Page 19

“Why don’t you leave?” the familiar one asks.

“We’re trying,” Marley replies before I can.

“We mean leave Dark Woods. Go back to the city where you belong,” the leader spits out.

Marley opens her mouth to speak, but I shake my head. There was no need to argue with them.

As we make our way back through the trees toward our borrowed cabin, I spot the Beta through the forest. His golden eyes staring back at me as if I were a complicated puzzle he’s trying to figure out. It’s clear that he’d been watching us the entire time. He saw those boys harassing us and not once stepped in to de-escalate the situation. I imagine he hoped that the confrontation led to us leaving or reacting badly and getting tossed out.

Rolling my eyes, I turn away from his golden gaze. Marley and I will finish our lessons inside.

chapter Five

Dinner

Enzo

“You should’ve been there, Zyion. It was perfect.”

I laugh as Titus, one of our unmated male wolves, fills Zyion in on the stunt they pulled last night.

When the vamps showed up two weeks ago, I was so sure they wouldn’t last long. I expected them to reveal their true natures and be dealt with by now, but I was wrong.

They don’t do much. They remain locked inside the cabin most of the time. Luna has gone to see them every day. They hang out for a few hours and then she leaves. Poor Miko doesn’t leave her side the entire time she’s there.

Despite how little they have done to get kicked out, my pack has been giving them hell ever since they showed up. Last night was no different. I did not know their plans. When I heard the pounding on the Vamp’s doors at midnight this morning, I rushed to the door to see where the commotion was coming from. A handful of our packs unmated males had set up camp outside of the vampire’s borrowed cabin. They spent the entire night taking turns pounding on the leeches’ doors and windows.

“Every time I thought they were done, they’d start up again. They did it all night long.” I chuckle at the reminder of them banging so hard against the windows the glass rattled.

Zyion tosses his head back and laughs as he places the last log onto the truck for the day.

“I bet the vamps were pissed,” Zyion jokes.

“Hell yeah they were,” Titus says. “The older one ran out on the porch the first three times. She was livid.”

She was more than livid. I noticed her face when she came out the door. The first time she stepped on that porch, she looked afraid. Which I thought made sense. She should’ve been afraid that a bunch of wolves were surrounding her home and knocking. However, the moment she realized it was us, her features went from scared to annoyed.

Her reaction caught me off guard a little. I expected her fear; I just didn’t think it would turn to annoyance so fast. It’s almost like she thought someone else was at her door. Like maybe the leech her sister is running from had found her. I don’t know why she believed we would allow a bloodsucker to get that far onto our pack lands. Her reaction made me realize she’s terrified of whoever is after her sister.

“That’s good,” Zyion says, dusting his hands off.

I go around to the side of the truck to secure the chains and straps that hold the logs on the back of the huge lumber truck.

“Maybe, if we make them miserable enough, they will leave,” Zyion says, following me.

“Let’s hope,” Titus adds before going over to the driver to let him know his load was secure and ready to go.

Zyion and I head back over to the shed, where we keep our extra supply of lumber. I do a quick inventory count to see how much work needed to be done tomorrow. This was the last thing we had to do before calling it a day.

“Want to head over to the dining hall with me?” Zyion asks as he place his work gloves back in their spot.

“I can’t,” I grumble as I remember the promise I made Chayton. “Luna invited the bloodsuckers to dinner at her home. I promised Alpha I’d come over to help keep an eye on them.”

Zyion grimaces. “Eww, he invited them into his home?”

“No, unfortunately our Luna did. But you know he’s not going to tell her no.”

Zyion nods in understanding. “Poor Luna has no idea how disgusting it is to have those monsters in your home.”