Page 42 of Happily Undead in Dark River

I sat down on the grass. “Sure they can.”

Bobby ran off and Tex settled down beside me. “He feels like an Alpha, you know. I have my money on that one to take Brody’s place when he’s ready to retire.”

Ghost nodded in agreement, but he didn’t sit. He seemed poised and ready to attack at any moment. I appreciated it. For the second time in as many months, I found myself surrounded by a town of potential suspects. Though, I was going to wipe little Bobby from the list.

The first kid he brought over was a little girl, probably about ten or so, the same age as Bobby. “This is Suze,” he introduced, handing her the marker and pushing her in my direction.

I smiled softly, making sure to hide my fangs completely. “Hi, Suze. Do you want to sign my cast too?”

She nodded hesitantly, stepping closer. She knelt beside me and wrote her name in a shaky scrawl. Then she put a little smiley face next to it. I grinned, forgetting to hide my fangs. Her eyes went wide, and she scrambled back on her butt. Bobby was right there though. “It’s okay, Suze. She’s not gonna hurt you, Dad said. She can’t help the fangs anymore than Mr. Tex can help that he can’t see or that Tommy can’t help he’s a jerk.”

I almost choked out a laugh. Suze seemed to weigh his words, then nodded. She smiled, patted my shoulder, and said, “Buh-bye.” Then she was gone. Not one for conversation apparently. She was the first in a series of kids who came over, each writing their name on my cast. Brody came over and gave me a beer, kissing my head but wandering away to talk to the rest of the members of his pack.

On my third beer and twentieth kid, I began to run out of space on my cast. A little girl called Lulu was currently writing her name on my cast, its letters too big and not well-formed, but boy she could talk. “And I said to Tommy that he was being mean and that I didn’t like it when he threw sand at me but he just laughed so when he wasn’t looking I put sand on his sandwich because it's called a sandwich, you know?” She giggled at her own joke, and I’m not going to lie, I thought it was hilarious. “And he said I was dumb because I couldn’t read or write properly and I said it was ‘cause I had dels-dyse, ugh. The words are around wrong?”

“Dyslexia,” I corrected softly.

“Yeah, ‘cause I had ‘slexia, but he was a jerk ‘cause he was just bad, you know? And he thinks he’s king of the playground because he has a bunch of people who follow him around and tell him how good he is, but not Bobby. Bobby always sticks up for me,” she said it dreamily, and I guessed Lulu might have a crush on Bobby, Hero of the Playground. She looked up, and her eyes went wide. “Uh oh,” she was on her feet fast, fear marring her adorable face. I looked at what her so scared and saw a man storming towards us. He had the same yellow hair and blue eyes as Lulu. Definitely her father.

“Louise, get the hell over here now,” the man barked. I stood, not liking his tone, but I didn’t stop the girl going to her father. “Stay away from my kid, Death Dealer.”

I put my hands up placatingly, even though I wanted to punch him in his sneering face. Look, you could learn diplomacy in a day. “She was just signing my cast, Sir. I promise I am no threat to your daughter.”

He raised his lip in disgust. “Your very presence is a threat, Bloodsucker,” he growled, and Ghost was suddenly there, looming ominously between us. He didn’t say anything, well couldn’t say anything, but his presence was enough. The man threw him a disgusted look and then dragged a scared Lulu off, roughly pulling on her arm.

“One day I am going to kill that man,” someone said beside me, and I looked down at Bobby in shock. He’d appeared from nowhere, but he was standing at my side. He was staring pure death at the retreating back of Lulu’s Dad. “He’s bad. I can feel it in my bones. The Alpha says we can’t do anything because there's no proof that he’s bad. He’s just a bully. But Brody doesn’t see how Lulu flinches whenever someone jumps out at her. I know he’s bad. I know it here,” he thumped his tiny chest. Tears of frustration shone in his eyes, and I put my hand on his shoulder. I looked over at Ghost, and I saw a similar frustration there.

I squeezed Bobby’s shoulder. “Leave it with me,” is all I said, but Bobby looked up at me, his eyes looking too old to be in such a young face, and nodded solemnly. He trusted me to take care of it.

Brody appeared behind me too, I could sense it when his presence enveloped me. He put a hand on Bobby’s other shoulder.

“Bobby, your Mama is looking for you.”

The boy nodded and walked toward the mess of children that indicated his family. His shoulders were slumped and I hated it. Brody hissed out a breath between his teeth. “I hate that fucker,” he growled, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me close. “If his wife would even attempt to make some kind of complaint, I would have him flogged and cast out. But she doesn’t say a thing. His son is so beaten down he won’t even look at me, let alone approach one of the Protectors. One day soon, Lulu will have to make a move and save them all. That's a lot of pressure for a little kid to shoulder, but she has the heart of a lion, that one.”

I nodded, some of Bobby’s frustration bleeding into me. I wanted to go, break both that man’s arms for holding Lulu so roughly, then blow out of this place before the inevitable fallout. But that wasn’t what responsible adults did. I looked at Ghost and he quirked a brow. But maybe we’d pay him a visit anyway.

When Lulu’s Dad stormed off, I watched the rest of the crowd. The easiness had gone, and I was back to being the town’s number one monster. I resisted the urge to sigh. People had started to drift away just after Lulu and her family left, and I noted their faces. Sure, they hadn’t stormed off with him, but they were close enough that it was probably more than a mere coincidence. However, mere coincidence or not, it didn’t count as proof. Still, I made sure to commit their faces to memory.

I felt eyes on me and looked over my shoulder to Brody’s mother staring daggers at me. She didn’t leave, but the pure distaste on her face was enough to make my gut churn. I just quirked an eyebrow at her. These people were my Pack now too, and I refused to be chased away. Not by a bully and not by the death stare of a bigot.

I strode over to the grills beside Brody, the smell of red meat making my mouth water. I stood in front of a small red-headed man with an apron on that said ‘BBQ Beast’.

“Alpha Mate,” he said as he handed me a plate, bowing his head in supplication, much the way that everyone did with Brody. It shocked me a little, and I wanted to tell him it was unnecessary, but a tiny shake of Brody’s head stilled my tongue.

“Hi.” I looked on in awe at the giant steak he placed on my plate. It must have come from a buffalo or something because it was huge. It was also barely seared and it made my mouth water. I looked over at the little red-haired man. “Do you know, I used to be a vegetarian? Didn’t work out so well for me, right?”

The man looked at me with huge eyes, then he snorted. Then he was full-on laughing and Brody was chuckling along beside me. He hip-checked me down the line to where all the sides were set out on a trestle table.

I heaped my plate with every carb-laden food on that table, which believe me was a lot. With my plate filled high, I stood and waited for Brody and Tex to be finished. Ghost stood beside me, his hands empty.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” I asked, frowning when he shook his head again. The guy was a huge wall of solid muscle. I figured he must always be hungry. I spotted Annie in line behind Tex. Ghost saw the direction of my gaze and began shaking his head, but it was too late.

I gave him a fangy grin. “Annie! Come and sit with us?” I yelled to the other woman, and she waved and smiled back. Ghost just gave me an unamused frown, which honestly just made me laugh harder.

Brody came over, kissing my cheek. “Are you tormenting my best friend, Red?” I just wiggled my eyebrows and shrugged. “Nah, it's okay. He needs a good shakeup. He's too set in his ways.”

Ghosts scowl switched to Brody, and he huffed out a sigh and gave him the finger.

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