Her Viking Wolves(13)

“He might,” I say hopefully. “He really hates the outdoors, so the chances of him coming up here—”

“He’s already threatening to send Yancey up here after the next full moon. And you know Wilma ain’t going to be cool with Detroit drama coming to Wolf Lake.”

I inwardly curse. That much is true. Despite her less than civilized upbringing, I’ve watched the former Detroit princess swan around the Alaska kingdom house like she was born “old money.” She was the kind of woman who insisted on a family hug before each party, grandchildren included, only to whisper inside the circle, “If any of you embarrass me tonight, I will end you.”

“You her niece. But we Detroit through and through,” Ford says, as if co-signing my thoughts. “If Wilton send somebody up here, she will put your ass on a plane before she lets you embarrass her in front of her kingdom. So you need to go. Only question is, do you want me to call for a plane now or after the New Year’s Eve party?”

I shake my head, bitter disappointment stealing over me. “Wow,” I say. “As welcoming as you and Aunt Wilma have been to all these snooty Alaska wolves, it looks like you don’t have any kind of feelings about your actual family at all.”#p#分页标题#e#

Now, and only now, does Uncle Ford’s expression change, his face shifting from awkward confrontation mode to troubled frown. “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. You’re my family. I…I…care about you. I’m on your side. Always. But I know my brother and my Pop.”

A shadow crosses over his face, hinting at a still locked backstory interstitial that I’ve never heard. But even without hearing it, I’m getting loud and clear that something happened when Uncle Ford was still living in Detroit. Something that makes him think I cannot possibly win this battle with my father. That I might as well give in now, because any form of resistance will only cause him and Aunt Wilma more pain.

“Okay, well I’m going back to my room now.” I turn away then. Not because I’m disappointed in him, but because I know he’s right.

I’ve run away to Alaska, but the truth is, there’s no escape. Not from my father.

I expect Uncle Ford to run after me as I start back to the kingdom house. To demand I agree to get on the plane, like my father wants.

But eventually I hear footsteps, and when I look up, he’s headed in the other direction. Presumably back to the cottage he shared with his mate before she died in childbirth a couple of years after my mother. Geez, no wonder the guy isn’t so sold on happy endings for us Detroit Royals.

The truth is, neither am I. Uncle Ford is right. This ain’t over. Not even close.

My father was raised by Leroy Greenwolf, one of the most brutal alphas Detroit—no forget that—the world has ever seen. So cold-blooded, there was still a rumor going around that my grandfather gave his eighteen-year-old daughter something to trigger her heat when the King of Alaska came through to consider my Uncle Ford for his beta. And believe me, it’s a rumor anybody who’s ever met my grandfather would have no problem believing.

He and his oldest son were born ruthless, unwilling to stop at anything to get what they want. And I already know I, the nerdy recluse, am no match for the Alpha King of Detroit…

Yet I’m unable to give in and tell Uncle Ford to just go on ahead and schedule the three plane rides it will take to get me back to Detroit.

There’s no way to win this Boss Level. I know that. But on the coldest New Year’s Eve I’ve ever experienced, I’m still holding out for the gold token that gets me to a game ending I can live with.

Fuck, I think as I return to the now very temporary sanctuary of the kingdom house guest room. What am I going to do?





6





Death surrounds Fenrisson, Ever the Man. The bodies of his best warriors—his kin—lie across the meadow between the village and the lake. Many of the slain are wolves he trained with under his father. All dead. Their human bodies—burnt husks, now—strewn across the field.

Pride demands he avenge the fallen. However, good sense tells him what he must do instead. He’s already called back his remaining warriors, bid them run to the mountains and leave their village to the serpent beasts.

Still, guilt shadows his every step as he silently skirts the forest line, managing to avoid detection. There are only two serpent warriors left now. After four did fall, many of them shifted into their human forms and took up arrows, which they must have planted before beginning the battle. Now with their numbers thinned, they have left only two of their rank in serpent-form to do all the fighting while the remainder shoots silver tipped arrows into the furred bodies of Fenrisson’s kith and kin.