Finally, Tyr left, returning to work. Rafe paused to glare at me. I knew that look too well and hurried away before he angrily exploded at me. Maybe I had been found out.
It was eating me up inside, not knowing. I returned to using the nail gun, securing wood together that would become the sides of a house.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I paused to see where Tyr was. He was working on the other side of the build. We usually worked together. Something was definitely going on.
Something I didn’t like one bit.
With the excuse of looking for nails, I went over to Tyr, who was mixing a fresh batch of concrete ready to start the bricklaying.
“You and Rafe were getting up close and personal,” I said.
Tyr shrugged.
“Why can’t you tell me what it was about?” I couldn’t let this go. I had to find out what was going on.
“You would know if you weren’t out all night chasing skirt,” he huffed back at me.
“Who says that was what I was doing last night?”
“It’s what you always do,” he responded, glaring at me.
“Just because you’re jealous you’re not getting any.”
“Not true.”
“For the record, I wasn’t.”
It’s not a complete lie, though I was stretching the truth a bit. I wasn’t chasing, just looking. Nothing wrong with that. The images of the fight came to mind. Had I been dreaming when running?
“Like anyone believes you.” He shoveled more dirt into the concrete mixer. We did this to save on building costs and keep our profits high.
Tyr’s words hurt in a way I wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t like I had wanted to be a leader in the pack. It was just I never thought it would happen anytime soon. Things were changing around here quickly. For me to be beta, I needed Tyr’s support.
“What, you’re turning on me because… why? You want to be beta?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
“Is that what he promised you? That you would be beta?”
Tyr didn’t respond, adding in more dirt with the shovel.
“What, you know you can’t trust him. He’s playing you.” I couldn’t believe it. It’s what Rafe did occasionally to get members in the pack sorted out and contributing.
Or was he doing this to motivate me?
“Get back to work the both of you, or you will have an extra hour at knockoff,” yelled Rafe from a few feet away as he went around on his morning check of the site.
Rafe was capable of this, totally playing me. I kicked at the loose stones on the ground, returning to where I’d been working.
The fight with another wolf in my head dominated. Snatches of scenes came to mind, but in my human form, I found it hard to discern what was real and what wasn’t. I was protecting something. But was this some sort of omen? Was I going to get up without a pack? A lone wolf not capable of anything?
CHAPTER 18
Tanjie
Pain in my arm pulled me from sleep, dumping me back into my body. The fading dream sequence in my head caused me to bolt up in bed. The events were so real I half expected to see my arm shredded, blood everywhere.
Not a mark on my skin. I turn my arm around, over, then back, trying to figure out why it would hurt so much.