Shifted Scars: A Wolves of Forest Grove Novel

by Lawson, Elena

  Clay bristled but didn’t contradict Jared, and the tension in the room grew.

  I held my hands up. “I don’t know what to think right now, Jare. I’m just saying I think we need to keep Sam in our back pocket. Go ahead as planned and keep her thinking she’s safe.”

  “Fuck,” Jared muttered, shaking his head at nothing in particular as he toed the carpet. “So, who do we bring in, then? Another two or three would even our odds.”

  “Seth,” Clay said straight off. “Maybe Charity. I trust them both more than anyone else here.”

  I agreed with him. Vivian would’ve been another obvious choice had it not been her mate that was taken. She couldn’t know about Sam or she’d kill her. But I was tempted to let her unleash her fury on those responsible for what happened to her mate. It’s what I would want if it were either of mine. Maybe…

  “Maybe no one really has to know anything just yet,” I mused aloud. “Maybe we get a small team together. Seth, Viv, and Charity—”

  “Allie,” Clay interrupted, giving me a look.

  “Hear me out,” I urged him. “We tell them we have a lead on where and when the people responsible for this shit will strike, but we don’t tell them how we know. We don’t tell them about Sam. We swear them to secrecy.”

  Jared sighed heavily, and it looked like he’d aged five years in the last few days. I was sure Clay and I didn’t look much better. “I don’t know about this, Allie.”

  “It’s too risky otherwise,” I pressed.

  “There’s risk involved either way,” Clay grumbled to himself, lifting his head with a decision set in his eyes. “But Allie’s right. I’d rather the kind of risk that might see Sam killed than the kind that might hurt any of us.”

  Jared had nothing to say to that, working his jaw as he mulled over the less than perfect options on either side.

  “Okay, but just Viv, Seth, and Charity. And we bring them to Grove’s End with us and tell them there. Then there’s no way of anyone overhearing.”

  “And Layla,” I amended with a wince. “Someone here needs to know where we’re going and what we’re doing just in case...just in case we don’t come back.”

  Jared’s face darkened at that, but grudgingly, he nodded.

  “And I want to tell Layla about Sam.”

  Clay’s eyes bugged out at me. “You’re kidding, right?”

  I shook my head. “No. Layla is one of the most level-headed people I know. She will know better than to tell Vivian, and once I tell her why it needs to remain a secret, she’ll understand why she can’t tell anyone, and she won’t. I trust her. And we need someone here who knows the whole truth just in case we—”

  “Stop saying that,” Clay demanded, his voice growing in volume and agitation. “We’re coming back, Allie. With all the information we need to take whoever is doing this to us out. End of story.”

  I wouldn’t upset him more by pushing the point, but I needed them to agree to this. I promised no more secrets, and so my intent to tell Layla everything had to be shared even if my first instinct had been to do it without saying a word to them about it so they couldn’t stop me.

  “We need to do this. We need someone here who knows the truth while we’re gone. What if Sam tries something, hmm? What if she cries wolf and the pack goes running into a trap because I’m not there to give them orders otherwise?”

  Jared pursed his lips. “That’s a good point,” he acquiesced. “Maybe...maybe you should stay behind. Then we don’t have to tell Layla anything and camp will have more protection.”

  “Ha!” I scoffed. “You won’t be rid of me that easily. There’s no way in hell I’m letting the two of you go running into an ambush without me at your sides. Period.”

  “I don’t know, Allie,” Clay started, his shoulders tensing. “Maybe Jared’s right—”

  “Period,” I repeated, enunciating every syllable of the word.

  They both quieted at that, and I realized my wolf was dangerously close to the surface, battering at my defenses for a good long run. I hadn’t joined the search parties for a day or two and with everything going on, going for my daily run didn’t really seem like a priority. And now, my wolf was the one paying the price.

  She was chomping at the bit for some freedom.

  “I’m going to go for a run,” I said, changing the subject. “Can you guys handle wrangling Seth, Char, and Viv? I’ll meet you all at Grove’s End later”

  “You aren’t going anywhere alone,” Clay all but hissed, eyes slanting in a way that dared me to disagree with him.

  “I’ll go with her,” Jared offered. “Think you can handle getting everyone together, brother?”

  Clay nodded. “Yeah. I got it.”

  “What about Layla?” Jared asked. “When are you going to tell her?”

  I tried not to think too hard about it before replying in a heavy breath, “Now, I guess. Before my run. No point in waiting.”

  I’d like to say that Layla was shocked at my admission about Sam, but the truth was that she didn’t seem surprised at all. She even told me in confidence that she’d heard several others whispering that they thought she might be the one to blame for everything that was happening.

  I guessed Sam might’ve already hung herself before we even had the chance to untie her noose. Oh well, she’d dug her own grave. I just hoped we could get what we needed from her before the rest of the pack swapped out false niceties for their claws and fangs.

  Just like I’d thought, though, Layla completely understood the reason for the secrecy and easily promised not to tell anyone anything. Especially Vivian. At least for now. I’d promised her the truth would be coming out soon whether we wanted it to or not, and I’d take the full force of Vivian’s rage and all of the blame for keeping it from her when the time came.

  Our friendship had weathered many storms since third grade. We could get through this, too. Or, at least, I hoped we would because I couldn’t imagine my life without my two best friends.

  “So you’re going to the pub now?” Layla asked as she walked alongside me down the stairs and to the door. Jared nodded to us from where he stood near the front window, making sure no one drew too near to the cabin while we had our little talk upstairs.

  “Going for a run first, then we’ll head over.”

  She gave my arm a squeeze and tugged me in for a hug that enveloped me in her jasmine scent. I didn’t know what it was about hugging your bestie when your life was falling apart all around you, but the instant her arms closed around me, a ball formed in my throat. My eyes burned, and I had to work extra hard not to let myself cry.

  I was afraid if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

  “Be careful,” she said as she pulled away. “I’ll take care of things here.”

  “I know you will.”

  “Ready?” Jared asked from the doorway and the way half his face was cast in moonlight and the other in the dim shadows of the room made him appear to be two people instead of one. The Jared I fell in love with four years ago, and the one I loved now.

  I wished he’d never had to go through what he did to create that second shadow self, but without it, he wouldn’t be who he was now, and I wouldn’t change a thing about him. Darkness and all.

  My lips tipped up into a grin, and the knot between my mate’s brows softened. “Yeah,” I said. “I am.”

  18

  Jared and I crashed through the door to Grove’s End sopping wet, our bare feet sliding on the polished hardwood in the entryway. He caught my elbow to steady me as the door closed behind us, muting the rushing sound of the downpour outside.

  “You made it,” Charity called from the bar, a frosty pint in her hand and a grin on her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. “Clay was about to go looking for you.”

  Clay shoved through the swinging doors to the kitchen at the back of the narrow pub with a scowl on his lips. He stalked toward us, scrutinizing gaze passing over first me and then Jared, checking for injury. “Where
the fuck have you been?”

  A flush warmed my rain-chilled cheeks, and I cleared my throat as I looked away, afraid what Jared and I had been up to in the rain beneath the moon would be written all over my face.

  “Sorry, man,” Jared said, not bothering with any real explanation. “Just lost track of time.”

  Clay’s scowl only intensified, but he seemed to be willing to let it go for now, we had bigger problems on our plates. I peered around Clay’s hulking form to find Viv sitting two stools down from Charity at the bar, looking into the bottom of an empty shot glass like it might hold all the answers.

  “So, what’s this about exactly?” Seth called from the other side of the bar, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Who let him back there?” I demanded, though without any mirth.

  He shot me a look in reply that told me he knew he was the absolute last person who should be bartending. We’d all be on our asses within the hour if his heavy hands were mixing drinks.

  Seth poured another measure of whiskey, the top shelf shit, into Vivian’s shot glass. She nodded mutely before draining it dry.

  Better get to it before everyone’s too drunk to hear me.

  Even though I was already acutely aware that there wasn’t a single customer in the pub, I did my due diligence checking anyway. I stepped around Clay to peer into the five booths lining the right side of the pub and stood on my tiptoes to see into the kitchen.

  There was still another twenty minutes until we’d officially close for the night, but it seemed the rain had kept all the townsfolk away. Good.

  “I already sent the others home,” Clay told me, and I spun to find him crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s just us here.”

  “‘Kay,” I said, nodding to Jared who was still hovering in the doorway, shaking the rain from his hair and trying to wring the water from the hem of his gray t-shirt. Our clothes had been dry for all of five seconds after we put them on. I was grateful I’d had a dress in the clothing stash near town. Nothing more uncomfortable than heavy ass wet jeans.

  “Lock it,” I told him. “And flip the sign.”

  Jared did as I asked him, and I heard Seth whisper something behind me that sounded like, this should be interesting.

  I pushed my wet hair back from my face and made my way to the bar, lifting the section of counter to get behind it and kick Seth out.

  “Awe, come on,” he complained. “Let me get you a drink, boss.”

  “I’ll get it myself,” I muttered, shoving him out to the other side to take the seat between Charity and Vivian. Clay and Jared found seats at the bar, too, filling what remained of the vacant ones.

  “Beer?” I asked, and both of them shook their heads no.

  “Well, I’m having one.” I sighed and poured myself a pint of the good shit from the local brewery and took a long swig.

  “You found something out, didn’t you?” Charity asked, her turquoise eyes boring into me.

  Vivian perked up at her words, hazed eyes clearing with the promise of hope.

  “Yes and no,” I admitted, earning myself a glare from Clay and Jared. “We have intel about where and when the next attack will be.”

  Vivian’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened to speak, but I silenced her with a raised hand.

  “I can’t give much information right now. I’m sorry. But this is a chance to find out who is behind our missing brothers and sister. This is a chance for retribution, but I need to know that you’ll help us, and that everything we’re planning stays between us.”

  The three of them shared a look before each nodded in turn.

  Vivian was the first to speak. “Okay,” she said tensely, shoving away her shot glass. “I don’t care about the details anyway, I just want her back.” Her eyes went glassy with angry tears as her face hardened, upper lip curling back to reveal low-growing fangs. “I want fucking blood.”

  “And you’ll have it,” I promised her. “But our first priority is to find out who is orchestrating these attacks and where they are.”

  “You know I’m in,” Charity said, licking her lips as though she could already taste the blood of her enemies there.

  Seth nodded quietly to himself, all traces of his jokester persona sloughed off for a moment of brutal reality. “It’s my fault she was taken,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to set that right.”

  “It’s not—”

  “Thank you,” he interrupted. “For letting me try to make it right.”

  I sealed my lips shut and nodded back instead of berating him. If it were me, I know I’d feel just as guilty, no matter if the reasoning behind that emotion was sound or not.

  “All right,” I decided, glancing at Clay and Jared for confirmation. They each gave the all clear to continue, and I settled myself with a breath before leaning over the bar. “It’ll happen tomorrow night, just before the sun sets.”

  “Not going to lie,” Seth whispered. “I feel like a total badass. This is some fall of Troy shit.”

  “Yeah and I feel like a damned pin-cushion,” I lobbied back, squirming to get his elbow out of my ribs.

  “Quiet back there,” Jared hissed from the front seat. “We’re almost to the location.”

  The Jeep veered off the main highway, and the tires slowed as we came onto the road that would eventually lead into Forest Grove. In about three minutes, we’d take a turn onto a side road. The side road Sam thought we were taking to drive a ‘meat order’ as close to pack camp as we could.

  If our assumption was correct, they’d want to attack us outside of our territory, which left only a small stretch of side road where that could be possible.

  My heartbeat pounded in my chest, sending the sound of blood rushing in my ears.

  Someone’s stomach growled noisily, and I heard Charity groan to herself. “Did we really have to cover ourselves in the smell of raw meat? I’m fucking starving. It’s making me want to gnaw off my own arm.”

  I suppressed a laugh and gave her a soft kick in the thigh. We’d all had prime rib for dinner from our hidden stash at Grove’s End, but much like my stomach, Charity’s was bottomless and never really got ‘full.’

  “Shut up, Char,” Clay growled, and I could feel his tension and frustration like a fucking spike in my chest. He had it the worst of any of us. Folded into the narrow space on the floor between the front seats and backseats. Meanwhile, Charity, Vivian, Seth and I shared the roomy trunk area.

  Well, it had seemed roomy anyway, until we had to fit four shifters into it.

  Our bodies were little more than a mass of tangled limbs. I was actually starting to worry we wouldn’t be able to spring out of this bitch as easily as I’d originally planned. At least Clay had managed to repair the latch at the back so we could actually open it after it was damaged in the last attack.

  Once they’d managed to flip it back upright, that seemed to be the only thing that was truly busted aside from the windshield. The white Jeep was almost good as new now, though she’d need a paint job to buff out all the scratches and scuff.

  “This is it,” Jared said in a low whisper. “Get ready.”

  A fire burned in my blood, the lit match striking the gasoline in my veins. Fuck.

  Viv let out a short whine as a popping sound filled the trunk area. She was working hard to keep herself from shifting, but her wolf was winning out.

  “Not yet,” I hissed, searching for her hand around Charity’s back. I found it and squeezed her clammy palm tight. “Wait for it.”

  She squeezed back, nearly breaking bone, but I didn’t care. We needed to keep hidden until they attacked. If we were found out, they could flee. I’d still fucking catch at least one of them, but call me greedy, I wanted them all.

  Please work, I sent a silent plea to the heavens. To the stars who might hear me as they became visible in the rapidly darkening pink and orange sky. Please. Don’t let anyone be hurt.

  I closed my eyes, listening carefully over the sound of the tires slowly chewi
ng pavement, surprised when I heard a car approaching from the opposite direction and passing us by. It was rare to see another vehicle on this road, there being no housing in the area for miles. It was why I’d chosen it for a decoy. Less chance of human collateral in the fight.

  Once I couldn’t hear the other car anymore, my hackles rose and my wolf awakened with a growl that shook behind my ribcage. She could sense them.

  “They’re here,” I mouthed to Charity, and she nodded that she understood, setting her jaw.

  Seth went still where he was crouched next to me, and I knew that he sensed them too, now.

  Why weren’t they attacking?

  Vivian’s bruising grip on my hand turned crushing, and I bit down on my tongue to stifle a cry of pain, needing her to keep herself under control more than I needed her to let go.

  Come on you fuckers, I thought. Take the bait.

  Take it!

  Scraping paws over dirt. A growl.

  Yes.

  A force as strong as a fucking wrecking ball barreled into the side of the Jeep, denting in the metal. Drilling into Seth’s side as the Jeep spun out of control.

  I said nothing as I released the latch, stomach in my throat as we swerved off the road and came to a shattering stop against a tree. The windows rained broken glass over us a second before the latch clicked free and we sprang out.

  I smashed into Seth as I shifted, letting my inner wolf free in the cramped tree-clogged space at the rear of the Jeep. He skidded to the side, dazed as a startled foreign wolf bared his teeth, coming for him with bloodlust in his eyes.

  Shit. I moved to intervene, but Clay was faster, his massive dark wolf checking the attacker and sending him sailing into the white skin of a birch tree, staining it red.

  You good? I sent to Seth through the pack bond, not pausing to check for myself as I got into position in front of him, covering his flank from any other attack.

  Good, he replied, and I charged left of him, moving around the other side of the Jeep where the feral snarls and cries of shifters in battle bombarded my ears. The scent of fresh blood wetting my jowls.