Brand of the Pack Read Online Free Page A

werewolf who loved howling at the moon and had a tendency to eat squirrels.
    Tearing her eyes away from the woodshop, Morgan said, “You’re officially fourteen years old now. Are you having a good birthday?”
    “I am. It’ll be even better when Rachel gets off work, though. I’m starving.”
    Morgan snorted. “You’re always starving.” Keeping a werewolf’s appetite satisfied was a full-time job. “I asked Rachel what your favorite kind of cake was. She said she was making it for the celebration tonight, but she gave me your second choice.”
    “I love red velvet. My mom used to make it when I was little. I can’t get enough of Rachel’s coconut cake either. I think I have a sweet tooth.”
    “Was your mom good at baking?”
    “Good at baking, terrible at cooking. We ate pizza and sandwiches a lot.” Marissa stared off into the woods, but her focus seemed somewhere beyond.
    “What happened to her?” Morgan asked low.
    Every muscle in Marissa’s body tensed and she clutched the arms of the chair until her knuckles shone white. “Grey didn’t tell you?”
    “He said it wasn’t his story to tell. If you don’t want to tell me, I understand. I don’t like to talk about what happened to my sister, either.”
    “We were kidnapped by a man named Raul. He liked little girls, so Mom wasn’t his type. He toted her around for a while, but—” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “He would touch me and call me his mate, and Mom went after him one night.” She shrugged the admission away. “He killed her and kept me.”
    “Oh, my God, Marissa.” Morgan blinked back tears. “You didn’t see him kill her, did you?”
    A nod and Morgan’s heart broke into pieces. “Was he a werewolf?”
    Another nod.
    “How did you get away?”
    “He kept me caged until we had to move locations. Raul killed little girls so we couldn’t stay in one place too long or he would get caught.” Marissa’s voice trembled. “He’d Turned me the month before and I didn’t have any control, and when we moved the next time, I just let it go. My wolf had been begging for me to set her free for days. She convinced me she could protect us but I knew how submissive she was. Raul was as dominant and psychotic as they came so I thought she wouldn’t stand a chance.”
    A tear slid from under her sunglasses and hung from her jaw. “Turns out she did. He didn’t have time to Change and I ripped him apart. Didn’t even bury him, just left him on the side of the road for the buzzards to get him like he deserved. I grabbed a change of clothes from Raul’s car and ran until my legs gave out. I hitched a ride from some trucker on a highway, and he dropped me off in this tiny town called Wylie. Didn’t have any family left and I couldn’t go back to my old school, not like I was. I still didn’t have much control so I found an old hunting cabin away from town and tried to live on small game. I didn’t know how to hunt though because Raul wasn’t exactly a great teacher, and just when I thought I’d starve, Rachel showed up. Her eyes were glowing gray and I knew she was like me. Dean stood near the truck with his arms crossed, but Rachel hugged me up tight, and I went to pieces. Told her everything on the spot.”
    No words could take away the pain that Marissa, at such a young age, had endured. That monster’s actions would resonate through the rest of her life. Morgan wanted to kill him all over again. Reaching across the space that separated their chairs, she grabbed Marissa’s hand and squeezed. She wished she could tell her she was safe and didn’t have to worry about violence for as long as she lived. But the cold, hard fact was, she was a werewolf, and female to boot. There wasn’t any way to avoid the danger that clung to their species. All they could do was try to survive it.
    “Morgan?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Rachel told me what happened to your sister. That you and Lana saw Grey’s maker kill her. I’m