17. Miles

Chapter 17

Miles

" T hat was false advertising. That Story Hour was not an hour at all!" Noah grumbled, trying to clean glitter off his clothes with a wet rag.

"Well, isn't that good for the kids then? It means they had a great time. And their parents looked so happy when they picked them up too," I said, trying to lighten the mood but feeling a bit nervous about Noah's reaction.

I winced as Noah slammed the table with the rag.

"I meant for me! This is not what I signed up for. It's called Story Hour. So that's supposed to be one hour only! It lasted for three whole hours! No amount of free pizza is worth... this!" he shouted, pointing at his ruined shirt.

I knew I should try to look apologetic or actually say sorry like a decent human being, but all I could do was purse my lips, trying to hold back a laugh.

He looked ridiculous with glitter all over his hair and shirt and a huge paint stain in an unfortunate spot on his pants.

Noah continued to glare at me. When I still couldn't say or do anything other than shake with suppressed laughter, he clicked his tongue.

"Okay, okay," I finally managed to say, holding up my hands in defeat. "How about I make it up to you? Next week, I'll handle the kids. You just do the reading bit. You won't have to deal with any of this glitter and paint chaos."

Noah kept rubbing at his shirt, furrowing his brow as the glitter only seemed to spread even more. "Next week? Oh no, I'm not falling for that again. This isn't a regular thing. I'm leaving right after I get this stuff off me."

He now looked like a unicorn had puked on him. My mind raced as I tried to think of ways to convince him to stay for the afternoon's session.

"Come on, Noah. The kids love you, and the parents appreciate it. Plus, you'd be helping me out a lot."

Noah raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Helping you out a lot, huh? And what do I get in return, besides becoming a human glitter bomb?"

I grinned, thinking fast. "I'll make sure there's no glitter or paint next time. And... I'll treat you to dinner at your favorite restaurant. Deal?"

Noah paused, considering the offer. I leaned forward, hoping my eyes weren't shining like a predator catching its prey.

"So, what do you say?" I pressed.

He sighed, finally cracking a small smile. "Fine. But if there's glitter next time, I'm out for good."

I laughed, relieved. "Deal. No glitter, I promise."

Noah shook his head, still trying to clean himself off. "You better, or you're on your own."

The door jingled, saving me from further argument. Mrs. Jenkins arrived, her arms laden with food trays. "I'm here! Freshly baked pigs-in-a-blanket, as promised."

"You shouldn't have!" I exclaimed, genuinely shocked at the amount of food she brought.

Mrs. Jenkins quickly went over to the counter, laying out the food trays. As she opened them, the smell of freshly baked treats filled the store.

Noah dropped the rag he was holding and quickly went over, hovering behind Mrs. Jenkins.

She handed him two pigs-in-a-blanket in a napkin, and he nodded in appreciation, moaning at the first bite.

His earlier annoyance about the extended story hour seemed to vanish as if it had never existed.

I made a mental note to thank Mrs. Jenkins later, because it looked like Noah decided to stay for the day.

But more than that, she really was doing too much. She had been doing more than enough ever since we reopened the bookstore, dropping by almost every day with enough food to feed a small army.

And when she found out today was the first day of our weekly story hour, she had been so excited that I couldn't stop her from running out while listing things to make and bring.

Mrs. Jenkins looked around, a frown crossing her face for the first time.

Her eyes moved from the paint-splattered floor mat to the small tables cluttered with paint, paper, water, and glitter, and finally to Noah's glittered top.

"Is it all over?" she asked, her voice tinged with disappointment.

I nodded, feeling a bit sheepish. "Yeah. Well, the morning session at least. Sorry about the mess. The kids got a little... enthusiastic."

Mrs. Jenkins sighed, but her expression softened. "Well, it looks like they had a lot of fun. That's what matters, right?"

Noah, his mouth full of food, nodded and said dryly, "Absolutely. Fun for them, at least."

"But there's still an afternoon one in a couple of hours," I said to Mrs. Jenkins, throwing a glare at Noah.

Mrs. Jenkins looked a little sad. "Why didn't you tell me there were two sessions? I could've come earlier."

"The first one was at 9. I didn't want to inconvenience you," I explained.

Mrs. Jenkins tutted, waving off my concern. "Don't be silly, I'm awake by 6 a.m.! And I want to help out as much as I can."

She turned around, humming as she continued opening food trays and taking out packets of small disposable plates from her bag.

"You really don't need to help out so much. I don't want to trouble you," I said seriously.

Mrs. Jenkins turned around, her expression softening. "Miles, I'm bored at home. I like being here. So just let me help out when I can, hmm?"

I felt a cozy warmth spreading in my chest. "Alright, thank you, Mrs. Jenkins. It means a lot."

Noah chimed in, "Yeah, you can come over whenever you want, Mrs. J," except he said it with a mouthful of chewed-up processed meat and bread. I shot him another look.

The door jingled open again. Without turning around, I started to say, "Sorry, the afternoon Story Hour only starts at 3," but then I saw it was Garth and Bruce with three other guys—all of them wolves loyal to Ryder.

I frowned, wondering what the hell they thought they were doing in my store, looking like they were ready to cause trouble. They couldn't be, especially not with a human around.

I walked forward, standing protectively in front of Mrs. Jenkins. Noah did the same.

Garth smirked. "What? We're here to buy some books," he said, glancing around the store with an innocent expression.

Bruce nodded, adding, "There's just been so many people around lately. But the past couple of days seemed pretty empty ."

What was he talking about? Ever since we reopened, we've been busier than ever. What did he mean by the last few days...?

Oh.

It finally clicked.

Sawyer had to stay at home on mandatory bed rest after he aggravated his injuries during his physical therapy session. Cooper had been in Winter Valley since the day before yesterday.

I shouldn't have dismissed it so easily when I kept seeing Ryder's men around all week. They must have been keeping tabs on the bookstore.

I clenched my fists, trying to stay calm. "If you're looking for something specific, I can help you find it. Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you didn't disrupt our store."

Garth shrugged nonchalantly. "Just browsing," he repeated.

I stood my ground, watching as they sauntered further in, their intentions clear.

I narrowed my eyes at Bruce. "So what, you think now's a good time to come in? When my brother and Cooper aren't around?"

Bruce smirked. "Don't know what you're talking about. Like I said, we're just here to shop."

He walked over to a display of books we had just set up yesterday and tipped it over, spilling the books onto the floor.

As if it were a signal, the rest of them spread out and started pulling books off shelves, dropping them carelessly.

Noah shouted, "Hey, stop that!" Mrs. Jenkins also began to shout at them, but they paid her no heed.

"Noah, take Mrs. Jenkins to the office," I ordered, my voice tight.

Bruce laughed and knocked over a lamp, shattering the glass all over the floor. Noah nervously grabbed Mrs. Jenkins' arm, trying to lead her to safety, but she yanked her arm away, grabbed a pig-in-a-blanket from her food tray, and hurled it at Bruce's head.

The room fell quiet as all eyes followed the snack as it slid down Bruce's torso, bounced off his shoe, and eventually rolled away under a nearby shelf.

Bruce glared at Mrs. Jenkins, who returned his stare with equal intensity.

I had to hand it to her; her glare was so fierce that if Noah hadn't pulled her into the office, I felt like Bruce might have thought twice about carrying on. Instead, his expression turned slightly mocking as he watched her go.

Noah locked the office door from the outside. I could hear Mrs. Jenkins banging the door loudly and shouting, but Noah told her not to open the door no matter what.

"Shouldn't have done that," Bruce sneered at me. "You see, if she had stayed here, we wouldn't have been able to do this."

They continued their rampage even more aggressively, knocking over displays and kicking aside the setups meant for the kids' activities.

They even went for the bookshelves with glass doors, which shattered with a loud crash, sending glass flying everywhere.

"Hey!" Noah shouted again, ready to lunge at them with his glittered rag.

I grabbed him and pulled him behind the counter with me, my hand searching for Sawyer's baseball bat that I had stashed under there yesterday.

I felt my anger rising as they overturned Mrs. Jenkins' food table, sending her food trays crashing to the ground. That was the last straw.

Gripping Sawyer's bat tightly, I swung it as hard as I could, aiming for the guy who had overturned the table.

The bat connected solidly behind his knees, and he crumpled to the ground with a loud groan of pain. The others turned to me, surprised at my sudden aggression.

Someone grabbed me by my collar yanking me backward. Before I could react, they threw me against the wall.

My face smashed into a picture frame, and I winced as I felt the glass shatter under the pressure, sharp edges pressing into my skin.

"Hah, so you've got some claws on you, huh?" Bruce sneered, his voice dripping with mockery.

Bruce's hand clamped around my neck, pinning me against the wall. I tried to break free from his hold, but his grip was too strong.

From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Noah lunging at Bruce, wielding a thick hardbound book.

The loud thud of the book hitting flesh echoed in the room, but Noah was quickly overpowered and pulled away.

The door jingled open again, and through the cracked glass, I saw a reflection. It was Ryder.

"Let them go," Ryder ordered.

Bruce's grip on my neck loosened, and he turned me to face Ryder. I felt something warm trickling down the side of my face but ignored it.

I took a step forward, anger boiling inside me, but Bruce's hand clamped down on my shoulder, holding me back. Ryder shook his head, and Bruce finally let go completely.

Even though I was free, I couldn't resist shoving Bruce back in frustration.

My eyes darted to the side, and I felt a wave of relief seeing Noah standing in the corner, cradling his elbow, but otherwise appearing unharmed.

"Are you crazy?" I shouted at Ryder, my voice trembling with fury. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Ryder looked around the store with a bored expression, seemingly indifferent to the chaos his men had caused.

His nonchalance made me even angrier. How could he be so reckless and not care about the consequences?

They not only wrecked the store but also put Mrs. Jenkins at risk. The town sheriff in Pecan Pines wouldn't be happy about pack business spilling into town and endangering humans.

Ryder stepped closer, his gaze cold and unyielding. "Convince Cooper to leave town," he said, his voice low and threatening. "Or your family will get hurt again."

Anger flared within me, and I couldn't help but taunt him.

"You're threatened by him, aren't you? Scared he'll be a better lead alpha than you could ever be."

Ryder's eyes narrowed, a flicker of something dark crossing his face. He took another step toward me, but then his eyes shifted behind him.

Outside, on the sidewalk, a small crowd had gathered—parents and their kids, all here for the afternoon's Story Hour.

Ryder clicked his tongue in annoyance, clearly aware of the public attention now on us.

"Remember what I said," he warned, his voice cold as he motioned for his men to leave. They walked out of the store, leaving behind the mess they had made.

As the door jingled shut, I took a deep breath, feeling the tension finally begin to ease.

I quickly glanced around at the damage—books scattered everywhere, broken glass, and overturned tables.

But first, I needed to address the parents waiting outside, so I hurried out, trying to put on a reassuring smile.

"Sorry for the wait," I said, trying to sound calm and collected. "We had a bit of an unexpected... situation. But we'll have to cancel Story Hour."

Back inside the shop, I found Noah gently urging a very agitated Mrs. Jenkins to take a seat. She was fuming, her face flushed with anger.

"That mutt! He had no right!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with fury.

When she saw me, her expression softened a bit, and she handed me my phone. "I hope you don't mind, I called your friend while I was in there."

Mrs. Jenkins continued to curse Ryder and his men under her breath. I took my phone, but as I did, a drop of blood fell onto the screen.

Reaching up, I touched the side of my face and felt the sticky warmth of blood. I pressed my hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

With my other hand, I tried to scroll through my phone to call Cooper, but my fingers were shaking uncontrollably.

The reality of what had just happened—the danger and the threats—hit me all at once. My vision blurred slightly, and I had to steady myself against the counter.