Page 84 of Villainous Fate

“He’s doing a bit better this week, Brenda. Thank you for askin’. I’m hoping the new blood pressure meds help get him back on his feet,” I lie easily, bagging my items efficiently to minimize the interaction.

“Well, I’m sure glad to see you are okay after that incident at the diner with those boys last night,” she continues, and my attention peaks.

Did she notice anything…supernatural?

“Oh yes, they can get out of hand. I probably apologized to Pete ten times about the broken dishes. I can be so clumsy sometimes.” After the last item is scanned, I take out my wallet to pay.

“It seems that new kid is a bit of a troublemaker. Gregory told Benny this morning that he comes from a troubled past. You make sure you keep your wits about you with that one. Now that I think of it, where has that boyfriend of yours been? The broody one with the motorcycle?”

What is it about older women? They think they can ask anything!

“He’s off on an internship with a company in Florida. He won’t be back for a few months, but I will be sure to ‘keep my wits’ as you say. Thank you so much, Brenda.”

The fake cheer I put in my tone does the trick, and I can return to the house.

“Where you been, girl?” my dad growls out as I enter the house. Half awake, he pulls another beer from the icebox before coming over and kissing the top of my head. I hold my breath to keep from breathing him in. When I was little, I loved his woodsy scent, but this unwashed alcohol seeping from his pores is enough to make me cough if I’m not careful.

“Just got us some groceries, Pops,” I say, aiming for cheery but somehow missing the mark.

“I was gonna go this week, honest Gracie.” His face is apologetic, and I know deep down he wants that to be true, so I play into his lie.

“I had to stop anyway for a school bake sale,” I finish before loading the rest of the items into the cupboard. “Wanna go for a run with me tonight? I bet I can beat you to the old stump,” I challenge, hoping he will take the bait. His eyes soften, and he looks almost lost in thought as he answers.

“Not tonight, Gracie, maybe tomorrow,” he turns, taking the silver can with him.

“I’m going to hold you to that, Pops,” I say over my shoulder without stopping my progress.

Not making meals here means at least the kitchen is still relatively tidy, so I grab my mixing bowls and get to work.

Maybe six months isn’t so long after all.

Chapter 41

Marcus

Bravoteamworksonthe California side of the territory just across from Sacramento. The Northern Nevada pack works to keep them on their side of the border, and for the last two nights, so have I.

Twelve-hour shifts wouldn’t be so bad if the time between the action didn’t feel so long. It’s a lot of silent walking, looking for signs that anyone has been in the area.

Bravo team night shift consists of six wolves: Frank, Bobby, Troy, James, Alan, and me. Apparently, when I joined the squad, one of the other members was moved to days. We switch off at different parts of the night being in wolf form, so we can use our wolves to scent the area and ensure nothing slips by us.

Last night, they convinced me to be in wolf form for the first chunk of the night, and I spent the early morning hours of darkness utterly unprepared for the cold. Tonight, I added layers. I’m unsure if it was hazing or just veteran enforcers, but I wouldn’t be fooled again.

Frank was a solid leader, and I could see how respected he was among the other wolves. I was also surprised to find out he was an Alpha. It made sense the way he was able to lead the enforcers without any issues.

Deacon told me I could trust Frank, which has proven true.

I caught my right paw in a bear trap just an hour ago. Frank’s quick thinking freed me in less than a minute, and two shifts later, I was back to completely fine. Frank didn’t think that the trap was accidental. He spent several minutes examining it, and we determined it was made of silver, unlike most bear traps, which are ordinarily made from iron or steel.

Someone set that trap for a wolf shifter.

If the silver had been in my leg for much longer, I would be sick now from the poisoning of my blood. After that, we found eight more traps in our territory.

Oddly, we couldn’t catch the scent of whoever had left them. They either set them quite a while ago, and no one had found them until now, or they did a hell of a job covering their tracks to keep their scent from being in the areas.

My guess is the latter. Frank is too meticulous to have missed nine traps.

Nine? We had to be missing another one.

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