Part 8
After a hot shower and a handful of pain pills, I stood in front of the mirror. There were still bruises all over my body, but the bones and skin had healed. Thankfully the pain had eased considerably. I could move around on my own. More importantly, I could shift.
I walked into the bedroom and opened up the closet, searching for something I could put on besides a robe. I found an old over-sized t-shirt and put it on. Since I still didn’t have any under clothes to speak of, I rummaged through his dresser and found a pair of boxers. They were a tab bit big, but they were better than nothing at the moment. Especially since we weren’t alone.
“Feel better?” Adam asked. He was leaning on the doorframe, smiling.
“Much. Hope you don’t mind. I raided your closet.”
“Not at all,” he said. The smile grew. “You look a damn sight better in those boxers than I do.”
The memory of a conversation we’d had years before came to me. “How would you know? You never wear any.”
His smile faded as he walked into the room and scooped my feet out from underneath me. I had just enough time to wrap my arms around his neck before he carried me into another room. This one was an office.
It was rustic like the rest of the house; hardwood floors, wooden walls, soft lighting. The air was different though. More lived in. Several coffee cups crowded the paper-covered desk. The fireplace had more ashes than the one downstairs did. To my left, I could see the room had it’s own bathroom There was even a small fridge and microwave tucked into one corner of the room.
He put me down and walked over to a closet at the far end of the room. I sat down on the leather couch and waited. A few minutes later he was standing in front of me with a ring shoved halfway up his pinkie.
I recognized it immediately. It was mine. One simple diamond set atop a small gold band. Without a word he pried it off his finger and slid it onto mine.
“Like it never left,” he said. He held his arm out to me. “As much as I would like to stay up here all night-”
I stood up and laced my arm in his. As we walked down the stairs and into the chaos, I kept my eyes on my finger. How on earth could I have forgotten so much? How could a need for power cause so much?
“What happens now?” I asked as we entered the kitchen.
“We stop it,” Adam said flatly.
“Pretty sure she meant how,” Sean said, winking at me. I nodded and took the plate Bear offered.
I made myself a burger and sat down. “They only have power because they use scare tactics. If we were to show the packs they aren’t nearly as scary as they think they are, we may not even have to lift a finger.”
“Easier said than done,” Paul said.
“Maybe not,” I said thinking back to something I heard my uncle say once. It was right before Trey had moved in. Ben was afraid Steven would try to use Trey’s living there to exploit weak spots within his leadership. “I’ll admit I don’t remember a lot, but I do remember how much my dad was looked up to. They chose you for me. They chose the next leader the day my parents agreed.”
“Everybody knows it,” Sean told me. “Problem is, everybody is comfortable with their lives they way they are. Better to keep the evil you know.”
I looked at Adam. “Would you challenge?”
“I’ve tried,” he answered. “Neither will fight.”
“I didn’t realize they had a choice.” A challenge made was always met.
“This isn’t your traditional situation, is it?” Paul said. He handed Adam a beer and sat down next to him. “Unconventional ideas may be the only solution.”
“Let’s have a party,” Bear said, pushing his plate aside. I was as puzzled as the other three men. “Hear me out. Call a truce. Host it here and make a hell of a spectacle out of it. Hell, announce your engagement all over again. That’ll be enough to ruffle a few feathers. Add alcohol to the mix and you’ve got a challenge in the making.”
“They’ll use Jenna as a bargaining chip,” Paul said.
“Let them try,” I told him. I had no plans to go anywhere.
Adam squeezed my thigh and gave Bear a hard look. “They’ll try something. You know they will.”
Bear snorted. “Yeah, but that’s when we beat ‘em at their own game. That’s when we challenge.”
Sean raised his eyebrow. “We?”
“We,” Bear repeated. “Like Paul said; unconventional ideas. Nothing says we can’t go a few rounds with some of their muscle. Once the blood is pumping they’ll be hard-pressed to refuse a challenge.”
“And if they do?” Paul asked.
“We end it then and there,” Adam said.
Dawn Kirby lives in West TX with Jamie, her husband of 17 years and their three wonderful children Tristan, Aishlynn and Shelby. She's the author of SECRETS, DECEIT and TRIBULATIONS. All three part of the paranormal romance Serenity Series published by Twisted Core Press. Her work is also featured in several 7DS Books anthologies such as SEVEN DEADLY SINS, A MAN’S PROMISE, LINGER, among several others. Another short, DATE NIGHT was published in 13 Tales of the Paranormal by Firefly and Wisp. To find out more about Dawn's work please visit www.dawnmkirby.com.
Places to find Dawn Kirby
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I would love to hear your thoughts. :) HAPPY READING !!!!