Page 20 of Lightning Strikes

Chapter 7

Mac

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My last day off until I work another seven days straight. I knew that being an officer came with long hours, stress, and a whole lot of other side dishes served cold of pure bullshit… But I wouldn’t change it for anything. I paid off the plot that my parents couldn’t afford, paid off their cabin, and then built my own in a larger plot near my parents and as close to Angela’s plot as I could get.

The alpha’s family, generations back, bought several hundred acres of this land… Either you work for the pack and live for free near the alpha house, or you can buy a plot and build your own accommodations. My dad used to own a restaurant in town until Adam’s father begged him to be an enforcer full time and he did it. Sold his business and they were told not to worry about the plot or cabin.

I called bullshit, especially after someone like Adam took over. Don’t get me wrong, he was my best friend for over two and a half decades. Heisa good man underneath his manwhore ways… But who would come after him? What would happen if another pack took over? So, no. I didn’t forget about the plot or cabin debts. I started working in town at sixteen, saved up as much as I could for college as I made the payments to the pack accountant.

I worked throughout college and then spent half of my paychecks as a rookie cop to pay off the rest before I bought my own plot in cash, and Angela’s dad and I built my cabin by hand. I’m not sure I’ll sell it even if, or when, we leave the pack. We can keep it for if we ever want to return in the future…

I sigh as I lay in bed listening to Max run around the house chasing his toys. Angela should be on her way over soon, or after she sleeps half the day and stumbles her way over. Working forty-eight hours straight would drain the life out of me, too.

She’s been off lately, though, and not just since Adam… She sleeps more than she’s awake, eats as if she’s starving, and has a temper she’s never had before. And it’s only going to get worse if she hears the shit Carolina is spreading around in the pack when she’s away from Adam. Well, the bitch is persistent, that one. Unfortunately for her, the pack loves Angela, and not just because she’s the pack doctor… But because she’s so damn kind. It also helps her case that she looks like an angel, and her parents were beloved in the pack.

For three years we have grieved their disappearance. They’ve left a hole in all of our hearts, and Angela is all we have left of them. Daren Miller helped build sturdier cabins, hunted for the families that couldn’t, and made everyone feel as if they were family.

Katarina was just as angelic, if not more, as her daughter is. She would make her rounds in the pack, passing out food, herbs, and necessities to the cabins no matter their station. Poor, rich, lonely, happy. She treated everyone equally, as if we were all her children. Her eyes were ancient, but she shifted into a golden wolf just like her daughter… So even if I liked to pretend she was a real angel, she was just a normal shifter like the rest of us.

I groan, scratching my chest as I climb out of bed and head into my kitchen to start on breakfast and feed Max. I was lonely as hell before adopting the little terror, and feel bad that I work so much… But thankfully my parents are next door and take him to their house so he isn’t cooped up in here all day.

If only I could take him to work, like how Angela takes Scout wherever she goes. Not that the kitten iseasy,but she is easier to set in a box to sleep and not chase around a crazed pup on speed.

Max is running around my legs and barking at me as soon as he smells his food. “I know, bud. Here you go.” I set his bowl down, watching with amusement tickling my throat as he attacks it with a vengeance. Dry food flies around the kitchen floor, immediately he chases each morsel with happy yips and growls with his tail wagging. I chuckle as I bend down and rub a hand through his soft, golden fur and fill up his water bowl before I start on my own meal.

I hear my phone buzzing from the living room. I head in there after I crack a few eggs in a pan, leaving my breakfast to search for the damn thing. I pick it up to read the message.

Lieutenant Myers:Meeting first thing tomorrow at six AM. Don’t be late.

I frown as I read it a few times, letting out a sigh as I set my alarm now before I forget. Usually my shifts don’t start until around seven to eight but having to wake up at five is going to be rough. I set my phone down on the counter in the kitchen as I finish up frying my eggs and bacon, buttering some burnt toast.

Max is back to throwing his toys around the living room, I shovel my food in my mouth to be quick enough to get Max outside before there are any accidents. He’s getting there, but house training a crazy pup is harder than I thought it would be.

I set all of my dishes in the sink, they clatter and clink as I stare out the window. I can see the edge of Angela’s property from here. I sigh as I shake my head, taking Max out for a long walk.

She deserves someone to give her the world. Not a simple man like me who doesn’t deserve her.

I pushed her to be with Adam and look where that got her? Heartbroken, jaded, and will probably never look at me in a romantic way again. I just wanted her happy and cared for, something I could never accomplish. My best friend since we were kids had to go and fuck up all of our lives. Now he has no one here to support him. His parents moved to another pack with their daughter, he’s mating the pack psycho, and the pack doesn’t respect him. He’s made a damn joke of himself and it’s no one’s fault but his own.

The wind is starting to kick up, Max is bouncing around, chasing after the fallen leaves. I follow behind him as we get deeper into the woods and I breathe in the damp, musky scent of the earth and trees. Home. But luckily for me, to feel at home I just need Angela to be near, my parents to be there for a hug, a run, or a meal, and apparently this psycho pup who entertains himself with anything that makes a whisper of a sound.

“Max, let’s head back and clean before Angela and Scout turn up.” I whistle for him and he races past me and heads straight home. Well, at least he sometimes listens. I smile to myself as I leisurely walk back and hear raised voices coming from near the alpha house. I sigh. Just what this pack needs.

I let Max into the house before I race over to the commotion and start cussing under my breath when I see Carolina and Adam ‘talking’ to Angela.

“What are you talking about?” Angela questions while throwing her hands up in the air. “I don’t talk to anyone in the pack besides Mac unless someone calls forthe pack doctor.That would be me, by the way, in case you forgot. Stop attacking me because you ostracized yourself from your own pack. That’s on you, not me. Adam played us both and you were the one that didn’t drink the tea or use any sort of protection. Also on you. He chose you to mate. You’re living with him. I work in town, don’t nose into anyone else’s business, I stay on my land. What the fuck else do you want from me?” She shakes her head and starts to back away. I stare Adam down as I wrap my arms around Ang and kiss her head.

“What’s going on?” I ask. Adam presses his lips together and looks away. Fucking coward.

“I was just asking Angela if she would reconsider delivering my pup. I’ve called around to other packs but their pack doctors and midwives are too busy in the coming months.” He responds with a whisper. He looks like he’s lost weight. He has dark circles under his gray eyes and his black hair is the longest it’s been since we were pups. He’s wearing wrinkled clothes and just looks absolutely miserable. Sucks for him. Karma is a biiiiitch.

I hum. “And how did it turn into your mate shrieking at Angela for the entire pack to hear?” I cock a brow at him as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“I called her and said we needed the pack doctor… And then Carolina raised her voice because Angela refused to be amenable, like a true pack doctor should be. She even fucking lied to our faces and said that she was looking to move soon so it doesn’t matter anyway. I have no idea who can deliver the pup now.” He glares at the angel in my arms and I smile wickedly at him.

“Oh, Adam. She wasn’t lying. We’re moving.” I wink at him, I back up and begin guide Angela away from these toxic assholes when Carolina starts to laugh manically.

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