Total pages in book: 202
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
I don’t know if it’ll work. I don’t know if I even want it to work. Because it’d make me a murderer.
I haven’t been able to find out what became of the other alphas that I’ve slipped the herb. Wyatt was angry that I didn’t know.
Jimmy passed the phone the other day and I had to listen to Wyatt scream his head off at me.
“Make this happen or you’ll fuck me over, screw my entire plan! You don’t wanna fuck me over, Stacy. If this is fucked sideways because of you, guess what’ll happen? Everyone you care about will be on my fuckin’ shit list.”
The whole plan thing has been disastrous, frankly. But because he rules with fear nobody has the nerve to tell him how cockamamie his plans are.
It’s just like Wyatt to give me the task of eliminating the biggest threat in this pack instead of taking it on himself. For our pack. For Father. And to make it seem like everyone else, never him, is responsible when his plans all get ‘fucked sideways’.
As much as he goes on about avenging Father, Father was hard on him and he didn’t even seem to mourn, simply took Father’s place as alpha when his body was found.
We’d need to go back to the times of my grandfather to be a functioning pack. When we prospered. When we had all we needed. When our water was drinkable straight from the tap. When there was laughter and joy in our village. Wyatt inherited some problems that were due to Father, but everyone knows he’s made things even worse.
I barely remember those times with Grandfather, but snippets come to me at times, particularly when I’ve watched the alphas in this pack together, which makes what I’ve come here to do even more difficult.
I can also only hope that not only does the black wolf show up so I can get this done today, also that Jimmy will be waiting back in town to give me more masking agent and get me out of town, or else I’m screwed.
And if I do get it done, I’ll have to try to put out of my mind that the black wolf, though he’s absolutely massive and exerts more alpha energy than I’ve ever witnessed, doesn’t seem like a bad guy.
1
Stacy
The deafening bang rips through the air like a bomb has detonated.
My heart stops as I watch the massive black wolf drop.
I had a clear shot to hit his head, but then our eyes met. The world was frozen for two beats of my heart before I aimed lower and fired.
Nobody needs to know; I still did what I was told. And I now know I would’ve aimed lower even if he hadn’t looked at me.
But he did. He saw who shot him.
He showed up just as I was about to give up and leave. They don’t go for their morning run this late – at least not in the weeks since I’ve been watching.
And now, it’s done. I did what I was ordered to do. I should feel relieved, grateful it’s over, that I’ve followed orders, that there won’t be another day anticipating doing this. Even if I failed at killing him.
I guess it’s just not in me to fire a kill shot. And I know to my core that’s a good thing.
Instead of feeling grateful, acid relentlessly washes my back molars as I shakily set the heavy gun into my bag, strip, and erratically shove my clothes and shoes on top of it before I drop the bag into the hole I’ve dug. I hastily sweep the dirt back over it, toss the leaves and catnip trimmings on top, and now… I’m shifting.
Hands become paws that hit the ground and I’m painfully aware of my labored breathing as I run. I’m not fast enough. Must run faster. Must get away instead of vomiting like I want to do. I’m not very athletic; it's been forever since my last shift and my body feels shaky. My back and my limbs are sore, and my stomach is in knots. I’ve eaten a bunch of the catnip, too, and it’s turned my stomach. I didn’t have much choice; I know the rest of Aphra’s potion to mask my scent won’t last too long, and she told me catnip would help if I ran low, though would only stop someone from scenting my nature from a distance. If they get close, the catnip wouldn’t work as well as her potion.
We’re rarely allowed to shift, let alone go for the kind of runs that build endurance, agility, and speed, but I run as fast as I can, mind racing with the reality of my situation.
I shot that giant black wolf and watched him drop.
I did a terrible thing I didn’t think I was capable of just now, but it's done. I’ve obeyed Wyatt. Father has been avenged. And maybe this will be the first step in stopping the destruction of what’s left of our pack. There’s so much work to do to fix it. We certainly can’t sink much lower than where we’re at.