Page 2 of Claimed

But of course it’s all I’ve been thinking about. What could happen if I do it. What will happen if I don’t.

There’s no way around it; this thing I have to do; I haven’t got a choice. Even though seeing some of them interact, overhearing some of their conversations… Tyson Savage doesn’tseemlike what I expected.

I’ve paid attention to him with the other alphas when they don’t know I’m watching, and they don’t act like the males in my packact. Maybe they’re a little more like us than I expected, theusmy pack used to be, a long time ago. Long before Tyson Savage killed my father.

I was young when my grandfather was alpha, but I do have memories of that time, of things being different then. I have flashes of memories like adults frolicking as wolves. How the women seemed happier. How much I looked forward to the days when the adults in the pack would shift and run together. How much everyone cared about one another. How much laughing we did.

Like these shifters seem to do.

I was astounded the first few times with Aphra in these woods, shielded from view by her magic to watch them. Aphra came twice, then because of Wyatt’s nonsense I had to do it without her. I’ve had more than a bit of guesswork to contend with without Aphra. I told her the last time I saw her that I consider her my friend. I’m also doing this to protect her daughter who we’ve looked after since she disappeared. I know Wyatt used her to get Aphra to do his bidding. And now he’s using her for leverage with me, too.

Time ticks endlessly. Maybe they’ve broken their usual routine. Stubbornly, I wait, because although these alphas are creatures of habit, like the majority of men from what I’ve noted, I don’t want to try again tomorrow. I don’t think my soul can take another day of this stress. Then again, what will my soul look like after I do this?

Oh! Finally… here they come.

My heart kicks up before immediately divebombing as my nose tells me my target isn’t with them. Relief weaves with disappointment. Because I want and need this part over with, though I loathe that I’m the one that has to do it.

I’ll have to keep thinking about it, dreading it, until at least tomorrow. And last night was the longest night of my life because of anticipating today. But tonight will probably feel even longer if I have to keep anticipating it.

Jimmy has been asking if that alpha has come into the diner, hoping I could find a way to slip him the herb, but I’ve told him, “No such luck.” And I told him I’ve done the only thing I can think of doing without Aphra’s guidance. Stretch what little of the herbs I have left by soaking them and making a tincture. I painted the bullets in the herb mixed with the rest of Aphra’s spelled carrier oil so that when it enters him, maybe he won’t be able to shift and heal.

I don’t know if it’ll work. I don’t know if I even want it to work. Because it’d make me a murderer.

I haven’t been able to find out what became of the other alphas that I’ve slipped the herb. Wyatt was angry that I didn’t know.

Jimmy passed the phone the other day and I had to listen to Wyatt scream his head off at me.

“Make this happen or you’ll fuck me over, screw my entire plan! You don’t wanna fuck me over, Stacy. If this is fucked sideways because of you, guess what’ll happen? Everyone you care about will be on my fuckin’ shit list.”

The whole planthinghas been disastrous, frankly. But because he rules with fear nobody has the nerve to tell him how cockamamie his plans are.

It’s just like Wyatt to give me the task of eliminating the biggest threat in this pack instead of taking it on himself. For our pack. For Father. And to make it seem like everyone else, never him, is responsible when his plans all get ‘fucked sideways’.

As much as he goes on about avenging Father, Father was hard on him and he didn’t even seem to mourn, simply took Father’s place as alpha when his body was found.

We’d need to go back to the times of my grandfather to be a functioning pack. When we prospered. When we had all we needed. When our water was drinkable straight from the tap. When there was laughter and joy in our village. Wyatt inherited some problems that were due to Father, but everyone knows he’s made things even worse.

I barely remember those times with Grandfather, but snippets come to me at times, particularly when I’ve watched the alphas inthispack together, which makes what I’ve come here to do even more difficult.

I can also only hope that not only does the black wolf show up so I can get this done today, also that Jimmy will be waiting back in town to give me more masking agent and get me out of town, or else I’m screwed.

And if I do get it done, I’ll have to try to put out of my mind that the black wolf, though he’s absolutely massive and exerts more alpha energy than I’ve ever witnessed, doesn’tseemlike a bad guy.

1

Stacy

The deafening bang rips through the air like a bomb has detonated.

My heart stops as I watch the massive black wolf drop.

I had a clear shot to hit his head, but then our eyes met. The world was frozen for two beats of my heart before I aimed lower and fired.

Nobody needs to know; I still did what I was told. And I now know I would’ve aimed lower even if he hadn’t looked at me.

But he did. He saw who shot him.

He showed up just as I was about to give up and leave. They don’t go for their morning run this late – at least not in the weeks since I’ve been watching.

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