Shifted Scars: A Wolves of Forest Grove Novel

by Lawson, Elena

  I moved against him, urging him faster. Harder.

  I moaned loudly against his mouth as he kissed me again. His breaths came heavier as he wrapped his mammoth hand around the back of my neck, securing me in place.

  He knew just the right way to hold me. Like I was caught in a vise from which there would be no hope of escaping even if I wanted to. As he leaned his body back to get a better angle, he released his hold on my thigh to circle against my clit as he pounded into me.

  The dual sensation had me coming apart at the seams almost instantly, and I bucked and writhed, but Clay’s grip on the back of my neck, with his arm braced against my back, kept me in place. Making me bend to the will of my body as he brought me ever closer to an orgasm that might just rip me apart.

  “Come on, baby,” he said in a husky whisper, bending to join his forehead with mine as he worked relentlessly on my pussy, his own orgasm reaching a peak.

  Unable to contain myself as my wolf’s natural urge to fight back against the coming storm took over, I unwrapped my legs from his waist and pushed off from the dresser, ejecting him from me for only an instant before he had me again.

  He spun me, bending me over the dresser and sheathing himself inside of me once more. His hand splayed over my back, pressing me against the warm wood as he fucked me from behind. He used his weight to hold me in place as he reached around and continued his merciless rubbing of my slit.

  I cried out as my climax surged to its peak, gripping the edge of the dresser for dear life as Clay annihilated me in every sense of the word. I came hard, wood splintering where my fingers tore giant chunks from the dresser.

  My body coiled, tightening like the flex of a bowstring right before being shot. Sending me sailing in oblivion as I shuddered against him, crying out as my release ripped through me like a fucking hurricane.

  Clay didn’t stop, his hands going to my hips to bear down hard as he continued to fuck me, making my one orgasm fall into another as he howled his release and we both sagged against the mangled dresser.

  8

  I pushed the stew around in my bowl. It was mostly potatoes and carrots, but if I looked hard enough I might find at least one more piece of beef.

  Clay smirked, watching me slyly from the corner of his eye as he drained the remnants of his own bowl. It’d been a few days since the most recent incident with the witch and our stores of meat were getting low again. The hunting party managed to bag a deer and a few hares, but when you were talking about feeding a pack of nearly fifty wolves. That didn’t last very long.

  I sighed, resigning myself to finishing the potatoes and carrots.

  “When are Seth and Layla getting back?” Clay asked, sliding the back of his hand over his hips as he set his bowl down on the picnic table.

  The chatter of conversation from the other tables around us hushed a little. No doubt everyone was just as eager for them to get back as I was. We’d sent them into Portland to do one last grocery run before our butcher order came in on Monday. We couldn’t keep clearing out the Forest Grove grocery, and we’d need a fair amount more to last us the next few days.

  Hazel had been right. Hungry wolves made for grouchy wolves. And grouchy wolves tended to cause some problems. We’d already had to break up two fights in the last day alone.

  “They’ll be back later tonight. Probably in the next few hours. I told them to go to a few stores so they’d be able to get enough for everyone to eat a real dinner tomorrow. The steaks won’t be as good as Sal’s, but...”

  “Hell, I’d take one well-done right now,” Destiny said on a sigh and Viv nodded, agreeing with her mate.

  “I’d even take one with that awful blue cheese sauce on it.”

  I barked a laugh at that, but their admission cut me deep. I was the alpha. It was my job to make sure my pack was cared for. Safe. Fed.

  “Another bowl?” Clay asked, lifting my now empty bowl from in front of me. I shook my head. There wouldn’t be much left, and I needed to make sure everyone got some.

  Grimacing, Clay brought both of our bowls to the outdoor sink under the new canopy we built earlier this spring to rinse off. I hated that he would also go without seconds just because I did, but I couldn’t fault him for it.

  Jared and Clay had been my right and left hands since the start. Together, we formed a united front and truly, it was more like we were all the alpha, even if I was the one who formally made all the calls.

  Sara emerged from the tree line a bit breathless, with her patrol mate close in tow. She was a newer recruit, having just joined the pack last year. But…they weren’t on patrol until dark. Sara and Tyler had been taking over most of the overnights now that Clay was hanging around camp more often.

  They came straight for the tables and made a beeline for me.

  “What is it?” I demanded before they could get a word in, my hand fisting in my lap beneath the table.

  “It’s Luke,” Sara told me, glancing around before taking the seat opposite me. I didn’t like the way she was keeping her voice hushed and sensing my unease. Clay rushed back to slide into the seat next to me.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Luke didn’t come back last night,” Tyler replied.

  Luke…

  Being pack alpha and absolute shit with names was not a good combo. I knew all of their faces. My wolf recognized theirs as pack, but with names I was pretty much useless.

  “Tall. Skinny. Light hair. Scrappy. Joined the pack when Ry killed Samson,” Clay filled in the blanks for me in a whisper.

  I gave a tight nod and turned my attention back to Sara and Tyler. “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “At dinner yesterday. He left for a run before dark. I don’t think he’s been back since then.”

  I mulled over the info, Clay and I sharing a look, and the stew in my stomach soured.

  “Luke’s left before, hasn’t he?” Clay asked, fixing Luke’s friends with a hard stare that told them they’d better be honest.

  Ty winced but nodded. “Yeah. He’s got a temper. He usually just goes into the city and gets smashed, but he wasn’t upset about anything.”

  “Not that you know of,” Clay snapped back, and I had to put my hand on his thigh beneath the table to steady him.

  “Charity,” I called and saw her head pop up at the next table, her dreads bobbing as she got up and made her way over, mouth full of stew.

  She leaned over the table, glancing between Sara and Ty and me and Clay. Her face fell. “What’s up, Allie?”

  “Luke didn’t come back to camp last night.”

  “He’s probably sleeping off a massive hangover somewhere,” Charity told me with a shrug, obviously she had no trouble remembering who he was.

  I nodded, wanting to agree with her, but something in my gut told me this wasn’t that. It was worse. “You’re probably right,” I agreed, “But if he’s not back by morning, could you get a small party together and track him. Bring him back?”

  “We already tried to track him,” Ty argued. “His trail went cold a few miles past the third ring.”

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Fuck, I really hated being put on the spot.

  “Well…” I trailed off, thinking of how best to handle this.

  “I’ll go with Charity,” Clay offered without a second’s hesitation. “You might have lost his trail, but I should be able to pick it up.”

  I gave him a grateful smile, and he covered my hand with his, squeezing. Jared and Clay were the best trackers we had. Better even than I was even with the advantage of my twin soul wolf’s extra strong sense.

  Tyler and Sara seemed satisfied with that and gave me a pair of tight, thankful nods before leaving.

  “He’ll be back by morning,” Charity assured us. She gripped my shoulder, giving me a meaningful look. “Don’t sweat it. I don’t know the guy very well, but he’s a loose cannon on the best of days. Probably just got riled up about something and went to blow off steam.”

>   If that were all it was, I’d be relieved as hell, but Luke would be getting an earful. Pack members weren’t allowed to leave territory without notifying me or Jared or Clay first. It wasn’t a control thing, it was a safety thing, and I rarely ever denied any requests to leave pack land. We just needed to know when they left and where they went so that if they didn’t come back we’d know where to look.

  “Thanks, Cherry.”

  She grinned at the nickname and spun on her heel. “Let me get you guys a couple of beers, yeah? You both look like you could use one.”

  “You don’t think it’s…” I muttered under my breath, not daring to meet Clay’s stare or speak the word witch aloud for fear of anyone overhearing and word spreading. I told Jared about Gregory, and Hazel already knew. That was enough for now.

  “Nah. His kind aren’t that stupid.” He squeezed my hand again. “Relax before you give yourself an aneurysm.”

  Scanning the tables, I mentally went through the faces of the pack, counting to make sure everyone who should be here was. Save for those asleep now from night patrol and those on active patrol. Or working at the quarry with Jared or at Grove’s End.

  Several other faces were missing. Likely they were just gone for runs before dinner or out on errands, but it set me even more on edge. I couldn’t help but notice the lack of one face in particular and my brows lowered. Sam wasn’t at dinner. In fact, I didn’t think I’d seen her all day.

  That wasn’t unheard of for her, though. She seemed to think that she could outrun the ghosts haunting her and was gone sprinting through our territory more often than she was here.

  “You seen Sam today?”

  Clay grunted his thanks as Charity plopped two frothy mugs down in front of us and took a long swallow of her own, leaving a foamy white mustache on her upper lip.

  “Out for a run. As usual. She’s supposed to check in before dark.”

  She’d fucking better.

  I writhed in bed like I needed an exorcism most of the night. It was a good thing it was Jared next to me instead of Clay or he’d have tied me down by now. As it was, I knew there would be no chance of sleep.

  Running my hands through my sweat dampened hair, I sat up, dropping my tired head into my palms. There was no point in lying there. When my insomnia hit me this hard, I could be up for days without sleep. Maybe if I just went and checked to see that Luke was back, I would be able to grab a few hours of shut-eye before dawn.

  I slipped from the bed, pausing to admire the work of art next to me for a moment before tugging on a pair of jeans to go with Jared’s oversized shirt and padded barefoot out of the room.

  The heat of the early summer day still lingered, making the night air damp with humidity as I crept through the cabin and out the front door. I’d forgotten to check if Clay was sleeping in his wolf form around back of the cabin, and made an extra effort to silence my steps, leaving the front door open behind me to avoid the noise of shutting it.

  Much as he tried to hide it, or brush it off, I saw his dark circles too. He needed his sleep and I didn’t want to be the one to wake him.

  Pack camp was always quiet this close to dawn. The only wolves awake the ones out on patrol. The first ring wasn’t far from the borders of camp, but it was far enough that I couldn’t see or hear whoever was running it.

  I shivered as I picked over the dew-dampened dirt near the fire pit and around the foot-trails through the cabins to where I thought Luke’s cabin was. Hushed conversation met my ears as I approached the edge of camp and I saw the girl from dinner, Sara, sitting with Archer on the small front stoop jutting out from the cabin on my right a little further down.

  “Sara?” I called quietly, hurrying my steps.

  “What are you doing out here? It isn’t dawn yet.”

  “Is he back?”

  Sara’s face fell and something twisted in my gut. Damn.

  She jabbed a thumb behind her at the darkened windows of the cabin to her back. “I just came to check,” she explained. “I thought maybe he’d have slipped back in sometime in the night, but…”

  “The other guys said they hadn’t seen him.”

  I remembered now. Luke shared a cabin with two other unmated males, though for the life of me, I couldn’t remember their names.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “We’ll give it another hour,” I told her. “And if he isn’t back then I’ll wake Charity and go with her.”

  “We’ll come too,” Sara offered, and even though it was clear she hadn’t slept either, I was in no position to deny her. If it were my friend missing, I’d want to go, too.

  Archer nodded his agreement and rubbed his wide hand over Sara’s back. I got the feeling she liked Luke. Maybe as something more than just a friend and fellow packmate. Though I couldn’t remember ever seeing them together.

  That was generally how it went though. Other than casual sex, most shifters preferred not to date. Getting serious with someone who wasn’t your mate could spell disaster and heartbreak for all those involved if one wound up mating to someone else.

  Better to just wait and hope that you won’t be one of the unlucky few who have to wait decades if not longer to find their mate.

  I scanned the trees as though if I looked hard enough I’d be able to see Luke rushing over the moonlight-dappled forest floor. Coming home. But other than the sounds of nighttime insects and an owl far off in the distance, there was nothing to be seen or heard.

  Except...I realized there was a light on in one of the cabins in the next row. Or at least, I assumed there was. I could see the glow of it tinting the dirt a muted gold from here. Was that Layla’s cabin?

  “Have you been awake long?” I asked Sara, already moving away from them and toward the light with slow steps.

  “Did you see Layla and Seth get back from Portland?” I added before either of them could answer, wondering if they’d only just returned. I could think of no other reason why Layla’s light would be on this late. Squinting, I tried to see if the cabin Seth shared with Kyle and Jake also had a light on, but couldn’t tell from this far away.

  “I don’t think they came back yet,” Sara told me, making my throat tighten and my steps falter.

  “What do you mean? They should have been back just after dark at the latest.”

  I’d spent the evening reading before bothering to try to sleep. Why hadn’t I come out to check that they’d returned? Why hadn’t I realized they may not have when they didn’t come into the main cabin to tuck the meat away in the deep freezer in the basement?

  Fuck.

  Footsteps followed me as I rushed toward Layla’s cabin, heart in my throat. Please be there.

  Please be there.

  I didn’t pause to knock, flying through the cracked open door of the cabin to sweep the interior. Charity and Danny blinked at me, startled, their inner wolves immediately on the defensive as I invaded their territory. At least until they saw who I was.

  “Allie?” Charity asked. “What’s going on?”

  “Where’s Layla?”

  My hands twitched at my sides, and my sleep-deprived brain was already swiftly moving into kill-mode. If someone didn’t speak the fuck up right now…

  “We tried calling,” Charity supplied. “She texted earlier and said they might be a bit late so we went to sleep, but they still aren’t back.”

  Don’t panic.

  Don’t fucking panic.

  I am the alpha. I need to be calm.

  “I left my phone at the cabin,” I said in the most level voice I could muster, lying to myself with an inner monologue of reassurances. Layla was fine. Seth was fine. Everything was fine.

  Charity rushed to grab hers from the nightstand and hand it to me, coming to stand in the middle of the space. Layla’s trademark jasmine scent clung to everything in here and it was easy to tell which bunk was hers. Deep navy sheets rumpled on her top bunk had little silver stars on them. Long, silver-chained necklaces were strung over the edge
of the ladder, pointed gemstones dangling from their tips.

  My fingers fumbled over the screen of Charity’s phone, and I had to move out to the porch where Sara and Archer hovered to be able to make the call. We had reception out here, but in certain areas of camp it was spotty at best.

  “We already called twice,” Charity said, wrapping a shawl around her bare breasts to come outside and join me.

  I thumbed to her recent calls and jammed Layla’s name in the list of calls, resisting the urge to pace along the foot trail as the call connected.

  “Hey.”

  “Layla, thank—”

  “It’s Layla. Leave a message if you must or just text me like a normal person, and I’ll get back to you.”

  Damn.

  A lump formed in my throat, and it was impossible to get any air past it. My head spun as I jammed her name again and put the phone back to my ear.

  “Pick up,” I muttered. “Pick up, dammit.”

  When it went to voicemail again, I went to Charity’s contacts and searched for Seth.

  “Allie, what’s going on?” Sara asked, and I could hear the accusation in her tone without having to look up and see it on her face. I’d somehow begun to pace, and I hadn’t even noticed it, and I had to force myself to stop.

  Charity came down the step to join me standing barefoot in the dirt and lifted her hand to my arms. “Hey. I’m sure they just got held up or whatever.”

  My throat burned as I met her steady gaze. “I can’t find Seth,” I said, still scrolling through contacts.

  “He’s under Dirty McFlyboy.”

  I raised a brow and she smirked. “Long story.”

  “Allie?”

  Whirling, I found Clay approaching and something inside of me snapped a little.

  His brows drew together as he took in the small group of us, the moonlight casting deep shadows over his every muscle as he stalked forward.

  “It’s Layla and Seth,” I managed around the still-growing lump of dread blocking my airway. “They haven’t come back yet.”

  His lips parted in surprise, and just as I had, he scanned the trees and squinted toward Seth’s cabin, searching for signs of life.