Chapter 20

Anna

Today was my first day of weapons training. I had set my alarm early this morning. From work, I knew that the military considered you late if you weren’t at least ten minutes early. I did not want to give anyone a reason to criticize me before I even started, so I was determined to be early and well prepared.

I got dressed in the black cargo pants and a black long sleeve top that Quinn had given me for my combat training. I looked in the mirror and made a face, I was worried I was dressed like I was taking myself too seriously. I didn’t want it to look like I was trying to be something I wasn’t. I sighed and made myself step away from the mirror, otherwise I would keep giving myself anxiety over nothing.

I brushed my hair out of my face as I went to get shoes. Quinn had provided me with a pair of black combat boots. I eyed them dubiously, combat boots felt like a step too far, a little too much like I was dressing in a costume.

I looked over to where I had a black pair of sneakers sitting on the shelf, then back to the combat boots. Sneakers it was.

I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and looked in the mirror again. I didn’t want hair coming out and getting in my face, so I braided the ponytail. Finally satisfied I told myself to stop stalling and get downstairs to start the day.

I had not heard Austin banging on the twins’ doors yet, so I should have time to put together some coffee and breakfast before they were up.

I got to the stairway and paused. There was silence, no one was around. I eyed the staircase thoughtfully. Every time I had walked past here I thought about what it would be like to slide down the banister. What’s the point of having a ridiculous stairway if you weren’t going to use it for fun?

I glanced up and down the hallway again, then peered down the stairs. Nope, no one around.

With a grin I perched on the banister and gave myself a nudge. To my disappointment, I only slid a couple of inches. I scowled and hopped off, cargo pants were not ideal for this. I needed my yoga pants; I bet they would be slippery enough to slide down.

I gave one last sigh of disappointment and grabbed a hoodie and backpack before heading downstairs.

To my surprise, there was already a fresh pot of coffee made. I grinned and poured some into the hot pink glittery travel mug that the twins had picked out for me as a joke. The joke was on them because I fully intended to use it and tell everyone that they were the ones who picked it out.

I went into the fridge and started pulling out ingredients to make the three of us protein shakes. I heard the door that led out to the garage slam and the twins walked into the kitchen. I pointedly looked at the clock, then at them, the back at the clock.

They were both fully dressed, wide awake, and looked ready to go.

“Did you guys wake up willingly this morning?” I asked.

Jason rubbed his hands together with glee. “It’s weapons training today, Anna.”

Mason nodded. “That’s worth waking up early for.”

I looked at them nervously. Usually when they were excited about something it was for a prank, having weapons involved was making me a little anxious.

Mason laughed and tried to muss my hair, but my braid held it in place. He scowled playfully, and I grinned triumphantly.

“Are you making breakfast?” Jason asked hopefully.

I nodded. “Chocolate peanut butter protein shakes ok?”

They both murmured an assent. “While you work on that we’re going to finish loading the car.” Mason told me.

Loading the car with what? I wondered as they disappeared again. I’m guessing the ammo and weapons, but I had never seen any of that in the house, so where were they keeping it?

I made sure the lids to the blender bottles were secure before I put them in my backpack along with some water bottles and snacks. I had already put my sunscreen in there last night. Yeah, it was December, but I was pale.

I put my phone and some money in one of the many pockets I had in my cargo pants. I could get used to these, it was nice to be able to put everything in there and not worry about needing a purse.

I walked out to the garage to see the twins closing the back of Cody’s SUV.

“Perfect timing, Anna!” Mason called to me as he walked over to the driver’s side. “Are you ready?”

“Yup.” I started walking to the car and Jason stopped me.

“Protein shakes?”

“In my bag,” I assured him.

He gave me a grin. “In that case I call shotgun!”

I just rolled my eyes and headed for the backseat.

It was only after I handed out the protein shakes and was halfway through my coffee when I thought to ask, “Are we authorized to use this vehicle?”

Jason turned to me with a grin. “We all know you don’t have a problem with unauthorized vehicle use, Anna.”

“James’s Range Rover is different. I like Cody.” I told him.

Mason chuckled as he got on the highway, “Yeah, Cody told us to take it. The Jeep is not ideal for what we are doing today.”

“So, what exactly are we doing today?” I asked curiously.

“We are headed to the range. We have a group of pack members who need some remedial instruction in weapons.”

“We’re going to shoot guns?”

Jason laughed. “You’ll see.”

Mason gave him a look. “We do need to have a talk before we get there, Anna.”

“Um, okay.” I sipped on my protein shake nervously.

Jason sighed. “He’s right. When we get to the range, we are not Mason and Jason, or Mace and Jase. We are your instructors.”

I nodded. Images of basic training videos with army drill sergeants and marine drill instructors floated through my brain.

“So, Anna,” Mason said gently. “When we ask you to do something, we are serious, and we need you to just do it.”

“And reply, ‘Yes, instructor’.” Jason added.

I looked at them incredulously. Were they serious? This was more than a little weird.

Mason met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I know this seems strange because you have never been in the military, but we take training seriously. When we are in a life or death situation, we need everyone to be conditioned to follow orders immediately.”

I nodded. That made sense, but we weren’t in the military. Wasn’t this a little bit of overkill? I decided to go along with it for now, I needed to fit in the pack and prove myself. If this was what everyone else in the pack had to go through, then I would too.

“When marines go to boot camp, the first five weeks is probably what you think about when someone talks about boot camp, there’s a lot of screaming and knife hands.” Jason explained.

“During week six, you start the next phase; you start going to the range and things are a little more subdued. The drill instructors are strict and still expect discipline, but you are there to learn so they are a little more lenient.” Mason added.

I nodded along as they explained.

Jason took a breath. “The first week of phase two you learn the different firing positions: prone, sitting, standing, and kneeling. You also learn everything you need to know about handling your weapon; how to clean, maintain, and handle it safely.”

“You also practice breathing, trigger discipline and snapping in on targets.” Mason told me. “It’s not until the second week, when you have all of that down that you get to use live ammunition.”

“Of course, you have about fifty or sixty hours devoted to that per week.” Jason pointed out.

Mason sighed, “If you only practice for a few hours each week it’s going to take a really long time.”

That was reassuring to me in a way, I was going to learn slowly but surely.

“What’s your last name?” Mason asked curiously.

“It’s-“ I started to answer but Jason interrupted me.

“It’s banana!” He shouted.

“Banana?” Mason and I asked, both of us confused.

“Yeah, I’ve heard Caleb call you Anna Banana before.” Jason said with a grin.

I giggled, “Yeah, but my last name is actually-“

“Banana!” Mason and Jason both said together.

“It’s not-“

“Sorry, Anna. You should have spoken up before. Your last name is now Banana.” Jason told me seriously.

I just huffed and tried to finish my protein shake before we got there. This was one of those times when arguing would make it worse.

We pulled in a dirt driveway that led out to the range, nestled within a wooded area for privacy. Mason stopped the SUV and both twins turned back towards me.

“Don’t forget, Anna,” Jason reminded me. “When we step out of the vehicle we are your instructors.”

I nodded, and Jason got out and headed to the group standing off to the side of the range.

Mason was still looking at me, worry in his eyes. “If you feel like you can’t do this, you can go back to the car.”

“I can do this,” I told him, trying to sound confident.

He nodded, searched my eyes, and seemed satisfied by what he saw there.

“We’re getting out of the car now,” he warned me.

He stepped out of the car and his demeanor changed. His posture straightened, the sparkle was gone from his eyes, and he had a stern expression on his face.

“Let go, Banana!” He said in what I was assuming was his ‘instructor’ voice. It was enough to keep me from smirking at his use of Banana, and get me moving. I hurried out of the car and put my bag over on a picnic table with everyone else’s.

Jason was drawing a line in the dirt in a clearing next to the picnic area.

“Toe the line!”

Everyone immediately replied with, “Yes, instructor!” And ran to line up. I followed everyone else’s lead and mimicked them, trying to blend in.

Everyone stood straight, toes on the line and waited while Mason and Jason paced in front of the group, checking to make sure everyone was dressed appropriately. Finally, they were satisfied and stepped back.

“Do you know why you are here today?” Jason said in his scary, intimidating voice.

“Yes, instructor!” Everyone replied in unison.

I was starting to see why Austin had told me that I had never met Mason and Jason, the marines before. They were completely different people right now. I knew them and I trusted them, but loud voices and intimidation were starting to make my anxiety surface.

I had thought I had worked through being intimidated by those types of things, but I was starting to feel all of those old feeling of panic and helplessness start to trickle back in.

I tried to take deep, calming breaths and pay attention to what was happening here and now. I was here with Mason and Jason, surrounded by my new pack. I was here to learn how to protect myself. No one was going to hurt me.

“You are here because you are the worst marksmen in the pack!” Mason told us.

“We are here to make you better!” Jason chimed in.

“You can all be comforted by the fact that you know more than our newest recruit, Banana.”

I saw a couple eyes dart towards me and heard a faint snigger from down the line.

Jason headed right for the culprit. “Do you think that’s funny, Henderson?”

“No, instructor!” He replied.

“I don’t believe you! Six laps!”

Henderson immediately started running the circumference of the range. It looked like six laps was roughly a mile.

I watched the entire interaction with wide eyes and my breathing started to get more erratic as Mason headed in my direction. Somehow, I had caught his attention. Panic started to fill me, but I did my best to push it down. This was Mason, I told myself. You are safe here, you need to relax.

“Banana!” Mason shouted.

I started to tremble as his cold eyes focused on me.

“Are you a deer in headlights, or are you a wolf?” He shouted.

“Uh,” I stuttered.

“Six laps!”

I took off running, following the path that Henderson had taken. As I ran, I focused on my mantra: this is Mason and Jason, you trust them, you are safe here.

By my third lap, the anxiety was starting to fade, and I was glad that I had avoided full panic mode or having a flashback. Having a meltdown in front of my new pack members would be detrimental to my goal of proving to them that females could be a valuable part of the pack.

By my fourth lap, I was glad that I had worn sneakers and not the combat boots that Quinn had picked out for me. At the end of my fifth lap I had caught up to Henderson and we ran the last lap together. The run had helped me burn off my anxiety and I was feeling better.

I felt a little bit of it trickle back in when we ran back up to the group but vowed to stay strong. Mason realized we were back and started over to us. I realized I had taken a step back in response and forced myself to step forward again and stand straight.

“Banana!” He yelled. I flinched, and then cursed at myself silently. I knew he noticed and I hated myself for it.

“Have you decided?” He called out in his scary voice.

My mind went completely blank. “Uh,” I stuttered.

“Twelve laps!” he yelled. “We are going to keep doing this until you decide you are a wolf!” He shouted after me as I once again started running.

I was frustrated with myself, why couldn’t I just act like a normal person? Tears started to form, and I brushed them away angrily. This was not the time to get emotional. I needed to be in control.

 I thought I was over all of this, why was this affecting me so much? I thought about it, I had gotten to the point where the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards me or a loud voice in the next room didn’t cause me to have a panic attack, but I never challenged myself with a confrontation.

I realized that I avoided confrontation at all costs. There were a lot of times that I let people walk all over me because I just agreed to whatever they wanted to avoid a confrontation. Had I really dealt with my issues, or had I just worked out ways to avoid my triggers?

I delved more deeply into it as I ran. I had never faced my fears, I just avoided them. Was it possible for me to conquer them? I doubted that it was healthy for me to live my life like this, cowering in corners and avoiding interaction with people in anything but superficial ways. I needed to get to the point where I could stand strong in the face of an angry voice. I needed to be able to express myself when I didn’t want to do something, or when something wasn’t fair.

Mason was right. I was a wolf, not a deer. I needed to stand strong in the face of adversity, not turn tail and run at the slightest hint of confrontation.

During my tenth lap I felt the shame burn into me. Austin knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle this. He knew that something was wrong with me. That’s why he wanted me to stay in the house where I would be protected and kept safe. That also meant that he didn’t trust me to stand strong in the face of danger, he didn’t believe that I could be an equal member of the pack.

Determination burned through me. I would prove him wrong. I practically sprinted the last two laps, letting the physical pain of my muscles burning sear all of my anxiety and self-doubts away. This time I ran directly back to Mason. He watched me come towards him with a raised eyebrow, “Well?” He shouted.

“I’m a wolf, instructor!” I shouted back at him.

He nodded, and I saw a faint smile before he quickly made it disappear. “Down to Alcott, he’s going to introduce you to the positions.”

I looked down the line of men in handling their weapons in front of the range in confusion. Who was Alcott?

My thoughts must have been obvious, because he clarified. “Rich Alcott.”

I nodded, I knew Rich.

I made my way down the line to where Rich was standing. He gave me a sympathetic look as I walked up to him.

“Hey, Rich.” I greeted him.

He gave a quick look around to see if either of the twins were close by. Deciding he was safe, he leaned close to me. “It looks like they decided to go extra hard on you to prove you’re not getting special treatment, huh?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t have time for a morning run before I got here anyway.”

He chuckled. “Are you ready to learn? I know they are going to mercilessly quiz you on everything multiple times today.”

I sighed, “I’m ready.”

He handed me a set of earplugs, “Trust me, you’re going to need these as soon as the instructors give the okay for live ammo.”

The rest of the morning Rich taught me everything about the different firing positions and safety rules. The twins checked in every once in a while to make sure I was learning correctly, and Rich was covering everything to their satisfaction. They were less intimidating now, but still in marine mode- very strict and serious.

They went up and down the line of guys on the range, helping them to adjust firing positions or giving suggestions on how to improve techniques for better aim. I was very impressed with how professional they were, they really knew what they were doing. It made me curious what they had been like while they were in the marines.

Finally, they announced a break for lunch and everyone headed to the picnic tables. I picked up my backpack and rummaged through it.

“Hey, Banana!” I almost jumped a foot in the air at hearing Jason’s voice right behind me.

“Yes, instructor?” I was a little dismayed, I didn’t want to miss out on lunch. I was already starving.

“Come back to the car.” He said, and abruptly walked away.

I sighed and trailed after him, bringing my bag with me.

I hopped into the backseat through the door that Mason held open for me. To my surprise, he followed me in.

Jason got in on the other side, so all three of us were sitting awkwardly in the back together.

I eyed them both nervously, not sure what was going on right now.

“Inside the car we’re Mason and Jason again.” Mason reminded me gently.

I looked at him suspiciously without saying anything. The abrupt personality changes were weird.

Jason chuckled, “It’s alright, Anna.”

Mason gave him a dirty look and laid his hand on my knee. “You aren’t afraid of us now, right?” He asked gently.

I bristled, “I’m not afraid of you,” I told him confidently. “But I am hungry.” I pulled a sandwich out of my bag.

“You have three of those, right?” Jason asked, sounding concerned.

“I don’t know,” I teased him. “Even if I did bring three, I might need them all. I had to run a lot of laps this morning.”

“Awww, Anna.” Jason said pathetically.

“Are you upset?” Mason asked, sounding concerned. “I know I was tough on you this morning, but I thought you were doing okay?”

“I’m fine,” I told him, taking a bite of my sandwich.

I couldn’t take having Jason’s sad puppy eyes on me much longer, so I pulled out the other sandwiches and water bottles that I had brought for them.

Jason took his happily into the front passenger seat and Mason and I spread out in the back.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” I asked Mason quietly.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

I set my sandwich down and played with the cap on my water bottle. “Sent me to run, I mean. Because I told you that’s how I process my emotions?”

He nodded and swallowed the last bite of his sandwich before answering.

“In the beginning of a training session we need to set the tone and make it clear that there is no room for jokes or games on the range.”

Jason chimed in from the front, “We also need to make our dominance clear right away. We are younger than a lot of the other wolves, so they might feel the instinctual need to challenge orders that we give.”

Mason nodded, “Right away we shut down any of those urges and then we have a cooperative group of wolves, ready to learn. We decided it would be best if you missed most of that.”

“You need to learn to be less submissive, not more.” Jason told me.

I blushed, but I realized he was right.

“You have an inner strength,” Mason told me quietly. “You need to be more confident about letting it show.”

“We are here to help with that,” Jason added.

Damn, these guys were good.

“I pushed a little bit today, to see if you were ready to face your fears,” Mason confided in me.

“And you did.” Jason told me proudly.

I smiled. I did, didn’t I? I was making progress.

“Plus, it’s going to help you get a tough reputation in the pack.” Mason told me with a sly look in his eye. “They need to know that we are not going to go easy on you just because you are a female.”

“More of the pack would give you a hard time if they thought you got special treatment.” Jason told me seriously.

I gave them both a small smile. I hadn’t realized that they put that much thought into it.

The rest of the afternoon went quickly. Rich was sent back to the range to help with a demonstration while Tony sat down at one of the picnic tables to teach me.

We started with a glock. Jason had told me that a handgun would be more useful to me than a rifle because if I had to defend myself with a weapon, it would probably be at close range.

Tony showed me how to take it apart and clean it. He assigned me to practice disassembling and assembling it before leaving me alone to go back to the range.

I sighed, today was not nearly as fun as I thought it was going to be. Now that it was heading into the late afternoon, I doubted I was going to even aim at a target. I would not be using live ammo today. I fumbled around with the pieces of the gun, trying to remember where they all went.

I caught motion out of the corner of my eye and frowned. I thought all the guys were on the range, why would someone be in the trees? I stood up to take a closer look. Was that one of the guys trying to sneak up on me to play a prank?

I took a step closer to the wooded area but stopped. I didn’t want to leave my weapon unattended and have one of them steal the firing pin or something.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from the parking lot. Shouts came from the range and Mason came running to where I had been partially hidden at the table behind some trees.

“Oh, thank god.” He exclaimed before wrapping me in a hug.

“What’s happening?” I asked, wiggling my way free from his arms. “Is anyone hurt?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Jase and Rich are counting heads now. I need you to come over with the rest of us.”

I followed him back to the group at the range. I tried to see if anyone was missing, but I hadn’t been paying close attention this morning, so I wasn’t sure exactly how many people had been here earlier.

I stood next to Tony as the guys finished the headcount and started giving assignments. I raised my hand hesitantly.

Jason’s eyes met mine in surprise. “Banana? Do you have something to add?”

I cleared my throat. “Right before the explosion went off I saw something in the woods and was walking over that way to investigate.” I pointed in the general direction where I had seen movement.

Jason gave me a nod and stalked over to where Henderson was still sniffing around. Jason spoke with him and a few of the other guys before they started stripping down to change. Apparently, they wanted to be in wolf form to track down whatever was in the woods. I was going to feel stupid if it turned out to be nothing.

“That took some balls,” Tony murmured to me quietly. “Someone attacked a group of us in broad daylight.”

“What happened?” I murmured back to him with a frown.

He shrugged. “Looks like someone put an IED on one of the vehicles. Everyone is accounted for.”

A couple of the guys headed over to the parking lot and I started to follow. I wanted to see what happened.

Mason held out a hand to stop me in my tracks. “I need you to stay here with the group until we have our EOD team check it out.”

I scowled at him “If it’s dangerous for me, then how is it not dangerous for everyone else who is going over there?” I asked patiently.

Tony laughed out loud and just shrugged when Mason glared at him. “She has a point.”

“Fine, but stay close.” Mason grumbled.

I followed a little behind Mason to pacify him. The parking lot came into view as we walked down the wooded path. One of the vehicles was still smoldering from the damage. It looked like the explosion had been centered in the engine because the hood had been blown off the car, the windshield was broken, and the front seats were destroyed.

There was debris scattered all over the parking lot and some of the other vehicles were superficially damaged from shrapnel. A used fire extinguisher was sitting near the vehicle. I wondered who carried a fire extinguisher around in their car. Not that I wasn’t glad that someone had one, but still weird.

Jason and the other guys were prowling around the vehicles and assessing the damage. I saw Henderson still in his wolf form, now searching for signs of the intruder. To say that my pack was pissed would be an understatement.

“Uh, Mace.” I tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

I just got a grunt in response as he was busy texting Austin.

“Should they be standing so close? What if another vehicle was rigged and they just set off the first one to get everyone here?” I asked worriedly.

He looked at me with surprise. “Henderson already sniffed around to make sure none of the other vehicles were rigged.”

He wrapped an arm around me to pull me close and gave me a kiss on the side of my head. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe.” He murmured to me in a low voice that sent tingles down my spine.

I sighed with frustration. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about the guys who are touching all of the vehicles right now. If something else were to blow, they will all be dead. And why wouldn’t Henderson smell it before?”

Mason wrapped both arms around me so that I was positioned in front of him and he could continue texting on his phone. “He wasn’t looking for it before.” He murmured to me. “But I think it was placed there while we were at the range.”

I frowned. It was possible that we wouldn’t hear anything over the sounds of the guns, but I found it difficult to believe no one saw anything. “No one was watching the area?” I asked.

Mason growled. “We had Robbie on security. He said he only stepped away once to take a piss.”

“Someone can put a bomb on a car that quickly?” I asked doubtfully.

“It would only take a second to walk up to the car and stick something underneath. But Robbie should never have let anyone near, and he should have immediately scented an enemy that had been on our territory.”

I looked over to where Jason had pulled Robbie and was intensely questioning him. Robbie looked embarrassed and contrite. I wanted to believe he had nothing to do with this, but Austin had already warned me that the pack had moles.

What was more believable? That an enemy had snuck up to the vehicle, placed and IED without anyone knowing, and then detonated the explosive once he was far away? Or that Robbie either helped or was aware of the intruder?

I wondered what the goal of the explosion was? Obviously the primary vehicle that was hit was totaled, but why damage one of our vehicles? What was the point?

“Why would someone do this?” I asked Mason quietly, leaning back against his chest.

I felt him shrug against me. “A warning? A distraction? A way to test our response? Just to see if they could? We need to be prepared for any of it.”

I sighed. Mason pulled away from me and pocketed his phone as Mike and Davis pulled into the parking lot. I started to march towards them, but Mason gave a tug to pull me back to him.

I gave him a small growl to let him know that he was not going to be able to push me aside or tell me to wait in the car. He looked surprised when I stared him down but grinned and tucked me under his arm so we could walk towards their truck together.

Mason leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I like how you are letting your wolf instincts to the surface more.” He gave my ear a nip. “Soon, there won’t be a wolf-Anna and a human-Anna. Just Anna.”

I gave him a warm smile before turning to greet the new arrivals. Mike gave us both a nod of greeting when we approached, but Davis looked a little curious at the affection between us.

The guys got right down to business and I was quickly bored with all of the technical terms they were using. After examining the damage, they announced they were going to have to bring the damaged vehicle back to their garage to do a thorough investigation.

Mike assembled a team to go through all the vehicles one by one to make sure that none of them were tampered with. They also checked cars that were damaged with shrapnel to make sure they were safe to drive.

I was completely useless for all of this. I knew nothing about cars, explosives, or what tampering would even look like. The twins kept me in sight while I texted with Austin, Cody, and Caleb. I had added James to the group text, but wasn’t surprised that he stayed mostly silent.

Mike gave the okay that the vehicles were safe. Emotions were still high with all of our pack members and I could see that these guys were not going to be dispersing quickly any time soon.

“Hey!” Jason shouted. “I need everyone’s attention!”

Mason stood beside him. “Listen up. There was an attack today on us, on our pack. We aren’t going to stand idly by and let the insult stand.”

More than a few of the guys grumbled in agreement, but looked like they were listening.

“Mike and Davis are going back to examine the evidence and we will find who did this.” Jason announced.

I saw a couple guys give Robbie dirty looks. I doubted that he was going to be popular in the pack for a while. I could see why some of them could be angry at him for this. He let them down when he let an enemy slip by him on his watch. The pack was trusting him to keep us safe and he failed. It was going to take a while to earn that trust back.

“When we do find them, I promise that our retribution will be swift and harsh!” Mason shouted.

A cheer went up and the mood went from sour and grumbly to angry and determined.

“For now, we are putting the pack on high alert. I need everyone in pairs and staying in contact with their teams. You will be getting assignments through your team leaders.” Mason told them.

“I need everyone to check in with their team lead immediately, teams should be assembling tonight and staying close.” Jason announced.

Everyone in our small crowd nodded and pulled out a phone or headed to a vehicle. To my surprise, Sam was the one driving the tow truck that pulled into the parking area.

She parked near the damaged vehicle and hopped out of the truck. I gave her a grin and a wave before heading in her direction. A very surly looking Trevor got out of the passenger seat and followed Sam over to the damaged vehicle.

“Hey, Anna!” Sam greeted me cheerfully. “This is some fucked up shit, right?”

Trevor cleared his throat and gave me a worried look. Sam caught his look. “What?”

Trevor shrugged in response.

“I know Anna has heard the phrase ‘fucked up shit’ before.” Sam rolled her eyes.

“It’s true,” I laughed. “I’ve even said it before.”

Sam gave me a mock shocked look and held her hand over her heart. “Anna! Why I never!” She said in her best southern accent.

We both dissolved into giggles. “I need to know where you got a tow truck and how you learned to operate one, though.” I told her with a huge grin.

“I borrowed it. And I learned how to drive one as a kid.” She told me seriously.

“You need to tell me the story behind that later.” I told her with a laugh.

Mike and Trevor started discussing the best way to hook up the car to the tow truck. “Let me know when you need my help, boys!” Sam told them with a smile.

“Is it legal to borrow a tow truck?” I asked her seriously. “Don’t you need a special kind of license for that?”

Sam patted me on the arm. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about that.” She teased me. “I’ll let you have plausible deniability by not telling you.”

I rolled my eyes but gave her a grin. “Fine. But I want to know all about what’s going on with Trevor.”

Sam leaned into me and flicked her gaze around to make sure no one else was listening. “It’s not just Trevor.” She told me with a sparkle in her eye and a cheeky grin.

My jaw dropped a little. “Who else?” I whispered dramatically.

Sam linked her arm with mine and we walked a little off to the side. “Mike. And Davis. And maybe Rich.”

I gave a little gasp of surprise. It sounded like her situation was very similar to mine. 

“We need to have a girls-only movie night, so we can compare notes about our boys and what it’s like to manage them.” Sam told me.

“Yes!” I said enthusiastically. “I desperately need someone to talk to about all this.” I told her honestly.

Sam nodded. “Some of the guys mentioned you were raised as a human?”

“Yeah.” I sighed, not sure where she was going with this.

She bumped her hip into mine. “I just meant that humans are weird about relationships. Shifters are much more open, rely on our instincts, and bond with our mates differently.”

I looked at her curiously. “Having more than one guy isn’t weird for you?”

She gave me a smile like the Cheshire Cat. “When a shifter meets our mates we just know deep down.”

I frowned at her. What did it mean if I had doubts about myself and the guys?

She must have read my mind. “I know you said you were on the run from other wolves when you met Cody, right?”

I nodded. I had already told her the whole story about my first day with the guys.

“So, logically, your brain would have identified Cody as an enemy. But you didn’t feel that way when you met him, did you?”

“Huh.” I thought back. Yeah, I had been terrified when I met him. But I hadn’t run from him. I trusted him enough to let him into my house, I trusted him enough to get into his car, and I trusted him enough to bring me to his pack master. Deep down, something had told me that he was okay.

Sam smiled at me as she watched me work through it. “What about when you met the twins? Your new pack-master just handed you off to a couple of strange men and you went with it.”

She was right. I had bonded really quickly with the twins. I had even let Mason touch me the first day that we met. It had been years since I trusted anyone to get close to me or touch me like that.

But did we have some kind of magical connection? I don’t know if I believed that.

Sam watched me. “Guys don’t like to talk about this, and some guys don’t like to admit it to themselves. Sometimes you need another female to work through this stuff.”

I smiled gratefully at her. “You’re right. We need to have regular girls nights. And I have a feeling that ‘some guys’ might be Trevor?”

Sam rolled her eyes. “That man infuriates me, but he also knows how to whip me into a sexual frenzy, you know?”

I blushed despite the fact that I desperately tried not to. “Um, yeah.” I said.

Thankfully Sam didn’t seem to notice because Jason walked up to us. He gave Sam a frown, but nodded politely at her. “It looks like Trevor and Mike could probably use your help.”

Sam laughed out loud and strutted over to where the guys were working. Jason watched her go before wrapping me up in a hug. He buried his face in my hair and inhaled deeply. “My heart stopped when I heard the explosion and you were nowhere in sight.” He murmured to me.

I gave him a squeeze in return. “I’m glad everyone is okay.”

Jason pulled back to give me a kiss on the forehead. “You had better believe we are going to be keeping an even closer eye on you now.”

I rolled my eyes and gave him a nudge. “That’s fine. Because I’m going to be keeping a close eye on you. Someone needs to keep you out of trouble.”

Jason chuckled and let me go. “A couple of the guys caught a scent and followed it through the woods. Unfortunately, whomever it was got on a motorcycle and they lost the trail when it lead back to one of the main roads.”

I signed. “Did anyone recognize the scent? Was it one of the wolves who tried to attack the house?”

Jason gave me a nod and his mouth tightened. “It was.”

Mason and Trevor walked over to us. “We’re taking the vehicle back home to take a look at it. Mike and Davis are picking up any of the debris that might give us clues.” He sighed. “This kind of thing isn’t easy. It’s going to be very labor intensive and we might not be able to get anything useful.”

I growled in frustration. “This is starting to get ridiculous. Whoever this is just needs to stop messing around and come out of hiding.”

Trevor did his best to hide a chuckle. The twins both grinned at me. “I like it when your feisty side comes out, Anna.” Mason teased me before mussing my hair affectionately.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Trevor grumbled before walking away.

Jason sobered up. “I doubt these cowards are going to come out of hiding and face us directly.”

“I just want to put a stop to this before someone really gets hurt.” I told him seriously.

They both nodded in agreement. “Let’s help the guys gather up the debris and clean up so we can get home at a reasonable hour.” Mason suggested.

“I’m going over to the woods first. I want to get the scent of this person for myself.” I told him.

The twins exchanged looks but I ignored them both and marched over to where I had thought I saw someone. There was no way I was getting naked out here to change into my wolf with all our pack members wandering around, so I plopped down on the ground. Jason trailed after me, keeping me in sight.

I took a deep breath and focused on expanding my senses. This time it came much more easily to me. I focused on separating all of the scents around me. Jason’s scent was the strongest because he was standing so close to me. His and Mason’s scents clung to me from our embraces earlier.

I reached out further but got frustrated when too many scents mixed together. A lot of our pack members had come this way to check for signs of our attacker. I didn’t know the scents of everyone in our pack well enough to differentiate them all. I was going to fix that in the future, once I got the opportunity.

I stood up and walked around, still expanding my senses, searching for anything I could use. I came to an abrupt stop when I picked up on something. I froze when I realized where I recognized that scent from and started to shake with anger.

I kicked off one shoe and then the other. I wasn’t going to let my shyness stop me from going after this guy. I needed to be in my wolf form right now. I roughly pulled my hoodie over my head and threw it on the ground.

“Whoa, Anna.” Jason came closer and watched me cautiously. “Normally, I would be the last person to complain about you stripping, but you have me worried.”

“I know that scent.” I snarled at him. “He was there.”

Jason approached me slowly, worry in his eyes. “Anna, talk to me.”

I unbuttoned my pants and let them drop to the ground. His eyebrows rose when he realized I wasn’t going to stop.

My anger was so intense it felt like my blood was on fire. Flashes of the bedroom scene where Evelyn had met her end overtook my vision. This scent was one of the ones that was forever burned into my memory. It was closely tied to the scent of Evelyn’s blood that had splashed across the room.

I quickly dropped the last of my clothing, way past caring who might see. I was changed into my wolf before the last bit of clothing even hit the ground. The scent was even clearer now that I was in my wolf form. I sniffed around, getting my bearings and determining which direction my prey had gone.

I heard Jason grumbling curses behind me, but he quickly dropped to all fours beside me and shook out his coat. It looked like he was going to join me in the chase. I was acting purely on instinct when I tilted my head back and let out a howl. It was a call for vengeance.

I took off with Jason close behind me. I kept a fast pace but had to keep slowing or circling back if I lost the scent. Jason stuck with me the whole time, and several other wolves from the pack joined us. My frustration and rage grew stronger with every set back, but my determination never wavered.

We came to a clearing and I sniffed around. This is where our prey must have gotten on the motorcycle. His scent was so faint I could barely pick up on it, but it was mixed with stronger scents from the motorcycle. Those I could follow.

The trail he took was clear and well-traveled, so it was easy to follow. I led my mini-pack down the trail quickly. It was impossible for me to separate his scent from the scent of Evelyn’s blood in my mind. I was being driven by a mindless need for vengeance. I pushed myself to go faster.

The trail led out to a road and my pack hung back in the wooded area, out of sight from the cars. I didn’t stop. I could care less who saw me. I did wait impatiently for two cars to pass so I could go out into the empty road in search of the scent from the motorcycle.

I desperately used all of my senses, but there were just too many scents. I couldn’t pick up on the man’s scent or the specific scent of the motorcycle he had been riding. I sat down right there in the middle of the empty road and let all of my anger and frustration out in a howl of desperation and desolation.

I was a failure as a wolf. If I had spent my life embracing what I was instead of burying it, would I have the skills I needed for this? I had spent very little time as a wolf and most of that time was spent just playing.

I heard Jason’s voice shouting at me from the forest. “Anna! Get back here!”

He must have been desperate if he changed back to human just to yell at me. But a naked man chasing after his ‘dog’ would probably be almost as weird as seeing a pack of wolves running across a road. The males in my pack were just so large and wolf-like it would be difficult to pass them off as anything other than what they were.

I trotted back to the forest but the scent of the motorcycle on the trail enraged me once again. I pawed at the ground in frustration, snapping at anyone who came too close. I had been so close to finding one of Evelyn’s murderers. I paced back and forth, there had to be a way that I could follow after that man.

Jason had turned back into his wolf and was trying to nudge me to go back to the range. I snarled at him, I was not leaving. I don’t know what I was going to do, but I was going to do something.

What if I followed along the side of the road and tried to pick up on his scent where he left the road? Kind of like following a river until I could find the place that my prey came back on land. I perked up a little. I could do that.

I could hear more people coming down the trail towards us. Friend or enemy? Mason’s voice stood out to me. He had better be here to help me. Mason, Trevor, and Davis appeared on the trail, now close enough to see us.

“Anna!” Mason shouted. I watched him approach with narrowed eyes, suspicious of whether he was here to help or hinder me.

Mason crouched down in front of me and stroked the top of my head. Normally, I would love it, but today there was no time for that. “Anna.” He said softly. “I know you are upset right now, but I need you to come back with us.”

I snapped at him and he pulled his hand back and stood. I shook out my coat before stalking back to the edge of the road. I was not going to let him stop me from my mission.

I felt a sharp sting on my right flank and turned my head sharply to see what it was. There was something lodged in my coat and I helplessly tried to paw at it before trying to grab it with my teeth. My eyes widened once I realized what it was, and my vision started to go black. Did they really just shoot me with a tranquilizer gun?

I fell to the ground, my limbs felt too heavy to move. I fought to keep my eyes open as Mason approached me again. I lost the battle as I felt him stroke my coat soothingly. “Sorry, pretty girl.”