8
RYDER
Lakesedge wasn’t the nicest part of town. The potholes in the road that made my car bounce down the road had me thinking that the city often forgot that the neighborhood existed. The spells over the area protected the supernatural community here but left the infrastructure to decay.
The homes were nice, though. Shifters often opened roofing and construction businesses because it allowed them to use their strength to help their communities. I remembered summers spent on rooftops back home, helping strip old roofs.
I didn’t have to go all the way to the lake to find Ness’s home. The address she gave me was tucked between several Victorian homes that had been recently updated. The neighbors’ new features made the old porch and chipped paint of her home look unloved, which I doubted was the issue. The lawn had been mowed recently and someone had taken the time to plant a garden out front.
Ness’s misfortune had affected her family. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and wondered what the hell Ness could have done to earn her Alpha’s hate. I doubted that she’d turned him down. He was old enough to be her father, and it seemed like his son had a twisted obsession with her.
The front door opened and pulled me from my thoughts. A tall man with broad shoulders and a slight beer-gut stepped out. He fixed his gaze on my car and scowled. If he couldn’t smell me already, he was probably smart enough to put the clues together and come up withoutsider.
I cursed how guarded shifter communities were. There were so few who allowed new shifters to enter their ranks, as if fresh blood might challenge old traditions. Perhaps we would be better off that way. I heard there was a man in Oregon doing just that, and his pack seemed to be doing just fine.
I stepped out of my car and gave the man a nod. I didn’t step onto his lawn. Wolf shifters were almost as territorial as dragons. Instead, I waited for him to approach me. While he took his damn time, I glanced up and down the road for any signs of the Alpha and his followers.
If they were here, they were well hidden. I had a sneaking suspicion that Ness would receive the brunt of the harassment today. I’d made her a promise, though. I had to trust that she could protect herself. If not, then her friends could do it.
I don’t know what that blonde slipped me, but it put me in a fugue state that night. If I’d known that her “charmed” coffee would do that, I wouldn’t have agreed to it. I’d gotten the best sleep I’d had in over a year, but if Morgan had found me, I would have been screwed.
Not worth it, in my opinion.
Ness’s father finally closed the distance between us. I gave him a nod in acknowledgement. His nose wrinkled as he scented the air.
“That’s what I thought,” he growled.
What could I say? I didn’t know how to respond to his disgust. The man who’d bravely defended his daughter had been replaced by this asshole. The way he looked at me made me want to deck him.
“Don’t let Ness pull you into her games,” he said, turning to walk away.
“Hold up,” I called out before he could leave. “What the fuck do you mean by games? You were there last night. You saw how your pack is treating her.”
He paused. “I won’t let them kill her, but I’m not going to allow my daughter to be a traitor, either. Whatever she’s asking you to do, forget about it. This pack doesn’t need anyone else shaking the boat.”
“You make it sound like the boat is already rickety.”
His shoulders slumped. He gave a languished shake of his head.
I wished I could say that his inability to bring himself to do better for his pack surprised me, but I’d seen it before. Shifters had a hard time disobeying their Alphas, even when that Alpha became corrupt. The arcana that bound us into a family could also keep us trapped in dangerous situations.
“If you all hate him so much, you can band together and do something about it,” I spat.
I didn’t want to be cruel, but if I could convince this pack to rise up against their Alpha, then I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty. My hands had already taken a life once. If I could avoid doing it again, I would.
This Alpha didn’t deserve the air he breathed, but I would do anything in my power to not be the one to kill him.
Ness’s father didn’t look convinced, though. If anything, he seemed more defeated than ever. I wasn’t an Alpha, myself. I didn’t know how to rally the shifters. If I had the right words, then they would see the truth.
Instead, they bowed their heads and looked away while Ness took the brunt of this Alpha’s hatred.
I exhaled through my nose. “What’s his name? No one has told me yet.”
Ness’s father hesitated. Then he said, “Alvin. Alvin Combs. His son is Harvey. That boy is trouble.”
I gave the man a nod.
Before I could get far, he called out, “If you’re going to stick around, you should get some allies.”