Addie felt—well, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt. Was she supposed to be happy her absentee grandfather miraculously showed up with a pet wolf in tow, wanting to be a part of her life? He’d done nothing to try to talk to either of them in the last twenty years, so he could screw off.
Unless he was loaded, in which case Addie might take some money to try and make her situation at the College disappear and her transcripts clean, and then she’d make him screw off.
The old man—Henry, her grandfather, as if the word meant anything to her—studied her with a pensive look. “Remarkable. She doesn’t react to him at all.”
React? How the heck was she supposed to react to a stranger and a dangerous, wild pet? Addie wondered. Was she supposed to do a happy dance and twirl around, singing ridiculous Disney songs that her life was going to change in the best of ways? Henry was in for a world of hurt, if he thought she’d be happy to see him.
“That’s because she’s not one of us,” Sarah spoke quickly. Too quickly. Even Addie knew it meant she was hiding something. But what?
And what did she mean when she said Addie wasn’t one of them?
Was she adopted?
“She is. A part of her, at least,” Henry spoke, continuing to act like she wasn’t there, a capable adult more than willing to interject into the conversation. Whatever they were talking about, they were talking about her. She knew enough to know that. “Unawakened, chained inside, but there nonetheless.”
“Addie, go upstairs,” Sarah said, an order from a parent to a child.
“Maze, go with her,” Henry ordered, sounding much like Sarah did.
“Maze will most certainly not be joining my daughter in her bedroom,” Sarah said, a low rumble emanating from her chest. Almost like a growl.
Okay, things were getting weird here very fast.
Addie took a step around the wolf, practically shouting, “Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Her voice trembled a bit, because it wasn’t every day she was faced with both a grandfather she never knew existed and a wolf who would not leave her alone. He trailed after her, watching her as she walked further into the kitchen, never leaving her side.
“Language, missy,” Sarah barked.
She was nineteen, and still she couldn’t swear in front of her mother. Addie was about to roll her eyes, but she saw that, beside her, the wolf’s chest shook. How much human speech did the thing understand?
Was it laughing at her?
“Maze is stuck,” Henry said, tapping his fingers on the kitchen table. “I only want him to go with her to make sure the girl doesn’t run. With you, I figure you’ve planned for this, and after looking for you both for so long, I’d rather not take any chances.”
Henry knew Sarah well; she was a hard-core planner. But this? She definitely didn’t plan for this, because Addie was as freaked out as she could possibly be. The darned wolf had nearly given her a heart attack.
“He is loyal to the pack,” Henry added. “He will never hurt her. Addie is much too precious for that.”
“Fine,” Addie muttered, weirded out, “I’ll go to my room, before this—whatever this is—gets any stranger. When I come down, things better start making sense or…or…” She trailed off, remembering how she got into this mess to begin with. She shouldn’t even be home right now; she should be off at college.
This was all happening because of a freaking floating book and a dumb C-minus.
Chapter Four
Addie practically leapt up the stairs, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. That man was her grandfather? Seemed like an asshole, but somehow it didn’t surprise her. Sarah had disowned everyone from her side of the family for a reason. And her father’s, well. She couldn’t blame her for not wanting to be near them after his death.
In all her life, recent actions included, Addie had never seen her mother act so uncontrolled. Sarah was always the calm one, always the one who talked things out. It’s where she got her logic from. But down there with Henry, Sarah had acted nothing short of wild. Like an animal herself.
And the way they talked about the wolf, Maze, like he was a person.
It was just ridiculous, so ridiculous she couldn’t even explain it.
Addie turned into her bedroom, about two seconds from closing the door when she heard a yelp. She quickly yanked the door open, finding the wolf had followed her and she’d closed the corner of the door on one of its front paws.
Her mother didn’t want the wolf to follow her, but what more could Sarah do, short of throwing the animal outside? The neighbors were far enough away, they wouldn’t see a wolf lounging on their porch, but it was a wolf. Not a dog. To try and make it do anything it didn’t want to do was stupid. The wolf clearly listened to Henry well. It might snap at anyone else who tried to make it leave.
The look of hurt on the wolf’s face caused Addie to apologize to it, in spite of herself and the fact it was just an animal, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” As she looked down at the wolf, she realized she still only wore one shoe; the other was downstairs in the kitchen with a few new holes.
Sighing, she moved to her bed, sitting on its edge as she yanked off her other shoe and tossed it across the room. Addie watched as the wolf trotted inside, limping only slightly. It wandered around her room, flicking its golden-brown eyes everywhere. At the boy band posters, at her dresser, where her mirror sat, all covered in stickers and pictures of the friends who’d grown apart from her.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” Addie asked, knowing that, really, she was talking to herself. “All this stuff is useless junk.” She reached for her nightstand, where a picture frame sat. Bringing it to her lap, she gazed down at the smiling faces in the photo. Her, Kate, and Mary. Three girls who each looked different but had a million and a half things in common. They all liked spicy foods, hated rom-coms, and sang along to every Disney movie they watched.
And now…now their friendship meant nothing.
But maybe it was just Addie being dramatic.
Addie was about to commiserate with the wolf when she happened to glance up and find the animal with its snout nose-deep into one of her suitcases, where her clothes were. The stuff she didn’t unpack yet, because she was hoping she was caught in a nightmare.
More specifically, where her bras and underwear were.
“Get out of there,” Addie said, leaping up as she dropped the frame onto her bed. She moved to the wolf’s side, more hesitant when she got closer. “That stuff,” she told it as it lifted its head and stared right at her, “is none of your business. You shouldn’t be seeing my underwear.” Not that it mattered, because Maze was an animal and nothing more, but still.
Its eyes were far too intelligent, almost like it knew it made a no-no.
It moved its head, headbutting her on her hip, nearly knocking her over, wagging its tail. Addie moved away from it, narrowing her stare. She wasn’t sure what the heck was wrong with the wolf, but it did not act like any wolf or dog she’d seen before.
God. Not like she spent her downtime meeting packs of wild dogs, but, well. Addie was speechless.
“No,” she said, trying to move away from it. “I’m not playing with—” Before she had the chance to finish the sentence and say the final word, you, the wolf knocked its side into her knees, causing her to trip. Addie tumbled to the floor, momentarily frightened the wolf was going to rip her throat out and eat her or something, but before she had the chance to shout, to reach for something, she froze at what she saw.
The wolf was nowhere in sight.
Instead, crawling above her was a very naked—and also very attractive, though that was not the point—boy. Beneath his blonde locks and brown eyes, he had an easy, dimpled smile. His arms encircled her head, and she blinked up at him, wondering when she’d fallen unconscious.
Because this was a dream, right? It had to be. This could not be happening.
The boy was about her age, maybe a year or two older. His skin was
pimple and scar free, angular and sculpted in all the ways that made her skin grow hot. Plus, as if she could forget, he was naked. Naked and muscular and…
She shouldn’t look down. Nope. She would not.
“Sorry,” he said, still smiling. “Didn’t mean to bump into you. I just got so excited because I felt the spell wearing off.” He explained it to her like it made all the sense in the world, as if he always was a wolf-boy. “You’re…you’re even prettier than I imagined you’d be.”
Addie felt herself growing even hotter, which was ridiculous, because not only was she going insane, but she was ninety-nine percent sure she was wide awake, totally aware of her descent into madness.
This was not happening. Not. Happening.
As the boy continued to smile down at her, she reached around her, grabbed her shoe, and whammed it on the side of his head, smacking him as hard as she could, given the insane situation. He recoiled enough, though he was also laughing at her, that she was able to crawl out from underneath him and run down the stairs, still gripping her lone tennis shoe.
“Mom!” Addie shouted. “Mom, who are these people? The wolf just…” Her legs stumbled to a halt when she reached the kitchen, and she instantly dropped her shoe. Her mother’s clothes laid on the floor, and a large, agile wolf stood above them, growling at the man at the table, at Henry.
“What—” Addie said, taking a step back, right into the arms of the naked boy, who’d followed her down. With her back on his bare chest, he wrapped an arm around her, stopping her from struggling, from moving.
Not like she had anywhere to go at this point.
Henry was in the middle of a great laugh. “Ah, Maze. I see the trap wore off. Making the moves already, pup?”
Behind her, Maze spoke quietly, “She’s upset. Now’s not the time.”
“You’re right,” Henry agreed. “As soon as Sarah quits her posturing, we can get on with this.”
Sarah? Addie could not take her gaze from the yellow-haired wolf standing atop her mother’s clothes. The wolf had green, sparkling eyes. Hazel, just like her mother’s. What the heck was going on here? The wolf wasn’t Sarah, was it?
What crazy, alternate reality did Addie step into when she wasn’t looking?
“What…” She said again, and once more, she found she could not say another word after it. What was there to say? Any explanation of what the heck was going on could not possibly explain the fact the wolf in her room had turned into a naked boy and how it sure looked like her mother was currently on four paws.
And then, of course, Addie realized she was being held against said naked boy, and through her thin clothes, she could feel way too much of him.
“Let me go,” Addie said, starting to struggle. The arm Maze held around her loosened immediately, and she whirled from his grasp, sending him a glare. A hard thing to do, considering he was both attractive and naked. “You…” Her eyes darted away, but it was too late. She’d seen it all. Every last inch of him, in all his naked glory.
“Go put on some clothes,” Addie finally said, and it was completely obvious she had an eyeful too much.
“I would,” Maze said, not acting at all how a naked boy should while in front of an old man and the wolf who may or may not have been Sarah. Addie was still unsure about that last part. “But thanks to your mom’s trap, I kind of shifted inside my clothes and tore them up.”
“Shifted?” Addie repeated, confused. Was that what he called it when he turned from a wolf to a boy?
Oh, God. Look at her, joining the train of crazy that was currently in her kitchen.
“Mom,” she called out. “Where are you? Please tell me you’re not the…” Addie didn’t have the chance to finish, because as she spoke, the wolf standing above her mother’s clothes morphed—er, shifted—into Sarah.
Who was also very much naked.
“Oh, my God,” Addie quickly turned around, squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m going to throw up.” When she cracked her gaze open, she heard her mother hurrying to put on her clothes.
Maze stared at Addie like she was the nutzoid. “Why?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious, so curious it baffled her completely. “Even without a pack, your mom’s in top form.”
She wanted to barf even more. Was he complimenting Sarah’s naked human body or her wolf? Either one was…just…no.
Henry got to his feet. “I have extra clothes in the car. Maze, wait here. I’m sure Sarah wants to explain everything to Addie.” He walked through the kitchen, heading to the front door as if he’d lived here for years, at home in their house, even though he was a stranger.
A stranger who was her grandfather. A stranger who brought a wolf-boy with him.
And her mother…Sarah was a wolf-woman?
Sarah flicked her gaze between Maze and Addie. Unlike Addie, she seemed to have no qualms about the nakedness of the boy. “Sit,” she said. “Both of you.” As they both went to sit—Addie in the nearest chair and Maze beside her, much to her chagrin—her mother ran shaking hands through her wild hair. “I was always afraid of this happening.”
“What is all this, Mom?” Addie asked, her hands resting on her lap. Her skin was clammy, sweaty. Probably because of the wolf stuff, not to mention the naked Maze less than a foot from her. She would not let her gaze lower past his chest. Not again. “Were you really just…a wolf?”
“I’m a shifter, honey,” Sarah spoke cautiously as she slid on her sandals. “A wolf, just like Maze and Henry.”
“Is he really my grandfather?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Addie wanted to laugh outright and ask what had gotten into her mother’s food this morning, but after everything, after seeing it for herself—and the darn magical floating book—things made more sense than they should. She should try to refute the claim, be logical, but she couldn’t.
A shifter.
The word just felt right.
Although it was ridiculous and insane, Addie found herself asking, “Am I a shifter too?” As she spoke it, she knew it was something that probably would’ve come up before. Turning into a wolf wasn’t something that could be hidden. She’d spent the first nineteen years of her life fully human, and she wanted it to stay that way.
She was very partial to two legs and opposable thumbs.
“I’d hoped you’d taken after your father,” Sarah said, moving to sit across from them at the table. She rested her hands on the wood, one palm atop the other. Considering everything, she was calm, cool, and collected. The opposite of what Addie felt inside. “But you might’ve inherited it from me.”
Beside her, Maze said, “I think you did. My wolf can feel yours.”
Addie turned to glare at him. Was it some kind of euphemism for his dick? So inappropriate, especially since her mother was three feet away.
“But I can’t turn,” Addie said, like that was that. If she could end this stupid conversation right now, she gladly would. Being on the crazy train was not as fun as it was cracked up to be. If life could go back to the way it was, that’d be great.
Maze leaned closer, his dark eyes sparkling, reminding her of his wolf shape. No wonder the wolf had looked at her so intelligently, acted like it could understand her. It could, because it was a freaking boy.
A boy who, Addie realized, had been sniffing around her underwear.
Okay, now she definitely didn’t like him.
“If you could turn, would you?” Maze questioned, an urgency hidden in his voice. A voice that, in spite of herself, Addie sort of liked.
“I don’t…” She was going to say she didn’t know, but it was her gut reaction. After thinking about it, she said, “No.” No, she wouldn’t want to turn. No, she didn’t want to be a shifter or whatever they were called. No, no, no. She just wanted her life to go back to normal.
Sarah smiled at her response. “That a girl. See?” She smirked at Maze. “Not one of you. Now go to the car and leave with Henry—”
As if on cue, Henry st
rolled in, the old man carrying a bundle of clothes. Jeans, from the look of it, and a plain t-shirt, which he tossed to Maze, who deftly caught it. His reaction time was good, Addie gave him that, even when he was…well, even when he was a frigging wolf.
“We won’t be leaving, unless it is with you and Addie,” Henry said. “The pack needs you, both of you. You will run from us no more, pup.”
Addie blinked. Did he just call Sarah a pup? She was a thirty-six-year-old woman, not a pup. Not a dog. She was her mother, and Addie felt herself growing annoyed at the balls this old man had, regardless of whether he was her grandfather or not. “You will not talk to my mom like that,” she said. “Not in this house, where you are a guest.”
Henry forced a smile, though it was clear he did not want to. “I see you’ve gotten your mother’s spirit. How fortunate for us.” The way he said it made her think he meant the exact opposite, that he hoped she would be compliant and willing to go off with him in the wilderness to join their pack or whatever.
Ugh. No, thanks. Addie liked indoor plumbing a bit too much to give it up.
Beside her, Maze stood and started to dress himself, unabashedly swinging his junk around for all to see. No one paid much attention to him though, besides Addie, because her mother and Henry were busy staring each other down.
“But,” Henry spoke, “I am afraid we will not be leaving unless it’s with Addie, at the very least.”
Addie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Did he mean they were going to kidnap her, take her against her will? She might not have had a bright future ahead of herself thanks to the events of recent days, but to go off with strangers was the last thing she wanted to do.
“You will not force her to go,” Sarah said, smacking the table, causing Addie to jerk in surprise. “I have raised her to be her own woman, and she is more than able to make her own choices. You will not strongarm her like you tried to do me.”
“Why does it matter?” Addie asked. “Why, after all this time, do you want me to go with you? Seems pointless now, doesn’t it? You’ll never be family to me.”
Limitless: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Crystal Lake Pack Book 1) Page 3