Imagine knowing the person next to you changes their form to fit their mood, turning into a big beast with gnashing teeth and sharp eyes.
Non-shifters would hunt them to extinction.
They tried before; they could try again.
"If we get a bad review from this week I'll be looking into pay cuts. You get paid for the job you do, so do it!" Edwin finished off. He'd been talking himself in circles for the last twenty minutes. The meeting ended, and everyone rose to leave.
"Hey," Carter said to Sam, a pack member, wanting to share in grief.
"Don't talk to me. Fuck you," Sam replied, staring him down before leaving to work.
Mm, so the pack was definitely mad at him.
He didn't blame them.
Breathing deep, cooling his temper, Carter went out to stand behind the monitors and stare at screens blankly until it was time to do a round. Same boring job.
At least the casino had an occasional brawl to break up. But the most exciting thing the rich people who spent their time there would do was have a heart attack.
Chapter 3
The spa was incredible.
As dismayed as Willow was at it all being so empty, she had to admit it was kind of nice being the only one enjoying it. She had exclusive access to the tubs and massage therapists.
It was nearing noon, and she'd already had a personal yoga instructor, a massage, a face mask and manicure, and was settling into a hot tub. The employees had so far been disgustingly nice.
She couldn't decide if it was because of the small-town personality type, or if they were treating her well because of her review, but it was a little creepy. It felt wrong, like drinking from a cup and it tasting sweet but not knowing what it was.
The hot baths overlooked the lake and an untouched view of the mountain range. Snow still covered most of the mountains in the distance, even though it was melted off the nearest peaks.
Willow swirled around in the water, her mind looking for anything to focus on.
Were there any flaws?
Not that she could see.
Everything was impeccably clean and in order. Her every need was attended to, and she could see that many would enjoy a stay there.
She let her mind wander away from the spa.
The local news site didn't yield much of interest. She was able to read most of the stories of the month within a couple hours before she got bored of that as well.
A missing persons case had opened within the last couple days, but they made it sound like a normal thing. Looking at the vast mountain range she could see why. It looked far too easy to get lost out there.
The rest of the news was on births, moving, businesses opening for the spring, some never opening again. Even some gossip on a casino that was twenty minutes outside of the town.
Someone had posted an article about their outrage at a local raccoon trashing their alley, and the fact that it even made the local news made her laugh. It was every bit the tiny and boring town she expected.
Climbing out and feeling hungry, she wrapped herself in a robe and made her way out of the spa.
The resort was mostly empty, so she wasn't too embarrassed to walk around mostly naked. She had a bikini on under the robe, small and black, but she still felt like she was mostly naked. It was a fun and cheeky feeling, and she found herself running through the halls and up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
As boring as the small town seemed.
As ordinary as the resort felt.
Something was so right about this place.
Something was exhilarating and freeing, and she hated that she didn't know why. She felt like she could get into mischief or get away with acting how she wouldn't regularly, and she almost wanted to try.
Almost.
Her hair started tumbling out of the towel she wrapped around her head, and she pulled the towel tighter, almost giggling. Willow wasn't sure why she felt so good, why she had all of this energy, but she wanted to enjoy herself. She turned a corner tightly, her feet thudding away wildly under her, and slammed face-first into a chest of muscle.
"Ah!" She slipped backward and fell right onto her back, her bottom immediately smarting from the slap against the ground. "Ah, ow," she groaned, rubbing her back and wondering how badly she was going to bruise from it. A hand came down to her, and she took it graciously.
"Here," the mountain of muscle offered, leaning down to help her up off the ground.
"Thanks," Willow murmured, wincing as she stood.
She took a deep breath in, trying to collect herself, and something about the air felt good. How could air feel good? Willow rubbed her neck and looked up at the man ahead of her.
He was god damned good looking.
The stranger was in a tight button-down shirt with "The Grand West" across his whole chest in teal. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal thick and strong arms, the ones that were just holding her a second ago.
"Hi, I'm sorry," she said, looking up at this face. His eyes were the brightest blue she'd ever seen. His dark hair, long on the top and swept back and short on the sides, amped this up more. His cheekbones and chin looked like they were carved out of marble, and she wanted to run her fingers against the stubble on his jawline.
Oh, that stubble…
She couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like against her skin.
"It's all right, are you okay?" he asked, bringing her back to reality with his gravelly, deep voice.
God.
Something about this man was electric, as if every single atom that built him up hoarded some kind of magic to make her want him. She wanted to pull him against her and breathe him in, she wanted to taste his skin and…no, no, she needed to stop those thoughts right there.
"I'm okay," she agreed. "Willow," she offered her hand.
"I'm Carter," he replied, shaking it. "Your robe has fallen open," he added, just now pulling his blue eyes off her.
"Oh, god…sorry!" Willow felt her face burn bright red as she pulled it closed. She couldn't imagine him knowing what she was thinking of while she was half naked in front of him.
"Are you the reviewer?" he asked, the first person who had actually asked.
"I am," she replied, wanting him to talk more, but not sure how to make that happen.
"They're all in a fuss about you. How are you liking the stay?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
"It's been very nice. Everyone's been super friendly," she said honestly, not wanting to mention how creepy most people's friendliness had been so far. His felt genuine. The high energy she'd felt running up through the resort was still there, and it made her want to take a risk. "I'd honestly like to see more than just the resort," she added, seeing an opportunity.
"Hmm?" he seemed actually surprised.
"Would you like to show a stray tourist around West Valley?" she asked, being more straightforward.
"That's not really part of my job," he was smiling now. Smiling! His left cheek dimpled a little, and she cherished it for the moment it sat there.
"It doesn't have to be work related," she said, smiling back.
She never did this.
Never.
The last time she'd asked a man out instead of waiting for him to ask her, she'd been in high school. That was ten years ago, and now she was feeling young again. Something about this man – about Carter, she reminded herself – was just so right. She wanted him to stay as close to her as possible; she didn't want to risk anyone else snatching him up.
She felt like he belonged beside her.
"Mm, I'm pretty busy," he said. His face faltered and then dropped. "I have a huge work load lately. I can't really take off," he added.
She felt her stomach turn in disappointment. She didn't want to miss her chance. After how right everything had felt here, she was sure it had to do with him somehow.
He felt right.
He looked amazing.
"I'm sure you can get at least one day off," she said softly, leaning against the wall with him. "I promise I don't bite," she added. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but she wanted to keep going with it. Wanted to hope he'd go for it.
"I'm sorry, maybe some other time," he said, letting her down softly. "You're very pretty," he added, his face shifting for a second like he didn't plan on saying that. "I have to get to work," he finished, looking down at his watch as though he had just realized it existed.
"Okay, catch you later," she replied, sighing as she watched him jog around the corner she just came from.
Chapter 4
He'd hate to say that the first thing he noticed about Willow was her body, but god damn her body.
She went flying into him, all excitement and giddiness for who knows what, and almost gave herself a concussion. Her robe went flying open, and suddenly Carter's shitty day was starting to really look up.
Now she was gone, retreated to whatever corner girls who smell like strawberries and cream go to, and he was stunned and working.
He didn't have anywhere to rush off to.
He just needed to get away from her before he found himself pushing her up against the wall and kissing her. Carter didn't know her; he needed to remind himself of that. She smelled amazing, though, like the forest itself had plucked her from the ripest bush of berries and set her in front of him.
Her soft curves, freckled with more daylight than her current pale complexion let on, hung in his mind. How bright her green eyes got at the sight of him. Her dark brown hair, long, tumbling out of the towel that was wrapped around her head.
She was disheveled and gorgeous.
So, so, fucking pretty.
Something about her called to him, and he knew that he had to immediately shut it down.
He already betrayed his pack by allowing their current Alpha to be killed off and by allowing so many others to vanish. If they found him threatening to dilute the blood of shifters further by taking interest in a human they'd kill him. He felt ashamed even just for his attraction to her.
She was beautiful, but dangerous.
If he let himself be distracted there was no way they wouldn't want his head.
His phone buzzed, and he slid to a camera-less corner to check the text.
"The Cavern at four."
***
The Cavern was deteriorating.
Like much of the town, it had its heyday when mining was still happening in the neighboring areas. Now that the industry had left and taken so many people with it, the bar lost most of its patrons.
Carter sat outside of the aged town-staple in his car, staring at the faded sign in front of the large building.
He knew he wasn't wanted there.
It didn't matter that the text was inviting him to the pack meeting. It didn't matter that he'd been a part of the pack since before he was born. Nothing mattered except for how they'd receive him once he went in.
He wasn't looking forward to it.
The pack used to be some of his best friends, used to be family to him. He grew up with many of them. His mother had help raising him and his brother from a few of them. Loyalty ran deep and strong, and he knew that his failure to protect the Lycaon line, the Alpha line, was a deep betrayal to them.
Dying for a cigarette, he regretted quitting.
Carter reminded himself that he quit for his mother, took a deep breath of clean air, and shoved himself out of his car.
He could hear there were already a bunch of people in there, as all of the cars in the lot were familiar. A sign hung on the door with 'private party until 6 pm' scribbled across it in the shaky handwriting of a drunk.
"I want a whiskey while you're back there," he heard James say to someone who was walking around the bar as he stepped in. A good fifty people were already in the bar, another thirty or forty were expected within the next few minutes.
In the busy energy of the room, he started walking to James, hoping to go unnoticed.
Carter wasn't so lucky.
Silence fell in waves as he walked, radiating away from him as people caught sight of him. His shame filled his entire chest until he felt drunk with it. Another drink wouldn't hurt.
"Hey," he said simply to James, sliding into the seat next to him at the bar. James looked him over for a second, pausing before he clapped an arm around his shoulder and hugged his side awkwardly.
"Don't worry, we know there's nothing you could have done," James said. "Nobody's mad at you or blaming you," he added.
"Have you told them that?" Carter asked, nodding back to the quiet room.
James laughed, and drew his arm back away. "We're mourning, Carter. Let people mourn," he explained, grabbing whiskey that was slid down to him. "A beer for him, sweetheart," James added.
"Call me that again, and I'll have your hide," Miller, one of the older members of the pack, replied, sighing as he almost tossed a bottle at Carter.
Carter kept his head low and his eyes on the bar as he listened to the last few members file into the bar. A couple people had been fired since the last meeting. One woman had a baby. One of the members said that his son keeps changing and wrecking the alley and garbage behind the house, and that he's looking for a night-sitter while he's at work.
Nobody looked at Carter. Nobody talked to him.
After a few more minutes, James turned and started banging the bar's bell to get everyone's attention.
"All right, all right! Quiet down," he shouted, and the room slowly turned their attention to him. Carter felt too close to him, felt too visible. "In lieu of an Alpha here, I'll be the speaker. We'll go over a few small things, and then you can go enjoy the rest of your Monday," he started.
He was always good at taking the lead.
By the end of the meeting, people were treating Carter like a human being again and were almost acting kind to him. A few were talking about Alpha killings happening in other packs. A couple who had come from a pack on the outside mentioned that they happened more and more often.
There was a conspiracy going around that Alphas were dying off all around the world.
The end of a dynasty.
Carter wasn't sure if he bought that. The ruling Alphas were there for a reason, and there's no way their bloodline could be ended so easily.
He needed to run, though.
Carter drove back to the resort, far away from where any other shifters may be running.
The sun had set behind the mountain range, letting a deep blue shadow settle over the town and lakes. Carter kept an eye out for where the cameras were, parked his car on the side on the building, and shed his clothing.
He needed this more than he needed anything.
The change came on hungrily, wrecking his body as it reorganized his organs and bones. The occasional pop and crack of bone punctuated his breaths until it all stopped.
His lungs felt so much fuller, his mind so much more alert.
Relaxing into his nature, Carter let the spirit of his wolf carry him and drag him forward. His legs fled beneath him with an appetite, searching for as much ground to cover as possible. He needed to run, needed to find…
To find...
He wasn't sure what he was seeking out.
His body wanted it, though. His wolf was craving it, and so he let it do as it wished until it got close to the back entrance of the resort. He didn't need to cause any panic or hysteria with the humans. Even more than that, he didn't need any of his pack members knowing he was shifting this close to people.
To wash himself of whatever he was tracking, Carter forced his paws toward the lake.
He dove in, his thick fur soaking up the water as he went, his heart heavy again as his mind took over.
How much longer would he be allowed to enjoy this
lake?
This town?
How much longer until he, like his mother, had to flee to another pack and hope they'd accept him. His mother's original pack had seen her having twins as a bad omen, despite one of the side lines of shifters descending from twin brothers.
They needed her to either get rid of the children or leave.
So, she left.
Now Alphas were dying left and right here.
Now his brother was dead.
It hadn't even been six months since his brother died.
His mother had been gone for ten years by then.
A fish skimmed past him, and Carter snapped at it, wanting to take it to shore for dinner. At least if he ate while shifted he could save money for when he got dumped from the resort as well.
Swimming back to the still surface, Carter gasped loudly, taking in the chilly evening air in gulps. His wolf perked up and started kicking toward the shore without much of his permission. Carter focused his eyes to see what he was smelling, and his heart beat quickly.
The girl from earlier, Willow, was starting out toward the lake from the resort.
Carter forced himself back into his human form, diving under to do it so that he wouldn't be seen. It was painfully fast, and his muscles ached as he resurfaced.
He gauged where she was and then continued to swim, pretending he hadn't seen her and he was just doing laps. She stood there for five minutes, just quietly watching, and he willed himself to ignore her, but it was hard. She was gorgeous, and he wanted to get to know her, even if he knew it wasn't for the best. Giving up, he began to swim toward her, keeping his nakedness hidden in the black water.
"Hey," he said, swimming to the shore.
"I thought I saw a bear or something out here," Willow said slowly, looking out toward the water. "Something bigger than you was swimming out here, I thought," she added.
"Just me," Carter replied shrugging as he leaned on a rock that jut out from the water a few feet from the shore. “Sorry to scare you,” he added.
"What about that busy work schedule?" she asked, he could see her eyes wandering down to where the water hid him from her vision, and part of him just wanted to burst out and take her into the water with him. She was dressed this time, but he didn't mind fixing that.
White Star (Wolves of West Valley Book 1) Page 2
