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

by Candace Wondrak

  Heck, if I knew I’d still be able to use my magic after I shifted, I’d choose to shift now. My inner wolf was dying to get out, desperately desiring to run wild and free in the woods around Crystal Lake, and since my inner wolf was a part of me, I wanted it, too.

  I was so lost in my thoughts I neglected to hear the shower turn off. The door to the bathroom swung open, and Zak stood on its other side, jeans hanging off his scarred body, a bit loose, especially since they were unbuttoned, but otherwise they fit. He was only a few inches shorter than Forest. Not as wide, though.

  Rubbing a towel through his hair, he glared at me, almost as if he hated me for bringing him out, for pulling out his humanity when he wanted to basically kill himself and let his wolf keep the body.

  “What the fuck do you want?” he hissed. His skin looked better clean, a golden tan. His teeth were whiter, perfectly straight. Other than the scars lining his body, Zak’s appearance screamed frat boy. He was a male specimen my high school friends would’ve loved and crushed on immediately.

  Alas, my high school friends were long gone, not even my friends anymore.

  “You like to swear a lot, don’t you?” I knew Forest was right. I couldn’t talk to him about what I’d come up here for. Now, what could I say to not sound like an idiot? I had a not-so-good start.

  Zak’s eyes, resting in a chiseled, cute face, were cold. Icy, in spite of their green hue. If looks could kill, I’d be a goner, right then and there, and he wouldn’t care. Not one bit. He didn’t even care about himself. “You’re a regular fucking Einstein, aren’t you?”

  At least I wasn’t the only one not good at coming up with insults. Barbs and jabs were not my forte. My forte used to be schoolwork and heavy planning, but lately, those went to the wayside too. I was all for winging it these days. I hardly recognized myself.

  And that wasn’t even mentioning my hair, whose pink strands were pretty much faded into a lighter brown than the rest of it.

  “And you’re a dick,” I said, holding my ground.

  If his look was cold before, it was downright murderous now. Maybe he was imagining strangling me again, succeeding where he failed in his mind.

  His prickly shell didn’t bother me anymore, and I wasn’t afraid of him. To fear him would be a waste; there were much bigger, scarier things out there much more deserving of my fear. Mainly Clay and Odon.

  “Great,” I added. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, dinner’s in ten.” I said nothing more as I spun and headed down the stairs.

  Would dinner really be done in ten minutes? I wasn’t sure, but it was the only thing I could think of to say. I definitely wasn’t going to say, I was going to try and convince you to see the light, but one of my mates changed my mind, because you’re kind of a dick, whether you’re under Clay’s influence or not.

  No, I had the feeling it wouldn’t go over too well with Zak. I wasn’t keen on being attacked again so soon. In a few days, maybe.

  Note the sarcasm.

  The food was ready in fifteen minutes. With Arthur’s help, Sarah had cooked some chicken breast and spiced it with some kind of Cajun deliciousness. When I smelled it, I immediately felt gipped. Why didn’t she cook like this while I was growing up? Why was it always microwaveable dinners and pizza rolls?

  It didn’t matter how good it smelled, though. There wasn’t enough for everyone. After Zak came downstairs, fully clothed and still acting like an asshole, he sat at the table, pointedly ignoring everyone else in the kitchen as he ate.

  The shifter ate it all.

  He ate it all, like everyone had been starving him. I knew I wasn’t here for a few days, but my mom had said she’d fed him. The wolf couldn’t be that hungry—but he was. He really was. He shoveled every bit of chicken down his throat, hardly chewing it. I would’ve thought he wolfed it down, but I wasn’t in the mood for any puns. Crazy, I knew.

  Zak ate the chicken, the beans Sarah had cooked, and even the mashed potatoes Arthur had made. I was surprised I didn’t see his stomach—which was flat and muscular, not shocking when it came to shifters—start to bulge and grow like in the cartoons.

  How in the world could one man eat that much? How was his stomach that large? Where did all the food go? Maybe he was like a trash disposal but for food, and the capacity of his stomach was endless.

  Once the food was gone and Zak leaned back, running his hands down his chest, wiping off all the crumbs on Forest’s shirt—I noted a frown on the alpha’s face—Arthur broke the silence, “It’s time to talk about the assembly.”

  A look of uninterest crossed Zak’s face, and he shrugged. “What about it?”

  “They’ll ask you what you know about Clay, use magic to determine whether you’re lying. I shouldn’t have to say it, but I will anyway: don’t lie, and answer each question they ask with as much detail as you can,” Arthur advised. “They’ll have plenty. They’re curious people. As is the custom, Odon will be able to ask you questions as well—these ones will be more complicated. You’ll have to answer him honestly, but keep one detail to yourself. Skirt around it, focus on something else, do whatever you have to.”

  Zak ran his tongue over his teeth. “And what detail is that?”

  “The assembly can’t know about Addie. If they do, they’ll kill her,” Arthur replied, tossing a quick look my way. I did my best to pretend not to care that my life would be in the hands of a dick wolf, a dick wolf whose glare told me he wanted me to pay for bringing him back against his will.

  Great.

  “Just to be clear,” Zak spoke, “if I do this, talk to them about Clay, stop myself from bringing up Addie, you’ll let me go after? I won’t come back here and be a prisoner again?” His fingers tapped the edge of the table. Tap, tap, tap, the sound echoing in the silent kitchen.

  It was a while before Arthur nodded. “Yes. You’ll be able to go wherever you want.”

  Zak let out a loud sigh. I could tell he didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice. He was surrounded by five shifters, the high warlock of power, and me—who was able to whip up some spells of my own when push came to shove. He didn’t have the upper hand here; he had no choice but to mutter, “Fine. As long as I get to leave and no one follows me.” He shot a glare Forest’s way, and the alpha bristled.

  Arthur looked at Forest, a scowl deepening on his face, too.

  It was a moment before Forest said, “Not a single member of this pack will hunt you down for what you’ve done, you have my word.” His promise wasn’t exactly a thrilled one, but regardless of his personal feelings, I knew his word was good.

  Nodding once, Arthur said, “If that’s all, we should go.”

  Zak asked, “I don’t even get to sleep in a bed before you drag me off?” The insult was plain as day in his voice, as rough and scratchy as it was. When Arthur gave him a stern, no-nonsense look, the shifter’s aggressive posture lightened. “Alright, fine. Let’s get on with this fucking thing already.” He got to his feet, moving to the front door, not giving any of us a second glance.

  Not that I expected one. I didn’t. I did kind of think he would suddenly see the light and thank me for bringing him out of his mind—but now I saw it was a foolish thing to wish for. Zak clearly hated life in general, so why would he be thankful for having another go at it?

  Arthur went to follow him, stopping before me. He tossed a quick look to Sarah—and the quick look lingered a few seconds too long, in my opinion—before glancing back to me and saying, “While we’re gone, stay here. I don’t know how much longer I can stop Clay from entering the town. Until the assembly is done, until the others order Odon to take away his connection with death, Clay’s too dangerous. Don’t go wandering.”

  “We’ll keep her in line, sir,” Maze spoke, nodding eagerly, far too willing to please him. In fact, Maze, Dylan, and Landon were all nodding away. Forest was the only one who didn’t want to bow to the all-powerful high warlock.

  No one said anything else as Arthur left with Za
k. Putting all our hope on a shifter who was quite possibly the rudest, meanest person I had ever met didn’t seem like a great plan, but it was their only plan. Without his testimony to the assembly, Clay could, theoretically, just keep coming back to life.

  That was a big no-no. The death priest had to be stopped, one way or another, and hopefully without any more casualties. No other shifters would die because of his sick and twisted mind, his goal of creating a master race with the strengths of all and the weaknesses of none.

  He’d already taken my blood, and I wasn’t sure how many other supernatural beings were out there. Were vampires real? Were fairies? What about nymphs and selkies and every other fairytale creature? Was Odon really collecting the blood from every single race, or just the hybrids?

  Maybe, before we ended Clay’s life for good, we could pry some answers from him. Knowledge was always the key to defeating the enemy, and Clay—Clay wasn’t the mastermind here. Odon was, and somehow the high warlock of death would have to be next.

  One crazy warlock at a time.

  Chapter Nineteen – Addie

  I sat on my bed. I was surrounded by boy band posters and things I hadn’t seen for a while, but it was normal to me. This was home, my bedroom for the last twenty years of my life. Pictures of my high school friends were stuck to the mirror sitting above my dresser, wide smiles and frizzy hair, photos of tweens who hadn’t yet discovered makeup and hairstyles.

  Before me sat a jaw. Not a full one, but half. Half a lower jaw, based on the bone structure. I drew my fingers along the bone. Sharp canine. Not a single piece of skin or blood rested on the bone; it was as clean as a bone could possibly be.

  I grabbed it, lifting it to my face. It was a large bone, and somehow, deep down, I knew what type of animal it belonged to—a wolf. A great wolf, strong and powerful. Teeth like the ones on the jaw bone before me could tear limbs apart with ease.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” My mom’s voice bounced into my head, and when I glanced up, I was no longer in my room, instead sitting on the couch in the living room, still clutching the jaw.

  I stood, moving to the kitchen, finding Sarah at the table, sorting a great pile of bones, all ivory and clean, almost polished.

  “Mom,” I whispered.

  “Oh, there you are!” Sarah exclaimed, jumping up. Her hazel stare moved to the jaw bone I held onto, and she smiled. “That’s what I’ve been looking for.” She extended her hand, waiting for me to place the toothy bone on her palm.

  Why did she want the bone? Was she building a diorama or something? I knew Sarah was weird with her tarot cards and her Ouija boards, but this was crossing another line. Still, she was my mom, and who was I to judge? I slowly set the jaw bone in her hand, watching as her fingers curled around it, almost possessive.

  I felt a sudden deep, intense sadness. It swept over me like a storm tide, and I found myself frowning. “Is this really all because of you?”

  A name rang in my head, though it felt foreign. Odon.

  Sarah lost herself as she studied the jaw bone, her stare eating it up, taking in every little detail the bone had to give. “Honey, no. Not at all! This isn’t all about me.” Then she said something that caught me so off-guard, all I could do was blink, “This is about you.”

  “Me?” I echoed. It didn’t sound right. My voice sounded far too frightened.

  “You never thought you were special,” Sarah said, stepping closer to me. Holding the jaw bone in one hand, she moved her other to my face, tucking some hair behind my ear, a loving, touching gesture. “But you are, because you’re my daughter.”

  What did being her daughter have to do with any of this?

  “Mom,” I said, “I don’t…”

  “You’ll understand someday.” Sarah gave me a soft smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. Almost as if it were a fake smile, not real. The hand that had tucked my hair behind my ear dropped to my face, and she ran a nail over my cheek.

  I stepped back, away from her, too far from her hand now. I touched my cheek, still feeling the remnants of sensation. Why was she acting so creepy all of a sudden? Was this some new thing she was trying out—fake possession? If so, her weird customers would probably love it. I, on the other hand, didn’t. Not at all.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, watching as Sarah slid a foot along the tile, matching her step backwards. I took a few more, just to be safe. I backed up until I stood at the foot of the staircase.

  Though she smiled, it did not give me any semblance of easiness, nothing reassuring about it. A forced grin, almost maniacal. It made my stomach tighten in the worst of ways. Sarah spoke through lips that hardly moved, “I’m doing what must be done, honey. It’s time you’re one of us, don’t you think?”

  The skin on my body turned cold as ice, sweat trickling down the back of my neck. What was she talking about? One of us? Surely she didn’t mean…

  I watched her drag a finger along the jaw bone’s top, eventually moving along the edge of the sharpest tooth, the canine fang. I locked eyes with her, and it was in that moment I didn’t see the loving, understanding woman I should’ve.

  The woman across from me wasn’t my mom. The crazed glint in her hazel stare said otherwise.

  Shit.

  Without saying anything else, without waiting a second longer, I spun on my heels, leaping up the steps as I took two at a time, quickly gaining ground away from her.

  My head start didn’t last long, for as I made it into my room, I heard her footsteps right behind me, far too heavy and weighted. Sarah was a shifter; she didn’t walk like a giant, all lumbering and loud. What the hell was going on here?

  I slammed my bedroom door closed, flicking the lock. Granted, it wasn’t the most secure lock in the world; if Sarah went to the kitchen and grabbed a butter knife, she could unlock it easily. Still, the extra time it would take her to do that gave me time to think up an escape plan.

  The window? Hide in the closet and pray she didn’t come snooping around like in the horror movies? With Sarah’s hearing, she’d be able to hear me leave through the window, probably be able to detect my breathing in the closet. There was only one way out of this—I had to fight.

  Fight my mom.

  It was not something I ever thought I’d have to do. Sarah and I were not only mother and daughter, but also friends. We had movie nights together, gossiped about the latest celebrity news together, and even made fun of strangers together. Our bond was strong—which was why I knew the person in the hallway wasn’t my mom.

  Sarah would never try to hurt me. Never.

  Not knowing what to do, I turned, leaning my back against the door. This day had turned into a whirlwind of a…my thoughts trailed off as I gazed into my room. Somehow, I wasn’t alone in my room, as I should’ve been. Sarah stood between me and the window, still grinning like a crazy person.

  How?

  I had heard her footsteps behind me, even after I’d closed the door. None of this made any sense. My heart started beating rapidly in my chest. There was nowhere to run, I realized. If I flung herself out of the room, she would only find me again, beating me to wherever my destination was.

  It was pointless. I had to face this…whatever this was.

  “Mom,” I tried reasoning with her, sounding like a confused, totally freaked out kid. Which I was, but I was also old enough to put on a brave face, to grin and bear it. I just didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to grin and bear. Something to do with the jaw bone? “What are you talking about? What are you doing? You’re scaring me.”

  Sarah took a step closer, holding the bone as if it were the most precious item she’d ever had her hands on. A wolf’s jaw, part of it. What was so special about it? The instant I had handed it over, she snapped, and I didn’t know what to do. Even the mere thought of attacking her…I couldn’t do it.

  “Honey, I’m only doing what needs to be done,” Sarah said, taking another step towards me. With a few more strides, she crossed the bedroom and
stood a foot in front of me, holding the jaw bone between us.

  If I could’ve sunk into the wooden door behind me, I would’ve. This day was not turning out how I thought it would—then again, now that I was thinking about it, I couldn’t remember how this day even began.

  “You’ll be one of us now,” Sarah spoke, though it was not her voice that came from her throat. It was deeper, rougher, more masculine. It was a voice I knew I’d heard before, but where? “No more magic, no more waiting. The wolf will have you, Adeline,” the man’s voice went on.

  It was as Sarah grabbed my hand that I remembered where I’d heard the voice. It was my grandfather’s voice.

  Henry.

  What the hell was going on here? Once I realized it was Henry’s voice, I tried to struggle, but my mom’s grip was iron around my wrist.

  “You’ll thank me later,” Sarah said in Henry’s voice, dragging the largest and sharpest tooth across the top of my hand. The canine fang cut through my skin, a line of dark red blood forming instantly.

  I watched in horror, though I didn’t watch for long. As pain shot through me, the world around me shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, and I was thrown out of my dream and back into reality.

  Reality was worse.

  I woke to a searing pain on my left hand, my eyes flying open to a dark room. Night had fallen hours ago, and I’d gone to bed, apparently falling asleep instantly, and then…then the nightmare.

  My entire left arm tingled in pain, originating on the top of my hand, and I lifted it off the sheets, feeling liquid drip down my skin. A breath caught in my throat as I realized it wasn’t just a nightmare.

  My hand was cut, the same line Sarah had made with the jaw bone dug into my flesh.

  Something inside me moved, something that had, until now, been sectioned off from me. Something wild and angry. My wolf. I had released her, become one with her in every way I could, but I didn’t let the wolf take control.