Page 3 of Twisted Destiny

“I get it. And that’s why I’m here. Now, tell me about your uncle.”

“Henry? He helped me escape from that Hellhole. I owe my life to him. I’m not sure I would have made it out of there if not for him.” Hayley thought back over the kindness Henry had shown her. He had gone his own way after she ran, not wanting Griffin to catch up with either of them. She hadn’t spoken to him since that fateful day when both of their lives were upended by Griffin.

“Apparently, after you’d left the pack, Henry returned to Twisted Tail and got a fresh start under the new Alpha. But now, he has passed away, and Calder says you are Henry’s last surviving blood relative. It seems that Henry’s house now belongs to you. And that includes everything in it.”

Hayley rubbed her temples while she soaked in the shock of everything that was happening. It was definitely not what she wanted to be dealing with today.

“Rubbing your head isn’t going to make your brain deal with the situation any faster.”

“Sorry, I know. It’s just that I never expected Henry to go back to Twisted Tail. Let alone leave me his house. God knows, I sure as hell never planned on going back there for any reason. Why would he leave me his house? He knew how I felt about the pack.”

“You never know.” Willow shrugged.

“No, I know Twisted Tail. Just my luck, I actually inherited a house from a long-lost great-uncle, and it’s an old shanty in the woods. It couldn’t be a fairytale castle or a mansion. No, not me. No way. I get a run-down old hunting shack.” Hayley laughed at the absurdity of the entire situation.

“Calder does say the place needs some work. You can fix it up and sell it or keep it for yourself. It’s yours to do with what you wish.”

Hayley didn’t need to think about her answer. “Oh, I’ll sell it for sure. And I don’t know if sinking money in it would even be worth it.”

“I doubt you’ll know until you see it yourself.”

“See it? As in, get in my car and drive to Twisted Tail,” Hayley asked with a nervous laugh before continuing. “Why would I want to go back there? Can’t I just find a lawyer or someone to handle this whole thing with the house?” She had no desire to return to Twisted Tail, even if it was under new leadership. The entire thought of driving back there sent a healthy dose of anxiety spiraling through her body.

“Come on, Hayley. You know this is a wolf pack we’re talking about. Nothing is going to get settled by sending some fuzzy-headed attorney in a three-piece suit to represent you.” Willow handed the letter back to Hayley, “Besides, Calder ends the letter with an invitation for you to meet him and his wife, Daisy. She is the sweetest. You’ll love her. But honestly, don’t expect anything to happen with your uncle’s house until you take Calder up on his offer.”

“Then I guess nothing will happen.” She was going to dig her damn heels in if she had to. It wasn’t like the house meant anything to her anyway. Sure, she had several fond memories of Henry, and even if she didn’t, it didn’t mean that she had to go back there to get this situation with his house squared away. There had to be another option.

“My advice is to give it some serious thought. Calder is nothing like the old Alpha, and Twisted Tail is nothing like the pack you once knew. Not only that, you’re different. You’re stronger now than you have ever been. If nothing else, going back might finally give you some peace.”

“Peace? How?” Hayley looked at Willow like she had lost her damn mind. Maybe she had.

“Because somewhere in your mind, you’ve always dreaded that your old pack would somehow drag you back and ruin your life. If that weren’t the case, you never would’ve called me to help you sort this out. Think of this as an opportunity to finally put those fears to rest. This can be your chance to finally be free. Heart and mind.”

“What if a trip there makes everything worse? I don’t even know anyone there. You think I’m going to just waltz around, whistling a happy tune and trusting everyone I meet? Yeah, I don’t think so.” She really wanted to say that it wasn’t fucking likely, but she kept it clean, considering the café was packed.

“There are good people there now. You never know who you will meet. After all, the universe has a strange way of resetting things—fixing mistakes, if you will. But it’s up to you to choose to be part of that change.”

“I appreciate your advice, and all I can promise is to think about it. But I’m letting you know now, I’m more inclined to take the ostrich approach and bury my head in the sand when it comes to going back to Twisted Tail.”

That night, Hayley had already resolved to dismiss Willow’s advice and ignore the letter. But it wasn’t like she was entirely alone with her thoughts.

“When are we leaving?” Her wolf asked.

“Are you nuts? What makes you think I have even the slightest interest in returning to Twisted Tail?” What the hell was her wolf thinking? She knew damn well they had risked their life to get the hell out of there in the first place.

“Willow may have called Calder’s letter an invitation, but you know it’s not. When your Alpha tells you to come meet him in person, it’s not a suggestion.”

“Ha! Since when do I take orders from another wolf? Look around. We haven’t been in Twisted Tail for years. Hell, the old Alpha never even bothered to order us to return. In fact, I doubt he even bothered to find us. So, what makes you think we should listen to this new Alpha?”

Her wolf pushed forward in her mind, clearly irritated with her attitude. “You might think we left the pack, but we never left who we are, what we are. And it’s about more than observing some silly custom or nostalgic tradition. It’s about the basic laws that we were born into. Just like we can’t change the nature of who we are, we can’t avoid the Alpha. The old Alpha never found us and never called for us. But that has nothing to do with Calder’s letter. We’ll never find any rest until we do.”

“My God, you can be annoying.” She wanted to pitch a bitch and argue with her wolf, but she didn’t because she knew her wolf was right. There was no denying it. Hayley had just been avoiding the truth of the matter for as long as she possibly could.

“No, I’m just as annoyingly stubborn as you are. And lonely.” The sorrow in her wolf’s voice was evident.

“Lonely? Bullshit.” She tried to make light of the situation, hoping to feel better about all of it. Sadly, it didn’t seem to work. She couldn’t avoid the truth her wolf spoke. Unfortunately, it looked as if playing ostrich was not going to be a viable option. Hayley felt that bone-chilling loneliness every second of every day. She tried like hell to ignore it, but the feeling never went away and likely never would. Not as long as she strayed far away from others of her kind.

“Oh? Really? Don’t you think it’s time to stretch your legs and let me run? I can’t even tell you the last time you let me off the damn leash. And another thing, you’ve been on four dates in the past year. Each one of them sucked. How about we find another wolf for a night or two? After all, if you’re going to have a sleepless night, it ought to be for a good reason.” Her wolf huffed, sounding just as frustrated as Hayley had been feeling.

---