by Rose, Renee
My addiction to Bailey just got a hundred times worse.
Chapter 14
Bailey
“So am I literally the only human in Wolf Ridge?” I ask Rayne Thursday evening while sitting outside Dairy Queen. I picked her up after my visit to Planned Parenthood to get on birth control.
“Shh.” She lowers her head and voice even though there’s no one else around. “Shifters have acute hearing. Always assume someone’s listening.”
I duck my head, too.
I tried to keep it a secret from Rayne that I knew. Cole said I shouldn’t tell her, or she could be in trouble with their alpha, too, and he said that burden should be his alone. But I have too many questions and my time alone with Cole… well, it hasn’t been spent talking.
He wasn’t kidding about sneaking in my window. Two out of the last four nights he’s visited me after midnight. Just like he promised, he figures out all kinds of ways to hook up without making noise.
And yes, they usually involve his hand over my mouth, which is hot for more than one reason. I like when he restrains me, when he manhandles me. Especially now that I know what he is. That he’s fifty times as strong as I am and really could do anything he wanted to me. I also love the taboo of screwing in my bedroom with my mom just down the hall. I’ve always been a good girl, so being bad with Cole is the most thrilling thing I’ve done.
“No. It’s like twenty percent human.”
“And none of the other humans know?”
Rayne shakes her head. “It’s forbidden. The old pack law says any human who finds out has to be killed. Obviously that hasn’t been enforced in over a hundred years. At least, not that I’ve heard.”
“Okay, so how long has this pack been here?”
“Since before Arizona became a state, but after it was a territory. Back when this was all the Wild West. The original pack settlers were cowboys and ranchers.”
“Like gun-slinging cowboys?”
“Nah. We don’t need guns. Plus we maintain a low profile.”
“So what happens to a human now, if they find out. Like what would happen to me?”
Rayne’s face clouds with worry. “I don’t know. Sometimes a leech is brought in to wipe a human’s memories of us.”
I cock my head. “A leech?”
“A vampire.”
A violent shudder runs through my body. “Vampires are real, too?”
Rayne nods.
“What else?”
She blinks at me. “Other shifters. Different species.”
“Like what?”
“You name it. Fox, bear, lion, panther. Even some rare ones like owl. And supposedly there used to be dragon shifters, but I guess you only believe that if you believe in dragons.”
“Mind. Blown.”
“Okay, I spilled. Your turn. Are you and Cole…” She raises her eyebrows up and down as a finish to the sentence.
I nod, blushing. “Yeah. I got birth control today.” I show her the packet of pills they gave me to start.
“Was it good?”
I blush some more. “So good. I had no idea how good it could be.”
“Jealous. I mean, not of Cole. Just of having sex.” Rayne blushes, too. “Well, one thing they probably didn’t tell you at the doctor’s office is that shifters don’t carry STDs. So you don’t have to use a condom once you’re on the pill.”
“Well, that’s a relief, I guess.” Although the thought of Cole having sex with girls in the past makes my gut burn with jealousy. I open my mouth to ask who his past girlfriends have been, but think better of it.
It’s hard enough to navigate this new thing between Cole and me. I don’t need to bring his past lovers into the mix, too.
Chapter 15
Cole
Pack meetings fall on the Sunday before the new moon.
Since I turned eighteen in September, they are required for me, which sucks, because I’d much rather be figuring out how to get alone with Bailey again.
My dad’s presence is also required, even though he’s a lemming these days. He managed to stay semi-sober today and the two of us drive over together in my truck.
As soon as I get there, though, shit blows up.
Alpha Green and Sam Drake, Adriana’s dad, are huddled together near the front, and both turn to look at us when we walk in. “There they are,” I hear Mr. Drake say. His face and neck are red with anger.
He marches over to us and Alpha Green follows. Mr. Drake points a finger at my chest. “I’m going to rip your dick off, Cole.”
My dad snarls, his eyes changing. He lunges for Drake.
“Enough!” Alpha Green puts so much alpha command into the word that the entire congress goes still in submission. He lowers his voice. “We’ll take this to a private room.” When Mr. Drake starts to protest, he says, “For the sake of your daughter.”
What the fuck?
My brain is combusting. I was worried about being called out for being with Bailey. What the fuck does Adriana have to do with anything?
The moment we get alone in one of the meeting rooms, Mr. Drake punches me in the jaw. I go down, lights dancing before my eyes. I hear two snarls: one from my dad, and one from the alpha.
I bounce back to my feet, but keep my fists and eyes down to show my surrender.
Alpha Green has Mr. Drake pinned to the wall by his throat. “You will get your temper in check,” he snarls.
“What is this about?” I ask.
“Yeah, what is this about?” my dad repeats.
“As if you don’t know,” Mr. Drake snarls.
“I don’t.” I keep my tone flat and mild.
“Adriana’s pregnant,” he hurls at me.
I blink, still calm. “And?” I’m bordering on being a smart ass here, but seriously, does he think it’s mine?
“And she said you knocked her up.”
“Is that true, son?” my dad scowls at me.
Now I lose my cool. “She said I… No. Fuck no. Definitely not.”
“Watch your language, boy,” Alpha Green snaps.
“Are you denying you had sex with my daughter?”
My neck heats. This is so not the conversation I ever wanted to have with any girl’s dad. “Well, no. But it was one time! Last year!”
Drake lunges at me again, but Alpha Green throws him back against the wall. “That’s bullshit,” he shouts. “She’s been out with you a dozen times this month. She told me you were dating.”
I gape.
“Cole?” My dad’s voice is hard. “You have been out a lot of evenings this month. If you’re lying—”
“I’m not lying,” I say, with exasperation.
“Who were you out with?” Alpha Green asks.
“Give me your phone,” my dad insists, holding out his palm.
Fuck. Why didn’t I delete my texts with Bailey?
I have her listed in there as “Pink” but my dad will totally know who it is. Not only will I be in deep shit with our alpha for having a relationship with a human, my dad will be utterly destroyed. Like lose his shit destroyed.
“Who were you with?” Alpha Green puts alpha command in his voice and my resistance evaporates.
“Bailey Sanchez,” I mutter, unable to resist the alpha pull.
Fuck!
“Denise Sanchez’ daughter?” Alpha Green asks with surprise.
Shame over betraying my dad nearly drowns me, especially with the condemning way the alpha’s looking at me.
“What?” My dad snarls, his eyes lighting up with yellow. “You’re dating that spoiled little brat next door?”
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Relationships with humans are forbidden, for one thing,” Alpha Green says, even though his own son recently married a human.
For another, I’m a shitty son. He doesn’t say that part, but I hear it implied.
“You’re dating a human and Adriana?” Mr. Drake demands.
“No! Not Adriana. I told you. Not since last year.”
The man’s an idiot.
“My daughter’s not a liar.”
Agree to disagree.
“I told you to stay away from that girl.” I can’t decide what’s worse. My dad drunk and furious or semi-sober with this malevolent gleam in his eye. Like he’s going to do something bad, really bad, to Bailey and her mom. Or to me, but I don’t give a shit about that. I just can’t have this turning on Bailey. I can’t let our alpha ask if she knows about us. He’d smell a lie and the results for Bailey if he knew could be disastrous.
“How long have you been dating the human?” Alpha Green asks.
I need to make them all forget about Bailey.
I hold my hands up to Mr. Drake. “Due respect, your daughter lied. That pup is not mine.” To Alpha Green, I say, “I’m not dating Bailey.” I turn to my dad and offer the only explanation I can give to diffuse this situation. The one that hasn’t been true since the first time I touched Bailey. “We’re not dating; I’m evening the scales. Using her.” I affect my most ruthless shrug. “I took her V-card and used her up. And she took it, because I’m alpha and she’s human. She didn’t stand a chance.” I can’t look at the disapproving faces of Alpha Green and Adriana’s dad. I just direct the lies at my dad, whose purple face starts to relax. The yellow leaves his eyes. “When I’m done playing with the human, I’ll leave her on her knees. Her mom ruined you. I’m ruining her.”
A slow smile spreads over my dad’s face. “That’s my boy.” He thumps a heavy hand on my shoulder.
I’m nauseated. I want to puke. But this is the way I save Bailey.
“Is that the way you treated my Adriana?” Mr. Drake tries to lunge at me again.
“For fuck’s sake!” I throw my hands in the air and appeal to our alpha. “Are we done here? Not my pup. I’ll take a blood test to prove it.”
Alpha Green appears disgusted by all of us. “We’re done. Get in the hall for the meeting.” He pushes out of the room and I follow, tight on his heels. I have my blinders on, trying to block out any more shit coming from my dad or Mr. Drake so I don’t register the small figure leaning over the drinking fountain at first.
One of the kids playing outside while the adults meet has come in for a drink.
No.
She lifts her head and shoots me a death glare and my stomach lurches into my ribs.
Rayne.
Fucking Rayne the Runt just heard every lie I spewed about Bailey.
* * *
Bailey
“He’ll leave me on my knees,” I repeat back hollowly. I glance at the screen of my phone, where a new message pops up.
Bailey, don’t listen to Rayne. Let me explain.
It’s the third one from Cole. The first two were just that he had to talk to me. Now they make sense.
Rayne sits on my bed, crying the tears that I can’t quite find.
I’m too shocked. Too emptied. Too shattered.
She wipes her eyes. “I’m sorry. I hate being the messenger, but you have to know.”
I nod mutely.
“And the thing about Adriana?” I don’t know why I even care at this point if he fucked her, but I need to know.
Rayne shrugs. “I don’t know. She’s been acting like they were an item since Homecoming, but I don’t think he was into her. Whoever knocked her up must not be as alpha as Cole, so she’s hoping to rope him into mating her instead.”
I don’t ask what mating means. I can barely think above the noise in my head. Cole said those things about me. To people who matter in his life: his alpha, his parent.
Whether they were true or not, that’s how he represented our relationship to them. That’s the way he talks about me in front of his pack and probably his friends, too.
I flop face down diagonally on my bed. “God, I’m an idiot.” I still can’t seem to cry.
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. Even after we were together I let him pretend to still hate me at school. Not acknowledge me. Not protect me. When the whole school acts like I’m a leper. I must have zero self-respect.” A few hot tears leak out now.
“No. I would’ve taken Cole Muchmore any way he wanted to give himself too. He’s a God at our school. In our pack. He’s the king of the alpha-holes. And something about that brooding bad boy makes you think he might be redeemable.”
“But he’s not.” Bitterness makes the words sizzle against my teeth.
That’s the truth of the matter. Cole Muchmore is not redeemable.
I misjudged him completely.
“Thanks for telling me,” I say heavily. “I just want to be alone now.”
Rayne lays a hand on my back. “I understand. Let me know if you need anything. Ice cream. A baseball bat. Whatever.” She scoots off the bed.
I don’t bother lifting my head.
I thought my accident and Catrina’s death were the worst things that happened to me. And they were; that night definitely ranks worse than this.
But right now it feels like my chest is ripped open wide and everything I cared about is spilling in a puddle around me.
* * *
Cole
I get a fuck you text from Bailey, confirming what I already knew: Rayne told her.
I don’t dare go over to her house after the pack meeting because my dad’s keeping his eye on me. He even stayed sober and heated up a frozen pizza for us all for dinner.
Like we’re bonding now. Like I made him proud.
My stomach roils with what I’ve done.
I keep trying to tell myself I did the right thing to throw Alpha Green off Bailey’s trail, and to appease my dad.
But it’s a lie even I know reeks like shit.
I go up to my room after dinner and try texting again. Please let me explain. Can I come over tonight?
Try my window and I’ll call the cops. I don’t need your explanation. I already know what you’re going to say.
I stare at the screen. Fuck. I’ll have to try to explain by text. Adriana lied and said I got her pregnant. I got alpha commanded into saying I’d been with you, not her. My dad went ballistic and Alpha Green started in about the no human rule, so I made it seem like I was just fucking with you. Bailey, you know that’s not true. We hold each other’s secrets, remember?
Yeah, I know. You threw me under the bus to save your ass. I get it. Humans and wolves don’t mix—especially considering our parents. So we won’t. End of story.
The end of story hits me like the worst punch to the gut. Up until now, I clung to the hope that once I reassured her it wasn’t true, we’d be good. She’d understand, just like she’s been cool about keeping us on the DL.
My fingers shake as I hold my phone and stare at the screen. The panic that has been gnawing in the background since I saw Rayne comes out full force now.
Bailey, I want to mix. I’m sorry, I just don’t know how. I fucked up. It was a shitty way of protecting you, but I swear that’s what I was doing. I didn’t want the alpha asking if you knew about us, and I didn’t want my dad to come after you or your mom.
No answer comes through, which is worse than anything.
Can I please see you in person?
Still nothing.
I’m taking her at her word about calling the cops.
I put my fist through the wall beside my bed.
Fuck!
* * *
Bailey
“Any closer, you’re going to get slapped.” I speak without turning from my locker, sensing Cole’s presence behind me.
“Turn around,” he murmurs. “I’ll take the slap, Pink.”
I whirl and give it to him to so hard I gasp at the sting of my palm. He doesn’t move, just looks at me with mournful eyes.
Everyone in the hall stops moving. Stops breathing, even. All eyes are on us.
“You don’t get to call me Pink,” I tell him through tight lips. “You don’t get to call me anything.” Several lockers down I see Adriana and her cheerleader friends gathered, staring with wide eyes.
Adriana wears a wicked smile. Like it’s her birthday and this scene is her present. Like she won.
Bitch.
I slam my locker shut and turn on my heel.
Cole catches my wrist to pull me back but when he sees the outrage on my face, drops it and holds his palms out in surrender. He looks terrible. His hair is messed up, he has dark circles under his eyes and deep lines between his brows like he’s been worrying.
“Hold up, Bails. I just want to talk.” He speaks in a voice so low I can barely hear it.
I make a show of looking around. “You sure you can talk to me in public? You wouldn’t want anyone here to know you actually care about me, right? Oh wait—you don’t. It was all a game. What was the object again? To bring me to my knees? Newsflash, Muchmore: I’m still walking.”
If Cole still needs to pretend he’s the bully to me, I’ll let him. He can keep his alpha-hole image intact. Far be it for me to prove he actually has a heart in that chiseled chest of his.
He swallows. “You know that wasn’t true. Everything I said was bullshit. I told you that.” His shoulders slump. I can’t deny the misery etched in every line of his face. I won’t let it soften me, though.
I was stupid to look past the alpha-hole persona before. But he won’t get any passes from me again.
I push past the onlookers, willing myself not to let the hot tears filling my eyes spill. Of course at the end of the hall I have to pass Casey and her friends.
Casey semi-blocks my way.
I lift my chin and pass without looking her way. I’m shaking, but I’m not the confused little outsider I was when I first came to Wolf Ridge High. I know their secret now. I know it’s not me, it’s them.
And I know the real truth about Cole; he’s not an asshole. Or at least he’s capable of something else. But maybe that’s his best-kept secret. Maybe I really do hold all his secrets.
In the library, I plop down and pull out my Chromebook, on which I’ve been assembling the newspaper. I have all the features, sports and entertainment articles. What I lack is any real news.