Fractured Silence (Talon Pack Book 5)

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  It was weird, being one thing she’d never been before and yet having it feel so right. And when Parker stood before her as a tall, dark, and fierce wolf, she followed him, letting her wolf do what it needed to do. She tripped at first, then just was. They ran through the forest, her new Pack alongside her, her Alpha rubbing his head along hers and nipping at her neck to show she was his. Her heart thudded, and her senses were overwhelmed, but she was free.

  And when she caught a familiar scent on the breeze, along with food and warmth, she followed it, Parker at her side. Brandon stood at the forest’s edge, a plate of food in his hands, and their clothes in the other.

  “Shift back a little early this time,” Brandon explained, the dark shadows under his eyes intense. He hadn’t been able to shift with them that night, and she needed to know why.

  There was something wrong with both Brandon and Parker, and now that Avery had this…connection with them, she knew she had to help. But first, she had to become Avery again and not wolf.

  The shift back to human was just as painful as going the other way, but this time, she wasn’t as scared. With these two by her side, she knew they’d never again let harm come to her if they could help it. Why she felt so strongly about that, she didn’t know, but she wasn’t about to take it for granted.

  Brandon silently held out her clothes, and she blushed, pulling them on quickly. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the whole nudity thing—even if the others didn’t seem to care. Only she’d caught the same look in his eyes that Parker had given her earlier. Once again…interesting.

  “I have some cold beef and pasta,” Brandon explained, holding out the plate. “Not much, but enough to get you and Parker going until we get more food in you. The change takes more energy out of you than you think, so you need to replenish.”

  Parker reached out and grabbed one of the forks as well as the plate from Brandon. Brandon held the other fork out, a piece of beef on the end.

  She did the only thing that came natural and bent forward to take a bite. She didn’t miss the intensity of Brandon’s gaze when she did that.

  Brandon cleared his throat. “You’re going to need to eat a lot more than you’re used to from now on.”

  She tilted her head, taking another bite from him. Maybe this was the new wolf in her because she didn’t think having him feed her was too weird, but still. She took the fork from him after the second bite and went to finish her half of the plate since Parker had already inhaled his. They were right that she’d be hungry, and she hadn’t even known it.

  “Are you eating enough then if Leah mentioned you only drink protein shakes?”

  Parker gave Brandon a pointed look that she didn’t understand. “Let’s get back to the house. It’s your first night there.”

  She frowned, not missing the fact that he’d sidestepped her question to Brandon but stood up. “What’s going to happen to my place? I mean, my real home.”

  “It’s not safe for you outside of the den right now, at least until we figure out who attacked you and why,” Brandon said. “As for your place, we can have someone go and get your things if you want.”

  She held up her hands as they entered the house. She’d seen it once before, but she hadn’t gotten a real good look. “As much as I appreciate everything you’re doing, you need to stop making decisions for me. And don’t tell me you know best. That might be the case, but I need options so I can make my own decisions.”

  “The Alpha might have something to say about that,” Parker added dryly.

  “Like he’s taking care of the wolf that hurt me?”

  Brandon’s eyes darkened. “He’s dealing with the Aspens.” She knew of the Pack by name, but didn’t know much about them.

  She growled, surprising herself. She didn’t growl, but then again, she was wolf now. Maybe growling was what she did.

  “Maybe you should sit down,” Parker said calmly, annoying her.

  “I don’t need to rest, and you know it,” Avery bit out. “I just shifted into a freaking wolf for the first time, and now I’m about to stay under a roof with two men I don’t know but for some reason feel a connection to. So, yeah, things are a little out of my control right now, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to make a decision on my own about my things. Is that okay? I don’t know what is going on with that other Pack, but I know I’m going to need answers eventually. The only thing I can control right now is what happens to my possessions.”

  The vision hit her before they could respond, and she fell to her knees. Visions didn’t always hit this hard, but when they did, she knew she had no hope of controlling them. Yet she knew this vision was going to be different. They had never slammed into her with this much intensity. She could practically taste the new air, feel the breeze on her cheek.

  Being bitten by that wolf had done more to her than turn her into a shifter. Of that, she was sure.

  In the vision, Parker and Brandon were wrapped around one another in the grass, fighting for control as their mouths met, their bodies thrusting against one another as if they couldn’t wait to get their jeans off. They panted, their bodies becoming one, their wolves howling in pleasure.

  Somehow, she found the strength to pull herself out of the vision, sweat breaking out over her body.

  Ah. So it seemed the two men were for each other. Not for her. Okay, then. She’d just have to get over this attraction and deal with it—though the vision she’d just had was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen, and if she’d been alone, she might have done something to take care of the sudden need washing over her.

  “Holy shit,” Brandon gasped.

  “You’re a foreseer,” Parker breathed.

  She blinked, now aware that she knelt between the two of them, their hands keeping her upright. “What?” She blinked again before looking between them. “Did I…did I just say all of that aloud?”

  She didn’t do that often and had trained herself not to do it in fact, but with everything that had happened, her defenses must have been down.

  Avery tried to pull away from the men but found she couldn’t. Instead, the two of them let her go after making sure she wouldn’t sway or fall again. She licked her lips, embarrassed at not only what she might have said, but the fact that her secret was truly out. If these two knew, then the rest of the Pack would know soon.

  What would they do to her? Would they expect her to perform for them often? Like a trained monkey? Would they kill her outright for fear of what she would see? Would they tear her apart to see how she ticked…just like her father had done to her mother?

  Her breath came in chopping pants, and both men put their hands on her arms, calming her. How did they keep doing that? It didn’t make sense.

  “Breathe,” Parker whispered. “Just breathe.”

  “It was like you were reading subtitles,” Brandon said after a moment, answering her question from before.

  “You told us what you were seeing.” Parker coughed. “Then, uh…said that you were going to take care of something yourself.”

  Well, apparently, she had said it all. If a hole in the floor could just open up now and bury her, that would be fantastic.

  “So, I’m just going to blow right past all of that,” she said after a moment. “For now. Yes, I have visions. If you call those who do foreseer, then yes, I’m a foreseer. I have been since I was a child, but they’ve never been this clear…this intense before.” She was sure the heat radiating off her face could have warmed the entire planet. She’d just confessed to seeing these two men going at it and then said she wanted to get herself off watching them. Seriously, she needed that hole to open up any minute now.

  “You’re connected to the moon goddess,” Brandon said softly. “Maybe that intensified your visions.”

  She put a hand over her stomach, nausea welling. “I don’t know if I like that.”

  He gave her a look of pity that she didn’t like. “I know what you mean.” Oh, right, he was the Omega. H
e didn’t have control over everything warring in him thanks to the moon goddess either.

  “You also said you weren’t for us,” Parker said with a frown. “That once you saw Brandon and me together, that you were going to step away.” He tilted his head. “I don’t know…I…”

  Brandon cursed. “The mating bonds are different now,” he bit out, and Parker’s head shot to the other man.

  “What?”

  “I can’t explain it, but ever since Shane came into the Pack with whatever Montag put into his system, something has been off with the mating bonds. Things our wolves should be saying or doing aren’t happening like they used to.”

  “I don’t understand,” Avery cut in. “What did my dad do?”

  Brandon cursed. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting he’s your father.”

  “Glad one of us can,” she murmured.

  Parker squeezed her hand. “Your dad made a serum that he thought would create wolves. It didn’t work.”

  Shock and anger tore through Avery. “I…I’m so sorry.”

  They waved her off, and Parker continued. “The way matings are supposed to work is that our wolves tell us when there is a potential mate near. The mating urge riles us up, and we need to bond, though we do have choices.”

  “That’s how it used to be,” Brandon whispered. “But I don’t think that’s the way things are anymore. I think…I think the human part needs to sense something first, and then the wolf will come about. I don’t know how I know that, but I do. And that means the way our wolves find our mates has forever changed.”

  “Holy shit,” Parker breathed.

  Avery shook her head, her brain not quite catching up to everything. “Explain. You can’t say you just know things. I get that you’re all supernatural and things come from your goddess, but I need more facts than you just…know.”

  Brandon let out a sigh and sank down onto the couch. She and Parker followed, each keeping just enough distance that she knew they’d done it on purpose. “My wolf is closer to the base instincts than others. I can tell what anyone is feeling at any given moment as long as their shields aren’t locked down tight. Anyone in my Pack, that is,” he added quickly. “There have been a few instances where I’ve watched wolves come close to one another, find that attraction, but not find the bond. They’re left confused, and it rushes through me like a wave. Now, with the two of you? I don’t know what’s going on, but I know something is off. Something that should have been shown to us right away but is apparently hiding…or maybe even broken.”

  Avery gripped the edge of the couch, confused as ever. “That doesn’t mean…” She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. “So that might mean that you and Parker are mates. I saw it in that vision. Maybe there is something off with mating bonds, but I don’t have anything to do with it.”

  Parker leaned forward, cupping Avery’s face. She froze, scared that he might do something that could change everything.

  “You might have everything to do with it.”

  Then he kissed her.

  Chapter Seven

  Avery remained stiff under Parker’s touch for a bare moment before she let out a soft moan. Parker was aware that Brandon was right next to him, breathing heavily as he watched.

  Parker had been thinking about kissing Avery from the moment he first saw her, even if he had been on edge, wondering if she were a danger to the Pack. She tasted of sweetness and wolf, the perfect combination that he hadn’t known he craved.

  He licked her bottom lip as he pulled away, aware more needed to be said before he gave in to his wolf…and himself.

  Avery let out a breath. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I needed to,” he answered honestly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s something…there’s something between the three of us.” He looked over at Brandon, who stared at him and Avery with a curious expression on his face. “Can you feel it?”

  It wasn’t his wolf pushing at him, wanting her as his mate, wanting Brandon as his mate. It was something far different. But if what Brandon said was true, then none of the wolves were going to find their other halves the way they had for centuries.

  The ramifications were staggering.

  She tilted her head, confusion written all over her face. “I feel…something. But I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “What’s going on is that Parker and I have done our best to stay away from one another as much as we could because we thought we weren’t mates,” Brandon bit out. “We both need to find our mate—or mates—soon because…well, his secret is not mine to tell, and tonight is a little heavy to go into all of my secrets. But in the end, I’ve done everything I could to make sure I didn’t make a mistake, that I didn’t fall for someone that could end up watching me fade away because I wasn’t the right wolf for them. And in the end, it seems none of that mattered. There’s something wrong with the way our bonds are forming, the way our wolves can recognize each other. I don’t know how we’re going to fix that or if there’s an answer to what we need at all, but what I do know is that you had a vision of Parker and me, and I can tell you that Parker isn’t the only one who wants you.”

  Avery’s eyes widened, and Parker took a deep breath, knowing this was all way too much for anyone all at once.

  “How about we take a break?” Parker said softly. “Get some food, talk about the run, then come back to this another night. Whatever this is. I feel like we’re talking in circles because we’re exhausted and not thinking straight. And with what’s to come—not with just us, but with our Packs and the world—I feel like we need our wits about us.”

  He cupped Avery’s face with one hand, taking Brandon’s hand with the other. “Let’s just be…just for the moment. Then we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

  “Ever the mediator,” Brandon murmured.

  “I have no idea what I got myself into,” Avery added.

  “Neither do we,” Parker agreed. “But I think we might get more than we ever bargained for in the best possible way.”

  At least, he hoped so. Because if Brandon and Avery were indeed his mates…then that meant he would live. He would be able to take another breath, knowing that he could find the strength to protect those he loved. And through it all…he’d find his happiness.

  He just prayed that this wasn’t all a lie.

  Because if that were the case…then he’d not only have no more time to find his true mate, but he’d end up hurting two people he was starting to care about more than he thought possible.

  REVOLT

  McMaster watched the footage for the sixth time, a manic energy riding him as a small smile threatened to appear. He couldn’t let the others see him smile at this, couldn’t let a single person know his true desires. He might be alone in the room while he watched the woman be attacked by a wolf, but someone could walk in at any moment.

  He lived in DC, after all, and no place was truly private. Not anymore.

  When McMaster let the wolf ‘escape’ from captivity after the year of study he had arranged, he’d known something like this would happen—only not on this scale.

  He’d known humans would be near the den since there were groups of them roaming around the area often—either those perpetuating the anti-wolf movement or clusters of the tree-hugging, wolf-lover types. He’d just needed one of them to get a little too close to his wolf for his plan to work.

  The fact that it had been his former accomplice’s daughter in the line of fire had made it that much juicer. He’d known of the woman’s existence, of course, even if Montag had done his best to cut all ties with her—emotionally and physically. McMaster didn’t work with just anyone to end up where he was in his life.

  And when the world saw that it was Montag’s daughter, they would see it as retaliation, not an accident. They would see the shifters attacking a defenseless woman because of who her father had been. Montag had killed shifters, so they had murdered what was left of his line.


  McMaster was a U.S. Senator, leader of the Wolf Inhuman Campaign, and future President of the United States if this next election cycle were anything to go by. People loved him, they revered him, and they trusted him to get rid of that pesky wolf problem.

  And for those who might want the wolves to stay alive? Well, that was why he’d soon be sharing the images of Avery’s attack. A vicious wolf killing a harmless woman just on a walk through the woods. What kind of monster would allow these…beasts the ability to breathe?

  His people had ensured that all video surveillance of the Talon area where he’d let his rogue wolf roam was strictly under his command. Meaning the world hadn’t yet seen the true natures of these creatures, the depravity that came with being an animal.

  And in twenty minutes, he’d step out onto the stage and show his fellow Americans how truly horrific these wolves were. This woman had died because of the gross negligence of these wolves’ supposed leaders.

  He’d ask how they could let their children out in the world, knowing these monsters could bite and tear their flesh before they’d even made it to the school bus.

  The shifter advocacy groups spoke of the fear that came from not understanding, well, McMaster would twist that to his advantage. He would make sure that everyone understood exactly what he wanted them to. The media loved him and gave him the airtime he needed to ensure that every single person in America knew his face and his message.

  The wolves needed to be eradicated from the world, and McMaster would be there to ensure that happened. And when the country saw him as their savior, they would vote him into office.

  And everything he’d worked for, everything he’d made others bleed for, would finally come to fruition.