Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(2)
That plan was shattered the instant my camera was ripped out of my hands. My eyes flew open, and I struggled to my feet, pushing Chase and Owen away as Lori dangled the camera in front of me.
“You like taking pictures, don’t you, little mutt?” she asked.
“No!” I yelled, reaching out for my camera, but she tugged it back and out of reach. “You can do whatever you want to me. Just let me have that back.”
Lori dropped the camera into the sand. “I don’t think so. The mutt needs to learn her place, once and for all.”
A handful of blows from Brad came, hitting my back and sending me to my knees. I could only watch as Lori stomped on the camera with her shifter strength. The sounds of glass and plastic breaking were worse than the sounds of flesh on flesh.
Something inside of me broke. That camera was my only connection to the outside world, to a world where no one judged me for my half-breed heritage or for being born under the wrong stars. It was the only thing that brought me joy and gave me the smallest semblance of freedom.
I snarled, baring my teeth at the four of them, ready to fight. They must have sensed the change in my demeanor because they stepped back and fell into defensive positions. I couldn’t take all of them—hell, without the Cancer crab armor they had, I could hardly take one. But the rage that boiled in my blood wouldn’t let me just walk away from this like everything was okay. Something dark inside me woke up and rose to the surface, something wild and dangerous, just begging to be released. A power I’d felt before, that was always just out of reach. Maybe now was the time. Tension simmered in the air, snapping back and forth between all of us, waiting for the perfect moment to break.
“Hey!” The shout was distant but enough to distract all of us.
Lori turned away from where she still had her foot on the broken shards of my camera and snarled something unintelligible. My best friend Mira ran toward us, long black hair streaming behind her like a curtain. She had her bikini on as if she were coming to swim. Really? I couldn’t help but think. At a time like this? I knew she loved swimming, but we were all getting ready for the Convergence.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mira asked, coming to a stop beside me. Her eyes were on the other wolves, but I knew the question was for me.
“Stay out of it, Aquino,” Brad snarled. “You’ll walk away from this if you know what’s good for you. We’re teaching the mutt the lesson she’s been begging for from the moment she was born.”
“No way,” Mira said. Stubborn, loyal Mira. She never knew when to back away from a fight, especially when I was involved. She had my back, even if she didn’t agree with why we were fighting.
I was one to talk. I’d do the same for Mira under any circumstance. Still, she shouldn’t have come here. This was my battle to fight, and she could get in serious trouble if she was seen standing up to the beta’s son. She’d already been punished once by the alpha—she didn’t need another mark against her.
“Mira,” I said under my breath. She twitched, so I knew she’d heard me, but didn’t turn to acknowledge me. “You need to go,” I continued, though I knew she wouldn’t listen to a word I said. “Please.”
“If you have a problem with Ayla, you have a problem with me, too,” Mira said, and dropped into her own defensive stance. She really wasn’t going to let it go. I sighed and followed suit, raising my fists again.
Brad looked between us for a moment and laughed. “Neither of you would win. You don’t even have your wolves yet.”
“Yeah, but we’ll still whoop your asses a little bit,” I said, forcing the words out through the lingering pain with a wild grin. Then I let my eyes drop. “I bet at least one of us could get a knee to the balls, with yours just hanging out like that.”
Brad growled at me and his hands shifted into claws. Mira glanced over at me like, Really? I shrugged. She was going to get on my case about being mouthy when she was almost as bad?
She rolled her eyes but then turned to Brad and added, “Do you really want to risk it right before the Convergence?”
Lori ground my camera into the sand a few more times before stepping back over to Brad. “It’s not worth it,” she murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. “I think she got the message.”
Brad looked between the two of us, and then back at Lori. “You’re right. She’s not worth our time, and with any luck, she’ll soon be some other pack’s problem.”
He shifted back into a wolf and the others followed him, then they sprinted back up to the rocks and into the bushes. Just like that, the tension bled from the air, leaving my entire body throbbing with pain, and a broken camera all I had to show for my smart mouth.
My shoulders sagged, and before I knew it, my knees were giving out. I searched around in the sand to examine the shattered pieces of my camera, but there was nothing salvageable. I let them all slip through my fingers as I blinked back angry tears.
Mira crouched beside me, resting her hand on my back. “Goodness,” she muttered as she took in the bruises forming on my arms. “What did you say this time?”
“They just came out of nowhere,” I said. “Even if I’d been nice they still would’ve gone after me for something.”
“You know, if you didn’t torment them, they’d probably leave you alone in the first place,” Mira said. “I keep telling you this.” She helped me stand, leaving her hand on my shoulder as I swayed, trying to catch my breath and balance.