Taryn, who clung to Lucas’s waist as though her balance depended on it, narrowed her blue eyes at me. Of course Liam was there too. And next to him stood a ravishing redhead. Was that the girl they’d spoken about on the bus the other day? What was her name again? The outer corners of her green eyes slanted upward, which lent her this fierce feline look. God, I already disliked her, for no other reason than because she was stunning and surely knew it.
“Is that her?” she whispered to Liam, perky nose crinkling.
Liam didn’t say anything. Didn’t even look down at her. He was looking at me. No. Not at me. Through me. As though I wasn’t even standing here.
“Hey, Tammy,” Everest said, walking over to me.
Tammy latched on to Liam’s hand. “Hey, Everest.”
My ribs cinched at the sight of their twined fingers.
“Aidan couldn’t make it?” Lucas asked.
Everest cocked an eyebrow. Right. I’d failed to mention my date with Aidan Michaels. Instead of answering, I spun around and threaded myself through the throngs of festival-goers. If I didn’t lose the pack, tonight would be far from fun.
Everest caught up to me and tugged on my elbow. “What the hell was that about?”
“I had a date with Aidan Michaels.”
“You what?” His eyes grew as wide as the flashlights the security guards were shining into bags.
I unzipped my cross-body bag. Once the guard let me through, I handed my ticket to the woman scanning them.
“How do you even know him?” Everest asked.
“How do you think I know him?”
“Sandra?”
“Bingo.”
“I thought—”
“He offered 3K. Couldn’t exactly turn that down.”
“3K?”
“Yeah.”
“He only paid half because Liam—who happened to be at the restaurant—made me leave. He says Aidan is a major creeper. Is it true?”
Everest’s face creased, in concentration or in surprise or maybe in something else entirely.
“What?” I asked, combing the air to push away the thick smoke billowing from a food truck.
Slowly, as though he were trying out the words for size, he said, “Aidan Michaels hated Heath.”
Bass jolted from nearby amplifiers, making my heart skip a beat. If Aidan hated Heath and I hated Heath, then maybe Aidan wasn’t such a bad man.
“But is he a creeper?”
“I’d stay away from him.” Everest rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Want a beer?”
“Sure.”
He marched ahead of me toward a bar truck. Hollers and whistles pierced the purple air as the server filled two large plastic cups with the foamy liquid. I pulled a long swallow, then licked my lips. Exactly what I needed.
We traipsed through the thickening crowd. The opening notes of one of the band’s most popular songs rang out, and people went crazy. Bodies writhed, people shrieked, hands came up and pumped the air. I drank more of my beer so that it wouldn’t slosh all over me as we neared the stage. The drummer pounded on the percussions, and the orange-mulleted singer jumped in the air, belting out the lyrics.
I shifted my hips and raised one of my hands. The alcohol flowed through my veins, swirled through my body, and muted the thoughts and worries running on a loop inside my head. I drank deeper from my cup. By the third song, the entire content of my cup swished inside me, heightening the delicious beat and smoky voice of the band.
I felt a tiny bit happy. Even Everest smiled. He didn’t dance, but his head was bobbing to the tune. I bumped my elbow into his side.
“Thanks for taking me! This is awesome!” I yelled so he would hear me over the group of chanting girls.
He grinned, then grabbed my empty cup. “I’ll go get us refills. Don’t move, or I’ll never find you.”
“Not going anywhere.” I swung my head from side to side, the music thrumming against my bones. The night air was warm and pungent with a thousand smells—hot dogs, ketchup, grass, beer, sweat, jasmine, apricot…
I looked for the origin of that scent, fearing I’d find Amanda. Sure enough, she was standing a couple feet away, enclosed in Matt’s beefy arms. Next to them stood the rest of the pack. A couple of the guys looked my way, eyes glowing in the darkness. Tamara was grinding up against Liam’s rigid build. His hands didn’t touch her body, but that didn’t deter her. Maybe he wasn’t into public displays of affection.
I’d promised Everest I wouldn’t move, so I stayed put and tried to pretend they weren’t all right there. As I directed my attention back toward the stage, my gaze landed on some guy in a white wifebeater and low-slung jeans. Instead of facing the stage, he was looking at me, and so were his two friends. I frowned when I saw them raise their chins and sniff the air. They whispered to each other, then casually approached me.
My spine clicked into alignment, all of my nerves on high alert. Before they’d even reached me, I knew they were wolves.
“Ness Clark?” Wifebeater asked.
I squared my shoulders. “And you are?”
“We heard the pack bitch was back, but damn, we hadn’t heard how hot she was.”
For the first time since I’d returned to Boulder, I disliked someone more than Liam and Lucas. “You might call your females bitches, but I prefer she-wolf.”
Wifebeater smirked and took another step in my direction.
“Come any closer,” I hissed, “and I’ll make sure you can never breed.”
“The bitch has attitude.”
Anger dripped inside my veins like fuel. My limbs hummed. “Just leave me alone.”
He raised his palms in the air. “One question, and then we go.”
“I’m not answering any questions.”
His head was so close to mine I could smell his ripe breath. “Is your ass very sore from being the only bitch in your pack?”
My gaze narrowed to a sharp point. I punched his Adam’s apple and kneed his groin. Hard. And then arms were hauling me back, and a wall of bodies darkened the space between me and the asshole. I tried to shrug away from the arms, but they banded tighter.
“What did he say to you?” Liam’s voice was low.
Like I would ever tell him. He’d probably wonder why I’d turned violent at such a petty taunt. Or worse, he’d use it as ammunition against me.
“Nothing,” I grumbled.
“Justin Summix is an asshole, Ness. So I repeat, what did he say to you?”
Justin Summix. I committed the name to memory. “It doesn’t matter.”
Liam finally released me, and I turned to scan the sea of faces for Everest. When I couldn’t locate him, I stared back at Liam, caught him nodding. I pivoted, just as Matt tore through the line of bodies.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“My ass, it was nothing.”
His pupils throbbed in the gleam of the strobe lights. “You don’t talk; I don’t talk.”
“Ugh.” I growled, raking my hands through my hair.
Yelps rose around me as the pack moved through the field of festivalgoers, chasing Justin and the other two. And then three security guards broke away from their postings around the stage to jog after the boys.
“They’re going to get arrested!” I bellowed.
Liam gazed intently at his crew, lips thin, jaw set.
“Liam, call them off.”
“I’m not Alpha. I don’t give them orders.”
And yet, that’s exactly what he’d just done.
The singer from The Lemons stumbled on one of the lyrics as he witnessed the crush of bodies at the edge of the field, but then he flung his attention back to his twisting crowd and smoothed out the lyrics.
“Have you seen Everest?” I asked.
“Not since he left you alone out here.”
“Liam,” Tamara whined. “You’re missing—”
Amanda elbowed past the redhead. “What the hell just happened?”
>
I wasn’t sure if she was asking me or Liam.
His gaze raked over my face. “The Pines insulted Ness.”
“What’d they say?” Amanda asked.
Goose bumps popped up on my flesh, and I rubbed my arms. Amanda tipped her head to the side as though trying to see inside my brain. She was a girl; she probably guessed what boys could say that would set a girl off.
I started sidestepping around Liam, but he caught my wrist. Tamara’s eyes zeroed in on her date’s fingers.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to look for Everest so he can take me home.”
Matt and the others stalked back toward us, all of them a full head taller than everyone else. Their faces flashed with bloodlust and satisfied smiles. For a fraction of a second, I thought they might’ve killed Justin and the other two shifters, but then I chased that thought away. They were werewolves, not monsters.
“They won’t be bothering you anymore, Ness,” Matt said as Amanda skipped into his arms. He reeled her in tight and kissed her so hard I had to look away, but not before seeing the blood coating his knuckles.
Lucas’s white t-shirt had a sprinkling of blood too. Shit.
I bit down on my lip, gnawed on it. “You guys didn’t need to do…whatever the hell you did to them.”
“I told you: we protect our own.” Liam’s voice was soft even though his grip wasn’t.
“I don’t need your protection.”
He dipped his mouth toward my ear and said, his voice husky, “Well, you’ll get it, whether you want it or not. That’s the way the Boulder Pack operates.”
My heart pounded unevenly. “I need to find Everest.”
I didn’t want Liam to be nice. Nice people were harder to hate.
I shook his hand off. “I want to go home.”
“I was leaving. I’ll drive you.”
“No. Please. You have a date.”
“I need to be on top of my game tomorrow.”
Tamara, whom I’d all but forgotten, huffed. “Fine, let me say bye to the girls.”
I would have rather snaked a clogged toilet than be stuck in a car with Liam and his girlfriend. Where the hell was Everest?
“Stay here, Tammy. Have fun,” Liam said.
She batted her eyelashes at him. “I want to have fun with you.”
That was a picture I didn’t need in my head. I texted Everest, praying he would see my message and rescue me.
“Not tonight.” Liam pried her hands off. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Lucas will get you home.”
“I don’t want Lucas to take me home,” she whined.
I checked my phone. Seriously, Everest… How long does it take someone to buy a beer? I texted him: Are you OK? Because now I was worried.
“I’m ready when you are?” Liam said.
I looked up from my phone and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. Tamara was whispering angrily at Taryn. Even though I couldn’t hear what was being said, from the way both girls glared my way, I guessed it had to do with me.
I sighed. “I should really find Everest first though.”
“We’ll look for him on our way out.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, combing each food truck we passed for Everest. Just as I spotted him sitting at a picnic bench next to a girl, I got a text back: I’m fine. Just ran into a friend. You OK?
Liam must’ve followed my line of sight, because he said, “You want me to tell him I’m bringing you home?”
He started toward Everest, but I touched Liam’s arm to stop him. “No. Don’t interrupt him. He’s had a tough month.”
I typed back: I’m fine. I would send him a message once I was at the inn.
I walked alongside Liam, drained from the strange night. I was glad I was going home early. If I didn’t sleep and relax, I’d be a complete mess for the run.
“Are you black?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I think you have me confused with August.”
“Funny. I meant as a wolf.”
A lopsided smile formed on his lips. “Yeah.”
Even though the air around Liam shimmied with the crisp, warm scent of mint and musk, I wanted confirmation. “Were you out in the woods on Wednesday?”
He nodded.
We passed boisterous groups of teens—slightly younger than I was—and it reminded me of high school, of the cliques I’d never been a part of. I wondered if Liam had been popular back in school. I bet he was. I bet all the guys in the pack were.
“Do you go to college?” I asked, turning away from the gaggle of tweens pointing at Liam, faces flushed from the sight of him.
“I graduated a month ago.”
“And now?”
“Now?”
“What are your work plans?” I asked.
“I’m planning on picking up where my father left off.”
“Real estate?”
He nodded. “What about you?”
I drew in a long breath of sweet, sticky air. “I don’t know. I just want to get through this summer, and then I’ll see where I’m at in September.”
“Not so certain about winning anymore?”
I wasn’t certain of anything anymore, but I didn’t tell Liam this. Instead, I stared quietly ahead of me, at the long lines of parked cars bathed in starlight.
“How are your bruises?”
I blinked at him. “My bruises?”
“From paintballing.” He glanced at my legs, which made me strangely self-conscious.
I frowned at his concern. “I’m healing quickly again.”
“Again? Was that not the case when you were away?”
“I wasn’t getting banged up much when I was away.”
As he beeped his car open, something flickered through his eyes—remorse, or maybe it was just the reflection of his bumper lights. I could feel him hesitate to follow me toward the passenger side. In the end, he must’ve remembered I wasn’t a date he had to impress, because he got behind the wheel while I opened my own door and climbed in.
As he pulled out of the lot, I asked, “How long have you and Tamara been dating?”
“We’re not dating.”
“Are you sure she knows that?”
“She knows it.”
I didn’t ask what they were doing if they weren’t dating. I was a virgin, not an idiot. They might not have been dating, but they were most definitely hooking up. My phone thankfully pinged with a message, tearing me out of my strange deliberations. When I saw August’s name in the message box, I smiled.
He’d sent me a selfie with some of his Army buddies. They were holding makeshift mics to their mouths—bananas. The picture was captioned: You’re missing one hell of a concert. How’s yours?
“What about you and August?”
I glanced away from my phone. “Me and August?”
“Are you together?”
“Me and August?” I sounded like a broken record. “No. We’re just friends.”
Liam’s features were smooth as stone. “Are you sure he knows that?”
“Of course he knows that.”
A sound scraped the walls of his throat, like a grunt, but not a grunt.
“What?”
“He just seemed awfully happy to see you, that’s all.”
“August used to babysit me, Liam. He’s ten years older than I am. Trust me, he doesn’t see me as anything other than a little sister.” I picked at a loose thread on the hem of my dress. “Were you hoping everyone in Boulder would dislike me as much as you do?”
His dark gaze leaped off the road and ground into mine.
“Don’t put words in my mouth.” He didn’t talk to me after that, just drove way above the speed limit.
The pines hedging the roads blended together in an endless juniper-colored smear. Someone was in a hurry to get rid of his passenger. Not that I wanted to spend a single minute more than necessary cooped up in a car with Liam Kolane. Why was I in his car again? Right…because Everest h
ad looked like he was enjoying himself.
My cousin owed me big time.
When Liam came to a screeching halt in front of the inn, I pumped my door handle. Before jumping out, I said, “Thanks for the ride.”
Liam didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at me as I climbed out, and the second I’d shut the door, he was off, tires squealing against the asphalt road, taillights burning blood-red in the black night.
Chapter Fifteen
I didn’t sleep. Not a wink. I tossed and turned and tossed some more. The night spun on a loop inside my mind. Every damn part of the night too, from my encounter with stupid Justin Summix, to my drive home with infuriating Liam Kolane. Tamara popped inside my head a couple times too, and even though I tried to picture her with acne and buckteeth, somehow she always morphed into a gorgeous siren.
Ugh!
I finally got out of bed at the crack of dawn. Although I didn’t want to overexert myself before the treacherous marathon the elders had set up, I hit the gym to stretch, and then I went to the kitchen and asked Evelyn for a high-protein breakfast. I mentioned I was planning on going for a run this afternoon. I didn’t clarify in what form I’d be running or the reason I was running, and God bless Evelyn, she didn’t ask.
She boiled three eggs, grilled fat slices of whole wheat toast, and fried two sausages. I took my breakfast back to my bedroom and ate on the small balcony, watching the sun rise and fill the world with color.
Trailing in the smell of fresh cigarettes, Lucy dropped by my room around nine, and it wasn’t to wish me good luck. She came to ask me to tidy the guest bedrooms.
“But I have to be at the headquarters at noon.”
My aunt had styled her red hair, and it fell in almost child-like ringlets over her milky shoulders. “Better hurry then.”
She swiped her fingers across my desk as though inspecting it for dust. She wouldn’t find any.
“What did you do with the potpourri jar?”
“What?”
“The mason jar I fill with potpourri. The one I put in every bedroom. What did you do with it?”
“Oh. It’s on the balcony. The smell is a little…strong for me.” Which was true, but the reason I’d set it on my balcony was because the desiccated, flowery scent reminded me of Lucy. Sharing a roof was grating enough without the constant olfactory assault.
A Pack of Blood and Lies Page 9