A dingo. My wolf tried to launch me at him. Tried to take control and shift. But I dug my heels in and took in the sight of the person who made us a triad. Who took Ty and me out of the stasis we’d spent three years in.
Who would change our lives.
Chapter Six
Penn
The library had been extra busy all afternoon and early evening. The weather wasn’t great, and, paired with many schools having a half day, the place was flooded. I loved days like this. Seeing people enjoy the place that had given me a haven since I was a child always made me smile. The countless hours I spent in the library, hiding in the worlds others had created, was probably why I went into library science in college.
I’d thought a lot about that over the years. What would I have been if my life hadn’t gone to shit? A doctor, like kindergarten me always proudly announced? An artist? Maybe I’d have taken the same path, although it probably wouldn’t have been as long and windy as the one I had followed.
In the bustle of getting ready to leave for the day, I nearly forgot the box of menus. When I planned to deliver it myself, I thought it would be no big deal to go to the club. Now that work was over, my tune had changed.
I was dragging and really needed to rally to get it there tonight. If the poor delivery guy hadn’t seemed so shaken, I’d have dropped it off at the printer on the way home or called and had them come get it. But I had a feeling making a mistake would ruin his day and possibly mess with his employment, so I loaded the box in the back of my car and drove to Animals.
I had heard of Animals. Everyone had. The place where shifters could be themselves, although, from what I understood, other paranormals and humans too, sounded fabulous for people who liked the club scene. I wasn’t and hadn’t ever been.
When I arrived, I briefly thought about going through the front entrance, but they had both a bouncer and a line. With my luck, I’d have been waiting an hour to drop it off. Thankfully, Isaw a delivery entrance sign and went in that way. The people were nice, and I was brought around to where the customers were.
“I guess this delivery is for you,” I said, handing them to the manager, prepared to explain the story.
He seemed to be only half paying attention, looking more behind me than at me. “And these two alphas knocking down everyone in their path? I think they’re here for you.”
I turned quickly. He hadn’t been exaggerating. Two alphas wearing matching shirts were barreling in our direction, their gaze on me.
I was their prey. Fuck. I did the only thing I could manage; I headed for the door as quickly as I could without running. Running from predators would only encourage them to chase me faster. These weren’t human men, not from the color of their eyes which were more beast than human. I wasn’t going to stick around long enough to scent what kind.
Tigers. They were tigers or loved tigers. I didn’t know or care which.
A tiger was the reason I grew up in foster care in the first place. He came into my omega father’s life and was beyond cruel. He would lock me in the closet because I was “underfoot.” Not feed me because I shouldn’t have left a piece of gristle on my plate the night before. He’d let his tiger out and act like he was about to bleed me when I was scared to show him “something to be scared about.” There was not an ounce of kindness in the man.
And while most people who heard my story, thought the day he asked my omega father to choose between him and me was brutish, they were wrong. It was the kindest thing he had ever done for me.
I hated my life in foster care. No sugarcoating that, but it was a thousand times better than the life I’d been living. My weakomega father chose his tiger lover, the one who refused to ever mate him because dingoes were inferior in his eyes, over me. He didn’t even pretend to have to think about it at the time. I was so mad at him for so long. Now, I saw it had been for the best. If he’d chosen any other way, we’d probably both have paid the consequences.
Not long after that, they’d moved away, according to my file. It wasn’t until I was an adult, that I discovered that moving wasn’t the only thing separating us—so was death. An accident had taken them both.
I waited for tears to come that day. They never did, and I carried the guilt of that with me. He was my dad. What was wrong with me that I couldn’t bring myself to so much as be sad about it?
Was it speciesist of me to be scared of these alpha tigers based on my own childhood trauma? Probably. And if I had my right mind about me, I wouldn’t have run off. But I was their prey, and I needed to get out of there. Needed to be safe.
Why were they coming toward me? Had I bumped into them with my box? Did I look like someone who wronged them? I didn’t care which. I was outta there.
I barely apologized, shoving people to the side, and then I was hit by their scent. It was warm, sweet, and comforting. That should have been reassuring. Instead, it had me freaking out even more.
Once outside, I ran all the way to my car, my dingo begging to get out. Me ignoring him. But if I let him out, they would chase me in their beast form, and they would win.
I was one of the last people who had a car with a physical key. The auto-lock key fob was long broken, and I’d heard a new one cost an entire month’s groceries. I never cared. It was an inconvenience at worst.
Except today, it was more than an inconvenience. Getting that key in the lock was hard, so difficult that I panicked and froze. I needed to leave, but my beast no longer wanted to allow it. He was getting pushier by the second, and maintaining control was barely happening.
“We’re not trying to hurt you,” the one with the shirt that looked shiny and new said.
I pressed back against the car, feeling trapped as they both came toward me. Their hands were up, as if they thought I might have a weapon. What a joke. They were the weapons. One was definitely a tiger; the other, I suspected, a wolf.
“We’re not here to hurt you. We’ve been waiting for you,” the other spoke this time.
They stopped, leaving plenty of room for me to leave, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place.
