It was a pointless hope, because the pack had nothing at their disposal to help with the barrier. They didn’t know it existed before I said something.
“You don’t even know what you are, do you?” the man asked, tilting his head, his dark eyes narrowing at me.
“I’m part shifter,” I said. Was that the reason he thought I could help him? I wasn’t a full shifter? “But I’m not turned. Whatever you think you’ll get from me, you’ll—”
He let out a laugh. The laughter settled deep within me the moment it entered my ears, making my body tremble. Diabolical, maniacal, wholly insane. Not a good sound. “Girl, you are so ignorant, aren’t you? You think you are only part shifter. If that was true, the barrier would’ve set you alight, like it had your friend. Actually, the only reason they were even able to stumble upon the barrier was because of you.”
“Me?” I echoed again, my voice faint. I was not sure what he meant, and honestly at this point, I didn’t know if I wanted to know. What more could there possibly be?
“Yes, without your presence, those wolves never would’ve come across the barrier. They would’ve gone around it, thinking they went straight. It’s an effective tool, one every witch and warlock should be capable of.”
“Witch?” I shook my head. “Warlock?” What the heck was this, Harry Potter?
The man nodded. “Only another witch or warlock could’ve detected the barrier. You, girl, have been lied to more than you know. You might be half shifter, but the other half is far from human.”
My mouth opened, and I wanted to retort, to say he was wrong, but no words came out. Could I not speak because I knew he was right? Could I not argue with him because, deep down, somehow I knew I wasn’t human at all? My mom had kept my shifter side from me, my shifter family, the pack I would’ve belonged to…what else did she keep from me?
“My father,” I whispered, finally able to take charge of my voice. The mere possibility my father wasn’t human felt even weirder than it had to find out I was a wolf shifter, but at the same time, it felt right—and it would explain so much.
Why did Sarah keep all of this from me?
“Oh, yes,” the man said, speaking more eagerly than before. “Your father—not human. And a big enemy of my master. You will help me unlock the secrets of the beast, and then I will bring you to him. He’ll reward me greatly for you.”
“Why does me being part shifter and part…witch help you? What do you want?” If I was going to die, the least the crazy man could do was give me answers. I deserved them.
The man looked thoughtful, or as thoughtful as he could be, considering he was batshit crazy. “I can connect with you through other means than blood. Perhaps what my master wants is not in the blood, the genes, but in the mind itself.”
“And your master—” I hated saying the word, just like I was not a fan of the word mate. As I spoke, my eyes studied the cage I was in. If magic had a hand in the lock, I would not be able to break it. I was now as stuck as Landon was, in the hands of a crazy man. “—what does he want?”
“My master wants something new. The strengths of all and the weaknesses of none. You are the first step, I think.”
The strengths of all and the weaknesses of none. It sounded to me like his master wanted to create a new race. A hybrid? No, because that’s what I was, apparently. Two things, put together. His master wanted something new.
“Why?” I whispered, afraid of the answer.
“To defeat death itself,” he said.
Right. To defeat death itself. To go against every single law of nature, especially the biggest one. Numero uno. Death was the only sure thing in this life. To take it away, to try to go around it was insane.
Then again, until a few days ago, I thought magic was insane. I thought shifters were a thing in books and movies. Not real life.
“Any other questions for me before we get this show on the road?” The man tilted his head, and though it was hard to see, I could’ve sworn he rose a single eyebrow. “Any other questions burning in that pretty mind of yours?”
I did my best to look tough. I was not going to let this dick intimidate me, even if he did have the upper hand. Really, I had no hand at all. I was handless, not even playing the game. “Who are you?”
“For now, you can call me Clay.”
Clay? The big, scary man who’d killed dozens of wolves in some bizarre attempt to unlock the secrets of the beast, the man who’d kept Landon locked up and tortured, the man who built this macabre cabin and kept its walls and floor freshly coated in blood, was named Clay?
A laugh bubbled in my throat, and I was too stunned to stop it, even though it probably would’ve been a smart thing to quiet myself.
I laughed and laughed.
Chapter Nineteen – Addie
Clay did not appreciate my laughter, clearly, for his expression darkened, matching the black paint on his face. His lips, which were painted as well, turned down into a frown, and his eyes narrowed. “I would enjoy that laugh if I were you, because once we begin, you will never laugh again.”
“You know,” I said, “I would take you a lot more seriously if I knew your name wasn’t Clay. What are you, a surfer? One of those guys in the movies who say nothing but bro and dude? Clay. Your name really is Clay. It’s not a joke?”
“Yes, my name is Clay. It means—I don’t have to explain my name to you.” Clay stood, swinging his legs off the chair as he turned to the table behind him. The sounds of moving metal bounced through the air, various instruments clinking and clanking against each other. He picked up a bloodied sword.
Okay, maybe making fun of his name was not the best thing for me to have done, but at this point, I didn’t have many other options. Landon was still knocked out in his cage, and the scarred wolf Clay had at his disposal was motionless, his green gaze watching Clay and I at equal measure, his ears still hanging down in obedience.
“If you give me any more hassle, girl,” Clay paused as he moved to Landon’s cage. The sword he held was nearly as long as his arm, and he stuck the tip through the bars, resting it above Landon’s head. “I will kill him. You should know I don’t need a weapon to end the wolf, but I find sometimes it’s more effective.” His hand released the grip of the blade, and he stepped back from the cage. The sword hovered in the air, floating without help.
Freaking magic. The sword was a constant reminder I was not the only one here, my life not the only one at stake. Although, I knew, at this rate Clay would not let either of us go, even if he got what he wanted. All of the crosses outside, the shifters who had met their end in a cage like Landon’s…Clay was not a man who let things go.
The smile Clay wore now was sardonic and disdainful. “Do you understand?”
Did I understand the threat against Landon? I gave the crazy man a nod. What else could I do? He had me, and there was no way out.
“What is your name, girl?”
I closed my eyes, wanting this nightmare to end. But this wasn’t a nightmare, this was reality—worse than my nightmare because every part of this was real. The monster who’d been preying on the pack for the past few years stood before me, believing I was the key to whatever he was looking for.
The key to the beast.
“Addie,” I said softly.
“Addie,” Clay repeated, his voice soothing, lulling me involuntarily into a false sense of security. There would be no true security here, not in this cabin of horrors. “Close your eyes and let me in, Addie. Just like before. Let me into your mind.”
His words echoed in my brain, and though I did not want to, I found myself sitting in my cage, my eyes closing almost immediately, like I could not control my own body. Clay had access to me in a way I could not deny. Was it because we were alike? Because we were the same, in a way? He was a witch, or a warlock, or whatever, and I was the same?
I did not like being at his command, but I was not strong enough to fight him.
The world around me faded away, until
I was surrounded by blackness, a darkness so strong it felt cold and unsettling. Still, oddly enough it also felt like home, as if I belonged here. This blackness was my beginning and it would be my end.
“I want you to show me everything,” Clay’s voice entered my mind, though I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything. “Who are you, Adeline Smithson?” He somehow knew my full name, possibly because of our connection.
It was like a movie started to play, a movie of my memories and my past. Everything that made me me, put together in a collage for him to see. Growing up with my mom, Sarah. All the laughter, the holidays and the birthdays. The fortune-telling, my feelings toward all the hocus-pocus. My studious nature, overachieving in every way when it came to school.
The blackness took over once more, and Clay spoke straight into my mind, “Why are you here now, Addie? What brings you to Crystal Lake now, so many years after your wolf should have been awakened?”
Images of me at the pond flashed in my mind’s eye. Running free and wild. The howl I’d heard which changed everything. Henry in the house, sitting in the kitchen. Maze turning from a wolf to a man, hitting him with my shoe. Me declaring I would go to Crystal Lake, but ultimately the decision to stay or not would be up to me.
God. It felt like such a long time ago, months and months ago. Even years. Like a whole different life.
“And your dear old daddy. Let’s take a peek there.”
I didn’t have much for the prompt. My mom had told me he had died before I was born, and I never questioned it. Never asked about him because I didn’t want to hurt Sarah. To dredge up old memories never seemed like a good idea. I never was the kind of child who spent hours wondering about my dead father, never lost sleep over it. I’d been happy with my mom, happy with my life. I didn’t need any more.
Would I have taken more, if it was offered to me?
I didn’t know. I couldn’t say. It just wasn’t my life, and I was fine with it. I didn’t need a father in my life. Yes, it would’ve been nice to know before now I wasn’t human, but all in all, I’d been a happy kid with a happy childhood, a mother who was like a best friend. Better than my so-called friends who’d abandoned me after going out of state to college.
“And your wolf,” Clay spoke, “I can only imagine she isn’t doing so well after being locked up for so long. Let’s visit her, you and I. Take me to her, Addie. Take me deeper.” His words pounded in my brain, threatening to break out of my skull. I couldn’t feel my body, but I knew he had complete control. I could not deny him if I tried to.
The world around me changed, a forest sprouting from nothing, a ground appearing out of thin air, full of dried-up leaves and broken branches, the scent of earth and nature all around me. I stood in the forest of my mind, though I was not alone. Clay stood near me, wearing his strange black suit and his painted face. My wolf was nowhere around, not in sight.
Was it too late? Had I waited too long to let her out? Had my wolf perished while I was trying to find Landon? I reached up, feeling my chest, above my heart, as I wondered these things.
No, I decided. I would’ve felt my wolf go. I would know without a doubt the beast inside was gone. My inner wolf was still here…she was hiding. Hiding from Clay, somewhere in the forest of my mind.
“Call her,” Clay ordered. “Call her and she’ll come.” Confidence oozed from him, as if he’d done this before. Had he? Had he gone inside Landon’s mind, the minds of the wolves he’d killed before? Or was I a special one, because I was part witch or warlock? Was this his first time?
I wasn’t sure it would help at all, if it was. At this point, I was a slave to his will. I could barely have my own thoughts, let alone the power to go against him.
“I…” I started, “I don’t know how.”
Beside me, Clay rolled his eyes. “Why on earth you shifters have to make everything so complicated, I’ll never know. She is you, Addie. If you will her here, she’ll come. She is hiding because you are scared.” He moved closer to me, sweeping a hand across my shoulder blade, beneath my pink hair, stopping only when his fingers touched the back of my neck. “Calm yourself. There is nothing to fear…yet.”
I did not appreciate him touching my neck, his fingers curling around the back of my throat like he owned me. Despite my feelings about him, and how I hated the way he touched me, I felt my emotions calming, my fear smoothing over.
Clay wanted to meet my wolf? I wanted to know why, but I found I couldn’t ask. The only thing I could do was close my eyes, forget about the creepy feeling his touch gave me, and ask wordlessly for my wolf to come. Because my wolf was a part of me, because my wolf was me, the beast would come. The beast trusted me.
Within a minute, the sounds of crinkling leaves entered the area, and I opened my eyes to watch my wolf tentatively step out of the shadows behind a tree trunk, her head low to the ground, though her green eyes were bright and wide open. Open and staring at Clay, pointedly ignoring my presence. The wolf remained twenty feet away, not taking another step closer.
Even though I was falsely calmed now, I could not get her to come nearer.
The wolf looked a little better than she had the last time I had seen her, after I’d first tried to walk through the barrier, before I’d known what it was. No blood remained around the wolf’s eyes or muzzle, but the beast still looked too thin. She still seemed sad.
“Hello there, wolfie,” Clay spoke, taking a step toward her, his hand finally leaving the back of my neck. The wolf responded by immediately matching his step backward. “You are a little one, aren’t you? Skinny. Not at all what I imagined.”
As if I needed a lecture from a crazy man. I already felt bad enough about the state of my inner wolf; I didn’t need Clay to make me feel worse.
“You haven’t shifted yet. This poor thing has been locked up inside for so long, and since you’re only half shifter,” Clay paused, the white line in the middle of his painted face seeming to glow brighter in the darkness of the forest, “I imagine she’s even weaker. She’ll waste away into dust, you know.”
I whispered, mostly to myself, “I know.”
“You know, and still you let her suffer like this? Tsk-tsk. Maybe I’ve underestimated you, Addie. There might be a part of you I may want to save after all—of course, that’s assuming you survive meeting my master. This is only the beginning of what I have in store for you, and it’s the easiest part. Now, let’s see something a little more…personal.”
The world around me seemed to fold in on itself, and Clay disappeared from my side. My mind raced, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. Images transposed themselves atop each other, piece by piece, bit by bit until I stood in a living room I’d only been in a few times before.
Or maybe I’d been in it dozens? Countless of times? Suddenly, I could not remember. What used to be unfamiliar turned familiar, my mind adjusting instantly. What was I doing before now? Where was I? How long had I been standing here?
A warm, strong hand touched my hip, and I turned to look at its owner. Maze stood beside me, grinning sloppily, dimples set in his boyish face. “How are you feeling? Better, yeah? I know you were feeling kind of off these last few days, but you’re looking better. I think the shift was good for you.”
I couldn’t remember shifting, but I knew he was right.
I nodded once. “Yeah, I’m feeling better. I…I don’t remember what I was doing, though.”
“I’m not sure, but I know what we can do now,” Maze murmured, lowering his head, his lips brushing my ear. His breath, hot and warm, sent my body aflutter in all the right ways, butterflies flitting in my stomach, my palms growing sweaty at the mere mention of what they could do.
The hand on my hip forced me to spin into him, my chest slamming against his. When I inhaled, I pressed further against his rock-hard abdomen, and I couldn’t help but smile as I brought my hands up, rubbing them along his sides, beneath his shirt. Feeling his muscles tense beneath my fingertips was one of the best sensations in
the world, maybe even the best.
Maze snaked an arm around my lower back, his other hand tangling through my hair, tilting my head back. Before I could say anything, before I could withdraw my hands from his sides and wrap them around his neck, his mouth was on mine. Hungry, needy, passionate. The world fell away, all my worries disappearing—did I even have any worries before now? I couldn’t remember.
I didn’t care.
I parted my lips slightly, allowing his tongue to slip inside. Warmth flooded through me, waves of pleasure I could not fight, could not deny. I wanted Maze in more ways than one, wanted him to throw me over his shoulder and carry me up the stairs. I wanted him to take me to his room and throw me on the bed, tear off my clothes and do things to me that would make me blush the next day when I remembered them.
“Maze,” I whispered his name, pulling away enough to stare into his dark, chocolatey brown eyes. “I want to—” I was interrupted by another presence in the room, by a voice that was similar to Maze’s, only more serious, quieter, less witty.
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” Dylan spoke from the hall, leaning on the archway between the kitchen and the living room. His strong body wore a grey, short-sleeve shirt, its fabric hugging every muscle perfectly. Jeans hung on his hips, a dark denim that contrasted well with his ashy blonde hair. His eyes were lively behind his glasses.
I felt Maze’s grip on me loosen, and I stepped away from him to go to Dylan. I gave him an easy smile. “You don’t have to leave, Dylan. You can stay.”
Had I ever said something so bold before? I couldn’t remember. I would’ve thought it odd, but I was too busy gazing into his eyes through his glasses. Dylan was not as outgoing as his brother, but he more than made up for it.
A slow smile grew on Dylan’s lips, and it was a smile that made my stomach flip. These brothers made me feel things I never thought were real, never knew was possible. I loved them both—something I never would’ve imagined before meeting them. And not only that, but my love for them was not ostracized. It was welcomed by the pack, encouraged.
Crystal Lake Pack: The Complete Series: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance Page 15