Nora turned to me, and her eyes widened as she noticed me holding my chest. “Oh my god!” She hurried to my side, reaching her hand up to my chest.
“I’ll be okay,” I said. “I just need to heal up.”
I looked past her toward the group of people. They looked at us with confusion and disbelief. A man stepped closer and frowned. “Who are you?”
“We’re from another pack. We’ve been out hunting after these creatures. We sensed one was over here and came to help.”
I scanned the man, realizing he was the Alpha. He didn’t look to be much older than Brandon and me—inexperienced and young.
“What was that?” the man asked.
I knew Brandon was going to need to chat with the guy, and I turned to Nora. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t the one who was hurt, Kaleb. Are you sure you’re okay? That looks nasty.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine in an hour.” I looked past her toward the building and the hybrid’s crisp body. I read the business’s sign and frowned. “That’s a pet shop?”
“What?” Nora turned around, and her eyes widened as she read the sign. “Oh my god!”
“Where is the owner?” I asked, looking toward the group.
The man talking with Brandon frowned. “He’s dead. The man was talking to him and snapped his neck. We managed to get most people to hide in their homes, but he cornered the rest of us here.”
Nora looked at the building. “But the animals. They need someone.”
I could see the horror written on her face. “We’ll take them back with us.”
She looked at me, shocked. “What? We can’t do that. Can we?” She looked over at the man, who shrugged like he didn’t care.
“No one else is going to be taking it over. It would cost us more to rebuild that building. Besides, we have other damages we have to address.”
His coldness rubbed me the wrong way, and I knew we had to take the animals. They would end up dead if we didn’t.
“We’re going to take them,” I announced. “All of them.”
Chapter 19 - Nora
I rolled out of bed once I smelled coffee. I made my way downstairs and found Kaleb sitting at the island, his phone in hand. Two mugs of coffee were sitting on the island, one he was sipping on while the other sat next to him.
I walked over and slid into the second seat. “Morning.”
He looked at me and softly smiled. “Morning. What are your plans today?”
I thought of yesterday and the extra animals that we brought back from the pet shop. There were extra mouths to feed at the shelter, so I wanted to get to work early.
“The shelter.”
Charlie barked, catching both of our attention. He was sitting on the couch, still half asleep, but he looked comfortable and happy. Kaleb looked at me. “Someone is starting to feel at home.”
I couldn’t help but smile in agreement with him. Things between us were still off, but at least we were getting along. When this was all said and done, maybe we would be okay.
“And your plans?”
“I have a meeting with Brandon to go over what the plan is after yesterday.” I thought of the mess that was there. The injured people and how their Alpha refused help. How the animals didn’t matter. We knew that was only the beginning of their problems. The hybrids were making their mark quietly.
“Do you think the town is going to end up like the other one had?”
Kaleb didn’t say anything, but his face gave it away. He did. It was only a matter of time.
