Chapter Fifty-Four
hank you.” I smiled as we walked out of yet another store. I was exhausted, but we still had more stops to make. I looked at everything in my hands: my new sheets, blankets, pillows.“T Everything we threw away, we had replaced. Except for my bed.
“I’m tired, my head hurts, and I’m-”
“Whining.” My mom finished. But she smiled. “We just need to get you a new mattress and get the old one hauled away.”
“Plus, finish the laundry and get the carpets cleaned.” I pointed out. She closed her eyes.
“I forgot.” She stretched out her back and tied her hair up. “Now, let’s finish this part up. I still need to fix dinner.”
“Why don’t we just order food? Morgan and Shannon will survive one day with take out.” My mom rolled her eyes and I watched as she bobbed her head back and forth. Then she decided.
“Fine. You’re right.” She gave a final nod. “We will grab pizza and they can just suck it up.”
“Yes!” I pumped my arm and pulled her into the mattress store. I wanted this day finished so I could curl up in my fresh bed. We walked around for exactly five seconds before a salesperson came up and within another twenty, we were walking out, with a delivery time of an hour. “Werewolf businesses rock. If this was a human store, it would be days until I could get my new bed.”
“Yeah, well, they only help the neighbouring packs, so they have an easier time.” My mom pulled me toward the exit. “Let’s go grab the pizza. I still have that mountain for clothes to do.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I wilted thinking about those clothes. I jumped into the driver’s seat and started my Jeep as my mom put everything in the back. I waited until she got in before I handed her the card Vince gave us. “I don’t want to use them. Mainly because Vince gave us their card, but I also want to wipe out my actual scent completely.”
She grunted as she took the card and called as I drove. “Hello. Yes, do you have availability today? One room. Yes, a bedroom. Alpha Vince gave us your card. Oh, you can. Perfect.” I listened to her as she set up everything. Then she called in the pizza. I headed to the pizza place, but she
pointed to a different parking lot.
“What?”
My mom touched her lips as she finished the order. I pulled into the parking lot and waited for her to tell me what we were doing here. She hit end on the phone and turned to me. “The carpet guys tried to give me the runaround until I told them Vince gave us the card. Now, they will be at the
house in an hour.”
“Okay?”
“The pizza will be ready in twenty minutes.” She opened the door, but I grabbed her.
“Okay, but why are we here?” I pointed to the strip mall.
“We need descenting spray.”
“Right…” I was apparently dumb because that didn’t seem like the answer to my question. I twirled my hand. “What does that have to do with the strip mall with a nail salon, a survival store, and what looks to be a tex- mex restaurant?”
“Amy…where do you think descenting spray comes from?”
“Same place where we get laundry stuff from. Walker’s.” Walker’s is the werewolf community’s version of a superstore. They had everything.
“No baby. Descenting spray is made for hunting parties and survivalists.
It’s to stop rogues from smelling you.” She opened her door again and waved me out of the car. “Come meet Carl.” We walked to a store with
blacked-out windows.
“Who the hell is Carl?”
She just laughed as she walked into the survival store, Wildwood Survival. “Hey Carl.”
“Luna Ainsley. Fancy seeing you here.” The giant of a man smiled from behind the counter. “And who have you brought to visit me?”
“This is Amy.” My mother pulled me beside her and wrapped her arm around my waist. “My daughter.”
“You brought your pup to meet me?” Carl raised his eyebrows and had a giant smile. He looked at me. “You sure are a pretty little thing. But let’s see how strong you are.” Carl slammed his aura out to clash with me, and he was staggeringly strong. He just wasn’t as strong as I was. I gave a toothy grin and slammed my aura out to meet his. His eyes widened as he hit his knees. “Holy Goddess.” I pulled my aura back in.
“Sorry.” I gave a sheepish look, but he laughed.
“Don’t be sorry. If I was going to choose anyone to follow, I have to make sure they are worth following.”
I turned to my mother, then back to him. “I won’t be the Luna of the Oakenfang pack.”
He lifted a brow. “Who said I was talking about that pack?”
That stopped me for a minute. I looked back at my mother and she smiled. “Carl here, is what you would call a nomad. He was a part of my father’s pack, but followed me to your father’s, and then to here. He refused to swear fealty to Vince. So he stays off pack lands. He set up shop here, and since he is one of the few warriors skilled enough to make descenting spray, Vince tolerates him.” My mother went over to Carl and kissed his
cheek.
“Always a pleasure to see my Luna.”
“Oh, so he meant he follows you.” I bounced my finger between the two and my mom looked up at Carl, who also gave a tiny nod.
“Yes, and no. Carl here is also a shaman.”
“A what?”
“A shaman.” My mother held out her hand and I walked over to them.
“Your father had his grandmother’s help with his pack.” She stared at me.
“My father had Carl.” I could see it in her eyes. She was asking me to understand.
“Shamans are like grandmother?” I tilted my head and Carl laughed.
“Yes, and no.” This time it was him. “We are blessed by the Goddess, but our gifts are different. We connect to the land and the Goddess. But we
mostly get these feelings.”
“Feelings?”
“Yes. Say, a wolf comes in, and he is sick. I might get the feeling of pain, or some kind of uncomfortable feeling. I can’t see a clear picture, but I know something is wrong.” He tried to explain, but laughed. “It’s not much of an explanation, but if you had it, you would understand.”
“Daddy? Who are you talking to?” A little girl came from the back room.
“Come here Carly.” He waved her over and picked her up from the ground. “I want you to meet someone very special.” The little girl was adorable, with bright blonde pigtails and chocolate brown eyes. Her mouth was smudged with what looked to be peanut butter and jam.
“Carl, you never told me.” My mom covered her mouth and I could see tears welling up in her eyes.
“You have had it rough, and I couldn’t risk it.” His eyes danced between us. “Vince would have tried to take her.”
My mother gasped, and I knew something was about to happen. I walked back to the door and locked it, flipping over the open sign for good measure. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I think this would be a good time to get away from prying eyes.” I stared out of the door and searched the empty parking lot.
“What’s wrong?” My mom went to come over to me, but Carl grabbed her arm.
“Something is coming.” I turned back to Carl, and he nodded. “You knew?”
“Not exactly. But I brought my kid with me today when I’ve never done it before.” He hugged the little girl tighter.
“Why?”
“Because you needed to see there were people loyal to you.” His words were a whisper as his eyes clouded over. I looked back to the parking lot, and I saw Vince and Brandon walking over.
“Mom.”
“Yeah baby?”
“Take Carly, Carl, and hide.” My mom pulled Carl and the little girl into the back room and I turned back to the store. I scanned the room quickly and saw a shelf of descenting spray. I rushed to it, and grabbed a bottle before throwing it on to the ground and stepping on it, breaking the bottle and sending the liquid rushing out.
The smells from around the room disappeared and I went to the back room and grabbed a wet floor sign and the mop. My mother’s wide eyes met mine, but I held my finger to my lips. There was a knock on the door, and I could see the fear in little Carly’s face. But my mom held her tightly as Carl just stared out with his blank eyes. It was like he wasn’t there anymore.
I walked back out. “Just a minute.” I called and put the wet floor sign out.
I stomped in the liquid, sending it splattering more on the floor. The knock sounded again. “I said just a minute.” I put as much exasperation as I could and then opened the door with the mop in hand. “Alpha Vince. Brandon.” I jumped back in surprise. “What are you two doing here?”
“We were fol-”
“We came by to see Carl and restock up on some essentials.” Vince cut Brandon off.
I nodded and wheeled my mop bucket back to the puddle. “Carl had to run out for some restock, but he should be back in a few hours.” I lied as I turned back to the two men. “Is there anything I could help you with?”
I turned back to the spill, picked up the broken plastic bottle, tossed it in the trash, and mopped up the spray. “You work here?” Brandon’s voice was incredulous.
“Not really. Carl is my mom’s friend. We came here for descenting spray.
But Carl asked my mom about a contact back in her dad’s old pack and then they took off. Asking me to watch the store.” I smiled as I lied through my teeth.
“We didn’t see them leave.” Vince turned around and silenced Brandon with a look.
“Well…I didn’t realize you were watching.” I laughed as I stared at them and I saw Brandon’s wince. “They went out the back, since that’s where Carl’s truck is. My mom rode here with me, but Carl will give her a ride back here and we’ll go home.”
“Do you know where they went?” Vince shopped, and I made my way to the counter. I prayed I was going to be able to work the cash register.
“They said they were going down the road for ingredients, but that they might have to go all the way to my grandpa’s pack for one specific ingredient. He said he was making a new batch of spray.” I lifted my
shoulder and settled on the stool.
“You’re not sure.”
I laughed. “She is my mother, not the other way around. I am sure there are a ton of things you do that Brandon doesn’t know about.”
Vince stared at me. “Yeah, but I’m the Alpha.”
I tilted my head. “I think you forget sometimes that my mom is also an Alpha.” I raised my shoulders again. “I learned a long time ago not to question her.”
Vince gave a quick nod and grabbed a few things. Brandon, on the other hand, came over to talk to me. He leaned on the counter and gave his best charming smile. “Hey Amy.”
I furrowed my brows. What was he trying to do here? “Uh, hi Brandon.”
“How are you?” He stared into my eyes, but I could see him flexing the arm he was leaning on. I had to do a slow blink to cover my eye roll.
“I’m great. How are you?” I politely smiled and looked over to Vince, who was staring at us, like a stalker. When his eyes met mine, he went back
to shopping.
“I’m great now that I see you.”
I nearly gagged. I nodded along. “Oh really? Did you have something you wanted me to tell Shannon? Or did you like…lose your phone and need me to tell her so she doesn’t freak out or something?” I played stupid.
“What? No! I just wanted to see you.” Brandon straightened and sent a weird look to his father. Who, by the way, was once again staring.
“Why?” I leaned down over the counter and rested my head in my hands.
“Why what?” Brandon tried to recover.
“Why did you want to see me?” I sat back up as he tried to lean close.
“We aren’t friends, barely even acquaintances. I think we have barely said a few words to each other, and most of those were about or because of Shannon. You know, my stepsister, the girl you are still dating.” I smirked at him as he did his best to recover.
“That’s only because…” He trailed off and looked to his dad. I watched as Alpha Vince mind-linked him and he turned back and smiled. “It’s because you were so beautiful. I was intimidated. I talked to Shannon about you, and she swore you would become interested in me if we pretended to date.” He leaned back over the counter. “It was all just a ploy to get your attention.”
I leaned back on the counter and I watched as his smile got bigger, more confident. I leaned in really close to his face and when I was a hair’s breath away from his lips; I looked him in the eye. “Well, it was hard not to pay
attention when you and Shannon hooked up for hours in the room next to mine.” He jerked back and his smile dropped. But mine got bigger. “You seem to have good stamina, but come on, did you really believe that was really how she sounds? It was right out of a movie. A bad one.” I pushed back off the counter. I turned to Vince and back to Brandon. “If you really wanted to catch my attention, sleeping with my stepsister was probably the worst way to do it. I want a mate who waited for me, just like I did for them.” This time around, I was sticking to my morals. In my last life, I looked past it. And look where that got me. “Now, is there anything I can help you with in the store?”
Vince walked up to the counter with a few things. “Now, now, Brandon might have gone about talking to you in the wrong way, but he only had good intentions.” He put everything on the counter.
“Yeah. I heard what his intentions were through the wall most nights.” I snorted my laugh. “I can appreciate the effort. Really, I can. But I have a rule. I don’t date someone a friend or family member has dated.” I met Brandon’s eyes. “I sure as heck won’t sleep with the same man.”
I watched as he deflated. “What? You can’t be serious…” He looked at his dad. I could see the disbelief on both their faces.
“What are you saying here, Amy?” Vince tapped a finger on the countertop. “That you would only be with a virgin man?” His laugh was annoying. “If that is a requirement, I think you will be alone for your entire
life.” Brandon chuckled.
I nodded. “I mean it’s possible.”
Vince straightened. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? Are virgin male wolves that elusive?” They both stared at me like I had lost my mind. “What?”
“When a male wolf enters shifting age, their aggression and hormones go haywire. The only known way to stop them from killing others in the pack is to ensure they have a partner to take their excess energy on.” Vince widened his stance like he was teaching me something, but he wasn’t.
I nodded along. “Yeah. I remember learning that in school. I was so blown away I brought it up to my father the following summer. He said he was punishing a wolf coming into his shifting time, his second Gamma now, but back then, just another wolf. I pointed out that it wasn’t fair. His hormones were so out of whack and he had no one to take his anger out on.” Vince nodded. “But my dad froze.”
“Why?”
“He then explained that it was a lie. Older male wolves told the next generation that it was normal and even expected that male wolves would have a harder time controlling their wolves. And that it should be expected that men would sleep around because they did that themselves.” I met Vince’s eyes. “And all the following generations built this whole lie so that their sons, and their sons, wouldn’t be judged the same way female wolves were if they lost their virginity before mating. They wanted an excuse so that men could do whatever they wanted and it could be blamed on hormones.”
“That’s not true. Males do have a bigger surge of aggression.” Vince sounded disgusted at my father.
“True. But aggression can be channeled in a million different ways. My father’s pack uses warrior training for all the wolves coming of age.” I lifted a shoulder. “Each pack has their own way, I guess.”
I pulled his stuff towards me. But Vince slammed his hand down on the counter and growled. “Are you talking down about our pack? MY pack?”
“No Alpha Vince, just pointing out that there are ways other than sex to work out our aggression. Each pack has their way. If I grew up just here, I would follow your way without question.” I looked down. “I would probably feel exactly as you do. That men need their release to be safe.”
Brandon looked confused. “But I wasn’t just raised here. I have seen other ways that work. So I guess that gave me unrealistic expectations from my mate. My father trained through his aggression.”
“He also cheated on your mother.” Vince tossed out. “He betrayed her and left her vulnerable.”
I felt my hackles rise. But my mother and Carl banged in from the back door. “Thank you for coming with me, Ainsley. You always negotiate better than I do for the sorrel.” Carl carried in a giant bag of leaves.
“It’s no worry. I’m just happy they met us-” They both looked up and froze. “Alpha Vince, Brandon? What are you two doing here?” My mom’s eyes bounced between the three of us.
“We came in to buy a few things, and Amy here was explaining the practices of her dad’s pack.” Vince growled out.
I smiled and nodded. “I explained dad uses training to deal with the extra aggression of male wolves.”
“Why?” My mother walked closer to me and I saw the tightness around her eyes.
“They were just surprised why I had such high-”
“Unrealistic standards.” Brandon cut in.
“High standards.” I glared at him. “For my mate or anyone I want to date.
I was just explaining that I wouldn’t date or mate with anyone that had slept with a friend or family member. That I wanted my mate to be just for me.
Like how you and dad taught me.”
