“The petals will rot,” she muttered as she traipsed to my balcony door and rammed it open. Heels clicking on the plywood floor, she scurried to recover her precious, eye-watering mix.
How could Jeb stand the smell? And Everest? Didn’t it bother them?
She walked back into the room and then headed toward my bedroom door, clutching the jar to her bosom.
“Lucy, can I work tomorrow instead of today? Please? I’ll put in a double shift.”
“You might not be physically competent to work tomorrow. Besides, Saturdays are always busier than Sundays. You should know that by now.” She leveled her hazel eyes on me, daring me to complain again.
She wasn’t being fair, but perhaps this was the reason she was making me work. As I donned my gray uniform, I called Everest to ask him if he was still taking me to the meeting, but he didn’t answer.
I texted him.
No answer.
An hour into my morning chores, I texted him again.
The headquarters was a good fifteen miles away from the inn, up mountain roads where driving faster than twenty miles per hour was downright treacherous. It would take me close to an hour to get there, and it was 10:30, which meant I would need to leave in thirty minutes to make it on time.
At 10:45, I finished cleaning the bedrooms and loped to my own room to change back into shorts and a t-shirt. I called Everest again, my patience dwindling. When five minutes later he still hadn’t answered, I jogged toward his suite and then banged on the door.
No answer.
Fuck. I ran to the front desk, ready to grovel with Jeb to take me, but Lucy informed me he’d left with Everest on an errand.
“An errand?” It came out shrilly.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Everest promised to bring me to—”
“He must’ve forgotten. Why don’t you borrow one of the vans?”
A breath snagged inside my throat. “I don’t have a license.”
“You don’t say.” From the lilt in her voice, I gleaned she knew this.
The clock on the wall behind her ticked so loudly I felt it inside my chest. “Could you drive me?”
“I might not seem busy, but I have a business to run. I can’t just get up and leave to take you to a silly contest.”
Heat pricked my eyelids. “This isn’t a silly contest.”
“Isn’t it?” She leaned over the check-in counter. “You’ve set your expectations on an unreasonable goal. Women don’t lead packs of men; it’s emasculating.”
My scudding heart came to an abrupt halt. I blinked at my aunt, stunned to silence.
“Did you expect me to pat you on the back?” She shook her head. “You should’ve contented yourself with being their equal. Or married one of them.”
I backed away because my fingers had closed into tight fists, and my nails were elongating. Before I started howling at my aunt or slashing at her tubby throat with my sharp claws, I pushed through the inn’s revolving doors.
I dragged in lungfuls of air to calm my flaring anger and contemplated running, but racing fifteen miles before running a marathon was nonsensical. Besides, there was no way I could cover fifteen miles in one hour, even in wolf form. I whipped out my phone so fast I almost dropped it, and then scrolled to the saved number of a taxi company. I was put on hold before a woman informed me that my ride would arrive at the inn in ten minutes. It was already 11:05. I would never make it.
Never.
I wrote Everest a dozen hurtful text messages but deleted them all. Mom once told me communicating whilst angry was a terrible idea. Considering the things I’d written—things that could irreparably damage my relationship with Everest—she was right.
Finally, a yellow cab drove up the winding path. I tapped my foot. Before he’d even stopped, I lunged into the backseat and gave him directions. We were halfway through the drive when I realized I hadn’t taken a bag, which meant I hadn’t taken a wallet. I decided not to mention it until we arrived.
As the yellow cab climbed the mountain roads at a cautious fifteen miles per hour, I stared at the red digits escalating on the meter. “Could you drive any faster? I’m a little late.”
The needle rose to eighteen miles per hour. How I wanted to jump in front and jam my foot on the gas pedal. I’d told Liam I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but at this moment, I knew—I wanted to get a driver’s license.
I researched this, since watching the minutes and dollars tick by was wreaking havoc on my fraying nerves. At 11:58, the Boulder headquarters rose before us like an oasis in a desert. The squat gray stone structure surrounded by the rusted fence and sunburned grass hadn’t changed an iota.
“Word around town is that this place is crawling with wolves.” The cabby was gazing at the large wooden sign carved up with the words: Private Property.
“I heard, but I also heard they aren’t aggressive.”
He grunted—obviously not sharing my belief—then turned in his seat. “That’ll be forty-eight dollars.”
“About that…I forgot my wallet. Can I pay you tomorrow?”
“What? No.”
“But I don’t have cash.”
“Maybe your friends can pay me.”
“My friends?”
He jerked his bearded chin toward Matt, who’d stepped into my line of sight. He glowered at the cab. Liam and Lucas came to flank him. Relief flooded through me when I noticed they were all still in skin.
“I’d rather not ask them, but I promise—”
“I got a family to feed, insurance to pay, not to mention taxes and schooling fees. If I accepted promises as payment, my family would starve and get evicted.”
Geez. “Do you take PayPal?”
“No, I don’t take PayPal, but even if I had an account, I wouldn’t accept electronic cash.”
“Fine.” Cheeks heating up, I kicked the door open, then trekked toward my welcoming committee.
“You’re late,” Lucas chirped, chewing on a toothpick.
“Why isn’t the cabbie leaving? Did you invite him to watch?” Matt asked.
Without taking my eyes off the overgrown grass that smelled like piss, I mumbled, “I forgot my wallet. Can anyone lend me a fifty?”
“Already spent all that hard-earned cash of yours, huh?” Lucas drawled.
I jerked my narrowed gaze toward him. “I forgot my wallet. If someone has PayPal, I’ll wire them the cash right away.”
“Here.” Liam extended a green bill. “Get the guy out of here.”
I took it from him, mumbling, “Thanks.”
I ran back to the cabdriver and tossed the bill through his window, then waited for him to leave. Once his tires spun, spitting dirt and pebbles against my ankles, I made my way back to the others.
“You look like hell,” Lucas said.
God, if only I could bash his tiny skull in. Sensing he’d riled me up, his smile grew grotesquely wide.
“What’s your PayPal account, Liam?” I asked.
“I don’t have one.”
Why did no one freaking have a PayPal account? “I’ll pay you back later.”
“Sure.” He shrugged without looking at me. He was entirely focused on Frank, who was traipsing back up the hill that led into the thick woods. “Should we get started?”
Frank nodded, slipping his phone into the holster hooked on his belt. “Get into your wolf forms.”
Matt ripped off his t-shirt then pulled down his pants. Soon, Lucas and Liam, too, stood there only in their boxer-briefs.
Lucas leered at me. “Planning on ogling us or joining us?”
I went pale. Unless I wanted to tear my clothes apart, I would need to take them off also. My pride was dying a slow, agonizing death.
“Why don’t you go change behind the building?” Liam offered as my fingers rolled up the hem of my tank top. “No one’s inside.”
“Alphas change with their packs,” Matt said.
Liam glowered at him. “Ness isn’t an Alpha.
”
I thought about turning around and going through the change with my back to them, but that had my stomach in knots.
As I hurried toward the back of the house, Liam’s voice rose. “Watch out for the grate. It’s pure silver.”
A silver grate? I turned the corner, stepping lightly, carefully. I caught the metallic tang of silver before I even saw what Liam had mentioned. There, flush against the squat building was a grate twice the size of a sewer cap. I peered through the sturdy metal netting, at the excavation that was as deep as a well.
“Ness? Are you ready?” Frank’s voice made me jerk away from the hole.
I put some distance between me and the silver grate, then chucked off my sneakers and clothes and concentrated hard.
Nothing happened.
I tried harder.
Still nothing.
After everything I’d gone through to get here. And now this! Traitorous body.
“Please,” I begged.
But apparently beseeching my wolf was pointless. Minutes ticked by, and I remained pale flesh and taut human limbs.
Chapter Sixteen
I wasn’t the type who gave up, but it had been ten minutes, and I was still in skin. Why the others hadn’t rounded the building to find me yet was beyond me. I reached for my underwear just as a howl pierced the buzzing air.
And then another wolf howled.
And another.
The base of my spine tingled, and then my bones began to shift underneath my skin. Tears of relief coursed down my cheeks as my ears migrated to the top of my head and my mouth elongated into a muzzle filled with teeth that could scissor through bark and bone. The dusting of hair on my body thickened to summer fur. I fell onto my forepaws as my hind legs shortened and readjusted, as the wolf in me replaced the human.
In my four-legged form, I jogged around the house.
A large gray wolf with sharp blue eyes—Lucas, I imagined—howled, and this time I understood him. Did you have to take a shit or what?
I snarled at him.
Matt was more bear than wolf, butter-colored with vivid-green eyes. Next to him, I looked like a scrawny pup. Liam was much larger up close than he’d seemed in the woods. His glowing yellow-amber eyes raked over my unimpressive body before settling back on Frank. The elder crouched beside us, a strip of crimson fabric gripped in his hands.
“You’re going to head south.” He pointed toward the thick forest coating the side of the mountain. “We’ve spread pieces of this throughout the woods. Follow the trail until you find Eric. The rest of this shirt is tied to him. He’s your finishing line.” He passed the piece of fabric around so we could soak in the smell—sweet cigar smoke and cedar. “Now, the quickest way is straight down the hill, but it’s also the most hazardous. If you get stuck in a trap, we will free you at the end of the race. Remember: do not turn back to skin. I will feel it if you do.” He tapped his wrist as he straightened and rolled the cloth up into his palm.
I was glad for the blood oath then, glad someone could track my whereabouts and vitals. I rotated my withers then crouched low, the tall grass tickling my thumping chest.
“Ready. Set.” Frank’s voice rang out like a starting pistol. “Go!”
We sprang into action.
Lucas’s hind paws sprayed dirt into my eyes. I blinked wildly, slowed, then switched course. Frank had mentioned the shortest path was the most treacherous. Was it true or a trick?
Lucas dashed through the tree line, vanishing into the forest that spilled down the flank of the mountain. He was apparently not worried about the traps, or maybe he’d change course at a later point. Soon Matt and Liam were lost to the trees, too. Although I could hear the soft thuds of their paws and sense the hectic beats of their faraway hearts, I could no longer see them. Which was better. I needed to funnel my awareness onto the ground.
I ran almost leisurely, stepping lightly through the underbrush. Spooked raccoons scampered out in front of me, and birds flapped out of trees, wings dark against the dazzling sky.
At some point, I forgot this was a race and flew heedlessly down woodchip-covered trails. The distant rumble of a car reminded me to melt back into the forest. I cut across a billow of spiky ferns and came out crowned with a cloud of frisky black flies. I flicked my ears and swiped my tail, then growled until they buzzed off.
Dense brushwood raked over my chest and leaf litter snagged in my silky white fur as I jogged toward a stretch of glittering water. My muscles became greedy for speed, so I ran faster. When my paws hit the chilly stream, I halted and lapped my fill. And then I pounced inside to cool my flushed limbs. I bounded down the riverbank, hopping over rotting trees and smooth rocks.
I thought I saw a blur of black fur to my left, but when I looked, there was nothing but a giant boulder. If I hadn’t drunk water, I could’ve blamed my delusion on thirst, but my mind was clear. I was making up company to comfort myself into thinking I wasn’t lagging behind. Was I lagging behind?
I raised my face and sniffed the air, caught the musky scent of another wolf. I looked for him but didn’t see him. I sped up, slaloming through the trees, sliding over patches of dry dirt. I sniffed the air again. This time, it was the blend of tobacco and cedar that netted my senses. Sure enough, tied to a low branch, flapped a piece of red fabric. At least I was heading in the right direction.
I ducked past the branch but stumbled when my paws tangled on something. I backed up. Transparent fishing line glinted in the sunlight. Was this one of their traps or a vestige of a fishing expedition at the nearby creek? I bucked to unravel the plastic filament, but the knot tightened around my pastern.
I growled at the increasing jumble of thread, slid my fangs between it and my skin, and tugged. The fishing line sliced through my skin before finally ripping on my serrated teeth.
I moaned with relief then backed up to change routes. Another thread, this time taut, pressed against my hocks. I bounded forward, but not before hearing something click.
The ground rumbled as though a herd of Mustangs were stampeding down the hill. I twisted my neck.
No wild horses galloped.
The noise was coming from rocks.
Huge rocks.
They smashed against each other as they rolled. Sharp debris rained down on me, whipping my back. I sprang into action just as a large rock skimmed my hind paw. I faltered but recovered my footing fast. Desperation converted to pure adrenaline. As the stones thundered closer, I sprinted, the world blurring green, brown, gray. Thorns and rough bark frayed the pads of my paws, but I kept running.
I tried to change course, but a small boulder arced through the blue air and pounded into my spine, shredding my breath. I went down, down…down, rolling over and over. As the world spun out of focus, as up became down and down became up, I thought of the elders and the cruelty of their little game. Were they watching? Were they enjoying my grievous fall?
My mom’s face swam through my mind, eyes as blue as cornflowers, hair fluttering around her face like stalks of wheat caught in a breeze. I drifted in the beauty of the memory, finding comfort in her bright smile, in the low timber of her voice as she spoke my name. As my name transformed and distorted into something else entirely.
A roar.
An inhuman roar that had me snapping my lids. A black shape floated between sky and earth. Another boulder? I blinked, but shards of rock sprayed my face, spoiling my already poor sight. Another roar, more wolf than stone, shook me fully awake.
I dug my claws into the earth, but I wasn’t on soft earth. I was on solid rock. And not just a rock. A Flatiron. Oh God…
From my vantage point, there was no telling how steep the fall. Calling on the last dregs of energy, I channeled all of my weight into my paws, mincing my claws on the searing rock. My muscles screamed as my speed decreased, as my claws were sanded down and my pads ribboned. I was still coming at the edge of the cliff too fast.
Gritting my teeth, I locked my muscles and dug what remained of m
y filed claws into the rock.
An inch from the edge, I came to a stop. I kept my head down until the rubble stopped walloping my battered body.
Shivering, shuddering, heart pounding against the sun-soaked Flatiron, I waited for silence to replace the pitter-patter of rock. Once it finally draped over the land, I lifted my head and squinted upward at the gritty trail of blood and chalky scratch marks.
I’d survived the fall, but would I survive the rest of this brutal contest?
Chapter Seventeen
I licked my wounds a long time. It wasn’t as though I could possibly win anymore. Unless another contestant had run into a trap more perilous than mine. I doubted it. The others were surer-footed and more attuned to the land than I was, thanks to the years of experience I lacked.
After a lengthy interlude of self-deprecation, I pressed my battered body up onto my shredded paws. I groaned, feeling as though I weighed a ton more than I had at the start of this godforsaken race. I took a step and whimpered. Another step. Another whimper.
Well, this’ll be fun.
And slow.
I hope you’re all enjoying this, you asswipes, I howled into the inert air.
Running was out of the question. Tripping repeatedly, I hobbled down the grassy sides of the Flatiron then headed back toward the evergreens. At least, at this pathetic speed, I couldn’t possibly run into another trap.
The sun baked my hide as I traipsed clumsily toward the trees. After what felt like a day, I reached the dappled forest. Shadows cooled the bitter heat, and damp moss alleviated the pain that was each step. Moss and shadows could unfortunately do nothing for my sore spine. I wondered, more than once, if the stone that had landed on my back had dislodged a vertebra.
Could I still move with a dislocated vertebra?
I was no doctor, but I guessed my spine must be intact.
My breaths were no longer coming in short spurts. They were lengthening like the shadows as the sun dipped a little lower in the sky. I sniffed the air to make sure I was still heading in the right direction. I caught the sweet smell of tobacco and the crisp scent of cedar, but it was muddled by that of blood.
A Pack of Blood and Lies Page 10