Page 42 of Cursed Pack

He grinned wider and a chill ran up my spine. He stood, almost hitting his head against the light that hung above the bar counter. “I thank you for your hospitality, Morgan. I will find you should I have need of your services.”

Balt turned back to his booth and tucked his long legs beneath the table. I could feel his cold gaze on me the entire time. I busied myself with repacking glasses under the counter.

After what felt like hours, I glanced at his booth and found Balt was gone, his bourbon remained untouched on his table. What a strange encounter, I could still feel his presence in the bar, those vacant white eyes were burned into my mind. I was about to ask Samara when one of the werewolves thumped his fist on the counter.

“Hey, witch!” He slurred and I could smell the stale alcohol on his breath from the opposite end of the bar. I rolled my eyes and centered myself, I could handle my anger when I had customers, but sometimes they annoyed me. “Another round!”

I sighed and got to work filling more glasses. I was tempted to tell them that it was their last round, but I knew they would put up a fuss. Besides, except for their loud arrogance, they hadn’t caused any problems so far. I would close early and call Griffin before Samara decided to check in again. She’d held back on her annoyance, but I knew it was there and she didn’t strike me as the most patient witch. She didn’t tell me when she planned on coming, but it would be soon, and then all shit would hit the fan. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with obnoxious werewolves in my bar or the glares that were given freely every time I walked past their kind. No more segregation and tension, the witches would be free.

A loud crash outside made me jump. A second later screams pierced the air. Even the group of werewolves fell silent, their attention fixed on the door. Growls and screams melded together, but within minutes, there was complete silence. As quick as it had come, it disappeared. I inched toward the door, heart racing.

The werewolf group stayed rooted to their seats, their expressions grim and eyes wide with what looked like recognition. It was so quiet that if it weren’t for them, I would’ve thought I’d imagined it. The steps to the front door stretched ahead of me, like a long path to an unknown end. I hesitated with my hand on the door, wishing that I’d left the blinds open this morning. After a steadying breath, I yanked the door open and my mouth fell open as shock dug its claws into me.

* * *

Cassian

Things were good since moving everyone to the warehouse. It was strained for the first day or two, the pack kept their distance and so did Griffin; he spent most of his time in his cell. Emily and Ember had hit it off and they seemed to be attached at the hip. I was relieved that they were getting along. I had my doubts that first night with Ember’s flirty nature and the jealousy that was evident in Emily, but whatever happened between them while we were in the basement had clearly brought them together.

My days were spent in the meeting room with Grace and Sam. He didn’t bring up the argument with Emily and he was mostly back to normal, if not a little reserved. The scouts in my pack went out for hours to try and find another lead. Gus and Tiny kept an eye on Victor’s pack from a distance but close enough to keep tabs on who came and went. Apparently there hadn’t been anything to note. Griffin had described Gray and he stayed in the camp. So that lead had fizzled out.

Everything was quiet—no more wraith visits, no attacks from the Langston pack, no more gruesome messages. I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted, but instead of relief and calm, the quiet made everyone tense. We were waiting for the other shoe to drop—like we were anticipating an invisible enemy.

Those who remained at the warehouse trained from dawn to dusk. I joined a few sessions and I noticed Griffin watching from his window. Since we had no indication of when Samara would make her grand entrance, I wanted everyone to be ready.

All our focus remained on trying to find out where Samara was hiding, but realistically I figured that our best chances were to take her out when she arrived. We would have casualties; however, if we got to her as fast as possible, then we stood a better chance of ending the war at its start.

“Langston, why don’t you join me for this afternoon’s training session?” I said and leaned a shoulder against his door. He didn’t look up or acknowledge me. “You used to think you were stronger than me, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”

His mouth twitched at the corner, the only indication that he’d heard me. When we were friends, and much younger, we would spar to pass the time while my father and Victor did their business. We could spar for hours; both of us being extremely competitive meant that neither of us would give in until we were both panting like dogs in the summer heat. Victor would yell for Griffin when he wanted to leave and every practice fight ended with Griffin mocking that he was stronger. Those days were some of my favorite memories. Seeing how quickly Emily and Ember bonded made me hope that perhaps Griffin and I could be friends again.

“Come on, you’ve become lazy. Brooding in your room doesn’t count as exercise.” I pushed and finally he glared at me. “So you aren’t deaf then, I was starting to worry.”

Griffin snorted, “You’re cocky today, Emily hurt your feelings?”

“No, I’m tired of meetings and coming up empty. Your face seems like the perfect outlet for my frustration. I just wanted to give you a chance to defend yourself.”

Griffin rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the offer, but I have no interest in listening to your pack comment on how I am a traitor and a bad guy and blah, blah, blah. Find someone else to help you relieve your frustration.”

“I would, but my strongest guys are out looking for Samara. You’re the next best choice, not as strong, but I’m willing to compromise. I’ll go easy on you.”

“Such a gentleman.” Griffin kept quiet for a moment, considering the offer. “Fine, but if anyone has anything to say, I can’t promise that I’ll behave. And I’ll go easy on you, those muscles have deflated a bit.”

I snorted this time. “At least I still have muscles. And no one will say anything, they’ve been warned. And just for being a good sport, I won’t damage your pretty face.”

Griffin followed me out, it was possibly the first time out of the cell since he got here. I looked over my shoulder at him and he was deep in thought. Griffin kept a cocky face most of the time, like nothing bothered him, but now he seemed hesitant, worried what the others would say about him. Even though I didn’t like that he had a connection with Emily, after he opened up about his pack, I realized Griffin wasn’t a terrible guy and he’d been a good friend. With the bond, I wondered if we could ever get back to that again. He’d been adamant that he wanted to break the bond. If we found a way to do that after Samara, then perhaps we could work on our friendship again.

There were a few guys in the training area, throwing punches and fighting it out. Werewolves were strong fighters, and despite our size and bulkiness, we were surprisingly fast and agile too. It made for interesting training and for the outside eye, it could seem serious, but we never set out to actually hurt one another. Blood and injuries were a common outcome, but we healed fast, and no one had ever been seriously maimed or hurt. Occasionally we would train in wolf form, but we reserved that for when there weren’t any other species in the warehouse. I hadn’t seen Emily and Ember yet, but they were surely hanging around somewhere. Grace waved as we passed, and Sam nodded at me.

“Alright, big mouth. Let’s see how out of shape you are,” Griffin growled as we stepped onto the training floor.

I chuckled and whirled on him, dropping low to kick his feet out from under him, but he danced back on light feet. Impressive. I was about to attack again when a small group of werewolves crashed into the warehouse from outside. I could smell the alcohol on them, but their faces weren’t hazy, so they weren’t drunk. Instead, they all looked pale and panicked. Griffin and I immediately stopped and when they spotted me, they surged toward us.

“Cassian! We have a problem, a big one!” William, the biggest of the group, blurted out when they stopped. “We were at that bar in the city, keeping an eye on the witch like you asked.”

Griffin stiffened. “You had them watch Morgan. Why?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said softly and turned back to William. “What happened?”

“The feral wolves… there’s been an attack…”

And there’s the other shoe.

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