Sheri let the edge of her shirt go and took his hand again. He wasn’t certain she noticed she’d done it.
“Max bit me and changed me. If he hadn’t I would have died. When Rudy tried to hurt me again I was able to defend myself. I was forced to run when he tried to hurt me with his Pack backing him up.”
Max took over before Adrian could ask some questions, like, why aren’t you a Wolf? “At this point I was pretty sure Parker was rogue. I contacted the local Pack, and they knew nothing about him or his small band of friends. They promised me they’d deal with him. When Parker tried to get back at me for changing Sheri, Simon and I managed to fight him and his ‘Pack’ off. He’s been chasing Sheri ever since.
She’s been forced to move around a lot and not have anyone close, like a Pride, for fear Parker would use them against her. She’s petitioned to join our Pride, which means she’s no longer alone.” Max’s hard gaze swept the room. “We deal with this threat now.”
The Alpha smiled when his Pride members murmured their consent. Adrian felt Sheri’s hand tremble in his.
“Now, for those of you with kits, keep in mind that Parker is a sick man who won’t stop at anything to get Sheri back. Keep them safe, know where they are at all times. I’ll e-mail everyone with a photo of Parker so that if you see him you know what to do. Contact me or Simon—”
“Or me,” Adrian piped up, squeezing Sheri’s hand reassuringly. He let up immediately when he saw her wince, but refused to let go.
“Or Adrian.” Max nodded. “Under no circumstances, other than threat to your kits, are you to approach Parker in any way. He runs with about three other wolves. That may or may not have changed. I’ll contact the Pack in the Pocono’s and see if they’ll help. Last I heard the Pack leader was isolationist, so we may be on our own on this.”
“I’ll help,” Belinda said. “There are places she may need to go to that a man can’t go. I’ll go with her.”
“Well, she’s not the Curana so she should be safe,” one of the females muttered.
“Excuse me?”
Adrian shuddered at the ice in Emma’s voice as the Pride’s Curana took offense at the woman’s tone. A thin mist surrounded her, a serious indication of just how pissed off she was. “Do you doubt my word that Belinda Campbell had nothing to do with the attack on Rebecca Yaeger?”
Uh-oh, them’s fightin’ words. If the woman knew what was good for her she’d back down and apologize immediately. Adrian watched as several of the women winced and drew away from the offending member of the Pride.
“No, Curana.” The woman bowed her head in submission.
“Good.” Emma looked around at the other members of the Pride. “I expect this nonsense to stop.
Belinda has proven to both Rebecca and me that she had absolutely nothing to do with Olivia’s attack on Rebecca. Punishing her for Olivia’s actions is wrong, and I expect better of my Pridemates.
Understood?”
Adrian watched as Max positioned himself squarely next to his mate, a cool warning in his eyes for anyone who would challenge her. To challenge Emma was to challenge Max, and not a single male in the room believed himself capable of defeating the Alpha. When the Betas ranged themselves right next to the Alphas and added their glares the argument was pretty much over.
Murmurs of assent drifted through the room and the Alphas relaxed. “Sheri will be working part-time at Wallflowers, starting tomorrow,” Emma added in a warmer tone of voice.
“She can move into Becky’s apartment, it’s right above the store,” Simon said, his arm going once more around his mate.
Becky looked up at him. “She can? What about the person who’s currently living there?”
“I thought she could move in with me. You don’t mind, do you?” Simon grinned down at his mate, and Adrian had to hide a smile. The rest of the people in the room didn’t even bother. A few went so far as to chuckle as Becky grunted in response.
“I like my apartment.”
“It would be easier on Sheri and you’d be doing a very nice thing for a new friend.”
Becky sighed. “That was a low blow, Simon.”
“Plus my feet get cold at night.”
“Oh, well, we can’t have your feet getting cold, can we, Garfield?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Simon grinned as the room exploded into laughter.
That little bit of laughter helped ease the tensions in the room. People settled in comfortably to discuss how best to help Sheri while getting to know the newest Pride member. Adrian was never very far from her side, and surprisingly neither was Belinda. The two women seemed to hit it off. He sat back and watched as they laughed together over something, then made plans to go to lunch the following day after Sheri got off work. He felt some of his own tension ease; his mate would be safe with Belinda. He’d hit Max up for the full story tomorrow.
Chapter Three
“Go ahead. Ask.” Sheri tried not to grin as Belinda put her sandwich down and leaned in on both elbows, looking both curious and guilty.
“What’s it like being an albino?” Belinda asked quietly.
She sighed as she put her sandwich down. She wasn’t offended. She’d gotten used to correcting people, but it still bothered her that people asked. “I really hate that word.”
“Why?”
She’d been waiting for someone to ask her that question since yesterday at the Pride meeting, but Belinda was the first one to work up the courage. The two women were sitting in Kelly’s Diner eating hamburgers and fries and totally blowing their diets. It was one of the nicest afternoons she’d had in a long time. It was nice to have a friend again. She hoped they weren’t about to ruin that.
“I’m a person with albinism. Saying I’m an albino is like saying I have a communicable disease, like calling someone a leper. It’s a condition I live with, not who I am.”
“But it’s no worse than calling me a blonde or blondie.”
“I doubt that.” She laughed. “Think about the stereotype of the ‘albino’. We’re always the evil one who’s out to do some nasty stuff to some poor innocent who doesn’t know that the albino is evil. And nobody stares at you just because you’re blonde.”
There was a moment of silence. “Okay,” Belinda finally drawled. “Tell me a blonde joke.”
Sheri paused with the burger halfway to her mouth, her head tilted as she tried to catch the other woman’s expression.
“How about this one? A redhead walks into the doctor’s office and says, ‘Doc, it hurts wherever I touch myself.’ The doc has her touch everywhere on her body, and sure enough, she screams every time she does. The doc asks if she’s a natural blonde; stop me if you know the punch line?”
She blushed; she had heard this one before, and had laughed as loudly as her friends had.
“The doc says, ‘I thought so; your finger is broken.’”
Sheri could hear Belinda take a sip of her soda. “A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night with some friends. When it was her turn, she rolled the dice and landed on Science and Nature. Her question was, ‘If you’re in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?’ The blonde thought for a moment and asked, ‘Is it on or off?’”