Chapter 4

“Because someone left them out, and I didn’t want you to step on one. I was careful, I used a stick. My dad showed me how to set them off.” Jonah explains as he holds up the stick he is clutching in his tiny hand. I can tell it has been chomped down considerably from the traps. I rub a hand down my face, annoyed at this small creature and his troublesome ways. “You can’t really be mad, Andrei, he thought he was helping,” Donnie prods me, and I sigh. I give up. My wolf has a point. “Come on, it will rain soon,” I tell him. Jonah jumps excitedly and immediately leads the way back. He runs off, which results in me jogging to keep up with him. I spot eight traps he has set off on the way back. “Come on, Mr. Andrei,” Jonah waves as a playful giggle escapes him. I roll my eyes and pick up my pace to catch up with him. All thanks to my goddamn luck, I step on something that is not ground. The damn trap catches my leg, and the pain ripples across the lower part of my shin. “Mother fucking bitch ass fucker,” I swear as I drop on my ass to see my foot, caught in my own trap. This day couldn’t get any damn better anymore. One goddamn adventure after another, all thanks to a little shit. He wants to help me? Help my ass, Jonah! I look at the trap, tightly trapping my leg and cutting into my flesh. I punch the ground, furious at myself and the entire world. Jonah comes skipping back to me a few seconds later. He stops, freezes in his step, and stares at my leg. The boy’s face turns a little green at the sight of the blood, and I pray to the gods to save me from the risk of getting puked all over. Piss was enough from this boy. On the bright side, as bright as it fucking gets, my leg isn’t broken. Sill, it fucking hurts like an ass fucking bitch, and right about now, I really want to strangle the life out of my little, oh so innocent helper. “Jonah, are you sure you counted correctly? And why is this one moved?” I ask through gritted teeth. “I found that one first, and I didn’t have a stick, so I moved it between the trees,” he murmurs as his little eyes widen in pure horror. I push the springs down on either side of the trap, the jaws open up enough for me to get my foot out before they snap shut again. I look at my leg, fighting the urge to curse him out or whoop his bloody ass. My leg slowly starts healing and I carefully try to move it. Everything seems fine, especially since I can still move it and there doesn’t seem to be too much damage, except for the blood loss, but then, I hear a soft thud. My eyes snap in his direction. Jonah seems to be weak to the sight of blood. The boy has passed out on the ground, face down. As I haul myself to my feet, I curse every living and dead creature for the luck that I have been having today. Of course, no one but me would have such damn luck - literally. Although I think about leaving Jonah in the forest, just to teach him a lesson about what can happen to someone when they keep ignoring commands and try to escape the punishments they earn, but I can’t. Thunder rumbles across the sky, the storm is approaching us quickly, and Sage would kill me if she knew I left the little worm here. I groan, bend down and grab him by the back of his shorts and shirt in my fist. “Andrei, he is not a bag for you to fling around,” Donnie says disapprovingly as I trudge back toward the house. I can already hear everyone frantically racing around, securing everything for the storm. Jonah comes back to his senses as I step out of the treeline. “Weeee!” Jonah squeals, holding his arms out to his sides like a plane. I chuckle at him, of course, he would think being wedgied and carried like a piece of luggage is fun. I get a few stares as I step between the houses. Jonah is waving at everyone when Malik spots us. Malik’s mouth falls open and his body tenses. He takes a few seconds to recover from the initial shock, but once he’s back to his usual self, his lips purse with determination, and he marches over to us. “Jonah! I have been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been?” I place Jonah on the ground, and he scrambles to his feet, looking up at an angry Malik. “I was helping Mr. Andrei,” Jonah beams as he points his finger at me like I’m some animal. I scoff and Malik's eyes dart to mine nervously. He sighs, rubbing his temples, looking just as over and done with the tiny trouble maker as I am. Malik opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it and shakes his head. He takes another moment to think before the mask of anger slips back on his face. It looks like he is fighting his own emotions on this one. Malik groans and points his finger back at the house he shares with the twins without saying a word to him. Jonah hangs his head, looks at his bare feet, and walks to the house. “And I thought Casen and Vince were a damn handful. That boy,” Malik grumbles and shakes his head. His eyes focus on me. “Any idea when you will put a call out for any family?” I raise an eyebrow as I cross my arms in front of my chest. As fun as it seems to everyone watching from the sidelines, I am more than ready to get over this mess. We have had enough accidents around here already. “The Alpha meeting, but I will ring Kat and ask if she can send her doctor out to collect blood to see if anything comes up in the blood banks database.” I tell him. “Yeah, hopefully, he wasn’t born a rogue, or they may not have any records or matches,” Malik sighs as he watches Jonah walk closer to the house. Lightning cracks, streaking across the sky, and the wind picks up. “Sage?” I ask him. “Casen took her home. I see you finally marked her.” The look on his face changes completely as Malik grins and nudges me with his elbow. “Yeah,” I say, unable to contain my happiness. Even my lips tug up. “So, what happened to your leg?” Malik points his finger at the blood-stained leg and raises an eyebrow at me. I groan at the reminder of the adventures in the forest and run a hand through my hair. “Jonah happened, it’s fine. He thought he was helping, and it has already healed.” Right as he parts his lips to speak, it starts to rain. I look up at the dark sky, everyone has finished securing everything. “You should head in, Malik. It looks like we are in for it with this storm,” I tell him. He nods, pats my shoulder with his hand and jogs home. I head inside myself. I can hear Sage upstairs doing something, but instead of joining her, I head to the kitchen to retrieve my cell phone from the counter where I left it. Taking it off charge, I dial Kat’s number. I need to ask her some questions about Jonah and the upcoming Alpha meeting that is supposed to happen in two days. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I also want to know when my father is coming back. Hitting call, I listen to the phone ring.