“This is pretty far for a friendly visit,” Calix addresses Don, ignoring that the rest of us just threatened his life.
“Pack like this is too big to risk falling into the wrong hands. I’ve been hearing that Torin ain’t doing so good. Not that I can blame him. Tough shit all the way around.” Don’s demeanor is decidedly more serious.
Calix nods in acknowledgement. “Well, I have some things to take care of. It’s been good seeing you. Stick around, okay?”
Don reaches his hand out to Calix and makes eye contact with me. “My apologies to you both. I didn’t comprehend the situation.”
I give him a happy grin in response. He’s not being disingenuous. “No worries. Just make sure you tell your friend. I wouldn’t want to kill her over a misunderstanding.” I chuckle.
Don scrunches up his nose and tilts his head to the side. “You’re remarkably straightforward, and a little strange,” he comments hesitantly.
“Astute observation. We have to run along now. Wolfy’s waiting.” I point over to the wide front door of the mansion, which just opened. Torin is standing in the entrance. The food has worked wonders on his physique. I can tell, even from this distance, he’s bulked up. The scowl on his face is speaking volumes too.
I wave my hand in the air eagerly. “Hey, Wolfy.” His face softens for a tiny second as he glances at me, but the snarl returns to his lips immediately when he looks at all the people congregating on his lawn. It’s good to see him out of his room; it might help him to see something other than just his grief-soaked walls.
Kim steps up next to Torin, her arms crossed over her chest and her leg kicked out to the side. “Great, it’s the joy succubus,” I mumble under my breath. “Hi, Kim, weirdest thing…” I start walking up to the front porch. “Your kitchen table broke. Don’t worry, no one was injured, but man, they just don’t make things like they used to, am I right?”
Kim’s indifferent little pout falls as she gapes in disbelief. “You broke the table?”
“I mean, was the craftsmanship that great to begin with? I probably did you a favor. Somebody could have gotten hurt on that thing.”
“How did you manage to break my table?”
I place my hand on my chest in mock outrage. “Have you no concern for my wellbeing? For the wellbeing of Calix?” I tsk. She’s so easy to rile up—fun even. Every time I’m just starting to think I like her, she somehow shoves the stick higher up her ass, and it’s blatantly obvious no one did any prep work, otherwise she might have found that she likes it.
“Hey, Becky, that skirt is killer.” I wave at one of the other ladies I spoke to last evening.
“Thanks, Dami.” She grins and walks past us to another hallway. I see the way her eyes track Torin as she goes. Yesterday, when I went for a look around the house, it was very clear that everyone here is concerned for their alpha, and that they really are grieving with him and want him to return to the pack as their leader. He’s respected, loved even.
It makes me want to push him to keep going instead of giving up. “So, Wolfy, what do you think about all these folks who have come for a visit?” Torin growls in response, and Kim perks up a little.
There might be some hope for him yet.
Chapter 13
“Tell me why you came to the city.” Torin rips a hunk of meat off the end of a rib bone. I can hear his teeth grinding on gristle and small bones, and my teeth ache in sympathy.
“To find and kill a witch,” Gunnar answers. He’s eating too, but his manners would be considered refined compared to the wolf’s.
“You came all the way across the country for a single witch?” Torin’s eyebrows rise.
“He’s a very naughty witch.” I put some distance between myself and the table. I may have a small appetite now, but if I keep hearing Torin snap bones and pulverize them, I might just decide I’ll never eat again.
“Must be to have gained your attention. What’d he do?”
“He’s performing ritual magic, killing Charmed and stealing their powers, but he’s figured out a way to filter and syphon the magic so he doesn’t take the backlash,” Calix informs him.
Torin lets out a low whistle when he’s done chewing. The table is constantly being restocked with food, and the wolf is just eating and eating. I can’t believe he still has room for it all. You’d think by this point he’d at least have a food baby pooch.
“How’d you get roped into this?” Torin doesn’t need to elaborate, we know he’s referring to his situation.
“That would be Kim.” I roll my head to the side and give her a droll look. At least she’s been keeping her mouth shut.
“I’m on… extended leave.” Calix pushes back from the table a bit. “I haven’t been keeping up-to-date on what’s happening. Someone noticed when I came into town.”
“Hard not to notice,” Kim scoffs, and pushes her curly dark hair over her shoulder. “You’re lucky the humans didn’t see you, it’s not like you were taking precautions.”
“Stars, don’t you have someone who can take one for the team and fuck the stick out of her ass?” I direct my question to Torin. “I will donate a ball gag to the effort.”
I see Torin’s tongue move behind his lips as he tries to school his features. I’d like to think he was hiding a smile, but he was too quick to cover it for me to know. “Do not speak like that,” he admonishes.
Kim doesn’t hide her triumphant grin as she gives me the side-eye, that is until Torin turns his head and makes it obvious he’s talking to her and not me. Good thing too, I would have given him an earful. I’m not one of his pack. “You’re lucky he isn’t stringing you up by your shorthairs. Speak to him like that again, and I will.” Torin’s voice is all growly.
I don’t stoop to Kim’s level and smile at the fact that she got in trouble, but on the inside, I might be doing a fist pump to the alpha for finally taking charge.
“My apologies, Calix, Alpha.” Kim lowers her eyes and her head.
“I started it.” I wave my hand. “She’s just pissed at me. But seriously, not getting dick turns me into a mega-beast too.”
“Can we not?” Gunnar grumbles.
What?” I ask innocently, then focus back on Kim. “I’ll get you a Hitachi wand, problem solved. Five minutes and you won’t even remember what dick is.”
“I destroyed that.” Grim crosses his arms over his chest and lowers his eyelids, looking very smug for a monster who rarely shows emotions.
“He did,” I confess, then whisper, “But I have three dicks at my disposal, so…” I’m definitely winning at life, even without my wand.
“No, we’re done with this conversation.” Gunnar stands up and moves around as if he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“Okay, okay. We can talk later,” I offer to Kim, but I just don’t think she’s too into having me as a friend. I miss Aeson and Bloody Mary. She would always pretend to be outraged at all my sex talk, but I know she’s a secret freak in the sheets, you can just tell these things.
“How do you know the witch is in my city?” Torin brings the conversation back around to the more comfortable topic of death and bad magic.
“We followed the bodies,” Grim replies.
“Fuck, that’s… People are dying in my territory and I didn’t even know?” Torin’s eyes go a little cloudy. I can tell he’s thinking about how much he’s lost, and it’s not just his mate.
“We could use your help with this. You know the city better than anyone, I’m guessing.” Torin starts to nod before Calix is even finished. “But we need to get what’s happening here sorted first,” he adds.
The wolf’s head stops moving and he freezes. I would be willing to bet he’s not even breathing. Eventually, he turns his head and looks out the window. It’s still dark, but I can see the earliest hints of a glow on the horizon off to the east. The sun will be up soon, strange how sometimes we feel like our world is ending, yet every morning the sun is there to remind you that the world just
keeps spinning with or without us.
“I will lead my pack…” Kim lets out a gasp and starts mumbling her thanks to whomever she prays to. “Until I find a successor.” Torin stands and rolls his head around on his shoulders as if he’s preparing for a fight.
I watch Kim’s face fall as tears gather on her lower lashes. The hope she felt just moments ago is crushed under Torin’s announcement. I’m sad for her, sad for Becky and all the other wolves I’ve met over the last few days. I wonder if Calix somehow saw this coming, and that’s why he asked the biker guy to stick around. Funny, I can’t remember his name, but I have no problem remembering Tammy’s name. I guess it’s not all that surprising.
Calix stands and moves so he’s in front of Torin. The wolf has a few inches on him in height, but Calix’s presence more than makes up for it. “I appreciate you coming here. Fate has a strange way of intervening.” Torin reaches out, and he and Calix clasp each other’s forearm in a kind of embrace. It feels formal, like a decision has been made.
Kim stands slowly, wiping under her eye, and erases all evidence of her emotions from her face. “I’ll let them know to prepare the hall for this evening.” Her voice is a little flat, and without waiting for a response, she heads out of the room.
“I’m going to go with her. See you guys in a bit.”
“Stay out of trouble,” Gunnar calls after me as I’m rushing to catch up with Kim.
I roll my eyes and give him a wave over my shoulder. “You too, Kitten.”
Kim doesn’t slow her steps, but she does turn her head to glare at me when I make it to her side. “Can you even help being insulting?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do you think he likes you calling him Kitten?” Not only does she sneer the word, but she rolls her eyes, too.
“I happen to know he loves that I call him Kitten. Why the fuck would I want to insult him?” I’m already rethinking my decision to go with her.
Kim stops in the long hall and tilts her head just enough to make it clear she thinks she’s looking at me like I’m an idiot. I grit my teeth, telling myself this chick just got dealt a hard blow and she’s probably just lashing out. “He’s a man, and you call him Kitten like he’s some helpless little creature.”
“Ha! Gunnar helpless? Now that’s funny. You know nothing about him or me.” I return her glare, looking her up and down. “You have to be one of the most self-absorbed, shallow assholes I’ve ever met. And that’s a big deal coming from me. I dine on the sins of jerks like you.”
“You what?” She takes a step back from me like I just told her I have herpes or something.
“You know what? Fuck you. I came out here to try to cheer you up, to say that maybe he would change his mind, but with judgmental people like you, why would he? It’s pretty clear you’re way too human for me.” I give her a double finger salute and head off in the opposite direction of where she’s going, but I turn a corner before I make it back to Torin’s room.
I’m so mad right now I don’t want to be around anyone. “She’s lucky I didn’t rip her face off,” I grumble, while walking down yet another hallway. That’s the last time I try to be friendly with that chick.
I’m milling around a ballroom in my jeans and a tank top, knowing I’m way underdressed for the event, but not giving a fuck. All the women around me are either decked out in gowns or something I would wear for hunting. I’ve gotten a few looks, but nothing more than I’m used to.
Calix, Grim, and Gunnar are equally out of place. None of us guessed we would be attending a party this evening—well, I didn’t, at least.
I got here early enough to see someone removing the small, ornate throne-like chair that was sitting next to the larger one Torin is now poised in. Louise’s chair. It made my heart ache for him.
I glance around the now full room, wondering if anyone here is still considering challenging him. From the heavy scowl on his face to the balled up fists on his thighs, I don’t think it would be a good idea. He’s a far cry from the man who was pleading with me for death just a few nights ago. In his place is an angry man who looks like he would like to beat someone to death just for the fun of it. Everyone has kept their distance. Even Kim.
I saunter up to his dais and plop myself on one of the steps. “This is not at all what I thought a shifter party would be like.” I roll my head back so I can see Torin. He’s upside down, but whatever.
Torin places his elbow on the arm of his chair and uses his hand to cover his lips. “Pretty fucking lame,” he murmurs, but his face is still curled into a sneer.
I face the crowd again and watch Calix as he extricates himself from a group of particularly talkative shifters. “Can we go home now?” I half whine when he approaches.
“Home is pretty far away,” he teases, and gracefully lowers himself to sit beside me.
“You know what I mean.” I lean over and nuzzle against him until he lifts his arm to accommodate me. I look over the crowd and open my senses. The sins waft over to me just as if I were at Rumors or any other club I use for hunting.
Lust, jealousy, even a little wrath. I follow that thread and it leads me back to a man with light hair and small features. His face is a mask of calm, but inside he is fuming with rage. Grim wanders over, and I lean a little closer to Calix to keep the man in my sights. The very first stirrings of hunger awaken within me.
“I’ll be right back.” I kiss Calix’s jaw and trail my hand over Grim’s chest as I saunter across the room. I don’t need to get much closer, but my guys are too distracting, so a little distance from them is good. I can feel their eyes on me as I walk, so I put a little extra sway in my step. It would be easier if I was wearing heels, but I manage.
I stop when I’m on the fringes of the group the man is standing in. Without being too obvious, I look at his aura, noting the muddy color. This isn’t his first bout with wrath, he’s a vengeful man.
As the thought forms, so does the realization that he is a man, not a shifter. I scan the room again. How many humans are here tonight? Why are they here? Does Torin know?
He must; they all must. I would have known sooner, too, if I’d actually been paying attention. I give a few people who look at me a fake smile and move a little closer to him, curious why he would be among a wolf pack.
The man closest to him drops his hand on the angry man’s shoulder. “Hopefully it won’t be too long now. The morning period is over, so things will get back to normal.”
The angry guy shrugs the other man’s hand away. “Don’t act like you know shit about it. You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me.” Oh, juicy. I move even closer, pretending I’m making my way across the room.
“I’m just saying your turn will come. Now that he’s back, they can change you,” the other man soothes, trying to console his friend.
“Yeah, and maybe if I hadn’t brought you here, I would have already been changed instead of you!”
“Considering I’m already a wolf, maybe you should think about who you’re talking to.”
Fury fills my senses. I watch a vein in the pissed off human’s neck pop out, and his face goes all purple. He looks like he’s about to have a stroke. I wiggle my fingers through the air, feeling the wrath dance along my skin, and giddy excitement fills me. I forgot just how much I like this. I embrace the dark feeling of rage and drag it inside. It fills me in a way that makes me feel like I’m bathed in a warm glow.
I giggle, and it draws both of the men’s attention. “Don’t mind me, I’m just passing through.” I know I’m still smiling. I probably look a little deranged, but who cares? I feel like I just found something I didn’t know I lost.
“Who’s she?” the angry dude hisses. “Somebody else who’s going to get picked before me?”
“She showed up a few days ago with those guys over there.” I keep walking as if I can’t hear them. “They’ve been with the alpha most of the time. I think the blond guy is a big deal among the shifters
. I don’t know for sure though, nobody tells me anything important yet, I’m too new.”
“She’s probably fucking him,” he sneers.
I stop in my tracks. “Who do you think I’m fucking?” My voice comes out louder and angrier than I intended. The new wolf’s eyes widen, but the angry dude just scowls at me like I’m the one doing something wrong by eavesdropping. I snap my fingers a few times near his face. “Hello, I’m talking to you.”
The wolf lowers his eyes and his head. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles and backs away. He may not be smart, but he’s not stupid either.
“You’re probably fucking everybody to get to the top of the list.”
I jut out my hip and tick off my fingers. “Calix, Kitten, and Grim.” I hold up those three fingers. “Doesn’t look like everybody.” We’re drawing a little attention, and a few people move in closer.
“That’s probably just today. Give it time,” he jeers.
“I wish I had time for all three of them already today, but the night is still young.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“Slut,” he snarls, and looks around. It’s the first time he’s noticed his friend has abandoned him and that others are watching our exchange.
“You’re lucky I’m already full and in a good mood, you sour little man.” A tinge of anger tarnishes my wrath high.
“Yeah, sure.” The guy turns and slams smack into Torin’s chest. Gunnar is standing just behind him, with a murderous glare directed at the guy who just called me a slut. My heart rate picks up. I do love a good beatdown. I take another look at the guy. I can tell he takes care of himself, he’s fit. He probably thinks he’s pretty tough among humans, but there are not many humans here tonight.
“Are you insulting my guest?” Torin’s voice is low, menacing.
“A-Alpha,” he stutters. I let out a scoff. The guy is not worth my time or Gunnar’s.
I strut past Torin and give him a light tap on the shoulder as I pass. “I don’t know if you’re thinking about changing him or whatever, but he’s got some issues. Just a heads-up.”
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