by Ava Benton
“Yeah. What made him look into it, I’ll never know. Maybe he only did it when he decided he wanted to use me. Or maybe the explanation of the crash never sat well with him. God, he was like a spider, wasn’t he? Always spinning webs, always trying to trap people in them.”
“He was good at that,” Vincent agreed.
“He could tell from the police report that something wasn’t right. Or he just had his suspicions and decided to confront me and trick me into agreeing with him. I don’t know. But it’s something I never wanted any of you to find out. I would’ve done anything. I was desperate.” His voice shook the way his hands did.
Tears filled my eyes, blurring everything. I blinked them away.
“What did he know?” Vincent asked. He sounded like a father guiding his child into telling a painful truth.
I heard a lot of love in his voice.
“That Dad wasn’t driving the car that night.”
14
DANIELA
Grant turned his face away from all of us.
I gasped and covered my mouth. Tears rolled over my fingers.
Jace muttered a curse under his breath.
Cord reeled.
“You were?” Vincent asked. It was almost a whisper.
“I didn’t want to. He wanted me to get my license so he could stop having to take me from place to place—I wanted it, too, but I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t had enough practice. Mom didn’t want me to drive, either—it was dark and too late at night for me to be on the road. There were all kinds of people out that late at night, she said. Drunk people, people coming from parties. But he insisted. There was no getting through to him when he was that determined. He wanted me to man up and drive.”
“I believe that. He was impossible once he got an idea in his head,” Vincent said.
Grant nodded, still facing the wall. “So I got behind the wheel and started out. It was all right at first. I thought I would make it home okay and Dad would hold it over my head for weeks that I was too afraid to drive ten minutes from the restaurant to our house. The road we usually took was pretty empty, too—not a lot of people drove down it as a rule. But then…” His head dropped between his shoulders.
“Then?” Vincent prompted.
“A deer ran out into the road and I panicked. We weren’t even all that close to it, for Christ’s sake, but I freaked out and lost control of the car and hit that tree head-on.” It all came out in a single breath. His shoulder shook as he wept silently.
My heart broke for him—I took a step toward him, but he held up a hand to stop me without looking.
He didn’t want me to touch him.
My arms ached to hold him. I had never felt so useless.
Silence fell over the room as the rest of us absorbed the story.
Vincent cleared his throat, and when he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “But the police said he was driving.”
“I panicked,” Grant whispered. “I was just a stupid kid. Sixteen years old. I saw my entire life flash before my eyes—I knew they were dead and I had killed them, and I didn’t know what to do. Mom was across the back seat and Dad was slumped over in the passenger seat. His head had hit the dashboard. There was blood running down his face. I was going to prison for the rest of my life. So… so I… I unbuckled his belt and dragged him over to the driver’s seat. I still don’t remember giving it much thought, you know? I was just… reacting. I buckled him in and slumped him over the steering wheel, and I told everybody that I had been in the passenger seat. That he was making me watch him drive because I had my test coming up.”
“And everybody believed it,” Jace murmured. The fight was gone. His shoulders were slumped. He sounded shell shocked.
“You know how the cops treat cases when they have to do with us,” Grant said, staring at the wall. “They don’t know what to expect, and they assume too much. They figured Dad’s body was strong enough that the impact didn’t cave in his chest the way it would have in a human. They were wrong about that, and Bradford knew it. I guess he got a hold of the reports, I don’t know. Maybe the autopsies, even. He was capable of a lot of things. He put two and two together and told me he knew I was the one driving. And that he would make sure the cops knew, too. I didn’t even care about that. I only cared about what would happen when you found out, Vincent.”
“Me?” he asked.
“You two were always so close. I killed your best friend. I was sure you would never forgive me. Yeah, I knew I was digging myself into an even deeper hole, but I just couldn’t bear thinking about life without my clan. Even if it meant hurting some of us, it was better than being on my own. An outcast. Going on trial without any support. Going to prison, knowing nobody on the outside cared if I rotted in there.” He shook his head with a bitter laugh. “I know none of it makes sense now, when I’m actually sitting and thinking about it afterward. But at the time? He knew how to twist the knife in my heart. He painted a pretty ugly picture of what would happen once the truth got out.”
“Just when I thought I couldn’t hate him more than I already did,” Cord snarled.
“He wouldn’t stop at anything,” Vincent agreed, then sighed deeply. “You’ve carried this around with you for a long time.”
“Yeah. Ever since that night. And you don’t know how I tortured myself, especially in that lab. If I hadn’t panicked and lost control of the car. If I hadn’t lied about who was driving. If I hadn’t agreed to spy…”
“I know. I forgave you for the spying a long time ago,” Vincent said. “You don’t have to worry about that. I knew you had your reasons, whatever they were. I never imagined it was anything like this.”
“You don’t have to bother trying to forgive me for that. I’ll never forgive myself,” Grant whispered.
“I don’t think it’s up to any of us to forgive you,” Vincent mused. “It’s not any of us who died. But know this: it was an accident. Anybody with half a brain could tell you that. You didn’t do it maliciously. And I knew your father. I loved him like a brother—he was the brother I always wished I’d had, instead of the one given to me. And I know how many times I wished I could knock some sense into him when he got an idea in his head. I can just imagine how he must’ve pressured you that night. I’m sorry your mother lost her life because of his stubbornness, but I always knew he would end up getting himself killed one way or another because he didn’t know how to back down. Besides, there’s no telling how things would’ve turned out if your father was the one driving. He always drove too fast, which was why it was easy for me to believe your story. Things might have turned out the same. Or worse. You could’ve been killed, too.”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I was,” Grant said.
“I’m sure. I think it’s time for you to let go of that.”
“What about the police?” he asked.
“I don’t think they have to be involved in this. Do you? By now, anything we tell them would be impossible to prove. The car was destroyed a long time ago. All they have to go on is the police report, and like you said, the police don’t want much to do with our problems.”
Grant finally turned around so we could see his face. He blinked, disbelieving. “You mean you think I should get away without being punished?” he asked, almost like he was afraid to think it was true.
“Don’t you think you’ve been punished enough already?” Vincent asked, and there was enough sadness in his voice to make me cry again.
Layla leaned against Lance, shaking with sobs.
Even Jace and Cord looked overcome with emotion, but men like them didn’t cry.
Jace went to Grant and held out his hand. “He’s right. There’s nothing anybody could do now that would be worse than what’s already happened. You did your time, and then some.”
Grant shook his hand, then shook Cord’s.
I had never seen so much relief on a person’s face before.
“What do we do with whoever’s trying to get t
he phone from Grant?” Cord asked, looking over at the phone.
“What did he look like?” Vincent asked.
Grant described him—tall, thin, with dark hair in a widow’s peak over his forehead. He was once a guard for Bradford, or an advisor. Someone who worked close to him.
“All right. I’ll have feelers put out for him. In the meantime, keep looking out. There’s no telling what someone like him will do when he finds out there’s no leverage anymore. He’s probably insane.”
“Probably?” Grant snorted. “He’s definitely unhinged.”
“Even more reason to be careful. And Lance, I’m sorry this trouble has reached you. Keep your people close.”
“Will do,” he said.
“Vincent? Thank you.” Grant’s face was a blank mask, but I heard everything I needed to know in his voice. He was overcome, beyond grateful. The sort of thing a person couldn’t put into words.
“Just come home. It’s been too long. There are people here who miss you.” With that, Vincent ended the call.
Grant looked around the room, still a little unsure of himself.
Lance stepped up. “All right. I’m gonna bring in a few of my most trusted members and let them know about the potential threat.”
“We’re here for anything you need,” Jace assured him. “He won’t get into the camp, and he won’t come near any of your people. We’ll take him out.”
“We should be smart about this,” Grant said, standing. “Let him think I have the phone and I’ll give it to him. I remember where he’s been hiding in the woods—or the general area. It’s not too hard to track him. He doesn’t know I’m not still trying to hide anything from you guys. I can lure him in, especially if he’s watching and he sees me with the phone.”
“I don’t like that idea,” I said. I couldn’t keep quiet. Not when it came to him taking chances.
“He won’t get near me,” Grant said, avoiding my eyes.
My heart twinged. I hoped it was all because he didn’t think I would want him anymore and not because anything had changed between us. I would do everything I could to make sure he knew I still wanted him. More than ever.
“We’ll make sure of that,” Jace promised. “Here.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a phone, then handed it to Grant.
“I hate this thing,” Grant muttered, looking down at it. “I wish it had gotten lost. I want to throw it into the lake.”
“Not yet,” Cord reminded him, then clapped him on the shoulder. “All right. We’ll get out of here, try to look casual, whatever. You can walk around with the phone, let him see you.”
“But away from the main area,” Lance added.
“Of course. Maybe out in the parking lot,” Jace suggested. “Someplace away from the others.”
Lance left to talk to a few of the members of the pack.
Layla said, “I’ll stay here. Daniela, you should stay with me.”
“I just want to go back to the tent for a second. I’ll come right back.” I tried to smile at Grant, to catch his eye. Something to let him know that I still cared about him.
He pretended to be too busy talking with Jace to notice.
Don’t let it get to you, I said to myself as I walked to the tent.
My eyes moved from side to side, like I might catch sight of a bear barreling out of the woods in my direction. Everything looked fine. It was a beautiful day.
Grant would lure the sick freak out with the phone, and Jace and Cord… they would take care of him.
I was in such a hurry to get out of the tent earlier, I hadn’t even put on underwear. And everything in there was a mess, just the way we had left it.
I went through my bag to pull out clean clothes when a rustling noise at the back of the tent turned my blood to ice.
A high, thin laugh filled the air. “I thought you would never get here, pretty girl.” Then, he rushed me.
I didn’t have time to scream.
15
GRANT
“Where is he?” I muttered, walking back and forth. Back and forth. The phone felt a lot heavier in my hand than it actually was. All in my head.
I knew Jace was watching from one side of the clearing while Cord was watching from the other side.
Lance and his guys were keeping watch over the camp.
Nobody had made a sound or spoken a word since I had started walking around, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. Dangling a bait that nobody was taking.
What if he already knew somehow?
No, that was impossible. He wasn’t that smart. He wasn’t watching the cabin, either—Jace or Cord would’ve seen him, standing by the windows like they were. He wanted to see me squirm. That was the problem.
He thought he was in control and wanted to hold it over my head as long as he could. Probably the only time he ever felt like he was special was when he had somebody by the balls. A trick he had learned from his old boss, I guessed.
I checked the time.
Thirty minutes had passed.
The sun was getting higher in the sky and baking my skin. Sweat rolled down my back. How long was long enough? When would he show himself and get it over with? I was ready to slam the damn phone into the ground and stomp it into nothing but shards of glass and bits of plastic.
Even then, I wasn’t sure where I would rather be, baking under the midday sun, feeling like a chump, or with Daniela.
If it meant not having to face her when she told me how disgusted she was with me, I was willing to pace back and forth as long as it took. How could she still want me after all that? There was no way. I knew I would never want to see me again if I heard that truth for the first time.
Two people were dead because of me—not just two people—my parents. How could she even look at me? She was probably just trying to save face back at the cabin. I would’ve done the same thing.
My hand tightened around the phone. I wanted her. More than anything. I would fight for her if I thought there was the slightest chance of getting her back. But I had to face facts, too. There might not be a chance. As big as her heart was, as sweet and beautiful and kind as she was, there had to be a limit. Everybody had their limit.
The sight of Lance walking up to me was a surprise.
“What’s up?” I asked when I saw the frown lines that creased his forehead.
“Have you seen Daniela?”
My heart stalled. Right then, everything stopped. The world stopped turning. Everything stopped making sense. Just like the crash. When I came to and saw my father’s blank eyes staring at me. When I knew he was dead and Mom was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. That heart-stopping moment when I wished more than anything that I would die, too.
“He took her.” I was never so sure of anything in my life. I started off at a sprint, but Lance caught me.
“Wait up, wait up. I was only asking, because she told Layla she would come back to the cabin—”
“And she never did, right? She never came back?” I pushed him away and even dropped the phone. The phone didn’t matter anymore. I ran straight to the tent and flung the flap open.
Empty.
The scent of bear hung heavy in the air.
“Fucker!” I meant for it to come out as a roar. I thought it would. Instead, it sounded like a whisper.
“What’s happening?” Jace caught up, then saw what I saw. He sniffed the air.
“He took her. He must’ve heard us.” My stomach clenched. My head spun.
The thought of what he was doing to her, the many things he could be doing to her, ran through my head and made me sick. It was overwhelming. I didn’t know which thought to focus on first.
“How? We were watching out,” Jace sputtered.
“He spied on us one night, and we didn’t know he was anywhere near the tent. Maybe Bradford taught him a thing or two about spying, I don’t know.” I held my head in my hands—it would fall off my shoulders if I didn’t hold it in place.
The whole
world spun around me. Daniela’s face, her laugh, the way she never pushed me into telling her the truth about why I didn’t want to go home. The way she smelled and tasted and felt in my arms. The way she was probably dead already and it was all my stupid fault. I had killed somebody else.
“We have to find him,” I said, over and over. “The woods. He would’ve taken her to the woods if none of us saw him anywhere else. There’s a million places to hide in there.” I couldn’t breathe.
If she died, I would die, too. I couldn’t live without her. There was no reason to live if she was gone.
But there was a chance she was still alive. That chance, the thought that she might still be out there somewhere, needing me to find her, cleared my head and gave me laser focus. It was all so obvious.
“If he meant to kill her, he would’ve done it here,” I said, looking around. “He would’ve left her here for me to find. So he wants to be sure I see whatever it is he plans on doing. He wants to make me pay for… whatever. Not getting back to Bradford with the information, maybe. Not giving them the edge they thought would help them win the war. Or maybe he just wants me to feel pain. I don’t know.”
“Where do we go?” Lance asked.
“I’ll lead the way.”
“I think we should shift,” Jace said.
“You can if you want to, but I want to talk to that fucker before I kill him.” I marched out of the tent and followed my sense of smell—it wasn’t as strong as a human, but I could still pick up scents a human couldn’t. And I could smell him. And her. They were together.
I cast my mind back to when I found him before, and followed the trail. The broken sapling. I climbed over it and kept walking. I heard Jace and Cord and Lance behind me, all in their animal forms.
Cord was a bear, and a big one. He could help take down somebody like him—or at least hold him down while I tore his throat out.
I stopped and sniffed the air.
Jace reached my side and looked up at me.
“What do you think?” I asked.
His amber eyes closed and he sniffed the air. He raised one paw, pointing left.
