Chapter Two
Tawk frowned at the ‘for rent’ sign in the front yard.
The house was a small three bedroom from what he’d read online, and looked nice on the outside, especially for what Garret Hoffman was wanting to charge per month.
Nothing had been this cheap in Sister’s Edge. Between the expensive room rental in the house he shared with four of the other bachelor shifters in Sister’s Edge, and the monthly Crew fees he had to pay to the Alpha, Derek, there hadn’t been a lot left over to live on.
He hadn’t thought about that part much until now. Derek had increased the Crew fees every month, depending on the needs of the Crew, but Tawk had never actually seen where the money was spent. Why did he get the feeling like Crew fees were just paid to line the Alpha’s pockets? A lot of things weren’t making sense about Sister’s Edge lately.
That was probably Jess’s fault.
She’d left, and taken his food source, and worst of all, she’d made him start growing an inconvenient heart.
He hated her for it.
Tawk pushed his door open and hopped out of his truck, then sauntered over to the house and cupped his hands to block the glare as he looked in through the front window next to the door. It wasn’t bare inside like he’d expected. There was a couch and a kitchen table, and the kitchen was one of those real nice ones with forest green cabinets and wood block counter tops, and all stainless-steel appliances. Why was Garret Hoffman, a member of the Cold Foot Crew, charging only seven hundred dollars a month for this place?
Tawk stepped back and crossed his arms, studying the front porch. It was just a small concrete pad in front of a steel blue door that still smelled like fresh paint. The welcome mat was barely worn in. The house number, 1010, had been nailed crooked beside the door. Maybe there were roommates and the seven hundred a month was the portion for each renter.
He scratched his neck and glanced back toward the road, where he could hear a loud truck entering the neighborhood. He’d been living in a motel for three weeks now and was tired of living out of a suitcase.
The truck rumbled up the road and came to a stop in front of the house. As soon as the window rolled down to reveal the driver, Tawk muttered a soft curse under his breath.
He hadn’t seen Wreck Itall, Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew, since the night Kade had died. In the passenger’s seat of the truck, there sat the ghost himself, mate of Jess, her original Promise…Kade.
“Well, this is bringing back some memories,” he said as he approached the truck. Not good ones. He’d eaten too much of a dead witch’s power the night he’d met Wreck Itall, and now his dragon still wasn’t right.
“Hey man,” Kade greeted him.
Tawk nodded a greeting and came to a stop a few feet shy of Wreck’s side of the truck.
“What are you doing here?”
“Sticking close to Jess.”
Wreck narrowed his fiery eyes. No really. They were fiery. They had literal flames in the gold color of his irises. Tawk wasn’t scared of much, but Wreck was the bigger monster between them, for sure. “What’s happening in Sister’s Edge?”
“None of your concern or mine. I left right after you fed me that little locket. It seems I didn’t fit in there much anymore.”
“Because your dinner went away?” Kade deadpanned.
Fair enough. He had been feeding off Jess’s subtle and untrained witch powers for years without her knowing. If he was Kade, he would probably be feeling mighty protective too if another man was feeding off his mate. Tawk puffed air out of his cheeks and looked around the neighborhood, his hands hooked on his hips. “Look, I’m not asking to be in your Crew—”
“Good, because it’s a hell-no,” Wreck gritted out.
“I had a taste of that locket,” Tawk continued. “Even being down here in town, I can feel Jess growing. If I had to guess, someone is training her. Is she spellcasting now?”
“None of your fucking business,” Kade ground out.
Tawk held up his hands and backed off a few steps. “I’m truly not here for trouble.”
“Yeah, and how do we know you aren’t here spying for Sister’s Edge?”
“Because you know me better than that—”
“I knew you when we were kids,” Kade said. “And then you and every one of your Sister’s Edge Crew watched me go down for a murder I didn’t commit, and you didn’t do anything about me going to Cold Foot Prison—”
“And I carry a lot of guilt over that—”
