Waken (The Woods of Everod Book 1)

by Angela Fristoe

  Nothing. That was the plan, and despite the tension in town, it seemed to be working perfectly. The truth about me, or what they believed to be the truth about me, had spread through the town quickly. Everyone watched me; feared what would happen to me, because my death was the answer to everyone’s problem. It just depended on how it was done.

  Nothing sounded more like it was Elin’s plan. She had everyone on edge, waiting for her to strike first.

  The fight between the brothers drew a larger crowd than I’d seen at the bouts before. Everyone at the gym seemed a bit more relaxed. Maybe it was because the battle between Tristan and Seth was peppered with jokes and natural brotherly antagonism, or maybe they figured Elin wasn’t coming. I wanted to think they’d given up on Elin; that she had given up on killing me.

  Tristan eventually ended the fight with a roundhouse kick, flattening Seth in the second round. With the excitement over, the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had formed. Justin, dragging a red-faced Seth behind him, left to check on his car in the shop.

  “Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Tristan asked for the third time as he pulled up to the house.

  “Yes,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll be fine. I rented a few videos I can watch and Tim’s been bugging me about cleaning my room.”

  “It is a mess.”

  “Hey, watch it or I won’t be inviting you up anymore.” I narrowed my eyes and tried to hide my smile.

  “I don’t like leaving you, but this work order my dad got is huge and the people are paying extra to get it done in half the time.”

  “Tristan, I’ll be fine. Kyle already said he’d stay close by.”

  “I’ll be back for the night shift.” He dropped me at the door with a too brief kiss. I waved until his car turned a bend and was no longer visible.

  I pulled open the door and as I went in, I caught a glimpse of Kyle under Tim’s car. I wasn’t allowed to acknowledge him. I’d tried once and Tristan flipped out. “He’s hiding, Janie! If you wave, anyone who’s watching will know he’s there.” I hadn’t waved again, but seeing him was enough.

  We’d had a discussion at the start of our plan about Kyle coming inside. Tristan had wanted Kyle inside with me, but Kyle argued that by being in wolf form outside he’d be able to detect danger earlier and be a lot more capable of dealing with anyone who threatened me. I felt bad knowing that Samara was alone a lot with him here, but he was my security blanket that only I could see.

  It was also nice to have some time to myself. I loved having Tristan around, but there were times when I just wanted to be alone. The constant hovering everyone was doing was a bit suffocating.

  The house was quiet, almost too quiet. I wandered into the kitchen, flipping on lights as I went. “Tim?” I called, but there was no answer. I picked up the home phone and heard the tell tale beeping of a message waiting.

  “Hey guys, I forgot to leave a note but I’m not going to be home until later. Sara picked me up and we’re going to the lake. There’s pizza in the freezer. I’ve got my cell phone if you need to reach me.”

  That explained the car in the drive and the empty house. Another work appointment with the park biologist. I wondered why he didn’t just admit that they were dating. Well, at least I didn’t have to do my usual routine of pretending everything was fine. I still hadn’t told Tim about the infection. At first, it had seemed easier not telling him, but now it was a matter of him not freaking out.

  I settled on the couch with a book. Halfway through the first chapter I heard the first growl. Kyle’s low rumble echoed through the kitchen. Going to the front window, I shifted the curtains so I could see him. He was still under the car but his teeth were bared and his fur seemed to be almost standing on end. A shadow passed over the car and he snarled. I dropped the curtain and stepped back.

  Oh my God, Kas was here. I’d known it was possible, but I’d been hoping, praying that everyone was wrong. I was frozen, paralyzed by the terrifying sounds coming from the yard. A yelp of pain from Kyle thawed my limbs.

  I scrambled for the phone on the side table and dialed Tristan. It seemed to ring endlessly.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he finally answered.

  “H-h-he’s here,” I stuttered.

  “Shit. Where’s Kyle?” he yelled, “Janie! Where’s Kyle?”

  “Outside. They’re fighting.” My voice quivered, Kyle’s yelps grew louder. “Oh, God, I think he’s hurt.”

  “Lock the doors, Janie,” he ordered. “We’re on our way. Don’t open the door, not for anyone except me, do you understand? Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” Another yelp had me dropping the phone and reaching for the curtain. I pulled it back.

  Kyle was in his wolf form, his muzzle thrust forward aggressively towards Kas. Kas’s wolf was larger than I remembered, his white fur coated with blood. I couldn’t tell if it was Kyle’s or not. I wanted to help, but I knew that my strength was nothing compared to a wolf’s. It would be suicide to go out there.

  I sucked in a breath, my hand accidently knock against the window and Kyle’s eyes flickered over me. That one brief moment, that small gap of time when he checked on me, was enough for the Kas. He lunged at Kyle, locking his teeth into a death grip around Kyle’s neck. Kyle twisted under its grasp, shaking his head in an attempt to break free.

  I watched horrified as the wolf simply tightened its hold on Kyle. Kyle’s movements gradually slowed and the painful cries coming from him faded to whimpers. His sleek fur began to change color and he morphed into his familiar human form. Still the wolf held on. Kyle’s eyes turned to me. Even from my place at the window, I could see the deep brown of his eyes, filled with agony and fear.

  My fingers clenched the curtain, ripping it from its rod. It fluttered in a wave of red across my face as Kyle went limp under the wolf. Noticing his lack of fight, the wolf released its hold on him, shifting into his human body. The red hair was unmistakable. Slowly, he turned to me and I saw his face clearly. No longer blurred by my vague dreams or darkened by the night, the hatred and resentment burned in his eyes. Kas was the man who helped Elin kill Tristan and me in my dreams.

  I almost ran, but when he turned back to Kyle, I stopped. Kyle was healing, growing stronger with every breath. But even as a glimmer of hope flamed inside me, Kas slammed his fist through the car window. It shattered and shard of glass fell to the ground. Kas reached down and picked one up. He looked at me, his teeth bared then he plunged the glass into Kyle’s chest. Kyle’s body jerked from the impact and he grabbed at the hand holding the shard.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Kas glanced back at me, a grotesque smile curling his lips before he pushed his weight against the glass and twisted. He threw it aside and reached his hand into the hole he’d made in Kyle’s chest. Pulling Kyle’s heart out, he held it in above his head. Holding it for me to see, before dropping it to the ground.

  He stood and strode down the drive, blood dripping from his hands. At the road, Elin stood there watching. I caught a glimpse of her face, satisfaction coated every inch of it. Kas joined her and she placed a long white coat over his shoulders before they began walking down the street.

  When they disappeared from view, I raced for the door, swinging it open and hurtling myself down the steps. Mud seeped through my socks and rough gravel dug into my knees as I knelt beside Kyle.

  His face still contorted in pain, I lifted my hands over him, needing to give him comfort, but knowing he was beyond feeling. Tristan had said Lycan could die, that there were some things that they couldn’t heal. I didn’t need him to tell me this was one. My fingers trembled as I lowered Kyle’s eyelids. I tugged my shirt up and wiped the blood streaking across his cheeks.

  A shudder ran through me, and a sob pushed past my lips. Tears fell from my chin onto his as I leaned over him.

  The screech of tires sounded behind me. Tristan was here. I pushed up from the ground as the car doors opened. Samara was out first. She looked at me covered in blood
, concern in her eyes. I wanted to stop her, to push her back into the car, anything so she wouldn’t see Kyle like this.

  “Janie, what…” Her voice drifted off as she saw Kyle behind me. The sound that came from her was unlike any I’d heard before. So filled with agony and despair that I wanted to cover my ears, to take the pain from her, but I could do nothing.

  She shoved me out of her way and I fell back, landing hard on my elbows. She laid across him, covering the gaping hole, her entire body shaking from the cries that burst from her. Tristan squatted beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder, but she flung it off.

  Tristan left her and came over to me. He lifted me gently and carried me into the house. He sat me on the toilet in the downstairs bathroom and began cleaning the blood that covered my hands.

  “Kyle’s dead,” I whispered. Tristan nodded. “He ripped his heart out. He just reached in and pulled it out. He wanted me to see.”

  Tristan’s hands trembled. I looked up at him and was silenced by the expression on his face. They’d been best friends, family. Kyle may have been my half-brother, but it was nothing compared to the friendship he’d had with Tristan. I let him clean my hands over and over, until they were raw from his scrubbing. Then I pulled off my bloodied shirt and wrapped my arms around him. It was a moment before he responded, then I was being squeezed painfully. His strong body shuddered and I felt his tears on my shoulder.

  I held him, smoothing my hand along his back, wishing I had the ability to sooth him with just my touch. Eventually, he pulled back, hiding his face from me. He didn’t want me to see the tears, to know that he wasn’t as strong as he pretended. I wondered if he would ever realize how much strength it took to face the pain that life threw at you.

  After he left the bathroom, I tugged a towel off the rack and wrapped it around me, heading up to my room for a new shirt. Even from there, I could hear Samara. I couldn’t imagine what she felt. I didn’t want to know or understand. An image of Tristan lying on the ground flashed through my mind’s eye and nausea rolled through me. I pulled a shirt on, running back downstairs.

  The front yard had filled with people. Someone had placed a blanket over Kyle’s body. For once, they weren’t glaring at each other or even me. They were just staring at him. No one knew what to say, or do.

  “Fifty-four years,” Tristan whispered.

  “What?”

  “There hasn’t been a Lycan death in fifty-four years.”

  His words seemed to propel the others into action. An older man took Samara’s hand and guided her to a vehicle. Kyle was lifted off the ground and carried to another vehicle. The man holding him placed him gently in the backseat.

  “What about the police?” I asked.

  “There are no police here. The Council will deal with it.”

  “When?”

  “Later,” he stated, like it should mean something.

  “So, what? They don’t care that Kyle’s dead? Or that you’re taking his body? They don’t care that my brother was murdered on my front lawn?” Brother. The impact of the word reverberated through me. For two weeks, I’d had real family; a blood tie to the world who had actually wanted me. Tears flooded my eyes again and Tristan wrapped his arms around me. The normal calming sense I got from his embrace was there, but weaker, as if he didn’t have enough in him to give any to me.

  “They care, but this isn’t a problem they can or even want to solve, Janie.” His breath tickled my hair and ran a cool breeze over my damp cheeks. “They already know that there is nothing they can do to stop Helena. As for Kas, he’s gone against Ericka, she will determine his death.”

  “But what about Kyle?”

  “We’ll take him to the cabin.”

  With Kyle’s body gone, everyone started to disperse. The crowd thinned and Rachel appeared at the edge of the drive. She saw me watching her, and surprised me by coming towards me. She stopped a few feet away, as if I had a contagious disease.

  “Do you see now?” she asked me. “You’ll end up getting us all killed, Janie.”

  “Rachel, this is not Janie’s fault.” Tristan stepped forward, and she glanced at him.

  “She chose to stay. You know that if she had chosen differently - if you had chosen differently this wouldn’t have happened.” She paused and glanced towards Tim’s car and the splattering of blood along the driver’s side door. “You let this happen, Tristan. You sacrificed Kyle. You sacrificed him so you could be with her.”

  Chapter 26

  Rachel’s words stayed with me long past the time I was left alone with Tristan. He hadn’t responded to Rachel’s allegations. In fact, he hadn’t said a word since she’d left. I wanted to slap her. To scream and rage, but it seemed so pointless. Rachel had proved she only cared about herself and getting what she wanted.

  Tristan and I sat in the kitchen, just staring into the empty silence between us. I wanted to say I was sorry. If I had chosen to stay away from him, if I hadn’t told Rachel the story of my father leaving, if… None of this would have happened. But the biggest one was - if I hadn’t distracted Kyle? There was no avoiding the fact that I was to blame for his death.

  “Tristan…” He looked at me and I flinched under his heavy gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, Janie,” he said. “It’s nobody’s fault.”

  “You don’t understand. When they were fighting…” I swallowed the bile creeping up my throat. “I made a sound and Kyle…he looked at me. I distracted him. That’s why he died. I killed my own brother.”

  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He just sat there staring at me, his face impossibly pale. He rose slowly. I thought he was going to leave, but instead he walked around the table and put his hands on either side of my face, turning it up to his. “You did not kill him, Janie. There was nothing you could’ve done to stop Kas.” He kissed my forehead. “His strength his wolf has is beyond any human’s ability to subdue.”

  I clenched my eyes closed, trying to block the image of his twisted smile as he killed Kyle. “I saw her watching. Elin is here.”

  “I figured.” He let go of my face and slammed his hand on the table, rattling our cups.

  “Why would he risk breaking Ericka’s orders?” I asked.

  His fingers speared through his hair, leaving deep grooves behind. “She must have promised Kas protection.”

  “But how can she protect him against Ericka?”

  He stared at me a moment. “If she’s an Alpha, she can claim him.”

  “And that’s it? The Council can’t do anything? Ericka can’t do anything?” I wanted to rage and throw things. How could Kyle’s death go unavenged? If Kas walked away from what he did, where was the justice?

  “She could challenge Helena. But that won’t happen. There’s no way she’ll kill her own daughter.”

  It was hard to imagine Ericka as a loving mother. For my first few weeks she’d just been the kindly librarian, maybe a bit distant, but once discovering I was her granddaughter she’d become remote. If she loved Elin, shouldn’t she love her granddaughter? Then again, maybe it was me. My own parents couldn’t love me, so could I really blame my grandmother for not loving me either?

  “Why didn’t Elin just kill me when I was born?”

  “I don’t know, Janie.” He came around the table and pressed my head to his shoulder. “I wish I did, but whatever her reasons, I’m glad she didn’t.”

  “What now?”

  “We go to the cabin. We take care of Kyle and then we wait.”

  Kyle. For a brief moment, I had forgotten and sunk back into wallowing in my own self-pity. What kind of person does that? Maybe I was more like Elin than I wanted to admit.

  “Stop it,” Tristan’s voice rumbled through his chest.

  “Stop what?”

  “You’re blaming yourself. I can feel how tense you are. You’re trying to keep yourself apart from me. This is Helena’s doing. Helena and Kas.”

  “I know that, but still�
�I just stood there. I just stood there and watched him die.”

  He rubbed circles along my back, numbing the shame I felt. The front door banged open and Justin flew into the kitchen, Seth right behind him.

  “Are you okay?”

  I didn’t move away from Tristan. I selfishly wanted his hands on me. I gave a weak smile. “I’m fine, Justin.”

  He sank into one of the chairs and ran his hand across his mouth. Disbelief shadowed his face. “What the hell are we going to tell Dad?”

  We didn’t have to tell Tim anything. By the time he got home, the radio stations had already announced the death of Kyle Long from an animal attack. Explaining that it had happened in our driveway and that I had witnessed it was a bit more difficult.

  “Janie, I think we need to call your psychologist. You should talk to someone. Even if it’s just Dr. Conn.”

  “No! I’m not ready to talk to her yet. Please, I just need to get away for a few days. I can’t look at the drive or your car.” One of the townspeople had come back after the crowd dispersed and washed away the blood that had sprayed across Tim’s car. The dirt and gravel where Kyle had lain had been shoveled aside and covered with a pile from the ditch.

  “We’ll go into Montrose for a few days.”

  “No!” Tristan and I shouted at the same time. Tim straightened up, looking at us curiously.

  “Tim, I think it would be best if Janie came with me went up to my parents’ cabin. Kyle’s girlfriend, Samara, needs all the support she can get. And we’ll be having his funeral tomorrow.”

  Tristan’s words worked and we made plans to head out the next morning. He didn’t leave until late that night and when he did, I curled onto my bed, a pillow hugged to my chest already damp with tears.

  Tim cracked the door open and peeked in. When he saw me, he came and sat on the edge of the bed. Lifting a hand, he smoothed my hair back from my forehead. “Hey, sweetie. You doing okay?”

  I tried to answer but even trying to form words caused my nose of tingle and tears to well.

  “It’s okay to be hurting. You don’t need to hold this inside of you. I remember after the car accident and your mom left again, you didn’t talk for weeks.”