My wolf responded immediately with a rough bark. She accepted his posturing like it was her right, and growled with pleasure, nudging me to accept what he was giving us.
I blinked. My human side was wildly uncomfortable.
I trembled where I stood. I didn’t understand any of this.
This was all wrong. It had to be. Instead of moving forward, I took a small step backward. My wolf responded with a sharp, angry yip.
My eyes darted to my brother. He met my stare for a second before his voice sounded in my mind. It’s okay, Jess. Tyler was quiet. This is normal. Danny’s wolf has recognized your dominance over him, so he’s acting as he should. He can either choose to fight you for status or he can yield to you. He’s choosing not to fight you, which is extremely smart of him, since I would rip his goddamn throat out if he tried.
Tyler, my voice vibrated with emotion, I don’t understand what’s happening to me. This can’t be true. None of the myths and rumors were supposed to be real. I’m not supposed to be strong. I’m a female, which means weak in our world. I’ve always been less. A wolf like Danny should not be submitting to me. It has to be a mistake.
Jess, it’s going to be okay. When Dad gets here, we can sort it out. I have no idea what’s going on either. It’s going to take us some time to figure it all out. When you changed, your wolf was fully realized. It came the way it was meant to be. Your job is to shape and control it the best you can. We were both alpha-born. It’s not something you learn. You just need time, and I promise everything will fall into place.
I’m not sure I have that kind of time. I glanced at the dead body rolled up like a mummy in my lavender sheets. Then to Danny, who was still on the floor in front of me, neck back, waiting patiently for me to do something. What am I supposed to do now?
Flash him your teeth, meet his eyes for the count of five, and then walk away like you don’t give a damn.
That’s it?
Tyler snorted. That’s it, sis. Then we try to get back to fucking normal as fast as we possibly can.
I did what he told me to do. I flashed my teeth, growled, courtesy of my wolf, and turned my back and walked away. I headed purposefully into my kitchen. What I needed was a bottle of whiskey, but I settled for a glass of water instead.
My brother headed back to my bedroom. I heard him open my closet doors, and he came back to the living room a minute later carrying a big navy blue canvas duffel I used for carting my dirty laundry. I followed him into the living room.
“We can cram him in here,” he told James. “Then we toss it off the balcony. It isn’t body-shaped, and if anybody asks, we’re headed to the Laundromat.”
Everyone was moving around like normal. I pointed to the body. “He’s not going to fit in there. He’s twice as long as that.” I ran my eyes over the shrouded shape on the floor to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
“Not for long.” Tyler grinned.
Right. I excused myself and went back to my bedroom to change out of my dirty, bloodstained clothes. Hacking up bodies and tossing them off balconies was hardcore. Life as a wolf was going to take some getting used to.
After I changed, I headed back to the living room slightly more refreshed, just as James and Nick stepped in from the balcony empty-handed. The deed was done.
Time to clean up. That was something I could do.
I grabbed a mop and bucket from my kitchen closet and went to work. Even though I was still trying to calm myself down, my limbs hummed with adrenaline, which made me jittery. The endorphins in my system nipped at my nerve endings in quick, staccato beats. There was nothing I could do about it. I had too much buildup between my fight with Drake and the rogue. I was hopped up with no place to go.
Half an hour later, with more muscle than necessary, the room appeared spotless to the naked eye. The smell of blood and werewolves still permeated the air, but to a human the scene would look and smell normal.
Tyler had already left with the body. Danny had gone to tighten security around my building. Nick had left, taking my bloodied bag of clothes and shoes with him, presumably to burn. He’d also bolted my front door back into place with a toolkit I kept for emergencies. The door wasn’t going to keep anything of substance out, but I had a big wolf with me for the night to help me maintain order.
My father had ordered James to stay with me, which was fine by me. If anything else happened tonight, I wasn’t sure I could physically handle it, and having company was nice.
“Here, let me get that,” James said as he plucked the bucket, along with the rags I’d been using, and walked them out onto the balcony.