Pack or Prey (Wolfblooded book 1)

Chapter 2, Part 2

I hadn’t even gotten through one episode of Law and Order before my mind started to wander. I felt out of place without Frank here. Restless. He was right about one thing; I didn't need to sit around and waste my night waiting up for him.

I forced myself out of bed and pulled my hair into a long dark braid that hung to my lower back. Frank loved it, so I'd made a point to keep it long, but it drove me crazy getting in the way these days.

There were ten other people with us at the motel. I was pretty sure I could find something to keep my mind off the clock and all the things I imagined Frank doing behind my back. I headed out of our room and walked to the fourth door down, knocking on it loudly.

"Suze?" I called out. I wasn't worried about doing to her what Paulie had done to me and

Frank. She was single—not because she wasn't attractive, or a hoot to be around, but because she wanted Paulie and it seemed like she was willing to wait ‘til the end of days for him to come around.

I knocked again and tried the handle. The door opened, and I stepped inside and found

Suzanne blow drying her hair in the bathroom. The room mirrored mine, so I knew that her bathroom wasn't nearly big enough to maneuver around in. For the tall chick she was, I imagined it was hard to be in there for any length of time.

"Hey Suze!" I shouted, catching her attention over the loud hum of the dryer.

She clicked it off and smiled over to me, tousling those wild curls of hers with her fingers.

"What's up?"

"You going out?" I asked her, sitting on the corner of her bed.

"Nah. Some of the girls is just hanging out. Wanna come?" She turned back to the mirror and fixed her hair the way she wanted, grabbing a can of Aqua Net and giving her hair a good coat.

"If you don't mind a tag along."

"Girl, when've I ever considered you a tag along?"

"How about when you, Paulie, and I went to the bar last week?" I asked, smiling because I already knew what was coming.

"Now, that's different. I've been trying to get that man to myself for months," she smiled to me. "How's a girl supposed to get a man to notice her with you standing next to her, batting those pretty blue eyes?"

"Oh Jesus, Suze," I laughed, "you're freaking hot, and you know it. No competition. He wasn't ignoring you because I was there. He ignored you because he's fucking stupid and can't see a good thing when it's right in front of him."

She gave me a look that said she didn't believe a word, but appreciated that I'd said it. I guess men could even make knockouts like Suzanne second-guess themselves.

She walked up to me and grabbed my braid, playing with it for a minute before dropping it and jerking her head towards the door.

"Come on. We're meeting in Joy Anne's room," she said with a chuckle.

My head dropped and I let out a long, low groan. I stood up and sighed, following Suzanne out of her room.

"Fuck. Joy Anne? Oh, this night's just getting better and better."

"What's the matter? Don't like the H.B.I.C.-wannabe?"

"You know exactly how I feel about her," I groused.

"Just remember," she said as she slung an arm around my shoulders, "Frank wanted you. Not her."

Joy Anne was one of those women that grated against your nerves for a number of reasons.