Chapter 9

Vinny

It had been almost three weeks since I had been back in Blackfern Valley. The sound of tools tinkering on the garage floor echoed into the quiet solitude of my father’s empty garage. Usually, I would be blasting the terribly old FM-stereo on the backwall as I fiddled around in the grease and grim of motorcycle mechanics, but this time I wasn’t feeling it. This time I wanted to focus. I needed to focus.

My body had been taut with tension ever since I stepped foot in Blackfern Valley. I was like a wound-up spring, ready to react at a second’s notice. Nothing felt right here. Even Vali was on high alert. I just couldn’t decide why we were so on edge. Maybe it was just because we hadn’t been back here in a long time, and this was a natural thing to feel? Or maybe it’s because my family was in danger, and I felt like I was sitting around doing nothing?

“Leave it to the trackers and the warriors.” My sister had told me. I had argued and demanded why she had brought me back if she didn’t want my help.

“I do need your help Vinny.” She tried to tell me. “I need you here.”

“I am better out there,” I growled.

“You can help when we have more information. But for now, I need you here.” She had said with such gentle authority I felt a soft lick of power with it, and I was powerless to react.

I needed to do something, but I was powerless, antsy and wound up. I had memorised the warrior rosters and asked them to keep me informed if they scented anything. They took pity on me, but their orders were firm. So, I staked out the trees, I shifted and ran, I joined pack training, I joined in the family dinners and the friendly beers at Lupus’, but the foreboding sensation did not waiver. The anxiety bubbled through my blood, and I was almost out of ideas of how to calm it down. I thought about heading up to Kempthorne and surprising a tiny and surprisingly flexible, blonde human, and seeing if that would ease the tension but then I had remembered my bike was still in dire needs of repair.

Tinkering took my focus, but it did not take my anxiety and when Sean came out of the treeline, I almost hurled my wrench at him.

“Bro, you look like shit,” he said as he casually leaned against the doorframe of the garage.

“Fuck off.” I glared at him. I hadn’t slept properly since I had arrived in Blackfern Valley.

“You up to much today?” he asked ignoring my attitude. I waved my grease covered hands towards the motorcycle I was obviously busy with.

“Want to go out?”

“Not really,” I grunted turning back to my bike.

“Come on, we can head to the watering hole?” The watering hole was halfway between here and Kempthorne, but still within Blackfern Valley’s territory. It was a large waterfall that ended in a deep crevice before meandering down the river and of course, teenagers loved to frequent it during the summer and use it as a party zone.

“And spy on underage wolves getting their freak on? Hard pass.”  

***

Great, just great. Not only had Sean dragged me to a zest pool of teenage hormones but he failed to mention the people who would be here. Murdoch. Murdoch Evans was standing at the edge of the blue-green water and admiring something in the distance. I followed his gaze to the bubbling froth at the bottom of the fall and groaned inwardly as a dark head bobbed out of the rapid. Vali growled loudly as Roman swan-dived back under the fall, her ass perfectly rounded in the air for a brief second before it disappeared. I looked around trying to find an escape. I had barely seen her since I had returned to Blackfern Valley, and I thought she may have actively been trying to avoid me. I was happy she was actively trying to avoid me. I didn’t want to see her or be near her. Yet here she was, swimming around without a care in the world. She hadn’t noticed me yet, so I knew I could disappear. I just needed to…

My eyes met with Murdoch as he was sauntering over to me. Vali grumbled his displeasure.

“I heard you were back.” He held out a hand; a handshake gesture that felt extremely out of place. I shook his hand quickly before letting it drop. I didn’t say anything but gave him a nod. He looked out towards the swimming pool watching Roman swim with almost a predatory glint to his eye. Vali snarled lowly towards Murdoch. A few awkward seconds passed.

“Yeah I am back.” I resigned, trying to ignore Vali’s impromptu pacing in my head.

“It must be nice seeing everyone after so long.”

“Weird would be a more accurate description.” Silence. “But it’s just a short trip. Then I am back on the road.”

“Sean told me how much you love being on the road,” he grunted. I rolled my eyes at him. Anyone listening on would have thought he was being genuine and that he was trying to make conversation. But with Murdoch, his speech and his voice were always on two different levels. There was always an undercurrent that I had learnt to listen for; He didn’t give a shit, he wanted me to leave ASAP. And I knew why— his eyes had not moved from Roman’s swimming body the entire conversation. I let out a small cold chuckle. He could have her.

“Right.” I nodded. “Well as fun as this has been…” I started to walk away.

“Still with the attitude.” I stalled before looking back at him. His eyes had finally left the swimming hole and were staring at me with blind contempt.

“What?”

“You’re still an asshole.”

“Murdoch, trust me when I say this: I am here for my family. That’s it. I have no interest in you whatsoever. I have very little interest in getting with the old crew and reminiscing about our teenage years.” I looked over at Roman who was now pulling herself up onto rocks to make her way out of the water. “And I definitely am not interested in fucking Roman. So, you can take your territorial bullshit and back the fuck off, puppy.” Murdoch snarled as I stepped away. His eyes flashed dangerously and in the biggest insult I could muster I turned my back on him.

Unfortunately, when I did this, I met Roman’s gaze and my irritation grew ten-fold. The anxious bubbling in my blood had suddenly stopped then burned harder with an icy intensity. Murdoch was watching our interaction with piqued interest. Roman was standing a small distance away, wearing a simple one-piece that clung wetly to her curves, the tones of jasmine running off her body as she flicked water off herself. She was breathing deeply, the wolf in her eyes fighting for the surface. I needed to get out of here, my irritability was a pressurised volcano ready to blow. Therefore, the sudden idea of getting one up on Murdoch brought me a small amount of pleasure. I grinned crookedly at Roman before removing my shirt and pants, standing stark naked for a long moment, making sure her eyes raked every inch of my body. Then just as her eyes landed on my cock for a long second or two, I shifted into my cream-colour wolf and ran into the trees.

My paws pounded over the leaf-littered floor, and I pushed each step harder. Usually running would ease my racing mind and give structure to my thoughts, but with this run each step made me more agitated. I was still wound up. Fixing my bike hadn’t worked, going to the stupid watering hole hadn’t worked, and seeing Roman’s soft skin glowing softly in the afternoon sun, the water droplets running down her shapely legs and the smell of jasmine infusing into the afternoon breeze— really didn’t help. Vali snarled at my thoughts and pressed harder as if he was trying to outrun them.

Slowly the jasmine scent evaporated from my nose and my body started to warm again. I stretched out and leaped over a small creek, my foot sliding on the muddy bank as I cantered away. The forest was eerily quiet and echoed my mammoth steps. There was no bird life, no muskrats or beavers. There wasn’t even a bunny rabbit or a frog. I had scared the forest with my noise. But I wasn’t trying to be quiet, I was trying to unwind. I was trying to escape.

I felt the low buzz of the pack territory and wondered if I should just keep running. If I should just leave it all behind. My blood pounding in my ears as I stopped and sat on my haunches trying to make the decision. But before I could step one paw over the line, the wind shifted, and my nose crinkled. My lips curled back in disgust as a dirty-swamp smell choked me.

Within a second I was flying through the bush again, yelling down the mind-link to the warriors on duty,

“Rogue.”