Chapter Ten
Head down, focus, don’t meet their eyes.
Mila tucked in the long-sleeved, black Four Horsemen work T-shirt into her jeans as she passed Tim, Nelda, and Frank talking quietly at one of the tables. She purposefully kept her face angled away from the pool table in the back where Rhett was breaking on a new game. He hit the balls so hard one jumped off the table, and Mila hunched at the explosive sound.
“Mila,” Rhett called in a stone-hard tone. “Come play a game with me.”
“Um, no thanks,” she murmured, making a beeline for the kitchen. “I have to get on the clock.”
“Now,” he gritted out.
She stared at her boss, Tim, silently pleading with him to make her get to work. He looked regretful about it, but he twitched his head toward Rhett and murmured, “Go on, girl. Your alpha’s calling you.”
Great. As she meandered around the maze of tables toward Rhett, Mila couldn’t help but think about how the Strikers would’ve reacted to her quiet plea for help. They weren’t a pack, just four separate rogues including Blaire, but any one of them would’ve helped her out. They would’ve told Rhett to fuck off, maybe broken a pool stick against his face if he pushed too hard.
It had been like that under Noah when they were still the Striker Pack. Everyone had each other’s backs, but the Bone-Rippers were such a broken pack. Rhett’s darkness had trickled through the ranks and slowly poisoned every last one of them. They were all in survival mode thanks to Rhett’s murderous tendencies, and now it was every wolf for himself.
All of this was easy to see with just a few days of spending time with the Strikers. They felt like potentially healthy relationships, and she’d started longing for normal. Or if not normal, whatever the Strikers could offer her. Laughter, loyalty, protection, fun, a sense of belonging. And now every time Rhett pushed his dominant alpha shit onto her, it made her angry. Not sad or helpless anymore, but instead it made her blood boil. All she wanted to do was put her head down, work her shift tonight, and earn some tips so she could pay the rent she was already two weeks late on, thanks to him chasing out all the human clientele from this place.
Everything Rhett touched turned to ash.
If she gave him half a chance, he would turn her to ash, too.
She plucked a pool stick carefully from the wall and put chalk on the end, keeping her eyes averted, but she could feel his gaze on her. It lifted the fine hairs all over her body.
“You weren’t home last night.”
“I had plans.”
“With me! I was going to take you out, remember? Mind the rules, court you before we made the announcement at the pack meeting, but low and behold, I show up to your place, and you weren’t there. And don’t you think for a goddamned second that I forgot you ran from me. I should’ve run you over with my fucking truck for disobeying me. Tell me you didn’t see him.”
Pleading the fifth, Mila lined up her shot and missed like a champ, her hands were shaking so badly.
“You did, didn’t you?” Rhett’s face was terrifying. His dark hair made his wolf-bright blue eyes look even lighter, and his face had gone red with fury as he slammed the pool stick against the edge of the table and locked his arms on the felt surface. “Fucking whore Bottom Bitch.”
“I’m not.”
“What?” he asked, his dark eyebrows arched high.
“I’m not those things,” she forced out past her tightening throat.
Rhett leapt over the pool table and came crashing down on her, hands hard on her shoulders as he pushed her backward. When she slammed into the wall, he was right there, his lips an inch from hers, his smile feral. “Good, Mila. Stick up for yourself and see what it does for my desire.”
Mila jerked her face away from his and tried to shove him off her, clawing at him as she did.
“Yeah, keep scratching at me and see how much restraint I keep. Bottom. Bitch.”
Mila’s wolf raged inside of her. It was overwhelming and made her dizzy, but she would rather Rhett kill her and dump her body in the woods than be his bitch. She reared back and slapped him. “Let go of me,” she gritted out, looking him dead in the eyes. Sure, her voice came out terrified and shaking, but she’d gotten the words out without choking on them.
Rhett’s smile turned evil, and he squeezed her neck as he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “It’s going to be so fun to break you, Mila.”
She thrashed out of his grip and shoved off him. Tossing him a last fiery glance, she made her way past the three pack members still sitting at the table in the center of the bar. “Fuck you all for not stopping that.” She wanted to spit on the floor, but she would be the one cleaning it up, so stopped herself.
Tim, Nelda, and Frank stared at her like she’d grown an extra head, but fuck it all, she was done being treated like crap. She was done with how this pack worked, done with the bullying, done with the fear. An irate corner of her mind thought it would’ve been so much better for the pack if Gentry had actually succeeded in killing Rhett. If Asher hadn’t jumped in and stopped him, if Rhett had bled out on the side of that snowy road. Maybe Gentry didn’t want to be alpha, but anyone would be better than Rhett.
When she reached her station to clock in, the front door flew open so hard it slammed against the wall. Roman strode in looking like a hellion, eyes blinding gold, shoulders tensed and pressing against his sweater. His hair was mussed, and he held up a stack of different colored papers. “What the fuck are these, alpha?”
Rhett didn’t even look up from the long shot he was making. “Probably a stack of citations and tickets. Winter’s Edge isn’t up to code, Striker. Too bad. You won’t be having that grand opening you’ve been promoting after all.”
“I haven’t even heard of half of these, and you’ve revoked our liquor license the day before we open? Fucking really?”
“Tough luck, rogue. Maybe try opening your bar somewhere else. Like in Alaska. Perhaps I can’t reach you there.” Rhett moved around the table and took another shot, sinking the seven ball into the corner pocket. “Or maybe I can.”
Tall and dangerous, Roman was shaking with fury, as if he might bolt for Rhett and snuff out his life right here in the dingy bar. Usually, Mila would’ve tried to calm him down to protect him from Rhett’s revenge, but she was still on the high of residual fury, and the vision of Roman attacking that asshole was a pleasant thought.
It’s going to be so fun to break you, Mila.
It would be fun to watch Roman break Rhett.
“Roman?” she asked.
His bright eyes drifted straight to her, and he nodded his chin.
“Are you still hiring at Winter’s Edge?” God, she was going to do this. With trembling hands, she removed her Four Horsemen apron.
Roman’s smile was two parts mischief, one part pride. He dragged his molten gaze to Rhett as he answered her, “I sure am. You want head bartender? I’ll let you manage the whole bar.”
Eyes on the ground, Mila clenched her hands at her sides, and as she passed the others, told Tim, “I quit. Seems I’ve found a better offer.” By someone who would’ve never stood aside and let Rhett slam her against a wall.
“No,” Rhett said blandly. “Get back to work, Mila, stop fucking around.”
Roman’s touch was light on her lower back as he guided her toward the door.
“Mila!” Rhett screamed like a psychopath.
She hunched and plugged her ears so she wouldn’t hear the order she knew was coming. Roman cupped his big hands over her ears, too, and rushed her outside, slamming the door behind them. He didn’t let them slow to celebrate but veered them straight toward his jeep, loaded up in a hurry, and then he peeled out of there, skidding across the black ice as he escaped the parking lot.
Heaving breath that fogged the window, she watched out the back window as Rhett ran across the parking lot after them. He opened his mouth and yelled, but the roar of Roman’s engine drowned out the sound of his fury.
“What did you just do?” Roman asked, looking so proud she wanted to crow.
“I just stopped being the chicken. I think I want to be the big bad wolf now.”
Chapter Eleven
Mila shouldn’t be this excited about what she’d done, but the hope that had slowly begun blooming in her chest since the day Roman returned to Rangeley was now like a sunflower—wide open, stretching for the sky, catching the wind.
Her toothpaste fell off the counter in her hurry to pack, so she bent over and picked it up, then tossed it into the big, silver sparkly bag she’d gotten for free when she’d purchased enough bras at an online boutique. She was moving into ten-ten!! Okay, maybe not moving so much as staying there until the danger from Rhett blew over, but Roman had asked her on the way back to her place.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and canted her head. Her cheeks were rosy, her eyes bright. Always bright because of the magic Odine had used to bind her here. But she looked happy. Even alone in the bathroom, her lips were curved up in a faint smile, her natural expression now. On a whim, she pulled a couple of bobby pins out of the hand-thrown pot she’d made in high school that she kept on the counter, and then pinned her thick bangs back into her high ponytail. She’d curled her dark hair this morning, and as she studied herself in the mirror, she was taken aback by how very different she looked since Roman had come back home. Here was a peek at self-confidence, something she thought she’d lost forever on the day she’d pledged to the Bone-Rippers. She looked different with her bangs not hiding her eyes, but she kind of liked it. And Roman was always pushing them to the side. She hoped he liked her hair, too.
He was outside on the phone. She could hear the soft rumble of his voice, but couldn’t make out his words. He was pissed at what Rhett was pulling to keep Winter’s Edge closed, but Mila knew a few things about permits from helping Tim get the Four Horsemen up and running, and she was going to help the Strikers sort through the mess Rhett had made. It might not open as soon as they had hoped, but Mila swore on everything she owned that she was going to help them get the grand opening back on track. And then she was going to be the best bar manager ever. She’d worked at Winter’s Edge when she’d come of age, and now it would be a homecoming.
Roman would be there. And Gentry, Asher, and Blaire.
No more getting bullied by the pack. No more Rhett. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she was going to become a rogue like the people who were beginning to mean so much to her. She’d always thought being part of a pack was necessary for her submissive wolf, but right now, being part of a family felt much more important.
Shouldering the giant bag of clothes and toiletries, Mila made her way to the front door, her snow boots tromping across the floorboards with every bouncy step. She grabbed her heaviest jacket and pulled open the door.
Roman was in the middle of throwing a snowball. It blasted against a tree.
“Are you mad?”
“Hmm?” he asked, turning around. “Whoa, hottie with a body. Your hair looks sexy as fuck. I can see your eyes better! And, no, I’m not mad.” He picked up another handful of snow and packed it. “Just playing a little catch with the old man.” He chucked that ball in the same direction as the other.
Mila stared at the empty yard and pursed her lips. At least he had a sense of humor about seeing ghosts. Roman pulled his ringing phone out of his back pocket and answered, “What?” Roman held his arm out as Mila approached and pulled her tight against his side, kissed the top of her hair.
It sounded like Gentry’s voice on the phone.
“Wait, Blaire did?” Roman asked, taking her bag from her shoulder. “Badass. When? Yeah… Okay, we’re on our way. Save me the biggest one.” Roman began walking to his jeep, leaving Mila to trail behind. “Don’t be a hairy sack, Gentry. I have the biggest dick, I need the biggest seat… Shut up. I hate you, too. See you in ten minutes.” Roman ended the call and tossed her a bright, white grin over his shoulder. “Blaire got her hands on three snow machines. You want to ride up into Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary and Change with us?”
“We’re going wolf up in the sanctuary?” she asked in a higher pitch than she’d intended. Gah, she hadn’t done that in years! “Yes!”
“Good. Blaire feels like she needs to Change, but she wants us to have a day off from the stress of the bar opening. We can’t do anything about the permits until tomorrow, so tonight”—he gave her a mischievous grin—“we ride. I’ll let you drive so I can hold onto your boobs and press my dick against your butt.”
Mila let off a giggle. “You’re so romantic.”
“Only with you.”
Mila was taken with excitement and ran and jumped onto Roman’s back. He laughed loud, an easy one that echoed through the neighborhood. He clamped his teeth onto her forearm and tossed her bag in the back.
“Careful! I have expensive make-up in there.”
“Expensive? Woman, nowhere in Rangeley sells expensive anything.”
“I shop online,” she said primly as she slid from his back and in through the door he held open for her. “I had to get creative when I figured out I couldn’t leave the area.”
“Clever wolfie,” he murmured as he closed the door, but he wore a frown as he jogged around the front of his Jeep.
“How long have you been bound here?” he asked as he turned the engine.
“Odine did it when I was twenty. She said I needed to stay here for you.”
“What?”
Mila smiled as she pressed her fingertips in front of the heater vents. The air was still warm. “She said you would come back. As much as I dislike her, she was right. And I’m glad you came back, even if it’s just for a little while.”
Roman dragged her palm to the beard on his jaw and rasped it against her hand. “No more talk of leaving. Today is for fun.”
“Okay,” she whispered. She liked to pretend about forever, too.
Roman drove them to the mouth of the Hunter Cove Wildlife sanctuary. Asher was unloading snow machines from a trailer behind his truck. And off to the side, Blaire had her arms thrown around Gentry’s shoulders and they were looking at each other like there was no one else in the world but them. It was such an intimate, beautiful moment. Did she and Roman look like that when they stared at each other?
“Ugh, that’s us, isn’t it? We look just like that when we’re about to make out.”
Mila laughed at how close he’d been to her own thoughts and linked her hand with his. “We should out-mush them today.”
“Great. Great idea. I want to gross them out like they gross me out. Deal.”
Roman got out, and as she gathered her jacket from the back, he opened her door and bowed gallantly. “Milady. I would like to cordially invite you to piggyback ride me on the front. Let’s bump hips.”
Mila stared. “Roman, I was kidding. I don’t really want to gross people out.”
“Fiiiine.” But Roman was grinning so big now, the one she liked the most. It was the crooked smirk that said he was looking for trouble. “Here, let me.” He yanked her red winter hat out of her hands and backed her up against his Jeep, then slid her hat on slowly and groaned erotically when it slipped into place.
“Stop,” she said, trying to control her giggles.
He did the same with her gloves, but louder, and now Asher was standing on top of the empty trailer with his hands on his hips and a disgusted look on his face. Gentry was sucking face with Blaire.
“What the fuck is going on?” Asher yelled, looking between the couples. “I’m already tempted to leave your asses here to walk back to the inn.”
“He’s so grumpy,” Roman whispered.
“I can hear you!” Asher yelled, hopping from the trailer with animal-like grace.
Roman leaned into her and sucked hard on her neck, moaned a ridiculous sound. Mila was trapped between laughter and being turned on because he was working his way to hickey-ville.
One of the snow machines r
oared to life, and Asher took off on a trail through the woods. Roman muttered a curse and dragged her toward the empty one while Mila shrugged her arms into her jacket and tried to keep up.
Gripping her hips, he helped her onto the machine as Gentry and Blaire revved theirs and headed off behind Asher.
“Aaah,” Mila said excitedly as Roman mounted behind her, standing. “Which buttons? I haven’t ridden in forever!”
Roman got it running like a pro and, sat snug against her back as she guided them toward the trees. “You better keep up Big Bad Wolf.”
Laughing like a maniac, Mila raced through the trees on the worn snowmobile trail behind the others. She could barely see Blaire’s bright red jacket on the back of the machine in front of them. It was her beacon and kept her on the gas in desperation to keep up. The wind whipped at her bare cheeks, and they ducked branches as one, but she and Roman were laughing so much her abs were getting one helluva workout. God, she loved this. It tasted like freedom. The air was so crisp here without the fumes of cars and logging trucks in town. All that filled her senses was pine sap, earth, and fresh mountain air. And Roman. Whatever cologne he wore always filled her head. It always made her hyper aware of him. Or maybe that was just his presence. He commanded attention wherever he went, even if he was quiet.
She loved the feel of his hands on her waist, and anytime they slowed to take a steep curve in the trail, he kissed her on the neck, the side of the head, the shoulder… It wasn’t for show either. The others were too far ahead. This was just because he liked giving her affection. Roman surprised her so much from the boy she’d known.