Page 121 of Pack Scratch Fever
“She’s not here,” Blair says softly, as if reading my mind. “But you’re on everyone’s shit list right now. Mari is ready to kick your asses, and she’s inside helping.”
Maddox sighs. “We swear we didn’t know what that idiot Poe was doing, Blair. And if we had, we would have stopped it. We never want to hurt Piper, or you, or any of the cats.”
Blair shakes her head. “I know. It doesn’t change what happened, though. Youhurtmybest friend.”
“And I’ll spend forever trying to make it up to her,” Maddox growls. “And even if she doesn’t accept our apologies, I’ll still make sure that she’s taken care of.”
“You said she’s not here?” I ask tentatively. “Where is she?”
Blair turns to me, her expression softening. I catch a whiff of her powdery flower scent, so unlike Piper’s. “She’s sick,” she says. “Apparently still sleeping off the hangover.”
“From three days ago?” I demand. “You haven’t seen her for three days?”
Blair turns to me incredulously. “I’ve given her space,” she says slowly, as if talking to a child. “I was just about ready to leave and check on her before you two showed up with all this.” She waves at the bags. “I’m grateful, I really am. But you don’tknow Piper like I do. Once she shuts down, it’s not easy to get back into her good graces.”
“I don’t give a fuck if it’s easy,” Maddox snarls. “I’ll never stop.”
“I know,” Blair says gently. “And for what it’s worth…I don’t really blame you. I believe it was an honest mistake, but the consequences are still horrible for us. I love the rescue, but Piperneedsthis. You don’t know her like I do, no matter how much you may think you do. This is Piper’s livelihood, and Poe threatened it.”
“But we can fix it,” I insist, my chest aching. “We can help. There are so many ways to rectify the situation. Blair, Poe could even buy the?—”
“I know there are solutions to this,” Blair interrupts me. “And I’m sure Piper knows that too, somewhere inside of herself. But she doesn’t trust easily, and this was a betrayal of her trust.”
“Fuck,” Maddox huffs, yanking down his hood and running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Blair adds. “It’s pretty bad.”
“She’s our scent match, Blair,” I say. “I…there’s no one else…”
“I know,” she says, more empathetic than we deserve her to be. She takes one of the bags of flea medicine from me. “This is a good first step. But when I get back from her place, I would like your help with inventory and exploring different rental options. If you guys are serious about this, I could really use your time and energy.”
I nod. “Anything you want.”
She quirks her lip. “Good. I’ll be back soon. Just, uh, stay away from the windows unless you want to deal with Mari’s wrath. Drop everything off out of the view of the front desk.”
Maddox scoffs. “I don’t think we need to be scared ofMari.”
“BOYS!” a voice yells, and I snap my head to the source of the sound.
A short woman with grey hair wearing a cream-colored sweater stomps toward us.
“Oh, shit,” Blair mutters. “Too late.”
It looks like I’m finally about to meet Mari.
“Hi, Mari,” Maddox says smoothly, just as the mature Omega puts her finger in his face. She’s at least a foot shorter than him, but the fury that radiates off her is still unsettling. Her scent is floral and much powderier than Blair’s.
“You told me you wouldn’t hurt her,” she hisses. “Youpromised. And now she’s not even showing up at the rescue anymore! You horrible, terrible man!”
Maddox’s eyes widen in surprise, and the small grin that was on his face disappears. “Mari, I swear I didn’t?—”
“Save it,” she snaps, and Maddox’s mouth shuts. She whirls to me, a ball of anger as her chest heaves. “And you? What are you doing here with him? Are you part of that awful pack, too?”
I open my mouth to reply but find myself speechless.
“Mari, they’re going to help us,” Blair insists. “See? They brought flea medicine, the special diet food, and litter.”
Mari looks down at the bags, and her expression softens. “That’s the good, expensive brand,” she says finally.
