Hewasthe alpha, much to my dismay. To my mind—and most people in town—he wasn’t cut out for the role. After our last alpha died with no heir, Anders and three other men who’d been born alphas challenged each other for the right to lead the pack. Anders came out on top, and the challengers had bent the knee to him, as had we all.
Gran left before I could say more. I loved the woman dearly. She and my grandfather had raised me. Their love for me was pure and unconditional, but that blinded them to my plight.Being part of a shifter pack, and beingunableto shift had made me a bit of an outcast, especially among the more well-placed members of the pack. People like Anders and Brock had bullied me for years. Things had been fine until after puberty, when it became obvious I either had no inner wolf, or simply couldn’t make contact with her if shewasthere.
I still remembered the night Anders and a few others my age had led me into the woods for a midnight swim, only to leave me there, lost and alone. Anger flared in me as I watched Anders lift an eighties Denver Broncos long-sleeved T-shirt and laugh about something with Brock. That anger faded a bit when I remembered the kind, mysterious man who’d found me that night and showed me the way home. To this day, my lips tingled whenever I thought of him and my first kiss.
Pushing the old memories aside, I sighed and walked over to the two men.
Anders was built like a sprinter, lean and lithe. His shaved head gleamed under the store’s lights. Brock, who was more of a sycophant follower, stood behind him, broad shoulders hunched, black hair buzzed close on the sides but long on top, the curls looking like a head of broccoli.
“Afternoon, guys,” I said, forcing a polite tone into my voice. “Can I help you with anything?”
Anders glanced at me, and an unpleasant smile crossed his lips.
“Well, well, well,” he said, poking an elbow into Brock’s ribs to get his attention. “Looks like good ol’ Juney Hollis wants to help us.”
My smile evaporated. “Please don’t call me Juney. My name is Juniper.”
When his smile grew, I cursed myself. There was only one way this would go. I should have kept my mouth shut, but here we were. I’d have to live with the consequences.
“Did I hear that right?” Anders asked. He nudged Brock again. “Was I being impolite?”
Brock shrugged, glancing at a display of antique porcelain plates.
Anders gazed at me, his eyes inscrutable but intense. Waiting for me to say something, maybe? He’d always been like this. His pettiness and bullying had been more muted since he became alpha, but the same old Anders was still underneath, ready to come creeping back out given the first opportunity.
He tossed the shirt aside. “You don’t want us to call youJuney?” he said, enunciating the word. His eyes glimmered with malice. “Then I guess we won’t, will we, Brock?”
Brock smiled wanly. “Sure thing, Juney, whatever you say.”
Clearing my throat, I gestured around at the store. “Is there anything I can help you guys with?”
Anders sighed wearily. “You know part of the pack finances come from a percentage of revenue on businesses, right?”
He said it like he was talking to someone who could barely understand that two plus two equaled four. Of course I knew that. Shifters paid into a general fund that the pack used for a host of things. It was our version of the sales tax humans paid the government. It was also a source of constant stress for us. The shop always had business, but things were often tight once our percentage was paid.
“I do,” I said, doing my best not to grit my teeth.
He nodded once. “Maybe you should try to help your grandparents increase business. I like Mr. and Mrs. Hollis; they’re good people, but they still need to shoulder their share. I’ve seen the numbers. This shop produces less revenue than any other business in town. How about we do something about that?”
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure neither of my grandparents were around. They didn’t need to hear this,especially not from the new alpha. It would only give them anxiety, and at their age, that was the last thing they needed.
“I can try,” I said. “Maybe some sidewalk sales or something?”
“Whatever,” Anders said. “As long as they pay their pack dues, I don’t give a shit. Can you help with that? Like, I mean, are you able to? I know you have your, uh, condition,” he added with a faint smirk.
“He means because you can’t shift,” Brock added absently as he checked the price tag on a used leather backpack. “Can you actually help, is what he’s saying.”
Even though I’d been expecting it, the words still stabbed into my heart. Not everyone in Idlewild believed shifters who were unable to shift were lesser beings, but enough of them did that life here was always a little more difficult for me than it should be. Now that Anders was the pack alpha, I wondered if it would get worse. Sure, people didn’t like him, but he was still the alpha. His opinion mattered, and people tended to follow their leader. I prayed his opinion of me wouldn’t bleed into the rest of the pack.
“I think I’ll do fine,” I said. “We’ll take care of everything we need to take care of. Okay?”
Anders nodded slowly and scanned the sales floor. “Maybe add a snack counter or coffee station. Something that can get you all a little extra revenue? Might be a good idea.”
I didn’t like how he wielded his power, always pushing his own agendas and opinions. He was still the bully I’d known in school, but now that he was the most powerful man in town, he’d become more subtle, yet somehow more forthright in his tyranny. He seemed to relish being the alpha more than was appropriate.
Ignoring his last comment, I plastered a smile on my face and shrugged. “Well, if there’s nothing I can help you with, I’ll get back to work.”
Snorting, Anders gave me a sad shake of the head, then patted Brock on the back. “Want to go get a burger?”
