Page 31 of Hard for You

Val glared at Alpha, who frankly had stoppedsending out the evils.

Amelia moved from behind the counter and stepped in front of Alpha.

“Take them out back,” Valsaid.

She nodded and then led the way out back, taking them past the storage room, Val’s office, and then there was a large metal door. She typed in a code that he didn’t see and swung the door open.

He watched as she wedged the door open outside, and then stepped out, turning to face them when they were in the clear.

“Is this about the guy I saw in the woods?”

Just hearing how careless she was pissed him off.

“Yes,” Alpha said.

“No,” Wolfe said. “You should be fucking punishing her for being reckless.”

“I didn’t hurt myself. I …I wasn’t being reckless.”

“Tellme what happened,” Alpha said.

Amelia nodded. “Ileft my apartment at around … two this afternoon, I think. I can’t be sure on the time. I was locking the door to the building, and I felt this feeling. Like someone was watching me. When I turned to look, I noticed someone nearby the bushes. Not too far from my place. The moment he realized I had seen him, he took off. I was going to close in on him nearby the lake, but Wolfe was there. Patrolling the perimeter.”

“Human?” Alpha asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Can we trust your sense of smell?” Draco asked.

“You can trust my ability to know that running deep into the forest nearby the lake, before you get to the clearing, is not easy. Not even for an experienced wolf, let alone ahuman. This … it wasn’t human. I don’t know what it was, but it knew its way around the forest, or it could sense danger.”

“A bear?” Gunnar asked.

“I don’t know, he seemed a little on the thin and young side to be a bear.”Bears were known for being large, bulky, mostly miserable people who liked to sleep a lot. Or at least, that was the tale most wolves told.

They were strong and feared. No one wanted to get on the bad side ofa bear. At least not Wolfe. He’d taken on a few bears in his time, and they had the ability to cause a death grip if you become the victim. Not to mention their bite was also infectious to wolves. It was rare for a wolf to survive it.

“Possibly a fox,” Amelia said. “Or, a, er, cat, maybe. It was heading to the water, so it knew to hide its scent.”

Alpha nodded. “Do you know why it was outside your apartment?”

“No. I don’t.”

Alpha paused, and Wolfe knew he was thinking, coming to a decision.

“You cannot go home alone,” Alpha said. “We cannotrisk you being the target. You will have to come to the clubhouse.”

“What?” Amelia asked. “No. Hell no.”

Alpha glared at her, and Amelia dropped her head.

“With all due respect, I have two dogs. Rascal and Buster. I can’t just leave them.”Neither of them had been with her when he encountered her on her walk. This was why they were not supposed to trust fucking animals. Dogs of all things. Cute, adorable, sweet dogs, but he wasn’t a fan.

The pack would be pissed off if Alpha allowed her to come live withthem and bring the dogs as well.

So far, the pack had failed whenit came to getting rid of her, but there were limits. There were always limits, and there was only so much the pack would take, and for that matter, the club. Wolfe didn’t know what the pack actually thought of Amelia.

She was … different.