Riot glides in my direction and leans on my door, peering at me, his dark amber eyes gleaming. He flashes his teeth in what should be a threat but somehow makes my stomach flutter. “I’d like to fight you on Main Street. We can make it…fun.”
“You keep that nonsense to yourself.”
I turn back to Angel. I thump my head back on the headrest; he looks like he wants to crawl out of his skin to get away from me. It’s mildly offensive, but I can understand.
“Angel, look at me.”
He looks.
“There is a storm coming. Can you smell it? It’s going to be a bad one. We need to get these things for you and your pack. We can duke it out when we get home. But let’s make sure everyone is going to be warm enough first. Have enough food. I promise I will get you good, decent clothes, nothing sexy, provocative, or that will make you feel foolish. Riot is going to help me.”
“We can hunt. You-” Angel suddenly starts hyperventilating. “We can’t let her leave; we can’t.”
I flinch at the hysteria in his voice. The truck is too small. I need to get out, but I know that if I try to move, he’s going to lunge at me and rip me apart.
“Please, Angel. I’m not asking a lot here. Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m being pretty reasonable. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I promise there is no ulterior motive. Just make sure we all survive. Fire. Food. Shelter.”
Angel lets out a howl. I tense, but Hazard appears and wrestles his brother out of the truck. I sit there, gripping the steering wheel, drenched in sweat and shaking.
“You did well,” Riot murmurs.
“Fuck you.”
Hazard shifts and goes after Khaos. The two of them roll, huge, massive wolves, fur flying. While Wrath leans on my porch rail watching with detached interest and eating an apple.
I can’t see Angel anywhere.
“Get in the truck or stay here,” I growl at Riot.
He has three seconds. When I get to three, I start the truck and turn back down the mountain, refusing to look back.
Khaos
The door slams open,banging so hard that Hazard snaps his teeth, growling before he realises it’s just her. She comes in, bringing the scent of menthol and a tension that has me ready to leap up and take her down before she can even think of attacking us. Instead of doing anything, she just stands there with her eyes closed. I’ve seen that look; it’s the look of a person pushed too close to the edge. Her cheeks are pink, her body tight like a live wire. She is stunning in her fury, and that is something that makes her even more dangerous. Attraction and lust got us into this; I refuse to make things worse.
I stand up and take a step, ready to leap between her and my pack and diffuse the situation by force if necessary.
I know I didn’t make a noise, but she senses it anyway and looks at us. Hazard moves towards her, and our brand new master turns tail and runs. Now, I’m left standing, staring at the spot where she disappeared, trying to work out why her scent was filled with so much anguish.
Riot! Is he? I rush to the door but stumble back as Riot walks in with all the bags in his hands. His temper is soaring. The rage pouring off him is unlike anything I’ve felt from my normal calm and even-tempered pack mate.
“Riot?”
His eyes snap to mine. “Khaos,” he growls. He puts the bags down and comes to me, leaning into me. I stroke his back. Touch is the key foundation of keeping our pack calm and the bonds happy.
“What did she do?” I snarl out, already plotting her murder. I’ll give it my best shot, magic bracelet or no.
Riot laughs, bitter, disappointed, furious. He sweeps his fingers through his black hair and inhales deeply, puffing it out as the fury returns.
“She didn’tdoanything. She didn’t do anything when they overcharged her. And she didn’t do anything when they openly treated her with mockery. Or disdain. She didn’t do anything when they didn’t have what she needed. She didn’t do anything when they…” He stops, letting out a vicious growl.
My eyes find the doorway she disappeared down.
“The whole town takes its cue from the wolf pack; it reeks of them. Everywhere I went, I could smell them. And the shifters have her at the bottom of the pack and the bottom of the humans. Why, I don’t know. But they have it out for her.” The words rasp out of him in a violent hiss.
I wince. “But she’s just a human.”
“Is she?” Riot asks. “Explain it to me, then.”
