Page 17 of Pack to the Wall

“You gonna force me out too?” His gaze moved from Jane to Petra and back.

We weren’t touching and I wasn’t looking at her, but I could feel Jane’s outrage, like a fire warming my side. Yet her voice was restrained when she asked. “Tyson, what’s the penalty when one ofmypack kills another ofmypack?” I loved how easily she’d claimed all of us.

More points for Jane.

Tyson helped Cassie to a chair at the dining table. “Varies from alpha to alpha. Some don’t care and do nothing, others take that very seriously and take an eye for an eye approach.”

“Yeah, I like that last one,” Jane said, shifting over to her purse and pulling out the gun she’d used to shoot Harley. “You do anything to that woman and I’ll end you, little man,” Jane threatened.

Little man? Oh, fuck!

I didn’t think Jane knew just how much of an insult that was to a shifter, especially Tank. I could see it in his eyes, how much he wanted to see if Jane would do it. He was debating killing Petra just for fun to see if Jane had the balls to shoot him. But she’d shot Harley, so… Tank slowly set Petra back on his lap and released her. The poor woman gasped and coughed.

“Can’t stop me from fucking her,” Tank growled and smashed his mouth over Petra’s even before she’d regained her breath. He tore away her top with one swipe, grabbing her breast, right there in front of everyone. Jane gaped, horrified. The trouble was, this was standard behavior for Tank.

“Can he do that?” Jane asked.

“He can if Petra’s willing,” I whispered. Then, as Jane drew breath for her next question, I stopped her. “Don’t,” I said, keeping my voice low.

Jane glared up at me.

I pulled her aside and whispered, “You were going to ask Petra if she was willing, weren’t you? Well, think about that. You think she’d go against a man like Tank? She’d probably say ‘yes,’ just to appease him, then you gain nothing. And if she dared to say ‘no,’ that would only lead to more pain from Tank sometime when you’re not looking. I know it’s disgusting… I knowhe’sdisgusting… but we need to wait, hard as that is. We’ll find a time to get her away from him. You just won a battle. Take the win and regroup for the next battle, there are going to be lots.”

Jane was furious. “I won’t let him hurt her anymore!” she hissed.

“First, you have to get her away from him. He’s made her his mate and she ain’t gonna say otherwise while he’s in earshot. Wait,” I urged her.

I could see how much that burned her. It burned me too. I knew firsthand how cruel and brutal my father was. He’d beaten me half-to-death regularly when I was a kid, telling me it would make me strong. And I’d gotten strong, sure enough, but despite him, not because of him. I hated that man, hated this life, and I hoped Jane would survive long enough to change things.

“What next then?” Jane whispered. “I need to do something or I just might shoot that man!”

“Get everyone organized and settled. Tell them where they’ll be staying. Start there,” I suggested. She nodded. “And when the time comes, I’ll handle my father while you get Petra away.”

She nodded again, face hard. I could see now that she was finally starting to understand what it was going to mean to rule this crew. And she didn’t like it one bit.

“Tyson, let’s get these folks settled!” she called out.

It was a lengthy process, but we eventually got everyone situated.

Tank and Sonny would stay in the living room. There were two couches they could sleep on. Jane had tried to get Petra away from Tank, to stay with the other women — who had been given the large basement rec room — but that hadn’t worked. The remaining men, four in all, took the guest room, which was also in the basement. Brick had set up a tent in the back yard. Bronn, Tyson, and I would stay in Jane’s room, on the floor, of course. Though, only one of us would ever be in there at a time. During the night, one would stay in with her, another would guard her door, and the third would patrol around, keeping the peace. That meant we’d need to take shifts sleeping. Though, as shifters, we were also okay going without sleep for a while if needed.

The pack didn’t have a lot of possessions, only what we could store on our bikes. There were a couple bike trailers in which we stored our group equipment, tents and such, since we’d been living in nature for years now. With so little, we unloaded quickly.

Then we began work on the next challenge: lunch for twenty.

Bronn and I assembled a meal which used up most of what Jane had in her fridge and cupboards.

“Your pack is going to ruin me financially! I can’t afford to feed this many people for a week! Doesn’t your pack have any funds of its own?” Jane complained to Tyson, Bronn, and I after lunch. We’d retreated to her bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed, while the three of us stood nearby.

Tyson answered. “We do, yes, but no one knows how much Harley had stashed away. He gave it out sparingly. He probably had a horde somewhere, but only Brick would know where it is, and he isn’t going to tell you.” Tyson sighed. “I’m sorry Jane, butfinding the money to take care of us is going to fall to you as proof you can take care of the pack.”

Jane seemed to deflate. She leaned forward, elbows on knees, and ran her hands through that gorgeous soft hair of hers. “Fuck,” she whispered. “I have savings, but…”

An idea crept into my head. “Jane,” I whispered.

She looked up at me with weary frustration in those large brown eyes.

“Everything the pack has is yours,” I said.

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