Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,69

“I was born into Pack Rockhead.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Yep. My mother and step father are wolves. She had a secret affair that everyone found out about once I first shifted. They don’t like me much.”

Somehow, I can tell that she’s putting it mildly. My expression turns stormy at the implications of how she must’ve grown up. No wonder she was wary of predators. And then we went and treated her like garbage. I wish I could kick my own ass. Penn and Lafe obviously have followed the same line of thought, because they go through varying degrees of pissed and contrite.

Penn recovers first. “Don’t worry, Addie. We’ll come up with a plan. We’ll take care of them for you.”

She smirks and pats him on the chest. “Boys, boys, boys,” she says while clucking her tongue at us. “I don’t need you to take care of them for me. I’m an Aberrant. We’ve dealt with our fair share of asshole pred packs. We already have a plan.”

Her pluckiness and fight just makes me want her even more, and I can’t help but be impressed. Most chicks would be ready to cower or have their mates take care of everything.

“What’s the plan?” Lafe asks curiously.

“Sorry, it’s a Pack Aberrant secret, and you aren’t a misfit.”

Lafe reaches forward and snags her by the waist, lifting her up onto the counter in one fluid motion and making her squeal in surprise. “Maybe ducks don’t have the best hearing, but I’ll say it again for you. We’re your mates, and we aren’t leaving. If you’re a misfit, then so are we.”

She smiles, her blue eyes lighting up her whole face. “I guess we should go talk to Alpha Hugo then. But I have to warn you, he won’t take in just anybody.”

Lafe grins and steps closer, so his hips meet the space between her thighs. “Liar.”

“It’s true,” she insists, although I can tell that she’s trying to keep a straight face. “I’m not sure you three are up to snuff. Aberrants have certain standards, you know.”

“I’m sure we can prove ourselves.”

She grins. “Good. Then let’s go teach those Rockhead jerkoffs why you shouldn’t mess with misfits.”

15

Penn

Usually, when a shifter applies to join a new pack, you have to complete some sort of loyalty test first—like what Rockhead wants us to do by getting Addie. Other packs sometimes make applicants go up against some of their best fighters, and you can only earn a place in the pack if you win the fight.

Shifter laws and ways of life are a bit barbaric still, but it’s what we’ve always known. We know loyalty through action, and we know strength through fights. So it surprises the hell out of me when Hugo looks over the three of us and tells us that all we have to do is have a meeting with him. I should’ve known that it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded.

We raced straight here from the pet shop and told him everything. After we filled him in, Hugo came up with a plan for how to handle Rockhead, but now, he’s handling us. And it’s pretty fucking terrifying.

“You formed a mate bond with one of my shifters,” he says, standing tall and pissed off.

We’re outside of his office, standing in the dirt between his Jeep and five of his enforcers, all dressed in their black fatigues. His second-in-command is glaring at us so thoroughly, that I’m surprised we haven’t spontaneously combusted.

“We did,” I answer him.

“You formed a quad, and then left my pack member to suffer. You abandoned her. Hurt her. Could have killed her.”

I wince and swallow hard. In my peripheral, I can see that Lafe has dropped his head in shame.

“We did,” I say again. “We were wrong to judge her duck. We want to make it up to her—prove ourselves. And we would be honored if you’d let us join Pack Aberrant.”

“Why should I let three fuckhead preds like you join my pack?” he snarls.

God, he’s a scary motherfucker. Tall and bulky, with a scowl that could shatter glass. He’s wearing torn jeans, a leather vest, and black boots that could probably break my ass in half if he decided to kick me. I really hope he doesn’t kick me.

“You’re right, we don’t deserve to,” Herrick speaks up. “But we realize our mistake. We were taught to believe that anything less than a perfect pred shifter was beneath us. We were wrong.”

My eyes dart from Herrick back to Hugo. His scowl