Page 16 of Her Big Bad Wolf
“We spoke about it earlier when I convinced her to come over.”
“Commanded. I think that’s the word you’re looking for.”
“Kelsey, you didn’t,” Christine said.
“I didn’t mean to do it. She was free to ignore it.”
I knew she was right, but still, I’d felt that jolt when she’d accidentally set her Alpha powers free.
“It happened,” I insisted.
Christine laughed. “Well, we’re all glad you’re here. Would you like anything else to drink?”
“Just water is fine.”
“Sure, I’ll get it for you.”
Seeing Christine here with Kelsey was surreal. I’d heard they were on friendly terms, but not serving people at Kelsey’s house friendly.
When Kelsey was going through the mating trials, everyone expected me to be first in line to challenge her. And I would have too, if I hadn’t gotten cocky and showed up at Kyle’s office one fateful day. She hadn’t even known she’d had powers but in her anger and need to protect her mate, she’d zapped meso good that I’d given allegiance to her right on the spot. Well, maybe not immediately, but pretty soon after.
I was pretty sure I was the first person to realize she was a she-Alpha. We all embraced that now, but at the time, it was something to be feared and she’d scared the shit out of me. After that, I’d refused to challenge her, but Christine was a bit more stubborn.
She’d gone through the challenge, and while a worthy opponent, she hadn’t stood a chance against Kelsey. Fortunately for Christine, Kelsey had chosen to forgive her and save her life.
The mating challenges were supposed to be to the death, but as soon as victory was declared, Kelsey had shifted and demanded medical attention for Chris. We were all watching and had thought her dead, but our now beloved Pack Mother had other plans.
Christine had found her own true mate not that long ago. Perhaps that should be another glint of hope for me, too, because Chris and I were around the same age. Granted, her mate was significantly younger. I was happy for her, but wasn’t sure how I’d feel in her shoes.
“Here you go,” Christine said, shoving a bottle of cold water in my hand.
I took a long drink of it and then tried to relax and enjoy a bit of girl time.
Isaac
Chapter 6
I stood there staring into my outdoor trash can, puzzled.
Why the hell was there a pizza box from Pino’s sitting amongst my trash? I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d eaten anything from there.
Looking around, I had the odd sensation that I was being watched, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Who would be dumb enough to come out here? Hadn’t I ensured there were enough boogieman monster lore to keep everyone away?
To be honest, it had been a while since I’d had to scare off some wayward teens looking for a thrill and bragging rights surrounding my home. But still, that usually only occurred during the Halloween season. It was winter. Granted it had been an exceptionally mild winter this year. Maybe the kids were bored with no snow to play in.
The weather report looked promising for that next week. I knew I was going to have a lot of work to do to prepare for it.
I tried to brush off that unsettling feeling over this newest discovery. It continued to nag me though. Worse than that, it awakened my wolf.
I didn’t often give into my wolf, at least not at the house. It scared my animals and the last time I’d let him out close to the farm, he’d eaten two of my chickens before I could stop him.
When I ran, I ran deep into the forest. I wasn’t doing it often enough lately and needed to get back into the habit.
Even knowing all the things I needed to get done, I decided that just maybe now would be a good time to do that. I hated leaving him cooped up for so long.
First, I fed the animals. Half my eggs were missing. That seemed to be happening about every other day now. I had no idea what was going on with my girls, but I was very worried about them.
Next, I moved on to the goats. Once more the hay was low.
