A Pack of Blood and Lies

by Olivia Wildenstein

  “Release him.” Julian’s voice cut through the pregnant air.

  Liam was freed so suddenly he stumbled forward, but he regained his footing instantly.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Liam?” Julian asked.

  Liam’s eyes roamed over my face. “I’ve come to collect my wolf.”

  His wolf? I was no one’s wolf.

  Julian echoed my musings out loud. “Your wolf?” His voice cocked in time with his eyebrow.

  Color prickled Liam’s jaw. “Ness is a Boulder wolf.”

  “As far as I understand, your pack hasn’t let her pledge herself.”

  “Ness, come on. I’ll take you home.” Desperation rolled off him and banged into my toughened shell.

  Now he cared? I hugged my arms around my torso. In my mind, I whispered, Go away. You’re making a fool of yourself.

  Julian wound a possessive hand around my bicep. “Ness is my date for the evening.”

  Liam’s gaze rocketed toward the Pine Alpha, then slammed back into me.

  He waited.

  And waited.

  For me to deny this. Or perhaps he waited for me to scrub Julian’s hand off.

  I did neither.

  I could see the exact moment it registered with him that he’d wasted his time playing the savior. His entire face hardened, and he backed away. And then he shook his head, lips curling in disgust.

  I kept my face blank of emotion as he stepped back and back until he disappeared.

  I’d made an ally tonight, but I’d also made an enemy.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I stayed at the engagement party another hour. I’d made it a point not to leave with him, just as I was making it a point not to stay too long. I wasn’t looking for a replacement pack.

  Not that this was a possibility. I dug my phone out of my bag to ask Everest for a lift, but Julian pre-empted my demand by clicking his fingers. “Sarah!”

  The wild-haired werewolf who’d told me Boulder whores weren’t allowed on Pine territory got tasked with bringing me home. From the annoyance tightening her brown eyes, I could tell she was as glad about this arrangement as I was.

  Midway home, she asked, “Did you blow him?”

  I pitched my gaze off the dark road and onto her. All her features were fine, especially in contrast to her mass of tousled curls, but I could tell her delicateness was skin-deep, and that her personality matched her wild hair.

  I guessed she meant Julian, but I needled her anyway. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

  She wrinkled her pert nose. “God, really? Eww.” She narrowed her gaze on the starlit forest. “I meant Julian.”

  “No.”

  “But you did do something to him, or he would never have helped you.”

  “Do you know where Liam Kolane lives?”

  She raised one of her already peaked eyebrows. “Is this a trick question?”

  “No. I left Boulder when I was eleven. Liam still lived with his father then.”

  A dimple appeared in her cheek. She must’ve been biting it. “I do know where he lives.”

  “Can you drop me off there?”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t owe you an explanation, Sarah.”

  “If you’re two-timing my Alpha, you do.”

  “Two-timing your Alpha would mean I was one-timing him. Which I’m not. I just need a word with Liam.”

  “I’m not waiting on your ass, though. I’m not your chauffeur or anything,” she grumbled.

  “Because you think I’d want you to wait on me?”

  “Are you screwing Liam?”

  “Do I look like I’m screwing him?”

  “Babe, you look like you’re open to screwing a lot of things.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Who wears a dominatrix dress to an engagement party?”

  My eyes snapped a little too wide. I realized I hadn’t fit in with the tulle and silks in my skintight leather but hadn’t realized what impression it gave others. Then again, I hadn’t been too concerned with fashion when I’d donned it.

  “I didn’t buy it.”

  “One of your lovers got it for you?”

  I tugged on the hem that was riding up. “My cousin bought it for me.”

  “Yuck. If my cousin ever bought me shit like that, I’d tell her to wear it herself.”

  I snorted as an image of Everest wearing my dress snuck into my mind. “It’s a him, not a her.”

  “An even better reason to get him to wear it.” She smiled, and it thawed some of the stiffness padding her small red Mini.

  “You’re a wolf, right?” I wasn’t sure why I was asking. She smelled like one. Perhaps it was to get confirmation. Confirmation that I wasn’t the only female werewolf in the world.

  “Damn right.”

  “How many of you are in your pack? Females, that is?”

  “Twenty-eight for seventy males.”

  The Pine Pack was more than twice the size of my pack.

  My pack.

  The thought caught me by surprise. I shook my head, but like a fly, the thought stuck to the web of my mind. Boulder blood ran through my veins, but that was it. The Boulders weren’t my anything. Even if I became their Alpha, I’d never truly belong.

  I stuck my elbow on the armrest and cradled my head as what I’d agreed upon—becoming Alpha of a pack I loathed—dug its talons inside of me. My deal with Julian wasn’t fair to the Boulders, but fairness wasn’t a value upheld by my pack anyway.

  I massaged my temple. What was I supposed to do? If only there was someone I could ask. I thought about speaking to Everest, but he’d all but forced me to meet with Julian, so his counsel would be far from objective. I thought of Evelyn next. Perhaps, in not too many words, I could paint a clear enough picture of what was going on so she could advise me.

  “We’re here. That’ll be a hundred bucks.” Sarah turned toward me in the car, her eyes glowing in the semi-obscurity.

  I raised my head off my fingers. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Depends. Do you have money to burn? I could really use new headphones.”

  “You’d spend a hundred dollars on headphones?”

  “I like good sound.” She lowered her hand.

  “But a hundred bucks?”

  “Ever heard of DJ Wolverine?”

  “No.”

  “Have you not been to The Den?”

  “What’s The Den?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Only the coolest club in the whole of Boulder. I deejay there on Thursdays and Saturdays. DJ Wolverine.” She pointed to herself. “I can’t believe you haven’t been.”

  “If it’s Pine territory—”

  “It’s neutral territory. The Boulders go there with their little bite-sluts.”

  “Bite-sluts?”

  “Girls who want to get bitten.” When I frowned, she went on, “Some people still believe that if you get bitten enough times by a shifter, you’ll turn into one.”

  I blinked. I didn’t remember seeing any bite marks on the Boulders’ girlfriends.

  “God, you really are a total newbie at this. Robbie wasn’t kidding.”

  “Robbie wasn’t kidding about what?”

  “That you need an education.”

  “He told you that?”

  She smiled, her teeth glowing so white in the light of the car they resembled pearls. “I’m his baby sister. Robbie tells me everything.”

  “You’re his sister?”

  She slapped a palm over her chest very dramatically. “I’m offended.”

  “That I didn’t know you were his sister? Unlike you, I didn’t study your family tree.”

  “What’d they teach you in werewolf school?”

  “I didn’t go to…werewolf school.” Was there even such a thing?

  She smirked. “Did you fall for that?” Her smirk became a smile. “You did, didn’t you?”

  “You’re weird.”

  “Sa
ys the only female in her pack.”

  “That makes me unique. Not weird.”

  She went back to smirking.

  A light came on in a sleek, wood-paneled cabin at the end of a short dirt drive. I caught movement in the floor-to-ceiling windows that boxed in one end of the house. Liam’s place wasn’t oversized like his father’s but looked pricey nonetheless.

  The click of the car doors unlocking made me jump.

  Sarah squinted at the shifting, shadowy shape. “You seriously not tapping that?”

  “I’m seriously not tapping that,” I said, pumping my door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Yeah. Whatevs.” She flicked her hand. Gold rings set with cut stones glinted on two of her fingers. “Ciao.”

  I got out and started walking.

  “If you ever get bored”—Sarah’s voice made me spin around—“or have questions about being a she-wolf, you can find me at The Den. Thursdays and Saturdays.”

  I gave a short nod. That was…kind. Sadly, kindness made me suspicious. This was the reason behind my detour. I wanted confirmation that Aidan Michaels had shot my father and an explanation as to why there hadn’t been any retaliation. I twisted back toward the rectangle of glass and wood, moonlit dust blooming around my heels as I approached Liam’s house.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I was about to knock when the door opened. Liam had probably smelled me, like I’d whiffed his distinctive musky scent halfway down the drive.

  He stood there, a towel riding low on his waist, his dark hair dripping water from a recent shower. Even though he basked in shadows, I noticed that his nose and a large part of his jaw were bruised. The blood was gone, though.

  I looked away from his face, focusing on the sharp-lined furniture arranged at ninety-degree angles on a cowhide rug. Liam shifted, his body filling the doorway, surely to block out the sight of his home from my prying eyes.

  He crossed his arms. Sinews moved beneath his smooth, golden skin like mooring lines. “What do you want?”

  I inched my gaze back up to his face. “Did Aidan Michaels kill my father?”

  His expression emptied of its hostility. Clearly, he had not been expecting that question.

  “So? Did he?”

  Frowning, he said, “I thought you knew.”

  “I wouldn’t be asking if I knew.”

  Liam’s eyes raked the darkness behind me, which had me twirling around. Was Sarah still there? Before I could turn back to face him, he yanked me inside then released me and shut his door.

  “What were you doing at Robbie’s engagement party, Ness?”

  My gaze dipped to his glistening, muscled torso before sliding to something safer, something inanimate—a lamp speared into a block of black marble that bowed over the couch’s armrest.

  “I repeat, what were you doing at a Pine gathering, Ness?”

  I looked back up into his stern face. “How did you even find out I was there?”

  “Frank sensed you were in their territory. And then I caught a picture of you on one of their Instagram feeds. The Pines are social media whores.” His voice was as sharp and stark as his house.

  For some reason, that last part made me snort. “You have Instagram?”

  “What. The fuck. Were you. Doing there?”

  “The agency sent me.” The lie slid out as smooth as the leather that ensconced me.

  “The fuck they did. Julian would never use a Boulder wolf as an escort. Besides, I thought you were done with that.”

  “I’m not a Boulder wolf. Plus it was easy cash. And it gave me the opportunity to meet them. They’re lovely people. Way more civilized than your pack.”

  “I told you I can pay your debts.”

  “And I told you I don’t want your charity.”

  His hands moved to the towel at his waist. “It wouldn’t be charity if I fucked you, right?”

  I blanched. “I-I just… It’s just d-dates.” My throat went dry. “I don’t have sex.”

  He untucked the towel, his long fingers moving slowly. “I have trouble believing that.” The gray cotton slid heavily to the floor and pooled around his feet.

  I backed up. “I’m not having sex with you, Liam.”

  “But you’ll spread your legs for Julian?”

  That made me snap. “I don’t spread my legs for anyone.”

  “Look at you. Look at what you’re wearing.” He gestured to my dress, and I burned with rage.

  I pressed my palms against the leather at my hips, wishing I could transform it into something else, something that stopped giving the impression I was a whore. “You’re a real jerk, you know that?”

  “At least”—his voice was barely above a vibration—“I’m an honest one.”

  Nerves skittered underneath my skin.

  He took a step toward me, and I took another step back. My tailbone hit smooth wood.

  “First…” His lips shut then parted again.

  My heart held perfectly still.

  “First Aidan. Now Julian.” He moistened his lips. “Do you have a thing for older men?”

  “They were jobs.” My shoulder blades knocked together as I flattened myself against the wall.

  Liam pressed one hand on the panel beside my face. His breaths whispered against my forehead. “Prove it.”

  I gaped at him. How was he expecting me to prove it? It wasn’t like I’d documented my evenings.

  An inhuman glow devoured his irises and coated the whites of his eyes. And then his nails lengthened into claws beside my face. They clicked against the wood. He snapped his eyes closed. When he opened them, they no longer shone yellow and his nails had receded.

  I became acutely aware of his nakedness, of his proximity. He was careful not to touch me with any part of his body, and yet I felt him…everywhere. Smelled him. Heard the blood pound wildly in his neck.

  “Damn it, Ness,” he growled. “Prove it!”

  His tone broke me out of my daze. “I don’t need to prove anything to you, Liam Kolane.”

  “You embarrassed me today.”

  “I never asked you to retrieve me.”

  “What’s your game?”

  A knot of fear pulsed behind my navel. “Get away from me.”

  I pressed my hands into his torso, but it was like trying to move a tree. An infernally hot tree. His body wasn’t on fire but felt like it was, especially in contrast to my clammy palms.

  He spun me around and pushed me against the wall until my cheek was flush with the glossed surface, then locked my wrists behind my back with one of his hands.

  “Let me go!” I screeched.

  “Not until you tell me the truth. Did you or didn’t you fuck Julian Matz?”

  “Go to hell.” A tear snuck down my cheek. And then another. And another.

  “You leave me no choice.” His knees clicked as he crouched.

  Horror shot through me, and I struggled against him. Was he going to rape me? Oh, God, Everest had been right. Liam was like his father.

  Silence. And then a long inhale. He’d sniffed me!

  White-hot rage undid me, and I spun, ripping my wrists out of his grip. He rose, and I slapped him. Not once but twice, and I would’ve slapped him again if he hadn’t caught my flailing hands.

  “You are a pig! No worse than a pig!” I shouted. “How. Dare. You!”

  His expression went slack. I ripped my hands from his and punched him in the gut. I would’ve punched him lower, but I didn’t want to violate him like he’d violated me.

  A groove formed between his slanted eyebrows. “You didn’t sleep with him.”

  I shook, trembled, quaked. “I hate you. Hate you!” I fumbled to find the door knob. “If you ever…ever…come close to me, Liam, I will injure you so badly even your wolf gene will be powerless to fix you.”

  Liam stood perplexed. I doubted it was my threat that was scaring him. I doubted he took me seriously. If he did, he wouldn’t have defiled me.

  “Ness…” His
voice sounded scratchy.

  “Don’t talk to me.” I wrenched the door open and fled into the night, tripping on my heels. I kicked them off.

  Anger and humiliation throbbed against my spine, against my heart, against my skull.

  “Ness!” I heard him call out to me.

  I didn’t stop, didn’t turn around. I had no idea where I was, but I ran anyway. Any place was better than here. And as I ran, my muscles thrummed, my bones hummed, and my skin prickled. The claws came out first, and then the fur. My body changed so fast it tore my dress, and I fell hard against asphalt.

  Headlights blinked into existence up ahead, and I seized up.

  The car rolled closer, the light glinting like honey off the ends of my white fur, the beams burning into my retina. I blinked just as an enormous black shape rammed into me.

  For a second, I flew and then I landed so hard on my rump I whimpered. The world spun like the car’s tires, and everywhere I looked was drenched in the blackest darkness and the shiniest starlight.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Fear shot up my spine at the same time as tiny aches exploded around it. And my lungs… They could barely expand underneath the weight of the body crushing mine. I squirmed and the black wolf rose off me and dragged himself a couple feet away.

  I waited with bated breath in the shadows of the ditch, half expecting car doors to click open and footsteps to pound the road. But the car didn’t even slow, zipping past where I lay hidden, spraying gravel over my dirt-flecked white fur. Slowly, I stirred, pressing up onto my limbs that were once again shaking, and blinked the darkness away. When my sight cleared and sharpened, I made out the gleam of Liam’s eyes.

  He let out a low-pitched whine. I backed away, but my bruised rump hit the slope of the ditch.

  Liam didn’t advance on me. He also didn’t back away.

  In that instant, I realized I owed him my life, but saving me didn’t erase what he’d done. I bared my teeth and growled.

  He still didn’t move.

  I barked, Get away from me. He didn’t, so I shot out around him and into the forest, my sense of smell going haywire as it picked up a myriad of aromas. Dank moss tangled with Liam’s musk, and the cold sweetness of wood smoke blended with the crisp scent of insect bodies.