Tasting Summer

Summer POV

I arrived in Whispering Hollow a day early. I was back. Permanently this time. I hadn’t prepared for my Dad’s wife’s reaction or her daughters' reaction. Dad claimed they were nice, but I didn’t know what to make of them. Dad remarried a few months ago, and I hadn’t met his new family.

Dad said it wouldn’t be a problem, but I doubted that. I was a dent in their perfect lives. Dad was a general in the Alpha’s army. His personality was large, and he drilled his soldiers like a machine. Or so I heard.

His black truck stopped at the bus stop.

“Hey, sweetie!” He boomed.

“Dad…” I blinked a few times.

“Get in here. The family can’t wait to have you home.”

“Terrific.”

I expected silence to fall over the cab, but Dad insisted on addressing the elephant in the room. Me.

“It’s going to be hard here,” he started.

“I figured,” I said, digging my nails into the car seat.

“For one, no one can know what happened.”

“Won’t lying make things worse?”

“Trust me, Summer. I might have to limit your movement for a while. Avoid unnecessary contact with betas.”

“They come to your house all the time, Dad!”

He ground his teeth together. “I’ll handle them.”

“Do your step-children know?”

“No.”

“And Marcella?”

“No. The story is that you were born human.”

“What happens when they find out?”

“It won’t. There’s no need for anyone to find out. You’re not getting your wolf back anyway.”

The game had changed. That was two months ago. I got up from my bed in the basement. I had my private bedroom down in the occasional rat hangout with leaky pipes. Marcella thought I would like to have my own space. I decided to go job hunting against my Father’s better judgment. I was still in partial hiding.

Dad was at the army base as usual, and his family was in the kitchen. No one in this house cooked. Except me—I didn’t have time to play maid. All the good jobs in this town were snatched up quickly.

“Where are you going?” Jade frowned up from her glass of orange juice.

“Got to get a job,” I said, filling a glass of water.

“Didn’t Roman say you can’t go out?”

“I’m tired of making him buy me pads, okay?” I offered the youngest of Marcella’s daughters a smile.

Jade rolled her eyes.

“Jade, leave Summer alone.” Rachel, the oldest, strolled into the kitchen. She smiled at me, and I battled to smile back.

Unlike Rachel and me, Jade was still in high school. Rachel tried to be nice to me… Jade didn’t bother to hide her disdain.

“I think having a job’s a wonderful thing, and it doesn’t matter if you’ll be stripping either. You have the legs for it.” She poured herself a coffee.

Jade snickered.

Yeah, like that would go down well with the Father I have.

“It’s a gas station store. I’m leaving.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t mention it to Roman either,” Rachel waved.

I marched out without another word. I was over eighteen, Dad could puff, but he couldn’t keep me locked up. I hoped. I took a twenty-minute drive to the gas station. I carried the help-wanted flyer into the store.

“Hello?” I called, and then I walked around the store.

It was a small square room with all sorts of items. There were massive fridges at the back with beverages. The front door chimed, and an overwhelming sense of dread crashed into me. Two men with matching star tattoos on their necks marched into the store. They could just be customers…

“Mart!” One of them slammed their palm on the counter several times.

Okay, maybe not. I ducked.

Glass shattered on the ground, followed by gumballs flying everywhere.

“Come out, you worm.”

These guys were shifters; they were bound to notice another scent in the store.

“Go check the back.”

I clutched my aching chest. How do I get out of here?

“I know you’re here, rat. Come out or die like one.”

I shut my eyes. Crap. The sound of his boots on the tilted floor got louder. I had no choice. I jumped out. The man’s eyes lit up with surprise, then something that made my skin crawl. Lust.

“This is a pleasant surprise.”

“Keep dreaming.” My sneaker slammed into his gut before my fist connected with his jaw.

He rubbed his jaw but barely moved. He cussed and swung his arm. I ducked as his partner emerged and stared at us in shock. I took the moment of distraction to throw myself onto the giant shifter. He stumbled and smacked into the stand. I jumped off him before I fell like a tree.

The shelves fell like dominoes.

“You little bitch!”

“I'm not getting this job,” I whispered.

The shifter charged. He aimed for my side and clawed my shirt. I jammed my elbow into his back. He whirled and connected the back of his hand with my face. I landed on the counter.

“Fuck.”

“Bitch.”

“No,” I gasped when he grabbed my leg.

He dragged me off the counter. I smacked against the ground. I smelled blood.

“You’re a feisty little thing. I need a new toy. I might take you with me.”

“Go to hell.”

I kicked his wrist. He let go enough for me to get free. I got to my feet and ran to the door. It opened before I could reach it, and another man, draped in tattoos and leather, marched in. His green eyes bore into me. I swallowed. Three against one wasn’t a fair fight.

“Shit,” my attacker spat.

He kicked his friend. Seconds later, they ran out the back. My only exit was barred by a man twice my size. I backed up slowly at the same time, and a sharp pain shot through my abdomen.

“Who are you?” He demanded.

“I…uhh.”

My back crashed into the counter. He wrapped his hand around my throat.

“Stop, ouch.”’

The man before me split into two. His rugged features blurred as the pain in my body intensified. I brought my hand to the throbbing pain.

“Shit.” My hand came back bloody.

“Hey, hey don’t –” The man’s face was the last thing I saw before I passed out.