Web of Lies

by Sara Dailey

  A deep, throaty chuckle escaped his lips as I opened the door and we made our way inside. My body flooded with relief when he released his grip, but he reminded me once more, “Don’t screw this up, babe. I’ve done my part so far. I’ll be best buds with both Aiden and Cade in no time. The groundwork has already been laid, so now it’s your turn to figure out your next move.”

  Before I headed upstairs, I assured him, “Don’t worry. I got this. Luke won’t know what hit him.” Then before he could see the doubt in my eyes, I turned my back and rushed up the stairs. I fell into my bed without bothering to change clothes. I kicked off my boots and curled up into a ball. I couldn’t get Luke out of my head. He seemed totally into me, seemed primed and ready to pounce. So what the hell caused him to run for the hills?

  I lay there for a while before I finally got up to get ready for bed, but sleep wasn’t what I needed. I needed to run. I needed to clear my head and figure out my next move. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this? No, I could do this. I had to do this. My dad was counting on me, and I couldn’t let him down. This was my chance to prove myself. And maybe, just maybe, my father would be able to look me in the eyes again someday.

  I sneaked down the stairs and out the back door. Once I made it to the tree line, I quickly stripped, leaving my clothes in a pile by a tree, and shifted. Before all paws hit the ground, I was off, sprinting like my life depended on it.

  CHAPTER 12

  Drew

  The night had gone better than expected. This was going to be too damn easy. Aiden, although a seemingly good guy, didn’t have what it took to run a pack of wolves. He was basically a pup, and you couldn’t be that likeable. A pack is a family, but the alpha should be feared. No one would ever fear Aiden.

  Cade, on the other hand, had what it takes. It was obvious the other pack members respected him, maybe didn’t fear him yet, but as alpha, respect and fear worked hand in hand. There was a fine line between the two. That made him dangerous to our mission, but he did have a weakness, something that could destroy him: his mate.

  Exhausted from playing nice all night, I stretched out in bed and contemplated giving in to some much-needed sleep, but I figured Dad would appreciate—no, expect—an update. He was anything but patient.

  “Hello,” Dad answered abruptly on the first ring as if he’d been awaiting my call, and I was thankful I called him before he gave up waiting and called me first.

  I gave him a detailed play-by-play of my day starting from our arrival on the estate all the way to Luke leaving the party tonight without Scarlett. He didn’t sound thrilled about Scarlett, but he did seem pleased when I explained that the pack already appeared to be crumbling before we’d even arrived.

  “Listen son, don’t let them fool you. Marcus may be an asshole, but he has always been a strong leader. They may look divided, but in order to take them over, we need the pack at each other’s throats. And I’m positive the key to that is through Cade and Aiden,” Dad explained.

  “I got it. I’m just saying that it won’t be as difficult or take as long as we originally thought.”

  “Regardless, let’s just stick to the plan. I spoke to Brian earlier, and he has already set the groundwork for his part. You need to find a way to drive an even bigger wedge between those boys. Create an environment so hostile that they are ready to kill for their position as alpha. Your whole mission there will be in vain if Cade and Aiden aren’t ready to take one another down when we make our move,” he said, obviously missing my point.

  “All right, Dad. Don’t worry. I can handle Aiden for sure, and I have a plan for Cade.”

  “Good. Make sure you keep an eye on Scarlett. I’m having second thoughts about her. We need Luke to do whatever she says. Do you think she can pull that off?” he asked.

  I wanted to say, Hell no! Didn’t you hear me when I said that Luke left alone tonight? But I didn’t. Scarlett was trying and, to be honest, she had a good chance with Luke. “She can handle Luke, but I will keep you updated on her progress,” I told him.

  After I hung up with Dad, I called Avery so she wouldn’t be pissed. After a bit of lovey-dovey bullshit, I succumbed to sleep, feeling confident that one day very soon, I would be the alpha of this pack and my own.

  CHAPTER 13

  Luke

  “Back so early?” my dad called as I pushed through the front door of our house and made a beeline for the stairs.

  “Yeah, party sucked,” I yelled down to him because I knew I had to say something. In truth, the party didn’t suck at all. The party really wasn’t the problem. My behavior at the party, however, was. Scarlett must think I’m a complete lunatic. I couldn’t have explained it if I’d tried. I didn’t understand it myself. All I knew was I had to get out of there. There was just something about that girl. But I had too much shit to worry about. I couldn’t deal with anything else.

  I shut the door to my bedroom and immediately began pacing back and forth trying to catch my breath. Trying to slow my racing heart, I laced my fingers behind my head and took deep breaths in and out. Never before had I been this worked up over a girl. It was like I was having a panic attack, probably brought on by my current state of humiliation. Nothing about the way I acted tonight could be considered normal. It was like someone or something else had taken over and turned me into a raging idiot.

  I didn’t smile at girls like that. I didn’t hold hands in public. I have never whispered in a girl’s ear before simply to hear her pulse quicken, to know that it was me who caused it, and I certainly didn’t get nervous. What the hell was happening to me? I almost fell off a goddamned log! And that wasn’t even the worst part. Scarlett was obviously into me. The signs were there in freaking flashing neon lights. And when she leaned in to kiss me, I don’t know… I just flipped out. That was the definitely the worst part. I don’t think I’ve ever turned down the opportunity to kiss a girl before, especially not from someone who looks like her.

  Maybe that was it. Maybe I was just intimated by her aggressive approach and her sexy-as-hell boots. No. That was bullshit and I knew it. I liked assertive women. There had to be something wrong with me. Any other girl, any other situation, and I would have had her out of those boots by now.

  It had to be Cami. Maybe I just didn’t want to hurt Cami by having my tongue in another girl’s mouth one day after she broke up with me. Maybe I was being a nice guy. Shit, I was not a nice guy, and Cami knew that. That was exactly why she ended things with me before she got too attached.

  Walking into my bathroom, it hit me. I really did like Scarlett, and it had nothing to do with her plunging neckline either. That still didn’t explain why I didn’t kiss her. Kissing her would have been the natural thing to do. I wanted to kiss her. She wanted to kiss me. But would it have stopped there? I seriously doubted it, and I realized that was the problem.

  I always knew it would be a bad idea to get involved with anyone from the pack. I knew my limits, what I was capable of giving someone. I took a big risk with Cami, and I still wasn’t sure why I did it. It could have been because Gage took off, and everything was just so screwed up. It could have been because I was between domestics. Hell, it could have been because she wanted it as much as I did. I didn’t know, but we’d known each other since we were born. She was my friend, and I used her just like I used the human girls I dated. Luckily she was smart and level-headed enough to realize that I could never be anything more to her than a friend and an entertaining Saturday night.

  It would be a mistake to get with Scarlett. Just because she was a werewolf didn’t mean that she wasn’t just like any other girl when it came to relationships. I could already see how it would play out between us. We would have a little fun together, a few super-hot moments, she would want more, and I would run. That was what I always did. It was my M.O. She would be hurt and I would feel like a dick. And her father would probably kill me but not before Marcus kicked my ass for “disrespecting” our guests. That was why I didn’t get involved with p
ack girls. Sure, she wasn’t part of our pack, but she was still pack.

  I’d made that mistake once. I saw that now. Getting involved with Cami could have turned into a really ugly mess, and I was damn lucky she dumped me when she did. The fact was that I’d probably never have a real relationship, and that was okay with me. I had accepted that a while back, but it wasn’t an excuse. Girls knew the score when it came to me. They knew I wasn’t the relationship type, but it was still shitty to use girls the way I did. I also knew I hurt them when all they wanted was a little more from me. I just couldn’t give them that because there wasn’t any more to give. That was it. That was all I was. Shallow. Superficial. A total shithead. I used to try to be more, but I just didn’t know how. So somewhere along the way, I stopped trying all together.

  I couldn’t do that to Scarlett. As much as I liked her and as much as I wanted to be around her, I couldn’t. It wasn’t smart. With the pack in its current state of uncertainty, I needed to be the enforcer I was raised to be. It was my job to keep the drama of pack life to a minimum, not create more of it. So that was it. The next time I saw Scarlett, I needed to make it clear that we were and would only be friends. That was all…just friends. But good God, if she was wearing another sweater like the one she had on tonight, it may take every ounce of restraint I have.

  CHAPTER 14

  Scarlett

  Upon waking the next morning, I felt uneasy and unsatisfied, but most of all unsure. Unsure of what I was doing. Unsure of what to do next. Unsure of myself. Definitely not a feeling that I was familiar with. My run last night, while it helped clear my mind and ease some tension in the moment, certainly didn’t help me figure out what the hell to do about Luke. Staring up at the ceiling, I thought through every single moment I’d spent with Luke: every text message, every flirty exchange, every innocent touch, every single everything. All signs pointed to the fact that he did like me or was at least attracted to me, but apparently something was stopping him. I just needed to figure what. I needed a new plan.

  I lay in bed for as long as possible, racking my brain for what my next step would be, but eventually my stomach began to grumble, announcing its desperate need for food—especially with all of the energy I exerted the night before. Before heading downstairs, I stopped off to use the restroom and brush my teeth. Looking up into the mirror, I pulled my long brown hair back into a high ponytail. Even my just-out-of-bed look would send most guys into overdrive. There had never been a single guy who, given the opportunity to kiss me, didn’t jump at the chance. I usually had to make them slow down, not the other way around.

  As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, a small smile crept across my face as an idea popped into my head. It was time for plan B. Bouncing down the stairs and into the kitchen, I thanked the good Lord above that I appeared to be home alone. I didn’t need any reminders from my father or Drew that I had business to attend to. After grabbing a protein bar and a bottle of water, I hurried back up the stairs, devoured my crappy breakfast, and hopped in the shower.

  Within 45 minutes, I was ready. I had quickly blow-dried my hair, leaving it down to flow in long waves, put on just enough makeup to make my eyes and lips stand out, and found the perfect sweater and skinny jeans to accentuate my curves. Before I headed out, I grabbed one of the earrings I had worn last night off my dresser and shoved it in my pocket. It was time to go to work.

  Quickly, I made my way to Aiden and Alli’s house, hoping Teagan would be there. She was just the girl I needed to see. Taking a deep breath, I rang the doorbell and reminded myself to smile. I needed this girl to like me, and unfortunately, I’d never been any good at making friends with girls—especially human girls. In fact, I totally sucked at it. Even the girls in my pack, who were usually nice to my face, talked about me behind my back.

  Seconds later, the door swung open, and just my luck, Teagan was standing before me. Confusion washed over her face, but was quickly replaced with a friendly smile and a genuine greeting. “Hey, Scarlett. What’s up?”

  For the first time, I actually took a moment to look at the human girl standing in the doorway. She was cute and tiny, nothing like a female werewolf. Her long, flowing hair was platinum blonde, the color that many women paid an arm and a leg to maintain, but not Teagan. Her hair color was obviously natural and suited her light eyes and skin perfectly. She really was beautiful, and I would assume that the female wolves in this pack weren’t too fond of her, being that not only was she human, she was gorgeous and mated to one of the hottest guys on the estate.

  I dug my hand in my pocket, pulled out the earring, and said, “Hey, Teagan. I was hoping you would be here.” Then I held up the silver hoop and asked, “I lost one of my favorite earrings last night. Any chance you found it before you left?” Before she could answer, I shivered just a bit, hoping it would score me an invite inside.

  It worked like a charm. She opened the door wider as she answered, “No, I didn’t see it. Sorry.” Teagan paused for just a moment before she continued, “Hey, you want to come in? It’s freezing out there.”

  Perfect! Smiling, I stepped inside and said, “Thanks. It sure is.” After an awkward pause in the foyer, I asked, “Hey, are you hungry? I’m starved. All I had was a protein bar this morning.”

  Turning toward the kitchen, Teagan replied, “Yeah sorta, but I’m not sure what we have to eat.”

  “Any chance I can convince you to go out to lunch somewhere? I know I’ve only been here a day, but I already feel like I need to get away for a bit.”

  Teagan stood there silent for a minute, surely contemplating whether or not lunch with the new girl was a good idea. Finally, she spoke. “Sure, that sounds good, but I need to run upstairs and change clothes real quick and let Aiden and the Wrights know where I’m going.”

  I had to play my cards just right to pull this off. I needed to somehow get Luke involved in our little lunch date. I didn’t have much practice with this kind of thing, but girls confided in each other, right? I mean that’s what being girlfriends was all about, as far as I could tell anyway. I took a deep breath and thought, Here goes nothing.

  I looked over at Teagan pensively. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  Leaning in as if someone might hear, I asked, “Do you think maybe you could ask Aiden to join us? And…maybe he could ask Luke to come too?”

  With raised eyebrows, Teagan inquired, “So you like Luke, huh?”

  Looking away, feigning embarrassment, I admitted, “Yeah, but I’m not sure if he likes me back. I thought he did, but then last night, he kind of blew me off.” With my downcast eyes, I put on my best I-just-don’t-know-what-to-do act, hoping she would buy it. When she didn’t respond, I glanced back up at her, and although concern was written all over her face.

  As soon as our eyes met, she said, “Okay, well let’s see what we can do about that. I don’t really know Luke, but he and Aiden have been hanging out a bit. I’ll text him and see.”

  *****

  An hour or so later, Teagan, Aiden, and I were walking into Happy Harry’s Burger Barn, a mom-and-pop burger joint not too far from the estate. Luke would be joining us shortly, and my damn nerves were getting the best of me. With my stomach twisted in knots, I excused myself to run to the restroom. I needed a minute alone to collect myself before I resorted to chewing off my perfectly manicured nails. What the hell was wrong with me? I hadn’t been this freaked out about a guy since junior high when I agreed to sneak into a choir practice room during lunch to make out with my first boyfriend, Matt Schaefer.

  I ran my fingers through my hair to smooth out my waves, put on a bit of lip gloss, and washed my hands, all the while reminding myself that Luke was just another guy, nothing special. Sure he had a drool-worthy body, with rippling muscles that begged to be caressed. An image of me sliding my greedy hands over his broad shoulder and down his chiseled abs popped into my head. Shit! I needed to get a damn grip. Closing my eyes, I shook the image from my mi
nd.

  Before heading to our table, I took one last look in the mirror, adjusted my sweater to ensure my cleavage would catch Luke’s eye, and then turned to exit the restroom. As soon as I stepped one foot out of the door, I saw him.

  Luke Stanton.

  Kicked back in a chair, his eyes danced as he laughed about something Aiden had said. He looked completely relaxed sitting there— faded jeans, leather jacket, his short dark hair combed perfectly to frame his gorgeous face, defining his high cheekbones that any model alive would kill for. God, he was hot. But this was a job, a mission for my pack. After the way I reacted last night, I reminded myself that I needed to keep my emotions out of it.

  On my way to the table, Luke glanced my way, and he visibly stiffened but recovered quickly with a small smile. He scooted up a bit so that I could squeeze behind him to get to my chair and said, “Hey, Scarlett. How’s day two?”

  As I sat and scooted up to the table, I replied, “Good, thanks. Glad you could make it.” Before he responded, his leg lightly brushed against mine, shooting tingles up my spine, but instantly, he moved it away.

  Luke gave me a generic “Thanks” and then stuck his nose in the menu as if there was anything to order other than a hamburger. I looked over at Teagan, and she shot me a sympathetic grin. By that point, my tingles had fizzled out, and I was left contemplating what to do next.

  We ordered, and soon, the small talk that had been taking place before I showed up resumed, and Luke seemed to relax a bit. The Burger Barn was one of those places with white butcher paper on the table so that customers could entertain themselves by drawing on the tabletops with a couple of broken crayons, and Aiden challenged Luke to a game of hangman.