Nick took a seat on the bench opposite the chair, perched forward, his face full of concern. His skin was a beautiful copper color, his shaggy dark hair curling around his face. His father had been an artic fox, a First Nation Canadian, his mother a Canadian, originally from France. “Why in the hell didn’t you tell me you were going to fight Mitch? At the very least, I could’ve come and been your backup. I heard he brought Josh. You could’ve had someone there to make sure it didn’t go too far.”

I sighed. “If I’d told you, you never would’ve let me go, and you know it. If it all went to hell, I didn’t want you to feel responsible. I know I took a huge risk fighting Mitch, but it was time to slow the madness down. Things were getting crazy, and there was no other way.” I grinned. “Plus, I knew I had a great chance of kicking his ass, or at least going punch for punch, thanks to you. Without all of our sparring and your hard work, my skills wouldn’t have been near the level they needed to be.” I steepled my fingers, cast and all, and bowed my neck. “Thank you, Sensei.”

“He still could’ve ripped your heart out. You’re lucky wolves are massively egotistical and enjoy playing with their prey—to a fault. If it had been me, I’d have gone right for your neck, without fuss, and walked out of there in less than a minute.”

“That’s why the wolves continue to underestimate you, which is lucky for us. Mitch was a calculated risk, one I could stomach, with odds in my favor. Even though I didn’t officially win, it’s all opened up now. My father knows, everyone on Compound has heard by now, so the wolves will have to consider the stakes if they choose to fight me.”

“They’re going to fight you, make no mistake about it.” He looked out at the lake. “We have to get out of here. Did you talk to your dad about it?”

“Yep,” I said. “After the fight and this morning. He was noncommittal, but surprisingly, James took up my case.”

“That is surprising.” Nick grinned. “And welcome. It’s about time.”

“I agree, but for now, we wait. It’s too bad I was born into a supernatural race. It would be so much easier to just leave. I’m nineteen. For a normal human family, that means college, traveling, and a life outside your parents’ home.”

“If you left, you’d be tracked down within a day at the most.”

“I know. Stupid werewolves.” I rested my head against the back of the chair. “My release into the real world has to come from my father. There’s no other way. I’m hoping he’ll see the light soon, before things escalate like we all know they will.”

Nick’s phone beeped and he took it out. “It’s my turn to do a perimeter check, and I’m late.” He stood. We had hunters encroach on our land all the time. My father owned close to five hundred acres, all bordering Bureau of Land Management property, but we patrolled it every day without fail. Risking our secret was unacceptable. Humans were easy to scent, so finding them was a snap. It was ushering them back out that took the most finesse. Nick was good at it, so he did scouting runs most often. He was nonthreatening and made sure they got out alive, which was the goal, because frequent deaths would be investigated. Some of the aggressive wolves had little patience for humans, and if a hunter was unlucky enough to push back, he paid a steep price for trespassing.

I stood up and gave him a hug. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. We’ll figure something out soon.”

He gripped my shoulders softly. “Stay close to home in the meantime. I’ll make sure I clear my schedule for the next few days. We can come up with a new plan—like building you a house a few miles from here and locking you inside.”

“That sounds like a dream. Sign me up.” I smiled. “I love being contained in small spaces. Then the big, bad wolves can come and huff and puff and blow it all down.”

Nick laughed. “Well, it would certainly be better than brushing shoulders with the enemy all day.” He pecked me on the cheek. “Stay safe.”

“I will. I think I’m going to head down to the dock and rest.”

* * *

After Nick left, I walked down the short hill in front of the lodge. We had several docks around the property, but the main dock sat just to the left of the gazebo. It was long, with old, weathered gray planks, the beginning treads sheltered by a cove of trees, giving way to the sunshine at the end. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and as it hit me, it felt good on my tired, abused skin.

I sat, and after a moment, I stretched out on my back and shut my eyes. The pressure from the gashes Mitch had given me the night before ached, but the good doctor had stitched them up and rubbed them with a nerve-deadening serum. Bless him. The pain was there, but it was tolerable. The dizziness in my head had almost completely evaporated, and I felt normal.

I must have dozed for a minute.

“Get up,” a voice snarled in my ear. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll do it quietly.”

I knew that voice. And I wasn’t going anywhere.

“I said, get the fuck up!” Pressure came down on my fingers as my attacker crunched my outspread fingers beneath the sole of his shoe.

Jesus Christ, you gotta be kidding me. I shook myself fully awake. We were right out in the open. Yes, I was harassed often, but never this close to my father. The Compound was massive and sprawling; there were plenty of places to confront me away from the Alpha. “I’m not moving, Sean,” I murmured, my eyelids still drawn. “You can go to hell if you think I’m stupid enough to go anywhere with you. Leave me alone and get out of here before you get yourself into trouble.”

A hard kick hit my ribs, stealing my breath. Dammit. I opened my eyes. He wasn’t going to relent. My hand came up to shield my eyes from the noon sun. “Honestly, Sean, you can kick the shit out of me, but I’m not going anywhere with you. You should know better than to stalk me here. Your Alpha is barely fifty yards away. I didn’t know you had a death wish, but one can be arranged.”

Sean bent at the knees, squatting next to me. A glint of metal caught my eye as he moved. He was clutching a nasty-looking hunting knife, his eyes already simmering a fierce amber. He was riled up and full of emotion. Sean was Mitch’s best friend. His wolf was already poised at the surface, ready to hurt something, seeking retribution for his buddy. There was no absolutely no turning back for him.

I should’ve known this was a possibility. Double dammit.

Sean was a temperamental wolf, always struggling to keep himself in check. After Tyler had hurt Mitch, Sean had threatened me repeatedly, knowing I was the cause of the ass-kicking. But, ultimately, the damage to Mitch had been done by Tyler, so after Sean had given me a few broken ribs as payback, he’d moved on. The ultimate problem was Sean and Mitch belonged to a specific group of my greatest haters on the Compound. They were riled up on a regular basis by Hank Lauder, a much older werewolf. He and his son, Stuart, fueled most of the fires of discontent within Pack. Those two alone kept the Myth alive by reminding the other wolves about it. Hank was almost as old as my father and very powerful. His fear ran deep and his vitriol fanned the flames.

The two of them managed to get away with it because they didn’t come into contact with me very often and thereby weren’t directly disobeying their Alpha. They were happy to let the younger wolves do their dirty work for them, and Sean had come to do just that. “You’re not going to get away with what you did to Mitch, Daughter of Cain,” he snarled, spittle running down the corners of his mouth. “You’re coming with me, or I’ll kill you right here.”

“In case you missed the news flash,” I answered, easing myself into a better defensive position, “I didn’t do anything to your pal Mitch. Everything I doled out to him, he recovered from in less than five minutes, as per usual with you guys.” I’d tried my hardest to make it hurt as much as possible, but that was beside the point. “Any grievances you have must be taken up with James. I’m sure he’ll be more than pleased to settle them with you, if you ask nicely. And if you still don’t believe me, go find Josh. He’ll tell you the facts about his brother. Now, my advice to you is to calm the fuck down and walk away before you lose your sorry life fighting me.”

“Don’t push me. Get up,” Sean said through a set of sharp, tightly clenched teeth. When I didn’t move so much as my crushed pinky finger, he snapped. Throwing his arms outward in exasperation, he yelled, “Don’t you get it? I don’t give a shit what happens to me! We’ve all had enough of you flaunting yourself around the Compound like you belong here. We know you’re just waiting to bring us down, and fighting Mitch was the last straw.” His eyes went blank as he started manically reciting, “The unborn daughter of Cain shall live. And from this day forth, the Wolves of the Night shall pay. Their atonement as flesh of their flesh—”

I cut him off. “Wow, you can stop now.” I knew those lines by heart, since they’d been etched into my brain at a very early age. I didn’t need to be reminded of my bane. “I’m not sure if I should clap or get up and curtsy. Sean, I had no idea your memorization skills were so well honed. Good job, Sparky. When I get back to the lodge, I’ll be sure to find you a gold star. Now, like I told you, get lost before I tell your Alpha you’re harassing his severely injured daughter.”

The knife swept down in an arc before I could stop it. I rolled, but not quickly enough. Story of my life with these guys. The blade caught my shoulder and stuck there, lodged into my flesh like a carving knife in an Easter ham. “Jesus, Sean!” I yelled. “What the fuck?”

Then he was on me. We rolled to the edge of the dock in a tumble. Luckily, the motion had dislodged the knife. We hit the lake with a splash.

The only thing running through my mind on the way down was that wolves hated to swim, but I didn’t. And I was good at it. I could use being in the water to my advantage.