some distraction to keep me here until Silas and the gang could show up and kick my ass.
Finally, Drake sighed. “If I were you, I’d check out exactly what it is I’m up against.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You want to know what the fights are like?”
I nodded.
“There’s a large barn in the field behind Bo’s. Don’t let anyone see you.”
He shook his head like I’d brought this on myself then turned and sauntered off. I watched him go, wanting to ask all sorts of questions about what he’d just said. Like what the hell would be in that barn, for starters. But I let him go. He clearly wanted me to find out for myself, and that’s exactly what I planned to do.
Chapter Eighteen
It was probably a trap. I mean, I wasn’t stupid. Okay, maybe a little stupid. I had taken the bait, after all. Up ahead, a large building loomed in the darkness. Light spilled out from around the closed doors, and the low hum of voices reached me where I crouched at the edge of the woods.
I’d taken a roundabout way here.
After Drake had left, I’d gone for that run after all. Jogging a good portion of the way up the road—my stamina only made possible by Idrissa’s training—and then cutting through the trees before anyone from the pack could recognize me.
Drake hadn’t been lying about the barn. There were definitely wolves here. I’d watched and waited until cars began to drive up. Not many. Most of the people I’d seen arrive had also come from the woods. Cade. Devon. Tiffany. I recognized quite a few of the faces.
Luckily, none of them had passed close enough by where I’d hidden for me to be discovered. Some had loped along as wolves until they’d reached the edge of the trees. I’d watched several of them shift back to their human form before heading to the back of a pickup where someone had apparently stashed extra clothes for them. No one seemed concerned with nudity, which was a whole new level of weirdness in itself. Still, watching the wolves was fascinating. I would have been lying if I’d said it wasn’t cool as hell, watching the change come over their bodies.
Like magic.
Life was wild.
I still wished Dad had told me instead of keeping his secrets and then drowning them inside a bottle. But I also wasn’t entirely sure I would have believed him. Not without seeing it like this.
My fascination turned to nerves as a familiar white car drove off the main road and bypassed the bar. I watched as the Mustang parked in the grass and Isaac and Idrissa got out and hurried toward the barn doors.
My heart twisted at the sight of them disappearing inside. They’d lied. Both of them. And they’d ditched me for…whatever this was.
More secrets.
It never ended with these people.
I waited as a few others arrived and the moon rose high overhead. The night air was chilled but not cold. My goosebumps were more from nerves. I had to get inside, and that meant sneaking past a hell of a lot of wolves in the process. If it was a trap, it was a terrible one. I mean, it was obvious I was walking into the den of my enemies.
From inside the barn, voices rose to a yell, and my curiosity won out. I had to know what it was Drake wanted me to see.
I crept closer, keeping low and hurrying across the open field toward the back of the barn. When I reached the back wall, I dropped to the ground and waited, sucking in deep breaths of air to calm my racing heart. My ears strained for any sound that meant I’d been discovered, but so far, so good. When I was fairly certain I wouldn’t hyperventilate, I lifted up slowly onto my knees. The barn wall was made of wood that was probably newly constructed at least half a century ago. Time and age had left gaps between the boards, and I scooted closer and peered through the largest one.
Inside, I saw a small crowd gathered. Several were faces I recognized. Idrissa and Isaac. Silas. Drake. Presley. And Oscar.
I felt the sting of betrayal all over again as the sight of him registered. More secrets. More people keeping things from me.
Why had I ever expected any different?
The crowd stood assembled and facing me. For a panicked moment, I wondered if they’d all spotted me through the gap. But then a pair of legs moved into view just inside, and I realized they were looking at whoever stood facing them now.
There was a grunt and a shove and then another figure stumbled forward. The legs strode ahead, and I recognized the back of Silas’ head as he grabbed at the shirt of his prisoner before the man could stumble and fall on his face.
When he turned his head to the side, I recognized the prisoner too. Even through the dried blood coating his face and clothes.
The hexerei.
“This asshole says he wants to defect,” Silas called to the crowd.
The crowd booed, and even from out here, I could feel their energy building toward something dangerous. The hexerei seemed to know it too. His eyes were wide with fear through the swollen bruising around them.
“But hey, rules are rules,” Silas said with a devious smile playing on his lips. “Anyone’s welcome to join us so long as they fight for their place among our pack. Am I right?”
Cheers sounded, and my stomach clenched at what was to come. They were going to make the hexerei fight? In his condition? As a human? It wasn’t fair. Which was obviously the point.
Shifting my position, I searched the faces for someone who might actually be sane enough to put a stop to this. But Idrissa and Isaac were no longer visible at the front of the crowd. Neither was Oscar.
Figured.
They all claimed to be against this cruel idea of forcing people to fight, but when it mattered, they disappeared.
“As you all know, new challengers are paired with who we deem their equal. Gotta keep the fights fair,” he added, and people snickered.
Silas turned to the hexerei and put his hand on the guy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. We’ve paired you with someone your speed. Gordon, come on up, man.”
The name was familiar, and the moment I spotted him, I remembered why. He’d been the drunk who’d started the brawl at Bo’s that first day I’d met the twins. He clearly hadn’t been sober then. And he looked even more wasted tonight.
The crowd cheered again and then parted as a very drunk-looking Gordon was brought forward by Presley. I watched with disgust as Presley shoved Gordon into the center. Gordon stumbled and righted himself again, looking up with bleary eyes at Silas and then the hexerei.
“What’s this?” Gordon grumbled.
“This asshole wants to join the pack,” Silas told him.
Gordon sniffed, his lip cu
rling up in distaste. “He ain’t even a wolf.”
“Doesn’t matter. Rules are rules.”
Gordon muttered something that sounded like “lupin hater.”
A few people in the crowd laughed.
“You’re up, old man,” Silas said, clapping Gordon on the back.
“This is bullshit,” Gordon muttered, and the crowd responded by yelling encouragements.
Silas spread his arms wide. “You want a place here with us,” he said to the hexerei. “Fight for it.”
From somewhere in the back, a bell rang. Silas stepped back, and the hexerei crouched, eyeing Gordon with a look of expectancy. Gordon stood, knees half-bent, swaying a little.
The hexerei must have sensed the advantage because he darted in and swung out. Gordon grunted as the hexerei’s fist landed against his jaw. The blow drove him sideways, but he still managed to remain standing, and when he swung his head around again, he was glaring, and his eyes were suddenly glowing with animalistic instinct.
Gordon let out a roar and charged the hexerei, tackling him to the dirt floor. They rolled, each of them grunting and landing kicks and punches against the other. Clumsy, half-ass punches that didn’t seem to faze either one.
It was ridiculous.
Drake wanted me to watch a drunk and an already beaten man fight it out? What the hell good would that do me?
It hit me then.
Drake was making fun of me.
He thought this was the recon I needed. Because this was the level of fighting he expected from me.
Asshole.
A snarl snapped me out of my internal raging, and I looked through the gap again just in time to leap aside as the two fighters tossed one another against the wall where I’d hidden.
Something crashed as I landed against the cold grass, and when I rolled over and looked up, I saw they’d broken clean through. They were outside now, still fighting but mostly just breathing heavily and swinging at nothing but air.
Neither one of them noticed me, but before I could get out of sight, Silas ducked through the hole they’d torn in the barn wall. His eyes landed on me instantly, and he smiled.
Wolf Cursed (Lone Wolf Series Book 1) Page 17
