Ready Or Not (The Hunter’s Club #2)

Chapter 9

9

Identity - Grandson

16 years old

“Fucker!” I hiss as I accidentally drop the dead wasp. Pup whines beside me, and I scoop the carcass off my bedroom floor and drop it into my spell jar.

Pup dances anxiously, and I ruffle the top of his head. “You worry too much.” The dog just drops his head on my leg and rests it there.

I use the term dog loosely. I’m still not sure this isn’t some sort of coyote mix. He started coming to the back door for the past few months. At first, Pup was an annoyance, but he became obsessed with me, following me everywhere, and eventually, I couldn’t say no to those adoring yellow-brown eyes. So, I snuck him inside occasionally. What started as occasionally became all the time. Manson hated it, so my loyalty to Pup only grew.

I throw some rusted barbed wire and the goofer dust I stole my mom’s credit card to buy into my jar. Then, I reach to grab the paper with one name on it. I only remember one, but I feel like there’s more, which bothers me.

Pup whimpers under me.

“It’s okay, boy.” I rub his head again and drop the card into my jar. Dumping rubbing alcohol in, I light it all on fire. I watch the flame lap at the man’s name and say, “I hope you suffer.”

Pup licks my hand. I glance down at him, and he buries his long snout under my hand.

“Riley!” There’s a harsh knock at my door, then the door opens.

Jesus. That’s mom, and she’s already in a bad mood. I turn to the door, bored. Mom steps inside and then sucks in a horrified gasp.

“Fire!”

“Yeah. I made it.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Mom rushes over, then stops, searching. Probably just realized she can’t put it out with her hands. I can’t help but smirk at her frantic energy. Pup gives a low growl.

“Do something, Riley!” Mom gasps.

I push back in my desk chair. “It’s contained.” In fact, the fire is already starting to go out, having burned up the few things that were flammable in my spell jar. I’m not entirely convinced that witchy things are real, but I also can’t disprove they aren’t. So I do them, fuck the consequences.

“Riley.” Mom whirls on me and snaps her hand across my face. Pain lances across my skin, and then there’s a growl and a flash of movement. Pup leaps past me, biting onto my mom’s arm.

Crying out, my mom shoves back against my dog. I scramble up to see her aiming a blow at him.

I lunge, bowling into Mom and shoving her backward, and we all stumble back into my bed. I spring back, yanking Pup away to check him for injuries. Fuck. No one has ever stood up for me like that before.

“Nasty mut.” Mom gasps for breath, using the bed to steady herself. “Fucking hell, he bit me!”

Pup is still growling at her, all the hair on the back of his neck raised. Mom stands there trembling. I see it a second before she moves. She’s going for Pup.

The pure rage that flashes through my system overwhelms every other sense. I scream, launching at my mother and pummeling my fists into every part of her body that I can.

“Fuck you!” I scream, hitting and scratching at her. “You fucking coward!”

“Psychopath!” Mom screams, trying to hit back at me.

“And?” I almost laugh, seeing how frantic she is, while energy runs through my body. I pull back for a second, enough to stand over her and gloat.

Mom uses the bed to get up. She stands, but she’s not as tall as me anymore.

Pup growls again.

“I’ll kill him,” Mom mutters.

Pure hatred runs through me, and I launch myself at her with a scream. I throw punch after punch, wanting her to feel the pain before I snap her neck.

Vaguely, I see motion beside me, and I’m yanked off my mother. I turn on whoever dared to touch me and lunge at them.

It’s Manson. He ducks close to me and slams me into the wall. “Enough.”

“I’ll fucking kill her!” I growl, scrambling to get away.

“No, you won’t.” Manson’s voice is sneering, and his grip is rock solid.

“I’m calling Jim!” Mom gasps.

“Oh sure, running to yet another man. You’re pathetic.” My rage knows no bounds. I’ve never been this angry before. Not when Mom jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend, not when I was forced to move from school to school, and not even when Mom did the things to me that she did. But now? Now I’m going to kill her.

Manson presses his arm into my neck as Mom storms out of the room.

“Get yourself together,” he hisses at me.

“Get off me!” I shove at him, but he only fixes his dark eyes on mine. His pupils are huge.

“Manson, fuck off.” I try to knee him, then stomp on his foot. His pupils only grow wider. I can’t see Pup, but I feel him brush against my leg.

“Get him, Pup,” I demand.

But he doesn’t.

Manson just smirks at me. “You done?”

I heave for breath, stopping my struggles. Clearly, I can’t outmuscle him. So, I just need to outsmart him.

Manson watches me for a beat longer, then steps back. We just stare at each other. I’ve disliked Manson since I moved here. He’s too quiet. Too perceptive. Even now, he watches me like he knows me.

He doesn’t know shit.

Finally, Manson smirks. He reaches down to pet Pup, who lets him.

I glare at the dog, who just pants and looks at me.

“You’ve been feeding him.” That’s the only reason Pup wouldn’t go after him.

Manson ignores my comment. “My name better not have been in that jar.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I spit out as he walks to the door. Before he walks out, Manson pauses. “Riley. Don’t kill your mother.”

Rage filters through me again. I’ll do whatever the hell I want.

Before I can say anything, Manson shuts the door.

Later that night, I try to poison my mom. I move to the kitchen to prep her dinner, but as soon as I reach into my backpack to grab the rat poison I lifted from the local store, Manson’s hand closes over my wrist.

He gives me a cold stare.

“Fuck you, Manson Kennedy,” I hiss.

His gaze doesn’t change. “Fuck you , Riley Kennedy.”

“That’s not my name.” I try to yank away from him.

“It will be, one day.” And with that, Manson jerks me to him, kisses my lips, then snatches the poison. “I said no. And one day, you’ll learn to obey me. Until then, I’ll have fun punishing you.”