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I urged my fangs to slink back into my gums but kept the pressure on his throat with my claws. “Ruby, call the cops.”
But really, what this guy needed was a good scare and some beastly tough love.
* * * *
We were at the hospital so Ruby could get checked out. She was obviously in shock, with glassy eyes, mumbling a confusing account of what went down. The police had taken our statements already, but it was mine that made sense, so it was mine that would go into their report, which was better for everyone.
I snuck away while the doctor was checking Ruby out and made a call.
“Well, if it isn’t the bitch of the hour,” Vince drawled, wide awake at holy fuck in the morning, as usual. “To what do I owe this honor, Charlotte?”
“What the fuck did you do to my bank account?” I growled. Attempted robbery aside, finding out that my money was gone had ruined my night. “Where’s my cash, asshole?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Vince sucked on something, probably a fat cigar, then blew into the phone. “You’re acting like I’m the one messing up your life, when really, that’s all on you, babe.”
“I have a contract and a clan vow. First of the month, money goes into that account.” I never wanted the account to be joint, but my stepbrother, Andy, had insisted that it must be that way for the family to agree to the deal. I always transferred it at the stroke of midnight to my own personal account anyway, but tonight I had plans and didn’t think it would be a big deal to do it a little later than normal. That, apparently, had been a miscalculation on my part.
“Contract and vow are void,” Vince said, like I should already know. “Andy isn’t in charge anymore. You are S.O.L.”
Whatever was left in my gut bottomed out, and I was suddenly nauseous. “Did they kill him?” That was the only way Andy would step down from being alpha of the clan. “What happened?”
I wasn’t going to pretend that I was on any type of lovey-dovey terms with my stepbrothers, but Andy was less of a dick than the rest of them. When he’d taken over running the clan after my dad had passed, he’d struck a deal with me to disappear. I had, happily, and for the last three years, he’d upheld his end of it with a monthly stipend delivered wirelessly at the stroke of midnight.
“He’s not dead. He’s just…incapacitated.”
Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck.
“Where is he?”
“That’s privileged information, sweetheart.” Vince grunted.
“Who’s alpha? Del? Lucas?” Either one of my shithead stepbrothers would run the clan into the ground. Both were vindictive enough to shut my account down and void our agreement.
“You’ve got it all wrong, babe. Sal is alpha now. And it would be a good idea for you to pay your respects…in person.”
“Sal?” Holy fuck! “He was ousted.” My father had kicked him out when he’d gone on a rampage, blood-raging all over Vancouver Island, and had killed a bunch of tourists on a nature hike. I remembered the day my father had sat us all down at the house and told us our brother, my stepbrother, was ex-communicated. Removal from the clan was the ultimate slap in the face. More than that, it was a walking death sentence to be a wolf with no clan affiliation, and it was supposed to be permanent.
“Lone wolf is back and…sweetie? He’s not too happy with you and the arrangement you weaseled out of dear old Andrew.”
Yeah, because a guy like that would rather have me barefoot and pumping out little werewolf babies than having a life of my own on my own terms. ‘Independent female werewolf’ was not in his vocabulary. We only existed to serve men like him.
Plus, if my uncle had blabbed about my werebeast, then Sal was probably hungry for a demonstration. Not many females could turn into deformed monsters like I could.
I was special that way.
“I had a sanctioned deal,” I spat, rage burning through my brain until all I could see were flames. That motherfucker! I kicked a garbage can, which drew the attention of a security guard, who swiveled in my direction.
“I tell you what, Charlie,” Vince snarled. “Sal will be at the head office tomorrow. I can pencil you in for a meeting so you can discuss your displeasure with the management of his funds. I’ll even buy you a ticket to get here.”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath then blew it out. When I opened my eyes, the guard was still looking at me but hadn’t come any closer. I turned my back on him as I exited the hospital. “Yeah, fine, book me a ticket, asshole.” I hung up before he could reply.
The best way to deal with a dictator like Sal was to get right up in his face, and that was what I planned to do. He didn’t know it yet, but he was about to meet a side of me he couldn’t control.
