Rivals and Retribution Read Online Free PDF

or Max tried for the alpha spot and … I cast a sideways glance at Gabriel.… I had plenty of trouble already.
    Jordyn and Londyn opened the door to their room. “Uncle Dmitri!” they cried, hopping up and down like two schoolgirls.
    I sighed. Because that’s exactly what they were—two schoolgirls.
    As young as they were chronologically, I usually translated their lives into wolf years and so forgot their actual ages. We’d been through so much it aged us, made us old souls. Old, worn out, embittered souls.
    Dmitri turned on the charm, grinning and slapping his hands together. “How are my beauties?” he asked as they bounced forward, their nostrils flaring briefly to scent him for gifts. He brought them little treats now. Candies and odds and ends, jewelry and trinkets, things that he called baubles —and things Darby called shinies .
    Useless things.
    Things everyone desperately wanted—brand-name sneakers or purses—things no one really needed .
    “He’s buying them,” Gareth muttered, watching more pups scramble for his attention.
    “He’s providing for them,” I clarified. “Better than we can.”
    “When was the last time we honestly tried?”
    I got hung up on his emphasis on honestly .
    “We haven’t tried doing anything honestly for months now,” he added, moving closer to me. So close I smelled the mint on his breath. “We could, you know? I have ID, and my record was expunged after Mississippi. I could get a job.” His gaze swept the parking lot and beyond. “There has to be work here—even in this podunk town.”
    I snorted. It seemed so simple. So moral. Get a job, feed the family. “Where, Gareth?” I asked. “Where would you work? What would you do?”
    “There are burger joints in Junction. I can work a fryer or a grill.”
    My backbone slipped, and I bent across the banister, letting my arms slide over its edge so they hung limp. “You can’t.” My hands dangled loose from my wrists, useless.
    He straightened, puffing out his chest as he sucked in a deep breath. “Of course I can,” he said, like working as a fry cook would be some challenge to gallantly surmount.
    “But, you’re so smart…,” I whispered. “It’s a crime to make you do menial labor.”
    He chuckled, the noise making my stomach tremble. Or maybe it was how he stood so close that made my body act that way.… “There are far better men and women than me working what you call menial labor . People with degrees in education and psychology and the arts. Amazing people who had big dreams but small means. People like that, they sacrifice their dreams—or delay them—so their families make it. This pack is my family. I’d give anything for them.”
    “Jesus Christ.”
    I gawked at Gabriel, having forgotten he was there.
    “Seriously, Gareth. You’re just dying for your own cross and crown of thorns. Sacrifice this, sacrifice that. Give until it hurts. Who ever gave anything for us —even a damn? No one. Families failed us. Friends failed us. The system— you of all people know better than anyone—the system failed us. So why feed it with our sweat and blood?” Gabe held the banister between whitened fingers and then dropped to do presses against it, his arms rippling with long, lean muscle as he hissed out his frustration. “If you want to feed the system and get nothing in return, be my guest. But don’t expect us to be so self-sacrificing.”
    “I don’t expect you to do it, Gabriel,” he said.
    With a grunt Gabe pushed back from the banister and whipped around, heading after Dmitri. He paused a few yards away, looking over his shoulder at me. “You and I have something planned, don’t we?” He didn’t wait for my answer, but stalked away, self-confidence marking his stride.
    Gareth looked at me, suspicion marring his features. “You two have plans?”
    I swallowed. “Not like you think…”
    He raised his hands between us. “It’s okay,” he stated, backing up. “It’s not