by Sara Dailey
We ate in an awkward silence sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. My eyes rarely left her face but her eyes were clearly avoiding mine. Occasionally our hands would accidentally touch. A few times our legs brushed up against each other. Something unsaid but mutually felt hung in the air. It was thick and all-encompassing, and if left unaddressed it would tear at us both.
Scarlett got up to throw our paper plates away, but I stopped her. I took her hand and led her to my room. Still no words were spoken as we both climbed on to my bed and lay down facing each other. I knew how I felt about Scarlett, but knowing it and actually saying it out loud were two different things. I had never said those words before, and for reasons I couldn’t put into words, I felt like I didn’t deserve for her to love me in return. But maybe it was because my dad was gone, and I might never have the chance to tell him, I felt like I needed to tell Scarlett how I felt about her before it was too late.
Pushing aside all the confusion and anxiety surging through my body, I finally released the words that had been consuming my mind, body, and soul. “I’m in love with you, Scarlett” I admitted softly.
Scarlett’s eyes widened for a moment, then clinched shut as her face blushed and her breathing became more rapid.
“Scarlett, are you okay? I didn’t mean to freak you out. I should have just kept my damn mouth shut,” I told her, reaching out and taking her hand. When I did, Scarlett opened her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes were filled with tears, but a small, hesitant smile appeared before she breathlessly asked, “Really?”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tightly against me. “Oh yeah, I’m sure. There’s not a doubt in my mind. I love you, Scarlett Reed.”
Her lips crashed into mine. She kissed me with need and desperation as she rolled her body on top of mine, pulling back only once, and only long enough to say, “I love you too.”
*****
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” I asked as I got ready to leave for my meeting with Marcus and the elders. I pulled Scarlett against me one last time and breathed in that delicious scent of hers that had worked its way into my dreams and into my heart.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she replied, and for the first time in my life, I think, I actually pouted, but just a little and surely it was a manly pout. She lifted up on her tiptoes and nibbled on my bottom lip with her teeth, and I took the opportunity to envelop her in my arms and devour her perfect mouth. Pulling her hips flush against mine, I made sure she could feel just how much I wanted her again. With eyes blazing with desire, she teased, “Keep that up and you won’t make it to the meeting.” After a playful peck on the tip of my nose, she whispered in my ear, “Call me when you get home and I’ll come back over—if you want me to that is.”
I answered by kissing her until her legs gave out, and she had to lean against me for support. Then I had to force us out the door, or she would have been right and we would have never left the house.
When I pulled up in front of Scarlett’s house, she leaned over to kiss me goodbye. My hands reached over to cup her cheeks, and I stopped her about an inch away from my face as I mouthed, I love you. She leaned in, and her lips gently caressed mine before she whispered, “I love you back.” I wanted nothing more than to pull her back into the car and ravage every inch of her perfect body as I watched her slide out of the seat. But with a serious amount of self-restraint, I watched as she hurried inside.
I drove to the Walker house in a lovesick haze.
*****
I was the last to arrive at the meeting, and it didn’t go unnoticed. “Finally, we can get started,” Marcus grumbled and tromped heavily into the formal dining area, which had apparently been turned into a makeshift conference room. A few of the elders ignored Marcus’s haste and came over to check on me.
I assured them that I was fine, and yes, I was worried, but sure that everything would turn out okay. The lies slid off my tongue, leaving a bad taste in my mouth, but I knew it was what they needed to hear. Seemingly appeased by my response, they followed me into the formal living room. Looking around at the small select group—Marcus, Noel, Brian, Cade, Aiden, Aiden’s grandparents, and Shari’s grandparents—I could assume we were here to discuss what to do next about my father. Maybe I was wrong about Marcus. But as soon as he began, I knew I’d been right all along.
The room grew silent as we all gathered together, but the silence was suddenly broken by the sound of Marcus’s fist slamming against the console table. “We must prepare the estate for an attack! Immediately!” Marcus yelled. “We have become too comfortable, too human-like here in this pathetic little town. We are unprepared. And let me tell you all! A war is coming! We need to get everyone trained for combat. We must stand together and fight. Fight until every last one of the mutts who think they can take over my pack is slaughtered, torn to shreds, completely annihilated!”
We all looked around at each other. I wasn’t so sure he wasn’t completely off base, but I did think he was overreacting. And he was leaving out a huge part of this: my father.
“I agree, Dad, but let’s—” Cade tried but Marcus cut him off.
“No buts, Cade. We must be ready,” Marcus said. He turned to Brian, “What have you learned from your connections?”
“There hasn’t been any more chatter about a pack trying to take over, and I’m sorry, but I’ve heard nothing about Phillip,” Brian explained. He looked directly at me. His steely eyes tore through me and a ripple of nerves shot up my back.
I knew that wasn’t good news, but there was no time to dwell on it because Marcus erupted once more.
“Damn it, Brian. You call yourself a fucking ‘fixer?’ What good are you even doing here? So far, you have been of no help to me at all. Your connections are useless,” Marcus spouted, his face turning multiple shades of red. His mouth opened, surely to lash out again, but instead he began grasping for air.
He picked up a bottle of water and took a long sip, but as soon as he swallowed the liquid, he started choking uncontrollably. Stumbling forward, he grabbed a nearby end table and leaned over. With his fingers gripping its edge so hard that his hand was shaking, he tried to suck in some much-needed air, but his knees gave out as his coughing continued. Cade and Aiden both rushed over to help him. Marcus attempted to stand before his sons reached him, but when he did, we were all taken aback. His eyes had rolled back in his head, and his mouth was foaming like some kind of rabid wolf.
Noel screamed as Marcus fell backward on the floor and began to convulse and flail. Cade hurried over to hold his mother back as Aiden’s grandfather shouted for someone him to find the pack’s resident physician. Aiden shot out the door, but the rest of us watched as Brian dropped to his knees and held Marcus’s head still so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. The rest of us stood back in silence and shock. Without even realizing it, I’d begun backing up until I reached the wall. I had to shove my hands into my pockets to keep them from trembling. Our pack was truly falling apart one member at a time.
CHAPTER 45
Scarlett
I’d pretty much taken up residence in my room anytime I had to be in the god-awful place I currently called home. My mission: to avoid my father and Drew at all costs. I was lying in bed staring at my phone and willing it to ring or chime or something to alert me that Luke was ready for me to come back when the sudden sound of someone pounding on the front door sent my pulse racing. I jumped out of bed and peeked out the curtains to see if I could tell who it was, but there wasn’t a sign of anyone, but the doorbell rang repeatedly and the door was taking a serious beating.
For a moment, I’d decided it would probably be in my best interest to ignore it, but whoever it was on the other side of that door was determined to get inside. If I waited much longer, I feared the person might resort to breaking windows. My heart pounded erratically in my chest and my gut warned that whatever the person was there to do or say, it wasn’t going to be good.
&
nbsp; As I crept down the stairs, the pesky phone in my back pocket finally decided to chirp, which caused my entire body to jerk violently, and if it hadn’t have been for the lifesaving banister, I would have surely tumbled straight down to the tile below. I stopped to regain my footing and attempted to calm my nerves, but as soon as I pulled my phone from my pocket and glanced at the screen, my chest constricted and scurried away to go cower in the corner.
It’s Cami. I know ur in there.
Open the damn door. We need to talk.
Holy Mother of God! She knew! Why else would she be here? This was obviously not a social call. She had to know something. Oh God! The wolf! Please, please, please don’t let that be it! I smoothed back my hair and tried to reassure myself. It’s okay. I can do this. I just need to play it cool.
With shaky fingers, I started to reply ok to her text, but then shook my head at my stupidity and shoved my phone back in my pocket when it dawned on me that it would make much more sense to just open the damn door like she’d asked. Dread filled my bones, and again I toyed with the idea of running back to my room and hiding, but I knew I had to do this. I needed to know what she knew, and if it was what I thought it was, if she had told anyone else.
Before I swung the door open, I planted an innocent smile on my face and slowly counted to ten. Time to face the music. I turned the knob, ready to greet my persistent visitor, but as soon as I opened the door, my smile quickly faded, and I couldn’t seem to stop my feet from backing up to get away from the very angry werewolf on my doorstep. Cami was tiny by werewolf standards, but the rage in her eyes promised she could do some serious damage to a full-grown man if she needed to.
As my feet continued their retreat, Cami pushed her way inside. In fact, she marched right passed me and into the living room and through the kitchen. After inspecting the remainder of the downstairs, she met me back in the foyer and asked, “Are we alone?”
Completely bewildered, I looked around as if Drew or my father might suddenly appear out of thin air. “Yeah, we’re alone.” My voice sounded weird. Way too panicky. So much for playing it cool.
Cami stared me down for a moment as if searching for the right way to begin, and I fought back the urge to shout, just say it! When she finally spoke, her voice was even, completely confident, without an ounce of hesitation. “I’m not even going to ask what you are really doing here and give you a chance to lie. It was me in the woods behind your house. I heard you call your so-called brother Drew Barnes and saw the horror in your eyes when you saw me standing there. Then when Drew stared me down as if warning me—no, threatening me—to ignore what I’d heard, I knew I couldn’t just let it go.”
Cami took a deep breath and waited, maybe to see if I’d respond. To deny it. Try to make her believe that what she heard was wrong. But I knew better. She knew more. There was no question in her voice. She wasn’t fishing for information. She already had all the facts she needed.
My gaze hit the floor. I couldn’t stand to look at her. Not when crushing guilt and regret had invaded my body from head to toe. Cami reached into her pocket and pulled out some folded pieces of paper. “You guys hid your tracks well. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. What? Did you delete it all before you came here? But you should know you can’t get rid of everything, especially when you’re the son of the CEO of a sinking company. After some digging, I found this article: ‘Nathaniel Barnes, CEO of NRB Incorporated, Takes a Major Hit.’ And look here at the pic. There is Drew Barnes standing next to his father, the alpha of your pack.”
I just stood there gaping at the papers in her hand. What could I say? There was no way to talk myself out of this one. Cami shoved the rest of the pages against my chest. I took them from her hand but didn’t look at them.
She let out a deep huff and continued, “Well look at them. I guess you couldn’t exactly expect the rest of your pack to delete their Facebook and Twitter too. There are some really good pics of you, Drew, and even the real Gavin.”
Finally, somehow I mustered up the courage to finally speak. “Cami, let me explain.” I’d planned to go on, spill my guts and finally come clean, but she didn’t let me. She stepped forward, got right up in my face, and seethed, “I’m not the one you need to explain to. It’s Luke you’re going to have to face. He deserves the truth even if it kills him. He deserves so much more than your lying, deceitful ass. And just so you know, I hope he rips you limb from limb for what you’ve done.”
My eyes filled with tears, so I clinched them shut and tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it didn’t help. I could hardly breathe, and before I knew it, I had slid to the floor. My body practically convulsed as I tried sucking in huge gulps of air between sobs. I’d messed up everything, and now I was going to lose it all. Luke, my family, my pack, and probably my life. But I only cared about one thing, and the thought of losing Luke tore through my body like a tornado ripping to shreds everything in its path.
I could feel Cami still standing above me, but I couldn’t look up. I couldn’t do anything but sob uncontrollably. After an excruciatingly long few minutes, Cami toed my thigh with her boot and said, “Come on. Get up. And get yourself together. We need to go meet Luke. And don’t try anything stupid because he’s expecting us. I warned Cade if we weren’t there in 15 minutes that he better coming looking for us. Plus, I have Allison watching your house to make sure we make it to Luke’s safely.”
Her words were like daggers and shook me out of my wallowing mess of emotions. My head shot up, and for the first time since she’d arrived, I looked straight into her eyes, completely shocked that she actually believed that I would try to escape or worse, try to hurt her.
Surprisingly her expression softened a bit. “It doesn’t look like I have anything to worry about, I guess. I certainly didn’t expect you to break down right here in the foyer.” She reached her hand down to help me up. “Come on, Scarlett. Time to finally put an end to all the lying. It’s clearly tearing you apart.”
Somehow I made it to my feet, and on shaky legs I followed Cami to Luke’s. Allison stood and watched as we made our way toward her, and when we approached, she didn’t say a word. She simply turned and opened the unlocked door. I followed them inside to find Gage, Cade, Aiden, and Teagan all standing around in the living room. One face among the crowd was missing, but as soon as everyone turned to watch us enter, Luke stood up, concern filling his sad, heartbreaking eyes.
I stood there in front of them all, my focus solely set on Luke, and finally admitted the truth. “I know which pack is plotting against you.”
CHAPTER 46
Luke
“It’s mine. That’s why we’re here,” Scarlett confessed as she lowered her eyes to her hands. When she finally looked up again, it was directly at me. “My father wanted me to get close to you and convince you to back Aiden for alpha.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Aiden interrupted. “Maybe you need to start from the beginning.”
A sudden chill entered my bones at the same time as my palms grew damp. Did I really want to hear this from the beginning? When my hands began to tremble, I clinched them tightly into fists. I knew that whatever Scarlett was about to say was going to break me, and I hated myself for allowing that to happen. I stood and moved to the back of the sofa, but my position did nothing to make me feel any less vulnerable.
“I will tell you everything I know, but first, please believe me when I say that I was purposely kept in the dark. I had no idea what my father’s true intentions were. I would have never agreed to help him if I did,” she said.
“Of course,” Cade answered for all of us. I couldn’t say anything.
“My pack is in serious financial trouble, and we are about to be forced off of our land. When we came here so my dad could help out with that crazy guy werewolf hunter,” Scarlett paused and let her eyes wander over to Teagan, “I guess my dad saw an opportunity.”
“He saw a pack divided, an easy target,” Cade stated flatly.
; Scarlett nodded. “I can only assume that when we returned, our alpha and my father quickly devised a plan to take your pack over. From what I’d heard in bits and pieces, they want your land and your business.”
“And that plan was?” Alli asked.
Who cared! I needed to get out of this room. It was bad enough that I had been used by Scarlett and her pack, but to have it exposed in front of all my friends was humiliating. I could tell that Scarlett wanted to talk to me alone, but there was no way that was going to happen. Since the day I became interested in girls, I’d never dated the same one for more than a couple of months, and in a matter of a few days, this girl made me fall in love with her. How’s that for fucking karma?
“I’m pretty sure the plan changed along the way without me knowing about it. I guess Drew was right after all. I am naïve,” Scarlett murmured.
“Who the hell is Drew?” I asked, finally managing to find my voice but doing little to control the emotion behind it.
“He is our alpha’s son. He has been pretending to be my brother, Gavin.”
Jesus! This just keeps getting more and more twisted! I tried pacing up and down the back of the sofa, anything to calm the hurt and fury that threatened to explode from my fists. The desperate need to hit someone, to destroy something consumed me, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
Scarlett stood there shifting her weight from foot to foot, her face pale and her eyes bloodshot. She looked so lost and alone standing before us, and I silently cursed myself for wanting to hold her. Damn her! How could she do this to me? How could she look me in the eyes and tell me she loved me? I hated her for making me love her.