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My eyebrow shot up at her tone. “What does that mean exactly?”
She shrugged. “I just meant they’re moody sometimes, and it’s probably worse when they’re wounded.”
Even though she wasn’t wrong, it was the way she said it—like we were all the same—that pissed me off. I smirked and looked at Lillian. “On second thought, it would be great if I didn’t have to drive back into town. You know, just in case Mathias needs me to stay and guard the house.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Lillian said as she locked the front door and turned the sign toClosed. “Besides, there won’t be much foot traffic in the store with this cold, rainy weather anyway.”
The older woman passed between us, heading for the back of the store, and I did my best to look innocent as Ruby glared at me. “Something wrong?” I asked.
Color returned to her cheeks, and while her pulse was still pounding, the scent of fear faded. I’d gotten under her skin.
“You did that on purpose.”
I put my wet hat back on. “I guess I’m a little moody after all.” I walked past her. “Werewolves are all alike, right?”
I followed Lillian out the back door without looking back. I still wasn’t sure why her generalization bugged me so much. She’d pegged more than a few of my packmates. It was definitely thewayshe’d said it. As if I was more animal than man. Someone who couldn’t rise above his animal instincts.
Someone I didn’t want to be.
My wolf and I had an understanding, and we worked together in a union that suited us both. I liked to use my head. Giving my heart too much power led down dark paths, to rages that would scorch the Earth if I ever gave them any air.
I got into my truck and turned the key. The heater blasted in my face as I waited for Ruby to help Lillian into the passenger seat of her… What the hell kind of car was it? I narrowed my eyes at the faded red…Datsun. Holy shit. That little sedan had to be from the early eighties. Once Lillian was inside, Ruby closed the door and glared at me through the rain as she went around to the driver’s side. I chuckled.
Ruby had spunk. She was obviously afraid of werewolves, but I’d pushed her buttons. I almost felt bad for forcing her into a house full of wolves.Almost.
I followed them to the outskirts of Salem and down the two-lane road to the Munro family farm. The property had been in Mathias’s family for generations, and the main house resembled the historic House of Seven Gables on steroids. It was at least three times as big as the original.
But despite all the space, my Alpha had never found his mate so he had no heir to ascend to lead our pack. Mathias had always been a strong leader with a reputation for integrity and honor. We’d never really considered the future, but now our leader was in his nineties. Age didn’t impact werewolves quite as dramatically as humans. And while no one would ever guess Mathias was more than sixty, the deaths of some of our pack members, including my own twin brother, had made it impossible to ignore the writing on the wall.
Our pack had no future.
Mathias didn’t have an heir, and without the Alpha’s bloodline, werewolf tradition called for a fight to the death for the position. I’d grown up with my packmates. Sure, we argued, but I’d never kill one of them.
When Mathias left this world, we’d have no leader, and no one willing to fight for the spot. Not to mention none of us had found our mates. So did we even need a pack anymore? There weren’t any children to protect.
I shoved the concerns aside as I drove through the gates and parked beside the little red Datsun. At least the rain had lightened to a chilly drizzle. I hurried around Ruby’s car and helped Lillian out. She placed her hand in the crook of my arm and popped open her umbrella as I walked her up the steps to the wraparound porch.
Wes and his twin brother, Wyatt, stood from their chairs on the porch as we approached. They were the tallest members of our pack, with dark-brown hair and eyes to match. If you didn’t know them, they looked ready to kick the shit out of anyone who set foot on the property, but in reality, Wyatt would be the first one to give the shirt off his back to a stranger and Wes would place bets on how quickly he could chase a trespasser off the property.
Wes wasn’t smiling right now. “Glad you made it back. Mathias is running a fever.” He shook his head, his voice low. “He’s not healing as fast as he should.”
Werewolves healed faster than humans, but it wasn’t instantaneous and Mathias wasn’t twenty anymore. Hell, none of us in the pack were.
“Lillian brought some healing herbs and crystals.” I opened the door for her. “Maybe she can help him fight the infection.”
That was the word we were all hoping to avoid.Infection.Werewolves were stronger and faster than humans, but we were just as susceptible to a staph infection, and because we needed to keep our shifter DNA away from microscopes, we couldn’t go to a hospital.
If Mathias got worse, there wouldn’t be a visit to the emergency room. We could lose him.
Lillian slipped free of me and hurried up the stairs, surprising me. She was spry for a woman her age. I looked back to see what happened to Ruby and found her standing at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the house—or at Wes and Wyatt, I couldn’t tell from here.
I walked out onto the porch. “Are you coming inside?”
She swallowed and nodded, but her feet didn’t move. I sniffed the air. She was afraid again. What was up with this witch?
I jogged down the steps. “What’s going on?”
Her gaze finally locked on my face, and there was no trace of the annoyance I’d seen back at the store. Her eyes were wide, her pulse racing. “I think I need to wait in my car.”
