Wolf Shifter Diaries: Lies Tamed (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 2)

by E Hall

  Kenna’s inner wolf growls. “What about me suggests that I’m a monster?” she asks, swerving around a car.

  “You can’t control your magic.” I stop just short of blurting that she killed Amanda. Sure, it was self-defense, but she can’t throw fae magic around like that.

  “I’ll learn to use it properly. That’s why I wanted to find my father. To understand.”

  Greyson eyes me. “Corbin, you’re vastly mistaken. It isn’t in the nature of any of us, hybrid or full-blood to hurt other creatures. Violence like that comes from curses.”

  I’ve heard enough. The two fall into conversation as I steam with fury. My wolf pants inside, upset with me, but my Alpha nature can’t tolerate these lies.

  The long road ahead gives me plenty of time and space to sit with the burden of my thoughts and a growing sense of guilt for putting my mate in a dangerous situation and for lying to her. There’s no telling what Greyson will do. He’s fae. The whole ghost thing may just be glamour. I have to do what’s right and turn him into the Council. Kenna might hate me for it, but someday, when her father’s crimes are exposed, she’ll understand.

  When we reach the border crossing, if the guards see the ghost, they don’t say anything. I’m guessing he isn’t visible to them.

  “So, why did magicals go from benevolent beings to malevolent, if what Corbin is saying is true,” Kenna asks after we’re cleared to go back into the United States.

  “They were cursed,” her father answers.

  “By who?”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. That piece of information was what I traded my life for.”

  “And?” Kenna and I say at the same time.

  “Now I’m made of the veil between the worlds: the living and dead,” he says as though this is his greatest regret.

  Kenna shivers.

  “I feel thin, wispy like I’m hardly here.”

  “But what about that piece of information you were after?” I follow up with a deliberate tilt of my head as if, once more to say, explain.

  “I’ll start at the part when I said I felt like I was torn between my two natures—fae and wolf. Sometimes one would be stronger. Sometimes the other. But never violent or wicked.”

  I scoff. “Likely story.”

  “Remember, this was before the Accords, Corbin.”

  “Which was created because of you, because of your propensity for cruelty against magicals and humans alike.”

  “What do you remember of that time?” Greyson asks.

  “That I was a violent beast, prone to maiming and devouring humans.”

  Greyson grunts.

  Kenna stiffens. Her knuckles blanch against the steering wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’ve never told you about that period because the Accord spell wiped the details of our violence from the mind of magic-kind so we wouldn’t be inclined to indulge our base nature.”

  Greyson clicks his tongue. “In other words, you’ve been told that you’re a man-eating beast and that vampires are bloodsucking—”

  “Kenna, don’t listen to him,” I grind out.

  She jerks her head in my direction. Her gray eyes turn stormy. “Check the scoreboard, Corbin. So far, you’ve lied to me twice.”

  “It was for your protection.”

  “As far as I know my father hasn’t deceived me once.”

  I imagine Greyson’s expression is pretty smug right now.

  “Dad, go on. I want to know what happened.”

  “I wanted to understand myself and all forms of magic. I figured that would help me put the pieces together. However, the fae were dodgy. They didn’t want to reveal anything. The king—” Greyson falters. “I can’t seem to remember the king during that time. It’s like something blocks my mind, locks it out of my memories.” He lifts his hand to his forehead. “I wonder if I left some of my thoughts on the otherside.”

  “Do you mean the fae king Melchior?” I fill in. “Council member. Together with him and the vampire Alpha, we’re intent on protecting magicals from you and the Klave.”

  “Protect magicals from the Klave?” Greyson laughs. “Why would you do that? Well, I suppose some might consider the truth a threat.”

  “What truth?” Kenna asks.

  “History. That hybrids like us aren’t so bad. That we should have rights. That magicals can intermingle. Love is love.”

  “Sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me,” I mutter.

  “No one asked,” Kenna says. “So the Klave isn’t bad?”

  “When Jacqueline and I married, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be banished or imprisoned. But as a hybrid, I was more skilled at concealing myself. After I sent you and your mother into hiding, I created the Klave—” He shakes his head. “Something is missing. Part of my mind. When I was on the otherside, it was like I was suspended, waiting. I can’t quite explain it.”

  “But the piece of information you traded your life for. What was it?”

  “It’s gone. I knew something was amiss among the magicals and that the Accords weren’t solely because you and I were perceived as a threat. But this is where I’m drawing a big blank. Kenna, I’m sorry. I can’t seem to remember.”

  “We have a long drive ahead of us. Just tell me everything you know.”

  Clattering and grinding come from under the hood. Rhonda doesn’t seem thrilled by that fact. I send a text to arrange for alternative transportation.

  “For one, species don’t just suddenly evolve into man-eating, bloodsucking, tormentors. It didn’t add up. What I do remember was endless research, trying to put everything I could together,” Greyson says.

  “The secret room in Lonsdale?” Kenna asks.

  “Yes. You’ve seen it? That’s my life’s work. But pieces are missing from my collection. Namely, my mother’s journal, her cloak, and the Triad Jewels.”

  Kenna shifts in the front seat. She has one of the gems but strangely doesn’t say so.

  Why don’t you tell him? I ask her in the wolf-way.

  Get out of my head, she growls.

  Kenna clears her throat and says, “What are those items, Dad?”

  “My mother, Isa, a fae, left the Court of Ken and Clover. It wasn’t only because she fell in love with my father which was as forbidden then as it was when I fell in love with your mother. I always wondered why.”

  “And you hope those three items will answer the question.”

  “How romantic,” I say sarcastically.

  “I also believe they’ll explain why we were made to believe that we’re dangerous.”

  “Because we are,” I answer.

  “I don’t think that’s the whole story, Corbin. I can tell that you’re Alpha. Perhaps start thinking like one.”

  The wolf in me growls.

  “I mean to say think for yourself. Ask questions no matter how dangerous it may be,” Greyson says.

  My main question right now is how I’m going to end a hollow ghost.

  Chapter 19

  Kenna

  Rhonda sputters as we blaze down the freeway. I want to learn more about the magical past, but have to concentrate on the road. Cars whiz by as the minivan struggles to keep up. I got gas recently so I don’t think that’s the problem. Perhaps it’s the battery again or something else.

  “Kenna, I have the plane waiting in Los Angeles. We can fly out,” Corbin says.

  “I can’t leave Rhonda behind.” I pat the dashboard.

  “I’ll have it towed back to New Hampshire.”

  “Is this you riding in on your white stallion?” I’m not won over by his act of gallantry.

  “I’m a wolf. I don’t need a horse.”

  The steering stiffens, and the car slows some more. I struggle through three lanes of traffic and am glad I didn’t opt for the HOV lane. Rhonda gives one last gasp before going still on the shoulder of the road.

  I tilt my head back. “Well, looks like you have plenty of time for stor
y hour, Dad.”

  “A car service will be here in two minutes. The tow truck will be right behind them. The airport is seventeen minutes away if the traffic doesn’t get worse.” Corbin speaks with efficiency.

  “I can see how eager you are to turn us into the Council. Is it possible to stop in New Hampshire so I can see my mother one last time?”

  “Jacqueline is in New Hampshire?” Greyson asks.

  “Yeah, we have a new apartment there. This is her car.”

  “This?” His eyes bulge. “She was practically a princess. Vampire royalty and she drives a—”

  “Shh. This minivan has been through enough. But yes. We lived frugally to blend in.”

  He leans back as though disturbed. “She deserves better. And so do you.” Greyson glares back at Corbin. “If he’d open his mind, he’d see that—” My father goes silent. “I can’t remember.”

  “Are you sure your existence is all you traded?”

  A car honks behind us. I gather up everything I can from Rhonda in case she doesn’t make it back. It feels silly, but I let her know she’s been good, loyal. I feel like I’m leaving something behind. Like so many others lately, this is another last time.

  The ride to the airport is quiet. The driver must be magical because he acknowledges my father with a vague nod. There isn’t much to talk about that wouldn’t reveal that the guy is transporting two of Magical’s Most Wanteds or my anger at Corbin.

  However, once back on the posh private plane, which I’m too peeved to appreciate, my curiosity pushes past the silence. “Maybe it will help you remember things if I tell you what’s been going on since you became a hollow ghost.”

  “Which was when?” Corbin asks.

  “When I learned the history of Lila.” Greyson has the opposite of a smile in his voice. “There are two versions of the story. Which would you like to hear today?”

  “That’s easy. The truest one,” I say.

  “It was said that a man captured a fae. Charmed by her beauty with dark hair and fair skin, the secrets of the woods rippling in her eyes, and the melodic sound of her voice, he brought her on land against her will. Then she lost her most valued asset, her voice, rendering her relatively helpless to her plight.”

  I recall the story Pepper told me and say, “And ever after, to avenge their loss, on the full moon, the fae maidens would lure a huntsman into their midst and take his life for her own.”

  My dad nods. “Later, one fae maiden, my mother, felt like the Initiation practice was wrong and fled with the huntsman who became my father. Only, shortly after their love was known, a werewolf attacked him.”

  “How did the fae kill the huntsmen exactly?”

  My father gazes out the window. “The cry of the fae, an enchanting, but deadly song activated under the light of the full moon has the power to kill.”

  The hair on the back of my neck lifts. I inhale, realizing I was holding my breath as I think of the song I thought I heard from the diary. I’m debating whether or not to tell him I have the cloak, the diary, and the vampire jewel. My instinct suggests I keep this to myself for now.

  “But what I learned is that nothing was stolen from Lila—the fae allegedly taken by a huntsman against her will.”

  Those last words cast a net over me. In the distance, lightning flashes from cloud to cloud.

  “Why would the fae kill huntsmen for revenge if Lila, as you said, went willfully with the man?” Corbin asks, entering the conversation for the first time.

  “My question exactly,” Greyson answers. “One I was forbidden to ask. But that didn’t stop me from trying to figure it out.” He lets out a frustrated sigh.

  “Are there magical libraries?”

  Corbin and my dad nod in unison.

  “As well as the Library of Memories. But I think the answer is closer. My mother’s diary. But along with her, it’s gone missing. She figured everything out and wrote it down.” His ghostly cheeks shade darker for a moment. “I must admit I tore out several pages with the most crucial information, afraid of what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. When I did so, the words disappeared. Before I could finish reading, the diary was lost. I fear, forever, along with her...and it seems, some of my memories.” His brow furrows.

  “Someone did find it.” I swallow, taking a risk. “Or rather, it was left for me in your house. Tied with a strip of red fabric...that I think belongs to your mother’s cloak. Which I also have.” I leave off the part about possessing the Vampire Jewel.

  With each word spoken, my father leans closer.

  “The only problem is, as you said, the diary is empty.”

  His face falls. “I take it the cloak is too.”

  I tilt my head in question.

  “I thought perhaps she was trapped in it, invisible. One day, she disappeared. I figured it was because of what my father did, but I may never know.” My dad gives Corbin a side-eye and then leans closer. “I believe if I find the real scepter, not the one Melchior parades around with, and install the missing jewels, I can reveal the truth of all things.”

  I think of the illustration in the book back at Lonsdale.

  “Then you’re certain the scepter Melchior has is fake?” Corbin asks.

  Greyson chortles. “Real iron, but that’s about all. I had an unpleasant encounter with him. Although he’s powerful, and likes to think he’s lord of all fae, he doesn’t wield the full power of the scepter. Fortunately for me.”

  “Where is the real scepter?” I ask.

  “Again, something I’ve sought.” For a moment, my father looks like liquid smoke.

  “Where to begin?”

  “The diary. Can I see it?” Greyson asks.

  I take it out of my bag.

  He unlaces the red piece of fabric. “Yes, this is part of a fae cloak. I feel the magic.” When he parts the pages, sure enough, faint whiskered lines form around his eyes. “Still no words, yet I sense them. I feel my mother’s presence.” He turns it over a few times. “It’s like I can hear her whispering from the pages.”

  I nod. “I think I’ve heard her singing.”

  “We need your mother’s help. She was especially skilled at seeing through things.”

  “Literally?” Because she wasn’t all that adept as seeing through her stupid ex-boyfriends’ lies.

  “Yes. Vampires are strong and have super senses, but many have special skills.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” I ask.

  “I haven’t seen her in eighteen years, three months, and four days. She’s one of the strongest and bravest vamps I’ve ever known. I think she can handle a ghost version of her husband if it means we get to see each other again.”

  I bite my lip. “Okay, but she might be mad.”

  “I’ll take whatever I can get.”

  He hasn’t seen her dealing with her exes so this should be interesting.

  “No, we’re going to meet with the Council,” Corbin says.

  I argue, but Corbin is in full Alpha mode. My Alpha rises, but in this instance, he wields the extra power and authority of the Alpha Warriors and Guardian Council. I want nothing to do with him.

  I resign myself to betrayal. I enjoy these last bits of freedom before what is sure to be imprisonment. Maybe worse.

  My life suckage ratio is fifty-fifty at the moment. I found my father and got a glimpse of who I am and what all this means, but it feels like it’s slipping through my fingers.

  We’re mostly quiet for the rest of the plane ride. When we land in Concordia, the night has a full moon vibe even though the sky is dark except for a crescent moon and the stars. I consider making a wish, but hope feels like a faraway thing. I close my eyes anyway, hoping that when I open them, I’ll gaze upon a different scene where my father is whole and not a ghost. Where my mother is here, they have a happy reunion, and Corbin doesn’t want to turn me into the Council.

  We get in the Jeep. As we set out, several other vehicles follow with their headlights blaz
ing. I sense the betas.

  Did you call in backup? Even though I communicate the wolf-way, the edge in my voice is unmistakable.

  Greyson slipped through our fingers one too many times.

  Yeah, and I’ve really made a run for it, I say sarcastically. Then I add, Hi, guys. I’m not sure how this works since I’m your Alpha as well, but feel free to head home. Nothing to see here.

  Camilla’s voice comes through. Sorry, Kenna. Right now, we’re taking orders from Corbin. He’s been with us longer and is therefore higher up than you.

  Where I expect to be brought to a police station or somewhere official, I recognize the road leading to Lonsdale.

  Perhaps the Council are meeting us here. How pleasant. A homecoming and an arrest.

  When we pass through the gate, Corbin says, “You will answer to the Council.”

  “Wolves were once fae’s greatest enemy. Don’t you find it interesting that both myself and Kenna are united in the two rather than the monsters you make us out to be?” Greyson had been quiet but it seems the sight of his former home or the proximity of our demise gives him the motivation to push for Corbin to see his side of things.

  Corbin grunts. “Define monster. When we discovered Kenna, we had orders to destroy her.”

  My stomach swims with anxiety.

  Greyson folds his hands in his lap. “Could that have been a ploy? A ruse? A plot to control magicals with a spell?”

  “Yes, to keep us from killing each other.” Corbin’s tone is flat.

  “Think for one moment, Corbin. The Accord contains a spell that supposedly keeps magicals from indulging their “base” natures and so they don’t inter-mate. However, what if you were told that when in reality, the spell actually suppresses your magic. What if it’s a curse?”

  “And what if you were using the Klave’s collective magic to lift the spell to wreak havoc?”

  I recall my mother mentioning that the Klave may not have been the wicked group it was made out to be.

  “Why would I do that, son?” my father asks.

  “I’m not your son. And the answer is simple. Because you’re a power-hungry monster. Here’s a question for you. Why would someone cast a spell on us and make up that elaborate story?”