Page 59 of Fighting Furry

“Us shifting,” I asked, my chest tight.

“No. But it won't be long. They're curious about why you're here, about this town, and more reporters will be coming here. It's only a matter of time.”

“What does that mean?”

Axel swallowed hard and dropped his eyes to the ground.

“It means,” Clarissa said. “That Darius wants you to leave our pack. If you move back to LA and lay low, they'll lose interest.”

“And if I don't want to leave?” Because I didn't want to leave. There was nothing for me in LA and…I'd miss Axel.

“Then he's going to give our territory to the Aspens Whiten wolves and force the pack apart.”

I looked at the side of Axel's face. “Can he do that?”

Axel turned to me, agony on every line of his face. “Yeah, he can do that,” he said, his voice rough. There was more than just worry and anger in his expression, there was hurt. Axel had trusted Darius, and Darius had let him down.

“And if I go?” I asked. “Will he make sure you keep your territory?”

“You're not going,” Axel said, his jaw tense.

I tightened my grip on his hand, but I spun to look at Clarissa. She shook her head. “Darius says he'll do what he can to help us keep the territory, but he won't be actively doing anything to ensure we keep it.”

I got it. Darius had the power to split the pack, to kick them out of their territory. If he really wanted to make the Aspens Whiten pack stay away, he'd be able to make them do it. Which didn't make any sense. Surely he wanted to avoid a war, so why wouldn't he just tell the Aspens Whiten pack to back off? Unless…“He never wanted you to keep this territory in the first place, did he?” I asked.

Axel met my gaze. “Darius helped me when I was a young, newly turned wolf. He's always been a good friend to me, to the pack, and I trusted him, but I should have seen it sooner.” He looked over my shoulder at Clarissa, back at Paulie. “I'm sorry I was so blind.”

“The confrontations between the vampires and the Aspens Whiten pack have been ramping up,” Clarissa said. “It's just a matter of time before something happens and they expose us all. Darius knows we'll be more discrete. He can give the Aspens Whiten pack our territory and we can move on somewhere else. Somewhere just as isolated, because that's the way we like it.”

“Why not just order the Aspens Whiten pack to move on, to find their own place?”

“They lack the resources we do,” Axel said. “They don't have pack members who can build houses and start businesses. They're more labor-oriented.”

“So, if I stay, the pack is split up and scattered,” I said. “But if I go, the pack will likely have to move anyway?”

Axel nodded.

“If I stay,” I said. “It'll be worse. I'll go if that's what you want.”

“Fuck no,” Paulie said. “Axel was a miserable fuck with you out of his bed for one night. I don't want to deal with him if you leave for good.”

I looked to Axel, waiting for what he'd say. He tightened his grip on my hand, but I could see it in his eyes. He would always do what was best for the pack over what was best for him. He would always do the right thing. I needed to go and, maybe someday, things would change and we could be together. I pulled my fingers from his and stood. “I'll be gone before the sun sets.”

“No,” Clarissa said, her tone so vehement it made me jump. “Axel, don't be an idiot. Julie is part of the pack now and we love her. I know I can go to the diner and ask ten people if we should fight to keep Julie here and they'll all say yes.”

Her praise warmed me. “If the paps get a shot of us shifting,” I said. “Darius will have Axel killed. It's too much of a risk. I can't stay.”

Clarissa slumped in her seat, unable to argue with my logic.

I looked back at Axel, hoping he'd at least walk me out, kiss me one last time, but he wasn't even looking at me, he was staring at the floor.

I turned and I walked out of the barn alone.

***

“How'd it go?” Lucinda asked from her seat at the kitchen table. She had her laptop in front of her, her fingers poised over the keys like I'd caught her mid-sentence.

“I have to leave.”

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