Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,71

to throw blame around, and I wouldn't honestly be surprised if this was all just a bunch of lies to make herself feel good.

"After everyone started talking about werewolves on the news," she snarled, "hunters decided that shooting us was a whole lot more fun. We lost two. Dry Creek Pack lost one. All of a sudden humans are noticing the wolves running across fields, roads, and pastures, and they're pulling out guns. Your kids did this to us. They made people think about what's running around at night, and I'm going to make sure you pay for it."

"You got yourself kicked out," I reminded her. "That's why you don't have safe walls to hide behind. And none of us asked that kid to shoot up the school or lose his mind. Blame someone else, Karen."

"But he knew about wolves, and that means those kids let it slip."

She had a point, and a good one. The problem was that she was wrong. The kids hadn't shifted where he could see. Mason had simply overheard something and latched onto it. The simple fact that we all had amber-colored eyes only helped to confirm it. That the kids called themselves wolves probably didn't help, but proof? There was none.

"And werewolves don't exist," I told her, repeating what Gabby had said so many times. "The whole world knows that boy is insane. It has nothing to do with us."

"No? Not even that video?" she countered.

"The one a girl made using special effects?" I scoffed. "Keep trying. We kept a bad situation from getting worse. We made sure to take care of our community - which is what you should be worrying about instead of trying to blame everyone else. Playing the victim doesn't suit you. It's a hard world, so suck it up and learn how to survive without your daddy covering for you all the time."

And then I slammed the phone down, ending the call.

"Elena?" Ashley asked, proving that both she and Sheridan were standing at the corner of the hall, looking at me with concern.

I just let out a heavy sigh. "Karen."

"Shit," Ashley breathed.

"Who?" Sheridan asked.

"Former pack member," Ashley explained. "Her father became my father's beta, all but raising Ian as a second dad. I was older, but he was always a family friend. The girl tried to force Ian to choose her as his mate after he'd already claimed Elena publicly, and she wouldn't back down. She went full lycan once - in the community, thankfully - and tried to attack Elena while she was still human. So Ian threw her out of the pack."

"Oh," Sheridan breathed. "Do you think she'll try to come back?"

"No," I said, waving that off. "She just wanted to let us know that Hidden Forest and some other pack - um, Dry Creek, I think - have had hunters shooting at them. A few wolves were killed."

"No," Sheridan breathed, sounding mortified.

"It happens," Ashley told her gently. "That's why we built this community, actually. My father got hit by a car trying to get another wolf out of the way. He managed, but we weren't sure if he was going to make it. Got him to shift and to a hospital, but it was a lot of fun explaining how the injuries had happened." She rubbed the girl's shoulder. "Thankfully, we have our own doctor now, and she handles a lot of that."

Sheridan just nodded. "I was told. Um, how will I tell our wolves apart from the ones that aren't ours? I mean, if I get the job, and if I'm responsible for letting people in, and all that."

"You've got the job," Ashley assured her. "I'll have Mitch sharing the shift with you at first. He'll give you all the tricks and show you how the emergency precautions work. Things like locking the gates when we have someone about to turn and the secondary blockades in case the gates ever fail. Like I said, this place was built to keep us safe, and so far it seems to be working."

"Which means," I added, holding up a set of keys, "these are for you. And if you're going to see Lev, can you give him his set?"

The little fox pressed a hand to her lips, looking between the pair of us. "We get our own place, and my job really covers it?"

"It does," I assured her. "Just let me know when you're done moving in and I'll get you on the work schedule. I figure, what,