The pack had signed it to shut her the fuck up, and well, she had presented the said petition to Alpha, and he had no choice but to sign it.At least when she came calling, people actually listened to her now. Beforehand, they ignored her.
Wolfe never ignored her. He … couldn’t.
Whenever she was around, he was very much aware of her being close by.Not that Amelia would ever know that, because he didn’t allow her to know that he wanted to fuck her so damn bad. Had wanted to for a long time.
Amelia was the pack’s joke. The only vegan. They mocked her for it. She was never truly invited to anyone’s social gathering. The pack often avoided her. Since the deer petition, she lost her job at the diner.
He’d put a word in with Val at the Poison Bar, and Amelia had been working there for the past few months. She hadn’t caused any trouble. She wasn’t trouble.
It wasn’t like she hadupset the customers at the diner. She still served them whatever food they wanted to, but Denny, who owned the diner, got pissed and let her go. Maybe because Denny liked deer.
Whatever the reason, he couldn’t just let her go without a job. Amelia loved to help people andanimals. She was also the only pack member with a couple of dogs.
A few strays that had been left abandoned in the forest. One of them had looked pretty bad when she carried him out of the forest. Again, another reason the pack was pissed with her.
Theywere wolves. They didn’t keep dogs, but Amelia did. She had gone out of her way to defy the pack. A vegan, animal lover, and also someone who didn’t believe in violence at all. The pack had put her at the bottom of the food chain.
No one would touch her.He didn’t even know if she had any friends within the pack.
Every time he saw her, she was on her own, with her two dogs at her feet.Buster and Rascal, she’d called them. Both male dogs. Both loyal to her.
Alpha signaled for them to pause, and he did so, crouching down as he listened.
There was no sign of any deer, and the humans were complaining of hunger. None of them moved as they waited.
For ten minutes, he listened to them complain and leave the forest. Only when he heard the unmistakable sound of the truck growling to life and then driving off, did he relax.
“We can head back,” Alpha said. “But I want to up the patrol for the next couple of weeks.”
“You think they’ll be back?” Draco asked.
“I know they will. Some humans are easily swayed by a challenge. Others, they want to dominate. They might not stop until they’ve hunted their deer. I can’t let them do that.”
“If they hunt the deer,they move on,” Draco said.
“But I stand by my word,” Alpha said, tilting his head to the side but looking likehe had a nasty taste in his mouth. “I’ll protect the fucking deer.”
Wolfe tried not to laugh.
Logically, it would be easier to let the humanshunt, luring them toward a deer, killing it, and then they’d move on.
But … Alpha took his role as alpha seriously. He had to protect the deer as it was in the best interest in the pack. Even if it was for one of their lowest of the low pack members.
Itwas also one of the reasons Wolfe would never act on his attraction to Amelia. She was at the bottom of the food chain.
****
Working at the Poison Bar was way better than working at the diner. Sure, the smells at times could be a little gross, but it wasn’t overwhelming. She hated the smell of burning animal flesh in any form.
Amelia never told anyone that. Her parents had disowned her at the age of eighteen because of her … issues. Yep, that was what they called her. A daughter with way too many issues. A defective wolf.
She was so freaking annoyed with them. They never invited her to any of their familyget-togethers. Ignored her at town meetings. Avoided any contact with her at all costs. Not that she needed them anyway. Being an outcast had become easy to her, seeing as no one had liked her for, like, ever. Through high school and now for the past seven years since she had become a wolf, as well as a full-grown adult. She took care of herself and had done so for a long time.
Without her parents’ support. She didn’t need them. She would never need them.
Putting the two bottles of beer on the counter, she offered the two men a smile. They were part of the second level of security, and both of them glared at her. Whatever. None of them were worth their shit anyway.
She had watched them all cower away from danger. None of them ran toward it.