Crystal Lake Pack: The Complete Series: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance

by Candace Wondrak

  The wolf sat on its back haunches, the lower part of its muzzle falling as it breathed in through its mouth, much like a dog. Panting. Its eyes met mine, knowing enough to look me in the face. The expression it wore was almost intelligent, like it understood how freaked out I was and wanted to make me feel better.

  I would not, not even as the wolf cocked its head in the same adorable way dogs did when they encountered something new.

  “Mom,” I spoke slowly, refusing to break eye contact with the wolf in fear it would lunge at me while I wasn’t looking, “why…why is there a wolf and an old man in our kitchen? Why aren’t you freaking out? Why—” My questions were interrupted by the wolf sitting in front of me.

  The animal let out a loud bark, wagging its tail.

  The old man turned my mom. “You really have told her nothing, all these years? She has the right to know, to make her own decision.” He did not address me, and I did not particularly enjoy the cold shoulder, acting like I wasn’t even in the room.

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded, finally looking away from the wolf, meeting Sarah’s eyes.

  Sarah, caught in an intense frown, managed to say, “Addie, this…” She motioned to the sitting old man, her stare deadly. “This is Henry, your…he’s your grandfather.” Unwilling and begrudging, it was clear she didn’t want to say it.

  I felt—well, I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt. Was I supposed to be happy my absentee grandfather miraculously showed up with a pet wolf in tow, wanting to be a part of my life during the worst part of it so far?

  He’d done nothing to try to talk to either of us in the last twenty years, so he could screw off.

  Unless he was loaded, in which case I wouldn’t be opposed to some financial bribery, and then I’d make him screw off.

  The old man—Henry, my grandfather, as if the word meant anything to me—studied me with a pensive look. “It is remarkable. She doesn’t react to him at all.”

  React? How the heck was I supposed to react to a stranger and a dangerous, wild pet? I wondered. Was I supposed to do a happy dance and twirl around, singing ridiculous Disney songs that my life was going to change in the best of ways? Henry was in for a world of hurt, if he thought I’d be happy to see him.

  “That’s because she’s not one of us,” Sarah spoke quickly. Too quickly. Even I knew it meant she was hiding something. But what?

  And what did she mean when she said I wasn’t one of them?

  Suddenly, quickly, it dawned on me, what my mom could’ve meant. Was I adopted?

  “She is. A part of her, at least,” Henry spoke, continuing to act like I wasn’t here, a capable adult more than willing to interject into the conversation. Whatever they were talking about, they were talking about me. I knew enough to know that. “Unawakened, chained inside, but there nonetheless.”

  “Addie, go upstairs,” Sarah said, an order from a parent to a child.

  “Maze, go with her,” Henry ordered, sounding much like Sarah did.

  “Maze will most certainly not be joining my daughter in her bedroom,” Sarah said, a low rumble emanating from her chest. Almost like a growl.

  Okay, things were getting very weird very fast.

  I took a step around the wolf, practically shouting, “Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” My voice trembled a bit, because it wasn’t every day I was faced with both a grandfather I never knew existed and a wolf who would not leave me alone. He trailed after me, watching me as I walked further into the kitchen, never leaving my side.

  “Language, missy,” Sarah barked.

  I was nineteen, and still I couldn’t swear in front of her. I was about to roll my eyes, but I saw that, beside me, the wolf’s chest shook.

  Was it laughing at me?

  No, a wolf didn’t understand that much human speech, even if he’d been raised by a human.

  “Maze is stuck,” Henry said, tapping his fingers on the kitchen table. “I only want him to go with her to make sure the girl doesn’t run. With you, I figure you’ve planned for this, and after looking for you both for so long, I’d rather not take any chances.”

  Henry knew Sarah well; she was a hardcore planner. But this? She definitely didn’t plan for this, because I was as freaked out as I could possibly be. The darned wolf had nearly given me a heart attack.

  “He is loyal to the pack,” Henry added. “He will never hurt her. Addie is much too precious for that.”

  “Fine,” I muttered, too weirded out, “I’ll go to my room, before this—whatever this is—gets any stranger. When I come down, things better start making sense or…or…” I trailed off, remembering how I got into this mess to begin with. I shouldn’t even be home right now; I should be off at college.

  This was all happening because of a freaking floating book and a dumb C-minus.

  Chapter Four – Addie

  I practically leaped up the stairs, my heart pounding heavily in my chest. That man was my grandfather? Seemed like an asshole, but somehow it didn’t surprise me. Sarah had disowned everyone from her side of the family for a reason. And my father’s, well. I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to be near them after his death.

  In all my life, recent actions included, I had never seen my mom act so uncontrolled. Sarah was always the calm one, always the one who talked things out, but down there with Henry, she had acted nothing short of wild. Like an animal herself.

  And the way they talked about the wolf, Maze, like he was a person…

  It was just ridiculous, so ridiculous I couldn’t even explain it.

  I turned into my bedroom, about two seconds from closing the door when I heard a yelp. I quickly yanked the door open, finding the wolf had followed me; I’d closed the corner of the door on one of its front paws.

  Sarah didn’t want the wolf to follow me, but what more could I do, short of throwing the animal outside? The neighbors were far enough away, they wouldn’t see a wolf lounging on our porch, but it was a wolf. Not a dog. To try and make it do anything it didn’t want to do was stupid. The wolf clearly listened to Henry well. It might snap at anyone else who tried to make it leave.

  The look of hurt on the wolf’s face caused me to apologize to it, in spite of the fact it was just an animal, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” As I looked down at the wolf, I realized I still only wore one shoe; the other was downstairs in the kitchen with a few new holes from its teeth.

  Sighing, I moved to the bed, sitting on its edge as I yanked off the other shoe and tossed it across the room. I watched as the wolf trotted inside, limping only slightly. It wandered around my room, flicking its golden-brown eyes everywhere. At the boy band posters, at my dresser, where my mirror sat, all covered in stickers and pictures of the friends who’d grown apart from me.

  “Interesting, isn’t it?” I asked, knowing that, really, I talked to myself. “All this useless junk.” I reached for my nightstand, where a picture frame sat. Bringing it to my lap, I gazed down at the smiling faces in the photo.

  Me, Kate, and Mary. Three girls who each looked different but had a million and a half things in common. We all liked spicy foods, hated rom-coms, and sang along to every Disney movie we watched.

  And now…now our friendship meant pretty much nothing, beyond the occasional like or share on social media.

  But maybe that was me being dramatic.

  I was about to commiserate with the wolf when I happened to glance up and find the animal with its snout nose-deep in one of my suitcases, where my clothes were. The stuff I didn’t unpack yet, because I was hoping I was caught in a nightmare.

  More specifically, the wolf had gotten itself into the suitcase where my bras and underwear were.

  “Get out of there,” I said, embarrassed as I dropped the frame onto the bed. I moved to the wolf’s side, more hesitant when I got closer. “That stuff,” I told it as it lifted its head and stared at me, “is none of your business. You shouldn’t be seeing my underwear.” Not that it mattered, bec
ause Maze was an animal and nothing more, but still.

  Its eyes were far too intelligent, almost like it knew it made a no-no.

  It moved its head, headbutting me on my hip, nearly knocking me over, wagging its tail. I moved away from it, narrowing my stare. I wasn’t sure what the heck was wrong with the wolf, but it did not act like any wolf or dog I’d seen before.

  God. Not like I spent my downtime meeting packs of wild dogs, but, well. I was speechless.

  “No,” I said, trying to move away from it. “I’m not playing with—”

  Before I had the chance to finish the sentence and say the final word, you, the wolf knocked its side into my knees, causing me to trip. I tumbled to the floor, momentarily frightened the wolf was going to rip my throat out and eat me, but before I had the chance to shout, to reach for something, I froze at what I saw.

  The wolf was nowhere in sight.

  Instead, crawling above me was a very naked—and also very attractive, though that was not the point—boy. Beneath his blonde locks and brown eyes, he had an easy, dimpled smile. His arms encircled my head, and I blinked up at him, wondering when I’d fallen unconscious.

  Because this was a dream, right? It had to be. This could not be happening.

  The boy was about my age, maybe a year or two older. His skin was pimple and scar free, angular and sculpted in all the ways that made my skin grow hot. Plus, as if I could forget, he was naked. Naked and muscular and…

  I shouldn’t look down. Nope. I would not.

  “Sorry,” he said, still smiling. “Didn’t mean to bump into you. I just got excited because I felt the spell wearing off.” He explained it to me like it made all the sense in the world, as if he always was a wolf-boy. “You’re…you’re even prettier than I imagined you’d be.”

  I felt myself growing even hotter, which was ridiculous, because not only was I going insane, but I was ninety-nine percent sure I was wide awake, totally aware of my descent into madness.

  This was not happening. Not. Happening.

  As the boy continued to smile down at me, I reached around me, grabbed my shoe, and whammed it on the side of his head, smacking him as hard as I could, given the insane situation. He recoiled enough, though he also laughed at me as I did it, that I was able to crawl out from underneath him and run down the stairs, still gripping my lone tennis shoe.

  “Mom!” I shouted. “Who are these people? The wolf just…” My legs stumbled to a halt when I reached the kitchen, and I instantly dropped my shoe. My mom’s clothes laid on the floor, and a large, agile wolf stood above them, growling at the man at the table, at Henry.

  “What—” I said, taking a step back, right into the arms of the naked boy, who’d followed me down. With my back on his bare chest, he wrapped an arm around me, stopping me from struggling, from moving completely.

  Not like I had anywhere to go at this point.

  Henry was in the middle of a great laugh. “Ah, Maze. I see the trap wore off. Making the moves already, pup?”

  Behind me, Maze spoke quietly, “She’s upset. Now’s not the time.”

  “You’re right,” Henry agreed. “As soon as Sarah quits her posturing, we can get on with this.”

  Sarah? I could not move my gaze off the yellow-haired wolf standing atop my mom’s clothes. The wolf had green, sparkling eyes. Hazel, just like Sarah’s. What the heck was going on here? The wolf wasn’t Sarah, was it?

  What crazy, alternate reality did I step into when I wasn’t looking?

  “What…” I said again, and once more, I found I could not say another word after it. What was there to say? Any explanation of what the heck was going on could not possibly explain the fact the wolf in my room had turned into a cute naked boy and how it sure looked like my mom was currently on four paws.

  And then, of course, I realized I was being held against said naked boy, and through my clothes, I could feel way too much of him. His muscles, his heat…his, uh, lower appendage…

  “Let me go,” I said, starting to struggle. The arm Maze held around me loosened immediately, and I whirled from his grasp, sending him a glare. A hard thing to do, considering he was both attractive and naked. “You…” My eyes darted away, but it was too late. I’d seen it all.

  Every last inch of him, in all his naked glory.

  “Please put on some clothes,” I finally muttered, and it was completely obvious I’d gotten an eyeful too much.

  “I would,” Maze said, not acting at all how a naked boy should while in front of an old man and the wolf who may or may not have been Sarah. I was still unsure about that last part. “But thanks to your mom’s trap, I kind of shifted inside my clothes and tore them up.”

  “Shifted?” I repeated, confused. Was that what he called it when he turned from a wolf to a boy? Although, he certainly was no boy with how he looked…

  Oh, God. Look at me, joining the train of crazy that was currently in my kitchen.

  “Mom,” I called out. “Where are you? Please tell me you’re not the…” I didn’t have the chance to finish, because as I spoke, the wolf standing above my mom’s clothes morphed—er, shifted—into Sarah.

  Who was also very much naked.

  “Oh, my God,” I quickly turned around, squeezing my eyes shut. “I’m going to throw up.” When I cracked open my gaze, I heard Sarah hurrying to put on her clothes.

  Maze stared at me like I was the nutzoid. “Why?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious, so curious it baffled me completely. “Even without a pack, your mom’s in top form.”

  I wanted to barf even more. Was he complimenting Sarah’s naked human body or her wolf’s? Either one was…just…no.

  Henry got to his feet. “I believe I have extra clothes in the car. Maze, wait here. I’m sure Sarah wants to explain everything to Addie.” He walked through the kitchen, heading to the front door as if he’d lived here for years, at home in their house, even though he was a stranger.

  A stranger who was my grandfather. A stranger who brought a wolf-boy with him.

  And my mom…Sarah was a wolf-woman?

  Sarah flicked her gaze between Maze and me. Unlike me, she seemed to have no qualms about the nakedness of the boy. Unlike mine, her gaze did not droop to glance at the dick hanging between his legs.

  “Sit,” Sarah said. “Both of you.” As we both went to sit—me in the nearest chair and Maze beside me, much to my chagrin—she ran shaking hands through her wild hair. Its lengths had come down, cascading over her shoulder. “I was always afraid of this happening.”

  “What is this?” I asked, my hands resting on my lap. My skin was clammy, sweaty. Probably because of the wolf stuff, not to mention the naked Maze less than a foot from me. I would not let my gaze lower past his chest. Not again. “Were you really just…a wolf?”

  “I’m a shifter, honey,” Sarah spoke cautiously as she slid on her sandals. “A wolf, just like Maze and Henry.”

  “That guy really is my grandfather?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

  I wanted to laugh outright and ask what had slipped into my mom’s food this morning, but after everything, after seeing it for myself—and the darn magical floating book back at my college—things made more sense than they should. I should try to refute the claim, be logical, but I couldn’t.

  A shifter.

  The word just felt right.

  Although it was ridiculous and insane, I found myself asking, “Am I a shifter too?” As I spoke it, I knew it was something that probably would’ve come up before. Turning into a wolf wasn’t something that could be hidden. I’d spent the first nineteen years of my life fully human, and if given the choice, I wanted it to stay that way.

  I was very partial to two legs and opposable thumbs.

  “I’d hoped you’d taken after your father,” Sarah said, moving to sit across from us at the table. She rested her hands on the wood, one palm atop the other. Considering everything, she was calm, cool, and collected. The opposite of what I felt inside. “But
you might’ve inherited it from me.”

  Beside me, Maze said, “I think you did. My wolf can feel yours.”

  I turned to glare at him. Was that some kind of euphemism for his dick? So inappropriate, especially since Sarah was three feet away.

  “But I can’t turn,” I said, like that was that. If I could end this stupid conversation right now, I gladly would. Being on the crazy train was not as fun as it was cracked up to be. If life could go back to the way it was, that’d be great.

  Maze leaned closer, his dark eyes sparkling, reminding me of his wolf shape. No wonder the wolf had looked at me so intelligently, acted like it could understand me. It could, because it was a freaking guy.

  A guy who, I realized, had been sniffing around my panties.

  Okay, now I definitely didn’t like him.

  “If you could turn, would you?” Maze questioned, an urgency hidden in his voice. A voice that, in spite of myself, I sort of liked.

  “I don’t…” I was going to say I didn’t know, but it was my gut reaction. After thinking about it, I said, “No.” No, I wouldn’t want to turn. No, I didn’t want to be a shifter or whatever they were called. No, no, no. I just wanted life to go back to normal.

  Sarah smiled at my response. “That a girl. See?” She smirked at Maze. “Not one of you. Now go to the car and leave with Henry—”

  As if on cue, Henry strolled in, carrying a bundle of clothes. Jeans, from the look of it, and a plain t-shirt, which he tossed to Maze, who deftly caught it. His reaction time was good, I gave him that, even when he was…well, even when he was a frigging wolf.

  “We won’t be leaving, unless it is with you and Addie,” Henry said. “The pack needs you, both of you. You will run from us no more, pup.”

  I blinked. Did he just call Sarah a pup? She was a thirty-six-year-old woman, not a pup. Not a dog. She was my mom, and I grew annoyed at the balls this old man had, regardless of whether he was my grandfather or not. “You will not talk to my mom like that,” I said. “Not in this house, where you are a guest.”

  Henry forced a smile, though it was clear he did not want to. “I see you’ve gotten your mother’s spirit. How fortunate for us.” The way he said it made me think he meant the exact opposite, that he hoped I would be compliant and willing to go off with him in the wilderness to join their pack or whatever.