I hung up as he mumbled something about vodka and reluctantly made my way downstairs. I found Carter in the living room with my dad, laughing it up over a copy of some stupid sports magazine.
“Kensey,” he said with a smile that was 100 percent bullshit. Why the hell couldn’t people see that? He laughed. “Guess I’m a little over dressed.”
“It’s dinner and a movie,” I replied, folding my arms. “Not the prom.” He was wearing a suit jacket and dress pants. His hair was slicked back and was just about as shiny as his shoes.
My father was furious over my attire, but he kept quiet. Technically, I was doing exactly as I was told. I was present and dressed and in the presence of the asshole he commanded I spend my night with. Anything more than that wasn’t going to happen.
“You ready?” Carter extended his arm.
“Not like I have a choice.” I sidestepped him and flung open the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Slade
I’d watched them pull away then went for a run. My shift was chaotic and rushed and hadn’t helped to settle the wolf.
Now, I was holed up in my room with a bottle of rum and a twitch in my fingers. The only reason I’d come back to the house at all was because I had no signal in the woods. If Kensey needed to call me—for whatever reason—she’d never get through.
“Didn’t think you’d be here,” a voice said from the doorway.
“Where the hell else would I be?” I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that I’d made a mistake. He wouldn’t be able to resist rubbing salt into whatever wounds I was nursing.
“Ouch,” Gavin said with a laugh. “Someone is a little testy tonight. Why is that, son?”
“Unless you’re here because you need something from me, get the hell out.”
“I heard you have some competition? The Pennington wolf?”
I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
“He’s definitely better stock than you. Smarter. Better looking. Has more clout and money…” Gavin snickered. “Probably has more balls, too. I doubt he’d roll over and give you his belly if he was in line to claim the Deaton bitch.”
“I was honoring the Courting rules.” Fury bubbled in my gut.
“A real wolf would have never let his potential mate go off with another male—especially not a McAlister.”
“Fuck off.” It was weak, but it was all I could manage. He was pushing my buttons, and I could barely see straight through the anger.
He tsked. “Such an attitude… Wait—do you actually care about the Deaton girl?” He laughed. “Suppose I should have seen that coming. You being the screw up that you are.”
“Only you would consider caring about someone else screwing up.”
“Stupid, stupid boy.” His lips split with a grin I wanted nothing more than to wipe away with my fists. “First of all, you just handed me the ultimate weapon. One slip up, and your worst opinion of me won’t come close to what I’ll do to her. And second, she’ll never love you. Not you. Not a McAlister—and you’ll never be able to love her. Not really. Your eye will always wander. You will always bring blood and violence to her doorstep. Your habits…” He snatched two of the half-empty bottles away from me then threw one as hard as he could at the wall. It shattered, raining bits of glass and droplets of liquid across the room. “Will always rule you.”
“I’m not you.” I stood and grabbed the remaining bottle from him. Taking a step back, I turned it upside down and poured out the remaining liquid at his feet.
The grin on his face grew wider. “You are exactly like me, Slade.”
“One more time,” I ground out slowly. “What do you want?”
Gavin sighed. He leaned back against the doorframe and folded his arms. “I need a favor.”
…
Gavin’s favor brought me to the edge of town, to Ron Hallstead’s farm. He’d paid the guy’s taxes last year after an illness took his wife, and Ron been paying it back ever since. He’d been good about never missing a payment, but last week he’d gone radio silent. It was my job to reconnect.
I parked the van at the end of the driveway and went the rest of the way on foot. If he really was ducking Gavin and he saw me coming, he’d make a run for it. Then I’d have to chase him, and no one’s night would get any better from there. As I approached, I saw that there was a light on in the small barn. I was a few yards away when Ron walked out.
“Slade?” Even though it was dark, I saw his face pale. “What are—”
“Don’t go there, Ron,” I warned. “This will go so much easier if you just give me the missed payment.”
“I don’t have it,” he admitted. “One of the tractors crapped out, and I had a mare—”
I shook my head and closed the distance between us. “Excuses aren’t gonna cut it.” I hated this. Wolves thrived on fear, but this was something different. There was no challenge here, no chase. Ron was just a broken-down human who’d fallen on hard times. Harming him wouldn’t make him pay up. If he didn’t have it—which I believed—then he didn’t have it.
Still, I couldn’t walk away without making Gavin’s statement somehow. If I went back empty handed, then it would be my head—not to mention Gavin sending someone else out here. Someone who wouldn’t have the restraint I did.
I nodded to the barn. “What you got in there?”
“Just my sick mare. All the others are in the main—”
“Get her out.”
He looked at me as though I was crazy, and when I narrowed my eyes at him, he scampered off to do as told. While I waited, I lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. A few moments later, Ron emerged with an aging mare with a right front foot limp. He made a move to hand me the reins—like I was going to steal his damn horse? I pushed him aside and walked to the opening of the barn. It was old and in horrible condition. It was going to come down anyway…
Kensey’s voice echoed in my head. Get rid of him… She’d been telling me to find another way. So that’s what I’d done. Now, I had the chance to do it again.
I flicked my cigarette into the first open stall. The hay caught instantly, and the fire flared to life. I watched as the flame engulfed the barn. I snapped a picture—proof I’d made Gavin’s point—and turned back to Ron. “You’re not gonna get another chance. Make the payment by Friday or the next thing that burns will be you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kensey
“You could at least try enjoying yourself,” Carter whispered. He dropped his arm to the rest between us and let his fingers accidentally brush my hand.
I suppressed a gag and grabbed the chunk of skin between his thumb and pointer finger, then twisted hard. He let out a small yelp. “You touch me again, and I’m going to remove your hand.”
“See, that’s why I like you. You’ve got fire in your blood.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Literally. We’re going to make one hell of a pair.”
The woman in front of us turned around to glare. The movie had started ten minutes ago, and Carter hadn’t shut up since. If I was lucky, they’d kick us out. Sitting here in the dark with him made me feel all sorts of skeevy.
When I didn’t respond, he took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. It was cool and clammy and made me sick to my stomach. This wasn’t something new for Carter. He was pushy and had never taken no for an answer. If he wanted something, he simply expected you to give it to him.
But I wasn’t feeling generous.
I twisted hard and jerked away. “I was ordered to be in the same place at the same time as you. I was not commanded to allow you to touch me.” I stood and made a beeline for the exit. He caught up with me as I made it out the front door.
“I like it when you hurt me.” He snickered and stepped into my path. “How about we go back to my truck and you hurt me some more?”
I’d lived next door to the McAlisters my entire life. If you’d asked me a week ago if anyone could ever make me as d
isgusted as Gavin did, I would have said no way. But Carter? He was as low a life form as they came. Gavin was up front about being a bastard. What you saw was what you got. Carter was sneaky about it. He had everyone fooled into thinking he was a pillar of our community. Perfect pedigree with striking looks and impeccable manners all rolled into one pretty package. But if you looked closer, you’d see a foul bastard with a rotting carcass for a heart and a soul as black as night.
“We need to get something straight,” I said. “There’s no us. There’s never going to be an us. I have to put up with you for one day. After that, you so much as breathe my way and I doubt Slade will let you live. That is, if I don’t kill you myself.”
“See, I think you’re full of shit.” He grabbed my hand and started for the truck. “Everyone knows this whole thing is a scam, Kensey. You and McAlister aren’t real.”
“We are,” I insisted.
He flashed me a look of mock pity. “You really believe that? Then I feel bad for you. This whole set up of your dad’s? It was only partially about getting you to consider another choice. It was also about testing McAlister—and he failed.”
“How the hell did he—”
“If what you were doing with him was real, I never would have made it off the front porch. He let you walk away with me. Didn’t make a peep in protest from what I understand. Knowing all about our sordid little past, he—”
I balled up my fist and hit him as hard as I could.
If the blow bothered him, he didn’t show it. Instead, his smile widened. “You think this little scam is going to spare you from honoring your responsibilities?” When we got to the truck, he dragged me to the other side, away from the building. “You think you’re better than the others? Above the ways of our people? You need to learn your place, and I won’t lie. I think I’m going to enjoy being the one to teach you.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to piss off, but the entire right side of my face exploded in a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. My head filled with a ringing sound as my body tilted violently sideways.
“Great,” he snapped. “Look what you made me do. How the fuck am I going to explain this shit?”
I heard the jingle of keys, followed by the creak of the truck door. My vision cleared as he grabbed my arm and tried to drag me into the truck. I was at a disadvantage because my head was still swimming, so I let him shove me into the passenger’s seat.
“You really are a stupid bitch, Kensey. This could have been easy. You could have just accepted it and complied like every other pack daughter. But, no.” He pulled himself into the driver’s seat and slammed the door closed. “You had to go and make things hard. I’m not going to put up with this shit once we’re claimed. You pull crap like this, and I’ll chain you to the—”
The wolf inside me rose up, furious, and I channeled her strength. I grabbed the back of Carter’s head and slammed it forward, into the steering wheel. The horn blared, and he grunted before finally shutting up. It was blissful, really. The longest time I’d ever heard him silenced all night.
Then again, being unconscious would do that to you.
…
I ended up missing the local bus, so I walked back into town. I thought about calling Slade but changed my mind pretty fast. The last thing we needed was for him to go berserk on Carter. That would only prove the coalition’s point that the McAlisters were volatile and unstable. Carter would come off smelling like a rose, and we’d be up Shit Creek.
Calling my family was, obviously, out of the question. I contacted the only other person I could think of.
“I’m glad you called,” Risa said as I slid into her passenger’s seat. “I wanted to—what the heck happened to you?”
I gestured to my face, which I guessed was starting to bruise nice and pretty by now. “This is why I called you and not Slade. Carter Pennington and I had a little disagreement about his role in my future.”
“He actually hit you?” The car pulled away from the curb, and Risa let out a whistle. “You can’t tell Slade what happened.”
“Not sure how I’m going to hide this.” I pulled down the visor to peek in the small cosmetic mirror. The entire right side of my face was already starting to darken with the shadow of a bruise. “Makeup isn’t going to fix this.”
She frowned. “Just avoid him for a day or so. We heal fast. He’ll never know.” When I didn’t say anything else, she added, “Anyway, like I was saying… I wanted to apologize about the last time we spoke. I was a bitch. I was worried about Slade, and—”
“It’s fine. I get it.”
“I really am glad you guys are doing this for real, ya know.”
There was a hint of something uncertain in her voice. I liked Risa, but I still wasn’t sure how to take her. “There’s a but in there…”
“But I’m not sure how you guys think this can end well.”
“Huh?”
“Slade is Gavin’s son. I don’t care what our rules say, they’re not going to let you two be together. Not for real. If they were to actually think you guys were truly serious about each other, they’d do anything to keep you apart. The coalition isn’t going to let the daughter of the fire alpha—one of the most powerful families in our species—merge her bloodline with a McAlister. They’d be giving Gavin too much power.”
I let out a small scream. “Seriously? Who said anything about merging? My God, everyone takes this crap so seriously. Can’t we just freaking date?”
“No,” was her grim response. “Not you, anyway. This is the first time in a century the Deaton pack has agreed to merge with another. They’re not going to let you pick just anyone.”
“The rules say I can pick whoever I want.” I remembered what Carter said about them knowing this was all an act. If they started thinking Slade and I were actually serious… “And they can’t break their own rules.”
She laughed. “They can do whatever they want. Look at their track record.”
“What do you mean?”
“Take me, for example. Gavin is my father. By blood, I’m an alpha’s daughter. A Pack Daughter. But because he didn’t force my mother to marry him, I’m considered worthless, while you and the other daughters are treated like queens.”
“Why would you want to be one of us?” Like queens? I was horrified. Was she actually jealous? Of being expected to live as someone’s future baby-making slave? Sure, there were perks—if you grew up nice and obedient, giving in to the mindless existence mentality they force-fed us. “Why would anyone want this?”
“Oh, I don’t. I don’t envy you one bit. But I’m trying to make a point. In the old days, all alpha offspring were considered legitimate. It wasn’t until your father took over that things changed. He decided he didn’t like the rules, so he simply changed them.”
We had entirely different views on life, but my dad was a good guy. He did what he believed was right for all of us. “My dad would never abuse his position.”
“Probably not. But I think he’s been getting some bad advice.”
“From Michael Pennington.”
“He’s been your father’s advisor from day one. He wants his son to be part of your family. You better watch your back—and Slade’s—because he’s going to do whatever he can to get his way.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Slade
If I kept this up, I was going to pace a hole in my floor. Every five minutes I’d check the clock, my phone—lean out the window to peer at the treehouse across the yard—waiting to hear from Kensey. It was after midnight when my phone finally rang. “You really know how to kill a guy.”
She laughed, and some of the tension left my body. I rolled my shoulders and started for the stairs. She’s okay…
“A girl’s gotta have her skills.”
“How’d it go?” I got to the bottom and scanned the room. No sign of Gavin. “Meet me in the treehouse?”
There was a pause. “I think I’m just gonna crash, if you don’t mind. Long da
y.”
Maybe it was the subtle change in her voice. I’d noticed it always rose when there was something she wasn’t telling me. Or maybe it was just the fact that I knew she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to tell me all the ways she’d found to insult Carter tonight. “Yeah. It’s cool. Pick you up in the morning?”
Another pause, this time longer. Yeah. Something wasn’t right. “Let’s play it by ear. I might just skip school tomorrow. I’ve been feeling like crap all night. I think I might actually be getting sick.”
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up, frustrated. Being the impatient shit that I was, I had no intention of waiting until morning to find out what was going on.
“I heard something interesting tonight.” Gavin stepped out from the kitchen and positioned himself between me and the door. “Andrew Givens said he saw Teegan down at the docks earlier.”
“Considering the bastard is dead, pretty sure he was wrong.”
I tried to sidestep him, but he moved to block my path. “That’s what I told him. Said you’d proved yourself to me. Hell, you went down to Ron’s place and burned down a barn. Know what he said?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“He says that barn you burned down was falling apart and empty. He suggested that you lied to me about Teegan.”
“Yeah.” I snorted, trying to keep my pulse even. The slightest variation and he’d know I was full of shit. “I kicked the crap out of myself, too.”
“Ludacris, right? Don’t worry, though. I had him taken care of for spreading such vicious rumors about you.” He stepped aside and made a sweeping gesture toward the door. “Because you, of all people, would know better than to lie to me.”
“Teegan is dead. I’m not an idiot. And Ron got the message loud and clear. You’ll have your money by the end of the week.”