Limitless: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Crystal Lake Pack Book 1)

by Candace Wondrak

  Okay. See the lake first, find Maze second, go home third. Good plan.

  Addie’s feet picked up her pace. Instinct told her it was further in, past the park sitting at the end of the dead-end street Maze’s house sat on. She passed only a few strangers as she went, some children playing on the playground as their mothers looked on. Well, she thought, at least she wasn’t the only girl around. There were others.

  She ignored the strange looks the women gave her, pretended not to hear the children ask them, “Who’s that?”

  Addie kept going, drawing herself through the park until the grass below gave way to pebbles, which soon dwindled into coarse, rocky sand. The lake was large. Maybe a mile or more across, even wider in circumference. A few wooden docks were built on this side of the lake, and on its other side, Addie saw a tall rocky outcropping that stood at least twenty feet above the water. A good view, one she wanted to have before leaving.

  Was Crystal Lake crystal clear? She’d find out, and then she’d go.

  She circled the lake, walking along its edge. The side with the tall rocks sat in the forest, their shifter town not fully around the entire thing. More trees sprouted up on its wilder side, standing tall, small animals scurrying along. Squirrels, rabbits, mice, all digging along and running from her as she went. The sand stopped the moment big rocks took its place, and with one quick look, she knew she wouldn’t be able to climb it. She had to go deeper into the forest and hope there was a better walkway from another angle.

  It took her a few extra minutes, but Addie was able to find a less steep, less rocky way up to the lake’s overlook. She moved confidently, mostly curious about the view and still very much irate about the whole thing with Maze.

  Just because he was an attractive guy didn’t mean she wanted to—yuck—mate with him, and it definitely didn’t mean she would want to do anything like that with his brothers, or whoever the heck they were if they weren’t biologically related.

  Human society might suck sometimes, but at least it wasn’t this bad. This restricting and controlling. At least, she amended, not in the twenty-first century in America. Not for her. Even without a degree, she’d be better out there than in here. This was a terrible mistake and a complete waste of time.

  Addie’s feet stopped. She was about thirty feet from the top of the overlook when she spotted someone sitting on a fallen log, hunched over. A mess of black hair, sticking every which way. Stubble coating a strong chin and gaunt cheeks. A man, clearly, sitting by himself with his knees apart, arms resting on them, hands hanging toward the ground, where his gaze was fixated. A strong man, given the muscles on his arms, the veins that stuck out, not to mention the fact his chest was probably bigger than hers, except all muscle.

  A pair of blue eyes flicked up at her—no, she amended, they’d watched her approach. He was a shifter; he’d probably heard her coming from across the darn lake, with his super special hearing.

  “Sorry,” Addie mumbled, doing her best not to be affected by his rugged, ridiculously handsome looks. Were all wolves so…well, manly? If she wasn’t so upset, she would’ve made a joke about how having three boyfriends suddenly didn’t sound too bad, but she was mad. Oh, she was furious.

  Caught off-guard by the blue-eyed stranger, but furious.

  “I just wanted to see the lake,” she added. “I didn’t mean to disturb you or anything.” When he said nothing more, she crept past him, making sure to keep at least ten feet between them. He was a stranger. A handsome, muscular man who made her skin a little hot, but a stranger. She wasn’t going to take any more chances than she had to.

  When she passed him, she didn’t hear him get up, which was good. Humans apparently just didn’t do it for her. Wolves, though? Her hormones went crazy for them. How annoying. How totally, infuriatingly, one-hundred percent annoying.

  Addie crossed her arms as she moved to the end of the overlook, nothing but smooth stone beneath her feet. The view of the entire lake cut off her thoughts, and for a moment, she was lost in its beauty.

  The water, which was indeed crystal clear, sparkled in the sun. She could see all the fish swimming under its surface. Bass, bluegill, minnows. Even turtles, hurriedly flapping their legs around as they swam. Its depth, she couldn’t say. The absolute clarity of the water made it hard to tell. It looked to be shallow everywhere, but she knew it wasn’t; she knew it was just a trick of the mind since the water was so clear.

  It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. Maybe even the most beautiful.

  Addie wondered what it looked like at night, with the stars shining overhead and the moonlight dancing across its surface. This lake put her tiny, murky pond to shame. She nearly forgot her anger, her annoyance, nearly forgot where the heck she was.

  But the sudden presence beside her was a stark reminder. The man had followed her, standing a few feet to her left. He was taller than Maze, standing straighter and wider. The shirt he wore was tight on his chest, leaving nothing to the imagination underneath. And his jeans, well. His jeans fit every part of him perfectly. Not that Addie looked.

  “You’re angry,” he said quietly, a tone so strong she had to turn and look at him.

  He was older than Maze, more mature-looking. If she had to guess, she’d say he was in his early thirties, but it was hard to say for certain, since wolves were like models, body-builders and superstars. Even Henry, the old, crazy man, had looked darn good for his age.

  The man didn’t ask who she was. He probably knew. Every member of this pack probably knew. Addie guessed she was the talk of the pack, the prime subject of gossip, even before she stepped foot here. The runaway Sarah’s daughter, coming to check it out. Well, they didn’t have to worry. She’d be leaving soon enough.

  Forcing herself to move her gaze back to the crystal-clear lake, she said, “Yes. I’m very angry.” Funny, because she didn’t sound particularly upset, but the serenity of the scene before her calmed her. A little. “How’d you know?” Addie asked, mostly because she was curious, because she didn’t think her anger showed much, especially as she gazed out at the lake.

  “If you choose to shift, you’ll be better at seeing the cues,” he said, his blue eyes fixated on the water. “Some things you will just know.”

  So every wolf in the pack knew she had the choice? Nothing was kept private around here, was it? Addie bristled. She was never a fan of everyone knowing her business. Some things were best kept private.

  “I’m not going to shift,” Addie said, meaning each and every word more than she’d ever meant anything before. “I’m not staying.”

  “You’ve made up your mind already?” he asked. “I’m sorry to hear that. We would’ve done well with your addition.” There was a sadness in his voice, a moroseness that made Addie feel guilty, as if she’d made him sad.

  Stupid, because he didn’t know her.

  “Yes, well, what can I say? I guess I’m a fan of the way humans do certain things.”

  “You are not human,” he said, to which she glared at him.

  “I am half human, technically, and it’s my right to decide what I want to do,” Addie let her anger show in her words. “Unless this pack plans on keeping me here against my will? In which case, let me warn you, my mother will stop at nothing to get me back.”

  Oops. She was supposed to call her, wasn’t she? Addie would do that later. Tell her the good news—she was coming back right away.

  “This isn’t that kind of pack,” he said, no longer looking at the lake but staring at her. She did not like being under those eyes. A deep blue, a color she could drown in. “If you want to go, go. None of us will stop you.”

  Addie laughed, though it was more like a chortle. An ugly sound, but it came out of her anyway. “I don’t think Henry is going to like my decision.”

  “Henry will listen to his alpha.”

  Addie wished she could be so sure. The old man seemed like the type to do anything to further the pack, even if it involved keeping her
here against her will and giving her to a set of three guys.

  Three. She still couldn’t believe it.

  Turning away from the lake, Addie mumbled, “Tell your alpha I’m sorry to disappoint him. I’m sorry to get anyone’s hopes up. I shouldn’t have come. I should’ve known better than to hope…” She trailed off. What did she hope? To find a family? To find a new side to these people, these shifters, that her mother didn’t see? To find out if they’d changed?

  How stupid she was.

  With a shrug, she said nothing more. Addie walked away, and the man did not stop her, didn’t say anything else. If this pack let her go, maybe she’d have a bit of respect for them, not that it meant anything. If they tried to keep her here, she’d be the opposite of a model prisoner. She’d raise as much hell as she could before getting out. Hopefully it would not come down to that.

  She hurried around the lake, walking back through the park and to the house where her suitcase was. Luckily she’d made her decision to go back home before she had the chance to unpack, so there was nothing else to do except call her mother to let her know and tell Maze the bad news.

  She burst through the yellow front door, not expecting to see anyone, because Maze had gone off to find his brothers, but someone stood in the kitchen. A blonde someone. Maze. He was busy microwaving something, a book opened on the counter before him.

  Well, at least this made it a little easier.

  She was about to call out to him, to say his name and explain how she’d changed her mind and wanted to go home this instant, but she was too slow. He spun around, having heard her, and it was at that moment when she realized he was not Maze.

  But he looked so much like him.

  Same height, same hair color, same eyes—though he wore glasses, and baggier clothes. When his eyes locked on hers, he stumbled back, dropping his book to the floor, its spine snapping shut. Behind him, the microwave beeped, signaling it was done cooking whatever he’d put inside. The food’s smell was not pleasant.

  “You’re not Maze,” Addie managed to say, feeling her heart…do something. Skip a beat? Beat faster? Grow ten times heavier in her chest? It definitely acted up, and she swallowed hard. It had to be because he looked just like Maze. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it being due to any other reason.

  All he could do was shake his head. It seemed her presence rendered him speechless. It was kind of adorable.

  “His brother?” Addie offered, watching as he nodded once.

  Not just his brother.

  His freaking twin.

  Chapter Nine

  Addie couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe how shocked she was, and she also couldn’t believe how her body had reacted when she’d thought he was Maze—and even now, knowing it was a different guy, she still felt flushed. “He didn’t tell me he had a twin,” she said, as if it excused her insanely awkward behavior.

  She still stood on the edge of the kitchen, the front door hanging wide open behind her. Addie was definitely not the smoothest around, was she?

  “Figures,” the Maze look-alike said.

  “What’s your name?” Addie wasn’t sure why she asked, why she cared, but she did. Oddly, she found she cared a whole lot more than she should, considering she wanted to leave this place and never look back.

  It was a long moment before he said, “Dylan.”

  Dylan. A cute name. As she studied him, she noticed his blonde hair was a bit longer, but beyond that, they were the same in looks. Identical twins, save for the hair and the glasses. Did Maze wear contacts?

  No. She didn’t care one way or another.

  “I’m Addie,” she said, again not sure why she said it. He didn’t need to know her name, because she wasn’t sticking around. This encounter was pointless. Why wouldn’t her heart stop its rapid beating? “Maze is looking for you.”

  “I’m sure,” he said, still not moving from his startled position near the counter. There was only fifteen feet between them, but it felt like miles. The distance was uncomfortable. Addie wanted…she wanted to be closer to him. “I can’t believe they brought you back. Did your mother come, too?”

  She shook her head.

  “Um,” Dylan spoke, not as eloquent as his twin. He moved to the microwave, taking out the plate. Atop the ceramic laid a single corn dog. “I didn’t know we had company. Do you…” He started to lift the plate toward her. “Do you want it?”

  Did she want the corn dog? Not once in her life did Addie ever want to eat one of those things. She slowly shook her head, watching as he bent to pick up his book, taking both the book and the plate to the nearby table.

  “I could cook you something else?” The way he spoke it, like a question, made Addie want to smile. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t, because she could not forget the anger she felt about all of this. The indignation. The righteous annoyance that had fueled her for the last half hour.

  Still. It was difficult to stay mad while in the same room as Dylan, apparently.

  Instead of hurrying up the stairs to grab her suitcase, instead of whipping out her phone and calling her mother, Addie moved to the chair opposite his, unhurriedly sitting down across from him. She saw how he pretended not to watch her every move, but he was not as sly as he thought he was. It was more than obvious he stared at her while trying hard to seem like he didn’t care where she was in the room.

  “So,” she said, “there’s supposed to be three of you. Don’t tell me you’re triplets instead of twins?” She meant it mostly as a joke, because Maze had said something about not really being brothers with one of them, but Dylan was not as good at detecting sarcasm as Maze was.

  He was the quieter, more serious brother. Definitely the more awkward one, the one who did not do too well in new social situations.

  “No,” Dylan said, twirling his corn dog on his plate. Just as muscular as Maze, even somewhat dorky with those glasses, he was cuter than any guy she’d ever met, except maybe that one by the lake. Shifters were on a whole different playing field when it came to looks. “Landon isn’t related to us, but he is still our brother.”

  “Landon,” Addie said, wondering if he looked like a ripped weightlifter too. Her body was acting up around these guys; she did not need to meet any others. She’d stay in this darned house until Maze got back and took her home. “What’s he like?”

  Dylan’s dark eyes shifted to the table. He hadn’t taken a single bite from his corn dog. At this rate, his meager meal would get cold, although Addie would never say at any point in time a corn dog would taste good. She had standards. Now, if he had some pizza rolls, it would be a different story.

  “Landon is…” Dylan started, pausing, “He’s rough.”

  Rough? That word could mean a lot of things, so she had to ask. Why? Addie didn’t know. She was still furious the alpha expected her to be with a trio of wolves, but it was a morbid kind of curiosity that had her in its grips.

  She said, “What do you mean?” It shouldn’t matter what Landon was like. It didn’t matter what any of them were like, because it wouldn’t change her choice. It was already made. “He doesn’t have black hair, does he?” Addie didn’t know why, but the thought of him being the one near the lake made her feel…confused.

  Both excited and confused.

  “No, brown. Kind of an outsider. He was a lone wolf, no pack until we took him in a few years ago. He’s always off doing his own thing.” Dylan’s voice grew softer, “And he’s kind of an ass sometimes, but I think it’s because he gets nervous around people who are nice to him. Us wolves aren’t meant to be alone.” With that, he looked pointedly at her beneath his glasses, as if he’d meant it for both Landon and her.

  He was wrong, though. About her. She wasn’t a lone wolf; she had her mother.

  Addie turned her face away, muttering, “I’m not staying.” Even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel the mood in the kitchen plummet, could see with her peripherals the way his expression fell. Instead of only
being awkward, he was now sad and awkward, and it was all her fault.

  “Can I ask why?” Dylan spoke hesitantly, “Didn’t you just get here?” He tried to find the reason behind her choice. “Did something happen when you were out there?”

  “No, nothing happened. I just wasn’t told the entire truth before coming here.”

  “And what truth is that?”

  Addie had to look at him on that one, to see his reaction. Was he really so clueless? Did he not know she knew she was supposed to be with him, Maze, and Landon? How in the world was she supposed to be okay with that? It wasn’t how things were done in human society, and in most of the world, a woman only had one man. It was a hard thing to wrap her mind around.

  “Maze and Henry conveniently kept it to themselves I’m supposed to be a part of this household in more ways than one.” How else could Addie say it without saying it outright? She was supposed to be their mate. Yuck. “They didn’t tell me, and Maze only let it slip when we got here. If I would’ve known, I…”

  The look on Dylan’s face made her stop. Hurt. Raw sadness. Addie didn’t like making him feel so bad, but what else could she do? Hide it? He’d eventually find out when she left, anyway. Why bother trying to smooth over the injuries?

  “If you would’ve known,” Dylan whispered, “you wouldn’t have come.” His shoulders rose and fell once. “You were raised in human society. I get it.” Behind the rims of his glasses, the cogs in his mind worked. “Is there anything I can do to get you to reconsider? To stay for a few more days? Meet the whole pack, then decide—”

  “Dylan, I don’t know.” What? No! That wasn’t what Addie thought. She knew very much so that she had no choice but to leave. Staying for a day, sticking it out a bit longer, would not help her at all. Why the heck did she go and say that, give him false hope? She was cruel.

  He stunned her as his hand shot across the table, nearly knocking his corn dog off the plate, gripping hers. “Please,” Dylan practically begged her, “give us a chance. We’re not bad people. You can be loved and protected here. You’re one of us, Addie.”