by AJ Skelly
I texted Rachel on my way to meet Sam.
—Stay away from Shelby Atwood! She’s one of them.—
—?!?!?!?!— came her swift reply. Hope she didn’t get caught texting in class.
—Call me on your way home.—
—OK!—
****
Dominic blasted out the door the second the tires hit the driveway. His eyes were wild, his hair unkempt. His face still held traces of the previous night’s activities, his arm was in a sling and he held it protectively across his middle where his ribs still ached.
“You’re not hurt?” were the first words out of his mouth as he looked us both up and down.
“We’re fine,” Sam answered for us. “But how could Shelby Atwood live here, mingle with us for two years, and keep her wolf side to herself?” He slammed his car door shut.
Even novice as I was, I understood the ramifications of this. If we couldn’t pick out each other, our world just got a lot more dangerous. Especially with wolves like Victor Atwood roaming free.
“Let’s get inside. There’s more. I heard from the patrol.” Dominic ushered us gingerly inside and limped in behind us. He sniffed.
“Megan?” he asked, startled. I blushed to the roots of my hair. Sam laughed.
“Um, so Megan is going to stay an official member of the pack.” Sam grinned as he looped an arm across my shoulders.
“Ha!” Dominic Wolfe laughed so loudly I jumped. “I’m thrilled. Truly.” He smiled down at me in what could only be called a fatherly fashion. An answering grin tugged my lips upward.
Mary had put a tray of cookies on the table and was getting the milk out of the fridge. She thunked it down and ran to us, having overheard Dominic. Her eyes lit up as we entered, and she ran to embrace us both.
“Welcome home,” she whispered as she released us. My heart warmed. I was home.
Sam snagged a cookie, offered me one, and then sat at the table. “What did the patrol find?”
Dominic shocked us both. “Amalie Rivers and Jonathan Stone caught a wolf from Victor’s pack today.”
I felt my eyes nearly leave their sockets as my mouth swung open.
“How? Where?” The questions tumbled from my lips.
“He was at the border of our land, but it was right at the entrance to the heavy forest.” He looked at Sam. “It was the spot right by the big boulder.”
Sam’s head tipped back. “My favorite spot to enter and exit the woods. My scent, and Megan’s too, would have been all over that spot particularly.”
“Mine would be at least a few days old, though,” I added.
“I’m still not ruling it out. Someone has tried to hurt you twice. They’ve succeeded in capturing me once. Dad, too. It’s clear they’re after one or both of us or maybe all three of us,” Sam responded.
A shiver slipped down my spine. Sam was right. Somehow, we were connected to some manic plan. To what end though? Kill us both? To what purpose? I thought of Shelby today in the locker room.
“Shelby said something today. Right before she shifted. She snarled and said, ‘He was supposed to be mine. How many times do I have to try to kill you? Why won’t you just die?’ I think she’s behind, or at least knows more than she should about, the attempts on my life and maybe the abduction. What if she was behind the car and the arrow? To get you? To get me out of the way? That sounds completely crazy out loud. And she can’t have masterminded your abduction. There’s no way she has that kind of power or resources at her disposal.”
“She’s a wolf. She’s not thinking in human terms. She’s thinking in mate terms. I think it’s the first solid lead we’ve had on any of it,” Dominic admitted gruffly. “We need to find her. She knows things we do not. In the meantime, Son, I think it best we go and have a chat with our guest. He’s the same wolf you scented at the theater and at your school.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Maybe some answers at last.”
Chapter 59
Sam
Dad and I went to the shed behind the garage a little while later. Megan stayed in the house with Mom when Amalie Rivers dropped by.
Snarls and sobs echoed inside the small space, and Dad and I looked at each other in confusion. We listened for a minute as the man’s crying continued, only to be broken by snarls and the clink of chains.
Opening the door, Dad flooded the small space with cold gray afternoon light. The man stopped jerking and sat still in the chair, his arms chained in manacles he wouldn’t be able to escape as man or wolf. The manacles were chained to a heavy ring embedded in the concrete floor. There was enough slack that the man could sit comfortably, even scratch his ears if he had an itch, but not so much slack that he was any danger to us, standing right inside the door. The time-regulated space heater buzzed back to life, throwing some heat into the otherwise chilly room.
Without speaking, Dad opened a bottle of water and handed it to the man.
Conflicting emotions roiled across his face. Hate, fear, longing, and that curious blank stare the wolf who bit me had exhibited. After a charged moment, the man raised trembling hands, accepted the bottle, and drank greedily. Dad stepped back.
“Care to tell us what you were doing on our land?”
The man’s lip curled. “I didn’t know it was yours,” he muttered, a snarl touching his words.
“Does your nose not work?” Dad asked in typically blunt, sarcastic fashion.
“Victor owns this land. This is all his.”
“Victor Atwood would have to be three hundred and fifty years old to own this land because that’s how long ago the Wolfes settled here. This is generational family land. I’m afraid your Mr. Atwood is mistaken.”
The man snorted.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“You don’t need my name.”
Dad sighed. “How about we get down to business. Why did you kidnap us?”
“You’re just pawns in his game. We all are.”
Dad and I shared a glance. My skin began to crawl at the despair in the man’s voice.
“What is his game?” I asked quietly.
His eyes stared at me. Haunted and desolate. “He’s going to kill me anyway.”
“Then you might as well tell us what’s going on, and maybe we can protect you from him,” Dad offered an olive branch.
The man closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. “Nobody can protect themselves against Victor. Not once he’s got his claws into you. I don’t know a lot. Victor is very secretive, and I’m no one of consequence in the pack. But he wants a large pack. The largest pack anyone has had in centuries.”
“Why?” I asked, at least getting an inkling of why my pack was shot at with wolfsbane bullets and not real ones. Maybe his sole purpose was to assimilate.
“He can control us. His pack.” He shuddered.
I glanced at Dad.
“Use command?” Dad clarified.
He shook his head. “More than that.”
Dad cocked his head, the light catching on a particularly nasty purple bruise. “He can control you how?”
The man’s lip quivered, and he tapped his head. “In here,” he whispered.
“Do you know how?” Dad pressed, concern and the slightest hint of fear rippling over his marred face.
The man shook his head. “I just know he does.”
“Why were you at the theater and at the school?” I asked, unable to keep the questions silent anymore.
“I’m a scout. I followed several wolf trails. I watched. Waited. Reported back.” He glanced at the ground.
“And?” I prompted.
He shrugged again. “That’s it. I told Victor numbers and locations, just like he told me to.”
“Do you know anything else that might be useful?” Dad pressed.
He shrugged a piece of dark hair out of his face. He was younger than I first thought. Probably only a few years older than me.
“I’m not sure what else to say. I’m a lackey,” he s
aid with a bitter twist of his lips.
“A lackey he trusted enough with our abduction,” Dad hinted.
“A lackey far enough down on the food chain that is easily controlled and manipulated.” The bitterness was outright. “Were you serious? Earlier, when you said you might be able to protect me?” His voice was raw and vulnerable. A fissure cracked in the man’s armor.
“I have some friends up north. I don’t think it’s safe for you to remain here, and you’d have to officially leave Victor’s pack, of course.”
“I’m not sure I can. Victor’s control goes pretty deep. I joined his pack when I was a boy.”
“Do you want our help or not?”
“Jordan. My name is Jordan. And yes. I want your help.”
Dad nodded stiffly. “We’ll work on leaving the pack after a while. I will need to make some calls.”
Jordan’s face sagged in relief and exhaustion. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“What do you know about Shelby Atwood?”
Jordan jerked in his chair. “Shelby? She’s crazy. Like should-be-institutionalized crazy.”
I leaned forward. “Tell me everything you know about her.” Jordan glanced at me then Dad, confusion on his face.”
“I’m not sure what you want to know. She’s Victor’s daughter. He dotes on her. She’s nearly as manipulative as he is, but she doesn’t have mind control the way Victor does. I try to stay far, far away from her. She’s cruel. Like Victor.”
“Has she ever mentioned the names Megan or Sam?”
Jordan thought for a minute. “Like I said, I try to keep away from her, but she did say something about removing an obstacle. I got the feeling there was another wolf encroaching on a mate she wanted.” Jordan looked up. “You?”
“Possibly,” I conceded. “How is she able to keep her wolf secret? She’s lived here for two years, and I’ve never smelled wolf on her.”
“She doesn’t always live with the pack. I’m not sure who or where her mom is, or where Shelby goes. I’m not sure how exactly she keeps her wolf secret. I know she had a surgery a few years back. She smelled properly wolf before then. I’m guessing that she had some sort of operation that tampered with her scent somehow. I have no idea how that would even be possible.”
“Who operated?”
“Some doctor from another pack. I know it wasn’t done in a hospital, and we don’t have any doctors in our pack.”
I had an idea who might be able to tell me more. “Dad, I’m going to go make a call. Yeah?”
“Sure.” He turned to our prisoner. “Jordan, I’m going to go make a few of my own calls. I’ll bring you out some food soon but know this. If anything you have told us today has been anything less than the truth, or if you have intentionally misled us in any way, I will kill you myself.” Dad’s voice was deathly low by the end, and even I had goosebumps. I didn’t doubt that my father would take this man out in the woods and that he’d never been seen again. I barely suppressed a shudder, thinking that only last week I wondered if he’d tried to kill Megan.
****
Moving back to the house I found the ladies sitting at the table, chatting happily over cups of tea and cookies. It was such a contrast from out in the shed, speaking with a man who had successfully kidnapped me, to this cheery, warm room full of female energy and soft laughter.
“Find out anything?” Meg asked as she glanced up. A shy blush spread over her cheeks, and I grinned like a stupid fool before clearing my throat.
“We did, actually. A few things. I’m going to head back up to the cabin and make a few calls. Are you ready to go?”
“Sure. Thanks for the cookies and conversation.”
We said our goodbyes and climbed into my car.
“So what did you find out?” Meg asked as she looped her fingers through mine. I smiled and squeezed our twined hands.
“I need to call Jennifer when we get home. I think she may have a few additional answers or theories.” I quickly filled her in on what Jordan had told us and by the time I parked, she was up to speed.
“That’s terrifying. To have your mind controlled? How is that even possible? You can’t do that, can you? I mean, you can command someone in your own pack, but could you actually control someone beyond that?” she asked as I flipped the deadbolt.
Shaking my head, I pulled my phone out and put it on the table. “No. I don’t know how to do anything beyond the command. Judging by Dad’s face, I don’t think he does either. And it is scary. If he can control his whole pack, and he has a large pack, he could essentially make them do whatever he wanted. Rob banks, steal cars…kill people.” We were thoroughly sober at that thought.
“What about Shelby?”
“I think she did want me—I think she’s most likely behind the attempts on your life, too. I don’t know if she acted alone or with Victor’s help.” I shuddered and pulled her into a hug which she readily returned. “Let’s call Jennifer. She may have some ideas.”
Meg nodded and sat down at the table. Sitting opposite, I dialed and put it on speaker.
“Hello, this is Jennifer.” Her voice was cheerful.
“Jennifer, it’s Sam. Again. Megan is here, too.”
“Hi, guys. What can I do for you?”
“I’m hoping you might have some information for me.”
“I’ll certainly give it my best shot.”
“Do you know anything about a surgery that could remove all scent traces of a werewolf?”
Jennifer inhaled sharply. “I haven’t been privy to it myself, but Kyp and I heard about something similar while we were in Kentucky. It wasn’t someone from our pack, but someone a pack member knew by association. The story circulated because it was so unusual. Anyway, there was a young wolf who was diagnosed with cancer in her glands. Now, because werewolves have extra glands, this was additionally concerning. The way we heard, she underwent a surgery and had her scent glands removed as well as her additional wolf glands. It fixed the cancer but removed all traces of her wolf scent.” She paused. “It also drove her mad. Legitimately crazy.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“So this has been done before. When?”
“According to the gossip spreading around the Kentucky pack, it was probably close to five years ago.”
“Crazy how?” Megan asked.
“She really went off the deep end after a few years. I think it started with delusions and probably some vivid hallucinations, or even altering her brain chemistry to the point that she felt and saw things that weren’t real. By the end, she’d lost her powers of speech and would only scream and howl. She’d shift at will and couldn’t control her body. I don’t know if it was the removal of the glands, or if it was the cancer that was actually the root cause.”
“Thanks, Jennifer. It’s possible that there is another wolf in our midst that has had her glands removed. At least, she has no wolf scent. She hid in plain sight for over two years.”
“Wow. That’s a long time to go undetected. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. Tell Kyp I said hi. I’m thinking you both have passed the wolf tests with flying colors. I’ll be speaking to Dad about his officially joining the pack.”
There were tears in her voice. “You don’t know what that means to me. Or what it will mean to him. Thank you.”
Chapter 60
Megan
We joined Dominic and Mary again for dinner at the main house.
“I’ve called Austin Thornehill. He’s agreed that he’ll take Jordan into his pack for protection for the time being. And we’re going to have a strategy meeting tomorrow. It’s obvious that Victor Atwood is a threat. I’ll be sending out some more scouting parties this week, and we’re going to get as much information as we can and then assess what needs to happen. Austin has pledged his help,” Dominic shared around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
“I wish we knew what it was Atwood actually wanted,” Sam added.
“I agree.” Dominic nodded.
I swallowed a bite of delicious pot roast. “We’re assuming Shelby is behind the attacks on me—do you think she was doing it on her own, or for Victor?” I asked.
“I’d like to know that, too,” Dominic said.
“I think one of our chief concerns needs to be finding Shelby. She can’t roam free. If she did have her glands removed like the wolf Jennifer heard about, Shelby could be literally losing her mind—doing all kinds of irrational things and planning another attempt. I won’t have that,” Sam said.
I nodded, heat curling in my belly, and I squeezed Sam’s thigh under the table. He rubbed his leg against mine.
Mary dished out another carrot onto her plate. “Dom, do you think the pack will be safe enough, going in numbers? No one going anywhere alone?” Mary asked.
“Short of putting everyone on pack arrest, what else can we do right now? We don’t have enough information. That’s the first order of business.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Dominic got up to answer it. His arm was still in its sling, and his face was still multicolored.
“Austin! I didn’t expect you to come yourself. Please come in! We’re just having dinner. Mary, grab another plate,” Dominic called back.
“I’m sorry to have come at an awkward hour. With things the way they are, I thought it might be best if we met in person and that I transport Jordan myself,” Austin said as they came through the living room to the kitchen.
“Austin, please sit down and join us,” Mary said as she put another plate and silverware at the table by Sam. We all stood and leaned over to politely scent each other before Austin Thornehill sat down to a large helping of roast and vegetables.
“I appreciate this,” he said with a smile. “Part of why I came myself, is that I wanted to assess the prisoner before taking him back. I am open to taking him with me, but only if I don’t get any sort of duplicitous reading off him. I won’t take a threat back to my pack.”
“Completely understandable. I made him no guarantees,” Dominic agreed.
Chapter 61
