Damn it.
She’s backing away from me.
“It’s okay,” she tells me. “Just calm down. There is nothing here to hurt you.”
I’m not hurt.
She is.
The memories fade.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I tried to help…”
Why is she apologizing?
I retract my claws and feel my face and hands reform.
This foolish woman…she can’t even shift to heal herself.
There’s blood dripping from gashes along her forearm.
“It’s nothing,” she tells me.
Right.
Just one more injury to add to a collection.
Her ankle’s still f*cked up. There are bruises on her face and neck that are an ugly yellow and still healing.
And now I’ve sliced her skin.
Without her wolf…”You’ll have scars.”
“It’s nothing. Come back to bed.”
I scoff. Both at her attempts to downplay the situation and the thought of trying to fall back asleep.
My shirt is shredded. I peel it over my head.
When I take a step toward her to grab a washcloth from the bathroom for her arm, Grace tenses.
Sonofabitch.
She realizes what she’s done and blanches.
“No,” I tell her before she can apologize. “You should be afraid of me…”
I cross to the neat pile of clothes on the bedside table. Clothes she bought for me. I drag a shirt over my head.
“W-what are you doing?” she asks.
“It’s obvious. Isn’t it?”
I’m leaving.
“Jay, you don't have to go. It was an accident. I have nightmares too—“
I jerk open the door and walk into the night.
“Jay, are you coming back?”
I don’t know… “Maybe.”
The next day, I’m back in my pack’s headquarters and in the office. Gone are the streetclothes. My hair is tied back. I’m clean shaven.
This isn’t some silly Clark Kent, ‘oh, these glasses make me look totally different’ scenario.
I’m the same man.
It’s the disparity between my circ*mstances that have people seeing what they want to see.
In many ways, this game with Grace has been an effective social experiment. When I’m poor…people overlook me.
I realize this is true for wolves, humans, people in power.
I’ll learn from this lesson, I vow. And make sure all members of my pack have better equality.
We have stipends and communal lands. Grants and resources available for each family. But as Alpha, I’ve amassed billions. We have real estate throughout the city, politicians in our pockets, connections to the military and DoD. More importantly, I have control over the Nine ranges of wolves in the area.
There isn’t a pack on this seaboard stupid enough to challenge me.
I stare at the cheap ass cell phone Grace bought for me.
I flip it over and over in my hand.
She’s called.
She’s texted.
Nothing pushy. Just letting her know she’s fine. And asking if I am.
Despite that I clawed her arm something fierce…despite that I could have killed her!…she’s still worrying about me.
In the afternoon, the top management of the Reed Pack conducted its quarterly financial meeting. While everybody is listening attentively to the report, my mobile phone suddenly rings.
It’s Grace.
I’ve ignored her all day.
What if she’s hurt?
I ignore the odd stares—and every wolf in this boardroom is staring—and answer the call. I put the phone up to my ear.
I just smile.
Work goes so so slow, knowing Jay will be there when I get home.
It’s silly I know. To want to see him so badly.
I shouldn’t count on him—on anyone.
And I don’t. I’m independent.
Emotionally though, I do like having him around.
I shouldn’t. And I know I’m setting myself up for heartache because Jay may be coming back today, but a day will come when he won’t.
I know that.
And I’ll deal with it.
I just don’t want him leaving on account of me. Or harboring any guilt or bad feelings.
What happened was an accident.
The next few hours pass achingly slowly.
When we finally finish sweeping, Claire and I go back to the Sanitation building.
A number of women are staring at the television on the wall, catching the news. It’s official, the Stevens and Atkinson families would be united. Alpha Sean Stevens—my former fiancee. My lover. The father of my unborn baby…
He’s now engaged to Lily Atkinson.
The woman who’d played a role in killing my grandfather.
The selfish, spiteful she-wolf who set these events into motion.
It’s hot celebrity gossip and my coworkers are eating it up. A picture flashes of the beautiful couple. Lily holds out her hand, showing off a ginormous pink diamond ring.
“… the six-carat pink diamond ring is exceptionally rare and of the highest quality. The diamond costs around $10,000,000…”
"Lily is a winner,” one of the women said as she stows her tools. “Lucky girl. Not only is she pretty and rich, but her husband is handsome and wealthy."
I purse my lips.
Yes, they are both attractive and wealthy.
But they’re also cruel. Petty. The people responsible for my torture in prison. For banishing me from my pack. And the force behind the Council stripping me of my wolf.
“They’re such a beautiful couple!” Claire says.
They might be pretty on the outside. But inside, they are ugly…
)