Page 47 of Secret Wolf Baby

“He was bad news on a lot of levels,” Pete said. “Ambitious, cruel, shrewd. Once, he threatened to kick out all the elders because he considered them useless. He didn’t, but his plans were usually along that level of cruelty. If he’s trying to start back up what he was doing…” He trailed off, looking at us questioningly.

“We’re still trying to get all the facts,” Will said.

“Fair enough. Regardless, I pity whatever pack he has his claws in now,” Pete said. “They’re in for a world of pain if he manages to get what he’s after.”

Chapter 14 - Audrey

“No, I’m serious,” Mira said, laughing. “Audrey actually told the dude that she would bite off his nose if he kept trying to stick it in our business. It was hilarious. You should have seen the look on his face.”

Rose cackled, throwing her head back. “You were a wild child, weren’t you?” she said to me, taking a sip of her drink. All around us, the bar hummed with life and conversation.

I gave a sardonic grin. “Something like that,” I admitted.

Mira had suggested the three of us go out on the town for a girls’ night. As fun as it was, my mind kept sliding away from the present to focus on other things. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jackson. The way it had felt when we’d been together. How incredible having sex with him had felt. Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine and made my toes curl. It had taken all my strength to tell him that it shouldn’t happen again.

I wanted it to happen again. My wolf did, too. She loved being close to him, to his wolf. After all these years, she was still positive that he was her mate despite all evidence to the contrary. But having sex with him again was a mistake. I couldn’t shake the thought of what happened all those years ago, the fallout from it, the pain it had caused. I wasn’t going to let myself get hurt like that again.

Telling Jackson it couldn’t happen again had been more painful than I thought it would. What surprised me even more, though, was the fact that when he had agreed, I felt a deep pang of disappointment.

I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for that one, though. I was the one who said we shouldn’t, after all. It wasn’t like I had been playing mind games or reverse psychology. The hurt anddisappointment didn’t make sense, but it was very much there. I couldn’t be upset with him for respecting my wishes.

It wasn’t just that, though. The casual way he had walked away from me afterward, almost the instant I told him it couldn’t happen again. It was like he had gotten what he wanted and was ready to be off to the next thing. It had stung, and reminded me all too well of how he had rejected me all those years ago.

There was another aspect that I hadn’t brought up to Jackson, mostly because I didn’t want to even consider it. And that was Mira. It had been years since we had spoken, but that didn’t change the fact that she was the closest friend I’d ever had, and Jackson was her brother. What on earth would she say if she found out we had slept together—once as teenagers, and now again as adults? There was a reason I never told her how I felt about Jackson back when we were younger. I didn’t want her to feel like I’d betrayed her. How the hell could I tell her any of this without her being furious with me?

“Oh my God, do you remember that time Jackson and Declan ran through poison ivy?” Mira asked, her eyes bright with glee.

“Oh my God,yes!” I laughed, my mind returning to the bar. “They were covered everywhere. I don’t think they shifted for a month—the one time they stripped to shift and go on a hunt, everyone started laughing because both of them had giant rashes.”

“Everywhere?” Rose asked, raising an eyebrow slyly to indicate precisely what she meant by that.

“Absolutely everywhere,” Mira confirmed. “I made fun of Jackson for a week. At least until he threatened to hug me while he was still contagious.”

Rose snorted. “God, I can’t believe this is the first time I’m hearing of it. I could have lorded this over them for weeks.”

“Well, now you know, so lord away,” Mira said with a grin.

I had forgotten what it was like to have a friend like Mira. When I had been stuck in my old pack, I had gaslit myself and convinced myself that it hadn’t been that good a friendship. But being here again, it was impossible to think I had ever told myself that.

I had been so isolated in my old pack that I hadn’t realized just how much I had craved companionship of any kind. I’d kidded myself into thinking friends weren’t that important, that I didn’t need them.

I’d been wrong.

The rest of the evening flew by, and as the hours wore on, thoughts of Jackson came less and less frequently. I was able to relax and push those thoughts from my mind. With Mira, it felt like there had never been a ten-year gap in our friendship, and Rose fit right into the mix. How had I ever handled being isolated all those years? Why on earth had I settled for that? The questions swirled in the back of my mind, and I realized I didn’t have any good answers.

Hours later, after a couple more drinks, it was time to leave. I waved goodbye to Mira and Rose and headed down the road. I considered shifting to get home faster, but something about the evening made me want to walk as a human instead. The cool air brushed against my skin, carrying the fresh scent of the woods along with it. The moon and stars overhead gave some light, along with the dim, yellow glow of the streetlamps as I continued walking.

I hadn’t gotten far when the hair on the back of my neck began to prickle. I slowed, glancing around as my wolf began to snarl, pacing internally and flexing her claws as she started sensing danger. My entire body went on alert, every muscle in my body tensing, coiled and ready to spring.

Something was wrong. Someone was nearby.

Slowly, I turned.

A man stood just a handful of steps behind me. How he had gotten there without making a sound, I didn’t know, nor did I care. I was more preoccupied with the glazed, drunken look in his eyes as he studied me. He swayed slightly.

Something about him struck me as familiar. But it wasn’t until he spoke that I finally recognized him.

“Still too good for me?” he slurred.

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