by Moira Byrne
My only interactions with her involved her flirting openly, me smashing manure in her hands, and her treating Maddox's wife like crap. I wondered if I could complete the cycle today and find some more compost. I stopped the smile that wanted to form at that thought.
"Well, I suppose I should get started then. Do you have seeds or . . .?"
She gave me another one of those perky nods. "Of course not, silly. I have bushes."
"So you don't need them grown?"
"I mean, I want you to make sure they look nice."
I forced a smile on my face. "Alright then. Where are they?"
Her smile tightened. "Outside, obviously. I'm not bringing something that filthy in my house. But we don't have to rush. We could stay here and get to know each other better."
Her smile eased and she fluttered her false lashes. My stomach churned. She was laying it on thick. It wasn't that she was ugly—just fake and pretentious—she was just the exact opposite of what I was drawn to.
"Sorry, I've had a busy day already. If you don't mind, I'll get right to it."
"Are you sure you don't want to chat?"
"Yeah. Besides, if you want them blooming today, I need to get working. I wouldn't want to disappoint your mother."
She tilted her head to the side. "My mother?"
What?
"Maddox told me they were for your mother's birthday?"
"Oh, I'm such a scatterbrain. Leave it to Maddox to remember my mother's birthday better than me."
I kept an easy smile in place, despite wanting to narrow my eyes. She was acting weird. Weirder than usual.
"You could say Maddox is very detail oriented."
"That's just great for him," she replied breezily. "Well, let's get you started already."
As we moved into the hallway, she reached over and I flinched as she ran her hand down my arm.
"Gardening works wonders, doesn't it?" she asked in a sultry tone.
I pulled my arm out of her reach and blurted the first thing I could think of to get her to stop touching me. "I was planting all morning. I'm filthy."
She yanked her hand back as if I was contagious and curled her lip. Her toothy smile immediately reappeared and she let out that high-pitched giggle again.
"You dirty man, you."
"Yep. That's what happens when you play in compost."
Her smile quivered before she got it back firmly in place. "Well, why don't I show you outside then. Come, follow me."
I followed as she click-clacked her way down the hallway. As we passed one of the open doors, something glittery from inside caught my eye. I glanced over and saw several vials that looked just like the one I found at Sophie's place.
They were neatly arranged in rows on a table. I paused, frowning at the sight. Heather looked over her shoulder, saw me staring, and immediately reached out to shut the door.
"Oopsy, that's just work stuff. How embarrassing that you had to see that mess."
It had looked just as obsessively neat as the rest of her house, but whatever. My thoughts went back to those obnoxious vials. There were so many of them in there.
What did Sophie say those probably were? Makeup, right? I thought Heather worked for the elementary school?
"Do you sell makeup on the side or something?"
She gave me a funny look from over her shoulder. "No, why would you think that?"
"No reason."
Things were feeling weirder by the minute. Heather seemed a little stiffer, too. Maybe she was just embarrassed that I saw her "mess" and was worried about what I thought? I filed that one back in my brain for later. I knew I would have to look into those vials more. For now, I just wanted to get her rose bushes planted and get the hell out of this creepy Barbie house.
13
Sophie
I rolled over in bed, seeking warmth that wasn't there. In the twilight between dreams and waking, I thought Alex was in bed beside me. My eyes snapped open and disappointment crushed me—I was alone.
I didn't know why I expected anything else. It would have been nice to have him here, his arms comforting me as I slept. No, I thought. I had to remind myself I couldn't involve him in this mess. That didn't make forcing him away yesterday morning at that truck stop any easier. It just made it necessary.
I got out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. It didn't take me long to get myself cleaned up and ready for the day. Once dressed, I decided to get the mail since I hadn't picked it up yesterday. I opened my front door and froze at the sight on my doorstep.
A pair of mutilated dead rabbits were displayed on my front porch like a twisted gift. One had its stomach slashed open and its intestines were wrapped around its neck like a macabre necklace.
The other rabbit's body was bent in odd angles. I crouched down and gently touched it, then yanked back my hand. It felt like it was a bean bag, with no bones other than its skull. My nostrils flared. Edward's scent rose up from the poor animals.
A low growl rolled out of me and I scanned the area for any signs of him, even up into the trees. I held still, scenting the air. Nothing.
I stepped back inside, stripped, then laid my clothes on a nearby chair. As I shifted into my cougar, the breeze brought the smell of the rabbits to me even stronger. They had been recently killed.
Edward's stench covered them. I carefully stepped over the bodies and his scent disappeared. What the hell? It didn't make sense. I lowered my head and carefully circled the rabbits, but there was nothing for me to track.
My blood ran cold. I had no idea how he could get his scent to disappear. Did that mean he could be out here, right now, watching me?
Had he found some way to make himself invisible? I whipped my head up; my heart raced as my eyes darted around.
If he could make himself invisible to my senses, could he do it to others, too? With the thought that invisible enemies could be surrounding me, my inner cat froze. I had no problem defending my territory, but I didn't want to fight a losing battle against unseen foes either.
How could I fight something I couldn't even see? The answer was I couldn't. That thought immediately calmed me down. I refused to be afraid of something I couldn't see.
I stepped inside the house, shifted to my human form and grabbed a paper sack. Returning to the porch, I gently picked up the rabbits and carefully placed them into the bag. My heart twisted as one of the rabbits hung limply in my hand, all of its small bones broken.
I rolled down the top of the bag and set it on the ground before I shifted. I picked up the paper sack with my mouth, bunched my legs, then leapt off my porch and headed for coyote territory. I would give meaning to the rabbits' terrible deaths.
And, if Edward was watching me, I'd lead him away from Aly and Isabelle, who were each taking up one of my two guest bedrooms.
It didn't take me long to reach the edge of coyote territory and deposit the rabbits. I took a different route home to be safe. During my run, I considered the threat Edward represented.
I really didn't think he'd bring the entire pack after us. He wanted me all to himself. He wanted to torment me. He knew where I lived. Where my sister and Isabelle slept. He knew who Alex was, too. My stomach twisted. Now I had to deal with the fact that he could make his scent disappear.
Dread shot through me. There was only one answer. We had to leave Fayoak. I couldn't risk him hurting Aly, Isabelle or Alex. I put on a burst of speed and sprinted home, glad most of my injuries were healed. My front leg slowed me down a bit, but not much.
I shifted mid-step while still running when I reached my house. I jumped over the pool of rabbit blood still on my porch and shut the door behind me. In moments, I was dressed and down the hallway at Aly's door.
I knocked, but she didn't answer. My sister slept like the dead, so I knocked again, louder. I knew she was in there, her scent was too strong for the room to be empty.
Worry started to coil inside me when she still didn't answer, but I pushed it back. Edward w
as obsessed with me, not her. He wouldn't hesitate to hurt her to get to me, but I was sure he'd leave her alone if I was around. He wouldn't go after anything else if his choice prey was around.
I pounded on the door and loudly yelled, "Alysse, I need you to get up!"
I wrenched on the knob and it didn't turn so I banged again.
The door behind me opened and I whirled around to meet Isabelle's startled gaze.
She smiled shyly. "Hi."
"Hey, sorry to be so noisy, but I need you both to get dressed quickly. We're getting out of here."
Her face paled. "What happened?"
"Nothing . . . yet. But it's not safe here anymore."
Aly's door opened behind me and I stepped back so I could see both of them.
"Soph, what happened?" Aly asked, her hair rumpled but she looked alert.
"Nothing, like I said."
"Bullshit."
"What did you say?" I asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
"You heard me. Bullshit. You wouldn't be telling us we have to go if 'nothing' happened. So, what the hell happened?"
I forced down the anger her tone triggered inside me. Aly never spoke to me like that. I could understand why she did it, though.
I was trying to protect my sister, but she needed the facts, too. I swallowed back my instinctive denial.
"Edward is here."
"Edward is here?" Isabelle whispered.
I didn't want to know why she knew to fear him. He had been so good at fooling the rest of the pack. If she knew he was dangerous, there was a reason.
"So what?" Aly asked, anger coloring her tone. She was still livid from when I told her about him attacking me. "He's a coward. You and I can take him."
"He's not a coward, Aly. You don't know what he's really like. And we might not even see, smell, or hear him coming."
Aly snorted. "Like that would happen."
I quickly explained the lack of scent on the animal kills at the mass grave and the rabbits on the porch.
"I don't know how he's getting around without me knowing it, but we can't fight against that."
"What about the local pack?" Aly asked. "Couldn't they help?"
I looked off to the side without answering her.
"Oh my God, Sophie. You haven't even talked to the local pack, have you?"
"I have," I shot back, angry that she'd think I was so irresponsible. "I've joined the pack. I followed all the rules."
"Well then, what are they doing about Edward?"
"Nothing, okay? We have to get out of here."
"Soph," Aly put her hand on my arm, "what happens if we run and he follows us? What happens when he finds us again?"
I opened my mouth to answer her, but nothing came out.
"And if he doesn't chase us? We just leave him here? That seems pretty screwed up. We need to warn people."
I blinked at her. When did my baby sister grow up? Where did these words of wisdom come from?
"I never thought about that. I simply figured he'd chase us . . . chase me." I thought about leaving them, but if Edward didn't follow me, they'd be in double danger. And Edward wasn't the only threat.
"What about the old pack, huh? I can see it in your eyes, Soph. You know they're gonna come for us. What then? I don't want to be on the run for the rest of my life."
"I don't either."
"What kind of Alpha is Jack?" Aly squeezed my arm before letting go. "Why won't the Fayoak pack help us?"
"It's not that he's a bad Alpha, it's just that . . ."
I winced. I was going to have to explain myself.
"I might've not told him my whole story when I arrived. I didn't exactly tell him about the pack. We can go ask him for help, but I don't know how much good it will do."
"We?" Isabelle asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, we. You'll need their protection, too," I told her gently.
The blood drained from her face. I hadn't even considered how scary meeting an Alpha would be for her after what she's been through. I was afraid she was going to pass out, and I stepped forward, my hand reaching out to catch her.
She shook her head and leaned away from me. "I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."
"Isabelle—" I began, but she surprised me by shaking her head again.
"Izzy. Please, call me Izzy."
"Izzy," I tried again, "it'll be okay. Jack's nothing like him." I refused to use that asshole's name. "Jack's a good Alpha, you'll see. But if we're going to stay here, we have to meet with him. And you'll need the pack's protection. I'm sure you know the rules."
She nodded, although everything about her posture was filled with resignation. The sight broke my heart, but it had to be done.
I looked between the two of them. Izzy's fear-filled look and Aly's challenging one. I wasn't one to give up and run, but Edward was out to get me. When he got started on something he clearly had no brakes, and he had decided to focus on me.
Aly was right. I was going to have to seek help and see if I could get it.
"Okay, I'll go call Jack and see if he can meet with us."
I turned around and went to my room. My phone sat in its normal place on the charger. I picked it up, yet I hesitated. I put things off for a moment and checked my messages.
I saw a text from Alex and I caught my breath. He asked how I was. How was I? That was a loaded question.
There was no way I could get into it without a long explanation. I swallowed deeply. I was surprised he even texted me after what I had put him through.
I thought about ignoring him entirely; I didn't want to give him false hope, but couldn't bring myself to do so. I sent him a short reply.
Fine.
No other messages waited for me. With no more excuses to delay me, I took another deep breath for courage and dialed Jack's number.
If he didn't answer, I'd leave a message. It was early and part of me hoped he wouldn't answer.
It rang once.
"Go," a male voice answered tersely.
"Jack?" I asked. I needed to make sure I was talking to the right person.
Just because it was his number didn't mean he was the one who answered. I never talked to him on the phone, so even though I thought it was him, I wasn't positive.
"This is his number."
"Is this Jack though?" I said suppressing a growl. I was not in the mood to play games.
I knew that cat-shifters liked to have fun with this sort of thing, but I didn't have the patience to deal with it right now. I was ready to get it over with.
"Who's this?" the voice asked.
I held back a sigh. Cats. It figured he'd want to play games, and it looked like this was going to devolve into twenty-questions. A favorite game of cat-shifters everywhere.
"Sophie Addison. Is this Jack?"
"Why are you calling?"
"Is. This. Jack?" I bit off each word and couldn't stop the rumble in my voice this time. I meant business and he needed to know it.
Of course, if it was Jack, I could be pissing off the very Alpha I was about to petition for help. Not my best idea, but he'd used up the last of my patience with his games.
"Yes. This is Jack." Suddenly his voice was all business. I swallowed. I'd definitely pissed off the Alpha. "Why are you calling me, Sophie?"
"I need to meet with you in person."
"I'm free tomorrow afternoon."
"It's urgent," I said, despite knowing I was in no position to make demands. "It can't wait that long."
He didn't answer right away. My stomach started to twist in knots. He was a smart man, and I could tell he knew I hadn't told him everything when I petitioned to join his pack. But he let it slide.
I made it a point to avoid him whenever I could. I didn't want him to figure anything out. Now, I had to come clean.
"Please," I said softly when he kept silent, "we need to see you today."
If he refused, we needed to hit the road. Now. Not only was Edward out there stalking me, but I had no idea when our
old pack would come for us.
After that battle, it was no longer an if, but a when. And when they did come, I knew I couldn't take them on myself. My only option to avoid all that would be to run and find a deep hole for us to hide in.
But Aly was right. Where would that lead? Running for the rest of our lives? What kind of option was that? I found myself truly hoping the pack would help.
I knew I should have called Jack yesterday, but I hadn't been thinking clearly. I had hoped Edward would give up after Alex nearly killed him. I should have known better. I shuddered, he probably thought of our fight as some form of sick foreplay.
A long sigh sounded through the phone. "Fine. Meet me at pack headquarters in an hour."
"Okay. Thank you, Jack."
"Yeah, yeah. This better be as urgent as you say."
I put my phone back on the charger and turned around to see Aly and Izzy peer in my doorway.
"He said he'd meet with us in an hour. We need to leave in about forty minutes. Take showers if you want to, but you need to be ready to go. We can't be late."
"I only have the clothes I left in," Izzy said softly. "This nightshirt is Aly's."
I glanced at Aly in question. Why didn't she give her the time to pack?
Aly smiled slightly, then shrugged, unrepentant. "I wasn't going to leave anything to chance. I pulled her from her bed on my way out. No time to pack."
"It was smart," Izzy admitted with a sad smile. "I might have let something slip. You can't talk about escaping if you don't know you're gonna."
I looked at Izzy from top to bottom. She was small and thin. I wasn't all that big, but she would be swimming in my clothes. Her best bet was Aly's clothes and a very tight belt.
"You're welcome to borrow anything of mine, but I think Aly's clothes would fit you better." I looked at my sister. "Do you have some extra clothes she can borrow?"
"Yep, no problem," Aly said. "C'mon, you can pick something out. You'll like my taste in clothes better than my stodgy old sister's anyway."
As we drove to pack headquarters, the scent of Izzy's anxiety was sour in the car. Aly must have thought the same thing because she rolled down her window at the same time I did. There was nothing I could say to calm her down. I only hoped Jack would accept them.