My mom and little sister had burst into tears the second I walked through the front door. Both of them barreled into me at full force and just about knocked me on my ass, and my ribs still hurt from their death-grip hugs. My brothers had both given me a stiff one-armed hug before punching me in the arm and chest. My father’s reaction to my arrival was as expected. He gave me a curt nod and said it was good to see me. He, of course, didn’t miss the opportunity to comment on the number of tattoos that now cover my skin either. I have twice as many now as I did when I saw him last.
I guess a lot can happen in five years.
I haven’t yet had the heart to tell them the reason I’m here is to inform them of the rogue that is more than likely in or around the pack’s territory. I wish I were a good enough son to really be here to celebrate my father’s birthday, but I’m not. I’m the son who walks away from his family with no intention of ever looking back. I’m the son who hunts and kills things on a daily basis. I’m the son that enjoys doing it.
“Your family is welcoming,” Avery says from her spot to my left. We had all agreed to stay for my father’s party as we practically walked in as it was starting. It was a good excuse for Sawyer to catch up with his parents and old school friends. Besides, I didn’t have the heart to drag my father and his beta, Noah, away from the party to discuss rogue business. “And this house is amazing, and oh my God, look at the view. Why would you ever leave this place?” She gestures wildly with her hands at the property I grew up on. The large wood cabin-styled house sits on under four hundred acres of heavily wooded land and has the lake right in the backyard. It’s beautiful, and still, I hate it.
“That pool is where Grey learned to swim and where we spent most of our last summer together.” I point to the large rectangle pool; a couple of small children swimming and splashing each other, having fun. “That tire swing is where Grey and Remi would take turns for hours pushing each other back and forth. And the tree stump next to it is where I would sit and pout, annoyed she wasn’t playing with me instead.” I honestly can’t believe the tire swing is still there. I would have thought my dad would have taken it down by now. “And the boat dock down there,” I continue, “is where my dad told me Grey and her parents had been killed.”
I watch as Avery looks down at the dock where several jet skis are tethered and then back at the pool where the screaming children play. “Looks a little different now, right?” I say sarcastically and hope Avery’s starting to see why being here is like being in a graveyard of what once were happy memories.
“Yes, it does. I’m sorry we had to come here. I can see how this would be tough for you,” she whispers after a small moment of silence. “Where the hell did Sawyer go?” she asks, effectively changing the tense topic of conversation. “Didn’t he say he would be right back with the good booze? Not that I’m complaining, but your parents’ alcohol selection out here is crap.”
“There are a bunch of families here.” Many of which had grown and aged in the past five years. I was a little surprised to see many of the people I went to high school with are now mated to each other and having children. There is only a small handful of kids here, but I know many of them belong to the people I grew up with. “My parents aren’t going to have the strong stuff out when it’s a family event.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Avery grumbles.
“You were raised in a barn, weren’t you?” It’s a standing joke between us that Avery was literally raised by wolves. Her upbringing was anything less than a normal civilized life. From what she’s told us, her pack gave into their animalist nature more than most wolf shifter packs. While most try to let the human side of them lead, Avery’s pack preferred to spend a majority of their time in wolf form.
“Wolf den, actually.” She smirks as Sawyer makes his reappearance, a bottle of good whiskey in his hand. “Dude, finally, what took you so long?”
“Your dad moved the stash again, and I couldn’t find it,” Sawyer explains to me as he starts pouring some of the amble liquid into our empty wine glasses. “This girl Pruitt had to show me where your dad keeps it now.”
“Pruitt?” I ask, not recognizing the name.
“She’s a new friend of Remi’s. As far as I can tell, she’s human.” He shrugs before taking a swig of his drink. “Super hot though and there was something about her so familiar, I just couldn’t place it.”
“Gross. Human,” Avery snarls with a scrunched look on her face.
Sawyer laughs at her and teases her for her hatred for humans. Again, Avery explains her reasoning for her dislike or distrust; something about how human child protective services tried to remove her from her parents’ care when she was young. Her elementary school had called the service when they got worried about Avery’s socialization skills. Not that I think it had gotten any better since then.
As I listen to them banter back in forth, a zapping sensation runs down my spine, and my wolf nudges me to look up at the kitchen bay window. I remove my stare from the partygoers and look up and back at the house.
At first, I think the vision I see is the ghost of my dead mate, but this apparition looks different than she has in the past. Whenever I had seen my dead mate over these past fourteen years since her death, she was always the same age as when she died, forever stuck in time as a seven-year-old. But now she’s standing there all grown up and… breathing.
She stands in the window with her arms folded in front of her chest and her plump bottom lip between her teeth. Her bright green gaze is staring directly into mine with a look of surprise taking shape on her face.
Her blonde hair is just as blonde as it was when we were kids. I used to tell my mom her hair was like an angel’s because of how pale the tresses were. High cheekbones have replaced the chubby cheeks that used to sit there, making her already pouty lips more prominent.
I wouldn’t need the golden mating aura that surrounds her to recognize Grey Thorne. My mate is standing in my childhood home, just yards away from me.
My heart rips out of my chest when she disappears around the corner and out of my view, and a loud animalist roar escapes my throat before I can stop it. My wolf cries and tears at my skin, desperate to go to his mate. But I can’t move, my legs crumple beneath me, and I sink to my knees on the stone patio.
Tears prick my eyes as I try to come to grips with the fact my mate has been alive for the past fourteen years, and I hadn’t bothered looking for her. I believed what my father told me and took it as gospel.
I’m quickly back at my feet and barreling through the group of pack members now surrounding me. I ignore Sawyer’s and Avery’s calls, asking me what’s going on as they follow closely, their voices full of confusion and worry.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m tackling my father, the alpha of our pack, to the ground. “How could you lie to me!” I roar, my animal side more in control than my human. “You told me she was dead, and I believed you!” I’m just about to bring my tattooed fist down to deliver a blow to his face when two males tackle me to the side and send me rolling into the grass.
Ransom and Ranger.
I’m in a defensive position in the blink of an eye, and I quickly whirl around to face my attackers. I know my eyes are now in wolf form and are glowing gold, and my canine teeth have elongated. My claws are out too, I feel them digging into my palms, and the warm sensation of blood dripping down my fingers follows.
“Ryker, what are you talking about!” Ranger demands as he starts to move to my left while Ransom moves to my right, planning an attack from both sides if it becomes necessary. I don’t look directly at them; I keep my gaze on my father as he pulls himself off the ground, and calmly keeps his on me.
“Grey!” I growl in response. How could they not have told me she’s been here the whole time?
“What about her, Son?” my father asks, taking a slow step toward me. “I know today is her birthday, I know that must be hard—”
“I’m not talking about her
fucking birthday! I’m talking about how she was standing right there!” I point at the window above our heads that’s, of course, now empty. I know she is still in the house, though. My wolf can sense her nearness.
“Ryker...” I hear my mother’s soft voice emerge from the group as she steps forward and heads in my direction. “Honey, Grey died. I don’t know what you saw, but sweetie...” She gives me a sad smile, and she calmly places her small hand over my forearm. “She isn’t here.”
“I just saw her in the window,” I whisper to my mom, who stares up at me with blue eyes that look much like my own. “Her hair was in a braid, just like how Genevieve used to do it for her.”
“Wait, a braid?” Sawyer asks, walking up to me. “That girl, Pruitt, the one I was talking about a minute ago was in the kitchen, and she had a braid. Maybe that’s who you saw, and she just looks like Grey.”
“No!” I growl, pushing my mom’s hand off me and quickly shoving my fingers through my hair. “It was her! She had the mating aura around her, I saw it!”
“Pru’s not Grey, man,” Ransom tells me as his own eyes shift back to their normal human blue instead of the glowing wolf silver. “She’s Remi’s friend. Her very human friend.”
“She moved here like ten months ago with her aunt,” Ranger adds in. “Cool chick, but definitely not Grey.”
“Come on.” My mother takes my hand and begins to pull me toward the house. “Can you keep yourself together long enough for me to introduce you to Pru? To get this crazy thought out of your head?”
“Mom, I swear I saw Grey. She’s grown up now, but it was her.” I walk beside my mother, and the large group of pack members politely steps out of the way to give us room to pass. Many of their eyes are wide with shock, but also I catch the scent of fear. Great, I haven’t seen these people in five years, and now they’re afraid of me.
My mom leads me into the kitchen, and I can’t help but stare at the spot where I saw her standing. I take a deep inhale and sort through the smells. The different scents of pack members and family members fill my nose, but underneath the familiar is one that is different than the rest. One vaguely familiar, a scent of of sunshine and vanilla, and I can’t help the small smile that appears on my face.
She was here. I know it. I follow the scent through the living room and down the hall, to the small guest bathroom. I discover the small room now empty, and my heart sinks.
“She was here!” I tell my mom, whose worried blue eyes watch me closely. Her lips are pulled down in a sad frown, and I know she thinks I’m losing my mind. There’s a small chance I am, but I’m willing to take the risk.
Remington emerges from her bedroom a few doors down, holding a piece of dark clothing by her fingertips as far away from her as possible.
“Honey, did you get sick?” My mother rushes forward, obviously not missing the scent of vomit that accompanies my younger sister. My mom puts her hands on Remi’s forehead, checking for fever or signs of illness.
Pushing mom’s hands off of her, Remi explains, “What? No. This is Pru’s. She totally tossed her cookies. She thinks she ate some bad Chinese food last night or something.” Remington shutters at the memory. “Being the amazing friend I am, I gave her one of Ransom’s shirts to wear after she got some vomit on her tank top. So gross.” She holds up the tank top and cringes.
“Where is Pru now?” Mom asks her, her blue eyes darting back toward me.
“I sent Typhoid Mary home, so she didn’t need to infect the rest of us with whatever is going on with her.” Tired of holding the soiled clothing, Remi shoves it at Mom, who, without hesitating, takes the shirt. Such a mom thing to do. “Why? She left a present for dad on the table if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Looking at me one last time, Mom sighs and locks eyes with Remi. “Ryker seems to think Pruitt is Grey Thorne…”
“What?” my sister barks, obviously confused. “Why would you think that?”
“My wolf recognized her,” I try to explain. I know it all sounds crazy, but I know whoever they think this Pru girl is; she’s my long lost mate, and I’m willing to sound crazy if it means there’s a chance I get my mate back. “She had the mating aura.”
“Well, that doesn’t make a lick of sense…” Remi starts, but I can see her brain trying to piece things together. “Grey was my best friend growing up. If it is her, I would know.”
“You guys were only seven years old when she died,” Mom says. “If it really is her, she wouldn’t look much like the little girl she was.” Turning to me, Mom asks, “Did Grey have any identifying characteristics you can remember?”
“A scar on her left palm,” I reply. She got too close to a young male pack member when he was learning to shift. His wolf was scared and lashed out at Grey. It was all an accident, but it left Grey with a jagged scar on her palm.
“Mom, you’re considering this insanity?” Remi doesn’t even try to hide how surprised she is by that.
“You haven’t met your mate yet, Remington. You don’t understand how intense the connection between mates is. And then there’s the fact Ryker saw the mating aura.”
“I’ve started sending our guests home, let’s take this discussion into my office,” my father’s deep voice echoes from down the hallway. “And Remington, please do something about that shirt. It reeks.”
“You saw the bodies?” I ask my father as I pace in front of his large oak desk. “And you read the police report?”
“I saw the bodies, they were burned beyond recognition, and their scents were impossible to detect due to the fire.” My father leans back in his chair and pushes his dark-framed glasses up his nose after they had slipped down some. “Of course, the human police reports were changed to not bring any attention to our community. Noah and I examined the scene, two distinctive rogue wolf scents were all over the surrounding area. There was so much blood at the scene, both Archer and Gen’s, there was no way they survived that kind of blood loss. Even with shifter healing, they would have died from their injuries.”
“But what about Grey?” Ranger asks from his spot next to his twin and Sawyer.
“Noah saw her body.” Elias looks down at his lap. “I didn’t want that to be the way I remembered that little girl. I didn’t need to see what those rogue wolves had done to her. But Noah said the coroner believed she died on impact. Her neck had been broken, and her body also badly burned.”
“Sick fucks,” Sawyer spits, shaking his head at the thought of how gruesome the scene must have been.
“How could Pru be Grey if there was a body?” Avery pipes up after a long stretch of silence.
“What if it wasn’t her body?” Mom asks, looking around the room. “What if someone got her out of the car before it caught on fire?”
“Who would do something like that?” Remington questions, twirling her hair around her slender finger. “Who even wanted the Thornes dead in the first place?”
“We never could figure that one out.” Dad sits straighter in his chair as he speaks. “I’d known Archer Thorne my entire life, and he never had any enemies. Genevieve, as far as I know, didn’t either.”
“What do you mean ‘as far as you know?’” Mom questions her mate, a dark brow raised.
Clearing his throat, Dad explains. “We never actually knew much about where Gen came from. After a business trip, Archer came back with her in tow. He never said where they had met, or anything past the fact that they were mates and Gen would obviously be joining the pack as the alpha female.”
“And that didn’t seem sketchy to you?” Avery asks, confused as to why Elias wouldn’t have pushed for more answers.
“He was my alpha, and I wasn’t his beta at that point. I didn’t feel it was my place to ask those kinds of questions.”
Sawyer pushes himself off the far wall he’s been leaning on. “I feel like we’re asking the wrong questions here and completely forgetting the most obvious one.” He looks around the room before looking at me. “If this Pru girl i
s actually Grey, why doesn’t she remember you? Or Remi? Or any of us for the matter? Her parents were the alpha pair. It’s not like she was never around the pack or never a part of pack activities.”
During the full moon each month, the alpha leads a pack run through the territory. It’s meant to create stronger inner pack relationships as well as boost overall pack morale. Usually, the young pack members who have not gone through the first shift stay back and play amongst themselves with a few pack enforcers watching over them. I remember every month being upset I wasn’t able to go on the pack run yet. But the second I saw Grey with her blonde braids and bright smile, I calmed down and was happy to stay back with the rest of the children.
“Well,” Remi begins, leaning forward in her chair, “Pruitt did tell us she was in an accident when she was younger. She has a brain injury that prevents her from remembering anything from before that day. She doesn’t even remember anything about her parents.”
“Are her parents alive then?”
“No, she told me they died in the same car accident.” Remi drops the strand of hair she had been anxiously playing with and frowns. “Pru was the only survivor.”
The room is silent as I continue to pace in front of the desk. I have a million more questions than I started with. But there is one thing I need to know right now. “Where is Grey now?” I ask my sister, my tone demanding.
“Well, her name is Pruitt,” Remington reminds me with a pointed look. “And I assume she went home since she wasn’t feeling well. Here I’ll text her now and ask if she made it home okay.” She reaches into her back jeans pocket and pulls out her phone. She looks down at the screen, and her eyes go wide. “Shit!”
“What?” Everyone in the room demands. I’m already so on edge that if one more thing happens, I may lose control of my wolf and shift. That is something that hasn’t happened to me since I was fifteen years old.
Wolf Bound (The White Wolf Prophecy Book 1) Page 4