A Pack of Vows and Tears

by Olivia Wildenstein

  Our kiss tasted of thunder and lightning and need.

  So much need.

  A need to keep each other safe, but also a need to hold each other, to fill each other.

  As he deepened the kiss, as his hands coasted down my spine, cupped my ass, my stomach hardened like a fist. I reeled back as though someone had punched me.

  Swollen lips parted and panting, Liam cast me an apologetic look. Did he think I’d detached myself from him because he was going too fast? I forced my fingers into fists to stop them from clutching my still knotted abdomen. I blamed the stupid mating link for the sudden pain. It wasn’t fair.

  So much wasn’t fair.

  Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Ness. I didn’t mean to rush you—”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Then why’d you pull away from me?”

  I couldn’t keep this a secret from him. Not if the knee-jerk reaction happened each time Liam and I made out. I touched two fingers to my stomach. He frowned, and then he didn’t. Then he understood. And the understanding steeped his face in shadows.

  “But he’s gone,” Liam said.

  “No. He’s not.”

  The look that stained his eyes scared me. Liam backed away and exited the room. A moment later, Lucas came back inside.

  I sank onto my bed and hung my head in my hands.

  I hadn’t thought this day could get any worse, but apparently it could.

  8

  “He’s going to force him to leave, isn’t he?” I asked Lucas.

  “Hopefully he’ll concentrate on Everest and Aidan and deal with your bond later.” His cheek dimpled. Unlike me, he didn’t have dimples, so I guessed he was worrying the inside of his mouth. “This makes me glad Taryn and I aren’t together. You girls screw with our focus.”

  “You and Taryn broke up? When did that happen?”

  “A couple days ago.”

  I didn’t like Taryn, but I didn’t like Lucas much either, so I’d found them well-suited. “Were you together a long time?”

  A fly buzzed around my desk before landing on the landscape painting behind Lucas’s head.

  “Long enough for it to hurt.”

  I sensed she’d done the breaking up, but I didn’t pry. I got up and rubbed my hands on my jeans. “I need to go work.”

  “You’re not planning on visiting Aidan, are you now?”

  “No.” I snorted softy. “I’m vindictive but not suicidal.”

  “Then I don’t have to trail your ass through the inn?”

  “You can try, but I know the place better than you, so good luck with that.” I shot him a smile. “If you’re bored, though, I can fetch you a feather duster.”

  “Hard pass. I was going to hit the gym.”

  “Don’t you have a job?”

  “You are my job.”

  I jerked my head up so fast the pen I’d stabbed through my makeshift bun poked my skull. “You can’t be serious.”

  “As a heart attack. Until Everest is ki—caught.”

  “Killed?” I croaked.

  “Caught.”

  My heart held as still as the fly perched on the painted stream. “But you were going to say killed . . . ”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does.”

  “Don’t you want him to die?”

  “I want Aidan Michaels to die.”

  “Not Everest?”

  “I don’t know how I feel about my traitorous cousin right now. I don’t understand his motivations for any of this. I thought it was Becca, but he got with this other girl while Becca was in a coma, so I don’t know . . . ” I toed the corner of the plush beige rug. “Speaking of the other girl: is a college directory open to the public?”

  “No, but Cole can probably hack it. Why?”

  “Because I wanted to see if that other girl Everest was with came from Denver.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Megan.”

  “Megan what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How do you spell Megan?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me, Ness?”

  I stuck my hands on my hips. “Don’t hiss at me.”

  “I’m not a fucking cat.”

  “Fine.” I huffed out a little breath. “Don’t bark at me. Better?”

  He snorted. “Do you know which college she goes to at least?”

  “She’s a freshman at UCB.”

  He typed something in his phone. “So she’ll be a sophomore in the fall?”

  Right . . . This was summer.

  He growl-grumbled. “You don’t know, do you? UCB has 24,000 undergrads.” I hadn’t known it was that big. “She’s not Everest’s Snapchat buddy by any chance? Would make things a hell of a lot easier . . . ”

  “I wouldn’t know. I don’t do social media.”

  Shaking his head, he brought his phone up to his ear. “Yo, Cole. I need deets on a chick called Megan, who’s a freshman or sophomore at UCB . . . No, this isn’t for a hookup, you tool.”

  I smirked.

  Lucas peeled lint off the arm of the flannel armchair. His nails were ragged, chipped and roughened by stone and earth. Mine had been the same after my full-moon run with the pack. I’d filed them down to the quick after, but three days later, white crescents had already grown back.

  “What color hair? Skin? Eyes?” Lucas volleyed at me.

  “Fair-skinned. Blonde, shoulder-length hair. I never saw her eye color.”

  Lucas related the info. “Cole asks if she was fat? Thin? Any distinctive markings?”

  “I saw her from afar at the music festival—she was sitting on a bench—and then again at Tracy’s—sitting again. She was pretty. Does that help?”

  “Girls’ versions of pretty aren’t usually a dude’s version,” Lucas muttered.

  “She had a heart-shaped face.”

  Lucas cocked the eyebrow that was slashed with a white scar—a remnant of the car accident that snuffed out the lives of both his parents. “What does that even mean?”

  I drew an air-heart with my two index fingers.

  “According to Ness, she’s got a massive forehead and a pointy-ass chin.” While he switched his phone to the other ear, he muttered, “And you said she was pretty.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Her forehead wasn’t freakishly wide or anything.”

  While Cole searched on his end, Lucas told him about the awry footage of the inn. Considering Lucas didn’t break into song and dance, I imagined Matt’s brother hadn’t yet fixed the problem.

  “Okay . . . I’ll show her. Thanks, dude.”

  Two minutes later, Lucas’s phone chirped. He tapped on the screen before passing it over to me. I scrolled through the email Cole had sent full of screenshots of Megans spelled five different ways.

  I handed the phone back over, shaking my head. None of them were Everest’s Megan.

  Lucas scanned the screenshots. “Becca was an escort. Maybe Megan is too?”

  “Everest said she wasn’t.”

  “He also said you murdered Heath.”

  The fine blonde hairs on my arms stood up straight. “You’re right.” Then under my breath, I added, “Never thought I’d say that.”

  Lucas’s lips quirked into a lopsided grin. “Hot men are always underestimated.”

  I snorted. “Oh my God. Shut. Up.”

  He chuckled. “What’s the name of the website?”

  “RedCreekEscorts.com.”

  “Hate the name creek,” he said as he typed.

  “Got something against small bodies of water?”

  “I got something against large bodies of fur.” He flicked his gaze up to me. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Creek Pack?”

  I frowned.

  He kneaded his chin that was in dire need of a shave. “You haven’t, have you? The smallest pack that became the largest . . . Ring a bell?”

  I shook my head.

  He
leaned back in the armchair. “I’ll tell you the sob story after we finish up with the escort agency.” His fingers flew over his phone’s screen. Without looking up, he said, “Their website’s down. Do you still have a contact there?”

  My skin crawled at the mere idea of calling Sandra, the pimp—or whatever running an escort service made her—Everest had introduced me to. Even though she’d always been pleasant and chirpy over the phone, I’d hoped never to speak with her after my “date” with Aidan Michaels. I shuddered from the memory.

  “Give me the number.”

  So I did. And Lucas called the agency over loudspeaker.

  An automated message for Red Creek Escorts came on, prompting us to leave a message. When the beep sounded, I shook my head so vehemently that the tendrils of hair that had escaped my bun during my earlier make-out session fluttered around my face.

  “Hiya, Red Creek Escorts, I was looking for some female company for a buddy’s party this weekend. I’d appreciate if you could tell me about the available girls.” Lucas left his phone number before ending the call, jaw a smoky red.

  “You’re blushing,” I said, mostly to annoy him.

  He flipped me the finger, which just made me smile.

  “So, tell me about the Creeks now.”

  He tapped his phone against the padded arm of his seat. “Four years ago, a pack we all thought was off the map seized the largest pack of the Rockies.”

  “That’s why I didn’t hear about them. Four years ago, I was in LA.”

  “Ever heard of the Aspens?”

  “Of course. They were a pacific pack. Dad used to call them hippies.”

  He twirled his phone between his fingers. “Sort of. They lived in a compound—more of a small town than a compound—and barely interacted with humans. Anyway ’bout ten years back, there was a pack summit, the first in almost a century. Boulders, Pines, Aspens, and a few of the Eastern packs signed a truce of non-invasion. No Creeks came. The Aspens who were geographically closest to the Creeks reported they hadn’t heard from their neighbors in years, thus we marked them as extinct.”

  Boulders didn’t go around sticking daisies into each other’s hair. And although Pines were on the civilized side, some—Justin’s face flashed through my mind—were brutish and egotistical.

  “How do packs become extinct?” I inquired.

  “Too many of the young renege on our way of life. They move to big cities and lose touch with their true nature, and then they die sooner, because not shifting is unnatural for our bodies.”

  I wondered how many years of life I’d lost by being away from Boulder.

  He scratched his chin. “The worst part, though, is when those who leave reproduce.”

  “Why is that the worst part?”

  “Because, if their offspring isn’t born close to the pack, the gene becomes defective and results in kids who can’t fully shift. We call them halfwolves.” His expression turned so bleak that it made me wonder if he’d ever witnessed a shifting halfwolf. “Creatures of nightmares.” Lucas flexed his knuckles. “Anyway, turns out the Creeks weren’t extinct . . . just in hiding. One winter night, the Creek Alpha walked right onto the Aspen compound with her handful of wolves and challenged the Aspen Alpha to a duel. The fight was gory as hell apparently, and the Aspens—Creeks now—mentioned foul-play, although no one was able to prove—”

  “Her? The Creek Alpha is female?”

  Lucas snorted. “Of course that’s the part that sticks with you.”

  I crossed my arms. “Just because she won a fight doesn’t mean there was foul-play, Lucas. Why would anyone jump to that conclusion? Because she was female, and females are supposed to be inferior to males?”

  Lucas sandwiched his lips together. I’d obviously hit a sore nerve. “How do you explain that each high-ranking Aspen, who challenged her after the duel, lost their lives too, huh?”

  I shrugged. “She’s exceptionally strong.”

  Lucas shot me a withering look. He didn’t even think this was a possibility! Sexist pig.

  I squeezed my arms harder. “Have you met her?”

  “No. And I never intend to meet the crazy bitch.”

  “You are so sexist.”

  “Sexist? I’d keep the judginess in check. You know nothing about me.”

  “Judginess isn’t even a word.”

  Anger and something else flashed across his face. “Do you think you’re superior to everyone or just me?”

  I halted. “I don’t think I’m superior to anyone.”

  “You certainly act like it.”

  My breastbone prickled from his comment. “I just want to be considered an equal.”

  He stared at the rug with such intensity I expected to see flames curl from the long fibers.

  “There are forty of you. One of me, Lucas.” My eyelids stung. “You try being the odd one out.” I hated how my voice broke.

  I spun around and left, attempting to rein in my emotions. As I tidied rooms, I thought about the Creek Alpha. Lucas might not want to meet her, but I did. Did my curiosity make me disloyal? It wasn’t as though I could pledge myself to her pack—Boulder blood ran through my veins, and unless she beat our Alpha in a duel and stole his connection to us, I’d remain a Boulder.

  Besides, I didn’t want a new Alpha. I trusted Liam, and I didn’t trust many people. But how was I supposed to prove I was their equal when he’d stuck me with a freaking guard dog?

  Maybe if I found Everest first . . .

  As I readied the conference room with refreshments for the meeting and tidied up the living room, I racked my brain for reasons Everest could be in Denver.

  “What’s in Denver, Everest?” I murmured to myself, watching the sky outside the inn’s bay windows darken to a glittery periwinkle.

  I felt there was something I was forgetting, but what was it?

  9

  At 7:45 p.m., the men started trickling into the inn. First, Nelson arrived. He embraced his wife as though he hadn’t seen her in days instead of hours. I couldn’t help but stare at them, remembering a time when my parents would stand that way, cheek to cheek, heart to heart, whispering to each other. Because I didn’t want to pry, I averted my gaze, rearranging the green apples in the wooden bowl I’d added on the corner of the bell desk.

  I heard Nelson ask Isobel if she wasn’t too tired. From the corner of my eye, I caught her shaking her head no. After kissing her on the forehead, Nelson moved toward me in those fluid, long strides of his. Like his son, he was long-limbed, but where August’s legs and arms teemed with muscle, Nelson was on the slender side.

  He touched my shoulder, making the apple I was trying to place on top of my artful pyramid skid down.

  He caught the fruit before it rolled off the counter and popped it back on top. “How are you holding up, Ness?”

  “Great. Thanks to Isobel and Mrs. Rogers.”

  Isobel smiled at me. “By the way, I asked Skylar to man the bell desk after I go home. She said it shouldn’t be a problem and that her wife could cover the dining area. I hope that’s all right with you.”

  “It’s more than all right.” I hadn’t even thought about finding a night manager. I would hunt Skylar down after the meeting to ask how long she could cover the night shift—hopefully, until my uncle felt “better.” Would he ever feel better, though?

  The revolving door spun again, carrying in the crisp, blue scent of evening and the musky smell of male bodies. Liam was among those arriving males. At the sight of him, my hearing dimmed to a faint buzzing. He walked straight to me. After greeting Nelson, Liam threaded his fingers through mine and pulled me away from August’s father.

  How was the rest of your day? he whispered inside my head.

  I lifted my gaze to his. “Never-ending. And yours?”

  What I really wanted to know was what Aidan had said.

  I heard Lucas gave you a history lesson.

  “He did.” Had Lucas also told Liam how the lesson ended?


  Passing a couple guests on their way to dinner, we turned toward the staircase that led down to the conference room. He didn’t let go of my hand until we reached the head of the oval table. As he took his seat, he tipped his head at the chair next to his.

  “Maybe an elder should sit here, Liam.” Or someone higher up on the pack pyramid.

  His dark eyes held mine. Your place is next to me now.

  Worrying my lip, I slid into the seat. Dating the Alpha meant something; sitting next to him meant something more.

  As wheels rolled over the hardwood floor and jeans whispered against the smooth leather seats, I drummed my fingers on the tabletop, studying the row of shiny glasses I’d aligned in the center of the table.

  The chair next to mine stayed vacant for so long that I began to think no one would sit next to me. But Matt took pity and dropped into the seat. I exhaled a quiet breath.

  A knot formed in my abdomen. Stress . . . I was feeling stressed. And nervous. Or was it—

  I lifted my eyes to the doorway just as August strode into the room. He took a seat next to his father and scanned the room, his gaze hopping right over me.

  My heart pinched from that tiny action. What had Liam said to him? I lowered my gaze back to the row of glasses, finding solace in the quiet study of inanimate objects.

  “Where’s Jeb?” Liam asked.

  I blinked up at him, then whisked my gaze around the table. My uncle was the only person missing.

  “Hasn’t left his bedroom all day,” Lucas said.

  “He needs to be here,” Liam said. “Lucas, Matt.”

  Both boys rose and marched out of the room.

  My heart was beating double-time. I wanted to ask Liam if dragging my uncle down to this meeting was truly necessary, but bit my tongue. I didn’t think it judicious to challenge the Alpha before the meeting even started.

  Frank tipped his head toward Liam. Where the Alpha wasn’t speaking out loud, Frank was answering with nods and yeses, so a conversation was happening.

  Muted grunts and heavy footfalls sounded just outside the room, and then Lucas and Matt were back, my uncle wedged between them. They released him in the last free chair before returning to their respective seats.