“No. What?” My mouth bobs open a couple of times. “He … what?”
Roderick is the pack leader?
My stomach twists, nausea hitting me hard as I replay our past interactions. Hell, I should have suspected, especially considering the way he talked about the town and the pack like they werehis. Not just a group he was part of, but one he’s entirely responsible for.
I pushed him. Physically. I laid my hands on the pack leader. The alpha.
How is my head still attached to my body?
The Bear Valley alpha would have eviscerated any human who disrespected him that way.
But Roderick … didn’t.
Why?
“Yeah. Has been for over a decade.” Courtney sighs and loses some of her intensity. “He probably would’ve told the pack if he wasn’t dealing with such a major shitstorm right now.”
“What happened?” The question pops out before I fully consider what I’m asking. “Never mind. Pack business, right? You don’t have to tell me.”
Despite my insatiable curiosity, logically, I know the best thing is to keep my nose far away from werewolf business. I just need them to exist and maintain their territory boundary. I don’t need to know the pack drama.
Courtney shrugs and picks up the now-empty feed bucket. “Family shit more like. Or I guess it’s bigger than that since a human was involved.” She gestures for me to follow her, which I’m happy to do if I get to hear the rest of this story. “Turns out his mom—Rebecca, owner of Sawdust and Supplies—did not like the idea of Warner and Zoey dating. So, she’s been sneakily tormenting our friend.”
“How so?”
My mind brings up memories of the ways Janeen secretly enacted her wrath on me. If we were ever physically close, she liked to deliver a savage pinch to a place covered by my clothes. One time, she came up behind me and cut off a section of my hair. I had to trim the rest down four inches to match the uneven length. Then there were whispered rumors she and her friends spread around town that I was flirting with other men.
That last one sent Cory into a rage. Which I later paid for.
“I don’t know all of it,” Courtney continues, unaware of my rising anxiety, “but apparently, she disabled Zoey’s truck, messed with the gas gauge, and chased her in the woods. Theworst involved some property damage, which landed Zoey in the emergency care clinic last week.”
“Warner’s mom did that to her?”
Maybe I’ve put more trust in the Pine Falls wolves than I should have. That text from Zoey, telling me about her injuries, was concerning enough. But to find out it was all because of a disgruntled werewolf?
“Yeah. When Warner found out, he was pissed. I mean, he’s obviously in love with our girl.” Courtney opens the back door to her house and ushers me inside. “So, now Roderick has been dealing with this shitstorm.”
“What’s he going to do?”
It’s his mother, so, a slap on the wrist? I know werewolves sometimes challenge each other to fights to settle things, but would one of the sons really fight their mother?
“Oh, he’s already done it. Same night they found out the truth. Rebecca Jameson is gone. Exiled for a year at least. And can’t come back until she can prove she won’t be a danger to Zoey or any other resident of Pine Falls. Wolf or human. It’s the logistics of the exile that’s been keeping Roderick busy. Running the store. Caring for Tanya and Isaac. All that.”
Courtney’s answer steals all the words from my throat. For a time, I stand still and quiet in the middle of her kitchen, unable to take in the cozy beauty of the space as my mind processes this new information. The shock is overwhelming.
Roderick, pack leader of the Pine Falls wolves, has exiled his own mother because she endangered a human?
The reality is difficult for me to comprehend. The action would never have been taken by the wolves in Bear Valley. They all knew how Cory treated me. Hell, most knew how Janeen and her friends treated me.
But no wolf ever did anything. I’m betting that Janeen had begged her father, the local pack leader, to drive me away fromthe town just because she hated how Cory wanted me. The man probably would’ve given in to his daughter’s wishes if it hadn’t been for the fact that Cory was his second-in-command. An alpha doesn’t piss off his beta over a human.
Instead, the pack leader took a step back from the conflict, leaving us all to work it out on our own. Leaving me vulnerable. The man didn’t care in the slightest about me. He only wanted to keep his pack content.
Who cares if that meant I dealt with abuse while standing in the crossfire?
Roderick has chosen the exact opposite approach. He’s prioritizing the well-being of a human over the preferences of his own mother.
Could it be possible the wolves of Pine Falls don’t think of themselves as better than humans?
