Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Val, I’ve been handling myself for a long time now. I’m good.”
“Have you ever gone up against humans?” Val asked.
She shook her head. No, she hadn’t.
Val opened his shirt, showcasing his chest, and along with it, the scars.
“I went up against humans. Was out running. Angry little wolf I was many moons ago. Thought I was unstoppable.” He showed off his wrist. The scars were clear to see.
“A bear trap?”
“A bear trap. Couldn’t get out of it in time. Nearly chopped my fucking paw right off. The hunters came as I turned into a human. They didn’t see that I was a wolf.”
Amelia winced.
A naked man trapped in a bear trap, that wasn’t good.
“They were drunk and angry that I had ruined their trap, and they wanted me to pay for the damage.”
She winced. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Val said. “For two hours, I had to wait, to bide my time.” He shook his head. “But I did. I got out of there, and I made sure no one would ever be able to tell the tale but me. They’re cruel, Amelia. You saw what they did to your dogs. Some dogs don’t get to have a happy ending like you’ve given them.”
Amelia nodded.
“My opinion, not that it’s worth a lot. You face off with a hunter, you kill him. Don’t put your life or the pack at risk.” Val slammed his palm on the counter. “Sometimes violence isn’t the answer, and then, there are times that violence is the only answer.”
He left, heading toward his office.
Amelia nibbled on her lip and didn’t move for several seconds.
She hated violence. Couldn’t even stand movies that were full of it.
She rubbed at her temple and then grabbed the beer bottles. She wasn’t paid to sit and worry about what might not happen.
Other than Val, no one had any idea what she was capable of.
Her father had often called her a waste of space, a loser. Her mother hadn’t been too happy with her either. Amelia hadn’t wanted to mingle with the other girls, trying to gain male attention. She pushed the memories of her parents to the back of her mind.
They didn’t deserve to have space in her thoughts. They had turned their back on her because they considered she was a waste of their time.
Assholes.
Chapter Four
Three days later, there was still no sign of the hunters coming back, but Alpha wasn’t impressed.
“I don’t want us to calm down,” Alpha said.
They all sat in church, listening to Alpha give a rundown of everything that pack had to deal with.
Church happened every single Friday evening.
Wolfe glanced at the clock, wondering how much longer he was going to have to wait. He hadn’t been to see Amelia in the past couple of days.
Enjoying a coffee with her was the extent of his pleasure. He’d wanted more, but he’d seen himself out after one cup.
He wanted Amelia.
Staring at the club, he wondered what they would think if he told them that he wanted her.
They were strong. Amelia was weak. And she was fast becoming his weakness.
“I’m going to demand round-the-clock patrols,” Alpha said. “We’re going to be using the beta team.”
Boyan snorted. “Seriously? The beta team? They’re fucking useless.”
“I’m with Boyan on this,” Enzo said. “They only use the beta team to get their dick sucked.”
“Most of the men would cower in a real fight,” Ryker said.
“It’s why they’re not club,” Alpha said. “The beta team will allow us to rest. We don’t know if the hunters are a one-time deal or if they’re researching the area. I don’t want us to risk any shit going down because we got fucking lazy. Any of you got a problem with that?”
They shook their heads.
“Good. I’ve got two fucking petitions here,” Alpha said. “One an attempt to overturn Amelia’s deer hunting.”
Boyan burst out laughing.
Wolfe kept his anger in check. This was not the first time a petition had been brought forward.
“How many signatures this time?” Gray asked.
“Not enough to overturn Amelia’s,” Alpha said. “Denied.”
They all agreed, denied.
The pack was clearly fucking bored if all they wanted to do was to overturn Amelia’s petition.
“Now this other petition, which isn’t exactly a petition, it is a request that has been brought forward, involving the damn grocery store.”
The club frowned.
Wolfe didn’t. “What’s it about?”
“It would seem, and fuck me, this is what I’ve been reduced to. It would seem someone might be on Amelia’s side after all. They want me to demand that a small section of vegan produce is made available in the grocery store.”
Wolfe looked at Alpha, who was looking directly at him.
He didn’t say anything. “You think it’s Val?”
“Could be Val,” Rocco said. “Guy has a soft spot for her.”
Boyan laughed. “He’s the only dude that does.”
“You could ask her to leave,” Draco said, “if this is getting irksome.”