“My uncle just put these out fresh,” Freddie said, clearly trying to stir up something to talk about me with. I didn’t even glance at him; I just nodded. I was eyeing up some croissants with chocolate twisted through them, plus something else with chocolate drops and custard in it, when I heard the shift of movement on the other side of the counter. Freddie was only a couple of years younger than me, a small man eager to prove his so-called large worth. But he’d only succeeded in being an ass and making an embarrassment of himself.
“So.” He cleared his throat. “I heard Bryce is back in town.”
“Yeah? Who’d you hear that from?”
“Theo. We still hang out.”
“Still hitting those old abandoned lots where you do nothing but drink beer, wishing you had a pack? You didn’t want tobepart of something. You wanted to belong somewhere, and I get that, but you weren’t willing to do what it takes to belong. Sometimes, that meant a lot more selflessness.”
I looked up to find his eyes narrowed on me.
I shrugged. “Freddie, it's the truth. That’s the reason I didn’t accept you into the pack. You’re immature, weren’t willing to change even with guidance. Even Theo changed. It took a while, but—”
“He hates her, you know,” Freddie sneered. “Told me only last night. He can’t stand the fat bitch—”
“Stop.” My voice was low, roughing into a growl. “Donotspeak about Bryce like that.” God, I could have killed him back then for the things he’d said about her, but now my fingers twitched, aching to try and see how many ways I could hurt him for even daring to speak against Bryce.
Freddie just smirked. “You still hard for the girl?”
I pressed a fist to the glass, trying to rein myself in. “Stop now, Freddie, before I cause a scene you don’t want.”
“Oh, what? Big, bad alpha who turned his back on his own just so he could get some from literally the least hot girl in town?”
“I didn’t turn my back on you,” I snarled. “Youturned it on us. We asked you, time and time again, to man up, pull your weight, and actually have some respect. That’s what I’m making here. “A pack that actually cares for Honeycreek and every single damn person who lives here. And yeah, even Theo. They’ve all said things—hell,I’vesaid things—that were awful. I regret every single one of them, and I know some others have. I should have put you all in your places back then, and I didn’t, so I’m goddamn working on it now. I will not have my pack act this way.”
I shook my head. “Bryce never deserved any of what I let happen. I got rid of you, Freddie, because you don’t even know how to respect yourself, never mind others, and I won’t have you speak about her like that. I won’t haveanyof them speak about her like that. My packwilland is making Honeycreek safer. From fires, from enemies, from other shifters, and from your sort of spiteful hate. I want my pack to be welcoming. To be the one to go to when people feel unsafe in any capacity. Thatwas Bryce, and she could never turn to her own pack back then because of you and the group you gathered. I won’t stand for it again. So, if you need a reminder of what I did to you last time you stepped out of line, I’ll happily step outside with you.”
I glared at him, and it was only seeing Freddie’s pale face and wide eyes that made me realize how quiet the bakery had gone. I gritted my teeth against the prickle of attention. I wasn’t low in confidence by any means, but I hated berating someone I wanted to trust in front of others.
“Just let me buy the damn pastries and get out of here,” I muttered.
But as Freddie nodded quickly and bagged the items up that I pointed out, I realized it wasn’t just the public nature of it.
No. It was something else, and that had me turning, sensing the energy shift in the store. I came face-to-face with Bryce, who blinked at her, her mouth parted in disbelief.
Chapter 11 - Bryce
“Mason,” I began, my voice a whisper.
I thought… I had thought it had all been words back in my house. Something to say to smooth over upsetting me, gentleness in place of sharpness that wouldn’t last. A man trying tolooklike the good guy again, only to hide the alpha I knew underneath.
The alpha who had let his pack torment me.
The alpha who had just lectured a pack reject on how he had mistreated me. In front of others, even as small as the group was gathered in Harveys—a place I hadn’t even let myself think of going for fear of being seen to be overindulging, of that fear that people might not comment, but they’dthink, wondering if the fat girl really needed another chocolate-dipped pastry—Mason had defended me.
That wasn’t just smoothing over to appease me in private; that was a public message.
Freddie, a boy I remembered who still seemed caught in the clutches of being sixteen and no more grown up for actually being twenty-three now, only ducked his head, flushing with what I hoped was embarrassment.
“Mason,” I tried again, but my throat was tight, and emotion threatened to drag me back to that place I had to bury every day: a place where I was still helplessly in love with Mason, a place where that had lived and died alongside my hatred, distrust, and anger.
Mason’s broad smile only greeted me as he held up the pastries he had yet to pay for and strode out. I supposed theywere on the house for the insult Freddie had caused. I followed him, hating the burn of stares throughout the bakery.
“Wait up,” I called, rushing Cassie along, who had been quite happy upon seeing thetall wolf man.
“I grabbed a treat for us all,” Mason said, falling into step with me along Main Street, as if nothing had happened. Yet, with one lecture at a stupid, immature boy, he had turned my world upside down. He came to a halt, turning to look at me, and I waited for him to say something. To be arrogant—to sayI told you I was a good guy—but he was acting as though it had been perfectly normal for him to stand up for me the way he had.
“Yes?” I pressed, hopeful.
