I nodded silently but when he turned to go withChet,Itrailed after them.Iwasn’t about to lose the chance to see the strength of my defender.TheAlphaChallengewas coming up quickly andIneeded to know ifIshould be worried or not.
We walked through a swinging gray door into the cool, gray stockroom.Itwasn’t as big a space as you’d see in back of one of the larger grocery chains’ back rooms, but it had room for plenty of produce.Andsure enough, sitting right in the middle of the floor, were three closed wooden crates.
The crates were closed on top, andIcouldn’t tell what was in them, butIassumed it was heavy.
“Watermelons,”Chetsaid.“Iused to could lift ‘em whenIwas younger, but ever sinceIhurt my back…”Heshook his head ruefully.
“No problem.”Kornodded easily.Hewalked over to the stack of crates and lifted the first one experimentally and with apparent ease.Thenhe nodded to himself and crouched down to pick all of them up.Grippingthe bottom crate, he rose easily and looked atChet.“Wheredo you want them?”
The grocer’s eyes went wide, andIhad a feeling that it wasn’t just watermelons in those crates.Hadhe loaded them down with weights or something?Ihad no idea but there was genuine respect in his eyes when he looked atKor.
“Over in the corner, if you don’t mind,” he said.
“Sure.”Korcarried them over and set them down.Throughit all, he looked like a man carrying boxes of feathers—that was how effortless he made it look.
When he got the crates settled, he stood up, brushed off his hands, and looked atChet.
“Anything else you need moving?”he asked.
“No, no—that was it.”Chetnodded at him.“Thankyou so much,YoungMaster.”
I was surprised at the title—it was what thePackwould have calledCarter’sheir, if he had one.
Again,Kordidn’t bat an eyelid.
“You’re welcome.Alwayshappy to help.”Thenhe looked at me.“Comeon,Vivienne—let’s get the shopping done before it gets too hot out there.”
I nodded and smiled at him, but my eyes lingered onChet’sface as we all left the stock room.Hehad a dazed look in his faded blue eyes—a look that said he hadn’t expectedKoror anyone else to be able to move those boxes.
His wolf must be incredibly strong,Icouldn’t help thinking.Maybeit was aJamisonfamily trait.AsIsaid before,Carterhad an incredibly strong wolf, despite being short and not especially muscular in his human form.
At any rate, the display had lifted my own spirits considerably.Ididn’t know how heavy the crates had been, butIwas betting thatChethad put enough weight in them that they would have been a challenge toHarrisMurdoch—why bother otherwise?Soit seemed thatKormust have a fighting chance to win theAlphaChallenge.Justthe thought of that made my breath come easier.
“Well, that was certainly impressive,”Imurmured toKoras we left the grocery store.“Youreally are strong.”
He shrugged.
“LikeIsaid,Iwork out.Plusmy wolf is strong.”
“That was a test, you know,”Itold him.“Theywant to see how you’ll stack up for theAlphaChallenge.”
“OhIknow.”Hegrinned at me.“I’mnot worried.”Heraised an eyebrow at me.“ButIsense that you are?”
He was far too perceptive,Ithought.ButbeforeIcould think up an answer, a harsh voice said,
“Well, well—look at the two of you, out for a stroll on this fine fuckin’ day.”
FIFTEEN
VIVIENNE
I looked up and sawHarrisMurdochglaring at both of us.Hehad his hands balled into fists and there were smears of black grease on his forearms and across the front of his uniform shirt.Hemust have come straight from work at the garage.
The sight of him made my stomach tighten instantly andIhated that reaction—hated that he could make me uneasy with a single look—but he could.
There was something ugly inside him—there always had been.Evenwhen we were younger, before the gray started creeping into his hair and his waistline began expanding,Harrishad enjoyed making people uncomfortable.Somemen liked making others laugh—Harrispreferred intimidation.
I felt my heart rate climb butIkept my face calm and lifted my chin.