Alpha Bully: An enemies-to-lovers romance E-Book

Rose Renee

• Herausgeber: Renee Rose
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

SHE RUINED EVERYTHING... I WILL MAKE HER PAY.
Her mom robbed my dad of his job. Destroyed his life.
Now I have to look at her every day.
The girl next door. A human. A hot little nerd.
She doesn’t belong here—not in Wolf Ridge,
not at our high school, definitely not in my life.
She doesn’t know what I am.
Which makes it all the easier to take revenge.
I will bring her to her knees. Pierce her heart.
Make her bleed. For me.
All for me.

USA Today bestselling author Renee Rose delivers on this intense new adult shifter bully romance.

Leseprobe

Alpha Bully

An enemies-to-lovers romance

Renee Rose

Burning Desires

Copyright © September 2019 Alpha Bully by Renee Rose

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Published in the United States of America

Renee Rose Romance

Editor: Maggie Ryan

This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book contains descriptions of many BDSM and sexual practices, but this is a work of fiction and, as such, should not be used in any way as a guide. The author and publisher will not be responsible for any loss, harm, injury, or death resulting from use of the information contained within. In other words, don’t try this at home, folks!

Contents

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Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

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About Renee Rose

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Go to http://subscribepage.com/alphastemp to sign up for Renee Rose’s newsletter and receive a free copy of Theirs to Protect,Owned by the Marine, Theirs to Punish, The Alpha’s Punishment, Disobedience at the Dressmaker’s and Her Billionaire Boss. In addition to the free stories, you will also get special pricing, exclusive previews and news of new releases.

Author’s Note

The idea for the Wolf Ridge High series was born when Lee Savino and I were writing Alpha’s Bane, a second chance romance in our Bad Boy Alphas series. The characters in the book, Trey and Sheridan, were high school sweethearts who ended badly. I wrote the flashback scenes from their high school romance while Lee worked on their present day conflict.

As I played with the idea of this pack of high school students, all going to school together and dealing not only with the raging hormones of a teenager, but also with shifter and pack dynamics, I thought it would be fun to delve deeper.

This is the result. I hope you become as addicted as I am to the teen angst and drama! :-)

Chapter 1

Bailey

There’s a reason I don’t drive any more. A very good reason.

But moments like these make me wish I didn’t turn into a hyperventilating spaz every time I even think about getting behind the wheel. Not driving means I attend the local Wolf Ridge High instead of Cave Hills.

Cave Hills, the top-rated college prep dream school.

Cave Hills the school I should be going to.

The school I deserve to go to.

The school fifteen miles away.

Without a car, it might as well be a hundred.

And at this particular moment, no car means I’m screwed.

Because the bus just passed by my house.

I hear the ktshh of it stopping on my street. Ten minutes early! Snatching my bookbag off the sofa, I dash out my front door with my teeth unbrushed and my Mexican skull Chucks untied, but it’s way too late.

“Wait!” I wave and chase after it. “Hold up!” I jog a half a block, tripping and hopping in my loose sneakers.

The driver has to see me even if he can’t hear. The students in the bus definitely see me. They stare through the windows at me. Not laughing. Not pointing.

I’m a fish in a bowl. Mildly amusing to them, but they won't feel bad if they have to flush me down a toilet in a week. Racist fucks. You’d think in Arizona being Hispanic wouldn’t get me shunned.

Dammit.

I stoop to tie my shoes and sling my backpack over my shoulder. It slides forward and whacks me in the back of the head. I huff and stand.

Next door, the dynamic brother and sister duo, Cole and Casey Muchmore climb into Cole’s mostly-restored 1950s classic Ford truck. If they witnessed my early morning sprint, they’re not letting on.

Their dad on the other hand sits in the window with a beer in his hand, not even trying to hide the fact he’s watching me. The front window is where he always is, except when he’s stomping around yelling at his kids loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.

Right now, I swear he’s smiling. Like he just had a good laugh over watching me run after the stupid bus. What an ass. Like father, like son, I guess.

Cole is as cool as his truck and even better looking. And he definitely knows it. Revels in it. He rules Wolf Ridge High like his shit comes out rosy and he doesn’t have wrong-side-of-the-track stank all over him. Like the worn out, ripped jeans he practically lives in aren’t covered in grease and grime from repairing cars.

No, Cole Muchmore doesn’t need nice clothes, a fancy car, or anything else money can buy. He has something seen as much more valuable. He’s got the status of worshipped star quarterback. And at Wolf Ridge High, that puts him somewhere in the vicinity of a god.

I eye my last chance at getting to school on time and weigh the chance of catching a ride with them.

Unlike the rest of the kids at Wolf Ridge High, the Muchmores don’t just pretend they don’t see me. They throw scowls in my direction. Hateful glares, even. I met them the day I moved in—went over and introduced myself because they came out to gawk.

They barely answered, looking at me like I had two heads. Tay Swift has had friendlier interactions with Kanye than I had with the Muchmores that day.

But right now I need a lift to school. Even if I walk, I’ll be late for my Spanish exam, and calling my mom is out. If she has to leave work to drive me, I’ll definitely get an earful about how I need to start driving again.

Besides, she has way too much on her plate with the new job.

Forcing my social anxiety to the background, I jog down the sidewalk to the curb and flag down Cole. He slows but doesn’t stop. His sister Casey, a sophomore with resting bitch-face, rolls down the window.

Cole leans across her. His dark hair is tousled, his full lips twisted in a lopsided smirk. “What’s wrong, Pink, miss the bus?”

Pink.

He’s referring to the streak of pale pink that cuts through the front of my dark hair of course. The nickname and my unfortunate physical reaction to Cole Muchmore’s nearness throws me off for a sec. Ride. I need a ride.

I stand on tiptoes to see into the truck and meet Cole’s eye. “Yeah, any chance I could catch a ride?” I curse myself for sounding like a timid mouse.

He shrugs his shoulders with a mock-rueful expression. “Sorry, Pink. I would offer, but there’s no room.”

Bullshit. There’s clearly plenty of room between the two siblings, and he’s just being a dick. I hear his deep chuckle as his sister rolls up her window.

My face flushes hot as they drive away, and a thick knot forms in my throat, heat burning the back of my eyes.

Don’t cry. Not over this.

Save your tears for the things that matter.

Like Catrina. Like the other friends I left behind in Golden.

The pep talk doesn’t work. Two hot trails make their way down my face as I take off, speed walking toward school.

I hate Wolf Ridge. I really do.

I make it to the first major intersection and check the time on my phone as I wait for the light.

Gah. I’m definitely going to be late.

“Hey!” An old Subaru wagon pulls over to the curb and the back door opens. “Did you miss the bus, too?” A scrawny girl with bleach-blonde hair punked out in all directions calls out. I’ve seen her on my bus and around school. She’s an underclassman, so we don’t have classes together, but she’s familiar.

“Yeah.” I tense, prepared for another insult.

“Get in. My mom will take us.”

Her mom beckons impatiently. She has bleached stringy hair and prematurely aged skin of someone who drinks and smokes too much. The car reeks of cigarettes.

Relief and gratitude still slam into me like a tidal wave as I slide in the back seat. “Thanks. I was afraid I’d be late.”

“I already called the school to complain about that damn bus driver,” her mom rants from the front seat. “It’s bullshit. They can’t just show up when they feel like it. They’re supposed to stick to a schedule!”

I murmur my agreement.

“I’m Rayne.” The girl turns in the seat to study me. Her blue eyes are huge in her small, heart-shaped face and her nose is pierced.

I decide instantly that I like her. “Bailey.”

“I know,” she says, reinforcing my impression that I’m not actually invisible at Wolf Ridge High. I’m being actively shunned.

My gut clenches.

“Thanks for stopping,” I say. “Cole Muchmore outright refused to take me.” I don’t know why I say it. I’m not one to complain and I usually keep my thoughts to myself, but I’m getting freaking desperate for someone to talk to.

Rayne rolls her eyes. “Cole is an alpha-hole, like all the other ballers.”

I let out a puff of laughter. “I can’t argue with that.”

Alpha-hole. It’s a perfect description for him.

Well, he can go fuck himself. I won’t be crying over his lack of courtesy.

Guys like him do absolutely nothing for me.

We get to school on time and climb out of the Subaru. The kids getting off the bus stop to stare at us.

“What?” I demand out loud.

I swear, you’d think I was some sort of green-skinned alien from outer space.

Rayne flips them off and grabs my elbow. “Ignore them. They all do whatever the alpha-holes say like freaking minions.”

“Wait… What do the alpha-holes say?”

Rayne looks away, pink staining her pale cheeks. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. This is our school, too.”

Huh.

Whatever that means. I let it drop. I don’t need to alienate the only person who’s willing to be nice to me.

“Thanks for stopping. And for talking to me. I’ve been seriously losing my mind here. I thought maybe all the kids were robots like in this old movie my mom made me watch where the men had all killed their wives and exchanged them with robot replacements.”

Rayne’s impish face breaks into a huge smile. She holds up her palm like she’s swearing an oath. “Not a robot.” She lifts her chin at all the kids streaming into the school who are craning their necks to ogle us. “They might be though.”

Cole

I slide into my chair in journalism a few seconds after the bell rings. Of course the human—the bitch who moved next door—already sits at her desk beside me, chit-chatting with the teacher like a suck-up. I catch a whiff of her cinnamon and honey scent as I sit and my balls tighten.

“Nerd patrol,” I mutter as Mr. Brumgard walks away from her desk. I heard she’s taking Advanced Placement English online, and she’s using this class as an elective. Double English credits. Fucking whack-job.

She fumbles her pen—probably because I rattled her—and it clatters to the ground. My buddy Austin automatically reaches to pick it up, then catches my glare and realizes who it belongs to. He straightens without retrieving it.

Good. The king of Wolf Ridge High still rules. No one will talk to Bailey, much less help her, unless I lift my ban on it. I give it another month and she’ll transfer to a school where her kind belong.

She leans into the aisle to get it, but I kick it away, forcing her to lose her balance and fall halfway out of her seat, balanced on one hand. I get a flash of bare thigh as her mini-dress rides up and a low growl rises in my throat.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I don’t get hot for her kind.

Miss Perfect in those little dresses and skull Chucks. I glare in her direction, willing my attraction for her to die. Unfortunately, the way her breasts stretch the front of her polka dot mini-dress today gets me hard. Which makes me hate her even more.

Even if it weren’t for the situation with our parents, I would say she doesn’t belong here. She’s too fucking smart. Too nerd-hot. Too self-possessed for someone getting actively shunned every day at school.

And it’s somehow a thousand times worse that her brains and attitude are wrapped up in that juicy little package.

Mr. Brumgard finishes taking roll, then calls out, “Pop quiz on the reading I assigned yesterday!”

The class groans. Everyone except for Bailey, who obviously can’t wait to show she did her homework. Brumgard stands and starts placing a sheet of paper face down on each desk.

My eyes roll back in my head with frustration, and I fall back against my seat back. This fucking sucks. There’s no chance I’ll get a passing grade, and the homecoming game is Friday. Which means I’m gonna get benched. Which means the entire team and Coach Jamison are going to kill me.

My teammates look over at me with that sort of desperate question in their eyes. I shake my head and a collective underbreath groan ripples through the room. It’s not just my teammates, it’s the rest of the class, too.

Sports are huge at Wolf Ridge High. Way bigger than academics.

Even though we have to play our skills down around humans, every student wants to see us win. And I always put on a good show toying with the other team and dishing out cocky attitude on the field.

“You have seven minutes to complete the quiz over last night’s reading,” Brumgard says, looking at his phone. “You may begin.”

The rustle of paper fills the room as everyone flips their quizzes over. I pick up my pencil and stare at the words, not even comprehending what I’m reading.

My mind spins over the possible outcomes of this situation. They pretty much all end in me getting benched for not maintaining a C average and facing the wrath of the entire school.

But none of that compares to the shitstorm I’ll catch at home when my dad hears.

Which is ironic, since the reason I haven’t done homework all week is because I’ve been working late at Bo’s uncle’s garage to pay for groceries since my dad’s too fucking drunk and depressed to get off his ass and find a new job.

My gaze slides over to Bailey. The girl I can’t stand.

She’s already three-quarters of the way through her quiz. And, most importantly, she hasn’t taken the time to write her name on the top yet.

In one of my best asshole moves, I snap my hand out and grab her quiz while the teacher’s back is turned. I slide my blank quiz on her desk.

Her cheeks color pink and her mouth drops open, but before she can make a sound, every student around us turns and stares her down, unified pack style.

She may be human, but our biology is similar enough that she must feel the pressure. Conform or die. This is wolf domination and pack dynamics at their best. And I’m their alpha.

Her lips snap closed. Jaw sets. Shooting a murderous glare in my direction, she hunches over the paper and starts furiously writing the answers down.

The victory that explodes in my chest has more to do with breaking Bailey than it does with solving my grade problems. I’ve been dying to bring her to her knees since the moment she had the fucking audacity to move in next door.

I smirk as I write my name at the top of her paper and guess at the answers she left blank. Even if I get every one of them wrong, I’ll pass.

Pink is an A plus student. Possibly semi-genius level. She doesn’t belong at Wolf Ridge any more than her mom belongs at the brewery.

Anyway, the point is, her answers will be right. And all I need is a C.

I watch her finish her quiz—the one that used to be mine—brows furrowed, lips locked in a tight line.

“Time,” Mr. Brumgard calls. “Pencils down. Pass your quizzes up, please.”

She sends me another furious glare before passing hers up, and I flick my brows in challenge, daring her to do something about it.

She won’t, and we both know it.

Score one for the alpha bully.

Loser human: zero.

Chapter 2

Bailey

Fury burns my throat, blinds me as I stumble out of journalism class.

The nerve of Cole Muchmore. He literally just stole my quiz in front of the whole class and got away with it. He’s fist-bumping his teammates—the other alpha-holes, as Rayne called them.

As if making me a social pariah wasn’t enough, now he’s stealing my work?

I can’t believe I let him get away with it.

What’s wrong with me? Am I so desperate for friends I would sacrifice my education and future just to not piss anyone off? I should have ratted him out. They already hate me. I’ve been a social outcast, party of one for weeks now.

And what in the hell is wrong with all the kids in this school that they think helping the football star cheat is the right thing to do?

Assholes.

I duck my head to hide the tears blurring my vision as I spin my locker combination around. It takes me five spins before I calm down enough to even see the numbers. Three more tries to get it unlocked.

The second the door swings open, it slams shut, a big hand slapping it closed and staying there.

Of course I know exactly who that hand belongs to.

“Thanks for the help, Pink.” Cole crowds against my backside, leaning in close to speak low in my ear, like this is some private, lover’s conversation and not more bullying from the biggest dick in the school.

His voice rumbles deep, reverberating right into secret places it doesn’t belong.

“Fuck you, Cole,” I snap. I don’t usually curse, especially not at school, but this situation really calls for it.

I guess I’m still a chicken, though, because I don’t turn around, not willing to come eye to eye with my tormentor. I press myself even closer to the lockers to keep him from rubbing against me, but he just moves in tighter, and now I have smells and sensations that will haunt me along with his smirking face.

He’s going for intimidation and it’s working, but my body registers it as something altogether different.

Something foreign yet primitively familiar. Biological level, monkey brain shit that makes my downstairs unconscionably wet. Because no way do I find his muscle-brained posturing sexy.

It sucks that he’s Jacob Elordi level hot. Tingles race across the surface of my skin. I look down. Goosebumps. He’s giving me fucking goosebumps just standing too close. I don’t have to look to know my nipples are beading against my favorite polka dot skater dress. I fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest. He doesn’t need to know how he affects me.

He’s big. Strong. His voice is deep. His scent is cedarwood soap and masculine goodness. And his cocky bullshit does something squirmy to my core.

“Here.” His other hand appears in front of my face. Not the one still holding my locker closed effectively caging me in, but one on the other side of my head. He’s holding a piece of cinnamon Trident out to me.

“Really?” I snatch the gum and whirl around, too pissed now to avoid a face-to-face confrontation. “A stick of gum?” I hold it between our noses, cursing my hand for shaking. “Is this the going rate for taking someone’s quiz for them around here?”

Cole’s fiery brown gaze burns through me. I see the hatred in his eyes before he blinks and pretends he doesn’t give a shit. He shifts to lean a shoulder against my locker. “Well, you know, that’s all I can afford… seeing as how your mom stole my dad’s job and all.”

All the noise in my head quiets. My stomach drops out and I lose my breath. “What?”

“Yeah. I guess she’s a real big shot, huh? Your mom? All the way from Coors Brewery in Colorado.” He shrugs. “My dad couldn’t compete with that.”

My knees quake. Mouth opens and closes like an empty PEZ dispenser, but I can’t figure out the appropriate response.

It doesn’t matter. Cole’s already pushed off and sauntered away, the crowd parting to allow its king to pass.

He thinks my mom took his dad’s job?

That’s why Cole and Casey Muchmore hate me? That’s why I’ve been the social outcast here for the past eight weeks. Why I can smile and say “hi” to kids in the hallways, in the bathrooms, and not even a freshman will so much as give me a head nod.

I had no idea it was personal.

Understanding should bring relief, but it just brings a hollow ache to the pit of my stomach. Unless Cole and Casey Muchmore’s alcoholic, waste of space dad gets another job, I’m public enemy number one.

And it’s not my fault. It’s not even my mom’s fault.

She was hired in after Wolf Ridge Brewery had a major kerfuffle with the FDA and got shut down. And yeah, my mom said things were a total mess when she got here. Like the checks weren’t in place to prevent contamination disasters. That means Cole and Casey’s dad sucked at his job, and it’s no wonder he lost it.

I can see why us moving in next door would be like rubbing salt in a wound, but my mom didn’t steal his dad’s job. And even if she did, how in his twisted, Neanderthal brain am I to blame for his life turning shitty?

I know quite a bit about life suddenly turning shitty. You don’t see me screwing over strangers in revenge.

Fingers shaking, I work the combination on my locker once again and pull out my backpack and head to lunch, my most dreaded period of the day. The time when I try to find a place alone to sit and do my homework as I eat a sandwich.

“So you took the alpha-hole’s quiz for him, huh?”

I whirl to find Rayne, standing there. Her friendly face is such a balm to my raw emotions, I want to throw my arms around her and squeeze. I hold back though. I don’t want to scare my only friend off with my desperation for human contact.

“News travels that fast?”

“Yep. That’s Wolf Ridge for you. Takes about five minutes for the latest news to go around. Especially when it concerns our star quarterback.”

“Is football that big a deal? I don’t get it.”

She shrugs, falling into step with me. “Wolf Ridge takes state in almost every sport. We’re renowned. But Cole is special—he’s entertainment on the field. Kinda toys with the other team. Like a cat with a mouse. It’s legendary. So if he got benched for bad grades this week, everyone would’ve mourned. I know you had no choice, but you just became an unsung hero.”

“I just became the laughing stock of the school and a target for every bully.”

“Nah, just Cole.”

“So do you have to be good at sports to be popular?”

“Yep.” She sweeps her hands down her body with a giant rueful smile. “Guess you know why I won’t get crowned homecoming queen.”

I have the insane urge to steal the homecoming crown before it’s given out this weekend just to give it to Rayne. And that thought makes me smile.

She elbows me. “It’s not that funny.”

My smile grows bigger. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear. Just thinking how fun it would be to throw the contest.”

She grins back. She leads me to the far side of the school, where there’s a little patch of trees I hadn’t seen before. “This is where I like to hide during lunch.” She sinks down with her back against one of the trees.

I drop to join her. “This is way better than the places I’ve tried.” It’s true. She found the one tiny patch of real nature on campus where the air is somehow easier to breathe.

“So Cole thinks my mom stole his dad’s job,” I blurt, unable to keep my mind off it.

Rayne raises her brows. “You didn’t know that?”

I sigh. Okay, Wolf Ridge is that small and interconnected. “I thought everyone hated me because I’m Hispanic.”

She spits out her juice laughing. “That’s hilarious.”

“Well, it is pretty homogenous here. And I don’t fit the bill. You should see the way Cole’s dad stares out the window at us. I swear to God, I thought he or one of the other neighbors were going to call ICE on us, hoping we’d get picked up in the night just because our last name is Sanchez.”

Rayne laughs so hard tears leak from the corners of her eyes. “No.” She wipes at the moisture. “It’s not racism you’re combating here.”

The way she draws out racism makes me think there’s something else. Something besides my mom taking Cole’s job, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what that would be.

She tucks a wild tuft of white-blonde hair behind her ear, and I see the flash of a blue tattoo on the inside of her wrist. “What is that?” I ask, pointing to it.

She holds it out to show me a tiny paw print.

“Very sweet. Is it to remember a dog?”

“It’s a wolf print, actually.”

“Are wolves special to you?”

She quickly tucks it away and ducks her head. “No. Just for Wolf Ridge. It’s stupid.” She blushes furiously. “I wish I’d never gotten it, but it’s too late now.”

“I like it.” An idea takes hold, one that gets me excited for the first time in months. A way to memorialize Catrina. “I want to get one. Did you get it here in town?”

“Yep. At Wolf’s Paw Tattoo.”

“Oh my God. Is that why you got a wolf’s paw? Is it free if you become a walking advertisement for them?”

Rayne laughs. “No, but I guess that’s where I got the idea, yeah. But you have to be eighteen or have parental consent.”

“Well, it just so happens that my birthday is tomorrow.” I grin. “Want to come with me?”

She lights up. “Definitely. What are you going to get inked?”

I swallow back the sudden lump in my throat. I guess I’m still not okay talking about it. Instead I shrug and go for mystery. “You’ll see.”

Cole

“Seriously, I can’t believe you made the human take your quiz for you.” Wilde, our team captain, punches my shoulder in the locker room after showers. “That was so Gucci.”

“Shut up with the Gucci thing, dude,” Bo says. “You wouldn’t know Gucci from Fruit of the Loom, asshole.”

There’s a chorus of snorts from the underclassmen, evidence of their continuous suck-up.

“Yeah, I figure Bailey Sanchez owes me a lot more than a passing grade on a pop quiz,” I say.

Austin makes a dissenting sound beside me.

“What?” I demand.

He shrugs but looks away, acknowledging I’m alpha of this team and our group of friends, even if I’m not captain. Even if I’m not the biggest.

I’m definitely the meanest, and everyone knows it.

“Why is she even here?” Bo asks. “Brewery HR should’ve encouraged her mom to send her to Cave Hills with the rest of the humans.”

I shake my head, the misery of the past few months washing over me. My dad’s increased drinking. The way he picks fights with me and Casey. The progressive spiral of shit-tasticness. Things were bad before Bailey Sanchez arrived, but her moving in next door made them infinitely worse.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to make her sorry for it.”

“I don’t know, I think she’s kind of hot,” Slade leers.

“Shut up, Slade,” Austin warns. Slade’s the oblivious one in our group. He’s somehow missed that despite my intense dislike for Bailey, I also have a thing for her.

He goes on, though, oblivious to the warning, too. “Nice tits and those little dresses. And those big eyes make her look just like a little Mexican doll—”

“Don’t talk about her tits.” I whirl and headbutt his face. There’s a loud crunch of cartilage and bone.

He covers his nose. “Aw, fuck!”

Wilde and Bo jump between us in case there’s more. Coach Jamison has a strict no fighting rule—one I’ve had a hard time with this year.

Like father, like son, I guess.

I lean to the left to look around Wilde’s bulky frame and point a finger at Slade. “Don’t mention her again. She’s mine.”

“What?” Slade still doesn’t follow. “I thought you hated her.”

“She’s mine,” I repeat firmly. “Mine to torment, and I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of it.”

All four of my friends shake their heads like they’re sorry for me.

“That’s fucked up, dude,” Austin says.

Slade finally realized he needs to keep his mouth shut. He shrugs and clicks the bones of his nose back in place. It will be healed by tomorrow; that’s the glory of being a shifter.