“Family, no,” Henry said with a nod. He rubbed his grey goatee, meeting Maze’s stare as the boy, finally clothed, leaned on the wall. “But we are a pack, and the packbond is stronger than the bonds of family. When you’ve shifted, you’ll know.”
The packbond. Seemed a silly nonword. Something an idiot would say, trying to convince someone else they thought was an idiot into doing what they wanted. Addie was not an idiot. She might’ve been rash sometimes, but she would not fall for whatever game this Henry was trying to play. Sarah had left the pack for a reason, even if she’d kept it to herself all these years.
And the fact she was part wolf. Or shifter. Or whatever.
This was going to take some getting used to, wasn’t it? Hmm…maybe the whole floating book thing was because of her wolf side. Maybe she wasn’t as crazy as she thought she was. Maybe this was all some big misunderstanding because her mother had kept some important things from her.
Or maybe she was extra nuts just debating on it. Maybe this was all one huge hallucination. A shared delusion. Maybe they all took some drugs or something, even though Sarah was the very last person in the entire world who would take any sort of drug.
“I’m not going to shift,” Addie said, standing and crossing her arms. “Because I’m not going with you.”
Henry gave her a cold, calculated smile. So cold it froze the air between them. “Why? You’ve been kicked out of school, you have no job, nothing beyond this house and your mother, who owes her allegiance to the pack as well. I could tell Maze to throw you over his shoulder and order him to take you with us and he’d have to listen.”
How the heck did this jerk know all that? Addie glanced to Maze, who looked guilty at the mere suggestion. “What? So he doesn’t have a mind of his own?” she asked, both upset and curious.
“Wolves follow their elders and their alpha.” Henry’s answer came quick, but Addie’s retort came quicker.
“How about I call the cops and have them drag you out of here in handcuffs? Cry a little and say you tried to kidnap me?” Never had Addie threatened something like that before, so she was surprised at how easily it flowed off her tongue.
“Whoa,” Maze stepped between Henry and Addie, holding up a hand to each of them. “As much as I’m turned on by a girl taking charge, I think we should settle down a bit, yeah?”
Turned on by…did he really just say that? Addie felt her cheeks flush, and she turned to look at Sarah, who remained quiet and pensive at the table. To her shock, her mother kept quiet, even after what Maze said.
This day definitely took a strange turn, didn’t it? Not at all what she’d been expecting. A creepy grandfather who’d been stalking her, apparently, and a weird boy wolf who had a thing for her underwear and saying the strangest stuff.
“Why don’t we go for a few hours,” Maze suggested, trying to play the peacemaker in a situation where neither side would budge, “and then when we come back, maybe Addie will have changed her mind?” He turned his brown gaze to her, and in spite of herself, she felt her skin growing warm. Probably because she’d seen him naked.
“I’m not—” Addie was about to tell them she wasn’t going to change her mind, but the look Maze gave her silenced her.
He wordlessly told her, shut up. Agree. Let us leave. Which was fine, because when they came back, she and her mother could either be gone or ready with baseball bats.
Addie frowned, muttering, “Fine. Come back at five.” It was…almost six hours away. Plenty of time to prepare themselves.
Henry frowned, an ugly expression on an old man she wouldn’t be afraid to hit. How limber and quick could he be, even as a wolf? He had to be at least seventy years old. Too old to do much damage. “All right, we’ll return at five sharp. And I expect a meal before hearing your decision.” He spun on his heel, motioning to Maze. “Come, pup. Let us go waste some time in the city.”
Maze met Addie’s eyes before following him out, his expression sorrowful. Despite how he’d acted in her room, he didn’t seem too bad. Henry, on the other hand, seemed like an ass.
When they were gone, Addie glanced to her mother. “What are we going to do?” Never had a question felt so heavy, and never had an answer felt so important.
Sarah shook her head. “I guess I’m going to the, forgive my language, damned grocery store. Come on. I’ll explain what I can. Henry, even though I do not agree with most of what he said, was right. You do deserve to know the truth. I’ve kept it from you for too long.”
“Ooh, goody,” Addie mumbled.
It was anything but good, really. She kind of wanted to throw up.
Chapter Five
The grocery store was pretty busy, given it was a Saturday and it was noon, so most of Addie’s questions had to wait until they were back in the car. But during the drive there, she got the gist of it: her mother had run away from the pack when she was sixteen because she was in love with someone who wasn’t a wolf.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the love story for the ages. If it was, Addie would’ve had a father, two parents who cared about her. Maybe they could’ve better protected themselves against the pack, never been found by Henry and his…Maze.
The Crystal Lake Pack. They had an entire community just a few states away. Houses and stores built around some huge lake, pretty much cut off from society. They kept to themselves, which was the reason their presence was not known. The federal government didn’t know about them, so Addie didn’t feel too bad about not knowing.
As they walked through the store, Addie let her mother do most of the talking. She carefully avoided the words wolf, shifter, and pack while they were in public. Sarah pushed the cart along, guiding them through the aisles, picking whatever she needed off the shelves. Addie could not believe she was actually going to cook for Henry and Maze. She was more of a frozen TV dinner kind of mother than a warm, home-cooked meal every night kind.
Addie didn’t agree about making the jerk dinner. The way he’d talked, it was like he expected both Addie and Sarah to go back with them, like they had no other choice. In reality, they had every choice any other person had, minus the whole get a degree bit. They didn’t have to go to Crystal Lake. They didn’t have to do anything. Henry, whether he was her grandfather or not, was in for a world of surprise when he came back in a few hours and Addie told him to screw off in a not-so-nice way.
“I missed them at first. I grew up with them,” Sarah went on as they stood before rows and rows of seasonings. “But they’re very traditional. If you do something new they don’t like, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Addie said, “Including being with someone who isn’t a…” An older woman walked by, chatting on her phone as she pushed her cart. If she said wolf or shifter, how many people would even notice? Odds were the other shoppers were so lost in their own lives, Addie and her mother could be talking about murdering Henry and they probably wouldn’t know. Still, she settled with saying, “You know.”
Sarah reached for the Cajun spice. “Yes, including that. Your father was…so unlike the others. I fell for him so hard and fast. Even my inner—” She coughed. “—let’s just say every part of me liked him. If you decide to go, you’ll understand what I mean.”
Following her mother to the checkout lanes, Addie asked as she helped load the conveyor belt, “If I decide to go? Mom, I’m not going. I only said that to get them out of the house.”
She was aghast that her mother had even suggested it. It was crazy. She wasn’t going to go, especially since pack life sounded so restricting. Women still didn’t quite have it as good as men, but this was the twenty-first century. People—and shifters—should be able to be with whomever they wanted.
Really, it wasn’t that crazy of a concept.
Sarah chuckled, though it was bitter. “You don’t know Henry. He won’t take no for an answer. Listen, dear. I’ve thought about it before. There was always a part of me that wondered if I was doing the right thing by keeping you from them. They are
your family, as bigoted as some of them are. You have the right to meet them and make your own decision about them.”
Biting her lip, Addie stayed quiet as her mother paid the cashier once the total was rung up. They walked out of the store and headed to the car in silence. She packed the trunk, lost in thought.
Family.
How big was the pack? Were they all actually related, or did they just call each other family because it was what shifters did?
Sliding into the passenger’s seat, Addie asked, “Does that mean I’m related to Maze?”
Her mother gave her a knowing look as she started the car. It was a look that instantly made Addie embarrassed for asking.
Not once in her life had she truly been interested in dating. Yes, some guys were nice to look at, but she never felt the urge to more than look. Always liked the idea of spending time with someone of the opposite sex, but it just never happened. Was it due to the fact she was a shifter and didn’t know it? Was she more biologically programmed to feel attraction toward her kind?
No, that couldn’t be the case, because what about her father and her mother? Her father had been human, and her mother had said even her wolf side had been drawn to him.
“Why?” Sarah questioned, eyebrows risen, a slight melody in her voice. “Do you not want to be?” She chuckled, pulling out of the parking lot. “I’m only teasing. No, you’re not. Did you like him? It’s been a while since I’ve been around wolves, but I’m pretty sure he liked you.”
“Mom,” Addie whined, turning to face the window. She could not handle this right now.
“If there’s one thing you should know about shifters, beside the pack mentality, it’s that we form connections fast, almost immediately. You might not feel it because you haven’t shifted, but if you ever do, you will. It’s natural with us, nothing to be ashamed of.”
Addie wasn’t so sure about that, but she’d rather not linger on the subject of Maze. “And why is that? Why haven’t I shifted?” She was practically twenty years old; wasn’t it something that should’ve happened by now? “Is it because I’m not a full wolf? Or shifter…whatever.” Saying those words would take some getting used to.
“Being a shifter is passed down genetically. You inherited your wolf from me. She might not be as strong as a full-blooded packmate, but she’s there. Just tucked away deep inside you. In my old pack, they would wait until pups turned thirteen before having them shift.”
“And they just shift, no problem? Is it something you have to think about?” Addie wanted to know so she could avoid it entirely. Turning into a wolf was not something she wanted to do.
“Not exactly. There’s a little more to it than that, at least for the Crystal Lake Pack. Under a full moon—because anything important is always done under a full moon when it comes to the pack—the alpha scratches the palm of those ready to turn. The wolf inside the alpha, the scratch, the pain…it’s some kind of call. It brings forth the pups’ wolves, allowing them to shift. Think of it like a key to the cage that kept the inner wolf at bay.”
The simile made sense, but something didn’t sit right with Addie. Thirteen? It just seemed so…young. At thirteen, she wasn’t even in high school yet. At thirteen she was barely done with puberty. “Why so young?”
Sarah turned down their road. “Too young and you risk unleashing a wolf that’s too uncontrolled, but much older than that and it’s harder for both the wolf and the person.” As she pulled into their driveway, she turned her hazel eyes to Addie. “If you decide to change, if you decide you want that life, it will be hard. And once made, there’s no going back. Once your wolf is unleashed, you can never cage it again. Not really. It’ll always be there, hiding in the back of your head, its instincts pushing on you.”
It sounded miserable. Addie didn’t want that. Not even a little. Not even her curiosity could smash the worry in her head. A hard shift? No thanks. An easy shift? No thanks to that, too. She wasn’t a wolf; she was a person. A girl. She was fine with her life…mostly.
Addie helped her mother unload the car, lugging the bags into the kitchen and setting them on the granite countertops. She worked to put away the food, not even stopping as she muttered, “I don’t want pack life. It sounds miserable.”
“Crystal Lake is a good pack. Don’t think I ran away from them because my life was miserable there. It wasn’t. One good thing about them is they’re always there for you—”
“As long as you don’t fall in love with someone who’s not part of the pack,” Addie muttered under her breath.
Sarah ignored her. “They’ll protect you, teach you, guide you. Being a part of a pack is something I can’t describe.”
Crossing her arms, Addie went to sit at the table, staring holes into the wood. Sure, it sounded nice, until someone wanted freedom. Then, apparently, the only way to get said freedom was to run away. What kind of a family couldn’t accept Sarah’s love for a non-wolf? Seemed racist. Or…species-ist?
“Addie,” Sarah spoke her name softly, moving to sit across from her. She reached for her, and though Addie wanted to roll her eyes, she moved her arms to let her mother hold her hands. “I didn’t want to tell you this, because I don’t want it to influence you one way or another, but…” Her eyes shifted to the wall behind her. Whatever it was must’ve been important for her mother to act so serious.
When she said nothing more, Addie prompted, “But?”
“But shifters are dying out,” Sarah finally said, squeezing her hands. “We’re not as plentiful as we used to be, in part because humans have evolved their society so quickly these last few centuries. You, me—we’re special.”
How in the world were they special? Addie didn’t understand, and with the look on her mother’s face, she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“Female shifters are rare. Something in our genetics makes girl pups less likely. When you have two shifters making a pup, there’s no doubt the child will be a shifter, too. Cut those odds, say, a human female and a shifter male, it’s half. Shifter females are protected and more controlled because of it.”
Addie felt sick. “They wanted you to be with another wolf, not my dad.”
“Yes,” Sarah answered. “Because there was no way to be sure whether any kids we had would be wolf or human. When you were born, I knew. Shifters can sense each other. You can’t, because your wolf hasn’t been released.”
She took her hands away from her mother, going to stand. “This is ridiculous. How…” Addie shook her head. “That’s why Henry wants me to go back with him.” She would never call him grandfather out loud, because the man didn’t deserve the title. “He wants me to pop out babies.”
She was nineteen, and she had no experience whatsoever when it came to that sort of thing. Babies, dating. The opposite sex in general. Just because her body was ready and bleeding every month did not mean she was ready.
Having a baby? And a wolf baby at that?
Heck. No.
“Partly, I’m sure,” her mother didn’t deny it. “Eventually. I’m sure he’d love that. He always was the kind of wolf to put the needs of the pack and its future above everything else. But, believe it or not, he wasn’t nearly as awful earlier as he can be. I think he really does want you to go with him. You are his granddaughter, and I’ve kept you from him all these years.”
That was Henry being nice? Addie did not want to know what he was like when he was angry.
“And what’s to say if I go with them, and I decide I want to leave, that they’ll let me go?” Addie wasn’t sure why she said it. She wasn’t debating on going. She wasn’t. The last thing she needed, the last thing she wanted, was the drama that apparently came hand in hand with a shifter pack.
She wasn’t going to go.
She wasn’t.
So why did she ask? Why was she so curious?
“If they don’t let you go,” Sarah said, more serious than ever as she held her daughter’s gaze, “I will march into the pack and get you myself. No wolf,
alpha or not, father or not, could stop me.”
Addie leaned back in her chair, moving her hands to her lap, fiddling with her fingers. Her thoughts roamed a mile a minute, dozens of different possibilities surfacing in her head. What if she ended up liking the pack? What if she didn’t want to leave? What would it mean for her and her mother? Sarah clearly didn’t want to go back, ever.
And on the flipside, what if the pack was worse than Sarah remembered? What if they kidnapped her and hurt her mother when she tried to come after her?
What if, what if, what if. There were too many possibilities. Too many unknowns.
“You ran away from them,” Addie said, “and you’d let me visit them?”
“You’re an adult, capable of making your own decisions,” her mother told her. “I took the pack from you before you were even conceived. Who knows? You might be happy with pack life.” Sarah looked sad then, though she fought it with a forced smile as she added, “Especially now, being kicked out of college and all. Which you still haven’t explained, by the way.”
Heaving a sigh, Addie muttered, “My book floated by itself and hit my professor in the back of the head.”
Sarah groaned. “Whenever you’re ready to tell me the truth, I’ll be waiting. You still have to clean this whole house, too. Don’t you dare think I’ve forgotten that. Even if you decide to go, I want this place spick and span, not a single dust bunny anywhere under any of the furniture.”
Addie leaned her head on the table, wanting to bang her head against it. Her mother was a wolf shifter—as she was, apparently—and Sarah couldn’t believe in a floating book? The hypocrisy was real, and super annoying.
She got up. Having a house to clean and all that, Addie figured she best not lollygag. She hadn’t done nearly enough earlier, before her mother’s ten o’clock, which only turned out to be her long-lost grandfather and a boy who, in the words of her mother, liked her.
It was ridiculous, this whole thing. Addie wasn’t going to go with them. Just because she got kicked out of school didn’t mean she’d start making questionable decisions. She wasn’t that type of girl.
Limitless: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Crystal Lake Pack Book 1) Page 4
