and found
the pack had gathered in the backyard. They were milling around in
the snow, most of the men with only pants on, and no one wearing
jackets. Wolves weren’t as affected by the cold as humans were.
“I’m sorry you have to leave,” Mia said as
they walked down the steps.
“It’s not fair to your pack for me to stay.
The guy my dad said he’d send after me is bad news wrapped in a
nasty package. I’d feel terrible if someone got hurt because of me.
It’s better to just go home and face the music.”
She felt like she was going to cry again, and
she didn’t want that to happen. She didn’t want to be weak.
Mia hugged her. “You don’t have to go home;
you can still run.”
“I’m almost out of money. Even without the
tracker, I’d have to use my credit card and that would tell him
exactly where I was. Running only delays the inevitable.”
“What do you think is going to happen on
Wednesday?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t want to think
about it, anyway. Whatever her father wanted her home for, she was
pretty sure she wasn’t going to like it. He was definitely going to
punish her for running, that much was clear, but he had an agenda
as well and whatever was happening Wednesday involved her.
One full moon before she shifted, she’d been
asleep and had woken up when she heard a man begging for mercy.
She’d peeked out the window of her bedroom and saw one of the pack
members, naked and on his knees. He had done something to wrong the
pack, and her father was using his claws on him. After a few long
gashes across his chest, he let Shred take over, and pretty soon
the man was covered in his own blood and unmoving on the ground.
Some omega males had carried the male away and Honey had recognized
him as one of the ranked guards. He must have really done something
bad to make her father so angry. The next day she had asked Stacy
about it, and she told her that the male had taken down a buck that
her father had been chasing. The male had died later that day from
his wounds, because her father hadn’t allowed him to shift to heal
himself. It was the first time, but not the last time, that she’d
seen his cruelty. But up until the phone call tonight, she hadn’t
had any of that malevolence directed at her. He hadn’t seemed to
care about her one way or the other outside of keeping his guards
away from her in any way other than watching over her. She was sure
that Shred would’ve loved to get his hands on her sexually. She
shivered as she thought over the things she’d heard in the pack
over the years about his rough treatment of the she-wolves he
bedded. He would not be a kind mate.
As she began to strip, a sickening thought
struck her. What if her father had given her away? What if he had
sold her or traded her to a male to become his mate? The only
reason he might care about her was if it benefited him. He’d never
been fatherly. If it wasn’t for Stacy raising her, she would’ve had
to fend for herself, because he’d hardly glanced her way with
anything other than disdain over the years. They’d been related
strangers. She was his daughter, he was her father, but there
weren’t any loving feelings between them. She’d long ago stopped
thinking of him in a fatherly way. He was all alpha all the time.
It made her wonder what her mother ever saw in him.
As she folded her clothes and gave them to
Mia to put on the porch so they weren’t sitting in the snow, Acksel
called for the pack to shift and hunt and the wolves around her
dropped to the ground and began to shift. Mia rejoined Honey and
said, “Stay close, okay? I know where there are some tasty
bunnies.”
Honey decided to just embrace the night. It
might be her last full moon as an unmated female, free to do what
she wanted. As her shift took over, she had the fleeting thought to
just run in her wolf form. She could live off the land, stay in her
form until she went somewhere too far for her father to reach. Just
as
the pack had gathered in the backyard. They were milling around in
the snow, most of the men with only pants on, and no one wearing
jackets. Wolves weren’t as affected by the cold as humans were.
“I’m sorry you have to leave,” Mia said as
they walked down the steps.
“It’s not fair to your pack for me to stay.
The guy my dad said he’d send after me is bad news wrapped in a
nasty package. I’d feel terrible if someone got hurt because of me.
It’s better to just go home and face the music.”
She felt like she was going to cry again, and
she didn’t want that to happen. She didn’t want to be weak.
Mia hugged her. “You don’t have to go home;
you can still run.”
“I’m almost out of money. Even without the
tracker, I’d have to use my credit card and that would tell him
exactly where I was. Running only delays the inevitable.”
“What do you think is going to happen on
Wednesday?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t want to think
about it, anyway. Whatever her father wanted her home for, she was
pretty sure she wasn’t going to like it. He was definitely going to
punish her for running, that much was clear, but he had an agenda
as well and whatever was happening Wednesday involved her.
One full moon before she shifted, she’d been
asleep and had woken up when she heard a man begging for mercy.
She’d peeked out the window of her bedroom and saw one of the pack
members, naked and on his knees. He had done something to wrong the
pack, and her father was using his claws on him. After a few long
gashes across his chest, he let Shred take over, and pretty soon
the man was covered in his own blood and unmoving on the ground.
Some omega males had carried the male away and Honey had recognized
him as one of the ranked guards. He must have really done something
bad to make her father so angry. The next day she had asked Stacy
about it, and she told her that the male had taken down a buck that
her father had been chasing. The male had died later that day from
his wounds, because her father hadn’t allowed him to shift to heal
himself. It was the first time, but not the last time, that she’d
seen his cruelty. But up until the phone call tonight, she hadn’t
had any of that malevolence directed at her. He hadn’t seemed to
care about her one way or the other outside of keeping his guards
away from her in any way other than watching over her. She was sure
that Shred would’ve loved to get his hands on her sexually. She
shivered as she thought over the things she’d heard in the pack
over the years about his rough treatment of the she-wolves he
bedded. He would not be a kind mate.
As she began to strip, a sickening thought
struck her. What if her father had given her away? What if he had
sold her or traded her to a male to become his mate? The only
reason he might care about her was if it benefited him. He’d never
been fatherly. If it wasn’t for Stacy raising her, she would’ve had
to fend for herself, because he’d hardly glanced her way with
anything other than disdain over the years. They’d been related
strangers. She was his daughter, he was her father, but there
weren’t any loving feelings between them. She’d long ago stopped
thinking of him in a fatherly way. He was all alpha all the time.
It made her wonder what her mother ever saw in him.
As she folded her clothes and gave them to
Mia to put on the porch so they weren’t sitting in the snow, Acksel
called for the pack to shift and hunt and the wolves around her
dropped to the ground and began to shift. Mia rejoined Honey and
said, “Stay close, okay? I know where there are some tasty
bunnies.”
Honey decided to just embrace the night. It
might be her last full moon as an unmated female, free to do what
she wanted. As her shift took over, she had the fleeting thought to
just run in her wolf form. She could live off the land, stay in her
form until she went somewhere too far for her father to reach. Just
as
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