A Pack of Love and Hate

by Olivia Wildenstein

  “Sarah—”

  “Why didn’t I think about this sooner?”

  “Because it’s crazy, not to mention dangerous.”

  “And fighting in a duel is oh-so-safe?” She pried my fingers off hers. “I’ll be fine. I promise.” She rose and walked over to the island to root through her handbag. She came up with a cell phone. “I’m going to tell him about your visit out East to win his trust. Don’t tell Liam or Lucas or anyone else the reason I’m betraying your pack, though. It’s better they all think I’m trying to be a good Creek.”

  “I hate this.”

  “Well, I hate your lack of style, but you don’t see me making a fuss about it.”

  “My lack of style? Seriously?”

  She raised a wolfish grin. “All you wear is denim and tank tops—in a variety of blues and whites and blacks. Granted your clothes are skintight, so they’re not horribly unsexy, but you could have so much more fun gussying up your hot self.” She tossed her phone on her bag, then went into her bedroom.

  Doors slid on rails, metal hangers clinked, heavy things thumped.

  She returned a couple minutes later, lugging a huge bag filled to the brim with clothes. “Since you and I won’t be hanging out for a while, here’s some stuff. Most of it’s too small for me—”

  “We’re the same size.”

  “—on top. Or no longer my style.”

  “Sarah . . .”

  “Stop saying my name all breathily. You sound blonde.”

  “I am blonde. And so are you. And the only reason I’m saying your name like that is because you’re not letting me finish any of my sentences, and you’re behaving like you just broke out of the loony bin.”

  “I want Cassandra Morgan dead, Ness. And so do you. And unless you want me to creep up on her in her sleep and murder her, which would just make her heart useless for the taking—if I even manage to make it stop beating—I’m going to seduce her son to help you guys.” She forced the bag into my arms. “Now go. I need to fumigate my apartment to get rid of your smell.”

  I got up, clutching the bag. “Why would her heart be useless for the taking?”

  “Because only Alphas can take another’s heart.” When I frowned, she added, “Their hearts are already open to connections.”

  “So Liam could sneak up on her and kill her in her sleep?”

  “He could, but there’d be no honor in doing it. He’d just be considered a coward and a thief. No self-respecting Alpha would resort to murder in order to steal a foreign pack.”

  I mulled this over as I walked toward her front door. Before letting myself out, I said, “If Alex tries anything, you let me know straight away, and I’ll get you out.”

  She nodded, but excitement glimmered in her eyes. I understood her desire to help—if the tables had been turned, I would’ve been the first to volunteer—but I feared what the Creeks would do to her if they discovered her duplicity. Even though Morgan claimed she wasn’t out for blood, she’d punished her defectors—Everest, disloyal Aspens, the River Alpha’s daughter—with murder.

  24

  Matt decided to test my endurance and friendship the following morning. Instead of a one-hour trek, he took me on a two-hour tour of Boulder’s rockiest mountain roads and most treacherous hiking trails.

  “Heard we’re all doing dinner tonight,” he said as he hydrated in my kitchen, his big forehead flushed and sweaty.

  At least the exercise hadn’t been too easy on him either.

  “Not sure I’ll be able to peel myself out of bed after what you just made me do. Did Liam ask you to torture me, or was it all your idea?”

  “All my idea, Little Wolf. Glad you enjoyed it.”

  I stuck out my tongue as I refilled my glass with cold tap water. “Not to pry, but what’s going on between you and August?”

  “Nothing’s going on between us.”

  Matt cocked one of his very blond eyebrows. “He almost ripped me a new one for hammering the wrong baseboard into a wall yesterday when just last week he was discussing bonuses, so I don’t buy that nothing’s going on.”

  “I’m telling the truth. Nothing’s going on between us. I broke up with him for good.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because.”

  “Because what?”

  I set my glass down on the counter, then turned on the tap and scooped some water up to splash my face. “Because I didn’t miss him when I was out there, which means our attraction is caused by the bond.” I hoped that between the sound of running water and having my back turned, Matt wouldn’t detect the glaring lie.

  “For real?”

  I let the water run a couple seconds more, then shut it off. It trailed down my neck and bled into my running bra, cooling down my warm body. When I turned around, Matt’s entire forehead was pleated.

  “That’s brutal.”

  “He’ll get over it.”

  “I remember you saying the exact same thing about Liam.” Matt shook his head. “He didn’t get over it.”

  “He’s about to get over me, considering—” I snapped my lips shut. Had I really been about to blurt out Tamara’s baby news to Matt?

  “Considering what?”

  “Considering something I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

  “Ness . . .”

  “Can’t tell you, Matt.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it doesn’t involve me.”

  “Who does it involve?”

  “Liam. I think.”

  “I got that, but—”

  “Please, Matt. Forget I said anything.”

  He pushed away from my kitchen counter. “You do realize that’s like telling my wolf to forget about a deer? Once I spot it, I want it.”

  “Look at that. It’s eight o’clock.”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “You’re late for work.”

  “And you’re being amazingly annoying, which is quite the feat for you.”

  I shot him a brazen smile. “I can’t be that annoying. After all, you hang out with me when you don’t need to.”

  That won me a big-ass grin. “I have a thing for annoying people.”

  “I won’t tell Amanda.”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about my girlfriend.”

  I winked at him as he opened the door.

  “Take an ice bath, Little Wolf. It helps with sore muscles.”

  I didn’t take an ice bath, but I did take a cold shower that felt like standing underneath falling needles, and then I headed to the house and worked on the floors until I’d scraped off every last speck of the past. My bedroom took the longest, but that was mostly because I spent a bunch of minutes staring at the loose floorboard. For a moment, I thought of nailing it shut so it could never again be used to conceal secrets, but finally decided to leave it be.

  Before being a depository for stolen Sillin, it had been a place where I’d stowed away my treasures and dreams.

  That night, exhausted, I almost bailed on dinner but ended up going because I felt like I should make an effort to spend time with the pack outside of training.

  When I got to Tracy’s, Amanda and Matt were already seated at a table along the wall which was decorated with vintage movie posters in cheap frames that were smudged with greasy handprints. The former housekeeper in me cringed at the cleanliness of this place. I didn’t even want to think about the state of the kitchen. Thankfully, I was endowed with a wolf stomach; in other words, I could digest questionable meat and not hurl.

  As I sat in front of Amanda, Matt all but yelled over the music playing in the background and the continuous plink of cue sticks against pool balls, “You made it!”

  “I almost didn’t. Everywhere hurts.”

  “I heard my baby’s been working you out,” Amanda said, pushing her wavy, brown hair behind her ear.

  “Torturing me’s more like it.”

  Matt grinned, and so did Amanda, which was a nice change from her usual
hot and cold attitude toward me.

  She took a sip of her beer. “Heard you were starting at UCB. Did Matt tell you I’m going there too?”

  “No!” Even though Amanda and I weren’t besties, it was neat to know another person at UCB. Especially if I was to have no interaction with Sarah.

  A waitress with heavy bangs came up behind me and asked what I wanted to drink. I recognized her right away: Kelly.

  Another one of August’s hookups . . .

  “I’ll have the same as them,” I said. Thankfully, she didn’t card me.

  “Coming right up.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes with her pinky finger, then poured me some iced water before leaving to grab my beer.

  Amanda set her elbows on the table and steepled her fingers under her chin. “What are you thinking of majoring in?”

  “Business.”

  Her already large eyes went a little larger. “Me too! So we’ll probably be in all the same classes. Sienna and Matty already told me all the professors to stay away from and all the awesome ones.”

  “Liam’s also filled me in.”

  “Yeah?” She cranked one eyebrow up and flicked her gaze to Matt as though to ask him what the deal was between Liam and me.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Lucas chirped. “Liam had trouble deciding whether to wear his black T-shirt or his black T-shirt.”

  I turned and craned my neck in time to catch Liam smack Lucas’s chest.

  “Where’s blondie?” Lucas asked, scanning the crowd by the pool tables. Why he thought Sarah would be playing pool instead of sitting with us was beyond me.

  “She couldn’t make it.”

  I caught Amanda mouthing blondie and Matt whispering Sarah Matz’s name.

  “So it’s just the five of us?” Lucas asked.

  “Seems like it,” Liam said.

  Lucas eyed the bar as though he were contemplating heading over there, but Liam must’ve spoken into Lucas’s mind, because he cringed and dropped into a free chair. Unfortunately, not the one next to me. Liam took that one. And then he draped his arm over the top of my chair.

  I leaned forward so that my shoulders didn’t touch his arm.

  Kelly came back with my drink and beers for the boys. She apparently knew them so well she’d preempted their order.

  I bet she also knew what August drank.

  After we’d ordered food, Liam said, “Heard Matt made you run twelve miles this morning.”

  “Twelve? Felt closer to forty.”

  Liam chuckled.

  Even though the music was getting progressively louder, making conversation was surprisingly easy. This could’ve been due to the number of beers we’d put away. Kelly seemed way nicer toward the end of the meal. Especially when she delivered three extra orders of fries.

  I probably overindulged, because my stomach was as hard as a pool ball. I caught Liam looking at the hand I held against my abdomen, before twisting around and scowling.

  I turned.

  It wasn’t the hedonistic meal that was causing the stomach cramps.

  Sitting at the bar with Cole was August.

  And taking his order was Kelly, who suddenly didn’t look especially pleasant anymore.

  25

  “Hey, Cole’s here!” Amanda bellowed loudly. She waved to get his attention.

  I spun my almost empty beer bottle between my index and middle fingers, contemplating ordering another drink.

  If they came over to the table, I’d definitely need another.

  They didn’t come over, but a couple minutes later, two girls showed up: Tamara and Sienna. Lucas grabbed some chairs from a neighboring table and scooted them around ours. Where Sienna smiled at me, Tamara didn’t even glance my way.

  I caught Lucas sniffing the air. Even though Tracy’s was riddled with smells that ranged from bacon grease and tangy barbecue sauce, to perspiration and pungent perfumes, I felt like Lucas, who was a tracker, would detect the baby growing in Tamara’s womb. When his black eyebrows jotted up and his gaze narrowed on Tamara’s midsection, I took it he’d figured it out. He cast a glance in Liam’s direction, but our Alpha was busy laughing at something Sienna was saying. I stared at Lucas steadily until his gaze met mine. Blinking, he shot to his feet and came around the table.

  “We’ll be right back,” Lucas said as I got up.

  We walked toward the pool tables where the noise level had grown almost deafening.

  “What the fuck?” Lucas snapped.

  “You’re going to have to give me some more to go on, because I’m not sure how to answer that question. Was it even a question?”

  He growled a little. “You knew?”

  “I . . . inadvertently found out.”

  He scraped his hand through his chin-length black hair. “Fuck.”

  “We shouldn’t be making a scene, Lucas.”

  “Not making a scene? She’s fucking pregnant!” he whisper-hissed.

  “Keep your voice down. Besides, maybe it’s not his baby.”

  “Tamara hasn’t been with anyone else.”

  I didn’t ask how he knew that.

  Concern, anger, and disbelief contorted all of his features. I wasn’t sure what warranted the anger. “He’s going to be furious.”

  He was speaking as though it was all Tamara’s fault.

  “It takes two people to make a baby, Lucas.”

  “No shit.” Then in a low voice, he grumbled, “The last thing he needs or wants right now is to be a daddy.”

  I folded my arms in front of the leather tank top I’d dug out of Sarah’s bag. It was pretty bad-ass and also pretty tight. “He should’ve thought about that before forgoing using a condom.”

  “He would never have forgotten to suit up. And why the fuck are we discussing Liam and condoms?” Lucas’s jaw twitched. “He’s about to fucking duel an Alpha . . . Trust me, he doesn’t want to discuss diaper rashes and formula.”

  “Well, it’s not like he has a choice.” I glanced over Lucas’s shoulder at our table. Thankfully, everyone was chatting again, even though the banter felt stilted.

  Lucas grumbled something unintelligible, then looked over his shoulder at Liam. “I’m surprised he hasn’t picked up on it yet.”

  Of course, the instant he said that, Liam’s shoulders tensed. Had he heard our discussion or the stirring of life in Tamara’s womb? He rocketed up so fast his chair skidded and toppled over. After setting it back on its legs, he looked toward us, froze, but then shook himself out of his stupor. Tamara’s face paled as he leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Even though I stood at a distance from them, the tremors going through her body as she rose didn’t elude me.

  I chewed on my pinky’s nail, worried he was angry, but from what I could see of his face, it wasn’t anger . . . more like shock. He placed his hand on her elbow and steered her through the rowdy bar and then out onto the street.

  Lucas started going after them, but I clapped his forearm. “Let them be.”

  “But—” He looked at me, then at the glass door, then back at me.

  “They need to talk. Let them talk.”

  Matt had gotten up now, too. Instead of traipsing after Liam, he came to us. “What the hell’s happening?”

  Since Lucas’s mouth was gaping, but not moving otherwise, I said, “Tamara’s pregnant.”

  Matt’s green eyes rounded like frisbees. “No . . .”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Was that your—”

  “Big secret? Yeah.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah.”

  Cole made his way to us, but August didn’t. As Matt filled in his brother, I weaved myself through the thickening crowd toward the shifter who had his back to me and climbed onto the barstool Cole had vacated.

  “You’re still angry with me, aren’t you?” I asked.

  August’s gaze skimmed over my face, then over the black leather encasing my upper body, before returning to one of the TVs over the bar. Instead of answering
my question, he asked, “Had a nice dinner?”

  His tone made me smile. “You sound like you hope it was awful.” This won me a piercing side-eye. “What about you?”

  “We haven’t had our food yet.”

  “I’m sure Kelly’s working extra hard to fix that, or maybe she hasn’t brought it over to extend your visit.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I crossed my legs and spun on the barstool so that I was facing the TV too. “Didn’t you have a fling with her?”

  I felt his gaze trace my profile, linger on my chin . . . or was it my mouth? “I’m surprised this bothers you considering . . .”

  “Considering?”

  “Considering how you’re not interested in me.”

  Ouch. I could’ve lied at that point, told him that it didn’t bother me, that he could have flings with every girl in this bar for all I cared, but truth was, I did care and absolutely didn’t want to drive him into the arms of another girl. “I finished sanding the floors. I’ll bring all the equipment back tomorrow.”

  August watched me, then watched the boys who were still discussing the new development behind us, then moved his gaze back to the television displaying a live baseball game. He didn’t ask me what all the excitement was about. Had he figured it out on his own, or was he simply uninterested?

  “I was thinking of oiling the wood like Dad used to,” I continued. “Which brand would you recommend?”

  “The one we have at the warehouse. I’ll put some aside for you tomorrow. You can grab it from the office when you drop off the sanders.”

  “I can also go to the store and buy it.”

  He angled himself fully toward me now, his broad chest eclipsing everyone behind him. “You could, but then you wouldn’t get the quality stuff we stock.”

  I sighed. “Will you at least let me pay for it?”

  Instead of answering me—or maybe his pointed look was the answer—he raised his hand to get the bartender’s attention. “Hey, Tommy, can I get a Coors and another Michelob?”

  The bartender nodded. Seconds later, two bottles appeared in front of us on the sticky bar.