Searching (Hidden Truths Book 1)

by Quell T Fox

  Thorne may have some luck with her clothing, so I don’t feel completely bad for going back with nothing. He’s invested in this, in her. He would be the first one to do it, to throw our plan out the fucking window. He’s the softy, the one who forgives. The one who gets us into trouble because he trusts too easily. It’ll only be a matter of time before we find out if trusting this girl was a wrong decision.

  Castor and I are well acquainted with Thorne’s trust issue. And by trust issues, I mean the fact he does it too easily.

  I won’t say I trust her because I don’t. Thorne does, but that’s no surprise. Cas is… getting there, which also isn’t surprising. He wants the prize too much. So much he’d turn a blind eye to something as silly as her lying.

  But why did she lie?

  There is always more to a lie than just the words spoken. The words aren’t the problem. It’s the why.

  Why did she do it? What is she getting out of this?

  That’s what I want to know.

  Of course, there is a tiny part of me which thinks she could be telling the truth, but I doubt it. I have an animal inside of me, and mine isn’t all that aggressive and I still couldn’t deny it being there. She is a wolf, one of the most aggressive animals and she didn’t know. How did she not know?

  It’s unbelievable how anyone can believe her story.

  Idiots. I’m mated to a bunch of idiots.

  But for the sake of my coterie and of my entire pack, I have to go along with this. I know I’ll be forced into it, even if I don’t want to be. Believe me when I say, I’ll milk it for all it’s worth and take my time getting there. I guess it is a sacrifice I will have to make.

  Cas is right, we don’t settle for anything less than the best. And if she is what’s going to get us into our rightful place in the pack, then I’ll do it. I’ll complete the bond for the sake of my brothers because even if I don’t care about her, even if I think she’s a liar, I’d do anything for them.

  I’ve slept with plenty of chicks I haven’t actually liked. What’s one more?

  Maybe the fact you’ll have to live with this one?

  I’m good at ignoring people. I think I can handle it.

  I continue to fly above the school, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Anything suspicious.

  I see nothing.

  That is until I circle back to front of the school. The kid who tried to take Leona from the party, the one who is supposedly her friend, he’s just gotten out of his car and is heading back into school.

  Why in the world would he be doing that?

  I swoop into the thick layer of trees and reach the ground where I left my things. I quickly shift back and dress in my clothes. Jogging out of the woods I make it towards the door just as it’s closing behind Elliot. I step in quietly and follow him on silent feet. He enters the nearest bathroom. I wait a few breaths and go in after him as quietly as I can, locking the door behind me.

  The bathrooms in this place don’t have urinals like a normal school would. This fancy ass school has small bathrooms inside of the bathroom. Something I wouldn’t have minded at our old school, if I’m being honest. You can never have too much privacy when whipping out your dick to take a piss.

  Each stall has a toilet and its own sink. I wait by the door, leaning my back against the wall. Elliot and I are the only people in here. Lucky me. When he walks out, he doesn’t look surprised to see me, but that’s because he doesn’t know who I am or why I am here.

  I’m not sure what this kid normally looks like but right now he looks like a damn train wreck. His hair is a mess, his clothes are filthy. Doesn’t he have any self-respect? But the thing that gets me the most is I can smell her on him. Her scent is everywhere. I can’t be sure if it was willingly or not. She could be playing Thorne in their “relationship” just as easily as he was supposed to be playing her. Once a liar, always a liar, if you ask me. Just to be on the safe side, I engage in conversation.

  “Elliot, right?” I push off the wall.

  “Yep,” he grunts, walking towards the mirror and running his fingers through his hair. Fucker didn’t even wash his hands and he’s touching his face like that? He didn’t flush the toilet either. All I heard was a piss stream and then the lock on the stall door being snapped open. And if there is anything I hate, it’s bad bathroom manners. I walk up to him, grab him by the back of the head and smash his face into the mirror.

  “Oops.”

  Chapter Forty

  Thorne

  Cas and I meet Callan back at his house after I’m unable to find anything at the school. I texted Hunter to let him know where we are and to meet us here when he is done. Everyone is waiting in the library when we walk in, so that’s where we go.

  Callan explains as much as he can to everyone, but then I step in and explain the rest of what I know. Cas also explains his part, earning him glares and mental death threats, I’m sure. We all know she shouldn’t have been left alone but he admits he was wrong; the first step. If he feels guilt, then he is feeling something for her. He’s going in the right direction.

  “Good to know they haven’t bonded yet,” Maddox says under his breath. Friday smacks him in the chest, about to say something to him when someone else walks into the room.

  “Not all of us,” Hunter snickers, flicking his eyes over to me and grinning. It earns him a death glare from me and a frown from Cas.

  Maddox’s eyes go wide and then his jaw clenches. His eyes immediately find me, but I’m not afraid of him. In fact, I have more respect for him than a lot of people I know. I can sense the kind of person he is. He would do anything for the people he loves. Leona has a good family here and as soon as they realize I’m not the enemy, that I’m going to protect her with everything I have, then they’ll realize the same about me.

  “I have something,” Hunter says, pulling on the end of a rope and dragging something behind him. Or I should say, someone.

  I look down to the ground and find Leona’s friend, the one I almost made my dinner at the lake. He’s on his knees, a gag in his mouth and his hands tied behind his back. Hunter holds a rope in his hand, the other end is tied around Elliot’s throat. His face is covered in blood and I see a cut in his forehead. It isn’t actively bleeding but it looks fresh. My eyes dart to Hunter and he just winks at me.

  Maddox averts his attention towards them and looks impressed. Actually fucking impressed. I’m not surprised he would be excited over something like this, but of all people, he has to be impressed with Hunter? Fuck off.

  “Who the fuck is this?” Alec asks.

  Hunter tugs on the rope, causing Elliot to scramble forward on his knees.

  “Elliot Van Holton,” Callan answers. “He’s a student at Roseland. He’s known Leona since she moved here. He was friends with her and Lina, but something is not right with him.” He moves towards the douche in question, getting on one knee he squints towards Elliot, looking into his eyes. “He’s been spelled.” He stands up and backs away. Lenny rushes through, pushing Maddox out of the way. Something I wasn’t sure was possible because Lenny is small compared to Maddox, but it happened.

  He marches right up to Elliot and swings. Getting him right across the face. Elliot’s face jerks to the side, a deep groan rumbling in his chest. “Tell me where she is, you cookie loving son of a bitch!” Lenny cocks his arm back and swings again. Elliot is already flinching, waiting for the punch. He can’t do anything else; Hunter has the rope pulled taut, an eager expression on his face. Hunter has always been the sadistic one out of the bunch. He loves the violence.

  The rest of us share looks, not entirely sure what to do. Do we stop Lenny or let him go?

  “Where is she you fuck?!” Lenny shouts. “Tell me!” Another punch. Both Lenny and Elliot are covered in blood at this point. It’s pouring from Elliot’s nose and mouth, splattered on the walls and floor. With each punch, the room is painted in a little bit more blood. Hunter looks down at his clothes, disgusted with the spots of
blood now decorating his pants and shoes.

  Callan looks at the spots all over the floor and cringes.

  “All right, Lenny. We can’t get any information from him if he’s dead,” Maddox deadpans, walking forward and pulling him back.

  “I can’t… I can’t fucking do this.” Lenny rips his arm from Maddox’s hold and storms from the room, blood dripping from his knuckles as he goes. Maddox follows him.

  “Friday?” Callan asks, looking towards her.

  “Yeah, I got it,” she says. Moving from her spot she gets close to Elliot, taking a seat in front of him. She reaches out to touch his arm and her eyes go completely white. I’m not surprised by that; we knew what she was, it’s just shocking to see. None of us have ever seen a prophet before. And nowadays, it’s a lot harder to see one than it used to be. There is only one in the entire world. All Paranormals know about her, not many get to meet her. When we found out Leona was related to her, it was a delightful shock.

  After a few moments, she blinks a few times and stands up, her eyes back to their normal golden shade.

  “I know where she is, I can take you.” She takes a step towards the door, but Callan grabs her arm.

  “Let them,” he says in a gentle voice. Friday stares at him for a long moment, then her eyes move to me. She takes a deep breath and nods.

  “She’s at the Oak Cemetery, at the edge of town. Not too far passed the school,” she answers. I don’t wait for anything else. I rush out the door, pushing Hunter out of the way.

  “Better hurry,” Elliot shouts, causing me to stop. I look back, seeing him through the doorway. Hunter is still holding onto the rope leash. Elliot turns around slowly, his eyes bright red. It’s creepy as fuck, like something out of a horror movie. “They’ve probably gotten to her already,” he says, letting out a laugh which chills me to my bones. I grip the keys in my hand and rush out the door, not even sure if I closed it behind me.

  Cas rushes after me, jumping into the passenger seat as I round the Jeep and get into the driver’s side. I start the car up and slam it in drive. I lift my foot to press on the gas when the back door opens, and Hunter jumps in. I catch his gaze in the rearview mirror.

  “Decided to join us?” I ask.

  “What else am I supposed to do?” He settles into his seat, looking out the window.

  Baby steps.

  I drive down the driveway and head towards the cemetery.

  She better still be there, or I just may have to kill someone tonight.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Leona

  I wake up cold.

  Actually cold.

  Not the normal cold I feel from the inside, the one I’ve grown used to. I feel cold on my skin.

  I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is the sun is bright in the sky. I’m lying on my back, large trees looming above me. I try to move my head, but it won’t budge. In fact, I can’t move anything other than my eyes. I blink slowly, my body feeling heavy and full of sludge. And really, really cold.

  I wonder where I am and how I got here, but I don’t know either of those things. I can’t remember much.

  I think… I think I remember going to school this morning.

  Yes, I definitely went to school this morning.

  That’s if this is even the same day but the last thing I remember is going to school. Thorne picked me up. We got coffee and donuts and he had the huge, silly grin on his face when the worker handed him the bag of goodies. The same way he always does. I want to smile at the memory, but my muscles won’t work.

  I lay in this spot for a long while, just staring up at the sky. Listening to the wind blow through the trees, the birds flying above, chirping away. I notice I don’t hear any cars. It’s quiet.

  My vision is blurry. I still can’t move; my body is numb. I blink and focus on turning my head, but it’s no use. It’s like my brain has forgotten how to make my body work.

  Panic starts to rise, starting as a flutter in my chest but soon spreading throughout my entire body.

  What if I’m paralyzed? What if I’ll never be able to move again?

  The thought is horrifying. Worse than any other thought I’ve had. I can’t imagine never being able to move again. Not being able to walk or smile. Never being able to interlock my fingers with Thorne’s or run them through his hair. Never being able to grasp onto his shirt as I pull myself up to kiss him.

  I take a deep breath, trying to settle myself. My head is spinning, and I suddenly feel dizzy, the panic overwhelming me. I close my eyes and start to count, trying to ease away the nausea.

  I’m sure that’s not what’s going on. I’m not paralyzed; it doesn’t make sense. Why would I be here? If something happened that caused me to be paralyzed, I’d be in a hospital. Not here.

  The sound of rustling leaves has me perking up. I slow my breathing, trying to quiet it. The rustling is coming from my right, but I can’t see anything.

  I can’t see anything.

  Someone pops into my vision. A tall man. He walks closer, stopping about a foot from me. He’d tower over me even if I were standing up, I realize. I blink at him, trying to clear some of the fuzziness. His eyebrows are full and thick, matching the beard on his face. He looks down at me with dark eyes. They’re dark like Castor’s. But unlike Castor’s, his are empty. Castor’s are full of emotion and passion. Full of life.

  “Well, well. It seems the boy wasn’t as useless as I thought he would be.”

  “I told you it would work.” A woman walks over. Pale skin, light eyes, and hair to match. “The witches don’t play. You want something done, you go to them.”

  “Whatever. Just don’t tell Farrell or we’ll both be in the doghouse.”

  “Like I’m that stupid.” She rolls her eyes and takes a step closer, leaning down over me. “So, this is her? She looks kind of pathetic, if you ask me.” She stands up straight, placing her hands on her hips and looking around.

  The man shrugs. “We all can’t be alphas. There has to be a bad egg along the way.”

  “We should just kill her. If anyone finds her, it’ll be an even bigger issue. Seeing how weak she is… it’s just going to give pops a bad name.” She tsks, looking at me like I’m a disappointment. I’m used to the look; I know it well.

  “Not my problem. He wants her alive, he’ll get her alive.” The man bends down, slipping an arm under my shoulders. I have no idea who these people are, but I know who sent them. “Not that I know how long he will keep her alive for.” He barks out a laugh. The moment he gets his other arm under my legs, ready to heave me up, an owl swoops down, digging large talons into the man’s face. He cries out and falls backwards, his hands going to his face and dropping my top half back to the ground as he does. He writhes around on the ground, shouting about his face burning.

  My hand begins to twitch as I try to move it. I know I need to move and now. Things are going to start getting bad, I can sense it. I have to get out of here.

  The woman darts back to the area they came from, but I can’t see where it leads to. I try to follow her, but my head won’t move enough. I continue trying to move my fingers and it gets easier as the seconds go on. I’m able to clench them, forming a fist. I focus on my feet next, knowing I’ll need to run. I wiggle my toes in my shoes, but it’s not enough. I try to move my ankle, rolling it around. I watch as my foot twitches, but it’s all I’m getting. Other than frustrated and scared.

  “She’s here!” I blink once more and then look to my left, from where the familiar voice came from. Castor drops to his knees, his hand cupping my face. His eyes filled with fear and anger. “You’re okay,” he whispers, running his thumb over my skin. “You’re going to be okay.”

  I try to nod; my head moves just barely. I then remember the man on the side of me. Moving my eyes back to the other side, I see he is still lying there, his face covered in blood and he isn’t moving or screaming anymore. The blood covering his face is more than a few scratches should cause. I watched
it happen; it wasn’t that serious. Castor follows my gaze, seeing the bloody man, he smiles a small smile before looking back at me. “Your brother is a good man.”

  Lenny? What does he have to do with this?

  Another familiar face drops on the side of Castor, pushing him out of the way. I let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Thorne. He leans forward pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

  It’s not your fault.

  A low growl sounds from the woods on my right and Thorne’s head pulls away from mine, his eyes a darker shade than what they normally are. Looking at him from this angle reminds me of us in the woods the first time he fucked me.

  And even though I lie here, unable to move, the butterflies don’t have any issue with it.

  I turn my head towards the direction Thorne is looking. It takes me a few seconds to realize it worked. I moved my head! But I’m seeing something I don’t want to see.

  A large pack of giant wolves stands at the edge of the woods, heads low, teeth bared.

  Thorne looks to Castor, who nods slightly. “You’re sure?” he asks quietly.

  “It’s the only way.” Thorne looks down at me. “Trust me, okay?”

  I nod, getting some feeling back in my body. Slowly but surely my skin feels as if it’s defrosting, the numbness washing away in slow waves. My ankle rolls and I’m elated at being able to move. No matter what Thorne wants me to do, I’ll do it. I trust him. I trust him more than anything.

  I look back towards the woods.

  He kisses my forehead, not taking his eyes away from the wolves. He hoists himself up to his feet, making himself look like a giant from down here. Though it isn’t being part giant that makes him so big, it’s being a bear.

  Castor follows his lead, standing in a defensive stance. I begin to test my body, to see what I can move and what I can’t. I dig my hands into the ground, pushing myself up as much as I can. It isn’t easy, but I manage. I’m in a half-sitting position when the first wolf moves forward, but only a few steps. The wolf is light grey and white, not a dark spot on it. Another steps forward and it shifts. Right in front of my eyes the wolf shifts into a human.