Page 113 of Starting a New Life

How was it possible for him to be such a prick one moment, then nice the next, only to turn into an asshole again five minutes later?

I used more force than strictly necessary to shove his clothes into the backpack I was carrying, then graciously accepted Angelo’s clothes. Within the blink of an eye, I was standing between a giant wolf and an even bigger lion.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. I’d seen Angelo as a lion yesterday, but hadn’t been as close to him. “You’re fucking scary.” His head was as wide as my shoulder span, his fangs long enough to snap my neck in half with a single bite.

He’s pack, that voice inside me said. He’s not a danger to you. You’re pack now too.

What a strange thought. Me being part of a pack. Would I ever get used to it without it feeling odd?

I turned to Heath, whose eyes were trained on me, head cocked as if he was waiting.

Oh. Right. He was probably waiting for me to get going.

“Ready?” I asked. They both nodded. “You set the pace. I’ll keep up.”

Another nod, and off we went.

Cold air hit me in the face, stinging me like tiny needles. My lungs burned, my legs burned, and I was beyond the point of exhaustion.

I was out of shape.

So out of shape.

Fuck.

Maybe I’d been a bit presumptuous when I’d told Heath I could keep up. Then again, I didn’t want to have to face the embarrassment of being the one who was holding everyone up. Didn’t want to admit that keeping up with them was more than a bit of a challenge.

I reached for my magic and sent it through my veins, right into my burning muscles, repairing the tiny tears, soothing the aches.

Howls filled the air for the second time when we finally spotted the first houses ahead of us. The fight was about to begin. The second round of howls was the five-minute signal.

Slowly, the forest gave way to the town. The occasional cabin in the forest turned into streets adorned with houses. Then came the commercial spaces. They sat in a neat row along Main Street: a hardware store, a bookstore, a bakery, and a coffee shop. Everything looked normal. Almost like Balwood. But the air felt different. There was a tension here that made the hair on my arms stand up.

It might just be the fight that was happening at the packhouse right about now. Gray’s tension was palpable to me, his feelings bleeding through the bond.

The fight also explained why this was a ghost town. No one was out, and there weren’t even lights in the windows; however, I could feel the people hiding in their homes.

Were they expecting us? Was that why they were hiding?

We kept running, chasing along the empty sidewalk as the stores slowly gave way to regular houses again. Then Heath and Angelo came to a sudden stop. I stopped dead in my tracks, doubling over to catch my breath as the two of them swiftly shifted right in the middle of the street.

Not that anyone could see them even if they weren’t hiding in their houses. I kept the shield upright at all times.

“Curfew?” Angelo asked Heath while he took the backpack off my back.

Why didn’t he sound at least a bit out of breath while I was dying over here? I pressed a hand to my chest. My heart was hammering, anxiety spiking.

“Looks like it.”

They nodded at each other in silent communication while Angelo rummaged through the backpack and handed a set of clothes to Heath before he pulled out his own pair of sweats.

My heart was beating rapidly, lungs burning. I closed my eyes and focused on the well in my chest. I pulled at the magic and directed it into my blood, following the pump of my heart, swimming along until it reached my lungs. The magic spread like a cooling balm, and slowly, oh so slowly, the burning drained away.

“Not that easy, huh?” Heath teased. Opening my eyes, I found him grinning at me, a glint in his eyes.

I sighed and looked away.

Asshole.