Page 21

I hummed to myself as I put away the groceries I had just grabbed from the store. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I stopped briefly, and the music halted. It caught me by surprise. I only ever hummed when I was happy, which meant I hadn’t hummed in roughly ten years.

For whatever reason, the humming was what hit home more than anything else. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was actually happy. Optimistic, even. I felt like the woman I used to be back before I returned to Rowen.

And in more ways than one. Because I was doing the one thing I had promised myself I wouldn’t do. I had fallen for Jackson again.

Despite trying not to, I hadn’t been able to help it. The way he looked after Claire, who was now ecstatic that Jackson was her dad after getting over the initial shock. The way he constantly checked on me. The way he laughed when he riled me up. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. And as much as I had tried to prevent it, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining a life with him once again.

I hadn’t told him any of this yet. I didn’t know how to. And as much as he seemed like a different man now, I could never shake the memory of that night long ago, when I had run out after he rejected me. The thought of him doing it again… I didn’t think I would be able to bear it a second time. I worried it would break me. Until I knew for certain his feelings for me, I would keep my own to myself.

A knock on the door pulled me from these thoughts. I placed the box of cereal in my hand down on the counter and walked through the hall. I opened the door.

Reacher and Dad stood on the other side.

I froze, my chest tightening in fright as I looked at them, the age-old reaction I’d always had around them. That didn’t stop the fear from digging itself deep into me. What if they knew that I had told Jackson everything? What if they were going to hurt me?

I pushed those thoughts away. There was no way they could know that.

“You aren’t going to say hello?” Dad sneered.

My jaw tightened. “Just cut to the chase. What do you want?”

“Information, of course.” Reacher examined his nails before looking back at me, giving a feral grin. “I heard from some old contacts that your mate went and visited my old pack. I want to know what he was doing there.”

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” I asked, a bite to the words. I hated the way he said “mate,” the subtle mocking in the word as if he found the whole thing amusing.

“You live with him, don’t you?” Reacher asked. “We told you to get information on what he was doing, didn’t we?”

“I don’t know anything about it,” I said.

Reacher snarled. “You really are worthless, aren’t you? I didn’t think you could be this incompetent. Guess I was wrong. You never cease to amaze me.”

Something snapped inside me, and I realized I was done. I was done being afraid of these two, done listening to whatever they said, done living in constant fear of them. I was my own person. I wasn’t worthless like they had told me my entire life. And I was sick of them threatening me, the new life I had built here. I wasn’t going to let them keep dictating my life anymore.

“He doesn’t talk to me about that kind of thing,” I said. “Besides, I didn’t even know you had an old pack. What, did they kick you out?”

Rage sparked in Reacher’s gaze as he stalked toward me. Expecting him to strike, I braced for the blow, but he refrained from physical violence. For now, at least.

“Watch it,” he snarled. “Don’t forget who you really work for.”

I kept my gaze locked on his eyes. “I don’t work for you,” I said. “Not anymore.”

He laughed. The sound was harsh, grating in my ears like claws on a chalkboard. Part of me, the part that had lived in fear of him for ten years, wanted to recoil and back away from him. I pushed those thoughts down and forced myself to keep his gaze, letting my wolf and her years of hatred and anger toward him fuel my strength.

When he saw I wasn’t backing down, the mirthless laugh died, and the smirk on his face was replaced by a sneer. “All right, you’ve had your fun,” he said, his tone patronizing. “You’ve made your point. You’re a big, strong girl. Now tell me what I want to know.”

“No,” I said. “Now get out of here.”

I made to close the door, but he shoved it open, knocking me backward as the door slammed into the wall. I stumbled back, deeper into the house.

“Are you so stupid that you’ve already forgotten our deal?” he snarled. He crossed the threshold, Dad following him. Reacher came until he stood right in front of me, leering down at me. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, hot breath slamming into my face, his scent clogging my nostrils. “You help us, or he finds out all about Claire. And I’ll throw in the fact that you’ve been our little mole from the start for good measure.”

“Go ahead,” I taunted, raising an eyebrow. My wolf snarled, thrashing, wanting to break free, to take over and tear Reacher to shreds for all the hell he’d caused me over the years. The only thing keeping me back was my rational side, telling me that hurting him would only endanger Claire. “He already knows everything.”

Reacher’s eyes blazed with rage. He grabbed the front of my shirt and jerked me onto the tips of my toes. Terror washed over me. I knew I was stepping into dangerous territory. But all I wanted right now was for him to leave me and Claire and Jackson alone from now on. This was the best, most direct way to get that.

“He what?” he hissed.

“He knows,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. I gave Reacher a wild grin. “Have fun putting your plan into action with the Gold Wolves breathing down your neck. I wonder how long it’s going to take for them to come after you now. What do you think?”

“You bitch,” he hissed. He slammed me into the wall, still holding me by the shirt. “We told you not to tell anyone. You’re going to go against a direct order like that, you little snake?”

My heart pounded in terror and rage. Still, I kept my cool as I leveled my gaze at him.

“I’m done answering to you,” I said.

His lips curled into a snarl, his face inches from mine. “We’ll see about—”

“Mom?”

Ice ran through my veins as Claire’s panicked voice reached me. The air rushed from my lungs. Our heads turned in unison toward the front of the hall. Claire stood just inside the door, frozen in place as she gaped at the tableau in front of her. I could only imagine what it looked like to her: her old alpha pushing her mother against the wall while her grandfather looked on. Her gaze went from Dad, to me, to Reacher. Her eyes narrowed.

“Let my mom go,” she said. Her fingers lengthened to claws, and she showed her fangs.

“Claire, don’t,” I said. “Just run. Go get—”

I didn’t even have time to say ‘your father’ before everything went to hell.

“Get her,” Reacher ordered over my own words.

Dad lunged for Claire. Before she could fully shift or even take two steps toward the door, he had grabbed her and pinned her hands behind her back, holding her in place even as she screamed and fought.

“Don’t you hurt her—” I snarled.

I tried to push Reacher away and move toward Claire to get my father away from her. Reacher shoved me back against the wall. I glared at him, preparing to shift and shove him away. Before I could, as if he knew what I was about to do, he grabbed me by the throat.

“Don’t even think about it,” he growled.

I gagged as his claws dug into my flesh. I tried to pry his fingers away, but couldn’t.

“Mom!” Claire screamed off to the side.

“If you kill me or her, you’re done for,” I managed to choke out.

“Oh, I’m not going to kill either of you.” His grip on my neck tightened as he leaned forward. “I still have use for you,” he hissed in my ear.

I could barely hear as dark spots poked at the edges of my vision.

“Mom,” Claire said, the fear and desperation now evident in her voice. “Let me go!”

I glanced toward her to see her fighting her grandfather to no effect. Even if she had shifted, it would have taken only seconds for Dad to catch her.

“Hold her,” Reacher ordered Dad, then turned back to me. “Now, you listen to me, you brat. The only reason I’m keeping you alive right now is because I want you to give the Gold Wolves a message. You tell that mate of yours that if he so much as thinks of coming after me, his daughter is dead. Do you understand?”

“Let her go. Please,” I implored. My wolf howled in rage, wanting to fight back, to kill this asshole for so much as thinking about hurting my cub. But I knew that so much as shifting would only put Claire in more danger. I knew my father well enough to know he cared more about power than he did about hurting his own blood. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Think of her as my insurance,” Reacher growled, his grip tightening until I could barely breathe. He turned my head, forcing me to watch Dad drag Claire out of the house as she kicked and screamed, and I could do nothing about it, not without risking her getting hurt. “Remember to tell your husband when you wake up.”

Then his fist slammed down on my temple, and everything went black.