Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 39050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
She found her pile of clothes right where she left them. After slipping on her panties and bra, she worked her tank top into place, followed by her layered tan skirt. Then she stepped out into the main town square, staring at the place she’d called home, and wondered, not for the first time, if she should move on.
Some members of the pack thought she stayed to make Decker’s life hell. She stayed because this was her family. She loved it here.
Where Blueberry had found her place in the pack as being a healer, Misha flitted from place to place. She helped Blueberry heal. Took care of the foster kids. There were only three of them at the moment. Also, she worked in any of the shops that needed help, including as a waitress at the diner. She did her time at the library, even dealing with pack complaints as well.
She did everything and nothing. Her life was devoted to the pack, but with no real permanent place for her. She heard the whispers of her being too flighty. Some believed her parents were rogue wolves, which was why she’d been dumped there.
It didn’t matter.
As the months had turned into three long years of rejection, she was starting to feel like her place here didn’t exist.
She arrived at Blueberry’s place and stepped inside. Incense filled the air and made Misha smile.
“You’re back early,” Blueberry said, coming out of the back.
“I’m tired. Any incident tonight?”
“Not a damn thing.”
On the night of the full moon, Blueberry always kept her shop open and made herself available for the full twenty-four hours in case any of the pack needed her. It was rare, but sometimes pack members fought over a female, or they were just plain clumsy.
Blueberry moved toward her and held up her hands, not exactly touching her, but certainly getting a sense of her aura.
“You’re not happy tonight, sweet child.”
Misha rolled her eyes. “You say that every full moon.”
“This is different. I sense defeat and a need to move on.”
She sighed. “Blueberry, don’t.”
“You’re thinking of leaving the pack, aren’t you?”
Misha tucked some hair behind her ear and shrugged. “I don’t know. I think about it. The Owens pack visited a few months back. His son said they would feel lucky to have me.”
“The Owens pack is full of pig males who think they are gifts to women, and some of them treat their mates like slaves. You do not want to go there.”
“I know, but come on. Don’t you think it is time for me to move on? I avoid the alpha like the plague, and I hear what people say. I don’t need their pity. It’s bad enough my parents never wanted me. Now my own mate can’t stand to be around me.”
Blueberry touched her cheek. “Don’t think like that. No one pities you.”
“You’re lying.”
“Some may pity you, but that’s because they care about you.” Blueberry sighed. “I do not understand the alpha. He’s a good man, but with this decision, I think it makes him a bad alpha.”
“Be careful, you don’t want to be bad-mouthing him. You never know when he might appear and challenge you.”
Her friend burst out laughing. Decker was a strong alpha, and he’d only been challenged a couple of times. Misha had seen him in battle. He was fierce, deadly even. He’d never killed his opponent, but he had no choice but to injure them.
If a challenge was made, it was their rules. Death didn’t have to occur, but serious injury did. The laws were brutal, but they were designed that way on purpose.
“Does Decker know you’re thinking of leaving?” Blueberry asked.
“Decker doesn’t have the right to know what I do. He forfeited that right when he rejected me in front of the entire pack. He can go and suck on his dick for all I care.”
****
Another successful full moon behind him.
The brand-new wolves that had turned had done so successfully. He did prefer it when the new waves of wolves who hit the right transition age embraced who they were. When his father was alpha, he had witnessed several men and women who had fought their change, and it hadn’t been pretty.
His father, Decker Senior, had no choice but to force them to change, rather than them doing it willingly, and it made the experience even more painful than it had to be.
He personally hated using force or bringing forth his alpha to make them turn.
Stepping out of his home and moving toward the town square, he sensed the pack. A happy pack meant a happy alpha. His father had taught him everything he knew. Decker Senior spent a lot of his time enjoying retirement, happily taking his time to embrace hobbies, and of course, spending time with his new wife.
Decker’s mother had died many years ago. The role of alpha’s wife had been too much for her. She hated being a top female, especially as she’d been such a submissive woman who despised conflict. There had been many enemies.