Runt of the Litter (Halfbreed Chronicles Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter.
21 – Avery

My eyes feel puffy from crying all night.  I don’t
care if my brothers had seen me, or not, or even made fun of me.  I cried
from the realizations, I cried from missing Riley, and I cried because I wasn’t
holding her and having to spend another night without her.  I know it’s
crazy how much I miss her, because it’s only the third day, but I can’t help
it.  I crave
her,
I’m desperate for her touch,
her love.
But I’m not ready to talk to her yet.  
My pride has been wounded, and like any wounded animal, I’m whining in the
corner, and trying to lick my wounds.  
I don’t really know what to say, or how to convince her - or anybody else -
that we belong together, when she herself isn’t sure about my abilities.
 I don’t really believe in them either, but somehow it stings worse
realizing she doesn’t.  It cuts far too deep, and until I know how to fix
this, I just need to keep busy.
I have another meeting with the Johnson’s, and since I was able to get their
paperwork done yesterday before dinner, I feel better about heading into town.
 Everything feels so different now though.  Before her, math was
about my only real solace.  The numbers never
change,
the equations are always fool proof.  It was the one steadfast thing in my
life, and I found it strangely comforting.  Now though, I feel sluggish
heading into the meeting, not excited at all to talk about any of it.  My
attentions are elsewhere . . . but I still have a job to do.  

On the bus ride over, I tell myself to keep it in check
just long enough for the meeting.  Grin and bear it, for just an hour.
 Get through it, and then I can go home, and climb back in bed.  The
longer I’m not in bed, the more of a mistake I realize I made by even getting
out of it in the first place.

But I’m here now, so I might as well go ahead.
Stepping into the old building, I can hear my shoes clicking against the tile,
and sure enough I see the Johnson’s around the corner.  Mr. Johnson is
helping his wife stand at the
table, that
they found
towards the back.  They greet me so warmly, that I can’t help but smile
back at them, though I don’t think it quite reaches my eyes,
“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I’ve
got the documents prepared, and thank you for being so patient about it.”
I put the briefcase on the table, snap open the buckles, and begin to set up
the prepared papers.  Usually by now, they begin to chat me up, just about
anything but the finances, and when they continue to remain silent, I know
something is different.  Curiosity peaked, I look up and see them staring
at me.  
Seemingly unsure about something.
 But before I can ask what’s going on, Mrs. Johnson speaks up first,
“Avery - there’s something different about
you.”

Yeah, I almost got
laid
, is the immediate response that comes to mind, but I close my mouth,
making sure I wouldn’t dare say that to an elderly couple.  My silence
doesn’t seem to change the subject though, and before I know it, Mrs. Johnson
walks around the table - and sniffs me, actually sniffs me!

“You smell
different - like lilacs and honey.  Are you mated?”
I feel like my eyes must be bugging out of my head!  I’m practically
frozen in shock by her words, until Mr. Johnson rounds the table, as if he’s
about to sniff me, too.  I’m so utterly confused, and I fear my voice just
went up a whole octave,
“Excuse me?”

Mr. Johnson pulls his wife a step back, and looks me over,
as if I might just pass out.  And to be honest, I feel like I just might.
 When he begins to explain that he and his wife are pureblood werewolves,
I feel my knees buckling, and I reach for the nearest chair to collapse in.
 Mrs. Johnson looks like she’s about to rush over to help me, but Mr.
Johnson keeps a firm hand planted on her shoulders.  Obviously realizing
I’m about to lose it, before either Mrs. Johnson, or I, do,
“Has the whole world gone insane
?!
 How many werewolves are in this town - does
everyone realize I’m a half breed?”

Mrs. Johnson blubbers a little, probably because I’ve
never some much as raised my voice in front of her, and now she has no idea
what to say to me.  While Mr. Johnson takes the lead, and gives me a grin,
“We didn’t realize you didn’t know about
us.  And it’s only a small pack in this area, just a handful beside us,
and the Connolly’s.  Mr. Connolly is the Beta, and our Alpha lives across
town, mostly keeping an eye for the rogue ones that like to roam around here.”

Just mentioning Riley’s dad, brings back the pain in my
chest, and I try to focus on anything else, so I can still find a way to make
it through this meeting.  But I still have some questions.  When the
Johnson’s take their seats across from me, I lean in, curious as to why they
picked me to be their accountant,
“Is
that why you hired me, because my Mom was a werewolf?”

Mrs. Johnson
answers immediately,
“Yes, we did know
your mom -”

I wince, and it doesn’t seem to go unnoticed by either of
them, so Mr. Johnson finishes his wife thought,
“But we hired you because you’re the most educated accountant in the
area, and you run our books well.  Nothing more, nothing less.”

I should just accept the compliment, and move on.
 Get through this meeting, and get back to my bed already.  But all I
can seem to retain about their words, is that bit about my mother,
“You knew my mom?”
Mrs. Johnson doesn’t hold back,
“Yes -
but don’t give her any more thought Avery, she doesn’t deserve it for the way
she left her litter behind.”  
Somehow, her words don’t cut as deep as I would have expected, but I can’t seem
to help myself.  It’s like I’m a glutton for punishment, and I respond in
a sullen voice, barely above a whisper,
“I
just figured it was because we were
halfbreeds
.”

Mrs. Johnson reaches across the table, and pats my wrist,
“If that’s what she told your father, then
that’s just an excuse, because no real mother who loves her children would just
abandon them.”
It’s interesting how much her words comfort me, and yet, somehow not enough,
“You haven’t seen her then?”

She retracts her hand, back to her lap,
“Not in over twenty years, and I don’t
care, to - and you shouldn’t either.  She’s not worth the effort.”

Maybe she has a point.  

Besides, there’s a new woman to take up all my thoughts.
 
A woman who actually wants to be in my life.
 Now I just have to convince everyone that I deserve her.

After the appointment, I walk deliberately slow to the bus
stop, as if I half expect Savannah to try to run me over again.  That
somehow I’ll end up behind Riley and it will all be okay in the end.  

As if, I tell myself, refusing to dwell on such an
unrealistic plan of action.  I need to come up with something better, to
earn a spot at her family’s table.  
Something better,
than a random chance encounter of an accident.
 I just don’t know
how.  And with that realization, that I’m no closer to a viable idea that
will earn me her good graces, I begrudgingly step onto the bus, and head back
home.

After about a fifteen minute ride, I pay my fare, and walk
the two blocks to my house, and spot the all too familiar scene in our
driveway: my brothers working on an engine.  This one is Mr. Roberts’,
from down the street.  They manage to get some mechanical work every month
or so, and have at least enough of a side business going to earn some extra
income.  

Between the three of us, we divide and conquer.  Liam
still works for Haley’s Dad, on his farm on the other side of town.  And
Lou,
helps, too.  I have my accounting business of
course, and once we pool all that money, plus the mechanical work together, we
usually have enough for bills, upkeep of the homestead, and a little for
everyone to put into savings.  I feel comfortable assuming that the only
reason Liam has pulled away from Haley for this
long,
is because he’d like some extra cash for the baby.  I’m happy to donate
some of my earnings from today, as a baby gift . . .
“Hi Liam.  Lou.”

I nod my head over to them, and out of sheer habit, they
merely nod back, having stopped a long time ago of asking me to come over to
help them.  But remembering my conversation with Lou yesterday, I break
habit (even though my bed is desperately calling to me).  When I reach
them, Liam looks up at me, genuinely surprised,
“Need something, Avery?”

I shake my head, because really I’m not sure what I think
I could help with.  I know nothing about what they’re doing, but for some
reason, I don’t want to be alone.  
Just not yet.
 And somehow, I think since we all know what’s bothering
me,
I don’t really feel the need to explain it.  I’m
done brooding upstairs for the moment.  Time to be a little raw, since
according to Lou, they actually want me around.  Emotions, and all . . .
 
“I guess, I just can’t believe
that they don’t think I could protect her if need be.”

Lou nods his head, seemingly getting angrier right before
my eyes, as I guess memories from last night’s dinner swirl around in his head.
 But Liam, remains surprisingly levelheaded, and twists another bolt loose
to join the others by his shoes,
“Well
about last night, what’s done is done - but really, if you ask me, I think the
solution is simple,”
Liam stops twisting the wrench, and looks up at me, as
if I should already know where he is going with this.  And then he smirks,
“Prove it to them.”
I scoff, then chuckle nervously,
“What
are you talking about?  Fight all the werewolves at the festival?”
Lou seems to have caught on to what our brother is meaning, and chimes in,
“No, prove it to her Dad, and then make
sure you guys are mated before the festival.”
I look between the two of them, and am unsure of what exactly they mean, of how
I’m supposed to prove anything . . . how can I make her Dad believe in me, and
how exactly is that going to change anyone’s opinions?  And then, like a
lightbulb
going off above my head, I realize what I have to
do.  

And I waste no time.

Chapter.
22 – Riley

As soon as we got back home last night, my Dad and I
couldn’t contain our anger and frustration anymore.  It didn’t matter that
Savannah gave it her best
effort,
there was no way to
mediate this.  Short of physically attacking him, nothing else was going
to help.  But I would never do that, so instead, I
phased
into my wolf form, and ran as fast and far away as I could.  I knew that
Avery would probably still be mad, and I honestly circled around Sleepy Eye
twice before I found my way back to his homestead, but we both must have known
I would have eventually.  

This would be the first time he’d see me in my true form.
 
A half beast, a large wolf, almost as black as my hair.
 I wouldn’t usually toot my own horn, but I’ve been told I look quite
captivating in my supernatural state, and there was a part of me that thought
I’d be able to get him to talk to me, if I stood at the bottom of that bay
window and begged him to.  

Obviously I couldn’t step out from the trees, in case a
rogue human drove by, but he must have sensed me nearby, because the light from
his room - hidden by the curtains drawn - were pulled back just enough for us
to lock eyes across the distance.  I stood there, peeking out just enough
from the tree line to step into the moonlight, but safe from any peering eyes
from the road.  I had hoped he’d come down, and we could talk, and I’d
shift back, naked, and we’d finally cement this bond between us.

But instead, he let the curtain fall back into place, and
though a sliver of hope still rang (me naively thinking he was about to come
down), all hope was lost, when he turned off the light, and I realized he was
more stubborn than I ever gave him credit for.  

I stood there for a moment, still in shock, processing
whether any mate, had ever denied another.  I wasn’t angry, I was hurt,
and the emotional pain I was feeling - the anger towards my father, the
indifference of the rest of the pack (the lack of pride they displayed when my
father shared with the pack that I was mating a half breed, instead of a pure
blood), just all the frustrations of the past two days, boiled over and I
howled into the air . . . and then ran away as fast as I could.

I didn’t get home for another two hours, and by then,
Savannah was waiting outside for me, with a robe to wrap me in.  Neither
of us said anything, as she merely wrapped me in the cloth, and then led me
inside.  The house was dark, and I assume my Dad was sleeping.  Either
way, no more words were said, and I slid into my bed, passing out from
exhaustion.

This morning, I tried calling Avery twice, the first time
the phone rang forever, and the second time, Lou answered and babbled something
about Avery being at a meeting for his accounting job, and I asked if he’d pass
along the message that I called.  He agreed, but that was hours ago, and
now it’s after lunch and I’m fighting the urge to run back to his house and
make a fool of myself.  

I wish I knew what to do.
Savannah does everything she can to console me, and at one point even suggests
calling him
herself
, but I don’t want to involve her
like that - fighting my battles for me.  But
dammit
,
why is this even a battle?  I want Avery, I can’t live without him
anymore, and I’m miserable at the idea of him even just being mad at me, much
less entertain the thought he might never talk to me again.  I can fix
this, I know I can, I just need to get him to come around.  

When I call a third time, it’s Liam that picks up, explaining
that Avery had a talk with them, and then he left.  And that was three
hours ago.  Great, I think.  For a lack of anything better to say, I
thank Liam . . . and then hang up, because what else can I do?  I just
want to find him, and somehow convince him, that even though he might not be
able to protect me as well as I can him, that doesn’t mean that I don’t think
we can’t protect each other.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t feel safe,
taken care, and loved when I’m with him.  And all those
things,
far outweigh any scenario where I might be a damsel in distress, because
seriously, I’m a female werewolf.  Not too many things that go bump in the
night are going to cross me.  This isn’t even something we have to worry
about.  It’s so rare to have any monsters battle each other, much less of
the same breeding, and no one messes with mates.  So the only battle left
for us, is
him
realizing I don’t think less of him if
he can’t stand up to a werewolf.  Because it doesn’t matter to me, and
maybe eventually I can convince him that it shouldn’t matter to him either.

I feel like I’m starting to go crazy.  I know for
most people, a few hours away from the person they love is no big deal, and
that it’s even healthy.  But I’m a werewolf, having found my mate, and we haven’t
mated yet.  The need for him, inside of me, feels mounting.  A huge
pressure ready to boil over, begging to get out.  Only he can relieve this
tension inside every muscle of my very being.  
Whether
he’ll talk to me or not, doesn’t even matter anymore.
 I’m going to
go insane just crying in my
room,
I need to go find
him.

Determined, I practically stomp through the house,
beginning to feel my skin tingle, ready to shift as soon as I open the front
door.  I’m going to run on all fours, all way to his house, and if I have
to rip off the door to his bedroom myself, I will.  I can’t wait a minute
longer, pacing around this house.  I’m ready to do whatever it takes,
because at the end of the day - he’s mine.

With the wind from the door opening, the smell of vanilla
and sandalwood almost knocks me off my feet, and I stand there shocked, when I
look directly into Avery’s eyes.  I can barely stutter his name, before he
reaches for me, and I instantly cling to him.  Feeling the hot tears of
relief seeping out of me, I pull myself deeper into his embrace, so grateful
that he came.  
So, so grateful.