Time Mends (7 page)

Makya’s eyes took their time traveling up
and down my body, finally affixing his leer on my chest. I felt
more naked in my jeans and the faded Journey T-Shirt I stole from
Dad’s closet than I had in Talley’s swimsuit cover-up. “I think
you’ve moved well beyond girl, Scout.” He reached out and grabbed a
strand of my hair, brushing his thumb over the tips.

“
If you don’t take your
hands off me I’m going to break every single one of your
fingers.”

“
Oh, you like it rough, do
you?”

Shifters are not preternaturally strong or
fast. Instead, their muscles are simply in the best condition
possible. Could I bench-press a Humvee or run so quickly human eye
couldn’t detect me? No. Could I pin Makya’s hand behind his back so
quickly ninja would be jealous? Damn straight I could.

“
That’s it, baby. Hurt me
good.”

Was he serious? How was I
suppose to deal with an idiot who
wanted
me to hurt him?

“
You do understand I can
and will break your arm, right?”

He laughed. “I’m getting turned on just
thinking about it.”

Ewwww.

“
Dude, I think she’s just
not that into you.” Jase ambled up, a plate stacked high with food
balanced on his hand.

“
Hey, man. I was just
getting to know your sweet little sister better. She is fine. I bet
you’re glad you’re not really related so you can tap that.” I moved
my head out of the way just in time. As it was, Makya clipped my
ear when his head collided with Jase’s fist. I gave his arm an
extra twist and muttered, “And I’m not his little sister,” before
tossing him face-first on the ground.

“
I fixed you a plate,”
Jase said, ignoring the litany of curses coming from his
blood-splattered cousin on the ground and the gawking stares
surrounding us.

I met Jase’s eyes, my stomach giving a now
familiar lurch. Everything else became nothing more than background
noise as he soundlessly offered me the food. I might not have been
on top of Shifter customs, but in my heart I knew accepting it
meant something. The question was, was it something I was willing
to give him? If it was forgiveness, then no. I wasn’t ready, and
very well may never be. But was I willing to begin considering the
possibility? To start rebuilding what was once the most important
relationship in my life? Could I do that without betraying Alex or
myself?

As I weighed the possible implications of
taking him up on his offer, Jase’s face began to slowly crumble,
making my decision for me. “Thank you,” I said, taking the food
from him. He was my brother. I had to at least give us a chance to
fix what was broken between us.

I stepped over Makya’s prostrate form and
made my way to the place where Talley was looking from me to the
beaten coyote on the ground and back again. I had already devoured
a hotdog and half a cheeseburger by the time I made the twelve
steps it took me to get there.

“
Let me guess. That wasn’t
proper Shifter etiquette.” I wiped some mustard off the corner of
my mouth and contemplated whether I wanted ribs or a pork chop
next.

“
Etiquette-wise you were
fine. It’s the besting Makya part that has people a little
shocked.”

“
Why? Makya is a loser. I
could have taken him without the lycan advantage.”

“
Scout, Makya is one of
the highest ranked juvenile Shifters in the Pack. There are only
five people above him.”

Makya was suppose to be strong and dominant?
That was just sad. “Who are the five?”

Talley raised her eyebrows as if I was
missing something obvious. “Toby, Jase, Charles, Charlie, and
Robby.”

I choked on a bite of ribs and desperately
wished Jase had thought to grab me a Mello Yello. “Jase and
Charlie? Seriously? Like Jase Jase and Charlie Charlie?”

“
How many other Jases and
Charlies do you see around here?”

The dynamic duo in question were standing
off to the side of the crowd with Toby and a few men I didn’t
recognize. Jase and Charlie flanked Toby, and I noticed none of the
other men would meet their eyes as they talked to them. “Jase and
Charlie are Dominant?”

“
Their grandfather was
made Pack Leader at the unprecedented age of eighteen. Jason took
his place when he turned twenty-two. After Jason’s death there was
a bit of unrest, some of the cousins felt they were more capable of
taking over than Charles was. He had to take on a lot of
challenges, but he managed to keep the top spot until Toby was
ready to take over.” Charlie’s dad, I noticed, was keeping to
himself. He was also on his second case of beer for the evening by
the glassy look in his eyes. “No one has ever challenged Toby
because there is no need, he was obviously the most
dominant.”

“
Was?”

Talley looked around to see if anyone seemed
interested in our conversation. There were several eyes glancing in
our direction on a regular basis, but most everyone seemed more
interested in talking about me than finding out what I was saying.
“I don’t think anyone is paying attention to us,” I said.

Talley nodded towards the edge of the yard
where Gramma’s ancient a/c hummed loudly. Catching on quickly, I
walked over close enough that our voices would be drowned out
without being too obvious to our intent.

“
So, who is the up and
comer? And please don’t say Makya, because that would be a very sad
commentary on the strength of this Pack.”

“
I already told you, Makya
isn’t in the top five.”

“
You think Robby can take
Toby?” The Hagan in question sat on one of the benches, engaged in
a lively exchange with a guy whose name might have been Mason.
While Toby was lean and cut, Robby was built more like a
linebacker. I could see where the fight would be close, but my
money was still on Toby.

“
Robby? Not a chance.”
When she didn’t automatically continue I prompted her with an
impatient wave of my hand. “It’s Jase. I think if he wanted, he
could take over the Pack.”

“
Delusional Talley says
what?”

With the chaos my life was becoming, it was
somehow comforting to hear Talley sigh at me in that exasperated
way of hers. “You can’t see it because you’re too close.”

“
Don’t see what?” From
where I was standing all I could see was the brother who couldn’t
remember to put the toilet seat down and had lost three different
sets of keys in the past year. “Doesn’t leading a Pack require a
responsibility prerequisite?”

“
Responsibility can be
learned, but what Jase has…” A couple of the younger Shifters
wandered close to where we were talking. Talley stepped closer,
linked her arm with mine, and rested her head on my shoulder. It
was a familiar pose, one we assumed many times after some jerk
trampled all over Talley’s feelings. This time, though, she wasn’t
seeking comfort so much as way to get close enough we could lower
our voices. “Haven’t you ever noticed the way other people react to
him? The way people can’t help but be aware of him when he’s in a
room? The way people always seem so eager to try to please him, to
do something to make him proud?”

As she talked, it was almost as if I could
see him through Talley’s eyes. Jase standing in the middle of a
crowd, everyone focused on him; walking down a crowded hall, the
masses shifting so so he had an easy passage to wherever he was
going.

“
And he’s a strong
Shifter. Even as a newbie he could Change more quickly than Toby,
and he takes lead on any hunt he goes on.”

“
But it’s
Jase…”

“
He’s going to be our next
Pack Leader.”

“
If you say
so…”

“
I do.” Her blue eyes
twinkled in the firelight. “And you know how often I’m
wrong.”

“
Rarely.” I jumped at the
sound of Toby’s voice. Sneaking up on a Shifter was not easy.
“Which is rather unfortunate,” I thought I heard him quietly
complain. Surely he hand’t overheard us. Talley spoke so softly I
barely heard her, and my ear was approximately four inches from her
mouth. “Scout, we’re ready to start. Would you mind accompanying me
up front?”

“
No problem, Boss Man. You
lead, and I’ll follow.” I gave a salute, not realizing I was
copying Jase’s earlier action until it was too late.

“
And they wonder why I
think she’s going to be a problem,” Toby said to no one in
particular.

Toby sat me on one of the front benches, and
then went to sit on the edge of the stone wall surrounding the fire
pit. Embers popped out of the fire and danced around him, but he
seemed unconcerned, even when one burned a hole in the arm of his
shirt.

“
I’m not going to waste
everyone’s time and talk about why we’re here. Everyone knows what
happened last night and has already offered their opinion on what
we should do. Someone was even considerate enough to make up little
ballots so that everyone could have a vote as to what the wolf’s
fate should be.

“
Guess what? This isn’t a
democracy.” Toby stood up and the mood of the entire group shifted.
This wasn’t a family conversation around the fire, this was a Pack
Leader addressing his Pack. “This is my decision and mine alone.
Anyone who has a problem with it is more than welcome to challenge
me.” Despite being a coyote, Toby managed a wicked wolfish grin. “I
look forward to it actually.”

I had sparred with Toby enough times to know
it was going to take more than strength, ambition, and anger to
take him down. Like Talley, I was certain no one here was up to the
challenge just yet.

“
You’ve come to a
decision?” Mrs. Matthews stood to the right of the fire pit. In the
Pack social structure she was ranked just below Toby.

“
I wouldn’t have ask you
all to come out here if I hadn’t.” He moved into a pool of light
created by the nearly full moon like an actor stepping into the
beam of a spotlight. “The fact of the white wolf’s existence will
be kept secret by all members of this Pack, including the Seers.”
Mrs. Matthews let out an audible gasp. “Unless specifically
questioned by the Alpha Pack, anyone caught divulging information
about the white wolf will face the most severe of
punishments.”

I wasn’t a hundred precent sure, but I
strongly suspected that the most severe punishment was equal to
capital punishment. I also wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about
that. However, I was fairly certain I wasn’t totally loving being
referred to as “the white wolf”. It reminded me too much of
Narnia.

“
Miss Donovan?” He
indicated I should stand up, so I did.

“
Mr. Hagan?”

“
I’m giving you the land
enclosed within the border of Lake County. Please know that if you
cross the boundary you will be dealt with as if you were any other
lone Shifter facing a second trespass on Pack
territory.”

Toby looked at me, waiting for a reaction,
and I waited for the words he said to make sense. “Sorry, but
you’re going to have to run that by me one more time in non-Shifter
speak.”

Jase coughed into his hand to cover up his
laughter.

“
I giving you your own
territory - Lake County. If you don’t stay there, you’re going to
be punished.”

“
Severely?”

Toby’s face was hard. “Severely.”

I took a moment to think about what he said.
“So, you’re kicking me out?”

“
You don’t belong with
us,” he said. “I’m being very generous here, Miss
Donovan.”

The Pack was abandoning me and leaving me on
my own. “Thank you?” I was at a complete loss. “So, what? I leave
now and never come back? Is that it?”

Toby nodded. “And you should also know that
if you do anything that puts my Pack at risk, I will be forced to
remove the threat of exposure.”

I was going to have to write down all the
different things that would cause Toby to kill me.

A bit of movement caught my eye, and I
turned to find Charlie standing behind me. Realizing he finally had
my attention, he dropped down on one knee, his head bowed.

“
I pledge myself to you,
Scout Donovan. I devote my life to being of your Pack.”

What the Hades was happening now?

Jase seemed to magically appear by my side
and dropped down next to Charlie. “I pledge myself to you, Scout
Donovan. I devote my life to being of your Pack.”

You know those dreams when you’re on a stage
in front of a packed house and you don’t know any of your lines? It
was kinda like that, but worse because it wasn’t a dream, and I
worried that saying the wrong lines would end up with me getting
that severe punishment Toby was so keen on. I looked to Talley for
help, and thought she was coming to my rescue until she dropped
down on her knee and repeated the now familiar refrain, “I pledge
myself to you, Scout Donovan. I devote my life to being of your
Pack.”

Cheater. I would be able to do my lines if I
heard two other people already deliver them, too.

“
What are you doing?” I
hissed at her through clenched teeth.

She peered up at me through her eyelashes.
“Well, it’s not like I’m going to let you three go off and start
your own Pack without me.”

Our own Pack? That’s what this was? They
were asking to come with me?

I made the mistake at looking at Toby, who
looked mad enough to punish us all at the same time.