The instant I escaped the grisly scene in the garage, I was greeted by a bright sun, warm and welcoming, the air so crisp and salty it begged me to forget what I’d just witnessed. I wouldn’t. Things like that were impossible to forget.
The houses on the street were nothing like the ones in Crystal Lake. These were on stilts of some kind; the only part of the houses on the ground were the garages—and some of them didn’t even have one; cars just parked beneath the houses. Some were two, three stories high above the stilts, giant windows and light, breezy colors. They were unlike any houses I had ever seen.
Creasing my eyebrows, I turned, realizing why the houses were so different. Sand dunes lined the dead-end section of the road, a large blue expanse just past them. I wasn’t in the heart of America any longer; I was on the coast. These were beach homes.
The gentle wind guided me, and I headed to the dunes, walking through them. Once I was past them, the beach stretched out before me, and endless stretch of sand and surf to both my right and my left. The ocean was so blue, such a deep, pretty color, and the sand so soft, so white it was almost blinding with the sun overhead. At least, I assumed the sand was soft, since the particles were tiny and shell and trash free, since I couldn’t feel it, even after taking off my boots.
Such a beautiful place, it was hard to reconcile it with what I’d just seen. A pack like this didn’t deserve beachfront property, no matter what shifters they had forced into human society for the money.
I walked through the sand after putting my boots back on—it was pointless for me to try and feel, but I still moved to the ocean’s edge and let the tide surge up past my feet. I’d never been to the beach before, never taken a true vacation. Sarah simply never had the money, and I’d never felt jealous or envious of my classmates and friends who came back to school after summer break with stories of their week-long road trips and beach getaways.
Okay, maybe a little jealous.
Being here, at the beach, it was calming, I could give it that. The serenity of the scene before me, the calmness of the blue water spreading before me, curving with the earth’s horizon, helped to calm down the sickness that had grown in my gut after hearing the alpha talk, after hearing the first sounds of him attacking Jack.
Something unspoken called to me, and I turned my head to the right, spotting a yellowish wolf limping fifty feet away. Yellowish because his fur was matted with red, blood dripping onto the wet sand below him as he walked slowly, practically dragging himself along.
I moved to his side, saying softly, “Jack.” But again, he couldn’t hear me. His green, metallic eyes stared straight ahead, to the end of the beach, which had to be miles away. What was it called? The point?
I studied him, realizing that every wound on his body was fresh and open, bleeding out profusely. The wound on his hind legs that I’d seen in the plains, the ones he’d received from his father in the garage scattered all over his body. And, I saw, a gaping wound in his neck, his flesh—skin and fur alike—peeled aside, as if with claws. Most of the blood dripping to the sand came from the wound on his throat.
It was almost like every injury he’d ever received in his life had manifested at once, and it was too much. Too much pain, too much blood loss, too much as a whole. After what I’d seen, I didn’t blame him for shutting down. I couldn’t imagine the pain he’d felt, couldn’t pretend to.
And that neck wound…I’d seen in under his fur, all scarred and healed, but I never saw how he got it. Did it involve the female his father had mentioned?
It didn’t matter. I wasn’t here to investigate his past or judge him for it. I was here to find his humanity, and by all the power I had, I would find it, find him. I had to be getting closer.
The wolf beside me slowed his already glacial pace. His eyes were droopy, as if he were losing the will to carry on, his breathing slowing. Jack’s snout dipped into the water, and a fresh wave surged up, splashing him. The sudden splash woke him, gave him what he needed to continue.
I walked beside him, between Jack and the beach, Jack dipping his clawed toes in the water each time another wave glided up the beach. The houses on stilts started to dwindle, growing sparser and less frequent. The closer we got to the point, the less built-up the surrounding area seemed to be.
The point was still pretty far, though. And by the look of Jack, even walking in the water and occasionally getting the waves to splash his head wasn’t helping. He was losing too much blood, too fast. I couldn’t help but wonder how long the wolf had walked, whether he’d been stuck in an endless loop.
Did the wolf realize his humanity was gone? Was Jack aware of it all? Was he trying to find his humanity?
Just as I wondered that last question, beside me, Jack’s wolfish body collapsed. His legs were no longer able to keep him upright, and he laid on his side in the surf, letting the waves wash over him, only blinking in response to their gentle onslaught. The water around him turned red, tainted with his blood, which he seemed to have plenty more of, an endless supply in this strange section of his mind.
I threw a look over my shoulder, and I took in the blood that lined the sand behind us. This was his torture. In pain, he tried to reach the end of the island, but he never made it. He couldn’t. He was always destined to fail.
How depressing.
I looked back at Jack, feeling my heart hurt for him. Such a sad wolf, half dead already, but death would not have him this day. And where he could not, I would be more than able to. I would carry on and make it to the end of the island, the point of the beach, where it abruptly ended and curved back inland.
“Don’t worry, Jack,” I told him, though I knew he could not hear me, still could not see me, “I’ll make it for you. I’ll reunite you.” I spoke it like a promise, and in a way, it was. A promise to unite two halves, separated by pain and agony.
Leaving him was not something I wanted to do, but I had to, if I wanted to keep going and reach the end of the beach. I straightened myself out, mentally preparing for whatever I’d find. Hard, because I wasn’t sure what I’d find, if anything.
For all I knew, Jack’s humanity could very well be somewhere else, somewhere far, far away. Even though I’d spent what felt like hours in his mind already, this could only be the beginning.
I walked. I walked and walked, leaving Jack’s wolf form far behind me. I walked with a purpose, steeling myself for anything. Another memory? Another reason Jack had shut himself away, locked himself in his own mind?
I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t imagine my father attacking me like that—and I’d only just met Arthur.
The point drew closer, and though I was still maybe a hundred feet away, I spotted something in the water. A figure, standing, waist-deep twenty feet off the end of the beach.
Jack.
Chapter Sixteen – Addie
I took off in a run. “Jack!” I called out to him, waving my arms, as if he were looking at me and not the ocean’s vast body. His back was turned to me, so he didn’t see me. And, judging from his lack of reaction, he didn’t hear me, either.
But he was here; his human form was here. It had to mean something, right?
“Jack,” I said again, finally reaching the point, the end of the beach. Sandbags lined the sand dunes to stop further erosion, not allowing anyone to follow the curve of the island. I watched as Jack’s back—free of a shirt, allowing me to see the scars lining it, all the teeth marks and scratches on it—tensed.
He didn’t turn around, didn’t even glance over his shoulder. What he did was something I did not want him to do: he lowered himself in the water, as if he were trying to sit. But the water was too deep. The water went over his head, and he didn’t even try to stay above it. He sunk down as if…as if he was giving up.
Not on my watch.
I dashed into the water, glad I didn’t feel it around my legs, for I was able to move quicker than I should’ve if I would’ve had to wade in the hip-deep depths. Of course, it didn’t registe
r that I might not be able to grab him, to stop him from drowning himself.
And, still new to all of this, I didn’t know whether drowning himself here would even hurt him. Maybe he’d already done it hundreds of times, since he’d been stuck as a wolf for so long, most of that time spent doing Clay’s bidding.
I wasn’t going to take the chance.
I made it to his body, able to see it beneath the water, watching as air bubbles rose to the surface, popping once they came in contact with the free air above. I closed my eyes, mentally willing myself to become whole and physical. This was why I was here. This was my purpose.
Jack, ready or not, here I come.
I took my hands into the water, and the instant I did, I knew I’d be able to touch him. The water around me was solid now; I could feel the salty wetness, the warmth of the ocean, on my legs, my hips and my waist. My arms, the moment they went under, were like the missing link.
My hands snaked beneath his shoulders, around his arms, and I pulled with all my might, my feet digging into the sand beneath the water to gain better traction as I labored to pull us both back to shore. My inner wolf fought to lend me strength, and slowly but surely, I lugged the heavy and very unconscious Jack to the dry sand on the beach. By the time I laid him down, I was drenched—both in sweat and the sea water.
Jack was…in his early twenties, maybe? A few years older than me and my mates—Forest notwithstanding—and not at all what I expected. Cute, in a preppy way. Minus the scars, including the giant one on his neck, he was just like the jocks in my high school, with the extra oomph all shifter males had. Handsome, ridiculously ripped in muscles, and tanned.
Of course, now wasn’t the time to judge his looks, because he was very much unconscious and drowned.
I leaned over him, placing my hands on his chest. Crap. Was it thirty compressions? Sixty? I couldn’t remember, but I decided to go with thirty. Health class was far too long ago, and anyone who knew anything about America’s education system knew their health and sex-ed sucked majorly.
One, two, three…I counted in my head the compressions, trying to keep a steady pace. Once I hit thirty, I went for his face, holding his nostrils shut as I breathed into his mouth. He was stubbly and stiff and most definitely not a mouth I wanted close contact with, even if he was cute.
My wolf, at least, didn’t go crazy for every male shifter.
I did the cycle again and again, slowly realizing this was what Forest had done to me after I’d fallen into Crystal Lake. Technically, I’d had my first kiss with the alpha before I was even aware of it. Huh.
It wasn’t really food for thought; I was only trying to distract myself from the unresponsiveness of the man below me. Jack’s body swayed with my compressions, his chest rising somewhat when I breathed out, but other than that, nothing.
“Come on, Jack,” I whispered frantically, feeling the pressure building. If he didn’t wake up, if he was dead…then what? What would we do? I started another round of compressions. “Wake—” I didn’t get to finish the sentence.
Jack’s body trembled beneath my hands, and his green eyes flew open. He did not spit out any water, as if he’d never drowned in the first place—though both of our bodies were soaked and proved otherwise. Just as relief flooded me, right when I was about to talk to him, he reached up and grabbed my neck, spinning us so that he was above me in the superior position, straddling me as he choked me.
Behind his eyes sat fury, righteous and violent. I didn’t know what he saw when he looked at me—his father? The female shifter he’d mentioned? Some other cruel person sent here to torture him?
The hands around my neck squeezed tighter, and I fought to breathe. A few more seconds of this, and I’d pass out. Or Arthur would end the connection and bring me out of his mind.
No, not yet. With the way he acted, I wasn’t sure if this was his humanity or just another part of his wolf.
Unable to do much else, I gasped for breath and slapped his arms. “Stop,” I wheezed, my voice broken. My legs kicked at the sand, panic setting in as I wondered what would happen to me if Arthur didn’t pull me out in time. I didn’t want to die or become a vegetable in the real world.
Jack blinked, the fury in his eyes dimming. He threw himself off me, landing on his backside, glaring at me as if I was rude to have interrupted him. He did not thank me, did not apologize. All he said was “Why?” His voice came out rough and scratchy; whether it was due to the wound on his neck, his recent attempt at drowning, or it was just his normal, everyday voice, I wasn’t sure.
But I was incredulous, and frankly upset. I sat up, holding my neck, meeting his glare as I thought dryly: move aside, Landon. There’s a new asshole in town.
“To save you,” I croaked, wincing at the sound. My windpipes were a little sore, aching in my throat. I gave my best glare, but it lessened somewhat when I realized he was as naked as he was the day he was born.
Not a penis I wanted to see.
I kept my stare firmly locked on his, refusing to glance anywhere else, except maybe the sky. It was the only safe place.
“Why?” he hissed.
“Because I need your help. Your help, not your wolf’s.”
“And why the fuck would I help you?” Jack openly glared at me, not at all a friendly sort—although, with his upbringing, I supposed I couldn’t blame him. Still, the animosity he held toward me was totally undeserved. I’d saved him, for crying out loud. I’d helped.
His voice sounded painful, but I did my best not to let it bother me. Same with his attitude, which he had plenty of.
Jack didn’t even wait for my response. He got to his feet, turning his back to me as he muttered, “I’m not helping you. Go away.”
Well. This was not how I thought it would go.
I got up, following him to the water’s edge. My boots were soaked, my feet dragging somewhat. “I helped you get away from Clay—the least you could do is help me.” I hated bringing it up, lording it over him as if he owed me, but he kind of did.
Jack whirled on me, and I once again got an eyeful of his swinging dick. “I didn’t ask you to help me. You took it upon yourself, didn’t you? Just like here. You need me. I don’t need you.”
“But—”
“Go away,” he said. “Get the fuck away from me.”
I set my hands on my hips. “Well, aren’t you just rude. Maybe I should drag you back into the water and drown you myself.” I didn’t mean it, but it came out before I could stop it. I wasn’t normally one to go around threatening anybody, but this guy? Oh, he pushed my buttons in all the wrong ways.
The dick supreme.
“Jack,” I said, softer this time, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Fuck off,” he said, glaring. “And my name’s not Jack. It’s Zak. Jackson was my…alpha’s name.” I knew he stopped himself from saying the word father. “Okay? You had it all wrong, so just go away.”
I would not let myself feel small and intimidated under his glare, even if it was ten times more menacing due to his scars. I said simply, “No, I will not go away, not unless you come with me.”
“Defeats the purpose of you going away.”
I wanted to scream. This was not how I thought Jack—Zak—would be. Not at all. He was more than a dick. He was the biggest asshole I’d met in a while, besides crazy Clay, but the death priest was on his own level.
Sighing, I decided to try to be nice—hard, given the fact he’d strangled me the instant he came to. He didn’t have a stellar record. “Please, Zak. Help me, and then you don’t ever have to see me again. You can go off and live your life, do whatever you want to do—”
“I don’t have a life,” he growled out, his chest rumbling. “I don’t have a pack. I have nothing—”
“You don’t have to have nothing,” I said, trying to keep my cool. Near impossible, but I did my best. “You can find another pack, make something out of your life instead of just giving it up.”
Zak sh
ook his head, vehement. “After everything? No, it’s too late for another pack. It’s too late for me. Just go away and bug someone else.” He started to turn away from me, to face the water, but I grabbed his wrist.
I must’ve held onto it strong, for he gave me a look of surprise—though it was quickly drowned out by fury. Before he could yank his arm away, before he could say anything else that would only further rile me up, I snapped, “I’m not giving you a choice. You’re coming back into the real world whether you like it or not.”
As I spoke, I felt the spell around me, the spell Arthur had made to send me here. I grabbed it with my mind, much more keen to it than I’d ever been—maybe because of the anger Zak had brought out inside me—and I yanked it, pulled the spell apart.
The beach world around us faded, splintering away bit by bit, piece by piece until we were both thrown into the real world.
It was so jarring, so abrupt, a headache surged in my head, growing exponentially before I opened my eyes to the basement of Forest’s house. To Arthur, who knelt beside me, his eyes widening in shock when he realized what I’d done.
“How did you…” Even Arthur, the high warlock of power, was speechless.
I was about to say I didn’t exactly know, I just did what my instincts told me to, but my words were cut off by the jarring sound of dragging chains. Both Arthur and I stopped, turning our heads to look at the shifted, naked form Zak now wore.
His back against the metal support beam, the collar a bit looser around his neck than it had been when he was a wolf. His hands gripped the metal, and he sent an icy cold glare my way. He was not happy about being dragged out of his mind, clearly.
“He looks pretty ticked off,” Arthur observed. “I’m a little afraid of letting him out.”
I threw him a come on look, because he was one of the most powerful warlocks in the world, and the man shrugged. As he and I stood there, he snapped his fingers and the chains released, breaking apart.
Zak got to his feet slowly, measuredly, glaring at me all the while. “You bitch,” he muttered under his breath, uncaring that he was naked in front of both Arthur and me. Just because he was another shifter male with a body like a model, all the scars aside, did not mean I was okay with seeing his ding-a-ling at every given opportunity.
Crystal Lake Pack: The Complete Series: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance Page 49