Page 56 of To Keep A Wolf
He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t have to.
“We need to find them,” I say. “If we’re going to do this, we need reinforcements.”
We need numbers we don’t have, but I don’t bother to point that out. The fact is we’re doing this either way. Saying out loud how horrible our odds are won’t help.
“What about outside help?” my mom asks.
“What kind of help?” Levi asks warily.
“Lone Wolf pack. Mafia pack—”
“Absolutely not,” Levi says.
My mom is quick to rebut, and by the time Tripp and my father rejoin us, Levi and my mom are embroiled in an argument over whether or not going to other packs for help is wise.
“We asked them to fight Kari for us, and they all said no,” Levi says. “What makes you think they’d change their minds now?”
“The fact that magic can remove fate’s hand from our lives?” my mom scoffs. “I would think even they would understand a threat like that. Who’s to say someone wouldn’t try it on their packs next?”
“I’m not going to beg,” Levi says, eyes flashing as his temper rises.
“Who said anything about begging?” My mom glances at me, but I don’t say a word. I’ve already told her she has no say in our plans, but I also know we can’t beat Jadick alone.
“Have they been like this the whole time?” Tripp asks quietly, coming to stand beside me again.
“Pretty much.”
“They’re kind of an even match,” he says after a moment. We share a look, and he grins. “They’re both stubborn as mules.”
The conversation at the table cuts off, and both my mother and Levi turn to glare at us.
“Whoops,” Tripp says and slides past me into the kitchen for a glass of water.
My father steps into his place, standing close enough for me to feel awkward.
“My money’s on Vick,” he announces, and something strange flickers in my mom’s expression at the nickname.
My father watches her carefully, and suddenly the awkwardness I feel has more to do with the undercurrent of emotions passing between them.
Two decades apart have only seemed to stoke their connection.
Gross.
I take a step away, and my father chuckles.
“So,” he says, crossing his arms over his fresh shirt. “You two decide how we’re going to fight this war yet?”
“No one’s decided anything,” Levi says.
My mother scowls and looks away.
“But now that we’re all here,” Levi continues, casting me a look that has me tensing. “I think we can all agree that, at the end of the day, the only way to remove an alpha is to challenge him.”
“And you want to be the one to do that,” my father says.
“No way,” I say, stepping forward to cut this off. “You’re not endangering yourself like that. Not after… Just, no.”
“Mac,” he says, and it’s the softening in his tone that pisses me off more than his argument. “I’ll be fine.”
