CHAPTER1
Devon
The burnof the whisky down my throat reminded me I was alive. I rolled the glass between my index finger and my thumb.
“Another.”
The bartender grabbed the bottle and poured. She didn’t even glance up at me. Was my agitation that obvious? I prayed that the liquor would give me some peace just for a few minutes.
The bar wasn’t too busy yet. Still there were more bodies here than probably needed to be. I shouldn’t be here trying to drown a sorrow or twenty, but I needed a damn minute to myself.
This was neutral territory for shifters. For the packs. We all had a hand in this place so at least anyone else here wasn’t looking to pick a fight. This shit show of a town had been designed to create some kind of neutral space after the last massive pack war. None of us alive remembered that. Fuck, right now I was starting to forget my own name. Thank the goddess.
I threw back the drink again and waited for the familiar comfort of the burn. The shadow to my right shifted.
“Devon, what’s the point of this?”
I grunted. “The point is to make the anger fucking go away.”
My second in command, Colton, was judging me, and I just didn’t care. He was my oldest friend, and the most trusted of my pack.
“Devon, be real. I’m not watching another year of destructive behavior. Kill something and then we need to move on.”
I reached for the bottle on the other side of the bar like it was left for me. Hell, maybe it was.
“You can go fuck yourself, Colt.”
He smiled and grabbed the bottle before I could get a good grip on it.
“Alcohol isn’t going to do much for long. You and I both know this shit’s for humans.”
I slammed the glass back down and listened to the shatter.
“Then give me a fucking bottle and leave me to my five minutes of paradise,” I snarled.
“Could you be nicer with the dishes? Future alpha or not, everyone respects the bar,” said the bartender. She was cute, seemed nice and I couldn’t even pretend to be interested. My libido had been crushed by my fathers fucking plans.
“You’re new here?” I asked, still trying to be nice.
She shrugged. I noticed Colton looking at her. Hm. Maybe I leave him to be nice to her.
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Colt hit my shoulder and nodded to the door.
“What are they doing here?”
Neutral territory or not, some packs rarely came to the Hideaway Bar. I would need to worry about my contract mating later. If more packs were showing up here, something was going to happen. My wolf circled within me ready for action. A distraction from losing the battle with my father.
“Triad? What brings the Silver Lake pack to this neck of the woods?”
The males came over; the floor creaking under their size. The burn of the whisky in my stomach was already subsiding. Fuck. I was in an internal war with my wolf. Nothing would stop the internal war or the reality of the world and my life. He was fucking pissed at the situation, but he hated to be out of control even more so drinking wasn’t going to do shit.
Fine. I’ll stop.I said to my wolf.
He was pacing inside my soul, and it made my damn skin itch. It was like we were waiting for something, but the something didn’t have a name. I chalked the unease up to waiting for my life to officially be over or at least my happiness.
“Devon, always a pleasure to see the Black Creek Pack letting their hair down,” said one of the three Silver Lake shifters.