by Sara Dailey
“We’re learning more and more every day. Now, stop being a baby and follow them,” Raymond commanded.
The motorcycle had pulled away from the side of the road, following closely behind the blonde. Peter rolled his eyes at his uncle’s insult and eased his car from the shadows. He tried to stay far enough behind so he would not be seen, but he didn’t want to lose the wolves, either. He would never hear the end of it if he did.
“They’re slowing,” his uncle whispered. “There! They’re turning right.”
Peter slowed his car and watched. Both the Jetta and the motorcycle turned off the interstate and onto a dirt road. They disappeared in the darkness.
Should he follow? He didn’t think so. He would come back another time, when it wasn’t so dark, when he could see where he was headed. The road looked little-traveled, and he didn’t want anyone asking what he was doing there. Also, these were dangerous creatures and he didn’t want to be caught unprepared in their territory.
“I’ll start building a team tomorrow,” Peter said to Raymond, but there was no response.
When he looked in the back seat, his uncle was gone.
35.
Aiden
“Aiden, wake up.”
Alli tapped on my door before letting herself in. I opened one eye then the other and looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table. “Jesus, Alli, it’s Saturday and only nine. I want to sleep.” I covered my face with my pillow and listened for her to leave, but she didn’t. I growled, “What?”
She walked into the room and leaned down like she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “You better get up. Everyone is here.”
“Who’s everyone?” I asked.
“Marcus, Noel, our grandparents, your other grandparents, nearly the whole freaking pack. I swear Dad is about to lose his mind. You have to come down before it gets to be too much,” she said.
WTF.
“News travel fast around here, huh?” I sat up and rubbed my hands over my face. I didn’t want to do this today. I wanted to get my phone and make sure Teagan was okay; I’d fallen asleep before they got back with it. But I relented. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be down.”
Alli gave me a little smile and started walking out, but before she made it through the door she turned to me and said, “Hey, Ad, you do what you want to do, okay? I’ve always loved that about you, you don’t care what people think as long as you’re good with it. I wish I had that quality myself.”
A chill went down my spine. “What are you not telling me, baby sis?”
“Just hurry, okay?”
As soon as I walked down the stairs, I knew what was happening. All conversation stopped, and the gathered people stared at me like I was from another planet.
“There he is! Son, we are so proud of you,” Marcus announced, liked I’d just won an Oscar.
“Umm…thanks, sir,” I said. But, what the hell? Had he just called me son in front of my dad?
I glanced around the room at my new family, though only three of them counted. My dad was sitting in the kitchen staring at his coffee cup, my mom was placing store-bought muffins on a plate for her impromptu guests, and my sister was sitting by the fireplace with Cade. No one else in the room was really family. None of them even knew me.
“None of that ‘sir’ stuff anymore, Aiden. Call me Dad,” Marcus said, smiling at everyone in the room except me. I was about to tell him that maybe I should start with “Marcus” when he introduced me to his parents. They were very nice, but it still felt like they were putting on a show. I looked to Mom for help but she just shrugged. Marcus was incredibly overbearing, and I got a glimpse of what life might have been like living with him. I was thankful that Mom got us the hell out.
“Aiden,” Marcus said, “we’re having a meeting this morning so that I can formally introduce you to everyone as my son. Go get dressed. The meeting starts at ten sharp.”
My dad stood up, looked around the room full of strangers and left. I wanted to run after him. I wanted to tell him that Marcus wasn’t not my dad, that he was, but I wasn’t given a chance. I was hurried up to my room.
Was this what Alli had been talking about?
It was almost time to leave for the meeting when I came back down from my room. My dad had emerged from his, and he was dressed for the meeting.
“You’re coming with us, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yes. I won’t hide. I’m part of this family too.”
“Dad, it doesn’t matter what he says, you know. We both know who my real dad is, right?”
He stood up and gave me a quick hug. When he pulled back, I saw tears threatening to spill from his eyes, but he shrugged them off and said, “Car’s rolling out in five minutes. We better get going.”
I turned to get a bottle of water from the kitchen and saw my mom standing there. She must have been watching the whole time. Walking up to me, she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “You are the best kid, you know that?” she said.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. But it was feigned cheerfulness as I walked out of the house.
*****
The lodge was packed. As the meeting hall and the main gathering space for all members of the pack, it was decorated like a high-end ski resort lounge, complete with a huge fireplace and a few comfy-looking sofas toward the back. All that was missing were some dead animal heads displayed on the wall. At the front stood an imposing podium on a raised stage. The rows and rows of chairs facing that podium were filling up quickly as Marcus made his way to the stage.
As soon as I entered, I was ushered to the front by Phillip, Marcus’s right-hand man, and given a seat next to Cade and Noel in the first row. It felt weird to be sitting up here again. The last time had been with Cade, Alli missing. It was hard to believe that so much had happened so fast.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats,” Phillip said to the assembled pack. “Marcus has some exciting news to share with you today.”
Cade looked over at me and said, “Are you ready for this?”
“Dude, if I could disappear right now, I would,” I admitted. He smiled, but I got the feeling that he was just as nervous about this announcement as I.
The pack waited patiently for Marcus to speak.
“I have just come to learn that Cade is not my only child,” he announced. The entire room gasped simultaneously. Marcus motioned for Cade to come up and join him, waited for the excitement to die down a little before he continued: “You know Cade, but I have another son. Aiden, come up here. Ladies and gentlemen, my firstborn son.”
The pack went crazy. Not in a good way. There was a lot of anxious discussion, and I looked around the room and thought I might be sick. Mom had her head in her hands. My dad was sitting tall, but the look on his face was one of pure torture. The only person enjoying himself was Marcus.
“All right, all right. Calm down, people. Long story short, Lily didn’t know that she was pregnant when she left us all those years ago. We just recently found out that Aiden was my son when he needed a blood transfusion,” Marcus set out to explain.
It was nice of him to cover for Mom, but somehow I knew this was not going to end well.
“I called this meeting for two reasons,” he continued. “Yes, I wanted everyone to know that Aiden is my son,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder. “But I also wanted to discuss the future of the pack. I will not be alpha forever, so I wanted to officially introduce my son Aiden as my eventual successor, the next alpha of the Red Ridge pack.”
This time there wasn’t just excited discussion, there was outright shouting. The elders, with the exception of my grandparents, seemed downright outraged.
I myself was dubious, just like I’d told Marcus before. This was crazy. I couldn’t be the next alpha. I’d just turned into a wolf yesterday, and I couldn’t even control my shifting yet. Even if I could, the people here didn’t know me that well.
I glanced at Cade, and he watched me in disbelief.
&nbs
p; “Marcus, you can’t be serious!” one of the elders shouted above the others.
“I am very serious. Aiden is my eldest son. Lily is an extremely strong woman. Aiden will make a great leader. And that is that,” he said, like it was final.
The same brave elder spoke again. “This is unacceptable, Marcus. Cade is the next alpha. He has always been. We trust him, we will follow him. We cannot and will not support this other decision.”
I had to get out of there. Part of me was furious. How dare Marcus give me no warning, not discuss his announcement with me? How dare he put me on the spot like this? The other part was embarrassed. And as I looked around at the pandemonium that he’d just caused, I knew that if I didn’t get out of there I was going to say or do something to cause myself further humiliation.
I looked to my dad. Our eyes met, and I nodded in the direction of the closest exit. He smiled and nodded back. That was all I needed. I had his support.
As I hurried past, he handed me the car keys.
36.
Teagan
I woke the next morning and checked my phone before I even managed to sit up in bed, hoping that Aiden might have texted. No such luck. Only a text from Sean, letting me know that he was finally passing French. As I held the phone in my hand, willing it to ring, my heart sank. It didn’t. Maybe I’d officially freaked him out with the whole psycho dad thing. After last night, there was a good chance he’d never call again.
Begrudgingly, I tore myself from the safety of my bed and made way to the restroom. There I stood, staring at my mascara-stained face and examining my puffy eyes. After splashing some water on my cheeks, I rubbed away the evidence of last night’s nightmarish encounter and brushed my teeth.
I needed food. Badly. I grabbed a bowl from the dishwasher, filled it with Frosted Flakes and milk and headed back to my room. The last thing I wanted was a run-in with my father. A murder in our sleepy little town would not be good for the ski and tourism business.
I finished my cereal and stuck the bowl on my nightstand, knowing I’d have to leave my room again at some point but that it wasn’t going to be anytime soon. After checking my phone one last time, I curled back up in bed and closed my eyes. Maybe I could fall back asleep.
I did.
*****
When I woke again, there was still no word from Aiden. Weird, especially after how we’d connected. Maybe I should call him. Or text him. Or send an email. But, no. I needed to know if he was still interested in me after his encounter with my bat-shit crazy father. I needed to wait and see. That was the only way I’d get an honest answer.
Moving to my bedroom door, I stood there and strained my ears, listening for any sign of my dad. I needed my history book so I could study for an upcoming test but I wasn’t ready to face the inevitable just yet. Silence filled the air.
With no sign of my father’s presence, I tip-toed into the living room to grab my book. Dad wasn’t home. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt my body relax.
Quickly I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat down at the table to eat. I opened my history book and scanned the chapters that would be covered on the upcoming test, but my mind continued to drift back to Aiden. His eyes, his lips, his …everything. I couldn’t help but remember he could have any girl he wanted. Why on God’s green earth had he chosen me? Obviously I was damaged goods. My dad had proven that twice now; I was a screwed-up chick with daddy issues. When I glanced over at my phone once more, my subconscious huffed, Fat chance.
If I had any chance of acing this test, I had a lot more work to do. Pushing all thought of Aiden aside, I dived into my study guide.
After about an hour or so, I’d gotten up to stretch my legs and grab a soda when the front door swung open. With the refrigerator wide and my stuff spread all over the kitchen table, there was no escape.
I turned around to find my dad standing a few feet away. He was flanked by a man I’d never seen before, a tall and thin, gangly-looking soul whose limbs were almost too long for his body. His hair was long and unwashed, and his clothes hung on his body as if they didn’t belong to him. But he was young, surely only a few years older than me.
Something about him weirded me out, and his creep factor skyrocketed as he flashed me a wicked grin.
“Teagan, this is Peter,” my father announced. “He’s new to town.”
The stranger reached out his hand. “Teagan? It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Finally? My gut screamed to get the hell out of there, but my southern hospitality forced my hand out. I smiled weakly and shook. “Nice to meet you, Peter, but I was just leaving.”
When I turned to gather my things, Dad leaned over and whispered, “No, hon. Don’t leave on our account. We’re just going to sit and chat on the back porch. Stay. Finish your studying.”
Hon? Seriously? One minute he was a drunken maniac throwing me around the room and the next he was calling me hon and hanging out with a creepy guy half his age? Would I ever stop being shocked by this man?
I glanced up to find Peter eyeing me like a piece of candy. Eww. I gave him my best in-your-dreams glare and started toward my bedroom, needing desperately to get away from both of them. Immediately.
One foot outside of the kitchen, Peter called, “Hey, Teagan, what are you studying? Maybe I can help.”
I stopped mid-step, turned and replied, “Ummm, that’s okay. Really, I got it covered.” There was no point in being impolite.
As I continued through the living room, however, Peter followed. My dad had grabbed a beer and made his way back out onto the porch. He didn’t seem to notice. It was unseasonably warm today, and apparently he’d decided to enjoy some time outside.
“I don’t mean to pry,” Peter said, “but your dad’s really trying. I went with him to AA the other night. He spoke of you.”
What? Really? This stranger was actually standing in my living room telling me that my dad was trying? Trying to what, completely ruin my life? And where did this dude get off, commenting on my family’s personal affairs?
“That’s really none of your business,” I snapped. “But since we’re being so open and all, he was drunk off his ass last night—and in case you haven’t noticed, he’s already drinking today. So, I guess all that trying isn’t really working out.”
I’d planned on heading to my room, but with Peter following me the last place I wanted to be was there, so I stopped in the living room and sat down in the recliner, worried he might join me on the couch if I had sat there. Thankfully, he didn’t sit. Unfortunately, he didn’t stop talking.
“Well, I hate to hear that. We’re going to another meeting soon. It’s a tough addiction, Teagan, one that others can’t easily understand. But I know he’s working at it, and he really wants to find your mother.”
Oh, hell no. He did not just bring my mother into this.
Trying my best to wipe the shock off of my face, I smiled as politely as I could. “You know what, Peter? Maybe you should just go out there with my dad. I’m sure he’s wondering where you wandered off to, and he may be a drunk and all but I’m quite sure he doesn’t want you in here alone with his daughter. We wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea about you.”
That must have been the trick. Without another word, Peter grinned and turned to leave. With him out of sight, I gathered up my things, grabbed my phone, and hurried to my room.
I made sure to lock the door behind me.
37.
Aiden
I didn’t know where I was going, but I had to get out of there. I bolted from the lodge, and by the time I got to the car I could feel that eerie twitching all along the surface of my skin. I needed to get a hold of myself and calm down. If I didn’t, today would surely be a repeat performance of yesterday. That didn’t seem ideal.
I turned the radio up and put the air conditioning on max. Then I focused solely on Teagan. As I drove off the estate, I tried to remember how tempting she’d smelled in my arms last night, and that’s wh
en I suddenly knew where I was going. There was only one place I wanted to be.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and with shaky fingers typed out a short message:
Aiden: T, can U come outside?
Within seconds she’d responded:
Teagan: Be right there. :)
I no longer felt nervous. I only felt desperate to see her. To make sure she was okay. To feel the warmth of her body against mine. To hear the racing of her heart. That was what I needed. It was all I needed.
“Aiden, is everything okay?” she asked as I pulled up in her driveway and jumped out of my car. “Good timing. My dad and his weird friend just went ins—”
She headed toward me, but before she even made it all the way down the porch steps I grabbed her and wrapped her in my arms. I buried my face in her hair and took long, deep breaths. She smelled like heaven. Her intoxicating scent mixed with the violet fragrance of her shampoo, and it sent my desire into overdrive.
I could have stood there all day, but I needed to see her face. I needed to make sure that she was okay.
“How were things after I left last night?” I asked, pulling back and staring into her eyes.
Her cheeks reddened and she broke eye contact. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want her feeling embarrassed or ashamed of anything, certainly not anything her father did. It wasn’t right. We were almost the same height with her standing above me on the porch steps, so I lifted her chin with my finger and made her look right at me.
“It was fine. I went to my room. He passed out,” she confessed.
“I’m sorry if I made it worse,” I said.
She gave me a sad little smile, and my heart broke. I reached for her hands and laced our fingers together. We were so close that I felt her entire body outlined against mine. Being this close to her was therapeutic, too. The anger, the tension, the stress of the day…all of it drained from my body.
