[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
get started on cold mornings. Had it been towed? Shit, Ihad paid all my tickets, hadn t I? A sharp tinkle of metal on asphalt cut short my thoughts. Following the sound, I looked to see a set of keys between my feet. I frowned down at them. "Well, pick them up," said a voice behind me. "I d have aimed for your hand, but I didn t want to startle you." I turned to see Jeremy leaning against his truck. He waved at the keys. I picked them up, still frowning. "What are you doing here?" I said. "Did something happen to my car?" "No, it s right there. Where you left it." I turned to the Mustang, looked down at the keys in my hand, then back at the car. I can imagine my expression because Jeremy burst into a rare laugh. "I thought you might like that," he said. "Any speeding tickets you earn with it are still yours, though." I looked from the car, to Jeremy, and back again. "But how where ?" "I came into an unexpected bit of money and thought you deserved something new. Well, it s not new, butnewer , and hopefully nicer." "Shit, yeah," I said, still staring. "Thanks. Thanks a lot." "You re welcome." I jangled the keys in my hand, itching to try them, but knowing that before I did that, I needed to be sure this was okay, that Jeremy hadn t gone into hock because I d been bitching and moaning about my car this winter. "The stocks?" I said, tearing my gaze from the car. He shook his head. "A long-term investment of another kind. I sold my first painting. Two paintings, actually. One this winter and another last month." "Sold ? When ? I didn t even know you had any up for sale." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Jeremy brushed his bangs from his face. "I wasn t ready to admit to it. Not until something sold. Remember when we were looking for schools or, I should say, whenI was looking for schools? I knew your teachers thought you d get a full scholarship, but when I saw the tuition prices, I was still worried. I didn t want something like lack of money to hold you back. Don had been pestering me to put a few paintings in his gallery. Eventually I decided to give it a shot." "So they sold?" A tiny smile. "For far more than they were worth. And since you took care of your tuition with your scholarship, I thought it only fitting that I use the money on you." "You didn t need to " "No, but I wanted to. Now get in and let s go home." I grinned. "Race you." He shook his head and walked back to his truck. And so our lives underwent another slow change. Over the next couple of years, Jeremy sold more paintings. He still kept up his translation business, in case the art didn t work out, but he retained only his best clients and turned down all new work. Malcolm continued to train me. By the time I was eighteen, I d learned all the tricks he had to impart, but kept up the lessons for practice. That seemed to make him happy as happy as Malcolm was capable of being. I always knew that part of his reason for training me was political. He saw in me a potentially valuable ally for his fight to become Alpha, and hoped that we d somehow bond over these sessions and he d woo me away from Jeremy. Never happened, though. I came to tolerate Malcolm, but would never forget what he d done to Jeremy, and never trust him not to do it again if things didn t go his way. And what about his failed ploy to get me to persuade Jeremy to drop out of the Alpha race? Being out in the world so much, Malcolm was first in the Pack to hear what I d done to that mutt. Was he angry that I d found another way to stop trespassing mutts, one that didn t help his cause? If he was, he never gave any sign of it. Instead, it seemed to give him something new to brag about, that his pupil had proven not only a vicious killer but a clever strategist. Although my original plan had only been to keep mutts away from Stonehaven, after hearing what I d done, most mutts decided they d better not take the chance of trespassing on any Pack wolf s turf, just in case they d misunderstood my message. So, by the time I was twenty, our sanctuary extended throughout Pack territory. As for the Alpha race, it was more of an Alpha crawl. Dominic had moved Jeremy into the role of advisor, and consulted him on every matter of Pack policy. This seemed a monumental step. An Alpha traditionally acted alone or, if he consulted anyone, he did it on the side, so no one knew he certainly didn t openly ask for opinions as Dominic now did with Jeremy. Yet it was all for show. Dominic might seek Jeremy s advice, but certainly didn t feel obligated to follow it, or even seriously consider it. As Malcolm had said years ago, Dominic was playing a game, slowly moving Jeremy into a leadership role, while holding fast to the reins of power. Jeremy knew this. He d always known it. But he allowed it to happen because it put him into a position he might never attained otherwise that of a serious Alpha Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html contender. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |