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“Oh, well maybe you should have cleared it with me before you made the trip,” I answered, not cowed in the least.
“You’re a minor. You’ll do as I say.” She arched an eyebrow and I smiled.
“I was a minor,” I reminded her, hopping up on a barstool. “Now, I’m legally an adult.”
She blinked for a second and I let my words sink in.
“You’re shit out of luck, mommy dearest. Why don’t you go bully that new husband of yours and the bastard you had with him.”
She sucked in a breath as I swung my feet.
“You ungrateful, little bitch,” she screamed, her face contorted as she started toward me.
“OUT,” Dad roared, placing himself between us and shocking the shit out of me. And Mom. “That’s enough. Jess is able to make up her own mind and she’s right. You’ve done enough damage to last a lifetime. Get the hell out of my motel, and my town while you’re at it.” He grabbed her arm, spinning her around as he marched her to the door. Her shock was so great she didn’t protest as she was summarily escorted out the door. I followed, pride in my dad warring with amusement at the sight of my mother’s mouth opening and closing like a fish.
My eyes darted to the edge of the forest where I picked out a black wolf blending into the shadows.
Everything’s fine, I sent him.
You’re happy, he replied, confused, and I nodded.
“My dad, the hero,” I called as Dad marched back toward me determinedly after dropping Mom off at her rental car.
“No one messes with my Bunny,” he growled and my eyebrows raised. He sounded like a wolf just then. He saw my surprise and regret passed over his face. “I should have done that a long time ago, Bunny.” He gently placed his hand over my reddened cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. That might be the best birthday present I ever received,” I chortled, slinging my arm around him. “Worth the early morning wake up call for sure. Now, I believe there are some frozen waffles in my future?”
The rest of the day went by quickly as Dad pampered me, his guilty conscious even going so far as to have him clean the motel rooms.
“Okay, we need to hire someone to do this. That’s disgusting,” Dad muttered and I peeked over the couch where I had been busy watching home improvement shows.
“I know. I’ve been telling you that,” I reminded him grumpily. “It’s not fun cleaning pee off the floor.” I paused thinking about the money situation. “But I still want to go to college one day.”
Dad laughed and ruffled my hair. “I promise there’s still enough money for college.” He paused and then added, “You’re good with community college, right?”
“Daaaaaad,” I dragged out, but didn’t feel the usual tight ball of anxiety that accompanied any mention of my college fund being used to renovate the motel. It had stopped being important to me over the past few weeks and I knew why.
“Dominic,” I murmured and Dad turned.
“What did you say, Bunny?”
“Nothing,” I replied hastily, not even minding the Bunny anymore. I’d apparently mellowed in my old age.
The screech of tires brought my head up and an instinctive fear had my heart racing.
“What the heck?” Dad muttered going to the door.
“Don’t open it,” I shouted, instinct driving me. “Lock the door, Dad.” Mentally, I sent an SOS to Dominic.
Get a gun. Barricade the door. His reply thrummed through me and I told Dad to get his shotgun. I’d left my gun with Sam, a small fact I’d neglected to mention to Dominic.
“What’s going on? Jess,” Dad called sharply, his use of my actual name telling me he was serious.
“There are bad people out there, Dad. Get your gun and I’ll explain.” He hesitated for a second before going to the bedroom where he kept the rifle loaded next to his bed. Dad might have lived in the city but this was where he belonged, I suddenly realized. Doors slammed outside and adrenaline shot through me. I started pushing the couch toward the door and Dad hurried to help me when he came back in.
I peeked out the window to see the sheriff standing in the parking lot along with a few faces I recognized from my time with the Hanleys.
“Why is the sheriff out there?” Dad asked in a low voice but before I could answer, Trent jumped over the railing above us and landed right in front of the window, causing me to jump.
“What the….”
Dad trailed off as Trent stripped his shirt off and shifted. He wasn’t nearly the size of Dominic, but his gray coat had distinctive black markings which made it easy to keep track of him when the others in the parking lot shifted too.
“Okay,” Dad muttered in apparent shock. A minute later, the Jeep roared into the parking lot, coming from the path in the woods instead of the road. Dominic jumped out along with two wolves I recognized as Caleb and Anna. I swallowed hard at the sight, knowing I couldn’t stop them.
