Prickly Business Read Online Free PDF

didn’t have to wonder. She’d say the same thing she’d been telling him for years: “That fool pride of yours is going to land you in a heap of trouble one day, boy. You mark my words.”
    She was right.
     
     
    T HE NEXT morning, prepared with a story about a car clipping his bike as he crossed the street, Avery visited one of the two Portland pack doctors to have his wrist examined.
    Dr. Scully eyed him critically when he saw the finger-shaped bruises marring Avery’s fair skin, but he didn’t question him further, for which Avery was grateful. He couldn’t risk telling Dr. Scully what had actually happened. Doctor-patient confidentially didn’t exist within the pack when it came to situations like these. It would be Dr. Scully’s duty to report Josiah’s actions to Alpha Odell, and that would put Avery in a hell of a lot more trouble.
    Alpha Odell didn’t know about the wolf races. Avery hadn’t even shared his knowledge of the underground gambling ring with Jaden, not wanting to put his best friend in the awkward position of keeping secrets from his father. The races weren’t illegal in the strictest sense. Not according to human laws, anyway. But they’d be unpardonable in the eyes of the pack, where it was considered a grievous offense to harm a fellow wolf for any reason outside of a rightful challenge or a blood debt.
    Wolves competing and injuring one another—sometimes irreparably—for sport? For money? Everyone involved would be punished, and Victor likely killed as an example. Especially if Alpha Odell caught wind of his other transgressions. Loan-sharking, drug-dealing, extortion. Gambling wasn’t even the half of it, which was why some people feared Victor more than the alpha. Rules governed the pack, and in turn, Alpha Odell. Any offenses were usually handled within the pack itself, but Victor considered himself above both pack and human laws. If he thought Avery posed a threat to his business, he’d crush Avery without a second thought.
    The sole reason Avery had chanced visiting the doctor was that he wanted to make sure the bones in his wrist were properly aligned before the healing process got too far along. Shifters healed a lot faster than humans, but it wasn’t instantaneous, and it wasn’t perfect. The bones would mend as they were—which meant if they weren’t lined up correctly, they might have to be rebroken later.
    Avery wanted to avoid any additional breaking, thank you very much. Sharp stabs of pain still radiated from his wrist whenever he moved, and he knew from a childhood leg fracture it would continue to ache for days as the bones mended. At least it would be days, not weeks.
    “Everything looks all right,” Dr. Scully told him as he examined the X-ray. “It was a clean break. Should heal without any complications.”
    Avery heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”
    Dr. Scully resumed his seat behind his broad oak desk. “Keep it wrapped and wear the sling. And be sure to check both ways before you cross the street from here on out, huh?”
    Avery didn’t miss the sardonic edge to that last sentence. He flushed, but forced a smile to his mouth. “Of course, sir.”
    “If it’s still bothering you after a week, come back and see me.”
    Avery nodded and left the office with a murmured, “Thank you.”
    When he got home, Avery selected one of his favorite albums from his collection of vinyl—Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs —and set it up to play softly as he brewed a mug of strong, organic chai tea. He loved the way vinyl sounded in comparison to digital recordings. It seemed richer, warmer, more immediate—as if he were sitting in the studio while the music was being produced. Nothing quite compared to it, and over the last several years, he’d amassed enough albums to fill the row of bookshelves that lined the wall in his living room.
    Tea in hand, he settled down at his kitchen table to call his parents. Dread gnawed at his stomach as he