Page 32 of Running with Direwolves
Dresdon bared his teeth and a strange growling soundcame from his throat. “That’s what you think.”
“Don’t fucking push me.” Grady suddenly snarled and was right up in Dresdon’s face. “I might have had a rough time and a long journey, but I can still take your sorry ass on.”
“Rough time. I heard the humans caught you. We’ve gone millennia without getting caught and then you … it’syouwho gets caught.” He laughed but it was a nasty sound. “How pathetic.”
“Could’ve happened to anyone, including you, ranger came out of nowhere and darted me.”
“I ain’t ever been in no zoo for the world to gawp at. You’ve put us all at risk. How can you be our alpha now?”
“They have no proof there are more of us or that we shift. I could just be a mutant from a gray. And besides, they’ll be looking in Montana, not Canada or Alaska.”
“I can’t respect you, no one can, not after this.” Dresdon jabbed his finger at Grady. “You need to go live as a loner, for everyone’s safety.”
“That’s not gonna happen, and get your damn finger out of my face.”
“What, this one?” Dresdon waggled his finger and made a strange snapping sound with his mouth.
This seemed to flick a switch in Grady and he lunged at Dresdon, fists flying and with all of his weight behind it. In an instant they were on the floor in a tangle of legs and arms. Fists connected with flesh and bone and grunts and huffs punctuated the air.
Tarl looked ready to join in, hopping from one foot to the other, but he was hanging back, obviously waiting for a sign from his alpha.
“Oh, fuck,” Billie said, rubbing her hands together. “Dresdon has really done it this time.”
“What do you mean?” Sienna’s heart was pounding. Shedidn’t want Grady to get hurt and Dresdon was giving as good as he got.
The crowd were shouting and clapping. A few had shifted into direwolves and were now howling at the moon—a long, loud eerie sound that went on and on.
Grady took a particularly mean punch to the chin, his jaw clicking, but this seemed to send him into no-more-nice-guy and in an instant he had Dresdon on his back and pinned securely. He glared down at him, breathing fast, a drip of blood hung from his bottom lip. “You dare to question my authority?” he snarled breathlessly. “A youngster like you, no experience, a pain in my fucking ass?”
“Fuck you.” Dresdon had spittle in the corners of his mouth.
“No, fuck you, try anything like this again and you’ll be banished, Dresdon. The only reason I’m not doing that now is you’ll starve on your own over the winter and we can’t afford to lose numbers these days.”
“Get the hell off me.”
“You gonna stay in your lane?” Grady asked, not moving his weight.
“I said get off!”
Grady said nothing, just raised one eyebrow. The drip of blood fell and landed on Dresdon’s cheek.
“Fuck, yeah, okay, you’re back, you’re alpha. I get it.” The words seemed to scratch like glass over his tongue.
“Say it again.”
“You’re alpha, I get it. Now leave me the fuck alone.”
“Happy to, and stay out of my sight for the rest of the night.” Grady suddenly sprang up and stood tall. He wiped the back of his hand over his lip, smearing blood.
Dresdon rolled over, got to his knees, and then pushed to standing with a groan. He brushed his palms over hisblack sweater, and then with head down, shoulders stooped, he wandered back the way he’d come.
The chatter soon rose as everyone took their seats and began eating stew again.
“Are you okay?” Sienna rushed up to Grady. Billie was close at her side.
“Yeah, honey, I’m fine. Sorry you had to see that.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She touched his lip. “You took a few nasty punches.”
