“What do you want?” I grumbled, and the twins on either side of Jackson chuckled. Frowning, I looked from one to the other, both 6’1 with curly blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Do you two just follow him around all day and night? Does he pay you or something?”
The grins on their faces were wiped away, and I stood my ground when they stepped forward, growling. Jackson held them back with a hand against their chest while his smile turned into a full-blown scowl of disgust.
“It’ll be curfew soon,” Jackson reached to touch my face, and I pulled back. “You should hurry home.”
“I think I was doing that before you stopped me,” I rebutted. “So now that it’s established what my intentions are for the night, how about you, I don’t know, go away?”
I could smell the alcohol on his breath and was surprised a bar in town sold the unique concoction made specifically for wolves. There were no other packs here, and I doubted a local went out of their way to make it for our pack.
Jackson was like a rodent every bar owner hated, as he always started fights or refused to pay his bills.
Still, our metabolism was too strong for the alcohol humans consume.
When Jackson stepped forward until he was inches away from me, my eyes narrowed. I wasn’t scared of him. He was an alpha born, his father being Alpha Colin’s only son who passed away ages ago, but Jackson lacked all the qualities of an alpha born, just like Colin.
They had no integrity, and without that, they lacked everything else.
“Even as an outcast, you think you’re better than us,” he growled, and I took a deep breath before releasing it as a heavy sigh. This speech was one I’d heard a million times before. “You’re nothing, Diana. You and your father are trash, and you always will be. Don’t think your position in the pack has changed or ever will. You’re both bottom feeders.”
My jaws clenched, and my wolf howled in my head. I didn’t care about being picked on but speaking about my father was where I drew the line.
“Back off, Jackson. I won’t repeat myself.”
He leaned back and laughed while looking at Nigel and Nathan behind him, the sound mocking. “Run home to daddy, Diana, before you hurt yourself frowning like that.”
When he patted my head, my fist stopped an inch before his face. He threw himself back, his eyes wide, but the same realization I came to that stopped me from hitting him, he seemed to think of as well.
The surprise in his eyes vanished, and he smiled mockingly.
“Go ahead,” he whispered and rested his cheek on my fist. “Do it, but can you imagine what grandpa will do to you…again?”
Gritting my teeth, I said nothing and walked away, my hazel eyes no doubt glowing. Getting into trouble because of Jackson would be a waste. He wasn’t worth it, and the last thing I wanted was to cause more problems for my Dad.
Nonetheless, I’d wanted to hit him so hard his face would sink in. He was a bully, a disgrace to wolf kind, and if he dropped dead tomorrow, he’d be doing the world a favor.
Behind me, I could hear him and his friends laughing, but I kept walking while taking deep breaths. The last time we’d argued, and I’d acted on my urges, I’d broken his arm and a rib.
Jackson knew I could beat his ass if I wanted to, but he was a coward, constantly hiding behind his relationship with the alpha. And to be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested in dealing with Alpha Colin. He was a vile man, and thinking of the punishment I’d suffered the last time made a chill run down my spine.
With it, I felt rage and blinding hate for Colin that left a bitter taste on my tongue.
As things were, my father and I were outcasts in the pack and ignored by everyone. At times it was hard but sometimes, I preferred it. We weren’t bothered, and while there was no silence, there was peace.
Not being seen as a curse, but sometimes it was a blessing in disguise.
Rubbing my knuckles, I left the town behind and continued my journey toward the secluded train tracks. My wolf was howling in my head, growling and demanding I turn back and find Jackson.
I was starting to feel dizzy but what bothered me was that leaving the pack wasn’t an option.
If a wolf left their pack and renounced the werewolf goddess, they’d become rogues.
Rogue werewolves cut off from the goddess’s divine power eventually turn into dark creatures cursed to roam the earth alone. Of course, a wolf could leave their pack and not renounce the goddess, but lone wolves were rare.
Like our animal counterparts, werewolves live in packs, and that was how it had been since the dawn of our existence. Surviving alone wasn’t easy, so finding a wolf without companions
was rare.
Being accepted into another pack would solve things, but the last wolf that left and revealed the truth of which pack he was once a part of, was turned away and forced to become a rogue.