Shifted Rose [The Cursed Wolves Series, Book 1]

by Holly Hook

  I don't argue. Gavin runs forward, rifle at the ready, and I follow, armed with my can of bear spray. We could both die doing this. Tyler could watch us both meet our ends. But I see nothing. I hear no growling ahead and no fights.

  We burst into the yard to find three wolves facing away from us, in the direction of the former garden.

  Gavin stops, paling, with his gun still raised.

  Chaz, Valerie, and Cammie hunch low, growling at three wolves on the other side of rose bush. One is huge, tan, and nothing but cruelty. Alan. His leather jacket and jeans lay next to him as if he waltzed here in human form and shifted. And the two flanking him are classic horror movie monsters. Brown hackles stand up and drool runs down both wolves' faces. Redness lives in the beasts' eyes. Only the magical rose bush stands between them and the Rose Pack.

  But one wolf is missing.

  Tyler himself.

  He's not here yet. These wolves seem to be...waiting. A few growls rise, but no one makes the first move.

  Alan growls and slowly looks up at me. And then his hackles lower as the hint of a smile plays on his lips. Can wolves smile?

  Gavin curses and raises his rifle, but neither Alan nor the other new wolves protest. Alan just steps to the side, lowering his threatening posture. He sniffs the rose bush for a second as if thinking, and then he eyes the woods behind him.

  "This is insane," Gavin whispers. "This is nuts. I can't do this. Oh, shit."

  Valerie turns and growls at us, sharp and no-nonsense. Her blue eyes train on us, intense and unforgiving.

  "She's warning us back," I say, grabbing Gavin's arm. His muscles are tight. He's still shaking, aiming at Alan.

  Valerie growls again, this time more desperate. The two new wolves do the same in response.

  "No one's doing anything," Gavin says, confused.

  "They're warning us back," I repeat. "Something's wrong. It's not what we thought."

  He could shoot Alan now, but his finger shakes around the trigger. Valerie eyes it with animal terror but she doesn't move from her spot. And Gavin won't move.

  "They're waiting," I say. "And if you shoot, the fight starts."

  "I'm afraid of that," Gavin breathes.

  As if confirming his fears, one of the brown wolves lets out a sharp growl.

  And then Valerie stomps on her front paws again, snapping at us, warning us to get away. We've made a mistake. Even Chaz looks at me, eyes widening in shock as he seems to realize something.

  Then I understand.

  I'm here to lure Tyler to the fight.

  And once he arrives, the massacre can begin.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  "Gavin, we've got to go. It's a trap," I hiss.

  I seize his arm and pull him back, but Gavin's rooted to the spot, determined to defend me. He keeps his gun aimed at the savage beasts still staring down Chaz, Valerie, and Cammie.

  "Gavin, come on!"

  He blinks out of his trance. "They're real," he mutters.

  Slapping him again won't help and that's mean, so I pull at his plaid sleeve. Then Gavin unroots himself and we turn together to run back to the truck. My mind spins. Tyler will smell me here. And he won't be able to resist just as he hadn't when we got stranded. The only chance we have now is getting out and warning him. If the new wolves don't kill him, they can't take over this territory, right?

  We run to the truck, and plodding feet follow.

  "Shit," I mutter as two brown monsters circle in front of us, stopping in front of the truck. We're fifteen feet from it, and the disgusting, slobbering wolves lower themselves to the ground, growling and filling the world with dread. Ice fills my chest as Gavin stops with me, shouting curses and raising his weapon.

  The Rose Pack runs after us, snapping at the new wolves, but sheer panic fills Gavin's eyes as he swings the rifle between the two wolves blocking our way.

  "No," I shout. They're not attacking. They're waiting. But if Gavin—

  He grits his teeth and fires.

  A deafening bang fills the air and my ears with a ringing sound. One of the wolves yelps, the one in front of me, and goes down onto his side. The smell of smoke and blood fills the air as the animal rolls on the ground, dribbling the red substance onto the road and the overgrown grass. A new wave of growls fills the air. The other wolves. They run to stand behind us, and they don't sound happy.

  "He's not dead," I shout, pulling on Gavin's sleeve. "We have to go."

  The wolf stills as its friend—and Alan—draw closer. They sniff the injured animal, and Alan backs away as if he's not sure what to do. But the other wolf isn't having it.

  He leaps not at Gavin but at Valerie, and the blond wolf backs away, swinging her claws at the monster.

  "What the heck?" Gavin shouts as Alan turns to snap at Chaz.

  They're not attacking us. The hurt wolf takes a deep breath. Its wound is closing, already scabbed, and it's pushing itself up.

  "What the hell?" Gavin repeats. He raises his weapon again as the other wolf backs Valerie against a tree, and Chaz and Cammie leap on the monster. But Alan steps to the side and breaks into a run.

  He's running to meet someone.

  I whirl.

  "Tyler! No!"

  The beautiful dark wolf runs out of the woods, charging Alan, ears flattened. He's here for me. Tyler was staying away and I brought him back.

  Alan charges him, growling in warning. And the second one rejoins the fight.

  Tyler and Alan stop by the rose bush, circling, staring at each other.

  "Is that seriously Tyler?" Gavin asks.

  I run towards him. I can't leave now because I somehow know that if Tyler runs now, he forfeits the fight and his territory. The nightmare wolves will take over. "No. Don't fight. Alan. You're better than this!"

  To my shock, the tan wolf looks right at me.

  Tyler stops circling as well. It takes everything I have not to stare into his terror-filled, protective eyes.

  "Alan. You don't have to do this. You don't have to hang out with monsters. You're not one," I say. Please, believe it. "I know you brought me here, but you don't have to go through with cursing me or anyone else. If you hang out with these wolves, they'll take over this town and what they'll do will be nothing compared to what...to what others have done." I won't mention Tyler's family out loud. He has nothing to do with that.

  But Alan snorts, almost in shock, and parades over to the rose bush. Tyler growls and lowers himself to the ground, but he doesn't attack.

  "We should go," Gavin says, clamping his hand down on my shoulder. He pulls me back, but I dig my feet into the ground and stop myself from going with him.

  The sounds of growling, snapping jaws, and crashing underbrush ring out from the side. The two huge wolves are against Valerie, Chaz, and Cammie. Three smaller wolves against two monsters. Tyler against Alan. My breath hitches and my heart races. Everything might depend on me convincing Alan to stand down on this fight. If I can do that—

  "Alan. You don't have to fight. These new wolves will go after the people of your town. Aren't the Rose Pack your family? I can forgive you. You might have brought me here, but—"

  Alan growls, almost as if struck, and backs to the huge rose bush.

  Tyler, instead of attacking, circles the bush to stand in front of us. Gavin jumps, but I hold up my hand to tell him to stop, not to shoot, to wait. The fight draws farther away. The sounds of running wolves and growling fades through the trees.

  We're alone.

  It's just us.

  And Alan, now behind the rose bush, begins to shift back into human form. The sounds of popping and stretching fill the air, turning my stomach.

  Tyler backs away as he does. I don't understand what's happening but I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe Alan is coming around. Perhaps this was all I had to do.

  "This isn't real. This isn't real," Gavin says, facing the ground and shaking.

  "Stay there. Maybe he's willing to talk," I say as he releases m
y arm. I can't let my guard down. The air fills with the horrific sounds of Alan's bones breaking again and again, of skin stretching and fur whispering as it retracts. At last, Alan stands behind the lush rose bush, unclothed, just a hint of his muscled form silhouetted behind the shrub.

  "Alan?" Gavin sputters. He almost drops his gun, but I grab his arm and stop him.

  But Alan doesn't waste any time. He leans around the rose bush and around those magical, too-red blossoms. His smile tells me that he hasn't changed back to negotiate and break ties with those monster werewolves. Alan is here to say something crushing.

  Tyler gets in front of us and growls in warning, but it's too late.

  He could attack Alan right now. Take him down when he's in human form and butt naked. But he doesn't. Tyler backs into me, not looking in my direction, muzzle down to the ground. He pushes me back, but I refuse to leave.

  "Beckah? What's happening?" Gavin asks.

  "You think I'm the one who brought you here?" Alan asks. "I never wanted that at all. If anything, Beckah, I was trying to help you by making you leave, at least at first. But no. Tyler had to go and ruin things. He's the one who brought you here."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Silence falls over the forest and the vacation home. Gavin backs off as if he's unsure what to say.

  And Tyler goes completely still at my feet.

  "Huh?" I mutter.

  "Yeah. Your hiker parents came through here. He didn't tell you that?" Alan asks from his spot behind the bush. He turns up his smile so far that his tattoo wrinkles. "Or that he needs to fall in love with an uncursed girl to return to being human? The problem is, girls unaffected by the curse are in short supply around here as you may have noticed. So Tyler needed a mail-order girlfriend."

  Tyler does nothing at first. And then he lets out a low, mournful sound that turns my stomach.

  "What?" I ask.

  "Oh, you don't like that, do you?" Alan asks. "I can't believe you thought it was me who brought you here. Yeah, your parents came through. Stole a piece of this, too," he says, pinching a rose petal. "This plant's got our humanity inside of it. And when it's tampered with, it affects things. It makes the curse stronger. Makes the animal in us stronger. Tyler got a bit desperate after it got damaged."

  I take a sharp breath.

  Mom picked a flower.

  And by doing so, did she take away a bit of Tyler's humanity by mistake?

  Did she make him more desperate than he already is?

  "Well, don't you want to be human again? If I can break the curse, I can help you all," I say, throat dry, desperate to break the silence. A buzzing sound fills my ears and I fear I'll pass out. What if Alan is telling the truth? "Tyler. He's lying, right?"

  Tyler just stares sadly at the rose bush.

  I gulp.

  He's not lying?

  Did he seriously bring me here?

  I rip my gaze from Tyler, a storm of emotions boiling inside of me. I face Alan, because anything is better than the fire of betrayal and the sickness raging in my gut. Tears gather in my eyes, threatening to spill. But Alan only smiles at the sight of my distress.

  "Being human was a curse by itself," Alan growls, showing all of his perfect teeth. "Tyler wants us all to return to being nothing, and he's the one who turned us. He says he saved us. And he did. But now that he knows this rose bush won't last forever, that we won't be a weak pack forever, he wants to take all of that away."

  Tyler rises and growls, arguing with Alan.

  "Tyler. I want to hear what he has to say," I yell, unable to contain my rage. I'm shaking. Tyler seriously brought me into danger? I want to turn and storm away right now. Grab Gavin, ditch Tyler, and hop in his truck. But I can't. This isn't just about me and Tyler anymore.

  Then the dark wolf looks at me, and his eyes beg me not to leave.

  "Have you ever been abused, Beckah?" Alan asks. "Have you ever been beaten to within an inch of your life by a man much bigger than you with an alcohol problem and a nasty temper?"

  Don't cry. I will not cry. I shake my head as my chin trembles. "No."

  "Tyler took me away from that. He gave me the ability to fight back. I chased my garbage sperm donor out of town. I wasn't his punching bag anymore. And now he wants us to become human and be abused again?"

  Tyler growls and looks up at me, shaking his head. I can explain. That's all over his face.

  I grab onto that little shred of hope. Maybe there's more to this than I thought and maybe Alan just made up an elaborate lie.

  "But you aren't abused anymore. You're almost adults," I say. I don't know how to feel. "Please. You don't have to fight each other. If you go back to being human—"

  "We just get abused in a different way," Alan says. "Haven't you seen this town? Even before that sorceress or whatever gave Tyler that rose, it was cursed. Just by his family!" He jabs a finger at Tyler. "You think any of us are getting out when we're their financial slaves? They won't let us go. At least as wolves, we don't depend on the Roses."

  Tyler growls.

  So this is about him, not me.

  He brought me here?

  He lied to me?

  I swallow. "If this is true—"

  "Don't worry," Alan says, cutting me off with another nasty smile. "I don't want to kill you, Beckah. I never did. At first I just tried to scare you away. When it was clear that you weren't going to go away on your own, I had to take action. At least now you have the truth you deserve."

  "Then we're good, right?" What am I going to do? Tyler let me believe it was Alan who brought me here. I look down at him. Now he won't meet my gaze. Instead, Tyler lies down as if he's already submitting to Alan.

  The woods remain silent. The other wolves have vanished.

  The rest of the Rose Pack could be dead or injured because of me...no, because of Tyler and Alan.

  I ball my fists. "You lied to me!"

  Tyler doesn't flinch, and I know my accusation is true.

  He somehow convinced my father to send me out here to Tower. He made my father literally throw me to the wolves, and all over a missing rose blossom. And that's the reason my family's been ripped apart.

  Valerie knows, too. It's why she thought that dating someone else would convince Alan that I wasn't a threat. They all knew. I was the only one in the dark.

  "He sure did," Alan says. "But I don't trust him. I don't trust either one of you. I won't take the risk. You can't remain uncursed." He grips the side of the rose bush, drawing blood from his fingers as he curls them around thorns.

  I back away as ice flows through my veins. Gavin moves with me as Alan hunches, all muscle, and begins the shift.

  Terror explodes.

  He's going to bite me.

  And then I'll be at the mercy of those monster wolves once Tyler dies.

  "Run!" I shout at Gavin as bones once again snap and flesh stretches.

  "Beckah. Go. I'll shoot him!"

  We turn away from Tyler, leaving him to his fate.

  He betrayed me. He's the worst monster of them all.

  Gavin and I bolt to the truck, using the valuable time to cross the distance. Tyler growls at us, urging us to go.

  "This wasn't how I planned to spend the afternoon!" Gavin yanks the door open and I do the same, but a huge, tan blur is already running towards us.

  He'll bite me. And then it'll be all over. I go to climb inside as panic billows into my chest. I won't get in before he leaps on me. He's too fast.

  Tyler leaps on him from behind, and the two wolves go down in a tangle of fighting.

  Gavin cocks his weapon. "Beckah! Get in!"

  I hesitate, hand on the truck door. Even outed, Tyler is fighting to keep me safe. I'm uncursed. I have to stay that way, Tyler or no Tyler. Even if I can never love him, even if he's betrayed me, he's saved my life more than once, and I owe him.

  "Don't shoot until you have good aim!" I shout. A regular bullet might not kill werewolves but it can slow Tyler enough for A
lan to deliver a finishing blow. Gavin can't mess this up. But the two wolves roll around each other, aiming for vital parts. This is the challenge, the real one, and if we interfere, the outcome is void.

  My bear spray.

  I reach into my pack for it and seize the half-used can. We might void the challenge but Tyler needs to live another day, not for me but for this town.

  Gavin and I aim, but nothing opens. Blood flies. The air reeks of iron. Neither of us can hit Alan and not Tyler.

  And then Alan frees himself from Tyler's claws and runs not at me, but at the rose bush.

  "Huh?" Gavin asks.

  Alan begins digging at the base of the plant, making dirt fly. He's digging it out, trying to damage it, trying to worsen the curse. What happens if the plant is destroyed?

  Tyler growls in panic and runs after Alan.

  It can't be good.

  "We've got to stop him," I shout, running after Alan.

  "He's just digging up a—oh." Gavin bolts after me, cocking his weapon.

  "Alan!" I shout right before Tyler reaches him.

  The tan wolf whirls and growls at me, his mouth closed around the main stalk of the rose bush. All he has to do is snap it. And if that happens...it won't be good for Tyler or the Rose Pack. Blood leaks from around Alan's lips. The thorns are cutting him, and the harder he clamps down on the bush, the more savage the look in his eyes becomes. The dark brown irises go from cunning to murderous as he stares me down. He's no longer Alan, but a savage beast.

  I lift the bear spray.

  But Alan lets go of the rose bush and leaps not at Tyler, but at me.

  Gavin fires. The bullet misses its mark, and Alan collides with me as I let the bear spray rip. We go down, and I hit the ground so hard that I release the can. It's just me and Alan. Spots dance in my vision as he growls in my face, slobbering like a pure animal. And I know that he's not just going to bite me. He's going to finish the job right here.

  My heart races as his huge paws pin me down.

  I can't be nice to him anymore.

  "Shoot him!" I shout, hating it.

  Gavin fires.

  This time the bullet strikes, and Alan yelps and goes down only to have Tyler leap on him. Blood flies and dribbles. I push myself from the ground and into Gavin's embrace. The bear spray rolls away to stop beside two fighting wolves.