“No,” she says, her voice more resolute than I would have guessed based on her scent. “I want to see this.”
“Brave girl,” I murmur.
Steve rips his envelope open while Josh is still waving his and yelling at the officer as they pull away from the curb.
“What the fuck?” Steve says, brows furrowing and face turning red as he skims the papers. “Josh, what the fuck is this?”
“How the hell should I know?”
“Well open it and read it! It says it’s a restraining order against my fucking sister!”
“What?” Josh growls, striding back toward Steve as he tears into his own envelope, eyes darting across the paper. “That fucking bitch. When I get my hands on her?—”
I roll the window up and punch on the radio. Sage doesn’t need to hear one more word of vitriol from them, especially not whatever harmful bullshit is about to spew from their mouths, and suddenly I’m doubting this entire trip.
“Sage, are you okay—” I start to ask.
“Holy shit that was great!” Riley says, turning to look at Sage.
I’ve known him long enough to tell when he’s acting,although he does a damn good job of it. He shoots a quick look at me, and I get the message:Play along.I agree—distract from the bad with the good.
“Did you see how mad and confused they were?” he crows. “We totally blind-sided them! And come on, do they knowanyother words besides swear words? Their vocabulary is really lacking.”
Sage’s acrid scent starts to lighten the tiniest bit as she takes in Riley’s enthusiasm.
“Not creative at all,” Brooks agrees, and Sage turns to him, looking like she’s standing on the edge of a cliff and isn’t sure which way she’ll fall.
“They never saw it coming. But hey, at least they got a small taste of what they deserve,” I say, secretly wishing I could have done some punching along with the legal necessities. But Sage doesn’t need more violence in her life, so I simply shake my head in mock disappointment and put the truck in drive. “Honestly, I thought they’d give us at least a little more creativity. That was hardly a show at all. Just a couple idiots yelling.”
“Oh come on,” Riley says. “It wasn’t that bad. Their faces turned so red I thought they might burst a blood vessel!”
Brooks nods sagely. “That’s true. They were quite unnaturally red by the end.”
And Sage giggles.
I smile, relaxing as I keep an eye on the road behind us just in case. Riley continues his antics with Brooks egging him on, and soon enough Sage is joining in.
It’s only when we pull back into the lavender farm that we all turn serious again.
“I don’t think that’s the end,” Sage says, her voice tentative.
“What do you mean, Petal?”
“They’re not going to listen. That’s not like them. If anything…”
“If anything, what?” Riley says.
“They’ll do something tonight,” she whispers, like speaking the words aloud might make them true. My alpha is ready to riot in my chest, and it takes everything I have to stay calm and collected.
“Are you serious?” Riley asks, and I’m thinking the same thing. “How dumb are these guys?”
Sage shakes her head. “They might not be very smart, but they’re manipulative and vengeful. They never let me get away with even the smallest thing, always coming back at me even worse for any perceived slight.
“Something like this?” She shudders, drawing her arms around her stomach. “No. They’ll egg each other on, and they’ll do something drastic tonight.”
“I’ll call the sheriff, see if we can get a patrol car out here for the night,” I say.
Brooks nods, looking like he wants to knock them out as much as I do, and we all head inside. I know we’re supposed to trust the police, but I have more faith in my community than law enforcement.
