Page 49 of Cost of Courting

I stare at her. “You can’t pay it back, Dulcie. I know you don’t have that kind of money.”

“I have to. It’s my debt. I…” she chokes off, her hand grabbing her throat like she is trying to hold herself together.

“You know what happens. You can’t go empty-handed. And it was never your debt.”

“He won’t go, and they’ve made it clear his debts are my debts, and they’ll take it from me.”

I look around her home. She doesn’t have much, what she does have is little more than trash. The mugs we are drinking our tea from are cracked. Everything is broken or mended. She does the best with what she has, but it’s clear this is existing and not living.

What happened to her children? They were older than me. Like so many people, they left and never returned.

The Dread Pack returned, a voice whispers.

I shake my head, unimpressed with the thought.

“I’ll pay for you.”

Her head jerks up. “No!”

“I’mnot asking.”

“And I’m telling you, you aren’t-”

“You voted.” I cut her legs out from under her, refusing to even entertain her protests.

She falls silent, staring at me reproachfully.

“You voted me as this neighbourhood’s alpha. This is my job. I can take care of it. I have some savings. Trust me, it will be okay.”

Her mouth works, but, in the end, she slumps. “It's not right that you keep saving us. Let us drown. We deserve it.”

“You don’t deserve anything like that, Dulcie. Ray might, but I’m not saving him. I’m saving you.”

I push to my feet and frown at her. “I’m going to take care of Ray, too, this time. He can’t be allowed to continue this.”

Dulcie bursts into noisy tears. I shift so I can reach out, putting a hand on her knee, while she pulls herself together.

“Go see your friends. They worry about you, and if everyone in this neighbourhood hid because we were ashamed, we’d never leave the house. They miss you.”

She nods, and when she gets up, I grab her handbag and tow her out of the house.

Her friends mob her straight away. I don’t know if they knew what I was doing or they just expect it, but she’s drawn away, leaving me standing in the street alone.

A bike roars up the road, slowing down as it gets close to me. I turn and watch as the rider stares at me. Our eyes meet, and I stiffen, ready to attack if I need to. The Mirakill Patch is on the back of his leather vest.

I curl my lip in anger as he disappears.

My neighbourhood is sitting on a triangle of territories that three groups have had disputes over. Mirakill MC are the lesser threat, but Despair has been pushing for this land for a while. Unfortunately, Benson’s Cobras, an alpha-led gang who believe that alphas should be obeyed and viewed as better than anyone else, has been the most aggressive in trying to claim it. I don’t even listen to the drivel that spews from their mouths, but I’m one person. I can’t take down a gang. Let alone a gang and two clubs.

I can do the best I can to protect my people, though. And if that means a couple of bruises, then that’s what I’ll have to do.

I pull out my phone and dial the number I hate the most.

“We were just talking about you,” Benson purrs into the phone.

“There’s a debt. I’ll fight tonight.”

He hesitates.

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