Shifted Redemption [The Cursed Wolves Series, Book Three]

by Holly Hook

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  "What's going on?" Mom asks from the couch.

  Valerie looks to her like she's unsure what to say. Then I glance at Gia, asking for her backup. I don't know what's going on, only that it can't be good.

  At least the Rose Pack seems to get it. "Alan. He wants to make up, first of all. Why don't we go and meet him out by the vacation house?"

  "Who's Alan?" Mom asks.

  So she hasn't met him yet. "He's an old friend of theirs. They had a fight earlier this year," I say, giving her the truth. I watch Mom nod. "I'd like to go, too, if that's okay."

  Do you have any idea what's going on?

  "Beckah, you have done a spectacular job taking care of yourself out here," Mom says. "Of course you can go off with your friends. Gia and I will probably go do some shopping while you are all out."

  Bingo. I hate to leave Mom in the dark, but it's unclear if she knows about the curse or not. So far, she's happily oblivious, and I don't want to drag her into this mess if I don't have to. "Have fun," I say.

  We're all dressed and out the door a moment later. Tyler doesn't dare to tell me to stay behind, but he nods to my room as Mom and Gia set out. I watch them walk down the driveway and vanish before I go to my room, open my closet, and pull out my crossbow and arrows.

  "That might be a good idea," Valerie says when I return, my weapon and leather bag of arrows slung over my shoulder. Kudos to Gavin for letting me keep his parents' weapon at the cabin.

  "Is it the other wolves? The rivals who survived?" I ask. In that case, I'll have to rely on some skills that I fear got rusty.

  "No. You'll have to see," Valerie says, bundled up for the cold and already heading out the back door. "Beckah, we'll stay in human form if we can, but you'll need to keep up."

  I'm still athletic, at least. Just walking in high snow is work and has kept me fit. So has shoveling the area around Gia's cabin.

  We walk in silence, Valerie leading the way through the woods. I scan the trees for the rival wolves. What if they made Alan go back to them?

  Or what if they killed someone else?

  “Why can't you tell me what's going on?” Tyler asks as he walks beside me.

  “I'd like to know, too,” I say.

  “Because we're not a hundred percent sure if we saw things correctly,” Valerie tells him. “We all need to get a closer look.”

  The quick walk seems to take forever. I realize we're headed not to the edge of the Rose Pack's territory, but in the direction of the high school and by extension, Rose Ranch.

  A horrible thought fills me as I put the pieces together. "Did Tyler's parents ally with the rival wolves?" I hiss at Valerie, because she has a tendency to give me the brutal truth.

  A look of disgust comes over Tyler's face. “I hope not.”

  "No. They would never do that. Besides, our rivals have no regard for any human life, including those of other predators," Valerie says, emphasizing that last word.

  I eye the open field ahead and the road that separates us from it. On the hill in that open field stands the mansion where Tyler has never been allowed. And within that mansion stand the two people who have turned this town into hell. "Then what did they do?"

  No one says a word. I look to Tyler, and he gulps beside me like he doesn't want to see the answer. I don't see Alan anywhere.

  I reach out and take Tyler's hand, knowing from the girls that what we're about to see will rattle him. He's going to need me.

  My weapon grows heavy on my back as we step out of the trees and cross the road, ducking into the shelter of more trees. I glimpse Rose Ranch in the distance—we're still about a mile away—as we circle the huge property, staying in the woods. Even from here, I spot several dark SUV's parked not at the visitor center or the employee lot but right up by the mansion itself. The shine in the pale sun and scream business, but they don't look like official vehicles from the state.

  Something is very wrong.

  But Valerie still doesn't say a word as she looks to my weapons. What is the deal here? Does she want me to shoot people? That will really help the curse if we go around committing murder.

  But at last, after my legs have started to ache, we creep close to where the Rose Ranch property starts and where the cover of the trees end. I've never seen the Ranch from this angle before, and we're still maybe a few hundred feet from the mansion itself, but I do have a good view of the parking lot from here.

  Plus, the back of the house.

  There's a huge wraparound deck back there and a fence that probably surrounds a diamond-studded swimming pool. An awning that matches the magenta trim of the mansion hangs over the small group of people that have no idea we're watching them. I want to get closer, to get a better look at whatever's happening, but Chaz grips my arm and shakes his head.

  "Trail camera," he hisses, nodding at the tree line.

  Yep.

  A camera hangs on a tree, focusing down at the edge of the woods. If I step even a few feet forward, it'll catch me and blow my cover. The Roses still don't know I'm involved in this, and it has to stay that way.

  So I duck, just in case. We're hidden in darkness, but I don't yet know the nature of the people on the deck. Except for two. Tyler's parents stand closest to the back door, and his father nods his head over and over as if he's giving a command. His mother holds a briefcase, fondling it as if it's full of stacks of money.

  And four others listen to them, backs to the wilderness.

  Three men. Probably one woman, all wearing dark, brimmed hats and black uniforms. They look like something out of a horror movie, especially as all four of them are holding crossbows, all lowered to the deck the way Gavin and I handle ours. Leather quivers hang on the backs of each, bulging with what I'm guessing are arrows.

  And I understand.

  Valerie wanted me to bring my weapons just in case we met the werewolf hunters Tyler's parents have hired, so I can convince them that I'm on their side and they won't kill me.

  I can only see Tyler out of the corner of my eye, but that's enough to see the last of his hope go out. I turn to him. His eyes empty, and even the redness flees as if it, too, was hoping for love that was never going to come.

  His parents want to destroy him.

  Tyler has become a danger to the family name.

  A danger to the Rose fortune.

  And now he's due to be eliminated.

  I take his shoulders from behind. We have to pull Tyler from this sight.

  The nightmare.

  The unspeakable horror.

  He doesn't move at first, watching as the hunters speak to his parents. One of them takes the briefcase and tucks it under his arm. Yes. It's the payment. The Roses are so loaded they can hire anyone to do anything.

  They're even more dangerous than the curse.

  "Tyler," I hiss. "We need to go." I haven't heard their conversation on the deck, but I'm sure that the Rose Pack's heightened senses have detected more than they ever wanted.

  He whirls on me.

  Growls, as if this is all my fault. Even I can't calm him right now. The redness in his eyes grows, propelled by the ultimate betrayal, and he raises a hand as if to claw at something invisible in front of him. Pops and snaps sound as it morphs into a dark wolf paw, and I back away, raising my weapon without thinking.

  "Tyler," I hiss, not wanting to shout.

  "Tackle him," Valerie says, and Chaz does so, throwing him to the ground.

  He's losing it.

  And who can blame him?

  Tyler growls as Cammie and Valerie tackle him too, and they turn into a tangle as a shift tries to overcome Tyler. They muffle the pops and cracks that can betray our position. They hold him in the snow, trying to cool off the pure rage. All I can do now is watch. And as we fight this battle, the four hunters, briefcase in tow, circle the mansion to go back to their SUV's.

  As if this is just a normal business day.

  Do they know they're hunting the child of th
e people who just hired them?

  He's gone, Tyler's father said.

  "Tyler," I hiss, because the hunters aren't far away. I want to run to them now, do something to stop them, but they're already getting into their expensive vehicles. Maybe they're just like the Roses, willing to throw away lives for money. No. I can't go to them.

  At last, the motion and the popping sounds die down. Valerie and Chaz slowly rise, leaving Cammie there, holding Tyler's shoulder down in the snow. He flexes his human hands, letting out a breath as he turns over, white powder clutching his coat and sticking to his hair.

  "Tyler." I sink to him, wrapping my arms around his chest. "I don't blame you for losing control." Despite his nature, I let myself lie there against him. He doesn't need any explanations or words. He needs comfort because no words can do a damn thing about this.

  "Beckah." He wraps his arm around me, and we lie there together in wintry hell, the only warmth for miles and miles. Maybe, even the only warmth in the entire world.

  "I'm with you. And I'm not leaving you," I say, throat raw at what Tyler has just endured. "We'll end this curse. Then there will be no reason for them to hunt you."

  "We don't know how hunters work," Cammie whispers. She still hasn't stood, as if she's scared Tyler will start to lose control again.

  "People are disgusting," Tyler says, rising. "Almost all of them."

  He's so strong he throws me off and I stumble away, pulled back by the weapons still on my back. "Tyler," I croak. "Not all people." He's starting to have that attitude like the real werewolves Gavin and I fought. "Look at everyone coming together to fight what's happening in this town."

  He turns away, balling his fists. Tyler is someone who has just lost all faith in humanity. I rush to him, but keep my grip away from his hiked shoulders.

  "Hang on. We're going to stop this. I have an idea," I say.

  "Then what's your idea?" Tyler snaps, facing me.

  "Tyler," Valerie warns.

  He's been like this before, and I know this isn't him. This is not him. It's the curse speaking, forcing him to act like that pack who treat their women like shit. Well, who treat everyone like shit. Alan wasn't top of the totem pole, either.

  "We attack Rose Ranch," I say.

  "What?" Now his eyes widen as he casts away the ugly and reverts back to normal, protective Tyler. "Beckah—"

  "What else can we do? Your parents hired hunters, they're probably getting up a good legal defense, and I bet they're throwing money around like crazy right now. And on top of that, the rival wolves are getting ready to come after us again and Alan is still around, barely able to control himself. Not to mention, some of the people of Tower aren't going to survive what's coming. People will be homeless in the dead of winter, living out of their cars, and some of them might die." I allow my voice to rise. Sure, what do I know about homelessness? I'm a private school girl who used to live in an upscale apartment. Now I'm sweeping in, trying to be the savior.

  "She has a point," Valerie says. "Tyler. You're going to be of age in less than a year. Do you get what I mean?"

  He scratches his head. "But we can't just drive my parents out. And I'm not coming from a happy, hopeful place when I say that. If I bite them and curse them, they'll just get better if I do. If I don't, they've got the money to come back. Or they can just operate their whole scheme from back in Chicago, safe from all these people who want to destroy them."

  I flash Tyler a grin. "There is another way. And it's sitting right in front of us."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  No more kindness.

  The girl I left back at Averly is gone. I've left that people pleaser behind at that private school, slaving away over her grades and meeting Daddy's expectations. I've left that girl sitting in her quiet study groups, in her advanced classes, in her after school Honor Society meetings.

  I'm someone new.

  I square my shoulders as we all walk back to the vacation house. I don't know how much time has passed. We've spent some time on the outer edge of Rose Ranch, watching for the hunters to return.

  "We shouldn't go back to the vacation house," Chaz says as we run across the road. The fresh tire tracks from the hunter SUV's show that they've driven back in the direction of town, probably to go to that motel that's not far from the Tower Market.

  Or to the secret road that leads to the vacation house. They'll check there first.

  Tyler stops on the other side of the road, eyeing the tracks. Then he glances into the woods. "But I smell Alan that way. No hunters, yet, and no blood. We have to warn him if anything, and then leave the area as soon as we can."

  I see what he's saying. "Those hunters will kill Alan, too."

  "They're here to kill all of us," Tyler says, tone clipped. "If we're lucky, they'll run into those other wolves, duke it out, and then leave, thinking they've done their job."

  I'd been thinking the same thing, but that's not quite what I want to happen. But I keep my ideas to myself. When the time is right, I know things will have to line up perfectly.

  There is only one or two ways the Roses will leave town forever, and neither will lead to their happiness. And I don't care how miserable they end up. I've grown up too much in the past few months.

  We're on the trail that leads to the vacation house, the winding one I took the first time I ran into the place. It's barely recognizable in the snow, and I worry that we're leaving footprints. "Will the hunters find all this?" I ask.

  Valerie cuts in front of me and Tyler. "They're going to find everything. These hunters look like professionals. No offense, Beckah."

  "That's why we need to find shelter elsewhere," Chaz says.

  Tyler goes silent again, which I don't like, because that means he's sinking into another hole. But he keeps his chin up, determined to meet Alan face to face. We're all on the same side now. We've got to make sure we all survive and end this once and for all.

  Alan is standing near the rose bush when we reach the clearing, arms folded over his worn leather jacket. His tattoo wrinkles on his forehead as he faces the woods, breathing deeply, probably picking up the scent of the newcomers. Then he offers us a hard nod.

  "Things are not good," he says. "Least of all this." He motions to the covered rose bush with his cowboy boot, poking at the tarp. "I uncover it to give it sun every day, but that's not doing much anymore."

  "Alan, you're still a lifesaver," Tyler says quickly. He looks to me and Valerie, silently begging us to explain.

  "Do you smell the hunters?" Valerie asks. "That's the cedar scent you're picking up. That one that's slightly off. The Roses called them. They've gone from ignoring us to trying to drive us out of town."

  "Or kill us," Tyler snaps at no one.

  Valerie is just trying to make the situation sound less horrible than it is. Or maybe the Roses are just trying to get Tyler away from them. Maybe I can hold onto the possibility that they aren't completely horrible people.

  "Yes. I smell something is off. The cedar smell's been around for a few hours now. It's coming from the direction of town. Those hunters you're talking about must be camping at that crappy motel which isn't far from here. And I smell the other wolves, too. I think Jason and Willa survived the attack on them. The other two, I'm pretty sure, are dead. And they want revenge."

  "How close are they?" I ask.

  Alan looks at me, the redness in his eyes threatening to take over. I won't be able to subdue the monster growing in him. So far, I seem to only have that effect on Tyler, and only because the curse has partially jumped to me. "They're not in our territory, but I sense them hanging around the edge of town, near the border where Gavin parked his truck, trying to figure out what to do next. They want blood. Jason...he's insane. More animal than human by now." Then Alan looks away as if trying to hide that he, too, almost suffered that fate.

  "I believe you," I say. Alan is doing his best. We can save him if we make it through the next few days and succeed with our plan. "The curse shoul
d end if we get the Roses out of town and Tyler and I can move on without anything else between us."

  Tyler digs his boot into the snow. I don't like that look he's giving me, and I don't want to ask him anything with him being in such a bad mental state, but I must.

  "There's not anything else between us, is there?"

  It's out. The words hang between us and the rest of the Rose Pack, including Alan, just stare. Alan moves his jaw and bites his lip like he wants to say something, but then he clenches his jaw shut and waits.

  "Nothing between us," Tyler says.

  I have to do this myself. "Are you sure? There's got to be a reason this curse hasn't lifted yet. And there could be more than one reason. If there's anything else you have to say, I'm listening. I know this is hard." Shaking, I can't promise that I won't be mad. My gut is telling me that there's something else, something waiting in the background that is keeping the curse tied to us. Relationships must be built on trust, and I have to trust Tyler to tell the truth.

  Then he speaks, facing me directly. "I was right when I said I wanted to bring you here to get you away from your father."

  That should be that, but there's more lurking between his words. But some of that faint redness has vanished from Tyler's eyes. Are we making progress?

  My phone buzzes, and I jump from the vibration in my pocket. I pull the phone out and it's Mom, having sent me a text.

  Don't come back to the cabin.

  "Huh?" I ask out loud. I almost tap out why? but Tyler is at my side a second later, eyeing the text.

  "Your mom is in danger?" he asks.

  But there's a knowing in his voice, something I have to get out of him.

  "Just tell her, man," Alan says. "Clear the air. I can't stay long to make sure you do it, because I think I'm about to lose control again. Do it!" In the background, Alan shrinks back toward the woods, leaving the tarp-covered plant behind.

  I look to Tyler. "There's something else I don't know?"

  He swallows and faces me. My heart races. I want to ask Mom what's happening. I need to know why everything is falling apart at once.