I wasn’t expecting he would bring the members of what I still mentally dubbed the boy band with him. There was Bobby, Nico, Jamie, Chaz, and behind them, the one I loathed. Cale. “May we come in?” asked Matt politely as if I hadn’t spoken. He didn’t cross the threshold.
I was hesitant to allow them inside. “Do I need to give you my permission before you can enter?”
Jamie and Chaz snickered.
“No, stupid. We’re not vampires,” scoffed Cale as he pushed around Matt and allowed himself inside. He could have shoulder checked me, but he made sure to step around me instead.
My thoughts flicked to the horrible wondering if vampires were as real as werewolves. “Are those real too?” I sounded worried. No one said anything.
Not one of them confirmed or denied the existence of vampires, and I didn’t push for an answer. I was already in over my head with the reality that monstrous werewolves existed and were now inside my house. I could only handle one myth at a time.
The others allowed themselves inside. Two of the boys immediately took off up the stairs. The others looked around, as if waiting for a command instead of taking action on doing anything. Matt took a good look at me from head to toe. While he winced, it was Jamie who spoke. “You look awful.”
He wasn’t kidding. Before they had arrived, I stripped off my pajamas that were completely saturated in blood. All I had put on was a large, bushy robe. I hadn’t taken a shower yet. Still, I knew I must look awful. Not only for the dark circles under my green eyes but as well as the drying blood caked on me.
“Was it the blood in my hair that gave it away?” My sarcastic words were a near whisper. I had lost my voice earlier while screaming.
“Yeah, dude,” answered Jamie before nodding. He stuffed some of his inky black hair back under his ball cap. “It’s all on your face and might even be in your ears, too.” He wasn’t being rude, just his usual oblivious self.
Before I could snap an angry retort his direction, Cale and Nico came bolting down the stairs.
Cale looked smug.
“It’s pretty gnarly up there,” said Nico. “It’s like Texas Chainsaw Massacre bad.”
“I don’t doubt it,” replied Matt quietly. “I can smell the blood from here.”
I didn’t relate this to his being a werewolf. There was now enough blood in my room that even I could smell the distinct coppery stench. It was making me woozy.
“How long do we have before your siblings return?” asked Matt while not looking at me.
“Four hours for Simon and s-six for Miranda,” I answered promptly. My throat was raw, sore from all of my screaming and crying. My eyes ached, desperate to close for rest.
“Four hours,” announced Matt to the rest of the boys. “I want all blood removed as well as any items with even a speck of blood on it. We’ll have to move fast.”
Cale laughed. “We’re gonna have to burn down the entire room for the most part.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” said Matt coolly as Chaz entered the house. The burliest of the boy band carried five gallons of bleach in each hand. Behind him, Bobby entered the house with a box of rubber gloves as well as matches and gasoline. My eyes were probably bulging out of my head, for Matt gave a gentle shake of his head at me. “We’re not seriously going to burn your house down. But we will have to burn the bloody clothes.”
As Matt started giving commands on who was supposed to do what, Cale watched me with a smirk. His haunting eyes looked at me as a predator would. Both of us ignored Matt’s commands as we silently watched one other. It was me who broke the silence.
“I thought it was going to be one of my pretty little coworkers,” I remarked quietly.
Cale smiled broadly. He gave a roll of his shoulders. “I guess I was wrong.”
He held no care that someone was dead. Gentle goosebumps tickled the back of my neck. That was what probably was most repulsive. None of them held any real care. That was the part that scared me more than anything; no one seemed to hold any care that there was someone’s decapitated head lying upstairs in my bedroom.
I didn’t know what to do or how to react. I was going to go upstairs and help before Matt’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. “No,” he said quietly. “You don’t need to go up there.”
We didn’t say anything else. He also didn’t remove his hand from my robed shoulder, and I didn’t mind his holding it. I quietly watched the floor while he quietly watched the staircase. All that we could hear were the boys loudly complaining from the second floor. While one complained how big the mess was, another boy started issuing profanity-ridden names toward another. From the sound of it, someone threw an object at the head of another.
“I said clean, not fight,” issued Matt lazily. He didn’t have to speak loudly and yet the boys heard him just fine.
If it were any other situation, his words might have been comical. He sounded similar to an annoyed elder brother scolding small children. For a while, all that was heard was the grumbling complaints of the boy band. If one stopped complaining, another swiftly took his place to gripe. They sounded like whiny teenagers. After what seemed like a small eternity passing, someone finally came down the staircase.
My stomach clenched uncomfortably, and I resisted vomiting when Chaz came down the stairs with a volley-ball sized object inside of a black garbage bag. “Too soon for ‘heads up?’” he joked, wiggling the black garbage bag in one hand.
Matt’s hand gently tightened on my shoulder. He ignored the comment. “Status report.”
“It’s not so bad,” yawned Chaz. “We’ll burn the rug, clothes, and blankets. After that, it’ll just be getting rid of the mattress.” He started walking toward the front door but glanced at Matt and me.
I didn’t miss how Chaz’s eyes gave a quick glance to Matt’s hand on my shoulder. He then looked Matt square in the eye. It made Matt quickly slide his hand off and take a step away from me.
“You should go shower,” he told me while watching as Nico came down the stairs with a large garbage bag. I assumed this one held my blood-soaked sheets and comforter. “This shouldn’t take too much longer.”
“You sound as if you’ve done this before,” I murmured before flinching. Looking at him said it all. Matt’s expression told me that was exactly the case. Somewhere at some point in his long life, he had. Nothing more was said as I slowly trudged myself up the stairs.
CHAPTER 20
I spent a half hour in the shower. I started crying once I saw the blood wash off me. The distinct vibrant red collected before slowly circling down the drain. I cried harder the more the events of the morning played through my head. I cried for Richie; I cried for his death. He wasn’t a good person, but that still didn’t qualify him for a grisly end. I cried for Laurel and Jonna; neither deserved to die. I cried for Old Man Thompson. And I cried for myself and the situation that didn’t feel as though it was going to have a happy ending.
After pulling myself from the shower, I put on my burly robe once more. I couldn’t stand the idea of going into my bedroom to look for clothes. I never wanted to go into my room again if I could help it. I didn’t care how I looked as I slowly padded down the hallway; all thought of image didn’t matter to me anymore. Such a thing as wondering what I looked like now seemed trivial.
I was surprised to find my room was absolutely spotless. Stopping in my doorway, I found that not only was no one in there, it was also positively clean. My room held the strong stench of bleach, but I couldn’t find even the smallest droplet of blood. My mattress, rug, and all bloody articles of fabric were gone. The window was open and allowed a soft breeze to filter inside to air the bleach smell out. Outside I could even smell a fire going. That was mixed with the scent of fall leaves. Gentle waves of smoke filtered in the room, the fresh air and the smoke slowly filtering the bleach scent out.
I made my way to the staircase but paused when I heard the boys downstairs speaking.
“It’s getting worse,” sa
id Nico quietly. “How many more people need to die?”
Whomever he was speaking to didn’t answer him. “This is getting harder to hide.”
“She’s stubborn,” Cale eventually said. “She doesn’t want to join. Scaring her obviously isn’t cutting it.”
“She doesn’t get a choice,” Jamie threw in adamantly. “You guys act like she does.”
“Not all of us,” replied Cale coldly. “The stoic one with a hard on for her doesn’t—”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll be shutting it for you,” snarled Matt, immediately silencing Cale. “If you were all honest, then no one would want her to join. She doesn’t belong with us. But he’s not listening to reason. He won’t allow her not to join. He wants her.” Matt’s words were almost so quiet I couldn’t hear them. That sent a shiver up my spine.
“This is more work than it should be,” Bobby remarked. No one else said anything, inspiring him to continue. “What, you guys aren’t thinking it, too? If she was really mated to him, she wouldn’t be denying joining the pack—”
“Unless she mated with someone else,” interjected Chaz coolly. He chuckled at the silence that followed. “Wouldn’t that be an interesting twist, Matty?”
A low snarl issued from nearby, giving me a startle. I had no doubt it was Matt who made the noise. Chaz didn’t say anything else due to what was probably fear.
“You didn’t deny it,” said Jamie quietly.
“I shouldn’t have to,” replied Matt coldly. “The plan is simple; we’ll work to get him focused on someone else. No more dead bodies, no more chasing.”
“That’s not how it works, and pretending otherwise is dumb of you,” said Jamie. “He said from the beginning it was going to be her specifically. You tried giving him the sister. How did that work?”
That single word hit me like a punch to the face. “What?”
I hurried down the stairs, my mind having a hard time processing what was being said. It was plenty obvious that this was about Miranda. I looked to Jamie and Matt, unable to hide the shock from my face.
“Ohh look, Everly’s returned. I was wondering what piece of information would inspire her to quit eavesdropping,” said Cale with a smirk. Clearly they knew I had been nearby without having to see or hear anything from me.
I ignored Cale, my eyes only trained on Matt. Part of me wanted to shove him, wanted to hurt him. But I couldn’t find myself moving as my eyes misted with unshed tears. “You dated my sister to give her to your leader?”
Up until that moment, I didn’t quite know what I had been thinking about the brief relationship between Matt and Miranda. I no longer spent time wondering why Matt had gone out with my sister. I couldn’t find myself caring once I realized that I liked him, too.
But hearing this was appalling. Little did poor Miranda know that the guy she was interested in was only using her. It meant that Matt held no qualms on sacrificing my sister to his alpha.
Matt didn’t look me in the eye as he replied. “He’s been attracted to a scent from the very first moment he caught it at The Forest. I wasn’t sure if it was yours or hers given you were both around the conference center during the same time.”
My thoughts turned back to the time that Miranda’s company had been at the hotel for the conference. Back then, I was still in the shipping department. Matt wasn’t wrong with his statement; the alpha could have gotten either of our scents. But that didn’t evaporate my anger. “So when was it that you decided which of the Davis sisters was going to be your unlucky victim?” I moved forward with the intention to shove him only to chicken out of touching him. I felt too hurt.
“Yeah, Matty boy, when?” drawled Cale, inspiring an awkward laugh from Bobby. The rest of the group didn’t seem to know what to make of a girl on the verge of extreme tears. They either watched me with awkward expressions or avoided looking at me altogether. But Matt watched me with sorrow-filled eyes.
“Get out,” he said to the group while not looking away from me.
Bobby, Nico, and the quiet Terrance obediently left through the front door into the cold November air. As annoyed as Cale looked, he too stalked out of the house as well. But Chaz and Jamie remained inside. Both looked cross.
“You’ve been making a lot of orders lately,” remarked Chaz coolly. His unblinking eyes didn’t waver from Matt.
“Yeah,” agreed Jamie. “Almost as if you’ve been forgetting who’s really in charge.”
Matt then turned a cold eye onto him. “When he’s not around, I might as well be your alpha,” he said in a low, dangerous snarl. His expression was murderous.
That was enough to get Jamie to leave my house. Chaz followed soon after, but not before giving Matt a very cold look.
We were left in silence after that. Matt didn’t say anything, and I wasn’t sure when I had started freely crying. He made to move toward me before I quickly moved away from his touch.
“W-what was the plan?” I breathed. “D-date Miranda, lull her into a false sense of security before biting her and g-giving her to your alpha?”
“I didn’t have a plan,” confessed Matt, looking crestfallen. “Getting to know you…seeing your sarcasm and your feisty personality is what inspired me. For the very first time since before I was turned, I only had one singular action in mind and one alone.”
“Give the alpha whatever he wanted,” I guessed with a sad sniffle. I could no longer look at him. My hands rubbed my temples; the headache I had was aching horribly.
“No,” Matt disagreed, rubbing his forehead wearily. “Protect you.” He said this so very quietly I had to do a double take to see if I had heard him right. Matt watched my tear-stained face and gave a sad nod. “I can’t repeat myself given they’re probably trying to listen in on what we’re saying, but you heard correctly.”
Nothing else was said. Matt slipped out the front door, leaving me alone and confused.
Sasha sent me a text saying I needed to show up to work an hour earlier than necessary. Miranda had come home earlier than usual and tried asking how my day was, but I dodged her advances. I quickly left the house when she started inquiring why there had been a small fire going in the outside fire pit. I didn’t have to worry about her finding the remains of my clothes; everything had turned to ash by now. Matt and the boy band had made sure no bloody clothing or blankets had been left behind. They had taken away the bloody mattress in Chaz’s truck. A large tarp covered it.
I left over an hour earlier for The Club than I normally would have. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting during the half-hour drive through downtown Dells. I should have asked Sasha why I was needed to come in to work early before the reason showed itself when I finally arrived at The Club.
There were police cars everywhere. Police officers were questioning my coworkers. Some were crying while others just looked upset. Cooks and bussers were being interviewed, while the overly bubbly male host spoke to a reporter about how much he was going to miss everyone.
I was expecting this was for Richie’s death. Maybe this was where he had been killed, where the rest of his body was discovered. But as I took notice of all the solemn expressions, something seemed very wrong.
“Everly!” greeted Sasha, motioning for me to join her and another coworker whose name I couldn’t remember.
I slowly walked over, trying to keep my expression neutral even though I knew perfectly well why the police were here. “I don’t even know what to say,” murmured Sasha, clearly trying to keep her voice low as two officers conducted an interview a few feet away.
“Did you hear what happened?”
I slowly shook my head. It felt impossible that it was just that morning I had woken up with a decapitated head in my bed. “Richie, Katelyn, Kelly, Amber, and Nina were murdered last night,” Sasha whispered, as if saying the words were worse than the crime itself.
My eyes went wide as my breath got lost in my throat. Richie I knew of; the rest were a complete surprise to me.
“How?”
My words were hoarse whisper.
Sasha shrugged while it was Courtney who answered. “Either an animal attack or some maniac with a hacksaw. When Brandon came to open up at noon, he discovered a bunch of body parts and trails of blood.”
Brandon was one of the kitchen staff who arrived early to prepare the prime rib and salted meats for the day. I stared at the stone walkway beneath my feet, unable to find anything to say. As Sasha and Courtney soon began talking about what it meant now that Richie and his supervising staff were all dead, I slowly swiveled my head to watch as the crime scene unit were taking pictures of something at the front door of the supper club.
I had to wait until the burly man with the camera moved out of view, but what I saw made me want to vomit. A single hand was holding onto the doorknob, not attached to anything. It looked like someone had been trying to get inside The Club before being attacked by the werewolf. The pale white hand was still latched onto the doorknob, underneath it a large pool of blood.
CHAPTER 21
It had not been just Richie brutally murdered. It instead had been a bloody massacre of supervisors and managers from The Club. All around the supper club, there were spots of blood, torn-off limbs, and shredded clothing. From what it sounded like as time went by, the working theory was that the nearby animal sanctuary had accidentally lost two very large brown bears the night before when, somehow, they had gotten loose from their cages. I had not a doubt in my mind that a werewolf was behind the attacks. No animal from the zoo was capable of this kind of massacre.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t something I could share.
When it was finally my turn to interview, I couldn’t possibly say that this bear theory was bogus. Sorry, Officer, it isn’t those missing bears. It was the alpha werewolf who has an unreciprocated crush on me. I can’t be too sure, but I feel strongly he’s not going to stop killing until he has me finally join his pack.
The Wisconsin Werewolf Page 15
