“Ness deserves punishment, right pack?” Alvin shouted it this time.
Everyone startled. Janessa cried out. I expected her to bury her face in Catriona’s shoulder, but the young woman broke away from her aunt. Janessa rushed toward me, her finger in my face before I could react.
“If you would just sit down and accept your position, then no one would have to suffer! Why do you keep doing this? I can’t sleep anymore because of you. I can’t sleep. I need…sleep.” Her words trailed off, becoming jumbled as sobs started to overtake her.
I stepped back, but I bumped into Ryder. There was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t escape Janessa’s meltdown.
A woman pushed past me. She was a blur in my vision, but I soon heard the soft murmur of reassurance. The world in front of me sharpened. Alvin’s wife, Candy, had pulled Janessa into her arms. She comforted the young woman all while staring daggers at me like I’d been the one to frighten Janessa.
“It’s Ness’s lucky night,” Alvin announced.
Everyone quieted. Our attention moved to Alvin, who rocked n his heels like a glee-filled child.
“Justice works differently here,” Alvin said. “If my son wasn’t so weak, he never would have lost his eye. We do not get justice for the weak. If they cannot protect themselves, then they deserve what happens to them.”
My heart stuttered. Alvin had saved me and doomed me, all in one statement. He wouldn’t punish me tonight, but there would be no recompense for whoever decided to hunt me next, either. If Harvey wanted to kill me, Alvin would claim that I had been weak and deserving of what happened to me. The pack wouldn’t put up a fight because they’d would remember how they let tonight slip.
Everything in me said to run. My hound scratched at me from the inside in a frantic attempt to escape. I held her back, but only barely. My chest heaved from the effort. This was going to come back and bite me in the ass later. I just knew it.
Beyond Alvin, I caught a glimpse of Harvey through the window. He stared me down with his one eye, a patch over the other. Frigid cold slithered through my veins. Not even Ryder’s presence could melt it away.
The pack watched me, their expressions a mix of fear and simmering hatred. I couldn’t tell if they hated me or the situation. The line between the two was too blurry. These situations were my fault. Janessa had a point, though I hated to admit it.
If I could just keep my head down for a little while, then maybe things wouldn’t always have to become a fight. Alvin had been softer before I came along. If I could behave, maybe he wouldn’t push back so often.
I pulled away from Ryder. If I could ask for punishment now, then maybe the pack would think differently of me. They would see that I wasn’t trying to start trouble and that I could endure what I deserved.
But Ryder held me tight. He wouldn’t let me get away. I struggled, trying to throw off his grasp. He gave me a heated look, one that pleaded with anger and indignation. That look saidlater.
We will deal with this later.
I was afraid that we were running out of time. If Alvin found all the bodies and moved them, then I would never have the evidence that I needed to prove his guilt. But that wouldn’t be enough to change my pack’s mind. I had to accept that. They were afraid, and that kept them from acting.
Janessa still sobbed into Candy’s shirt. Catriona patted the young woman’s back.
I would find no ally in Janessa. She wanted nothing to do with me or my plight. Though I wished I could understand, it pained me to try. I yearned for empathy from them. I wanted gentle tenderness, not this violent outburst.
When the smell of wine and flowers hit the air, I cursed.
“Not now, damn it,” Ryder whispered.
I twisted and looked up in time to see the white-hot fury in his eyes. He mouthed one word to me before the red veil slipped over him again. The comforting weight of his hand on my shoulder disappeared, leaving me unanchored.
Alvin laughed. The peal of his joy echoed in my ears. I stiffened, realizing that I was alone. Connor stepped up and took my hand, but he was the only one in the pack brave enough to make a stand with me. Janessa continued sobbing. Haylee and Kelsey didn’t move.
Marcus and Jackson pushed their way to the front of the pack. Dad tried to shoulder them back, but they outnumbered him. They shoved him back and set him stumbling into another older member of the pack. When Dad opened his mouth in outrage, I held up my hand to silence him.
Connor gave my hand a squeeze.
Ryder
“What the hell was that for?”I howled the moment my feet touched the ground again. “I was right there. I could have killed Harvey tonight. But no. You had to take me now.”
Beryl gripped my chin. Her breath was sweet, smelling of the wine that I craved. “You need to understand that there are consequences for your hesitation, little storm cloud.”
Her eyes flashed red before she released me with a shove. I didn’t stumble back, digging my heels in to hold my ground.
“You think that I was going to hesitate again?”