I looked at the school with a scowl. Even though I was running late, I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. I didn’t want to deal with Dean the Superman-wannabe on top of everything I got from Mike. He could not interfere with my status quo. It would ruin everything. My scowl deepened. I wish Mom would’ve let me stay home. She was callous and downright neglectful when I told her I was sick this morning. Not only did she send me to school, despite that I practically begged to stay home, she even claimed if I felt too bad I could go to the nurse.
Right. The nurse. It should be illegal for them to even be called nurses. It didn’t matter if someone was vomiting up their entire digestive system, if they didn’t have a fever, right back to class they go. I should call child services; this had to be child abuse and unusual cruelty to a minor.
The shrill clanging of the school’s bell system told me what Mom repeated several times this morning — I was late. F’ my life.
I had just taken my first step when suddenly a heavy arm crashed down on my shoulders. “Missy! Hey ya, Missy,” Mike all but yelled in my ear, making me wince. He squashed me to him in a sort of hug, making me gag at the stench of alcohol coming off him.
“Uh, hey Mike,” I said, trying to put some distance between us. This wasn’t a typical Mike-ish greeting, and it made me nervous.
His arm tightened around my shoulders, keeping me at his side. “Where have you been, Missy? I haven’t seen you.”
My heart raced. “Uh, school and home. We should hurry. The bell already rang.”
Mike snorted with a look that could only be one of disgust. “So what? It’s not like it will matter if you get good grades or even graduate, Missy Mistake.” He laughed, reminding me of those cartoon hyenas.
Irritation and anger got the better of me and I snapped, “I care.”
Mike laughed. It was a laugh, nothing short of a cackle. I glared at him, noticing he had a nasty black eye. It piqued my curiosity, but not enough to ask. I tried to go inside, but Mike stopped me again. “Mike, seriously,” I demanded, then stiffened when I realized the sound of my tone.
Instead of hitting or berating me for treating him like an equal, Mike turned and pulled me away from the building. “Screw School! Come on, let’s go.”
My throat closed and panic crept in when I realized he was leading me to the woods. That was their playground. I dug my heels into the grass. “Wait. Mike, stop. Where are you going?”
“Quit being such a whiny bitch,” Mike said as he stopped. He turned and slapped me hard across the face. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground. White bursts flooded my vision and a metallic tang of blood in my mouth. I touched my lip and winced. He busted my lip! That was against our rules! Damn it, how would I explain this to Mom?
Mike growled a second before he grabbed my upper arm and jerked me to my feet. He pulled so hard I thought my arm had come out of the socket. “Come on.”
I swallowed, fear welling in my gut as he forced me into the woods with him. This so wasn’t typical Mike. Something was wrong, very wrong. I glanced back at school. A moment ago, it seemed like hell. Now it was salvation, one that was now beyond my reach.
Mike continued to pull me deeper into the woods. When I considered to stop walking and let him drag me in true caveman style, he slowed and let go of my arm. I rubbed it where he grabbed me and looked around. It was the shore of a large pond. Everything was so scenic and peaceful, I almost forgot how I got here and with whom. “Nice isn’t it?” Mike sat against a huge rock.
“Uh yeah, it is.” I brushed my hair away from my face. It could also be romantic too my not so helpful inner voice chirped. That thought made me shudder.
Mike, oblivious to my inner turmoil, pulled out a large bottle from his jacket. I stood where I was. Never in my life had I been so terrified. I didn’t know what Mike would do next. He sniffed as he screwed off the cap of the bottle with a sour expression. “Wanna drink, Missy?” he asked, waving the bottle at me. I nearly said something stupid, like we’re not old enough. Instead, I scrunched my nose and shook my head.
Mike laughed, the sound echoing through the woods. “Man, you’re so straight and narrow. Don’t you ever have any fun?” He took a large swig from the bottle. “Damn it, Missy, sit the fuck down!” I jumped and sat. “No, not over there, stupid. Over here.”
From his glare, I was sure if I didn’t sit next to him, I’d be sorry. I balled my hands into fists, getting up to sit next to him. Mike ruffled my hair like I was a small child or a pet. “Good girl.”
I swallowed and tried not to let him get to me. Now wasn’t the time to piss him off. This was all Mom’s fault. She should’ve let me stay home like a decent mother would’ve done. Mike slung his arm over my shoulders and took another drink. The bottle was three-fourths empty, and I suspected he had downed the whole thing himself. How much alcohol did werewolves need to drink to get drunk?
“Tell me, Missy, what do you think of Dean?”
I froze, every nerve ending in my body now on high alert. Why was he asking me this? Oh God, had Dean said something to him? Or did Mike know he came to my house? Fear prickled through me, and I made a silent prayer. “D-dean?”
Mike scowled at me, and I cringed, waiting for the punch. “Yeah Dean, don’t goddamn pretend like you don’t know who I’m talking about.”
“Uhm, I know of him. That’s it.”
Mike snorted, apparently finding my answer funny. “Tell me, Missy. Do you think he’s hot? Does he make you go weak in the knees? Does he make you think dirty things?” He snickered as he brushed his nose against my cheek. I pushed him away from me with a disgusted grunt. Mike cackled with delight. “Oh, I bet he does, doesn’t he? I bet you’re trembling right now.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to fight off the embarrassed blush which threatened to burn my cheeks.
“Every damn girl says he’s some hot shit. Have you seen them, Missy? How they line up to drool over him?” He pulled me close with an iron grip, causing me to wince. “Mrs. Mathers had to move him because some girl wouldn’t keep her hands off him.” Mike laughed, but his expression was dark.
I gave him another disgusted grunt, and he smirked at me.
“It’s true. I heard she…” Mike leaned over and whispered it into my ear, using the crudest, most vulgar vocabulary I had ever listened to before. I shoved him away, my face burning. Mike threw his head back and laughed in a way I’d never heard before. It wasn’t cruel or cold. “Aww, sweet ole Missy. Did I offend your virgin ears?”
I refused to say anything and kept my arms crossed over my chest.
Mike grabbed my face and forced my eyes to meet his. “Or did you blush because it’s what you want to do to him?” There was a promise of violence in his eyes. I would have to be careful in how I answered him.
It’s been five months since Antoine took over the pack back while Harry agreed to let me be the alpha of his better packs project. After a few days of arguing, we settled on the name Genesis pack. It’s not a large pack. We only have thirty members. I, Dean, Harry, Jon, Andy, and a woman named Ambria serve as the ruling council. As Alpha, I deal with the physical threats to the pack from the outside. Harry manages our finances, Jon, and Andy work on our security. Kara deals with intelligence with Ambria, who does public relations.Dean serves as the voice of the pack. If anyone is unhappy with what we’re doing, they can contact him about it, all the while remaining anonymous to the council. This way, they will never have to fear retribution from us. He also helps resolve internal conflicts between members and I’m not being biased when I say he does it well. He’s very good with
“Thanks, Dean,” I said as we left the infirmary.He grinned. “You need to stop thanking me for doing normal, decent stuff, Beautiful.”I rolled my eyes and hugged him as a red-faced Marquice marched up to us. “Where have you been? Do you realize what’s going on?”I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him. “Yes, my father was attacked. I was with him now.”“I’m not talking about that,” he said. “That… that pretender. He’s been taking over, acting like he’s alpha. Do you know he’s been organizing the enforcers to search and track Brandon?”“And? Marquice, did you forget he is the alpha now?”
“Come with me,” Wesley said, eyeing Antoine and Beth with obvious distrust. He tried to herd me away from them.I stepped away from him. We didn’t have time for these stupid games. We should be over that by now. “Tell me whose blood that is now!”Giving me a look that told me he didn’t approve of my reaction, Wes blew out a breath. “Your father’s.”“What happened?” I demanded, and waved for Antoine and Beth to follow. Wes licked his lips, glancing at the others. “Stop being an idiot, Wes. These are the new alphas. They may hear whatever you say.”“I was heading back when I saw it,” he began, grief washing over his face. “I didn’t realize what was happening at first. Your
The next two days, I spent training hard, preparing myself for what was going to be an awesome fight. What wasn’t so awesome was the amount of ‘helpful’ tips everyone thought they were entitled to give. I appreciated most of them, especially those given to me by Wes, Jon, and above all, Dean, but the ones from my old pack members or my father were, honestly, unwelcome. I finished listening to anything my father had to say, just about anything. If it wasn’t for Dean running interference, I’m not sure what might have happened.I couldn’t be more thankful to Dean. He had been just what I needed since I came. Thanks to him, I knew no matter what happened in the challenge fight, Father and my old pack were safe. My instincts told me his intentions were honest. He only wanted to protect his growing family. I don’t think he’d do any kind of ‘cleansing’ w
Dean~~~“Antoine Bell is our challenger,” the man, Marquice, said as we sat around a large oval table. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it. “He’s been in the country for ten years, and we’re not sure what exactly brought him to this country. He’s been living down in Louisiana—”Louisiana. It hit me. I knew who Antoine Bell was, and that he was challenging Nic’s father couldn’t be an accident. “Did he come with someone?”Everyone turned to look at me, confused. “What does that matter?” Marquice demanded.“Answer the question,” Nic said, though I could tell she was as co
“This is crazy,” Marquice demanded, and to ensure it was very clear, he gave me the look of bewildered horror. “Your father will never agree to this.”“Then that’s his choice, but if he wants my help, he is going to agree to those terms. I will not save his ass, just to have it all fall apart at the next turn. What happened to Father’s dignity?”He scowled at me, but took out his cell and tapped the screen. “Alpha,” Marquice said with a much softer voice when the call connected. “She’s agreed to help, but with conditions. Yes, Sir, I told her the pack was at risk. Yes, she still insisted.” Marquice glared at me for good measure, and I replied with a grin. “The first condition is Brandon may never become alpha, no matter what happens in the future, and second—”