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

by Candace Wondrak

  Turning back to me, Arthur said, “I can imagine it’s a coping mechanism, similar to dissociation in humans dealing with intense trauma. Maybe I can break through it—maybe. But I’ve never done anything like this before, so I don’t know if it’ll work or just make things worse.” He glanced at Jack, who still growled and snarled at the crowd.

  “I can help,” I said. “I helped with Forest. Do the same thing you did with my wolf, the same thing we did with Forest. Send me in, and I’ll find him.” I wasn’t sure exactly how much help I would be, or whether it would even be possible to jump into the mind of a shifter who was fully shifted.

  “No!” Henry barked out, pushing past Dylan and Maze, stepping around Landon and Forest, who each glowered at the elder. “I forbid you from doing it. I won’t have any more magic touching you.” He was in my face now, his wrinkled skin reddening and his silver hair practically bouncing in anger.

  Sarah tried to reach for him as she came off the steps, but he shook her off.

  “No! I don’t care what the assembly wants with Jack; just take him and don’t bring him back. He shouldn’t even be here in the first place. But you will most certainly not—”

  I laughed, right in his face, which stopped him immediately.

  He was burly, for a seventy-ish year old man. Strong, thanks to his wolf. But was he intimidating? Did he make me want to take back my chuckle? Hell to the no. I wasn’t about to back down to his sorry ass; I would put him in his place instead. Even after all this time, even after everything I’d told him before, he still didn’t get it.

  Yes, he was a pack elder. Yes, the position should come with respect. But I had come from the human world, and respect was something that was earned, not given freely. Henry had done nothing but be a thorn in my side. The last thing the old coot deserved was an ounce of respect from me, and he needed to know it.

  “You cannot tell me what to do,” I said, puffing myself up. Standing at five feet and five inches, I wasn’t quite as tall as my grandfather, but I was pretty darn close, and I used it to my advantage. “You have no right to, not after everything.” When I watched him open his mouth in rebuttal, I added, “If you so much as breathe a single word about forbidding me to do anything, I’ll have you thrown from the house.”

  Henry glanced to Arthur behind me, straightening his back, as if he planned on calling my bluff.

  “Why are you looking at him? He’s not the only one who could throw you out of this house,” I spoke, taking a step toward him. He matched my step backwards, glancing around the basement, at the multitude of shifters who cared for me much more than the bond between packmates.

  He backed up to the foot of the narrow wooden stairs. “You go into his mind, it’ll be a mistake. Mark my words.” Without saying anything else, Henry spun, pounding up the steps, his heavy footsteps weighing on the wood, practically cracking each one. Once he was gone, the air in the basement—though still smelly—lightened considerably.

  Sarah came to me, grabbing my hands as she said, “Addie, think about this. Stop throwing yourself at danger, honey, because sooner or later, the danger will bite back.” There were no traces of her annoyance at Forest, not until the alpha agreed with her.

  “I agree. It’s a fool’s errand,” Forest said.

  Yep. There was the stern, harsh look Sarah had worn for the last three days.

  I took my hands away from her, stepping closer to Jack, who still filled the air with growls. “What other proof do we have? I doubt the assembly will want to come to Crystal Lake and see the graves—and I don’t think that’d be proof enough for them. Jack is our only hope.”

  “Um, excuse me,” Maze said, stepping around the towering Forest. “But why do we need proof? What’ll the proof get us?” He looked to Dylan for support, and his twin merely nodded along.

  Arthur answered, “At the very least, it’ll put Odon under scrutiny.”

  “Why is that a good thing? What if, once the tables are turned on him, he tells the assembly about Addie?” Dylan asked, shaking his head. “I don’t want to take that risk. I only want Addie to be safe.”

  “None of you will be safe, because Clay is not dead,” Arthur said, speaking with authority. “I’ve put a spell around this town, stopping any attempts at intervention. I’ve felt him try to worm his way back here.”

  Was that why Arthur looked tired? He was the high warlock of power, but spellwork was consuming. I wasn’t a pro at it—not by any means—so I couldn’t imagine how much energy it took to keep a spell like that around Crystal Lake.

  “The assembly needs proof of what Clay did, and whether or not they believe Odon to be involved, they will strip him of his connection to death,” Arthur laid it out so everyone could understand. “Without it, his magic will deplete him. He’ll be mortal again, and much easier to kill.”

  Killing. Talking about killing as if it was a normal, everyday part of our daily lives. It made my stomach churn, and I wanted to be sick. Killing should never be an option…but when it came to Clay, the bastard deserved it. We could deal with Odon and his probable involvement later.

  Landon sneered, frowning. “So, we’re literally putting our hope on the traitor? We’re going to send Addie into his mind like some kind of mind-traveler? And if it doesn’t work, then what?” He was full of the tough questions, wasn’t he?

  “Pray it works,” Arthur whispered, “because it’s our only option. Without it…well, I won’t be able to stay here much longer. I’m needed elsewhere. I won’t be able to protect the town from Clay’s influence forever.”

  If that wasn’t a rallying war cry, I didn’t know what was.

  I glanced to my mom, to the guys, lingering on each one, taking in their expressions. None of them wanted me to do this, but like Arthur said, there were no other options. “You should leave,” I told them, “to calm him down. We need to do this as soon as we can.”

  Like, now. Because the longer I thought about it, the less gung-ho I was about stepping a metaphysical foot in Jack’s mind.

  As I watched them shuffle out and up the stairs, each of them tossing me anxious glances, I gulped and swallowed hard. I turned to Arthur, realizing he was busy staring at me, probably wondering just what stupid pill I’d taken this morning. No stupid pill here. I just really wanted to get this mess over with and out of the way.

  Beside me, Jack’s growling lowered in strength, but did not disappear completely. His green eyes were glued to Arthur, all of his aggression aimed at the high warlock and not me. I, it seemed, had won Jack’s trust—or he still sensed I was an unclaimed wolf, and he wanted me for himself.

  “Are you sure about this?” Arthur asked gently. “I wouldn’t blame you if you change your mind. I could always bring him to the assembly as he is, and have Wyatt try to balance his wolf and human side out—”

  I couldn’t pretend to know what he was talking about. Wyatt, another high warlock, another person who I knew I couldn’t trust. These warlocks seemed awfully conniving—then again, with Henry’s betrayal, so were shifters, apparently. The answer was obvious, and I shouldn’t have had to say it, but I did.

  “I’m sure. Let’s get down to business,” I said, rubbing my hands together, as if I was excited, thrilled to head into the unstable mind of a shifter who’d lost touch with his humanity. To say I was nervous would be the year’s biggest understatement.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  Chapter Fifteen – Addie

  I slowly came to, awakening to the feeling of cold, wet grass beneath me. I struggled to get up, blinking multiple times as I adjusted to my surroundings. At least, I thought, dusting myself off, it wasn’t a black, endless wasteland of nothingness. I wasn’t so sure I could handle two minds of emptiness.

  I stood in the center of a field. Storm clouds were above me, letting loose rain in sheets, dark and grey, blotting out the entire sky and sun. Rolling hills spread around me, for as far as my eyes could see, miles and miles, stretched in every direction. It reminde
d me of the treeless plains of the American Midwest. The rain, strangely enough, didn’t touch me. It was like there was a sliver of sky above me, keeping me dry.

  That, or maybe I wasn’t really fully here in the first place, since this wasn’t my mind and I was technically an intruder of sorts.

  I spun, glancing all around. Everything looked the same. The hills rolling around here were all uniform, nothing unique or special about them. Only a bit of grass here and there, as if it were grazed on constantly. Well, I thought, might as well just start going. Pick a direction and go. I really didn’t have time to waste.

  I decided to walk straight, heading down the hill I currently stood on, into a tiny valley, and onto another hill. Walking for hours in a place like this wasn’t my idea of a fun time, so I sincerely hoped I’d find him before that much time passed. Or, at the very least, a trace of him.

  Finding the human locked away in the wolf? How hard could it be?

  Everyone in the world knew better than to ask a question like that. It could be extremely hard. It could be freaking impossible, and I could be wasting my time. When I thought about it, everything we did could be a waste. Even if I managed to find Jack’s humanity, there was no telling whether or not the assembly of high warlocks would consider him proof enough of Clay’s murderous activities.

  Who knew? Maybe the high warlock of death had his skeletal hands around the assembly. Maybe all of this was pointless.

  No, I couldn’t think like that. Wouldn’t. I would carry on, do my best. It was all I could do, really. All any of us could do, besides close our eyes and pretend none of this was happening—and that wouldn’t work as a defense against Clay when he came back.

  If the death priest wasn’t dead, it was only a matter of time before he graced Crystal Lake with his appearance again, Arthur or not. Arthur may have been the high warlock of power, but he could only hold a spell for so long. Magic might’ve been infinite, but it was finite when it came to one’s ability to cast.

  My feet drew me over the next hill. And then the next, and the next. On and on it went, on I walked, holding my back straight and trying to be optimistic. I would find Jack, I would bring him back, out of whatever mental prison he’d locked himself up in. I would.

  I had to.

  I couldn’t say how long I walked along the gentle, rolling hills, but I would say it was far too long. The scenery looked the same, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say I was walking in a giant circle, never making any progress. I made better progress in the black void that was Forest’s mind.

  My feet stopped, and I glanced over my shoulder. I stood atop a hill, and when I looked back, I saw nothing but rolling plains. Sighing, I went to continue walking, but the moment I looked forward again, the scenery had suddenly morphed. Instead of wet hills as far as the eye could see, I saw a wolf, ashy and haggard.

  Jack.

  Jack hung his head low, limping, dragging his claws in the ground. Blood pooled down his hind legs, fresh and bright. It did not rain above him, the area around him completely dry. His wolfish persona radiated sadness, almost—I didn’t want to think it, but I did—pathetic-ness. He just looked so…beaten, with his head hung low, his snout practically dragging along the ground as he went. There was no twinkle in his eyes, no spark that said yes, I’m alive and I love life.

  I left the thunderous portion of the hills, hurrying toward him. “Jack,” I called, waving, trying to get his attention.

  Would he recognize me? Forest had, but the bond I had with the alpha was far different than what I had with Jack. Actually, I wasn’t even sure what I had with Jack. Did I have any sort of bond with him, or was it all in my head?

  It was quite possible Jack only reacted to me the way he did because he sensed my wolf and knew I was unclaimed.

  When the wolf kept trudging along, I said again, “Jack! Wait!” But the wolf kept going, not even glancing in my direction, as if I wasn’t there, almost like he couldn’t hear me at all.

  Okay, I thought, this was going to get old, if he kept this up. I would not keep talking to myself. Maybe I just had to reach him, touch him, to yank him back to reality? I wasn’t sure. I was going off instinct here, and where magic and shifter stuff was concerned, I wasn’t as experienced as I should be.

  Thank you, Mom.

  Finally at his side, I reached for him, seeking to pat his head, rub his ears—things I knew he enjoyed, at least while in wolf form. But when my hand should’ve hit the solidity of his head, when my fingers should have felt the coarseness of his fur, my hand went right through him.

  As in, straight through. Like I was some kind of intangible ghost. Or he was. One or the other, as if we weren’t allowed to interact.

  Damn it. If I couldn’t touch him, I definitely couldn’t talk to him. Jack probably didn’t hear me calling him once, in spite of how frantic and loud I’d been. The laws of minds were so confusing; none of them made sense to me.

  Since I could do nothing but walk near him, I decided to go with Jack, wherever he was headed. Maybe the wolf would lead me to his humanity…or maybe he would lead me nowhere, and just like I’d been, he’d only walk in an endless loop.

  Ugh.

  I walked with him for a while, both bored and anxious. Did time pass the same in the real world? Was every minute I spent here also passing out there? How much time did I have to waste? Just as I started to grow worried, a loud voice boomed in my ears, manly and thunderous, almost frightening in its timbre.

  “How many times did I tell you, pup? How many times?”

  My feet stopped. Now I was getting somewhere. After tossing a quick glimpse to the injured Jack beside me, I left him, heading in the direction of the voice. I walked over the hill to our left, and it was like walking into a different time and place.

  A garage surrounded me, its large, wide door closed. Its concrete floor was splattered with dried blood, its walls bare of any tools or gardening equipment. It looked almost like a jail cell, an interrogation room—and it wasn’t just my imagination.

  Two shifters stood tall, their chests rumbling as they glared at the wolf cowering before them. Jack, in the subservient position. Jack, practically rolling on his belly, his ears flat and his tail tucked between his back legs.

  “You don’t listen,” the taller man hissed, the voice I’d heard before. It was strong and tough, and instantly I knew the man was the alpha of whatever pack Jack belonged to. “I’ve tried to teach you, but you are just too bull-headed to listen.” Beside him, the other shifter sniggered. It was clear both shifters got a kick out of Jack’s cowering.

  “I said let her go, I said I’d get you another one, even if it meant taking one from another pack—but you didn’t listen,” the alpha went on, veins rippling in his arms as he clenched his fists. “You think you’re still my second after this? Do you think I have the patience to train a whelp like you? You should already know what’s expected of you—and if you were any sort of alpha, you would’ve had her a long time ago, whether she liked it or not.”

  All of this…I thought…was about a woman? A female shifter.

  Of course it was. From what my mates had told me, other packs were not as welcoming and kind to females like the Crystal Lake pack was. Some packs kept their females locked up like barbarians. For how rare and precious female shifters were, they were treated like property by some.

  The man took a step toward Jack, towering over him, a look of pure rage on his chiseled, rugged face. From what I could guess, he was in his early forties, still in his prime when it came to shifters. “If I were you, I would’ve had her years ago. You’re nothing but a coward, son. A fucking wimp—and I’m done giving you chances.”

  I took a step back, watching in horror as the alpha took off his shirt, turning to the second shifter standing behind him, watching silently. The alpha grinned, and it was the ugliest expression I’d ever seen. “Your first lesson—punishing those who go against your orders,” he spoke to the other shifter. “Females you try n
ot to touch, unless it’s to mate. Males, you do what you have to, and sometimes the only way to teach an omega a lesson is with your teeth.” As he spoke, he worked to slip off his shoes and unzip his pants. Within a second, he’d shifted to his wolf form.

  This alpha was Jack’s father? What was he going to do—attack his son?

  As the alpha growled, saliva dripping from his canines, I had to turn away. I would not watch him advance on Jack, who still remained in the submissive position, not lifting a single paw to protect himself. The other shifter, the one who apparently was going to take Jack’s place in the pack as the next alpha, watched with interest, a sick smile growing on his face.

  This pack…it was almost like the pack Landon had come from. I couldn’t help but wonder—was this how most shifter packs were? Were they all so violent and archaic? Maybe it wasn’t human society pushing the shifters to extinction. Maybe it was the shifters themselves. This was too barbaric, too savage.

  The sounds of teeth sinking into flesh rose in the garage, and a sharp whimper from Jack echoed into my mind. I refused to look; I would not watch an alpha tear Jack apart. The other shifter in the garage merely laughed, and it caused my stomach to boil in revulsion.

  Whatever the whole story, this was wrong. No matter what Jack did in the eyes of the alpha to deserve this, this was wrong. No one should be treated like this.

  Though I did not watch the scene unfold, I saw fresh, bright red blood splatter near my feet. I could not stay for this. Jack’s humanity wasn’t here, and if I stayed, I’d only hear him be torn apart by his father. It was wrong, and I couldn’t stop it—and maybe that was what bothered me the most.

  I took a few hesitant steps back, walking through the walls of the garage as I turned. So I was the ghost here, not Jack. I was the one who could not influence any of this, I realized, because these were his memories. These memories were what kept his humanity at bay. Trauma. Intense physical pain, inflicted by his own father.

  Jack had to be here somewhere.