Runt of the Litter Read Free Page A

be
fighting the inevitable.” She heard the defeat in her father’s voice. Not
wanting to hear how sad he was any longer, she made her escape upstairs. They
were all scared for her and for good reason.
    Entering her bedroom, she closed the door quietly
behind her. Staring at the pale pink room, she couldn’t help but smile. It had
been so long since she’d last been here. Her parents had chosen to visit her at
Uncle Paul’s rather than bringing her home.
    Moving toward the window, she opened it up to allow a
little draft. Since that summer when she almost died, she no longer felt the
constant chill. She’d even started sweating at times.
    Tori stayed by the window, taking her time to look out
over the landscape. She got a clear view of the forest from here where all the
pack ran during the height of the full-moon. On the edge of the forest she saw
Luke and Marshall talking. Off to the side was a girl with brown hair. She
looked worried, and Tori wondered if that was Marshall’s mate. Her stance gave
her away. Most wolves would be standing straight in the presence of the alpha,
but the girl simply leaned against a tree, clearly not worried.
    What would it be like to be a mate? To love someone
with her whole heart and never worry about it being crushed? The love between
wolves was absolute, like fairytales or the movies. There was no chance of a
wolf cheating or falling for another woman. In their world, nothing could touch
them.
    Just once before her transition, regardless of the
outcome, she would just like to be loved, loved and cherished.
    ****
    Jack sat on his bed staring at an old photograph that
was taken the summer before he almost killed Tori. She was so small, only
coming to his chest, and he had his arm wrapped around her. The pack had been
ordered to treat Tori with care. He’d found the young girl charming, advanced for
her years. She was a ball of trouble and seemed to find accidents rather than
the other way around. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d seen bruises
or broken bones on her.
    If the pack hadn’t known she was a runt, as everyone
liked to call her, they’d have thought the family was abusing her. No one in
the Hunter house would ever dream of hurting Tori. Her condition was strange to
be within the pack, but she was well loved. Not many runts were known, but he
heard his father once telling his mother, Diana, that the packs probably killed
the runts.
    He wasn’t a fool. A lot of wolf packs survived on
cruelty. Luke, the pack alpha, didn’t see cruelty as a skill or something to be
part of. Their pack was about family, united together in their love and
acceptance of one another.
    There was a knock on the door. Placing the picture
under his pillow he called for his mother to enter. She carried a tray of food
with her.
    “Hello, Jack.”
    “Hey, Mom. Did, erm, did Dad tell you?”
    She nodded. “He told me, son.”
    He watched as she put the tray on his lap. Fried
chicken and two burgers were on his plate. There wasn’t any sign of a vegetable. Wow . Getting a mate must provide some
leeway with his mother. She was always nagging him to eat more fruit and
vegetables. He worked out and trained over five hours a day and was always
starving. The role of the beta was to be prepared. With Marshall taking a human
mate, his father had started to be a little more forceful in his training. When
the time came, Jack would be responsible for it all.
    “She’s a wonderful girl,” Diana said, cupping his
cheek.
    Jack gritted his teeth and tried to think of anything
that would stop him losing control in front of his mother. He’d not cried since
his transition, and he wouldn’t shed a tear now.
    “I don’t know what to do. She’s only around for the
summer.” The thought of her leaving was tearing him up inside, twisting his
stomach in knots. He’d never once known the pleasure of what a mate could give
him.
    “Then spend some time with her. Go and see her.”
    Picking up a piece of