Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
And he was whipping up the pack, getting them ready for violence.
At one point, I whimpered. I didn’t mean to make a sound, but once it was out, it was too late.
My father heard me.
“Bring him here,” he ordered my sister. She shook her head. Only twelve, and she was brave enough to stand up to him, even when he beat her for it. She tried to protect me.
I didn’t want her to get hurt. I pushed away and made myself go on shaking legs to stand before him.
“This is a human. He thinks he’s strong but take away his gun and…” my father raised a hand, and the man shrieked behind his gag. I didn’t need to hear what he was saying to know he was begging for his life.
My father and his cronies laughed. “See?” My father shouted. “Weak. Come here, boy.’ He gripped my shoulder, and his fingers dug into the muscle and bone. It hurt. I bit back a cry. “You’re a wolf like me. My son. You don’t want to be weak. Right?”
“N-no…”
He slapped me. “Louder.”
“No, sir,” I shouted. I could sense my sister’s distress behind me. I had to be strong. I could do this.
“Good boy. So you’re going to stand here, and you’re going to watch. One day, all of this will be yours. And it’ll be your job to take care of any threats.”
I stared at the human. He was shaking, and tears tracked down his cheeks, dampening his gag. He didn’t look like a threat.
“We’re wolves,” I pointed out. “We’re stronger.”
“That’s right.” My dad slapped my back. “He gets it. And now… it’s time to hunt the human!”
They let the man go. He ran, but he didn’t get far. They turned into wolves and herded him back.
“Don’t look away, boy,” my father snarled before he turned into a wolf to go in for the kill. And I didn’t.
I stood very still and kept my eyes open until the human’s blood sprayed in my face.
And now I’ve grown into everything my father wants me to be. Cold, cunning, controlled. Helping lead a powerful pack.
But I am not my father’s son. I want him out of my city and my life, but mostly I want him far away from any humans he might hurt.
And it’s up to me to stop him.
Chapter Ten
Aubrey
I walk to the subway from La Résistance after I finish my shift. Saturday mornings are my favorite time of the week to be there. The coffee shop is packed with regulars who have time to sit and visit with each other. La Résistance isn’t just espresso drinks and cafe food. It’s music and poetry. Community and love. I grew up in a loving home with amazing parents, but even so, La Résistance has been a home away from home since I got my first job there as a teen.
I call Madi on Saturday as I walk. “I’m on my way to your place. Please tell me you’re around this weekend?”
“Gah! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We’re already in the Adirondacks. Are you going to Billy’s?”
“Yes. He insisted on going over my concept drawings before I start painting Monday.”
“Really? That’s so weird. He was here last night. He must’ve helicoptered out this morning to meet with you.”
I stop walking, and someone bumps into me from behind.
Something makes me scan the street for an electric blue Porsche. “It is a little weird, right?” I don’t see anything unusual, so I start walking again.
“What is?”
“Him cutting his weekend short to meet with me? About a mural he didn’t even want?”
Madi is silent, which throws me off. I expected her to jump right in and validate me.
“What?” I probe.
“Yeah, it’s strange. I’m just trying to think what he might be up to.”
Goosebumps rise on my arms. “You suspect he’s up to something?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to trust him after everything. And he doesn’t like…” She sucks in a breath.
“He doesn’t like what?”
She hesitates again. “Uh…well, I just have found him to be sort of… classist.”
I try to figure out why she’s pussyfooting around. “Do you really mean racist?”
Is this about the color of my skin being darker than his?
“No,” she says immediately, so I’m sure it’s true. “Not that. But he didn’t think I was good enough for Brick.”
“Right. Because you weren’t rich? Or blue-blooded?” I jog down the steps into the subway.
“The latter. But I’m thinking this all through, and I can’t imagine he’d be up to anything with you. He suffered a lot when he was out of favor with Brick. Like, he looked like he wasn’t sleeping.”
That news creates a lump in my throat.
I don’t want to think of Billy as someone with a heart so easily punctured. It makes him less torture-able.
“Unless he’s really that evil and is still trying to split me and Brick apart,” Madi adds.