quiet as my words fall slowly like feathers to the ground. The air between us is taut and apprehensive, and even though I’m a little shocked that this is what I led with instead of the tried and true, Bitch, if you touch my man again, I will fuck you up, there’s a heavy truth in what I just told her.
A ray of sun catches her hair, making it glimmer like rose gold in the beam of light. She shifts from one foot to the other, like she’s not sure what to say.
“I’m also sorry for the meat my wolf stole. I didn’t mean it as a sign of disrespect, and to make it up to you, I’d be happy to hunt with you until you feel like I’ve paid an adequate price.”
“I don’t need your apologies,” she snaps at me with a glare that clearly communicates that she thinks I’m beneath her.
“That’s fine. You’ll get them all the same,” I counter.
“What do you want?” she demands, clearly not trusting this exchange in the slightest. I don’t know if I can blame her, I have daydreamed about ripping her apart a lot in the last twenty-four hours.
“I want there not to be any animosity between us. I’m not saying we have to love each other or even be friends, but I feel like a mutual respect is in order, especially since neither of us are going anywhere and I am the luna.”
“Oh, I’m not good enough to be your friend now?” she accuses, and I reel for a beat.
Is that what she got from what I just said?
My brows pull together. “Umm, that’s not… Do you want to be my friend?”
“No,” she clips irritably, and I look around us as though the trees can fill me in on what the hell just happened.
“Oookay,” I respond, not sure what else to say to that. “So, not friends, but not enemies?” I honestly don’t know if we’ve made any progress here.
“He didn’t play me,” she lobs at me, and it’s as though she tossed a ball, but instead of catching it, I just watch it bounce to the ground. I have no idea what she means, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s nuttier than a fruitcake.
“Tyran,” she announces with a roll of her eyes. “He didn’t play me. He asked me if I wanted to mess with you. I said yes. He would never fuck with pack just to get back at someone. That’s not how he works,” she explains, her tone going a little more judgy with her last statement.
I ignore the if you knew him like I know him jab and instead nod my head in understanding. “Okay, noted. No dick punching on your behalf then.” I might punch him there on behalf of myself though.
“Are we done now? My beaver is getting cold.”
I blink, fighting with everything inside of me not to look at her crotch. What the fuck is wrong with this girl?
“My wolf hates it when the blood gets cold,” she adds, and I realize she’s talking about the carcass still positioned between her feet. Beaver, badger, pretty close.
A laugh escapes me, and I’m about to tell her what I thought she just meant when something bites me in the back. A flash of pain radiates through my shoulder blade, but when I whirl around, there’s nothing there. I reach around behind me to feel for whatever fucked up bug just took a bite out of me, but my blood runs cold when I wrap my fingers around a dart.
I yank it out, whipping back around, yelling, “Presley, run!” My voice fills with every ounce of command I can manage.
Terror and rage rise inside of me, both battling for control over my body. A whimper escapes her as she morphs into her wolf, but the fog is already creeping into my head, the effects of the dart horrifyingly familiar.
“Run! Now! Get Tyran!” I scream at her, and relief flashes through me as she disappears into the brush a second before a dart hits the spot she was just standing in.
I attempt to call my wolf, to shift and give myself some weapons to try and hold them off, but I can’t connect. Staggering away as best I can, I continue to call to the beast inside of me as though I can click over to the right channel and everything will align inside of us. I stumble through the woods, refusing to be a sitting duck