Page 30 of Homecoming

“You know, you may be right, but do you wanna tell her or should I? She’s really pissed off. What the hell did he do?”

“He was… jerking off outside the window of the study.”

“Jerking off to what?” Marco’s nose wrinkles in a confused sneer. “Oooh… Oh right… You two were in the study and what… you werereadin’books?” he grins.

“Marco, it’s not funny.”

“I thought you told them to stay away from the house? If he broke the rules, it makes him fair game in my book.”

“Wringer…” a deep voice calls from the edge of the clearing, and Darius turns to see the naked older man—Mikah. “Does someone wanna tell me what the hell’sgoin’on? Why your bitch there has one of my clan pinned to the ground?”

“Your man was at the house. I warned you what would happen. I told you to keep them away. You are only here under sufferance because you played Digby.”

“I played him?” Mikah grins. “And how exactly did I do that? I mean, how could a lowly old hyena play the fearsome leader of a wolf pack? I’ve never known that to happen before. A leader makes his own decisions—he has to live by them. But you know that,” he grins.

“You know exactly what you did.” Darius snarls as he steps forward. “You manipulated his ego, and you also knew I couldn’t step in.”

“That’s not my fault if you wolves are too damn stupid. Now get her to back the fuck off and let him go.”

“I’m handling this. You need to step away.” Darius towers over the older man.

“Get that dumb bitch to back off right now, or you’re going to have yourself a big problem. And anyway, since when do bitches call the shots in a pack? Seems like this one has you all a little screwed up.”

There’s a low growling snarl as Luna forces her large paw down on her prey’s chest.

“Mikah…Mikah, help me, man. She’s lost it. You gotta get her off me. I didn’t mean to… I…”

“Wait…” Mikah holds up a hand to silence him. “Wringer, what the hell were you doing? Were you up at the house? Is the vamp tellin’ the truth? Tell me now! I want the damn truth, or I’ll eat you myself.”

“I… I may have wandered a little too close… Hell, I was drunk. I didn’t really take any notice of where I was. Maybe I just saw the nice house, the pretty lights and thought I might take a look. Sorry,” he whimpers.

“Really?” Mikah sneers, sucking his teeth. “And what did I tell you? The house was off-limits, and everyone was to stay away from the wolves. I thought I made that damn clear.”

“Iknow,but… Mikah, they got some really nice stuff. I just wanted to take a look at it.”

Marco frowns as he listens to the continuing conversation. “Wait, you were going to steal stuff from the house?”

“No. No, no… No, you got me wrong. I was just gonna look around. I was curious. It’s a long time since I have been up this way. Nice house like that… who wouldn’t wanna take a look, right?” The man struggles beneath the snarling wolf’s paw. “Please, just get this damn bitch off me,” he cries in pain.

Darius steps forward and again appeals to the wolf, hoping to reach inside her head. “Kat…Baby,c’monwe don’t need to do this. Kat, please… can you hear me?”

There’s a deepening growl before she snaps a bark, making it clear Darius’ advance is not wanted.

“Seems like the bitch doesn’t want to play ball with you after all. Seems like you don’t have control of this pack—maybe you should go get the pack leader to sort his bitch out.” Mikah smirks and positioning himself in front of Luna, his amber-orange eyes focus on her green. “Let him go. Now!” he demands.

There’s a deep, chesty growl, and Luna’s head drops. Her eyes lift to focus on Darius. As she does, her paw drags a large canvas sack from beneath the naked body on the ground.

Mikah watches as Marco reaches for it. “Youthievin’magpie,” Marco sneers. “So you weren’t gonna take nothing? Then why’d you bring a huge sack like this. What’s it for?”

“I don’t answer to you.” The man spits in defiance. “Mikah, tell them, man. Tell them she’ll have to pay if anything happens to me.” He gurgles as Luna presses her paw more firmly against his throat. Her breath is hot against his unwashed skin and he tenses as she viciously snarls close against his face. The wolf’s teeth are sharp and would crunch the skinny man's bones in seconds.

“Wait!” Mikah raises his hand as he looks down at his pitiful clan member. “Let’s calm this down and talk it through. You’re right, he will have to pay for what hedid,but first I need you to get the bitch to back off. Trust me, if he did something wrong, he’ll meet his punishment—you have my word.”

“I had your word they’d stay away from the house. Seems to me your man broke it. Proves your word doesn’t mean shit,” Darius growls.

“I’d say we’ve got a stand-off,” Marco interjects.

“Your man here might be right, so I tell you what… I’m prepared to let this pass if you are. Get her to let him go and I won’t ask for retribution for her over-reaction. Do we have a deal?”

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