“What kind of wolves would we be if we turned tail and left our home in the hands of an enemy?” Grayson shook his head. “No. This ends today.”
I looked over my small pack nervously as they barreled past me. Once I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to stop them, I grabbed a knife from the kitchen. I was far too weak to be able to shift right now so I would have to make do with a human weapon. I knew that if I came face to face with Baracus, I wouldn’t hesitate to protect my guys from his poison. I would do anything to keep my pack safe.
I wasn’t the only one who got a surge of adrenaline from the anger at having our home invaded. We silently went room to room, and while Baracus’s scent was everywhere, he was nowhere in sight.
Finally, the last place we had to look was our bedroom. The guys burst through the doorway and spread out, searching the bathroom and every crevice. Once we were sure that he wasn’t here, I looked around at the damage. There were photos scattered everywhere. Pictures of everyone in the pack – Kannon and I walking to school, Wyatt talking to a customer, Gray and I in the SUV, Corey taking out the trash – but the vast majority of the photos were of me.
Every moment of the last few weeks was captured here. I felt nauseated when I realized just how much he had been watching us. But he hadn’t been here just to let us know he was watching, he also left some threats.
Every one of our beds had a knife stabbed through it. My bed was in the worst shape – the bedding was actually shredded and covered in something. I walked closer to see what it was and wrinkled my nose. Baracus had masturbated all over my bed.
Gross.
Grayson tugged me close to him and put his arms around me. “I promise you’re safe with us,” he murmured in a gravelly voice that sent a chill down my spine. “We’re going to hunt him down and destroy him.”
The other guys all murmured in agreement, but I felt sick. If Baracus were to come in this room right now with a pack of wolves, we would have no chance. The guys could barely stand, we were be sitting ducks. I was glad that Baracus hadn’t stuck around to see us in person, not like this.
“But not until your better,” I told him firmly. I looked around the room. “Not until everyone here is back to one hundred percent.”
There was some grumbling, but I made each of them promise me that they wouldn’t let their need for revenge compromise their safety. I didn’t think I would get Corey to agree at all, but his eyes softened when I told him I couldn’t go on if anything happened to him. He reluctantly agreed, and we all marched downstairs for food before we could consider cleaning up.
I did everything I could to get rid of the offensive stench that Baracus had left behind, but it would take time to fade completely. Wyatt ordered pizza, and we ate in silence before sullenly cleaning up and going to bed. There would be time for vengeance tomorrow.
Chapter 18
Lori
Grayson’s alarm had gone off outrageously early this morning, but instead of getting up he turned it off. I had been back asleep seconds later. Kannon was the one to wake me up in time for school. We had both been so tired that Grayson had asked Corey to drive us to school while he and Wyatt opened shop. I stumbled out of the SUV with Kannon not far behind me.
It was just my luck that Tiffany had to be standing there to watch us drag ourselves into school. Just like sharks sensing blood in the water, it didn’t take long for her to gather her posse of mean girls and corner me in the hallway. The last bell before third period rang and the hallway quickly cleared of students trying to make it to class before they were marked as late.
I attempted to walk through the line of girls blocking my way but they closed ranks. Britney, Lacey, and Tiffany all had smirks on their faces, but Taylor wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Taylor said her uncle fell down the stairs a little while ago,” Tiffany gave one of my shoulders a push.
I narrowed my eyes but didn’t say anything back. Pierce’s compulsion should have left him unable to tell anyone that it was Corey that had given him his injuries, but that didn’t mean that other people wouldn’t suspect the truth.
“My dad says you’re trying to ruin Mr. Reaven’s reputation,” Lacey challenged me. “What’s the plan? You trying to shake him down for money?”
Tiffany eyed my clothing derisively. I had been dressing better since Corey had taken me on a shopping trip, but I still didn’t have the extensive wardrobe that a normal teenage girl did. And I definitely didn’t dress like one of the popular girls. Even if I could afford designer labels, I wasn’t interested in them.
I shrugged. “I really don’t want to deal with your bullshit right now.” I made another attempt to pass through them but this time Tiffany shoved me harder. I lost my balance and my books fell to the floor as I let go of them to catch myself on the lockers. All of the girls circled closer, sensing weakness. I let myself lean against the lockers and look at them defiantly. I might still be weak from exhaustion, but I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of getting in my head.
Tiffany slammed her hand against the locker right next to my head but I didn’t flinch. I had faced down bigger bullies than her before. “Listen, you little bitch,” she hissed at me. “I am going to make you regret the moment that you stepped foot in this town.”
“The joke’s on you,” I said dryly. “I already do.”
“You think this is a joke?” she spat at me as the other girls stared at me with hate in their eyes. “I am going to destroy you. I will make your time here a living hell and I will take away everything you care about.”
I tilted my head at her. “Is this supposed to scare me?”
“Does Kannon know about your fling with Noah?” Britney taunted me.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve never talked to Noah outside of French class. He’s just using me to boost his grade. Is that what this is about? You tried to get a boy’s attention and he turned you down?” Tiffany turned red and I knew I hit the mark. “Really? He probably just doesn’t like you because you’re a psychotic bitch, not because I occasionally sit next to him in one class.”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Taylor said quietly.
I turned my head to look at her. “I think that’s the first time you’ve spoken to me since you walked in on your uncle trying to rape me.” Taylor flinched but I was done holding back. I kept the secret of what he did so that me and the guys could live quietly in this town. But if he was going around telling people that I was making up stories to shake him down? I was done holding back. “Did he do that to you too? Is that why you’re keeping quiet?”
I immediately regretted my words when I saw the look of absolute terror on Taylor’s face. “Shit. Taylor…” I had no idea what made me say something so hateful and I was ashamed of myself.
Tiffany hadn’t missed the look on Taylor’s face and her mouth turned up in a smile. “Sweet little Taylor has secrets? You’re not little Miss Perfect anymore, are you?”
Taylor’s eyes turned towards me and I saw the accusation and hurt. Shame and regret burned inside of me. I had no idea what I could do to make this right, but hurting Taylor was unacceptable. She had been suffering in silence, probably terrified to say anything for a while.
Lacey gasped. “So it’s true?”
Taylor realized that she had just given herself away and took a small step back. Tiffany stepped away from me and honed in on her new target. “This is rich,” she laughed. “I was actually concerned that I had to worry about you as competition for prom queen this year. But after this?” she shook her head with another chuckle.
I pushed myself off the lockers to stand up straight. “Are you kidding me? Aren’t you supposed to be friends?”
Tiffany sneered at me. “Only the best hang with us, there’s no room for losers.”
I could see tears forming in Taylor’s eyes as she looked between Lacey and Britney, realizing that neither of them were going to defend her. The three of them faced down Taylor, making it clear that she was no longer one
of them. “I hate you,” Taylor shouted at me with tears running down her face. “I wish you had never come to Hollow Crest.”
“Me too,” I said softly as she turned her back on me and ran down the hallway.
I started to walk away to get to my next class but Tiffany stopped me again. “Are you kidding me?” I asked her with an eye roll. “You already did the evil villain thing and delivered your threats. This is the part where you chuckle maniacally and walk away.”
The three girls stared at me as if I were completely insane. “I don’t give a fuck,” I said slowly as if they were too stupid to understand. “I’m not here to make friends and be happy, so you can’t take that away from me. Not that I have any friends, or was ever happy.” I mumbled the last part almost to myself. “And I have no interest in blackmailing anyone or ruining anyone’s life. I want just want a fucking high school diploma so I can get out of this shit town. You can have it, it’s yours.”
Tiffany blinked at me. “You do have one thing you care about. Kannon.”
Rage bubbled up in me. “Hurt him and you die,” I growled at her.
She gave me a smile. “I’m not going to hurt him. You are.” And with that, she finally walked away with her posse. I stared after them for a moment, wondering if I had just made things worse for myself. I had definitely made them worse for Taylor. Regret flooded through me as I thought about what she must be going through.
It was never my intention to bring something like that to light. I was just angry and lashing out. I had no idea that something that horrible would be true. I swallowed when I realized that Taylor and I had more in common than I had ever realized. In some ways, it made her behavior more puzzling. She had known what Reaven had tried to do to me, and she had experienced it for herself in the past. Why wouldn’t she come forward with me?
I frowned as I walked slowly to my class. I was already in trouble for being late so it might be better if I skipped altogether and just went to my next class. I decided to hang out in the empty gym while I waited for third period to be over but I kept thinking about Taylor.
Had she been in denial about what happened to her? Was pretending I was a liar enabling her to pretend it had never happened to her either? Was it still happening?
I was overcome by dread when I realized that I had left Taylor alone in a situation that she might not be able to defend herself again. When I had quit, I had left her to work alone with her uncle. Had he hurt her then? Or had it been going on much longer?
I chewed on my lip. I had thought that after Corey and Wyatt had their altercations with Mr. Reaven he would be scared straight. I had hoped that he would never think about touching another girl again. But now that I knew I definitely wasn’t the only one, I wasn’t sure that he would stop. Especially if he was going around town and telling the other parents that I had propositioned him and then threatened to blackmail him. He wasn’t going to admit that he had done anything wrong. Did he still believe that he had the right to touch me?
I knew all about entitled males who thought that they could take whatever they wanted from the females who were weaker than them. Even if they had a new pack master who laid down the law, I don’t know if those males would have changed the way that they thought. Could they change?
My stomach twisted when I thought about what would happen if I walked away and never said anything. Taylor wasn’t going to say anything either. Had there been other girls who were too afraid to speak up? Would he keep hurting other girls? It would be partially my fault for not stopping him when I had the chance.
The bell rang, interrupting my thoughts, but not dispersing my worry. I didn’t want to involve the guys in this any more than I had to. They would be arrested if they laid a hand on Mr. Reaven. We couldn’t rely on Pierce to keep protecting us and I wasn’t sure that he even wanted to.
A lightbulb flicked on in my head. Pierce hadn’t really wanted to save Corey from the sheriff, he had done it because he wanted a favor. What if I offered him another favor? Could he use his compulsion to stop Mr. Reaven from ever harming another girl? Would he? I chewed on my lip. What would it cost me?
I went through the rest of the day in a daze and Kannon didn’t question me. He looked just as tired as I felt so he probably assumed it was nothing more than exhaustion causing the stress lines around my eyes. I let Carolyn know that we both weren’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at practice today. She had given me a sympathetic look when I told her Kannon and I must have eaten bad chicken the night before but promised to let Coach know.
Kannon and I started to walk home, but he sat down the on the curb outside of school and I plopped down next to him. “I’m going to text Corey,” he murmured. I didn’t say anything, I just leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. I opened them again when I realized that Kannon had laid his head on top of mine instead of pulling out his phone and texting.
“Can I see your phone?” I asked softly. “I’ll call the shop.”
Kannon grunted and I pulled away so I could go through his backpack. Before I located it a car slowed and pulled to the side of the road. A blond kid stared at us from the front passenger seat. I knew he looked familiar because I had probably seen him in school. But I had no idea who he was or what he wanted. I stood up when I heard Noah call my name from the driver’s seat. “Hey, Noah,” I said in confusion. “What’s up?”
Noah leaned around the other guy and gave me a sheepish grin. “It looked like you and your man were struggling today. You want a ride?”
I blinked in surprise. I had no idea that Noah had any awareness of me outside of French class. I was shocked that he had realized Kannon and I weren’t doing well and thought to offer us a ride. It was almost like…we were friends. Were we?
“Thanks, Noah,” I said hesitantly. “We don’t live far.”
“Hop in,” he said with a friendly grin. “This is my brother, Darron.”
I pulled Kannon to his feet and he must have been tired because it was like lifting dead weight. I pushed Kannon in the car first and then slid in with my backpack behind me. “We live-”
“I know,” Noah interrupted with a smile.
I sat back in the seat and held Kannon’s hand. “I keep forgetting that everyone knows everything in this town,” I murmured.
“Not everything,” Darron muttered.
Noah ignored him and turned the music up. It only took a couple of minutes to get to the firehouse and I thanked Noah before dragging Kannon out of the car with me. Noah gave us one last wave before driving away.
Kannon leaned on me and I did my best not to stagger. “I’m surprised you made it through the day,” I told him as I shifted his weight. “And how much do you weigh?”
Kannon gave me a smile. “Not as much as Gray, but I’m getting there.”
I patted his back and led him around to the back door that led directly into our kitchen. It would have been shorter to walk him through the waiting room and then the garage, but I didn’t want to have to deal with talking to any customers or dealing with gossip that was going to come from this scene. Knowing this town, they would probably go around talking about how everyone at Four Guys Auto was day drinking and stumbling around.
I dropped Kannon’s and my bags off at the kitchen and walked him to the stairs. He grabbed onto the railings and I watched cautiously as he made his way up. Once I heard him plop down on the couch up there I decided it was safe to go check on the other guys.
Gray and Corey looked up as I walked in the garage. “How are you guys feeling? Any sign of Baracus?”
Corey just shrugged and went back to work but Grayson gave me a tired smile. “No, and he didn’t leave a trail,” he grumbled. “He got right in a vehicle so we couldn’t follow his scent. All of us feel like shit. But we’ve been taking breaks to eat and replenish our energy.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I’m so stupid. Kannon and I were too tired to make our lunches this morning and we didn’t want to walk all the way to the cafeteria
so we just took a nap in the library.
“You haven’t eaten all day?” Grayson asked with a concerned frown.
“I’m going to bring something up to Kannon,” I told him. “He went right upstairs to sleep but I want to get some food in him first.”
“There’s Gatorade in the fridge,” Corey mumbled. “I got him some of the blue ones he likes.”
I blinked in surprise at Corey, but Grayson gave me a small smile that he didn’t let Corey see. Corey was going out of his way to take care of the other guys? This was great! I shared a smile with Grayson before my eyes caught on some empty bottles on the counter next to them. “I’ll grab you guys a couple before I head up to Kannon.”
Grayson murmured his thanks and the two of them went back to work. I brought Kannon a few Gatorades and forced him to start drinking one before I went back downstairs to make him a couple sandwiches. He started to get his color back when he was halfway done with the second one. “You need to eat, too,” he reminded me.
“I will.” I gave him a kiss and went to use the bathroom. By the time I came back, he was sound asleep with the last of his sandwich still in one hand. I smiled as I took it away and covered him up with a blanket. As much as I hated that Kannon wasn’t feeling well, I was glad that I finally had the chance to take care of him. Kannon was always doing things for me.
I went back down to the garage. “I’m going to check on Wyatt,” I announced to the guys as I swept past. “He probably wants a break.”
“Wait,” Grayson called as he hurried to grab my arm before I could open the door. I peered up at him in confusion. Grayson never hurried.
I opened my mouth to ask why but I had my answer before he could say a word. A loud woman’s voice floated through the closed door. “I don’t understand why you’re allowing that girl anywhere near your brother. You are brothers, aren’t you?” She didn’t pause to let Wyatt answer. “And you let her live here? Don’t you know what she’s trying to do to Roger?”
The Struggle: Hollow Crest Wolf Pack Book 2 Page 15