Page 39 of Mated

He doesn’t even know I am here. His eyes haven’t left the screen since I came in. The second coming could happen, and Uncle Dale wouldn’t pull his eyes off the television. His brain is so doused in alcohol, I’m pretty sure he thinks he is in the TV most of the time.

“Uncle Dale?”

He pulls his gaze from the moving pictures, looks at me with glassy eyes, and makes a motion I know the meaning of all too well. He wants another beer.

I get him another beer.

He drinks it.

Dust blows by the window from the eroded yard where dozens of dogs have killed the grass over the years.

I go and sit on the couch in front of the television, temporarily taking Colton’s place. I don’t fit in his butt print. I sort of sink into it, feeling awkward and out of place. Fortunately, I am swiftly joined by three dogs, none of which I know, all of which need flea and worm treatment. I will go into town tomorrow, where I am sure my aunt will want me to do errands anyway. I pet them and stare at the tv, much like Uncle Dale, not knowing what is on and not really caring.

The past slides up and wraps around me, drawing me down into an uncomfortable numbness I briefly thought I could escape, but now know there is no getting away from. This is who I am. This is what I was made for. And this is all I will ever have.

CHAPTER 10

Cain

The trail has gone cold.

“I’m very sorry, sir. We have been trying our best, and we’re not giving up.”

My chief tracker, Pendleton, is in the room with me. He’s a brave man to bring me bad news. Pendleton is a burly, bulky fellow, almost as tall as I am, with sandy brown hair brushed over his forehead. He has a round face with a mild expression and shrewd hazel eyes. I like this man. And that is why I am working hard to keep my temper as he gives me the kind of bad news that makes me want to break the necks of everybody around me.

“What do you mean—we don’t know where she is from?”

“The name she used to apply here? Kira Smith? It doesn’t correspond to the social security number she gave on her employment application. It’s possible she’s an illegal immigrant.”

“We don’t check that when we are hiring?”

Pendleton is not responsible for hiring decisions, but he tries to answer the question anyway, and to his credit, uses the term ‘we’ even though he could quite easily abdicate all responsibility.

“We do not seem to have done so on this occasion, no. And as she used cash to pay for her fare, there’s no trail in terms of credit card usage, which is a pity. In terms of cameras, most of the bus exchanges are lacking in security infrastructure.” He slides a photo over to me, taken from security footage. “We did spot her at the state exchange, but lost her quick. I’m sorry. We’re still working. We will find her. It’s just not as quick as we’d hoped.”

“You will be sorry, if this is some attempt to make her disappear.”

He frowns slightly, and I immediately wish I had kept my mouth shut. That was a paranoid thought that doesn’t even make sense. I have worried that perhaps she did not run away at all. Maybe someone in the pack saw fit to deal with the problem of her existence themselves. But there were no signs of a struggle, and there was no scent of blood. And now there’s the fact that she was spotted on one of the bus station cameras.

I look at the image in front of me, her eyes wide with fear, her expression wracked with guilt as she looks up into a camera she may or may not even know is there. It feels as though she is looking straight at me. I wish she’d talked to me before she ran. I wished I’d been trustworthy enough that she felt safe to talk to me.

“Unfortunately, she didn’t steal your credit card when she robbed you.”

“She didn’t rob me. She needed money to run. She was trapped in a hostile environment.”

“Yes, my alpha. I will let you know when we have further information.”

He dismisses himself, backing out of the room, noticeably avoiding turning away from me. I must be coming off as dangerous at the moment.

Kira

“Beer me!”

Colton and his father are watching the game. I don’t know what game. It doesn’t matter, either to them, or to me.

I bring them both a beer. Colton’s eyes slide down me in a faintly icky way for a moment before returning to the screen.

I’m wearing an old t-shirt, some jeans, and some sneakers, all clothing pulled out from my old closet. I should be grateful it still fits, because there’s no money to go shopping for anything besides the necessities. This place soaks up money the same way the soil soaked up the toxic run off from the mines. My hair is tied back in a ponytail.

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