Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“You’re a little shit, detective,” Chief growls back. He takes another leap at me, and this time it’s close. I am starting to think that standing and fighting him is stupid. What’s he going to do if he gets hold of me? Beat me? Bite me?
Unfortunately for me, running means having to turn around, and turning around both loses me precious time and puts Chief behind me, where I can no longer see him to avoid him. Within a second of my retreat, Connor grabs me by the back of my shirt and shakes me, like a mutt with a small animal.
I let out a yelp, a high-pitched sound that has way too much fear in it for my liking. Being cocky stopped working for me really fucking quickly here. I can feel Chief’s intention in his touch, and I know he is serious about fucking me up right about now, teaching me a lesson, and breaking me to his will. He’s not just looking for an apology. He’s looking for raw, animal submission.
“Put my pet down.”
Just in time to save me from the consequences of my actions, Order melts out of the darkness, his voice cool and gravelly.
Chief drops me immediately. He knows well enough the kind of danger Order potentially represents, and he is not at all interested in keeping me in the face of it.
“Tessie, come here.” Order doesn’t even look at me as he gives the command, and I don’t dare look at him as I obey. I slink, unseen tail between my legs back to my master
“I’ll thank you not to lure my pet with whatever remnants of connection still linger between you.”
“She’s not your pet, mutant. She’s part of my pack, whether she, or you, like it or not.”
“We can’t choose our family, that doesn’t mean we have to tolerate them.”
This exchange is more snappy and salty than I imagined it would be, though the threat of violence is still very much present in the air.
“You’ll leave Tessie alone,” Order says. “Forever. You’ll stop using her as a pawn in your war games. You’ll let her, and me, live our lives in peace.”
“There’s no peace with your kind,” Connor bites back. “You’re not heroes. You’re cowards. You let your brother slaughter dozens in the city without taking him out.”
“Both our kind have done harm to the other from time to time, usually the worst among us acting out in unpredictable and unhelpful ways. The best thing to do would be to refuse to follow their lead.”
“You fired a rocket at me.”
“I assure you, I did not.”
“Then another one of your psychotic number did.”
“Yes. You should have known better than to approach our den.”
“Maybe. I was looking for my people. You abducted two of my officers. Did you expect me to let that simply happen?”
“Seems to me it was exactly what you wanted to happen. You sent two innocent detectives to us, without any warning or understanding of what they would encounter, and while we were distracted with them, your pack attacked and destroyed our home. History is forever gone because of the reckless actions of your people.”
“It’s no different than putting petrol on an ant hill,” Connor says. “Some things need to be burned off the face of this world forever.”
To say that I’m disappointed to hear Connor speaking this way is a massive understatement. He was always grumpy and grouchy, but he was a good and fair boss — or at least I thought he was. I’m no longer so sure.
“Chief, were you behind the attack on their home?”
“Not me,” he says. “But I can’t say I’m sorry to hear it happened. It’s about time mutants were rooted out. There’s too much that happens in the darkness. Too many captives. Too many murders. Too many…”
“I quit,” I announce.
Connor laughs at me, a harsh barking sound. “It’s not that easy. You can quit the force, but you can’t quit being a wolf. You belong to my pack now, whether you like it or not.”
“Get fucked.”
My responses are much less elegant than Order’s reasoned replies, but I am mad as hell. The worst thing in the world is suddenly realizing that you might have to actually hate someone you really like.
“She’s going to be a handful,” Connor says to Order. “Hope you’re ready for it. These early days are easy compared to what’s coming down the line for the two of you.”
“We’re leaving,” Order says. “And I’ll thank you not to stalk us again.”
He puts his arms around my back and shoulders and leads me away through the forest, back toward the edge where I can see the headlights of my car shining through the woodland trees even from a distance.
“This isn’t over!” Connor shouts after us.
But it kind of is.
13
“Fucking asshole,” I curse as we drive back home. “The way he talks about killing your family like ants in a hill.”