by K. R. Grace
I slid down to the bottom of the stairs and pulled myself up into a ball, rocking back and forth to keep from whimpering.
Chapter Twelve
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Drake
I screwed up big time by bringing Star to my house and Mack was pissed.
I shifted in midair, landing on my haunches in front of him. My lips curled back into a snarl as a warning growl rumbled deep in my chest. The pack circled me, gnashing their teeth. I kept my eyes trained on their alpha. My subordinate. His gold eyes sparkled with rage as foam dripped through his exposed canines.
When were you planning on telling me the Falcons were back?
I fought back the urge to smirk at his use of the Alpha voice on me. The pup seriously thought he could usurp the Supreme? I rose to my full height, staring him down.
“If your guys were on the East end last night like they were supposed to be, you would’ve known. It’s not like you to slack off.”
Last night had sucked royally. Meliena sent out the alert that two teenagers had disappeared off the Ramsey Cascades trail. I’d spent two hours scaling the entire mountain until I finally found one of their backpacks ripped to shreds and covered in blood. A quick sniff told me the owner of the bag hadn’t made it.
Whoever had done it wanted it to look like an animal had torn the person limb by limb, but no animal touched that bag.
I’d followed the scent from the bag to a deep ravine and found two dismembered bodies lying beside each other, their dead, lifeless hands linked together. Like they’d clung to each other in the face of death, prepared to cross over together. I recognized the boy as one of the teens from the Reservation. The girl had black hair and pale skin, but I hadn’t allowed myself to get any closer to take in the rest of her features.
Someone had left them for me to find. The resemblance between the two teenagers and Star and me didn’t go unnoticed. It was a warning.
What little food I had in my system had made a second appearance before I sent a message out to Meliena to let her know where to lead the search party. I wanted to find the bastard that killed two defenseless teenagers and make him pay with his own life.
It looked like a scene of a brutal animal attack, but it’d been a long time since an animal larger than a rabbit was in the vicinity of where the unfortunate couple was found.
In the midst of my angry pacing as I’d waited, I caught a strong whiff of leather and cinnamon. The only souls alive with that smell were Falcons.
I climbed to the highest point possible and looked down in the valley below to spot two human-sized Falcons feeding on a deer. Thankfully, the wind had been blowing west, carrying my scent away from them. Otherwise, it would have been a two-against-one fight, and I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
By the time Meliena arrived, I was nowhere to be found. Instead, I went home and called Star, desperately needing to hear her voice. I had to hear for myself that she was okay.
Deep down inside was the knowledge that I didn’t stand a chance with her. Raeb had the tribe to back him. The Sterlings were stinking rich and could buy the world if they wanted. I was just a screw up.
But that wasn’t going to stop me from trying.
Mack snorted, bringing me back to the situation. He shook his head hard as he lowered further, preparing himself for a pounce.
One of them killed Nico this morning. Deal’s off, Drake. I can’t let the girl kill my pack.
Nico was Mack’s cousin. He’d been hotheaded and quick-tempered. He probably thought he could take on much more than he could chew, and it came to bite him in the butt. Still, it sucked he died at Falcon hands.
I’m sorry, Mack. You know you can’t blame this on Star. She’s an innocent. I snarled when he took a step toward me.
Move out of the way, Drake.
My hackles went on red alert as I prepared to go for his jugular. If he tried to take one step past me, I was going to rip his head off. No one was touching Star. He and I both knew I could control him if he pushed the issue.
Back the hell away, Mack. I gave him one last chance to stand down before I brought the Supreme Alpha forward.
She’s going to get us all killed, Drake. You’re an idiot if you don’t see that.
It’s not her fault this is happening! You leave her out of this. If you’ve got a problem, you deal with me. Got that?
Mack glared at me but made no move in my direction. I stood between him and the entrance to the cabin. If he tried anything, I’d kill him and think about the consequences later. I watched the war rage in his eyes as he stared me down. I let the Supreme flash in my eyes and watched with satisfaction as he jerked his eyes away.
Message received.
If one more of my family dies, deal’s off. Mack growled one last time before he ran off, the others falling in line behind him.
Just before he disappeared over the bluff, he turned back to me.
It’s your family, too, you know?
I shook my head in frustration. I lost my family a long time ago. Those are just posers.
I didn’t bother giving an order. He and I both knew he’d given a pack promise. Nothing short of our deaths could break it. Today had just been an act of grief.
I walked into the barn where I kept an extra pair of clothes. By the time I re-entered the house, Meliena was sitting in the living room with a deep scowl on her face.
“I can’t believe you brought her here without telling her first. How stupid can you be?” She hissed under her breath.
“Save it, Meliena. I don’t need you to tell me what I already know.” I held my hand up to silence any further protests as I marched over to the door to the basement.
My heart stopped beating when I opened it and found Star huddled in a fetal position at the bottom of the steps. She was rocking herself, humming a song under her breath. My chest constricted, and it took everything in me not to scoop her up into my arms. Unfortunately, some things needed to be dealt with first. Only then could I claim the right to touch her again.
I silently prayed she didn’t run out the house screaming.
Chapter Thirteen
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Star
“Come on, Star! Don’t be a chicken!” Clint shouted from the water below.
Easy for him to say. He thought racing motorcycles on little dirt roads was mild entertainment.
I clung to the thick rope in my hands as my body convulsed with nerves. “You promise the water’s deep?”
“Baby, I wouldn’t lie to you. Just let er’ fly.”
His deep Southern drawl washed over me, having the calming effect I needed. With a loud squeal, I ran until the ground disappeared and all I had was the rope chafing my hands. Right before I started to swing back in the direction of the cliff, I let go, plunging down into the freezing cold water.
For a second, I couldn’t tell up from down. I opened my mouth to scream, ingesting a deep gulp of nasty lake water as I flailed around. When I was ready to give up and let the water take me down, strong hands grabbed me under the arms and yanked me to the surface.
“Don’t scare me like that!” Clint barked as he shoved the hair out of my face to look me over.
I should’ve been freaked out. I should’ve been pissed it had taken him so long to help me. Instead, a giggle surged forward until I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.
“It’s not funny, Star. You could’ve drowned!” Clint chastised me as he held me tight against him.
“But I didn’t, and that was fun,” I said once the laughter subsided into random hiccups and giggles.
“Star, I couldn’t live with myself if you died,” he whispered into my ear so none of his friends could hear.
“But you won’t have to, ‘cause I’m not going anywhere,” I smiled up at him reassuringly.
“Promise me.” He demanded, his serious sea green eyes robbing away the last strains of laughter right out of my chest.
I cupped his face with my hands. “I p
romise.”
His lips clamped onto mine as he sealed the deal with a kiss that ended way too soon.
“Get a room!” Gage yelled from his perch on a large bolder to our right.
While Clint was preoccupied sending his friend the death glare, I used it to my advantage, shoving him beneath the water. When he popped up spurting water, there was a sinister gleam in his eyes.
“You’re going to get it, babe,” he warned just before he lunged.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“They’re gone.” Drake’s deep voice broke into the memory.
I tried to move, but I couldn’t. My legs felt like they were made of Jell-O. He came down the steps and effortlessly hoisted me up into the air, carrying me up the steps. Just being able to breathe in his pine, citrus scent was calming my frazzled nerves.
I was safe.
Unfortunately, he released me as soon as he reached the living room and took a step back to put some space between us. I gave my head a shake to clear away the cobwebs before asking, “How did you get rid of those wolves? You were completely outnumbered.”
He didn’t answer.
As I scanned my eyes over him, inspecting every inch to reassure myself he hadn’t been eaten or mauled by wolves, I realized he’d changed into a dark pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that stretched precariously over his chiseled, unmarred chest. Good to know he worried about a wardrobe change while I was holed up in his basement. But I had to admit, he looked good in that shirt.
Something stirred in me when I was around Drake. Something I thought had died with Clint: desire. It felt good, and for the moment, I allowed it to be there.
I was staring, and he knew it. When my eyes made contact with his heated gaze, I jerked my focus to the window, more specifically to a clump of clothes lying in the grass. It took some squinting, but I finally made out what it was: a shredded green hoodie and tattered faded jeans.
“Did you…did you fight those wolves? How come you aren’t hurt? Don’t you know they’re dangerous? Are there even wolves in this part of the country?” I started rambling hysterically. The thought of Drake, a mere human who’d only weeks ago needed crutches to get around only weeks ago, trying to fight off a hungry pack of wolves had closed off all my airways.
His sinister chuckle broke through my internal meltdown.
“Of course I know their potential, and technically, no, there aren’t any wolves in the area.”
“Then why’d you go out there? And how are they here?”
“They’re looking for me.” He only answered my first question.
“What? None of this is making any sense! How would you know what a wolf wah…” Then it all came down on me, the force of it doubling me over at the waist. He was hard as a rock, lean, swift, masculine. He was always alone with the exception of his sister. He knew things about me I’d never told him…as if he’d read my mind. An image of the huge wolf in my yard flashed before me. It was him!
“It was you I saw that night!” I gasped and was suddenly terrified of the one person who made me feel safe. I vaguely remembered reading that werewolves killed humans. Thankfully, it wasn’t a full moon, but still, I was paralyzed with fear.
“We don’t need a full moon to change.” I could hear the smirk in his voice.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” I began whimpering. “Please don’t eat me.” I straightened and backed myself up against a bookshelf. He positioned himself between me and any means of escape, caging me in with his arms.
So this is what a rabbit felt in the face of a hungry Wolf. Good to know.
He tilted his head back and a bark of laughter escaped him. “You are the last person I would ever eat; if I ate people…which I don’t.”
“What about all those missing hikers from the legend? If it’s all true.”
“They weren’t missing because of me. I tried to find them. Usually, I’m too late.” Sadness etched deep into his features.
“Wh-what do you mean? Is there something else out there worse than you?”
He laughed, but it looked like he was in pain. As if my words were tearing him apart.
“I’m not a monster, Star.”
His broken words made me wince. I was handling this all wrong, but it wasn’t every day a girl finds out the boy she’s crushing on is a man-wolf.
Patience flashed in his silver eyes as he watched me fall to pieces. “How are you acting so calm?” I sputtered.
“I’ve had several years to adjust to the news.” He grinned sardonically.
I laughed dryly.
“You’re still not getting it, are you?” He pressed himself against me. All the blood in my brain went elsewhere as soon as our bodies made contact, robbing me of my ability to think.
“Get what? That you are a freakin’ man-wolf-boy?”
He lowered his face so that his lips were just a breath away from mine. “You’re the girl, Star.”
“Wh-what?” I squeaked. “I can’t be the girl. That myth, if true, happed almost a thousand years ago. Oh my god, you’re over a thousand years old!” It was all too much. The room was spinning, I really wanted to kiss him, and I heard his ironic laughter. This went down in the books as the strangest thing to ever happen to me. And this from a girl who grew up in Atlanta.
“No, it only happened about three hundred years ago.” He stroked my cheek.
“Oh, much better,” I answered dryly.
“And it was your great-great-great-great aunt who was the original girl. No reincarnation here.”
“You’re wrong. My ancestors came from England one hundred years ago. It can’t be me. You’re wrong.” I knew I was rambling and repeating myself, but I just couldn’t get myself to accept what he was telling me. I mean, who could?
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned to look into Meliena’s understanding brown eyes. I jerked away from her as if she was a hot stove, which caused me to crash into Drake’s arm. He pulled me flush up against him, keeping me steady.
Okay, I was reacting to all this like a total wimpy girl. For some reason, it was my autopilot response.
“That’s what Helena’s parents wanted everyone to believe. They were humiliated by what happened,” Meliena explained.
“What ha-happened?” I knew I needed to hear the story and finally get it through my thick skull.
“Helena supposedly fell in love with one of us, but we never knew who. I found her dead in a ravine. Her wagon flipped over somehow. Raphael, the Falcon, couldn’t live with himself. He came to me and begged me to kill him. Claimed if he couldn’t spend eternity on earth with Helena, he’d spend eternity in Heaven with her. I didn’t want to do it, but once a shifter decides to die and makes the request, there is nothing anyone else can do to change it if it’s approved by the Creator.” Drake sighed deeply as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“Her family didn’t want anyone to know their daughter was involved with such nonsense, so they went back to England and stayed there for a generation. They made sure no one ever knew what happened,” Meliena finished.
“So, you, this person holding me, can turn into a Wolf, and there really was a Falcon, and there is some person out there who can transform into a bear?”
“That would be Sam’s descendants, yes. And there are Falcons. Present tense and plural. Just because Raphael is gone doesn’t mean they’re all gone. He had a twin brother, Brighton, who tries to hunt me down from time to time. The Wolves who came today are also shifters and were warning me that he’s back.”
“So, why was I shoved into a basement if that’s all they had to say?”
Drake grimaced as he began to pace. “They think killing you will save the pack. One of their brothers died at Sterling hands this morning. If too many Falcons come into the area, there could be a war.”
War? Why did there have to be a war? Why couldn’t I just finish out my days like a normal high school teenager? It was moments like this I missed Clint. He had his problems, but at least he didn’t
turn into a freakin’ animal!
“I need to go home. This is all too much,” I sighed as I rested my head on his shoulder. Yes, in the midst of my world crumbling, I still felt anchored in his arms.
That was messed up.
“Do you think you can stand on your own?” he asked, hesitating to remove his arms from me.
“I’m fine,” I snapped as I forced myself out of his grasp.
When I looked into his blue eyes, I realized I’d hurt him emotionally with my behavior. He had to live with the fact he was a monster every day. I wasn’t helping any. Deep regret saturated his beautiful face. I wanted so badly to reach up and touch his cheek in reassurance. But…I wasn’t sure if I could trust my instincts right now. He may still be the same person I knew an hour ago, but now that I knew the truth, everything changed for us.
“I’m not a monster, Star.” I almost hadn’t heard it, but before I could respond, he spun on his heels and marched out the door.
I followed him out to the Jeep and let myself in rather than waiting for him to help me. Once he was in on his side, I turned to look at him.
“Why did you feel the need to tell me about this? I was just fine living in oblivion.”
“To protect you.” At first, I thought he was going to leave it at that. He cranked the vehicle to life and put it in drive. Once we were clear of the driveway from hell and back onto the main road, he continued. “History is going to repeat itself. Your family has been gone from this area for generations, but now you’re back. Helena made mistakes that killed her. I can’t let that happen to you.”
“Choose the Falcon over you? Um, I don’t think I’ll be that stupid.”
“You don’t understand. We’re made to attract you. It’s a luring tactic designed by Fate.”
“Who is Fate?”
“The leader of Shadowmen, the coven of evil shifters. She set the whole thing up, but when we didn’t die, I’d assumed the curse was broken. Apparently not.”
“Um, okay. So you’re saying I will like all of you? Well, newsflash, I don’t like anyone.” That wasn’t exactly true, but now was not the time for a heart-to-heart revelation.
