Reminder that this is a ‘older’ first draft that was actually written before Kandy’s three prequel shorts, so there might be some continuity issues. I think I’m finding and patching most of them as I work through these early sections, but some might slip through until I really dig back into the writing full time.
Typos (sorry! I just saw I had Dedra as Debra last week) will abound. Again those will (hopefully) all eventually be corrected by myself, the editor, the proofreader and my lovely beta readers. And I’m very certain I might mixing up the tense because I’m still working through the second draft of Conduit 4, which is present tense, while only doing quick passes on Kandy’s story, which is past tense, on Thursday afternoons.
Anything in [parentheses] needs to be fact checked or I’m not happy with the phrasing yet.
This is Kandy’s book, Mistaken Loyalties (TBC) (Misfits 2)
Start here: Misfits 2: Chapter 1, Part 1 or if you missed it here is Chapter 1, Part 2
Dedra started toward me. The other two enforcers falling in at her sides without question, placing her higher up the pack hierarchy than I would have thought.
Well, good for her.
She’d gotten what she always wanted — power and the notice of our lord and alpha, Arthur Rothchild. Too bad his wife, Edith, was the true power in the Rothchild family, being a lady of the Assembly and all. A position passed down from her mother before her. And, even though a law had been passed that Assembly members couldn’t hold either of the two top positions in a pack — alpha or beta — Dedra could never be beta of the East Coast pack. The position was still Edith’s in truth, though I believe Marcus, the former head enforcer who trained me, was beta on paper. Either way, Edith would kick Dedra’s ass. And if somehow age slowed Lady Rothchild, Artie would tear out the throat of anyone who tried to take her place by force, whether or not the challenge was legal.
That law had been passed seemingly on the eve of Justin’s murder. With the intent of making room for new blood in the packs and Assembly. New blood equaled new ideas. Which was good, in theory. But packs, and shifters in general, weren’t quick to adapt. It was the strict hierarchy within packs that actually helped us keep our humanity, when most of us ached to let the beast roam wild.
It was rare that a shifter survived outside a pack, for multiple reasons. One being the rogues, such as the cult from which the East Coast pack rescued Dedra. Her upbringing being another reason she’d never rise higher in the pack than enforcer.
She also might have killed Justin. Or had him killed. Arthur’s son, Audrey’s brother. My first lover, if not my first love. Though, it might have been my mother pulling all those strings to shift me higher up, high enough to eventually take the pack from the Rothchilds.
I deliberately looked away from Dedra, shifting my entire focus to the now closed arrival gate doors. Dismissing her.
The crowd had thinned with the last flush of arrivals. Though more humans trickled in from the parking lot, taking up places along the rope line to await the next wave of arrivals through customs.
Dedra hesitated.
For a moment I thought she’d retreat.
She didn’t.
Maybe I was wrong about Dee Dee Clark being exactly the same rule-following, social climbing werewolf. Though I was fairly certain that she always thought I was a push over. A belief that had been undoubtedly confirmed when I ran from the pack of my birth instead of voicing my doubts about Justin’s death. Not that I’d wanted to stay with the East Coasters, surrounded by uptight homophobes and bored out of my mind, but I didn’t want … the doubt. The fear that someone who deserved my protection died because of me.
My chest ached.
A remembered pain.
It had no power over me in the now or the pending present.
Yeah, that was right.
And if it wasn’t I’d make it so.
“My Bon Bon,” Dedra gushed, pausing three feet away, positioning herself just out of my immediate reach. “Look at you!”
Talking to me as if she knew me. She had no idea how dangerous I’d become. I could snap her neck before she even saw me move. I could be gone before she hit the floor. Actually, I could snatch her away from the other two enforcers and they wouldn’t even catch up quickly enough to see me dump her limp form in the trunk of SUV.
All I’d have to say to justify the takedown was Dedra was a threat and my pack would back me no matter the repercussions from the East Coast pack. Dedra Clark might rank highly in the Rothchild controlled pack, but she wasn’t me.
I was Kandy. Enforcer of the North West Coast pack as well as the Godfrey coven. I was the wielder’s wolf. Leader of the misfits. Cursed to walk within the far seer’s gaze. Bearer of the Wolf’s Bracers.
My grin sharpened, widened.
Whatever else Dedra had begun to say got caught in her throat. The dark-skinned trim enforcer to her right started growling softly, checking himself almost the instant the noise emanated from his chest.
I smirked. “I am not your welcoming committee.”
Dedra lifted her chin. “My mistake.”
“Yes.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“Promises, promises.”
“What the hell?” the blond bruiser muttered.
Dedra huffed, trying to adopt a detached expression. But I could still smell the lingering spike of fear under her natural musk even through the light, spicy perfume she wore. Perfume designed to confuse the senses of the werewolves in her pack. Even after all these years. There was no other reason to wear it.
Despite her climb within the pack, Dedra Clark still played games.
I fucking hated that scent.
“This is Kandice Tate, enforcer of the North West Coast Pack.” She gestured to the bruiser, putting him second to her. “Bill Davis, enforcer.” Then she nodded toward the dark-skinned male. “Tig Evans, enforcer.”
I eyed Tig. Apparently, the East Coast pack had become less overtly racist since my departure. Granted, sheer might ruled above all else among werewolves. So the pack might not have much say in Tig’s accession through the ranks. Not if he’d maimed or killed anyone between him and being third or fourth among the enforcers. Not knowing where Dedra ranked exactly made Tig and Bill’s ranks harder to discern.
My sperm donor hadn’t been fully white either, but my mother had been as pure as driven snow. According to the pack. I knew better, of course.
Neither Bill or Tig could hold my gaze for long but I wasn’t interested in playing nice.
Dedra huffed again. “Really, Kandice? Since when do you adhere to werewolf politics?”
“The better you all know your place …” I curled my lip. “The less I’ll have to put you back in line.”
“Put … us …” Dedra sputtered. “By whose authority? Vancouver is neutral territory —”
“Even neutral has to be enforced.”
Dedra’s face fell.
Yeah, she’d just figured out what position I was playing. Pity she hadn’t done her homework. Though I didn’t mind rubbing her face in it. That was the only way some puppies learned.
“I see.” Something else flitted over her face, some recalculation that I couldn’t quite suss out. Then she smiled, looking up at me through her eyelashes coyly. “I look forward to getting reacquainted.”
She practically purred the not-so-veiled promise.
And, so help me, I wanted what she was offering. Just in that moment. I wanted to show her what she’d missed all these years. I wanted to make her gasp and pant my name.
And then I wanted to walk away.
Because she meant nothing to me.
Except I wasn’t my own wolf for the next three days. I was all my titles combined. And that meant I followed the same set of rules I was tasked to enforce. Screwing with Dedra’s head as she’d tried — and ultimately failed — to screw with me was an indulgence I’d have to forgo.
Might have tried.
It’s still possible I was wrong all those years ago, about her involvement in Justin’s death, maybe even colluding with my mother …
Tig glanced between Dedra and me, finally deciding to interrupt. “Do we … do we check in with you then? Officially? Before the hotel?”
I shook my head, still pinning Dedra with my narrowed eyed gaze. “Drop your bags at the hotel, check in with your princess …” Yeah, I sneered that not-so-honorary title, enjoying the way Dedra stiffened, but didn’t dare to correct me. “Then head to the bakery to make your presence known to the Godfrey witches.”
Dedra cleared her throat, making a last attempt to gain the upper hand. “Our alpha and lady are expected —”
“I don’t care.” I turned my attention back to the still closed international arrivals gate, noting out of the corner of my eye that the London flight had been assigned a baggage carousel while I’d been distracted. “Don’t break any of the neutral territory laws and we never have to speak again.”
Unfortunately, I’d still have to be in the same room as her during the pack status negotiations and the wedding ceremony.
“As if we would be the ones to —”
“Go away,” I growled, not bothering to look at Dedra again. If I thought about it, I could still feel the ghost of her lips on mine, fingers tangled through my hair, the smooth skin of her thigh slipping between my legs, pressing, rubbing.
Soft, delicate touches. Whispered promises.
I wanted none of it.
So I shoved those thoughts away, locking them back up where I’d held them for over [thirteen years].
Dedra’s lip curled indignantly. The spike of her temper once again underpinning the spicy perfume she wore as scent camouflage.
Though maybe it was just my nose that had gotten more sensitive. Because I never could tell if Dedra was lying to me, not even when I outright asked her about her involvement in Justin’s death.
Maybe I had been wrong.
It didn’t matter either way now.
– Misfits 2, chapter 1, part 3, first draft
Are you new to the Adept Universe? Click here for the suggested reading order where you can download a PDF that includes all the shorter stories (and where to find them).
Kandy’s three prequel shorts can be found in
