UnMasked

by Yara Gharios

  OTHER TITLES BY YARA GHARIOS

  Histoires de Filles (2010)

  Beauty of Blue Hills (2014)

  “The Guardian Children” series:

  The Guardian Children (2014)

  Ricochet (TBA)

  “Masked SheWolf” trilogy:

  Masked SheWolf (2014)

  UnMasked (2015)

  Exposed (2019)

  EXPOSED

  Sneak Peek

  PREFACE

  Dylan

  I shouldn’t be complaining. Generally speaking, I have a pretty awesome life; great friends, a supportive family, a grade-A boyfriend, and a lifelong dream which I am finally getting the chance to follow.

  But with everything that’s happened recently, I want to dig a hole where no one and nothing can find me, just so I can get a bit of uninterrupted sleep. I haven’t slept in a while.

  If I really think about it, I know that I brought it all on myself; I was the one who has been begging to go to college her entire life, even though being the first female werewolf to be born in centuries kind of puts a huge damper on that plan.

  But then I had to add to my plate by sniffing around long buried secrets which are now more heavily guarded than the most precious cargo in the world. Who wouldn’t be intrigued? I mean, I just found out that I’m not the only one in the world, and you want me to leave that alone? Where the hell have you been for the past two books? It’s like you don’t know me at all!

  The worst part though, is what I should have been paying the most attention to. I really didn’t notice anything was wrong until we started fighting. Tell me honestly; with classes taking up half my time and college life taking up the other half, can you really blame me for forgetting to take care of my love life?

  Really? You do? That’s harsh.

  Okay, fine, I could have done some things differently. Relationships are not all roses and sunshine. I knew that from the start. You have to work hard if you want them to last, especially if it’s long distance. I guess I got so caught up in everything that I lost sight of some things that matter more. I wish I could take it all back, but I’m only human after all. Or… you know what I mean.

  CHAPTER 1

  Dylan

  It might be the nervousness talking, but I know I’m forgetting something.

  My room is a tornado of clothes, shoes and everything else one needs when moving out, strewn around like a hurricane strode through the place. Last night, everything was neatly packed in my three suitcases. It only took me five minutes to get it all unpacked and go over it again. Although I have gone over the list a billion times, I still have this nagging feeling that something is missing.

  Better check again, I decide.

  Two pairs of pants plus three pairs of jeans that I took forever to get used to wearing. Check.

  Nine pairs of socks, two pairs of converse shoes, one pair of running shoes, one pair of TOMS, one pair of boots and my warm slippers for the winter. Check.

  Eleven tops–slash–camisols–slash–T–shirts, etc., all of which I am as of now classifying as “shirts.” Check.

  The four new bras my best friend Sadie made me get and which took me a whole month to get used to wearing. Check.

  Skirts, shorts, sandals, high heels, etc. Safely hidden where Sadie will never find them and force me to wear them.

  Everything is here. I even counted all the hygiene stuff, the electronics, the warmer clothes in case it gets cold, and my wraps. So what the hell am I missing? I have been packing for days now, but I still can’t figure this out. I huff and stare at my open suitcase. If only it could talk so it could figure out what I forgot and maybe tell me.

  “Stupid suitcase,” I mutter.

  Frustrated, I kick it once on its side. My foot throbs as it collides with something hard.

  “Ow!” I yell and start jumping on one foot while holding the injured one.

  Sitting my ass on the bed, I examine the throbbing area for any permanent damage. It’s not broken, thankfully. It might have fractures, though. I better not move it for about ten minutes, until it heals.

  What the hell was that? I wonder.

  Suddenly, I have an inkling. A tradition that my brothers and I have stuck to for years is something we call War Day. One of us is picked to play pranks on by the others every Sunday, and the victim has until the next War Day to retaliate with pranks of his own on the selected pranksters. The victim also gets to select the next target for the next Sunday. It was my brother Nathan’s turn last week. I love all four of my brothers equally, but Nathan has a knack for getting on people’s nerves, and I picked something extra special for him. Knowing his superb love for Mom’s sandwiches and his aversion to spicy food, I lathered the inside of his bread in hot sauce and added red peppers. Today is Saturday, and he has yet to retaliate against my prank.

  Suspicious, I drop to the ground next to my suitcase, careful not to apply pressure on my foot. I search it with my hands until I come in contact with whatever I banged my toes against. There is something heavy and hard in the side zipper. I quickly unzip it and pull out a checkered kitchen tile. A crack runs through it horizontally from one side to the other. My foot was probably the cause of that. Fuming, I grip it with both hands, and push against its sides until it breaks at the crack.

  “Nathan!” I yell. “I’m going to kill you!”

  All the bedrooms in the house are soundproofed, but my door is open. I’m pretty sure he is in the kitchen eating, and I know my voice will have traveled down to him.

  “Love you too sis!” he shouts back from downstairs.

  Before I could yell back a colorful reply about just how I plan to show my love next time, I am interrupted by a figure coming to a stand at my bedroom door. Sadie Creed, the first real friend I ever made outside of my family, is the picture of perfect cuteness. With her heart shaped face, round cheeks, brown doe eyes and dark hair that currently reaches just below her shoulders, nobody would think there is anything but sweet innocence in her. That’s not to say she isn’t sweet and innocent. After all, she is my best friend for a reason, though her loyalty, her supportive nature and her unwavering cheerfulness are also high on her list of qualities.

  Unfortunately, she has a tendency to either be oblivious of personal space or completely ignore it, so she is quite prone to overstepping her boundaries. Right now, for instance, is one of the times when I wish she would realize on her own that I am not in a sharing mood, and refrain from pushing me into talking about my feelings on the whole ‘moving out’ thing. Analyzing my emotional state is one of her favorite pastimes. I can’t say that I blame her though; anyone would be curious to know what the freak who has been pretending to be a boy her whole life thinks about things.

  “Are you actually packing?” Sadie asks with surprise. “Again? Dyl, that’s like the third time. Don’t you think you deserve a break?”

  Huffing, I decide to forget about Nathan’s prank and focus on the real issue at hand. It’s not like I can re-retaliate against him. Besides, it’s not really my brother that I’m mad at right now.

  “I’m fine,” I assure her.

  She leans against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “You’re stressing yourself out for nothing,” she goes on when I don’t say anything else. “I know you must be scared of the move and all, but–”

  And there it is.

  I roll my eyes and cut her off. “Don’t even try going there right now, Sade.”

  She puts her hands up. “I just want you to know I’m here, if you need help with anything.”

  I start shoving my plastic wrapped shoes into the smallest suitcase. “If you want to help, you can get to folding.”

  Though I expect her to make some remark about how I can’t run from my emotions forever, she says nothing as she kneels down next to me and gets to work. She is suspiciously quiet, and I know she won’t remain that way for long. Still, I ignore it and try to focus on making sure all my things are packed.

  “I know there’
s something I forgot, I just know it,” I insist after a moment.

  “Forgot what?” she wonders.

  “I don’t know, something.”

  “Well you gotta give me something to go on. How do I know what to look for?”

  “It’s just this nagging feeling.”

  Sadie considers this for a moment. “Maybe your emotional avoidance is making you paranoid,” she teases.

  Even though I want to defend my sanity, I don’t respond. I’m not sure I disagree anyway. I have been going a little crazy lately, what with the approaching date. Luckily, I don’t have to think of a reply because Marianna, my brother Mason’s fiancé, joins us.

  Although she is just as important to me as Sadie, Marianna feels more like a sister than a friend, and I consider her family. The French beauty is one of the wisest and most observant people I have ever met. It didn’t take long after her and Mason got together for us to become friends. He used to be my favorite brother for that very reason, though my twin Daniel and eldest brother Connor are quickly catching up. As for Nathan... well, I love him to bits, but he has a tendency to be vastly annoying. It’s almost a talent, really, and it makes my parents worry about how he’s ever going to find someone who tolerates him to be with.

  “Go easy on her, Sade,” Marianna steps into my defense. “She’s been dreading this day for weeks.”

  Not true. I have been dreading it for months. And not just because I’m moving to another state for college and living with two male roommates in an apartment, which is scary enough on its own. There is also the fact that I am going to be without all my close friends and family while I stay there, which means I might be in more danger than I’ve ever been. Being a female werewolf kind of puts a target on my back. It’s especially more difficult considering my boyfriend revealed that fact to our ally packs a few months ago, though they are currently sworn to keep the secret and protect me if the need arises.

  During the last couple of months, I have been confined within the safety of the Silver Moon Pack’s –or SMP, as my brothers and I like to call it– community compound. I have only gone out a handful of times, and it was always with others. For one of those trips, we came across a couple of young rogue werewolves passing through our pack’s territory. They caught my scent and started wondering about it. If it weren’t for Cade, the pack’s beta and Sadie’s boyfriend, we wouldn’t have gotten rid of them.

  “At least our alpha knows how to keep his mate happy,” he retorted with such anger that could have fooled even me. “Haven’t you ever been in love? Apologize to her before I decide to tell him you’re not only trespassing on his land, you also insulted his mate.”

  The rogues were really freaked out, and the guys with us were impressed, but I was just mortified. So far, I have survived by successfully masking my gender and surrounding myself with the right people. Now I have to risk my life and venture out into the world without my loved ones’ support or protection, all because I had to have a stupid dream of being a musician. Honestly, sometimes it’s really not fun being the only female werewolf to be born in centuries.

  Well. Not the only one. Not anymore. There are rumors of another shewolf. But if she’s out there somewhere, we haven’t found her yet. Cade has been sending out some guys to look for anything that could lead us to where she is, but so far we haven’t found any leads. He had to reduce the search parties to once a week. I’m worried we will eventually stop looking, but Cade promised me he wouldn’t.

  You would think I have enough on my plate, but there’s a more pressing worry on my mind. You see, Cade is the beta, which means he is second in command. The first in command is the alpha. My boyfriend, Logan. My true mate –excuse the sigh of content, I had a cheesy moment. He’s in a poison induced coma right now. He has been for over two months. I’m not afraid he won’t wake up. He and I have a mind link through which we can communicate. I know he’s okay because I have checked up on him multiple times through that link, although I had to cut back on our talks when the pack’s doctor, Dr. Ackhart, said the effort it takes Logan to communicate with me might be slowing down his healing process. What scares me is that he won’t wake up before I leave tomorrow. It’s the cheesiest of all reasons, but I don’t want to start college without telling him goodbye. Not forever, of course, but you know what I mean.

  Marianna interrupts my thoughts by gently taking hold of my hand. “Come on,” she says with a smile. “Your family wants you. There are a few things that we need to talk about before you go.”

  The sight of my friends and family as I come downstairs is not very promising. My twin brother Daniel sits nervously on the couch. Though he’s trying to look confident, the look in his blue eyes betrays his façade. Beside him, his girlfriend Zoey –also Sadie’s little sister– fidgets anxiously until he grabs her hand. The two of them are faced with quite the jury; both our parents and Zoey’s stand stoically on the opposite side of the room.

  The rest of my brothers are also present. Connor’s imposing figure leans against the wall next to my parents while Mason sits on the other couch near Danny and Zoey. Knowing him, he’s probably trying to put them at ease. That leaves Nathan who, although almost identical to Mason, looks the most contented to be here. While everyone wears either a mask of seriousness or concern, Nathan just looks smug. He smirks at me when he sees me coming, and I see the contempt in his eyes when he notices my slight limp. I glare at him for the prank he just pulled on me, but I don’t acknowledge him further because I can sense the seriousness of the situation at hand.

  Daniel and Zoey look like they want to be anywhere but here. For a second, I think with dread, Please don’t tell me they just got the safe sex talk?

  But when Sadie, Marianna and I walk into the living room of the pack house, all eyes turn to me, and I freeze. Unless I somehow pulled a horrid prank in my sleep with the two of them as accomplices and got us in trouble, I don’t know why they would be staring at me this way.

  “What’s going on?” I ask uncertainly.

  “Sit,” Dad tells me.

  “Join the awkwardness,” Daniel mutters sarcastically.

  I blink twice, my eyes wide. Please oh please let this not be the sex talk again!

  “Why is there awkwardness?” I dare ask.

  “Our parents are giving us the college talk,” Zoey informs me.

  I sag in relief. Then my eyebrows go up in surprise as her words register in my mind. “There’s such a thing as a college talk? What does that include? Don’t party too hard and focus on your studies?”

  “That’s exactly it,” Mr. Creed says.

  My face falls. Oh no. It’s just as bad.

  Sadie steps in. “For the record Dad, I support this 100%.”

  “You’re sitting down with them,” Mrs. Creed informs her.

  “What?” she squeaks, her voices somehow stretching the single syllable so it kind of sounds like whaaaa.

  The stumped look on my best friend’s face as she obeys her father and slowly slides down beside her sister is not something I see very often. It distracts me from the horror of having this conversation, and I have to grin.

  “But I’m not going to college,” she protests.

  “You’re still going to Boston with them,” her father points out.

  A while back, Sadie and Zoey found out their biological father had a son a few months before Sadie was born. They have already met him, but they want to get to know him better. Since John also happens to go to the same college I will be attending, they decided to come with. Danny is coming too because he’s part of Zoey’s package deal now. Ever since the accident that ended with her breaking several bones, Logan in a coma and me kidnapped, he has been one step behind her. They’re not officially mates, but it’s obvious how they feel about each other. He enrolled in every college near Zoey’s high school until he got an acceptance letter.

  While I am going to Berklee College of Music, Danny is attending Boston University, which is like five minutes away from B
erklee, and Zoey is transferring to Fenway High School, which is even closer. When it came to deciding our living arrangements, the first idea that the four of us suggested was to get an apartment together. Safe to say all four of our parents were completely against letting Zoey and Daniel live together, no matter how many times they tried to defend their relationship. Danny is eighteen and can obviously do whatever he wants, but Zoey just turned sixteen in September. There’s no way her parents would ever let her live with a boy at this age, even if Sadie and I would be with them. It was a long and lengthy discussion that only ended when Mason and Marianna had stepped in.

  “Why don’t Zoey and Sadie stay with us?” Mason had suggested. “At least until you can figure out a better plan.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Marianna seconded with excitement. “We were thinking about getting a small apartment until the wedding anyway, but we didn’t have a specific location in mind. Boston isn’t too far from where Mason works, so why not?”

  It took some convincing, but then everybody came to an agreement; the sisters would live with Mason and Marianna until their wedding next spring. After that, their parents will have come up with other living arrangements. Mason and Marianna offered to let me stay with them too, but there wasn’t much room left. I would have had to either share a tiny bed or sleep on a mattress on the floor. Instead, I took an apartment a few minutes away from Berklee, and Daniel is going to live in a dorm on his campus.

  The parents agreed to it, but with some conditions that included how often and at what times Danny can visit Zoey, as well as who my roommates would be. I’m not sure how Logan will react to the news, but I’m hoping he will be calm about the whole thing. Logan rarely loses his temper. The only time I’ve heard of it happening is when I was kidnapped after the car accident. I heard he was a force to be reckoned with that day.