Page 19 of Cursed by Death (Ruby Jane #1)

I dressed in black leather pants, my combat boots, and a black long-sleeved shirt. I had my knife sheaths on my wrists, and my knife tucked into my right boot.

I planned on leaving my gun in the car because I didn’t think it would be smart to wear my holster over my shirt and the shirt was too tight to wear it underneath and have it not be noticed. I felt like if I had it out in plain sight it might make people uncomfortable and that was the last thing I needed.

Hunter and Ginger drove separately and Hunter showed up first. He put the stroller in the trunk of the Bentley and hooked the car seat up in the back. Thank god he did it because I wouldn’t have begun to know how.

Ginger didn’t mention the car seat. She and the baby rode in the back with Hunter in the front passenger seat with me driving.

I liked that Hunter didn’t try to get me to let him drive. I was an alpha female when it came to most things and I didn’t need a man to drive me around. I didn’t need a man for anything, really.

Hunter and Ginger talked amongst themselves and I was glad they didn’t try to include me in their conversation. I didn’t know if they could feel my nervousness and were giving me my space or what. I appreciated it all the same, no matter the reason why.

The front yard and the driveway in front of Rally’s farmhouse were completely covered in vehicles. The Bentley stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Park right up front, near the house,” Hunter advised me.

I did as he said and parked right up front close to the house. I seriously hoped it didn’t make me look like an asshole who needed special privileges to these good people.

I didn’t see anyone as we got out of the car and Hunter went around to the trunk to get the stroller out.

“Are we late?” I asked Ginger quietly. I had to remind myself that even if I whispered chances were high that most of them would still be able to hear every word out of my mouth.

“They should all be out back behind the barn. I’ve never seen this many cars here before, though. Wow.”

I sighed unhappily at hearing this news. There were so many of them here tonight because the news that Rally had found his supposed mate had gotten out. It was even bigger news because I was mostly human, that they knew of.

I was really wishing that Rally hadn’t asked me to come here tonight to support him because I really didn’t want to be the most popular side show at the circus. I had been alone for so long that I knew all of the attention I was going to get tonight would only serve to make me extremely uncomfortable.

Ginger and I walked side by side behind Hunter who had taken control of the stroller and was happily pushing it along like this was a day trip to the zoo or something. There was even a little pep in his step.

Hunter had taken the ugly diaper bag and stuffed it into the bottom basket of the stroller. She kept nervously twisting her fingers together in front of herself, almost as if she didn’t know what to do with empty hands.

I couldn’t help her with that. I wanted my hands empty in case I needed to be able to go for one of my knives so I could defend myself.

The shifters had claws to defend themselves. I had very sharp blades. It wasn’t the same but it was a lot better than nothing.

I could even hear them before we started making our way around the barn. Hundreds of voices, both male and female, were talking all at once.

I didn’t let myself get nervous. They’d be able to smell the fear on me. I told myself that I had nothing to fear from these people but I knew that wasn’t exactly the truth.

If Rally lost this challenge what did that mean for me? Would they all turn on me and attack me?

I didn’t know but I didn’t think telling them Rally and I hadn’t slept together yet and that I was no one’s mate would do me any good. Their Prince had proclaimed me as his mate and they hadn’t even questioned it.

I had never been to any kind of shifter function before and I was desperately hoping that my first outing into their world didn’t turn into a bloodbath.

Just the thought of the potential made me feel like I was a selfish bitch for dragging Ginger and the baby here.

There were large crowds of people grouped everywhere. Everyone quieted down as they turned to watch us walk through them towards the front where I assumed Rally would be. I kept my mouth shut and followed Hunter with my face carefully blank.

I felt even worse for Ginger now because it wasn’t just me they were openly staring at. I wanted to shield her from their prying eyes.

“Ginger,” a big, burly man said as he stepped in front of us, stopping us and cutting us off from Hunter and the baby. “It’s so good to see you here. I’m glad you remembered you’re a part of the community. You can’t hide from us for forever.”

The man ignored me entirely and Ginger flinched at his words.

I wanted to dick punch him for that flinch alone. And I wanted to feed him his balls for calling her out like that in front of all of these watching people.

What a fucking asshole.

Ginger opened her mouth but I got there first, “What’s your name, big man?” I asked. In my head all I could think was big man, small dick.

It would be a cruel twist of fate if this asshole was packing heat in the cock department. That didn’t seem fair and I was a firm believer that god worked in mysterious ways.

And, yes, I believed in god. I believed in evil and the devil. How could I believe in that but not believe in god? I didn’t think you could have one without the other because balance.

I had always been a believer, even when I had been living with a monster who got off on hurting me in every way imaginable. There had been no bright side to that and still I had never once lost my faith.

The man's dark brown eyes slid my way and there was not one thing even remotely friendly in the way he looked at me. Since I had already decided I didn’t like him either I wasn’t offended by the hostile look on his face.

“Garth, bitch,” he snapped. “I wasn’t talking to you. Back the fuck off. Better yet, get your ass outta here. You don’t belong here and every single one of us knows it. No matter what Rally says, you're not one of us, you’ll never be one of us, and the fact he wants to claim you as his mate is downright laughable. No wonder he’s constantly being challenged. He can’t even pick the right bitch to mate with. What a fucking joke. He’s no prince of mine.”

He spit on the ground at my feet and the people closest to me gasped.

He’d called me a bitch twice now and I wasn’t going to let a third time slide.

Ginger huddled into my shoulder, attempting to hide behind my body. I didn’t see Hunter and I was glad for it, it meant the baby wasn’t anywhere near this degenerate of a man.

I wondered what happened to this being a safe place for children to be. It didn’t seem very safe if there were other people like this asshole and his anger here. Or maybe it just wasn’t safe for someone like me, an outsider and not a snifter. Rally should have known better than to invite me here to this if this was going to be the reaction of his people.

I really hoped he hadn’t known his people would verbally attack me and he’d let me walk in here without him because that would be most disappointing.

I haven’t believed in another person since the twins and I didn’t exactly believe in Rally now but I thought I would eventually be able to get there and we were certainly on the way towards building a friendship. I didn’t want to lose that so soon after finding it.

I was unsure as to how to handle this situation. Rally had really let me walk in here blind and now I was getting pissed about it. I never would have pressured Ginger into coming here if I knew people were going to be behaving this badly.

“What’s the matter with you, Garth?” a man said as he stepped away from the crowd and started walking towards us. “You don’t get to speak to Rally’s mate like that. It’s insulting to your Prince. And, seriously, what the fuck’s the matter with you that you’d ever talk to Ginger like that?”

He shook his head as he sneered at this Garth man. I thought perhaps I might actually like this one. I didn’t need him sticking up for me but I really appreciated him doing it for Ginger. I thought she needed all the help and support she could get.

He was a big man. Over six feet tall and he had to weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds. His head was shaved bald but he had a really big, full, russet brown beard. He was dressed in worn blue jeans and a black pullover hoodie.

I looked around and noticed jeans and a hoodie seemed pretty much the dress code for the evening and even though I’d dressed casual for myself I was still overdressed. Good thing I was comfortable in my own skin and confident in myself or this might have bothered me.

“Mind your own fucking business, Thompson,” Garth snarled. “Rally’s gotten away with bullshit for far too long and you damn well know it. He does whatever the fuck he wants and we’re just supposed to eat his shit and go along with it. Well I’m sick of it and I’m not doing it.” He pointed his finger at me without looking in my direction. “This bitch is not my Princess and she never will be.”

That did it. I had had enough. “That’s the third time you’ve called me a bitch and it had better be the last.”

Garth sneered at me again but Thompson looked at me with wide eyes. He’d heard the threat in my voice and he was taking it seriously.

I’d had high hopes for this night, otherwise I never would have brought Ginger and the kid with me.

Now I wanted nothing more than for us to go home and pretend this night never happened.

And I knew it was only going to get worse from here on out.

Garth leaned forward in my direction and spat out, “Bitch.”

That’s when I felt it. Intense energy crawled along my skin. It raised the hair on my arms. It was so hot it almost burned and I half expected to find blisters everywhere the heat had touched me.

There weren’t any blisters though.

I fought the urge to rub my hands down my arms to soothe them, to soothe me, but I knew it would do me no good.

The crowd parted and Rally stood there. It was his blistering energy I was feeling.

The Prince had arrived and he was pissed.