Claiming My Wolf
Chapter 43

~~Micah’s PoV~~

It’s my fourth night hanging out at the rogue bar in the city. I found myself a cheap bed at a hostel where I can spend my nights, I spend the days just wandering the city, and then at night I come here.

The first night I got in a fight. It wasn’t my fault, or at least not entirely. Nobody would give me the time of day when I first arrived and I was scanning the room, trying to figure out who would be most likely to talk to me. Apparently I looked at someone the wrong way, and then instead of apologizing when he confronted me, I told him to f*ck off. We brawled right there in the bar and I more than held my own. I would have won if the bartender hadn’t come to tear us apart before we shifted, and people knew it too. After that, they were all a bit more friendly. Or they stopped ignoring me, at least.

A few people talked and drank with me over the next couple of nights. I dropped some hints just like Logan, Sadie and I had planned out. I told people I’d just left my pack after a dispute with my a*****e father. I made sure I said the name of the pack. And I let it be known I was desperate for cash and willing to do some dirty work to earn it.

But so far, no one was biting.

I spoke to Logan last night and he filled me in on what had been happening at the pack since I left. Everyone was shocked at my defection, of course. He said my dad refused to even talk about it with the Alpha, telling him that he was fine if the Alpha asked. I wasn’t even surprised. Maybe he was fine. Maybe he didn’t care.

Then Logan tells me about all about Sadie’s theory about the vessel being killed, and how they’d determined that Sadie’s mom must have been the vessel, and that Sadie herself would most likely take on the role once she gained her wolf. They figure this is why the person after her is targeting her in the first place.

The idea terrifies me and I demand to know what they’re doing to keep Sadie safe. If someone already killed her parents over this, they’re not messing around. He promises me that she’s being watched 24 hours a day. It upsets me that I’m not there to keep an eye on her myself until Logan reminds me that it’s more important than ever now that we find out who’s behind the attacks.

Sadie’s life is in my hands now.

I ask Logan why the person behind all this hasn’t made a move yet. If they were wanting to break the mate bond and it’s happened, then why not do whatever they wanted to do now, before Sadie gets her wolf? Why worry about killing her first?

“My dad has a theory about that,” he explains. “He thinks because the next vessel is still alive but without her wolf, the mate bond is only partially affected. New bonds aren’t forming properly, but the existing bonds are fine.”

I think I understand. “So if Sadie dies, then ALL mate bonds will be broken?” That would be chaos.

“We think so,” Logan confirms. “We think that’s what the person behind this is after. But we’d rather not find out.”

No kidding. If someone wanted to take over the whole territory, it was about the best way to ensure the packs weren’t able to defend themselves. Everyone who lost their mate would be weakened and broken-hearted.

I promise to do everything I can, but so far it’s been limited to sitting in this bar, nursing a beer and trying to look desperate. I feel f*cking useless.

“Are you the wolf from Westbridge?”

The voice startles me out of my thoughts. A woman stands in front of me, probably in her 30s or 40s. I’ve seen her in here a few times but she’s never paid any attention to me before. She looks hard and she stinks of rogue, though so does everyone in here.

So do I.

“That’s me,” I reply as nonchalantly as I can. “Who wants to know?”

“My boss.”

My heart beats faster as I keep my expression neutral. This might be what I’ve been waiting for. “Who’s your boss?”

“That’s above your paygrade, kid,” she sneers. “But if you want money, I suggest you come with me.”

I’ve got nothing better to do, so I drain the rest of my beer and slam the empty bottle down on the table. “Let’s go.”

She leads me through a door into the back storeroom of the bar, and then through another door into a small windowless room where a man sits at a table, two larger man standing behind him. I’ve never seen any of them before.

The whole scene reminds me of a mafia movie, where nothing good ever happens to the guy in my shoes, but I do my best to look unafraid as the woman gestures to the other chair on the opposite side of the table. I sit down as casually as I can.

“You’ve got a job for me?” I ask.

“If you can handle it,” the guy replies. “I need someone who can get into Westbridge.”

My heart kicks into an even higher gear. This definitely sounds like the guy I’ve been looking for.

“Lived there my whole life,” I reply. “Until the old man got on my last nerve.”

I hope I sound tough and not like someone just pretending to be. The man’s expression doesn’t change.

“You went to school there?” he asks.

I nod. “Until last week, yeah.”

“So you know the students? Do you know a new student who just moved there?”

This is definitely our guy. F*ck yes, I’ve found him. I have to fight not to show my satisfaction.

“We didn’t get many new students,” I tell him honestly. “So I’m guessing you’re talking about Sadie Jennings.”

The man’s eyes glint in the dim lighting. He’s pleased with that answer, just as pleased as I was with his.

“Precisely. Do you know where to find her?”

I nod. “Yeah, I know which house she’s in, which classes she’s in, all of it. Why?”

I already know the answer, of course, but I need to hear him say it.

“We need her taken out,” he responds, like it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to say. “My employer will pay very well if you’re successful.”

His employer? F*ck. He’s just a middle man. I need the top guy.

“I need to know who I’m working for,” I try, crossing my arms defiantly. “I’ll take the job, but only if I can meet him first.”

“That’s not possible,” the man says. “He’s very busy.”

He. That was something at least, but not enough to go on.

“Then I guess we’re done here,” I tell him, getting to my feet. “Good luck finding someone else who knows the pack as well as I do.”

He says nothing as I walk to the door and for a moment I’m afraid he’s going to call my bluff. But just as I reach for the handle, he calls out to me.

“Fine. You can meet him tomorrow, same time, back here. But once you do, there’s no going back. If you meet with him, you do the job, or you die.”

I can work with that. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”