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The world around me hummed. My father’s voice bellowed in the background.
Shit!
I pressed a kiss to Sloane’s neck. “I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I pulled away from Sloane, and I cracked one eye open and then the other. The door of my bedroom rattled, and my father’s voice hollered from the other side.
I shot up out of my bed and raced toward the door. My heart pounded against my ribs as I twisted the lock and opened it.
My dad glared at me through bloodshot eyes. The smell of liquor wafted off him, strong enough I might get a contact buzz if that were possible.
I knitted my brows together. “Everything okay?”
I’d only ever seen him drink a handful of times in my entire life. With everything going on, this was terribly out of character. My stomach twisted, and my pulse spiked. What had happened to make him drink so heavily?
He jabbed a finger into my chest. “Get dressed. A new group of men is coming. I want you to be there to meet them at the end of the drive.”
I swallowed as I crossed to my dresser. “When are they getting here, and how many?”
I wanted to ask what was wrong again. He smelled like a distillery. Whatever had happened, he wasn’t going to tell me, and asking again would only make him angrier.
“They’ll be here in about five minutes, and there’s at least fifty of them. They just called me on their way after they heard about our cause.”
I tugged my shirt over my head as my pulse spiked. “We weren’t expecting them?”
A sickening grin lit my dad’s face. “No. This is quite the pleasant surprise.”
Surprise, yes, but there was nothing pleasant about this. Our numbers were growing too fast, and I was afraid that Sloane and her pack weren’t growing enough.
The next time we attacked, they would be greatly outnumbered.
Six
Sloane
I hobbled toward the house with my dad. Sticks and rocks jabbed into the bottoms of my feet, making it hard to walk. The sun had long since set, and the stars dotting the sky in the moonless night were our only light.
Dad wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, letting him lead me the rest of the way.
A light rain drizzled down, and lightning crackled in the distance, splitting the sky.
He ran his hand up and down my arm, but it did little to take the chill out of the night air. “You did good tonight, Sloane. I’m proud of you.”
I popped my head up. “What do you mean?”
He chuckled as he patted my hand. “You took charge back there. You’ve always been strong, but tonight you showed a whole new side to yourself.”
I pushed the hair out of my face and stared straight ahead. The misty rain splatted across my cheeks, and I squinted, trying to see through the dense fog rolling in.
I sighed. “I’m just tired of it all, Dad. I want things to go back to normal.”
He stopped walking and turned so that we were facing each other. Both his hands went to my shoulders, and he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “My darling girl, things will never be normal again. Not how they were before…”
The muscles in his throat worked.
I blinked back tears and sniffled. My mind went to Darrin.
Dad cleared his throat and brushed the hair from my face. “We live in a new world now. We need to keep moving forward and be as strong as we can be. I liked seeing this side of you. We’re going to need it more and more, I think.”
