Page 4 of Dawn of the Pack

Despite having my eyes trained stonily ahead, I can see the exaggerated smirk on her face. Even if I couldn’t see it, it’s audible in her tone.

“I just find it fascinating that you pretended to be a teenager for years, just to hook up with a Harridan. First, like, don’t you have any shame? And, not that I’d judge family, but it’s kind of gross, isn’t it? A grown man trying to get with a little girl?”

I grind my teeth together and resist the bait, but it’s getting more difficult. Instead, I focus harder on tuning her out.

Implying I had anything but a familial attachment to Lilliana when she was a kid is disgusting. Yes, I became more attracted to her as she grew closer to adulthood, and I may have had a few racy thoughts on certain occasions when I felt—something—between us those last few months, but I never acted on it.

It wasn’t until I arrived in Smoky Falls that my hormones went into overdrive. The second I laid eyes on her, it was like I’d found a new drug and I was constantly chasing the high. Just being around her made my skin tingle like it was crawling with electricity. I’ve never felt even a tenth of that kind of chemistry with another woman.

Granted, I had my fun in college, right until I gave up everything to live on the streets so I could protect her. Then it was like my sexuality went dormant, waiting until a few weeks ago.

And even then I knew it was stupid; I know very well how the packs work, and that she already has her three fated mates. I am keenly, painfully aware of that.

But there has to be something drawing us together, too. Otherwise, she never would have kissed me.

Kissed me back, I amend mentally. I pressed her up against the door and practically forced myself on her.

My stomach turns at the thought, but then a quick flash of memory drops a warm stone in my gut that calms it.

I may have initiated it, but there’s no doubt in my mind it’s what she wanted. She attacked me right back, wrapping her legs around me and thrusting her hands into my clothes. The memory is all too easy to relive, and I allow my mind to run over each delicious second until it occurs to me this is neither the time nor place.

I have to pivot from this train of thought; the last thing I need right now is to get myself all worked up and then be pitching a tent when they come to get me from my cell.

This new, apparently evil Azalea would find that highly amusing. She’s certainly not the girl I remember from before I left. That Azalea was a sullen teenager who just wanted to live as if she was human, and pretend this entire world of magic and wolves didn’t exist. She was even more of a disappointment to the family than I was, and that’s saying something. Of course, it turns out I had the abilities after all, but I doubt her mom blocked her magic for her own good like mine did. If I remember correctly, she treated Azalea pretty harshly for being a dud.

Since I don’t actually know much about what happened after I left, I decide to change the focus of this conversation. She’s still rambling on about my apparent attraction to little girls, so I clear my throat and glance in her direction. Azalea pauses gleefully, assuming she’s drawn a reaction from me.

“Hey Azalea,” I begin casually, pulling one knee to my chest and draping an arm over it. “Where’s your mom, anyway? I haven’t seen Aunt Hyacinth in ages.”

Azalea laughs scornfully. “That witch? She’s long dead. Finally got what was coming to her.”

“And I suppose you had something to do with that.”

She snorts scornfully. “Of course I did. She never did anything except berate and deride me for my entire life. Wasn’t my fault I was born unable to connect to the earth’s magic. If anything, I’d say it was hers.”

“So what happened, exactly?” I lean in and make my tone curious, hoping she’ll be pleased to brag about how clever she is.

And she takes the bait. “Well, since you asked…” Azalea sits up in her seat and does a full spin before wheeling herself closer to my cell. “After you left, everything with my mom got way worse. She kept saying it was my opportunity to seize control while you were gone, claim our birthright. She tried to force me to call on the magic, kept saying I was just ‘blocked’ and needed proper motivation.”

An uneasy feeling swirls in my stomach. “She was always awful to you,” I comment in a low voice. It doesn’t really cover the physical and psychological abuse I know Azalea received, but I’m not sure if that’s the best subject to touch on, either.

A brief twitch of surprise crosses her face, but she recovers quickly and replies with a sneer. “Yeah, well, she only acted that way because your mom got all the glory and she was basically shunned. Even though she was just as talented, my mom never got a chance to shine when she was relegated to the role of pack seer.”

That’s not exactly true, but I have a hunch that right now is not the time to argue with my cousin.

Instead, I keep pressing. “So what happened?”

Azalea sighs dramatically and continues. “I started hiding out at Granny’s even more, and I think she pitied me for my lack of natural ability, so she let me have the run of the place. I knew there had to be something she’d squirreled away that would help me—the woman is practically a hoarder—so I just kept digging until I found something.”

“What was it?”

“A spell. You know, at first it was completely useless. There was no way I could pull it off, since I couldn’t even work simple spells. So I put the book away and pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I was honestly considering pulling a Harridan and running away. And then you sent the knife back.”

The uneasy feeling in my stomach turns into a decidedly sick one. “What does the knife have to do with anything?”

Azalea grins like the Cheshire Cat, the expression enhanced by her electrically pink and purple hair. I’m fairly certain it was still blonde last night, so she must have gotten bored at some point and changed it with magic. “Well, the first thing that happened was the pack kicked your mom out completely.”

I force myself to remain neutral; the way she says it so gleefully turns my sick stomach to stone. My mom was run out of town with nothing, completely cut off from everyone and everything she knew. “And?”

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