by Belle Harper
“Ranger, give her space.” But Ranger didn’t move, his ears just moved and I could see his tail was wagging against the floor.
“I… how does this happen?” I asked. Galen cleared his throat before he stood up, letting go of my hand and resting against his desk in front of me.
“They are shifters, there are many kinds, but the ones in this area are all wolf shifters. There are bears, panthers… well there is a list of different shifters. But the ones who live here, in this area and go to Port Willow high here are all wolves. They are all gray wolves. Except Rafferty. He is different.”
My eyes seeking out Raff, he looked so ashamed and small over in the corner. “How?” I croaked out. My hand going to my throat again.
I saw him shuffle and sit a little higher. “I am a Red Wolf.” He practically whispered. Maverick watching me from the corner of his eye. He warned me, he told me to leave. Why? Because this? Because I wasn’t supposed to know. My heart started to race. Were they going to kill me now? I knew their secret.
I jerked back when the warm weight of Ranger’s wolf head laid in my lap, his eye peering up at me. I tried to back up further in the chair. My hands in the air, I didn’t know what he wanted but he was scaring me, was the wolf different to him. Could he control it or?
“Ranger.” Galen groaned. I could tell he was getting frustrated by him. “He won’t hurt you, Lexi. It’s still Ranger. Just in wolf form.” Galen’s face told me he wasn’t happy with Ranger’s move, I saw him glare at the wolf. Who I swear was smiling at me. When I saw Raff getting up, and the blood still on his neck. I remembered what he had done. I shoved the furry head of Ranger off my lap.
“You fucking attacked him. Do. Not. Touch. Me.” I growled out to Ranger. I stood up, swaying lightly. Galen moved to take my arm but I flinched away. I walked around the desk, trying to put distance between me and Ranger. And made my way over to Raff. He tensed slightly and closed his eyes.
“I just want to see your neck.” I whispered, I didn’t want him to be scared of me. I reach out for his hand, hanging limp by his side. When I looked up, his eyes were on me and I could feel our connection. I smiled gently as I moved the collar of his t-shirt to see how bad it really was and he let me.
“They heal fast, that will be gone by tomorrow. When he turns eighteen or there abouts he will heal almost instantly.” I turned to Galen. They heal fast? I didn’t miss that. I heal fast too. Wasn’t that normal? Was I normal?
“So you’re a wolf?”
“Yes but oh, um… I am a shifter. Born a human and shift into a wolf.” Raff answered. I was a little confused, okay a lot confused but all of this.
The bell rang, and it was like the air in the room changed. I looked around the office, trying to avoid looking at the huge wolf just sitting besides Galen’s desk. My bag? Where did I leave it. Galen pulled it up from the floor near his door and handed it to me.
“I grabbed it for you.” I nodded as I swung it over my shoulder. On a shaky breath I looked around the room at the guys… and wolf.
I need to leave this place. Now.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lexi
Galen must have called Grayson and Jack. They were waiting outside the school in their car for me. He knew I would run. They took me back to the house, the ride back was quiet and that made me more nervous than ever. They usually just chatted away when they were together, but at least it wasn’t long and I was back at the house soon enough.
“Grayson will bring us in some tea and muffins.” Jack said as he gestured to the living room. I dropped my bag at my feet, I was stiff as I sat on the edge of the seat. “Coffee. White. No sugar.” I called out. I wanted coffee, not tea. Tea was okay but I think I needed something stronger. To wake me up from this.
“One coffee coming up.” Jack fidgeted a few times and looked to the door. Was he expecting someone? Oh shit. Was someone coming to take me away? Was Jack keeping me here until they got here, then they would take me away and kill me?
“What is going on.” I tried to act causal like this was all normal. I won’t tell them what I saw, I will deny it all. They didn’t need to worry about me running around telling others that I saw a boy turn into a wolf. I would be thrown into the loony bin for talking like that. Fuck no. No way. I was not stupid.
“We got a text from Galen saying that we should meet you at the school, that you accidently discovered the shifter world.” I looked around the room, I needed an escape plan. Were they wolves too? Oh god. Jack and Grayson were wolves. They had to be.
“I can sense your fear, don’t worry, Lexi. There is nothing to be afraid of. We have been waiting to tell you, but I guess Ranger and Raff have set that into motion at little earlier than planned.”
My hands were shaking, so I put them under my armpits to try and hide the fear. Grayson walked back in the room, a hot cup of coffee in one hand, a plate with three muffins in the other. When he handed them, my hand trembled as I took the mug, he placed the plate of muffins beside me. He gave me a gentle smile.
“They are all for you.” And he backed up and took a seat on the floor. Jack followed him and they sat beside each other, looking up to me. I felt less intimated by them at this angle, my hand stopped trembling as I took a sip of the hot coffee. But my stomach was like a rock, I was too shit scared to stomach anything else.
“You are probably wondering, and yes. We are wolves. We are from the Kiba Pack, and so is Ranger. We are gray wolves, most usually are. Red wolves just like the ones in the wild are rare as shifters as well. That is why we want to make sure Rafferty has a good life here, and hopefully one day join our pack.”
My hands were shaking again, I had to used them both to steady the mug, trying not to spill hot coffee on my lap. I could see they were watching my hands now gripping the mug tightly.
“Are you going to kill me? Is that why I am here. You said you don’t normally take females. What do you want with me.” My voice breaking at the end. The panic had now set in, but so had the anger, bubbling deep inside. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. They could try but I will not go easy.
Their eyes went wide… with shock? Confusion. They shook their heads, their hands waving in surrender.
“No, god no Lexi. No one will hurt you. That’s not what this is, we are not explaining this right. We have never had to do it before. I will try and start. Okay, if at any stage you have questions put your hand up and I will answer it.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded slowly.
This was not my life. This was not real.
“Lexi, shifters live in communities. We have one here in Kiba. Not all the residents are wolves, we let humans live here also. But a majority are shifters. There are two other packs that live nearby, Rawlins and Kenneally. Our leaders all work together at times of need, but otherwise we are very territorial. We don’t associate with the other packs… how you going so far. Understanding?”
I nodded, I was understanding as much as anyone could. This was a lot to take in. I took a deep breath and put my hand up.
“The whole hating each other at school, that’s because they are wolves and don’t like each other?” They nodded and Grayson said that was pretty much it. But they didn’t act like that as adults. Just teens with crazy hormones. That strangely made sense to me.
“So, you would probably have noticed there are a lot of males. That’s because we are cursed…. Well okay, the story goes that we are cursed to never have female children. Only male. But we are blessed with venom to change females, to make them shifters and have shifter offspring. Which are always male. No matter how many times they try, all males. That’s why you may notice some bigger families, they were trying to ‘break the curse.’”
Jack was good, I was following along with what he was saying, it sounded like a fairy-tale. And I just wanted to go hid and pretend this day was over.
“So, you being female here. That’s new for us. Not because there is anything wrong with you, but you have… um. A sc
ent.” He gave me an apologising look. I smell? “You don’t smell human, you don’t smell like a shifter… not one that anyone has come across before. You draw in the shifter males with your scent. I don’t know why, but I heard about your first day. They boys, we didn’t warn them properly and they got a little aggressive.
“Some believe you are their mate. That your scent calls to them, so they have asked to claim you. Our Alpha, Ranger and Maverick’s father. He has stopped them all, along with the other Alphas. But don’t worry, no one will claim you. You won’t be forced to be with any of them. That is not why you are here.
“We want to protect you, some other packs are bad… and would take you and hurt you. That is why Shelly brought you here, to us. We can protect you, and we find out what you are.”
This was too much to take in at once. I nodded my head and put my empty mug on the coffee table. Took the plate of muffins and my bag to my room and closed the door, locking it. Hoping that they all stay away from me. I needed to think clearly about this. He said he they wouldn’t hurt me, but I didn’t want to take the chance. I paced my room, thinking over the events of the day.
When they were all sleeping, I would escape. I needed to get far away from here. My window had the lock on it… I was sure I could figure out how to break it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Galen
I sat on the leather sofa besides Nash and Jett. Nash was tense, and I would be, too. Alaric was pacing. He was not my father, but I knew he had a temper like all alphas did. He was not happy how Nash had handled Rafferty on Saturday night. I had heard that argument all of Sunday. If I had known that Lexi was going to be attending the party, I would have been here or at least warned Alaric how Ranger had been acting before he left the boys to throw their party.
We were waiting on Ranger. He had taken off once we had all been summoned here. Everyone here knew why. Alaric had told him to wait until he had figured out what Lexi was, that he was to leave her alone. But Ranger just couldn’t help himself. I didn’t blame him though, she pulled to me like no other. Which had me questioning daily what she could be.
Alaric had also told Ranger to stop picking fights with Rafferty. But Ranger was wild and reckless. And to be honest, Alaric wasn’t as tough on him as he was the others. Ranger toed the line more than any of the Lovell brothers.
“Come. Now, boy.” Alaric’s voice boomed through the house. I saw Lyell shift on his seat beside Maverick, who honestly looked like he couldn’t care less that his father was agitated. But we all knew Maverick would have Ranger’s back no matter what. Wherever Ranger was, Maverick was two steps behind, cleaning up his mess.
Lyell was more like his mother, and I enjoy his company. He preferred books to sports so we had a lot more in common than the other brothers and had spent many hours in the library here talking about the works of our favorite authors.
I could feel Nash shift again—he was all business and always had his father’s back, trying to prove himself as the next alpha. I had known the Lovell family a long time, even their mother Laura, who I had met many times before she passed.
But I’ve only lived here, with the Kiba Pack, for the last five years— since her death. I lived on the Lovell estate, in the caretaker’s residence, it was smaller than my last place, but it was cozy.
“Father, it was an accident. I didn’t mean for it to happen. She just—” Ranger’s mouth slammed shut and he lowered his head at the loud growl from Alaric. Everyone in the room submitted to Alaric.
“You were told no more. You were told to leave her alone. You did not obey my orders and now she knows, and not on the terms I wished for. She is an unknown. We have many searching to find what she could be. She has shown no signs of shifting, so we believe she isn’t a shifter. And today you disobeyed an order. From your Alpha. You went after the red wolf and started a fight. Why? Why would you do that?”
I was sure Alaric didn’t actually want an answer, I think he was just frustrated that his son couldn’t listen to a direct order, given by the alpha. Alaric turned and took a stack of thick folders from out from his briefcase and placed them on the coffee table with a thud.
“It was because he marked her, he put a stronger claim on her. And I know she is mine. He is doing this to piss me off.”
I could feel Nash shake his head beside me at Ranger’s pleading to his father. Even I knew not to speak to the alpha like that, and I wasn’t a wolf shifter.
The tension in the air was thick as Alaric slowly strode up to Ranger, his hand reached out and took Ranger by the back of the neck. He pushed him to the floor on his knees.
“Do. Not. Speak,” Alaric snarled as he returned back to the folders and flipped one open. No one spoke. I held my breath. I enjoyed working for Kiba Pack, but at times, I didn’t enjoy the way Alaric treated his sons.
“We have looked into a lot of leads and haven’t found the answers yet. This is her whole life. Here.” He tapped on the papers in front of him. “Her mother and father were killed in a drug deal, she was found a few weeks later by a neighbor after they complained about the smell coming from the apartment. She had been living in a cupboard, taking herself to school and returning home everyday.”
My heart sank. I knew she had a bad past but this… Fuck. My heart ached for her. She was so strong, and yet she had gone through so much trauma as a child. No child should have to go through that.
“Alaric, I think these are things best not spoken about. They are not who she is, and I don’t think she would be happy with everyone here knowing her past.” I looked around the room and everyone held the same expression—shock, pity, sadness. Things she wouldn’t want people to know about her for this exact reason.
“You are right, I am sorry. Please don’t let on that you know that. I will skip over the other points.” He flipped through the documents and spoke about her parents. Her mother was admitted to a mental hospital while she was pregnant with Lexi. Her father was a small time drug dealer, and that was the only family she had. There was no other family they could find, which was why Lexi ended up in the system.
“So, as you see, we are at a dead-end right now. I have a few of our men working on what other packs might know about the way she smells. We are trying to be discreet as possible, but it is not helping with our investigations. We don’t want to let on we have her here, until we know what she is at least.
“She is safe for now as long as all the packs work together. And no more fighting with the red wolf. He means something to her. Jack and Grayson have told me. If he has claimed her and she doesn’t understand, then that is a different story and I will handle that myself. Not you.” He pointed to Ranger, who looked up just to see his father’s glare. “Nor any of you. Now, Ranger, come with me. I wish to speak to you in private.”
And with that, we were all dismissed. I wish I didn’t know so much about Lexi’s life this way, I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me these things herself. But I needed to know more, I needed it to protect her. I wanted her safe, and if I had to read all the bad things that had happened to her, I would do that to protect her. I knew she wouldn’t be happy if she found out, but I would do what I had to. I moved over and picked up some files and started to scan them. I could feel Jett move in and look at some. I raised my brow at him.
“I am working on this too, might as well get all the information so I can help her.”
I flipped through the file of her foster homes—and she had run from every single one. And there was a lot of them since she was a child, some of the things I read made me livid. Fuck. I looked down at my phone at the time.
“I gotta go.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lexi
It took Raff a long time to leave my door—he had knocked and knocked, and then just sat out there for most the night. I didn’t want to see him. I couldn’t. It was just too much. I was falling for him, and this shifter thing was huge. Like freaky, out of this world, crazy huge. I just couldn’t deal with it.
He turned into a wolf… Just thinking about it made my mind go crazy.
I was angry at myself for giving him a piece of my heart, something that could break. I was taking that back now. They could all go fuck themselves.
But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like crying and throwing things. How could he not tell me this, that he turned into a wolf? Well, I knew why he didn’t, but still. Maybe he should have kept away from me or pushed me away more.
Fuck, this was just not what I had planned. I should have left before this happened. I knew this place was too good to be true. And I was lulled into a false sense of normal, parents who cared, a loving family home.
It was just past four in the morning and the lock on my window was impossible to pick. I was pissed off about it, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I opened my bedroom door. I could see the light was on in Raff’s room. I remembered the whole ‘they can smell you,’ part of the conversation earlier. Would he be able to smell me leave?
I moved quickly to the bathroom and locked the door. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He will know if I left. He wasn’t going to let me just leave, he would follow me. Would I let him? My heart sank at the thought of leaving him. But this was what I needed to do. I couldn’t bring him with me . . . he belonged here. Like Jack said—he was a rare one, the red wolf. He could join their pack and live here. God, that just sounded so crazy.
I started the shower and pretended I was washing myself while I slowly pushed open the small bathroom window. I shoved my backpack out, hoping he wouldn’t hear it hit the ground being right next to his room. When I didn’t hear anything at the bathroom door or from outside, I pushed myself up and out, the cold night air hitting my face.