It was clear that Sophie was the leader amongst them as everyone looked to her for guidance. With a glance across the field, I saw Tom sitting underneath a tree, looking at his phone. Obviously, they got no help from him and had learned to figure it out themselves.
As time passed, it was clear that Daisy did little if any work. She spent more time checking in with Tom than actually working. She was a weak link, and I watched as other workers repeatedly had to pick up the slack for her.
She needed to go, and to be frank, Tom needed to shape up or he’d be following his girlfriend through the door.
It was hours before Tom raised his voice from across the clearing, announcing they were allowed to take a five-minute water break.
I was shocked to my core.
I hustled to Sophie’s side as she trudged over to her things and the water bottle she’d brought from home. “You all aren’t allowed to take a break unless Tom says?”
She shrugged as she chugged from the bottle. “Yep. He doesn’t even really allow bathroom breaks, but occasionally he’ll say okay if we convince him we have to go badly enough.”
What the hell?
They’d been working in the North Carolina summer heat for hours, and all that time, I’d thought they were just powering through without a break. Never once did it cross my mind that they weren’t even allowed to have a drink of water in all that time.
“And water isn’t provided for you?” I asked.
She smiled sadly and shrugged as Tom yelled for them to get back to work.
I spent the rest of the morning hours seething. Tom was ineffective as a leader and I’d need to replace him immediately. I’d seen at least two instances where a little more management could make production that much more efficient, and I’d only been there a few hours. It was clear there were tons of people more qualified for the job than Tom, and I was about to rectify that.
“All right, you all can take lunch now, but I want you back in twenty minutes,” Tom called from beneath the shady tree I’d begun to call his office.
Finally, I’d had enough.
“Actually, you can all take an hour. Have a good lunch and we’ll see you when you get back,” I called over their voices.
Every single worker’s eyes worked double time as they flicked from Tom to me and back again. I could hear the man in question stomping toward me and didn’t need the rest of the employees to witness our conversation.
I waved my hands. “Go on. Everyone’s dismissed for an hour.”
They’d just started to shuffle away when Tom made it to my side. He grabbed my arm and spun me around. His face was bright red, eyes practically shooting flames. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
I ripped my arm out of his hold and tipped up my chin. “I’m treating those employees fairly. Something you’re clearly not doing.”
He ground his teeth together so loudly I could hear it from where I was. “And who the fuck do you think you are? This is my farm and my team, and I’ll do with them what I want!”
“Not if you want to keep working here.”
His eyes widened so fast, I worried they’d pop out. “Excuse me?”
I straightened my already straight spine. “This isn’t your farm or your team. You work here and if you can’t do it right, you’re fired.”
His head tipped back, and an ugly, forceful laugh shot out of him. When he looked back down at me, his eyes were even more crazed than before. “You can’t do that. You’re nothing.”
I pushed my shoulders back. “I’m the future alpha of this pack and what I say goes. You either agree to treat these employees fairly, or you don’t work here anymore.”
He took a menacing step closer, his hands shaking. “I don’t give a shit what you say. You’re not my fucking alpha. You mean nothing to me. You need to get your little ass back up to that lodge before you regret it.”
A bolt of shock ran down my spine and I took a step closer. “Are you threatening me?”
He closed the remaining distance between us, his body wracked with tremors. “I sure as shit am. Get the fuck out of my sight or I’ll make you leave.”
“You’re the one that needs to leave. You don’t work here anymore.”
His chest was rising and falling rapidly. “I’m not gonna tell you again.”
I crossed my arms. “My decision is final. You’re done here.”
A loud crack split through the air, and seconds later, Tom was a large wolf before me. Without my permission, my body shifted, too. It must have known the danger we were in and acted accordingly. Which was lucky, because I was still struggling to catch up.
Had he really just shifted? Was he really looking to fight me?
“You little bitch. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“I’m your alpha. And honestly, I’m getting a little sick of the bitch insult. I’d think you all could come up with something more creative.”
He yelled loudly in my head and lunged toward me. Anticipating his attack, I jumped out of the way easily.
“Tom, I don’t want to fight you. Stand down.”
“I’m gonna teach you a lesson, bitch. Show you where you stand in this pack.”
He leapt forward again, his teeth bared, but I danced out of his way once more. He missed by a lot and I could tell that bothered him.
I really didn’t want to fight my own pack mate. But hadn’t I been warned over and over that not everyone would take kindly to me rising to power? Wasn’t that why I trained with Beatrice? So I could defend myself?
Tom charged again, and this time he got close enough that I struck back, sinking my teeth into his hamstring and eliciting a high-pitched bark from him. I almost laughed, but I just barely restrained myself.
“Fuck you!” he yelled, running at me again.
“I told you I don’t want to fight you. Stop this now and I’ll forget it happened.”
He growled loudly, saliva dripping from his fangs. “You’re gonna learn your place today, bitch.”
Again with this bitch stuff.
He raced toward me, and this time, I dodged him, but also struck back, sinking my teeth into his back leg. He tried to kick me off, but I held on tightly. When he turned around to bite me back, I released him and darted away.
Now he was bleeding and limping and I knew he didn’t have much left in him.
He lunged again, this time slower than ever. I jumped to the side and swiped a paw at his face, hitting him so hard, his head jerked back. He fell to the ground, and I watched as he struggled to catch his breath.
When he pulled himself back to his feet, he surprised me by charging once more. It was almost too sad to watch. I leapt out of his way again and spun around, wrapping my teeth around the underside of his neck. He froze in place and I made sure to keep the right amount of pressure on his artery to let him know I meant business.
“Give this up, Tom.”
“Fuck you.”
I clenched my jaw around his neck and tasted blood. I shook my head with his neck still between my teeth. Seeing that he still wasn’t giving in, I pressed harder and finally, he caved.
“Okay, okay! I give up! Fuck, let me go!”
I pulled my teeth out of his neck and backed up until I was out of reach. Just because he said he gave up didn’t make me believe he’d stay down.
“Have we settled this now?” I asked as he recovered in a heap on the ground.
He lifted his head when the thundering footsteps of a large wolf sounded from nearby. Seconds later, Abraham in wolf form was flying through the clearing, his wild eyes trained on Tom. Before I could speak, he had Tom’s neck in his jaws in a death grip I wasn’t sure he’d survive.
Chapter 18
“Abraham, stop!”
The large alpha werewolf just growled and shook his head, Tom’s neck still in
his mouth.
“Abraham. I’m fine. I won. Let him go.”
“Yeah, man. Your bitch-mate already kicked my ass. Let me go,” Tom whined.
Abraham’s whole body froze before a sound almost like a roar rumbled out of him. “You touched my fucking mate?! You dared to threaten what’s mine?”
“Abraham, man, listen. I can explain all this.”
Abraham shook his head again, this time faster and with more strength. I could smell Tom’s blood flowing freely now as he whimpered.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I turned to see Sophie, a worried look in her green eyes.
I gave her a smile and a nod, and she grinned back. “I watched the whole thing. You were fucking awesome.”
My wolfy grin widened, and she chuckled. Her eyes darted back over to Abraham and Tom and her smile fell. With a nod at the men, she said, “I think you should go break that up before Abraham kills him.”
I sighed and walked over to them, bumping my head into Abraham’s shoulder. “Let him go, Abraham. It’s over.”
He turned far enough that he could shoot me a look. His eyes were still wild with rage and I knew this was far from over. Abraham turned back around, whipped Tom’s body one way, and then tossed him the other. I watched as Tom went sailing at least twenty feet away.
Abraham was still breathing hard next to me as he took a step toward the limp wolf. At first, I thought he was going to go after him again, but then he spoke.
“You’re lucky to still be breathing, Baxter. If you so much as look at my mate in a way I don’t like, I’ll rip your fucking throat out. I want your shit packed and you off my lands before the sun sets.”
My jaw was on the floor as a shiver raced down my spine.
Abraham was terrifying.
He slowly turned around, his eyes not leaving Tom’s prone body. Finally, he glanced in my direction. “Let’s go.”
Knowing exactly how unintelligent it would be to argue with him when he was like that, I shut my mouth and followed him. He stalked back through the pack houses and people literally crossed the street to get out of his way.
I’d never seen him so angry before.
It was a little scary, but also kinda sexy, and I didn’t know what that said about me.
We got to the lodge just as Beatrice was coming through the back door.
“Hey, Abey. Hey, Ellie. What are you two up to?”
I heard Abraham curse in my head before there was a loud crack and he was a human again. He put his hands on his hips, his shoulders tense. “Your training sessions with Rocky here are over.”
I jerked back and opened my mouth to argue when I remembered I was a wolf and couldn’t talk. So, I did the next best thing and barked at him.
He shot me a look. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.”
I barked at him again, really not appreciating his tone.
He spun back around to Bea. “I’m serious. You two are done.”
“Why would you say that? She’s actually becoming a pretty skilled fighter. What, you don’t want that for her?”
He took a menacing step toward his sister and I almost got in between them, but Bea just tipped up her chin and met his eye.
“What I don’t want is her picking fights with grown goddamn men!”
Bea’s eyes flicked to me and she raised a brow. “You got in a fight?”
I just tilted my head, but Abraham responded, “Yes, she got in a fucking fight. And that’s because you trained her to fight.”
Bea rolled her eyes. “I trained her to defend herself. I highly doubt she walked up and picked a fight with someone.”
I snorted, and Bea shot me a small smile.
Abraham reached up and slid his fingers into his hair, pulling on the ends until it was sticking up in tufts. “I don’t give a damn how it happened, it’s never happening again! No more training sessions from here on out.”
With that, he stormed past Bea and into the lodge. The oldest McCoy sister turned to me with a look of pity. “You know I have to do what he says, right?”
I rolled my eyes and sauntered past her. I think she got the point when she chuckled behind me.
I wasn’t going to let Abraham dictate what I did and didn’t do. It was a good friggen thing Beatrice had taught me to defend myself, because I’d needed to today. Abraham was just going to have to get over himself and quick.
“Elizabeth!” he hollered from inside the house, and I huffed.
I walked into the kitchen and found him on the other side, standing in the hallway, naked as the day he was born. My eyes darted around the room and I found both Ms. Elsie and Aubrey working in there.
I swore if Aubrey’s eyes even flickered in his direction, I’d bite her.
“Let’s go!” Abraham yelled again.
I turned wide eyes to him and wished there was a way for me to communicate how sick I was of him yelling at me. Instead, I padded through the kitchen, bumping him hard with my shoulder as I walked past. I heard him sigh, but I ignored him as I climbed the stairs to our floor.
When we got to our room, Abraham stepped in front of me to open the door. When it shut behind us, I shifted back into a woman.
“What the hell, Abraham?”
His eyes widened, and he stomped over to me. “You’re asking me what the hell? What the hell were you thinking?!”
I propped my hands up on my hips. “I had it under control.”
“It shouldn’t have happened to begin with!”
“I know it shouldn’t!” I yelled, trying to match the volume of his voice. “But it did, and I handled it!”
“You handled it? You were fighting someone more than twice your size! What were you thinking?” he asked again.
I threw my hands in the air. “Who cares how big he was?! I beat him! I won! What’s the problem?”
He took a step closer, his jaw ticking with tension. “The problem is my mate will not fight. My mate will not ever leave the lodge again if she thinks–”
“Have you lost your friggen mind?! You’re being completely unreasonable.”
“I’m telling you like it is.”
I closed the distance between us and stared him down as well as I could considering I was a good six inches shorter than him. “I didn’t fight, I defended myself. Would you rather I just let Tom hurt me?”
His eye twitched as he watched me. Finally, he released a puff of air and turned around to pace the floor in front of me. “I don’t give a shit what happened or how it happened, it’s never going to happen again. Do you hear me?”
“You can’t just order nothing to ever happen to me again. It doesn’t work like that.”
He stormed back over and grasped both my arms. “Then I’ll lock you in this goddamn room if that’s what it takes! Nothing is going to happen to you ever again. Do you hear me?!” He shook me a little with that last question, but I was stunned speechless.
This went a lot deeper than I’d imagined.
He released me and spun around, his hand digging into his hair. His shoulders rose and fell a few more times before he took off for the hallway door.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“For a drive,” he tossed over his shoulder.
“Naked?”
“I have clothes in my truck.”
“So, you’re just leaving? You’re running away in the middle of an argument.”
“I guess I’m taking a page out of your book,” he said just before he slammed the door behind him.
I stood there in the middle of his sitting room, shocked silent, and beneath it all, hurt.
Abraham didn’t talk to me like that. He didn’t throw my past in my face and he sure as hell didn’t walk out on me.
What was going on?
There was so much that went wrong today, I didn’t even
know where to begin. Maybe it was a good thing Abraham left. We were both yelling, and that didn’t solve anything.
I looked at the door he walked through one last time and sighed. It was better that I let him go for now. He clearly needed some distance. It just stung that it seemed he needed it from me.
I shuffled into the bedroom and immediately took a hot shower. I let the water wash off all the sweat and dirt from the farm, Tom’s blood that had splashed on me at some point, and every bad thing that happened that morning.
I honestly hadn’t thought my day at the farm would turn out like this. I thought I’d observe, make a few suggestions to the manager, and be done with it.
However, when I saw the working conditions for those poor farmers, I knew that wouldn’t be enough. Then, when I heard the way Tom spoke to and treated them, I knew he wasn’t the right fit for the job.
With a personality like that, how did he get the position in the first place?
I shook my head as the hot water ran over my face and down my body.
The most shocking part of the day had to be when Tom shifted and confronted me. Never in a million years had I thought he would try to fight me. I was used to disagreeing with words, not fists. I guess I should be happy he’d chosen to fight me as a wolf and not a woman. That would have been a quick round with me the obvious loser.
I hadn’t been in a fight since that night with Calvin, and despite what I told myself, it brought up memories. Dark thoughts that I did my best to stuff down and forget, but would pop up here and there, anyway.
The last time I fought a wolf, it had been for my life and I’d lost. I’d gotten distracted, and that was all it took for my opponent to gain the upper hand.
I sometimes thought about how that night could have gone if I’d won the fight. Maybe if I’d trained harder with Bea, I would have beaten him. Maybe if our lessons were two hours instead of just one, I’d have had the skills.
And if I’d won the fight against Calvin, it was likely Abraham wouldn’t have had to kill him. They could have taken him into custody and sent him to werewolf prison or wherever they put their criminals.
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