AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We won’t stand for this!” her dad, Marcus, screeched. “We’ll be at that pack meeting in the morning, and Bennett better have some goddamn solid answers!”
Payton sighed. Her dad was all bark and no bite. She headed toward her apartment, knowing even though she was half invisible to the pack, she’d be at the meeting to listen to everyone bitch while Bennett dismissed all their concerns. He was truly an awful alpha. At moments like this, she missed how the pack used to be under Branson’s leadership. It was never going to be the same, so why keep torturing themselves? Even years later, Jericho’s absence still left a hollowness in her heart.
Perhaps the pack lodge being sold was a sign. Perhaps now was her best time to leave the community and become a lone wolf.
Chapter Two
Payton woke up early the next morning. After her routine ablutions, she fixed her breakfast and made a pot of coffee. Once she’d poured the black liquid into a large thermos, she headed out the door and discovered her parents walking to their car.
“I’m going with you,” she said.
Her parents looked at one another, and Payton knew what they were going to say before they actually said anything.
“Well,” her father mumbled. “It’s for pack members—”
“Iampack,” Payton stressed. Her insides went cold at her parents’ obvious discomfort of having to include her. “Whether you like it or not.”
Her mother, Nancy, sighed. “Payton—”
Ignoring her, Payton marched to the car and slid into the backseat. She stared straight ahead. Even when they joined her and began the drive into the deep woods, where the pack lodge was located, no one said a word. Payton worked hard at pushing down her pain and anger at being dismissed once more.
Half an hour later, they pulled up in front of the large two-story, mountain-style design home that managed to combine handcrafted log walls with timber frame trusses. With over eight thousand square feet, the lodge sat on a high hill with sweeping vistas down into the valley. Slate roofing and copper-paneled turrets gave the stone exterior a castle-like feel. As a child, Payton remembered coming to the lodge and running around outside. She often chased after Jericho and his friends, wanting to be with him. He’d always escape from her obvious hero-worship that she came to understand, later in life, was the mating bond settling into place. She might not be able to shift, but she still had the instinct.
They had to park farther back since the parking lot was completely full. Payton suspected every member of the pack hadshown up. She followed her parents into the house, through a throng of people, and took up a spot in the back of the meeting room, leaning against the wall near the door. The alpha, Bennett Warren, sat in the front next to his six omegas. Because of their low rankings in the pack, Bennett had turned them into his own personal enforcers. They liked to go around the town and exert scare tactics, adding pressure to anyone who disagreed with Bennett. Their low omega status didn’t change, but baseball bats had a way of making everyone wary.
“Settle down!” Bennett shouted.
People quieted and took their seat.
“Now, tell me what in tarnation was this meeting called for?”
Payton’s father stood up and cleared his throat. “We want clarification on why you sold the lodge.”
“I sold the lodge because this pack doesn’t need this old building.”
An unsettled murmur rumbled through the crowd.
Their neighbor, Henry, stood up. “This lodge belongs to the pack—”
“Actually, this lodge belongs to me,” Bennett injected. He gave a sweeping glance around the room. “The title transferred to me when I became the new alpha.”
“Yes, but it’s stillpackproperty!”
“Calm down, Henry,” her father said. “Bennett, you’re right that the title is … was … in your name, but the unwritten rule is that it’s always belonged to the community. We just want to know why.”
“If you must know, this town is in trouble,” Bennett said. He swept a pointed finger at the people in front of him. “All of you have run this town into the ground. We can’t sustain ourselves, so I sold the lodge in hopes of saving something of it.”
“What’re you talking about?” Henry demanded. “Ourbusinesses are doing great after the season.”
Bennett gave a huge sigh and shook his head mournfully. “Regretfully, I have some bad news. There’s no good way to say this but to spit it out. Now, I’ve tried to shield all of you from a very painful fact … but the bank is going to foreclose on a lot of properties because taxes weren’t paid. Now, it didn’t matter how much you made this season. My real reason to sell this lodge was to buy up your properties—”
A storm erupted once more. People jumped to their feet, all asking questions at the same time. What did he mean? How did this happen? The raised voices all blended, but Payton didn’t blame the panic and confusion. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It seemed like the pack was falling apart.
“Calm down!” her father yelled.
Slowly, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. “Bennett, none of this makes sense. You’re the alpha. How did you let this happen without informing us?”
Bennett puffed out his chest. “I’ve done the best I could with your struggling businesses.”
