“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you know too much, Ashes. And the only way I can keep you safe is to keep you here.”
Ugh. That stupid nickname was really starting to piss me off.
“You can’t keep me anywhere,” I said. “You don’t control me—”
His mouth landed on mine, cutting off my words. I made a sound—shock, maybe protest—but Kai didn’t let up. His mouth was hot and harsh, and everything about the kiss should have been insulting. Instead, I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.
His chest pressed against mine, the heat between us threatening to ignite me as I became aware of all the places our skin touched. His hand wrapped around my neck, making it impossible for me to pull away. Not that I had any intention of that.
Kai Stone was kissing me, and all I wanted was for him to keep doing it forever.
But abruptly, he pulled away, ending the kiss and glaring down at me like I’d somehow just offended him.
He dropped his hand from my hip and stepped away, forcing me to let him go. His chest heaved, and for a moment, we just stared at each other as we struggled to catch our breath.
His expression was an accusation.
I hated it.
Even as I wished he’d kiss me again.
“You don’t smell like a wolf,” he said roughly.
Of all the things he could have said...
“But you don’t smell human either.”
“Um.”
“None of this makes any fucking sense,” he ground out.
Before I could say something—or throw something—or do anything, he turned and walked out.
Chapter Eleven
I woke feeling numb. Like maybe last night had been a dream. Between witnessing Kai Stone turn into a wolf—there, I said it—and him kissing me like I was his dying breath, I wasn’t even sure what was real anymore. Up until that moment in the woods, Kai had seemed just like all the other guys in this town. Partier. Womanizer. Asshole. Then again, the way he’d stormed out after our kiss hadn’t done much to redeem him in the end.
Basically, he was the most confusing person I’d ever met. Person. Wolf. Ugh. I didn’t even know what noun to assign him. A fact made all the more complicated by how much I wanted him to see me naked.
The only thing I knew for sure was that Ridley Falls had definitely lived up to the mysterious reputation everyone had given it. Danger. Violence. And hot as hell alpha holes. Someone should put that on a bumper sticker.
I’d only barely wrapped my head around the fact that Kai and Oscar were wolf shifters when I’d remembered that made me a wolf shifter too. Technically speaking. That was a whole different denial train to ride. My father—his secrets, the town he’d left behind, everything he’d never told me about what we really were—had been one big lie.
I had no idea why he’d spent his entire life keeping me from the truth only to send me running straight into the wolf’s den when he’d died. But I was going to find out.
Operation Temporary had become Operation Get Fucking Answers, and I wasn’t going to stop until I knew the truth. About him. Me. My family. And maybe even what sort of threat my father had been running from. I couldn’t believe he’d fled Ridley Falls just because they liked to day drink and bar brawl. It wasn’t enough of a reason to move cities every time the wind changed direction.
He’d obviously been running from something. His fear and paranoia were real even on his drunkest days. I wanted to ask Oscar about it all, but I wasn’t sure how pissed he still might be at me for stumbling into his little shifter rendezvous last night. Not to mention the white wolf I’d seen printed on those biker vests. I needed to find out its significance. But Oscar had made it clear his loyalties lay with the people of this town. And until I knew who to trust, I needed to protect my secret at all costs.
I’d have to uncover that particular mystery on my own.
When I finished my shower and peeked into his room, his bed was empty. I found a note on the counter, reminding me of the shop hours today. A clear message that work came first.
Work.
Such a mundane, normal, human thing to do.
Maybe that’s exactly what I needed in order to get my head on straight again.
Right. Like the shock of finding out wolf shifters existed could be smoothed over by surrounding myself with the overpowering scent of brake fluid and testosterone.
Ugh.
With a few minutes to kill before heading down, I picked up my phone and scrolled through a couple of texts from Idrissa I’d apparently missed.
Uh-ohhh. Word on the street is the cat—or dog—is out of the bag.
I stared, wide-eyed, at her words. Idrissa knew about Kai and Oscar?
Then I read the next text.
Shit. Now you know that I know.
I couldn’t help but snort at that.
Isaac made me keep the secret. Be mad at him.
I shook my head and clicked on a text from Isaac.
Drissa is full of shit. It was all part of her “tough love” plan to keep you in the dark. Let’s do each other’s hair and talk shit about her. Call me.
Being friends with the twins would never be boring, at least.
I was just about to head downstairs when my phone rang. I grabbed my phone, answering it without even looking.
“You’re both in trouble,” I said, not even caring whether it was Idrissa or Isaac.
But the voice on the other end was definitely not a twin. Or anyone else I ever wanted to hear from in this lifetime.
“I’d say it’s you who’s in trouble, Miss Langford.”
My stomach dropped, and I gripped the phone tightly against my ear.
“Vorack,” I managed.
“You didn’t think I’d forget about you, did you?”
Rage coated my fear, heating my skin, and I gritted my teeth.
“Right back at ya, asshole. I’m not going to forget what you did to my father.”
“Good. Let that serve as a lesson,” he said, his voice dropping into something much more sinister. “You owe me, and if you don’t pay, that same fate awaits you too.”
“Your debt was with my father. Not me.”
“A debt unpaid gets passed to the next able body,” he said. “That’s how my business works.”
“Your business, huh? Wonder what the authorities would think of that business? Maybe I should let them know.”
“You have fire in you,” he said, his voice deadly now. Hungry. Like any moment he was going to reach through the phone and wrap his hands around my throat. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you of that before I extract what you owe me.”
“Fuck you,” I whispered, my confidence waning.
“Precisely.”
I shuddered. “I left town,” I said. “You won’t find me.”
“Challenge accepted, little bird. I’ll hunt you down. And when I do, I’ll enjoy this payment much more than my others.”
The call ended.
I stood, shaking with a mixture of rage and fear, for a long time before I finally made my way down to the office.
Downstairs, the shop was already open, and Oscar gave me a few grunts of disapproval for being late, but that was it. I didn’t tell him about the call or ask him any of the million questions I had about my dad and his paranoia. Instead, I avoided him and tried to reassure myself that Vorack would never find me here.
Maybe I could find a way to change my name. Oscar had said my father’s legal last name was Lawson. If I could find a way to change it, Vorack wouldn’t be able to track me that way. But every time I tried to ask Oscar about it, he was busy with a customer or gone on a break.
Even Kai steered clear of me most of the day, coming and going through the garage as he did repairs and test drives and customer deliveries.
My nerves recovered slowly from Vorack’s call, but even so, I barely had time to think about things like wolf shifters and panty-melting kisses, so that was
something.
“Can you put this invoice in?”
I looked up to see Kai holding out a sheet of paper full of handwritten scribbles. He was staring at my mouth. I found myself equally turned on and pissed off. I decided to acknowledge the pissed part.
“I would if I could read your chicken scratch,” I said.
He rolled his eyes, tossed the invoice on the counter, and walked out, which only made my irritation worse.
Fine.
Two could play this bull shit game.
For the rest of the day, I avoided him, stepping out of the office when I saw him coming and waiting to hand out job orders until he was busy.
Late in the afternoon, a customer walked in, and I tensed. His face was familiar, and then I remembered. He’d been at Bo’s, playing poker with Silas.
“Hey,” he said, a cocky smile spreading as he walked up to the counter. Behind him, two friends hovered, and I had the distinct feeling they were here to watch the show.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Actually, I’d love to help you.”
I rolled my eyes. He didn’t notice.
“I’m Devon. This is Cade and Luke.”
“Do you need work done?” I asked, not bothering to glance their way.
“Oh, shit,” Devon said. “Hell yeah, I do.” He leaned forward across the counter. “What’s your going rate for bodywork, Ashes?”
He winked, and I bit back the surge of temper that tempted me to take out one of the beers Oscar kept in the mini-fridge at my feet and shatter it over his dumbass skull.
“You couldn’t afford me,” I said.
His friends hooted at that.
Devon’s eyes narrowed. “Tell you what. You give me a freebie, and I’ll put in a good word with Kai to let you stay awhile.”
Yep, fuck it. He was getting a beer bottle to the dome.
“Sure, let me just get my purse.” I batted my lashes at him and then reached into the fridge and grabbed a cold, brown bottle. The sound of a familiar voice stopped me from swinging it.
“I’m not sure when you were promoted to pack advisor, Devon.”
I looked over sharply at Kai, who stood at the end of the counter glaring at Devon.
“Hey, man,” Devon said, unconcerned with being caught. “I was just hanging out with my special friend Ashes here.”
“We are not friends,” I said.
Devon chuckled. “Right. Strictly professional.” He winked, and I considered using the bottle despite Kai’s presence.
“You’re late for work, Dev.” Kai’s expression was tight. It gave away nothing. Although, the rage rolling off him was unmistakable.
“Relax, dude. I’m just—”
“You only have one more strike with Joey before you’re fired,” Kai said. “I suggest you get the hell over there.”
“Such a fucking buzzkill, man.” Devon sauntered for the door. His friends followed. “Poker at Bo’s tonight,” he added over his shoulder.
“See you there,” Kai said flatly.
He didn’t move until Devon and his friends had gotten on their bikes and rode off. Even then, he returned to the garage without so much as a glance at me.
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically into the silence when he was gone.
An hour later, Idrissa texted again, asking about dinner plans. I held off, unsure about how much I could trust her. Between Kai and Vorack, there was no way she wouldn’t notice something was up. And I just wasn’t used to sharing my secrets with people. Besides, she and Isaac had kept a lot from me too.
Trust was hard-earned and easily lost, in my experience.
Still, getting out of here for a few hours sounded way too tempting. And Oscar had made it clear the only way I could do that was with the twins as my babysitters.
Unless I left town, of course. And maybe that was the smartest move, given what I knew about this town. Better the danger I didn’t know than the threat I did.
It wasn’t until closing time that I remembered Kai’s little declaration from last night. Suddenly, Vorack was forgotten, and I found myself marching over to where Oscar stood cleaning up his tools.
“Is it true?” I asked.
“Is what true?”
“I can’t leave town because of what I know?”
He shot a glance toward where Kai was cleaning up at the other end of the garage, too busy to notice us. I rolled my eyes. Oscar was on his own for this one.
“It’s what’s best,” Oscar said, looking back down at his tools. “For now.”
“What’s best for you,” I said. He started to respond, and I cut him off. “Who do I talk to about this?”
“What?”
“Who do I talk to? Who’s in charge of your pack or whatever? The alpha, I guess.”
He frowned. “No alpha. Just… talk to Kai.”
“Kai’s in charge of the pack?”
His words from last night returned. About how the wolves had been waiting on him and Oscar to show up.
“Not exactly. But—”
“Then, I’ll pass.”
He shut his toolbox and shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m going to finish up some paperwork, and then I’ll head upstairs and give you a hand with dinner.”
I scowled as he walked off.
Across the garage, Kai looked over briefly then headed for the exit. I watched him go, my heart hammering in my chest. Was I being a chickenshit about facing him after that blazing kiss last night? Yes. Was I going to stubbornly outlast him in this game of silent treatment we were both apparently playing? Also, yes.
Maybe I could get Idrissa to spill some things to me now that I knew about the wolves. I dialed her but got her voice mail. Same with Isaac. Dammit.
I blew out a breath and flicked off the lights. With nothing else left to do, I headed for the apartment, finally admitting my defeat, if only silently.
“Hey.”
I looked up, startled by the voice. Drake stepped out from behind a bike sitting up on a lift. “Oh. Hey.” I blew out the breath I’d been holding as my heart rate returned to something normal. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I thought everyone else had gone home.”
“Forgot my phone.” He held it up, and I nodded.
Something about the guy gave me the creeps. That probably wasn’t fair. Everything about today had given me the creeps, especially after that call from Vorack.
“Listen, the alpha thing… it’s a sore spot, so no one likes to talk about it. Don’t take it personally.”
I stopped short, surprised he’d brought up the whole wolf thing so casually.
“Your dad left a lot of people upset when he split. Even without the current state of things, losing our alpha was a hard blow.”
“Wait. Do you mean… was my dad the alpha?”
“You look a little shocked.” He chuckled.
“I guess I just didn’t expect that. Or you to put all that out into the open. I mean, everyone else has been so secretive.”
“Yeah. The CIA’s got nothing on the secrets this town holds.”
“Why is that?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Shit. My dad, the alpha…
“Our pack has trust issues.”
“Our pack,” I repeated. “So, you’re….”
“A wolf shifter.” He shrugged. “Yeah. Everyone in this town is.”
“Oh.”
Wait. Everyone?
As in… literally everyone??
“They don’t trust anyone from out of town because we can’t risk letting humans know our secret.”
“So, this is about the outsider thing again.”
“It’s about a lot of things.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but I didn’t want to push him past what he wanted to share. Already, he was being more open than anyone else.
His eyes flicked to something below my chin.
“Where did you get that?” he asked sharply.
My hand came up, fluttering over the crystal moon pendant my dad had given me.
“My dad gave it to me.”
“Hmm.”
I could tell he wanted to ask more, but I couldn’t bring myself to continue. It felt too personal to talk about just yet.
“Is there someone I can talk to?” I asked, changing the subject. “About my being stuck here, I mean?”
“You want to leave?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“I don’t know. I figured you came here for a reason.”
I hesitated. Drake was being a lot nicer than Kai or Oscar had been, but that didn’t mean I was going to spill my guts to the guy. I knew a thing or two about secrets as well.
“I needed a change of scenery,” I said, shrugging lightly. “But I can do that anywhere, and it seems like Oscar’s got his hands full, so…”
“Gotcha. If you don’t want to deal with Kai, I’d say talk to Silas,” he said, and I groaned.
“Of course it would be him.”
Drake’s brows went up. “I take it you’ve met him?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
He laughed. “Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.”
“Let’s just say we won’t be BFFs anytime soon.”
“Trust me, no one’s calling Silas their BFF.” He chuckled.
“There isn’t anyone else I can talk to, is there?”
“There’s Oscar and the rest of the council,” he said. “It’s made up of some of the older pack members. But honestly, their authority isn’t really holding water these days. Silas, Kai, Presley, the Close twins—they all kind of do what they want.”
The Close twins?
“You mean Isaac and Idrissa?”
“Yeah. Their dad’s a council member, but like I said, they kind of just do their own thing. We all do.”
The twins were wolves. Of course.
I shook my head. The secrets were just pouring out now. I thought of the bar brawl and what Idrissa had said about how they were treated around here. Like there was no law or order. Just chaos.
“Aren’t wolf packs supposed to be more, I don’t know, united?”
He lifted a brow. “I think it’s obvious we’re not a normal pack.”
“Point taken.” I sighed. “Okay. Silas it is.”
Wolf Cursed (Lone Wolf Series Book 1) Page 10
