Page 65 of Same Thing
He approached to hold her again, but she held her hand out. “I have been angry with myself,” she said, her pretty eyes filling with tears, and her voice thick.
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and fidgeted with the edge as she dropped her gaze. “Just let me talk. I have practiced this speech so many times in my head, and now I’m here and I’m with you, and all of my words just…” She shook her head, and exhaled a long, shaking breath. “I know I made things impossible for you. and you got hurt.”
“That’s not on you—”
“Liam. Please.”
He hated this. Hated the tear that fell to her cheek because she was thinking any of this was her fault. It wasn’t. None of it was. She’d just come in on a system that took the weight of one piece of straw to break it completely.
“I had a pity party all week, and then I started thinking about a solution.”
“There’s no fixing—”
“Liam.” The sternness in her voice quieted him. He could feel the pain leaking from her body, and it made him feel sick to his stomach. He wanted her to be happy. He needed it.
When he went still, she stepped forward and handed him the piece of paper.
Confused, he unfolded it and stared at the picture of an aerial view of a forest. A large, red square had been drawn over the picture. Underneath was an address, and details on a property. Thirty acres. One bedroom, one bathroom house. Scenic views, a creek running through the back of the property. Backing up to protected forest land that would never be developed.
“What is this?” he asked, holding it up.
“Can the Elders stop you from purchasing land outside of here?” she asked.
“No. The Government does that. We’re supposed to stay in designated areas.”
“So, it’s against the law to live outside of places like this? Where the Elders can just kick you out whenever they want to?”
“I guess it’s not against the law, but we don’t do that. Wolves naturally need to stick together. It keeps the animals steadier.”
“What is to keep you from being a Pack? Is it just the Elders saying you aren’t one?” she asked softly.
Where was she going with this? “They have the power to strip our titles, strip our registrations, and declare us Rogues. It’s a punishment.”
She shrugged. “So, you’re a Rogue. Maybe the solution is just to own it. You are a Rogue. You’re a fucking awesome Rogue. Is there a law to keep you from living near other Rogues?”
“Well…no.” And he was starting to get it. He was starting to understand where this conversation was going.
“So, if you just happened to live near Bridger, and Nate, and Delta, and Tabian, and Vic, and Dodger, no one could do anything about it? You would just be a bunch of Rogues hanging out?”
He bit back a smile. “Yes.”
“If you lived nearby, would you and your Pack of Rogues be able to defend yourselves from whoever moves into this territory?”
Another smile took his lips, and he nodded. “We are monsters, yes.”
“So, the real problem is you need territory to claim.”
His heart was starting to pound harder now. “We can’t buy land, Nory. Banks are forbidden to lend to us.”
“Because you are werewolves,” she whispered.
“Yes. Because we are werewolves. We get temporary housing in Pack territories, and if we are Rogues, we beg a room in a Pack territory and likely move around as the local Packs tire of us and kick us out of the territory. I can’t do anything for housing for a group of Rogues. No werewolf can.”
And now it was Nory’s turn. The prettiest smile he’d ever seen curved up the corners of her lips, and her eyes sparkled with determination. “Well, I’m not a werewolf.”
Chills rippled up his spine as he realized what she was really saying. Liam looked back down at the paper in his hands. A line had been drawn around the property line, and right in the middle was a clearing, with the roof of a small house.
“I love the thought, but I don’t think we would all do well in one house—”