“I said, get the fuck up!” Pressure came down on my fingers as my attacker crunched my outspread fingers beneath the sole of his shoe.
Jesus Christ, you gotta be kidding me. I shook myself fully awake. We were right out in the open. Yes, I was harassed often, but never this close to my father. The Compound was massive and sprawling; there were plenty of places to confront me away from the Alpha. “I’m not moving, Sean,” I murmured, my eyelids still drawn. “You can go to hell if you think I’m stupid enough to go anywhere with you. Leave me alone and get out of here before you get yourself into trouble.”
A hard kick hit my ribs, stealing my breath. Dammit. I opened my eyes. He wasn’t going to relent. My hand came up to shield my eyes from the noon sun. “Honestly, Sean, you can kick the shit out of me, but I’m not going anywhere with you. You should know better than to stalk me here. Your Alpha is barely fifty yards away. I didn’t know you had a death wish, but one can be arranged.”
Sean bent at the knees, squatting next to me. A glint of metal caught my eye as he moved. He was clutching a nasty-looking hunting knife, his eyes already simmering a fierce amber. He was riled up and full of emotion. Sean was Mitch’s best friend. His wolf was already poised at the surface, ready to hurt something, seeking retribution for his buddy. There was no absolutely no turning back for him.
I should’ve known this was a possibility. Double dammit.
Sean was a temperamental wolf, always struggling to keep himself in check. After Tyler had hurt Mitch, Sean had threatened me repeatedly, knowing I was the cause of the ass-kicking. But, ultimately, the damage to Mitch had been done by Tyler, so after Sean had given me a few broken ribs as payback, he’d moved on. The ultimate problem was Sean and Mitch belonged to a specific group of my greatest haters on the Compound. They were riled up on a regular basis by Hank Lauder, a much older werewolf. He and his son, Stuart, fueled most of the fires of discontent within Pack. Those two alone kept the Myth alive by reminding the other wolves about it. Hank was almost as old as my father and very powerful. His fear ran deep and his vitriol fanned the flames.
The two of them managed to get away with it because they didn’t come into contact with me very often and thereby weren’t directly disobeying their Alpha. They were happy to let the younger wolves do their dirty work for them, and Sean had come to do just that. “You’re not going to get away with what you did to Mitch, Daughter of Cain,” he snarled, spittle running down the corners of his mouth. “You’re coming with me, or I’ll kill you right here.”
“In case you missed the news flash,” I answered, easing myself into a better defensive position, “I didn’t do anything to your pal Mitch. Everything I doled out to him, he recovered from in less than five minutes, as per usual with you guys.” I’d tried my hardest to make it hurt as much as possible, but that was beside the point. “Any grievances you have must be taken up with James. I’m sure he’ll be more than pleased to settle them with you, if you ask nicely. And if you still don’t believe me, go find Josh. He’ll tell you the facts about his brother. Now, my advice to you is to calm the fuck down and walk away before you lose your sorry life fighting me.”
“Don’t push me. Get up,” Sean said through a set of sharp, tightly clenched teeth. When I didn’t move so much as my crushed pinky finger, he snapped. Throwing his arms outward in exasperation, he yelled, “Don’t you get it? I don’t give a shit what happens to me! We’ve all had enough of you flaunting yourself around the Compound like you belong here. We know you’re just waiting to bring us down, and fighting Mitch was the last straw.” His eyes went blank as he started manically reciting, “The unborn daughter of Cain shall live. And from this day forth, the Wolves of the Night shall pay. Their atonement as flesh of their flesh—”
I cut him off. “Wow, you can stop now.” I knew those lines by heart, since they’d been etched into my brain at a very early age. I didn’t need to be reminded of my bane. “I’m not sure if I should clap or get up and curtsy. Sean, I had no idea your memorization skills were so well honed. Good job, Sparky. When I get back to the lodge, I’ll be sure to find you a gold star. Now, like I told you, get lost before I tell your Alpha you’re harassing his severely injured daughter.”
The knife swept down in an arc before I could stop it. I rolled, but not quickly enough. Story of my life with these guys. The blade caught my shoulder and stuck there, lodged into my flesh like a carving knife in an Easter ham. “Jesus, Sean!” I yelled. “What the fuck?”
Then he was on me. We rolled to the edge of the dock in a tumble. Luckily, the motion had dislodged the knife. We hit the lake with a splash.