Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,10
Aside from giving me pastel unicorn hair to mix with my blonde locks, she also trimmed it, so now I have a cooler, shorter cut.
“It looks like you got into a fight with a cotton candy machine. And lost.”
I nod. “Like I said. Pretty.”
He snorts, but then his face turns serious. “Listen, we’ve been having some trouble with the Rockheads. They’ve been giving a few of our members some trouble in town. I want you to keep your eyes open and I’m telling everyone not to go out alone.”
My blonde brows shoot up in surprise. “That doesn’t sound good. What kind of trouble?”
“Nothin’ you need to worry about, kid. Just keep your head down same as everyone else, and don’t leave pack territory without at least one other member.”
He says not to worry, but I’m not so sure. I grew up in Pack Rockhead, after all. I know what they’re like. I clear my throat awkwardly. “What kinds of things are they doing?”
“You know their M.O. The fuckers like to toss around their pred status like it grows their dicks an inch every time,” Hugo said, making me snort in laughter. “A trio of them cornered Stinger the other night at the gas station. Things nearly got physical, but the human police happened to show up, so Rockhead bailed. Then a couple more of the fuckwads were heckling Trudy when she was at the community pool. Luckily, some of the human regulars stepped in. They told the Rockheads to back off.”
“Shit. They haven’t bothered to mess with us this much before. Not even when I left,” I say, more to myself than to him. “I wonder what’s changed all of a sudden.”
Hugo shrugs his bulky shoulders. “Don’t know. But I intend to find out. Until I do, our pack needs to be smart and stay safe.”
I nod distractedly, feeling unease in the pit of my stomach. I prefer to pretend that Rockhead doesn’t exist at all. I’ve become pretty good at it, actually. My family wants nothing to do with me, and I want nothing to do with them. But my old pack is terrorizing my current pack, and it brings up a lot of bad memories.
Hugo eyes me quietly, no doubt reading my every expression. As an alpha, he’s adept at reading his pack member’s emotions. “You sure you’re okay, kid?”
I force myself to smile. “Totally fine. I had the bank robbery under control.”
“I had no doubt in my mind,” he replies proudly.
“Oh, I should probably mention that I saw a couple of outsiders. One at the bank and one at the lake afterward. Pred shifters who left the Moon Pack in Arizona.”
He grunts in disapproval. Like me, he’s not fond of predators who come sniffing around our territory.
“I wonder if Rockhead is recruiting them,” he muses.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. It sounded like they just ventured over here on their own. But I’m sure they’ll end up with Rockhead.”
He snorts. “Asshole preds always do,” he says. His phone vibrates in his pocket, and he digs it out, swiping his finger across the screen and then frowns at it with a sigh. “Gunter got stuck on the electric pole.”
“Again?” I ask, exasperated.
“Yup.” He shoves his phone back into his pocket and looks back up at me. “I gotta go take care of this. You sure you’re okay? And you’ll be safe?”
“Sure thing, jelly bean.”
“Speaking of jelly beans, you have candy stuck to you,” he points out and sure enough, there’s a lollipop, stick and all, hanging at the bottom of my wrinkled shirt. “And it’s noon, Addie. This ain’t a respectable time to still be sleeping. Either get a job, or I’ll put you to work around here. Then you can be the one to rescue Gunter when his squirrel climbs up that damn pole and then gets too scared to come down.”
I wrinkle my nose. “No need to make threats, Alpha. I’ll get a job.”
He snorts and starts walking toward his Jeep. “You do that, kid. And if anyone else gives you trouble, I need to hear about it first.”
“Yes sir, Alpha Hugo, sir.”
I head back inside to shower. Guess it’s time to start hunting for a job.
5
Addie
“Come again?”
I look over at Zoey from where she’s perched on her bed. She has her black hair in an elaborate dutch braid that’s wrapped around her head like a crown. “Are you really gonna make me say it again?” I groan.