Chapter 66

Eric’s POV

There are too many couples out. Of all the times I’ve roamed through town, I’ve never once noticed all the love in the air. It’s like they’re mocking me with their dough eyes and giddy grins.

It’s like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

If I don’t pursue Annie, I mean Renee, like years ago then it’s a problem but now that I’m trying to have her back she won’t have me.

I can’t win, and I’m not used to that.

Though I have no destination in place, I walk with purpose. It’s the only way people make room on the sidewalk. If I give off an air of importance, they simply move out of the way. Idiots.

My phone goes off in my pocket, I bet its Renee before I even see the caller ID.

Though imagine my surprise when I see it’s Jasper. Of all people who could be reaching out, why him? I swear if Renee is with him and that’s why he’s calling, to rub it in I’ll kill him.

“What?” I bark into the phone causing two nearby women to cast worry glances in my direction and pick up their pace as they pass me.

“Fathers here,” Jasper says getting to the point. My head spins a little at his unexpected comment.

“What?”

“Fathers-“

“I heard you,” I cut him off. “Why is he here?” I rephrase my question.

“He hasn’t told me yet. He wants us to all meet at Shady Hill,” Jasper says. I pull my phone back and inspect it as though to look for some kind of joke.

Shady Hill is a national park we used to go to as children. We haven’t been there since mom died- since my dad killed her.

“Eric?” I hear Jasper say. I bring the phone back to my ear.

“I heard you,” I tell him.

“Will you be there?” I raise my eyes to the sky.

“I guess so,” I tell him and end the call. I pivot on my feet and work my way through the crowded sidewalk.

The park is an hour away and by the time I arrive the sun is setting. The temperatures drop. I wish the nostalgia that hits me could be enjoyed, instead it makes me sick.

Images of my mom flash in my head. Ones her smiling, laughing. Crying.

I throw the car door open, the dry dirt crunches beneath my boots.

“Eric!”I hear Jasper shout. I pivot on my feet and see him standing my his black SUV waving at me. I nod towards him.

We meet halfway in the parking lot, I notice our cars are the only ones here.

“Where is he?” I ask referring to my father but refusing to call him that. Jasper shrugs as he looks around.

“He just called and said he would be here,” Jasper says. I eye him. He’s slightly shorter than me, leaner too. His brown hair is freshly cut, he smells like a doctors office. What does Renee see in him?

Jasper turns back around and looks at me eyeing him.

“We haven’t talked since you forced Renee to come back to you,” Jasper says bitterly, I smile at the fact that I’ve made him upset.

“I take what’s mine,” I tell him knowing my possessive language angers him. He’s always been a softer when it comes to taking what’s yours. It’s why he’s not alpha. That, and many other reasons.

“She’s a person, you know?” Jasper says in defense of Renee and anger flashes through me. Who does he think he is telling me about my wife?

“What’s your point?” I growl, telling him he better tread lightly. Jasper squares me up and I ready my fighting stance. If he wants to fight then I’ll take him on. In fact the very thought of it excites me.

“My point is that she can make decisions for herself,”

“And you think she’ll decide to be with you? Is that your hope?” I step closer to him. “Pathetic,” I spit on the ground.

“My boys,” a voice floats towards us from behind. I hold my gaze on Jasper a moment longer before turning to meet my father.

When I turn I see him approaching us. A silhouette of a domineering mountain towering behind him as the sun sets behind it. He looks older than when I saw him last. What’s it been? Seven years? Ten? I’ve stopped counting.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to fight all ready,” he says like this is all in good fun. I hate him.

He flashes us a smile revealing his whitened teeth. His hair is whiter too, mixed with some black. He has a few more wrinkles around his eyes and his muscles look softer then from what I remember.

“Eric,” he greets me specifically telling me that he’s seen Jasper more recently.

“Mark,” I greet him by his first name and his lips curl into a smile like I’ve just made some joke. I snarl.

“Still upset about something you like I did, huh?”

“You mean murdering my mother?” I snap and get close to his face. He doesn’t back down.

“Still have that temper I see,”

“Yup,” I tell him here my teeth.

“Good,” he says. He’s being vague.

“What do you want?” Jasper says coming between us, putting his hand on our chests.

“I think we all need some good fun,” Mark says still keeping his eyes trained on me. “Remember how we used to run through the woods when you boys were young?” He continues, breaking eye contact.

I think back to when Jasper and I were kids and my dad would hide a dead rabbit somewhere in the woods and we’d have to use our scent to find it. I’d always win.

Jasper and I look at one another, beginning to understand why where here and where Mark was when we arrived. He was hiding the rabbit.

Seeing the understanding across our faces he nods at us. “Go,” he instructs.

Jasper and I book off in different directions. Just like when we were kids, an unknown understanding between us to take our opposite ways. No way of knowing which direction is right, just a matter to keep things fair.

The faster I run, the more I feel like I’m going back in time. I barely touch my foot to the ground before my next one lands. In a flash my feet turn to paws, the cold win me against my skin ceases as my coat of fur blocks the wind.

My sense heighten by a tenfold. Everything becomes crystal clear, I can see further ahead, every sound is sharp and up close despite it being miles away. Then there’s the scent.

Interweaving between trees, jumping off of rocks, I follow my nose. Something metallic becomes stronger, so much so I can taste it.

The sky turns to twilight but my vision doesn’t waver. As though the atmosphere is illuminated by an interwoven flashlight I see my way through the woods until the smell of blood is so strong I know I’m close.

When I think I find the spot, I dig. The ground breaks away easily beneath my paws and in a matter of seconds I find the corpse laying limp in the ground. I grab it with my mouth feeling its swishing flesh still warm in my mouth.

I notice I’m far away from where I’ve started. I drop the rabbit and howl to signal that I got it. Birds flock from the trees their wings black against the dark blue sky. Moments later my father and Jasper howl back.

I pick up the rabbit and go back to the parking lot.

I get there just as Jasper does. My father stands smiling.

“Impressive,” he says. I chuck the rabbit from my mouth down at his feet. He looks at the bloody creature. “I want to propose something,” he says.

Next to me Jasper pants. I myself feel winded but I’m not weak enough to let it show. “What?” I ask my father.

“A pack merger,” he says it like the words are heavy with honor. “You’ve been away for too long,” he tells me daring to step closer. I back away.

“No,” I growl. “I haven’t been away long enough,” I tell him.

Back when I turned eighteen I left my fathers pack. I refused to be a member in his group when he’s a murderer. That still stands today. I won’t break my promise to my mom. She can’t have the only two men in her life both disrespect her.

I don’t know why my father would want the packs to merge, but considering this seems to be coming out of no where I know the reasoning can’t be good and I refuse to be part of it.

I look at Jasper who looks just as uncertain as I do. I shake my head. I can’t trust him either. It was a mistake coming here.

“If you wanted to know if I was still at the top,” I say and kick the rabbit out of the way. “I am,” I tell him as I walk away.