21
Savannah
I was exhausted after my shift, but Jaxson showed me no mercy. He’d made it clear that I was going to run with the pack.
Sam drove us through Dockside, and I watched the lights of Magic Side drift by. There was no moon tonight, but I couldn’t see the stars because of all the city lights.
I remembered driving this road on my first night in Magic Side with Jaxson. The place had been so foreign. Now, it was home…or had been home. I didn’t know any more.
I was feeling a very light buzz, which helped me forget my sore feet. Sam and I had grabbed a couple beers after the happy hour rush.
You’d think after my bender and spending the afternoon at the biker bar the day before, we would’ve taken an evening off, but I had a lot to come to terms with.
The situation with my family was still messed up, and I had no idea what to do about it. Sam listened but pushed me to focus on the problems at hand, which miraculously seemed so much more manageable than the prospect of dealing with my aunt: Dragan was back, and he’d rounded up a bunch of psycho cultist bikers to do his bidding.
That, as well as a rumor that we’d really pissed off the Order…which seemed fair.
But none of that was my immediate problem—the pack run was.
Jaxson had insisted I participate. It’s part of being a wolf.
Wolfie and I had been fine with our solo runs along the lakeshore. And despite her early enthusiasm, neither of us was quite sure how we felt about running with a hundred werewolves.
Sam pulled her truck up into a packed parking lot, and I let out a low whistle. “Man, that’s a lot of vehicles.”
A hundred werewolves might be an underestimate.
What are you complaining about? my wolf asked. All you have to do is strip in front of a hundred people. I’m the one who has to avoid getting trampled by a bunch of furry lunatics.
I took a deep breath as we slid out of Sam’s ride.
There were shifters everywhere, all talking, laughing, and drinking in the glow of the headlights. So many people. Most I didn’t recognize, but they probably all knew about me by now. The new wolf. The redheaded LaSalle in their midst.
Ex-LaSalle.
“Ready to run?” Sam asked.
“For sure—but I’m thinking of maybe running in the other direction.”
“You’ll be fine, Fury.” She laughed and grabbed a beer from someone as she pulled me headlong into the milling crowd. Sam was aglow and totally in her element. I, on the other hand, was as far as I could be from mine.
People I’d never met jostled me left and right as we waded through the bodies. None of them looked directly at me, but I could feel their eyes on my back.
It was all too much. The lights. The voices. The music blaring from someone’s car. The scents of anticipation and excitement and comradery. My breathing quickened as the crowd began closing in around me.
We’ve gotta get out of here.
A few people that I didn’t recognize came up to Sam and gave her a hug. She started laughing and joking with them, and I took that moment to slowly back away.
I wasn’t running, just taking a breather.
I slipped past the periphery of the crowd and slunk off into the shadows of the trees. Pressing my back against a trunk, I closed my eyes and focused on breathing in and out and let the cool darkness wrap around me like the waters of the lake.
“You okay?” a woman asked as she approached across the grass. Not Sam. Regina?
I glanced her way, and my face flushed. “I’m fine.”
Regina crossed her arms and studied me. “You don’t look fine. You look like you’re having a panic attack. What are you doing over here alone?”
My heartbeat raced as my embarrassment blossomed into anger and shame. “What’s it to you?”
She held up her hands apologetically. “Hey, I’m just checking in.”
“Well, I’m fine. This—this meetup is just a lot.” I turned back to the darkness. But I wasn’t fine, and I was certain she could smell my panic and hear my racing heart.
So many people I didn’t know. My pack.
I’d stared into the gaping maw of a living nightmare, yet tonight, the prospect of all these folks was more than I could bear.
Regina slowly circled the tree. Her eyes flashed gold, and her power vibrated the air around us, pressing in on me. “Savannah, you need to stop worrying. You’re going to be all right. I know this is more werewolves than you’ve ever been around before, but you’re one of us. It’s okay.”
I caught the scent of hickory, and the taste of cinnamon burned my tongue.
“Don’t use your alpha voodoo on me,” I growled, but in spite of my resentment, my panic had drained away. I hadn’t known she had powers like Jaxson, but then again, she was his second in command, and probably for good reason.
Her presence didn’t let up. “You don’t need to be afraid. You’re one of us now.”
Her voice soothed my nerves, and my heartbeat slowly returned to normal. That irritated the hell out of me. This woman had no right using her power on me or playing with my emotions.
“One of us?” I laughed. “That’s rich coming from someone who wanted me tried for murder and strung up under the Old Laws. I was abducted and drained and almost killed, and you wanted me dragged before a pack of wolves to plead for my life.”