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I opened my mouth to reply, but a voice called out, “Glenda!” There were a few older women standing to the side, gesturing for Mom to come over. She cursed under her breath.
“I’m sorry, baby, but they probably want to plan their dishes around what’s growing in the garden. Do you mind if I speak with them?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. You go ahead. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“You sure? You could come if you wanted—”
“No, no. I’m okay. I just want to get home to eat the rest of your salsa.”
Mom smirked. “Okay. I’ll see you at home, sweetie.”
I put a smile on my face, but it fell the moment she turned away. I needed to get home as soon as possible. The last thing I wanted was for Troy to find me and make good on his silent threat.
I tried to keep my head down as I walked through the crowd. My pace was quick, but I hoped that the uniform crowd of black outfits would allow me to blend in. As I passed between a few trees, a figure stepped into my path, and I almost collided face-first with Tanya’s chest. Dread was like ice filling my bloodstream as I took a step backward. Damn, damn, damn!
“She’s going nowhere fast, don’t you think, Trish?” Tanya asked.
“I’m surprised she can move at all in those clothes.” Trish snaked around a tree trunk, her red lips lifting in a mocking smirk. “You’re drowning in that jacket, girl.”
Tara snickered from behind me. She bumped my shoulder roughly as she walked past me to stand with the other Terrible T’s. This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid. They had stopped me just out of Mom’s sight. There was no telling what the group had planned for me, but I’d be lucky if they let me go with a few insults.
“It’s a shame no one ever cared enough to tell you how to dress properly,” Trish said. “Poor baby. Maybe I could help you.” Trish bent to grab a stick that was partially buried in a particularly muddy area of the ground. She flicked the stick toward me, flinging mud and leaves across my chest.
I winced, staggering a few steps back as it hit me.
“Oops, so sorry,” Trish said as her friends cackled. “That was supposed to make you look better, but all I’ve done is make you look like a wet rat.” She tutted and feigned a look of pity. “You poor thing. To be so lost and alone, to be hated by the Alpha and everyone else, to have no one but a crazy old woman to love you.”
I bristled. The Terrible T’s could do and say whatever they wanted about me, but the moment they started talking about my mom—well, they’d gone too far. I wasn’t sure what possessed me to step forward. All I knew was that the stress of the last couple of days and the knowledge that Troy was going to try to destroy me had become too much. I couldn’t have stopped what was about to happen even if I wanted to.
“I’d rather be hated by everyone in the pack than throw myself at a man who didn’t care about me,” I snapped back.
At my words, the three women’s smiles dropped. Trish’s sharp, white teeth showed as she grimaced. “Watch your mouth, little rat. Your days around here are numbered.”
“You think I don’t know that, Trish? After all that you guys have done to me?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “If you were as confident as you try to appear, you wouldn’t be wasting your time with a girl like me. Makes me think you’re not as secure as you try to make everyone believe you are.”
Trish’s upper lip twitched. Her pretty face sharpened with anger, and she raised her hand to strike me. When she brought her hand down, I wasn’t there, but not because I’d dodged.
If my first mistake had been to allow myself to be cornered by the Terrible T’s, then my second was not paying attention to anything going on behind me. If I had noticed the quick pair of footsteps headed my way, I might have been able to do something to prevent the shock of the large, strong hand gripping my shoulder.
The hand shoved me to the side and pressed me roughly against the trunk of a tree. I yelped from a combination of surprise and pain. A second hand slammed against the tree above my head, nails digging into the hard pine. Troy’s sharp, angular face loomed above—my nightmare made manifest.
“Did you forget your place, bitch?” His voice was the slithery hiss of a snake about to strike. “Did you forget what you are?”
His hand shifted from my shoulder to my neck. It was large enough to wrap around my throat—his fingertips almost met at the back of my neck. Fear quaked through my body as he held me still against the tree. My body felt as cold as ice, as if every drop of blood had congealed in my veins. I stared up into those endlessly black eyes and saw my own death reflected back at me.
The tip of his tongue ran slowly along the inside of his lip, a hungry predator licking his jowls in anticipation of his prey. “You better watch that filthy mouth, girl,” he said. “Don’t forget who has the power here.”
He pressed closer to me, and, against my will, a whimper slipped past my lips. Troy’s hands tightened around my neck. It wasn’t enough to cut off my air supply, but it established how easily he could snap my bones if he wanted to. I was completely at his mercy, and he wanted to make sure I knew it. From the corner of my eye, I saw the surprise on Trish’s face morph into a satisfied smirk. She crossed her arms and enjoyed the show that the object of her affection was putting on.
He tilted his head, grinning from ear to ear. “Now that I’m in charge, not even Glenda will be able to save you from what’s about to happen.” Without warning, he tossed me to the ground. I scrambled to catch myself, skinning my palms against the rough roots of the trees.
He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s exactly where you belong.”
The Terrible T’s laughed with him. Their combined laughter grated on my ears, and tears stung at the backs of my eyes. I sat there for a while, even after the group finally left me alone. I clenched my hands tightly despite the way my palms ached and throbbed. There was nowhere in the territory that was safe for me. Whatever Troy intended to do with me, I couldn’t stay here beyond the fifth day of mourning. I needed to come up with something, and fast.
5
BRYN
