by A Lonergan
His lips twitched before they transformed into a smile and my blood ran cold. The smile was radiant but calculating. Terrifying. “I have wanted revenge against Rafe Crimson for a long time.”
I nodded my head and eased forward like I could participate in what he was offering but I didn’t trust him. This wasn’t Pack Law. They wouldn’t want revenge against the man that had turned me against my will, would they? Pack Law wouldn’t hold hundreds of wolves prisoner in their own bodies, right? He reached forward and ran a finger down my bare arm.
“Yes,” he breathed. “I do believe we can come to a partnership between us. Possibly even more down the road.”
I swallowed hard and hoped that all it did was solidify how afraid I was. I didn’t want him to know that I was nervous. I knew he could scent my emotions in the air.
I paused. Or could he? I hadn’t seen any proof that he was an actual wolf himself. His eyes didn’t glow yellow and he seemed rather normal. But didn’t all the true monsters?
“I heard down the grapevine that you love a bad boy?” The blade replaced his fingers and I shivered against the cool touch of the knife. “What if I’m bad?”
I couldn’t have fought the next shiver even if I wanted to. His words were like a balm to the fear inside of me. I pressed my lips together before I cocked my head at him.
Then we will become worse. Nalia’s whisper in my mind was weak but full of determination. My eyes met his and I smiled. A partnership wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Chapter 9
Tracey
The house was spotless, but it was missing life. It was missing Jade’s life and light. It was missing everything that made her her. I had done my best to design it in the aesthetic that I knew she would love. I painted until my head hurt and my fingers were calloused from holding a paintbrush. My arms trembled and my legs felt weak as I went through all the motions. I broke down as I painted, as I pulled flooring up and laid it down. I cried as I walked down the aisles of the home improvement store looking for any item that screamed Jade.
All the furniture I bought left me hollow. Every store ripped me up more inside. I thought it would bring me closer to her, but at the end of it, all it did was make me feel empty. I couldn’t bring myself to sit on the couch or admire my handiwork.
Someone had knocked on the door hours ago, but I had ignored it as I sat in the living room and died inside some more. My mom didn’t come back to visit but she had offered on countless occasions to go to the store with me. She had offered to scour the internet for me. She had offered and offered and offered but all I said was no. I couldn’t do it with anyone else because the one person I needed to do all of it with wasn’t here and didn’t have a choice. How could I bring someone else in on this project?
Instead of a knock, there was a pounding on the door this time. I didn’t look up from the wood floor beneath me. “I swear on everything good that if you don’t open this door, I will burn this cottage down.”
Stupid Knox and his infuriating pestering. He hadn’t spoken much to me since he had returned. Even on the way home from the airport, he had been silent. All he could provide were broody looks and long glances. Neither of which I wanted. I ignored him. He wouldn’t burn down Jade’s cottage because if he did that he would bring down Rafe’s wrath upon him and no one wanted that. Rafe’s wolf hadn’t been persuaded to back down in weeks. He was close to the edge and everyone knew it. It was another reason I had stayed holed up in here. There was no point in agitating his wolf anymore. The full moon was tomorrow and I wondered how he was going to fare.
“Open up, Tracey.” This time it was Rafe. I sat up straight and jumped to open the door. He actually sounded like himself, if not slightly tired, which was to be expected.
Knox and Rafe stood side by side in the doorway. In between them was a massive box. For the first time, in a long time, I felt good. The sight of the box between them and what was in it had me excited. Excited because I knew it was exactly what Jade wanted. I had kept myself from snooping on her phone but I did look in her online shopping cart. The first item in there was a massive gold-plated canopy bed. The one that was now in pieces between the two men in front of me. I bit my bottom lip before I grinned.
I pressed the tips of my fingers to my chin before I motioned them to come inside. There was a slight thud behind me and the clanging of metal hitting each other. I turned on my heel ready to light into them when I realized they had dropped the box because of the surprise they were feeling. Rafe’s jaw was slack staring at all the work I had done and Knox was staring at me with bright eyes. His red hair was down today and around his shoulders. I looked away before I could get a sniff of his emotions. I had tried my hardest not to scent the people around me lately. I couldn’t handle the bone-crushing despair they all felt. I knew all too well what it was like and I didn’t need a reminder that others were feeling it too. Not for Jade’s benefit but for mine. They were sad for me, not the newcomer they didn’t know. I had been a part of this pack my entire life. They felt pity for me and I couldn’t stand it.
But I could see it in Knox’s eyes, he didn’t feel pity. He felt awe.
Rafe was the first to speak. “You did all of this?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice or my emotions one bit.
“All alone?” Rafe asked again.
Knox snorted. “There have been plenty of offers to help.”
My eyes snapped to his. “You spoke to my mother?”
He jutted his chin up in defiance. “She spoke to me. She wanted to see if I could get through to you.”
My shoulders tensed. Nope. I wasn’t going there. “You can bring the box down the hall. This way, please.”
The sounds of them lifting and carrying the box followed me to the hallway that held two bedrooms and a bathroom. Jade’s bedroom didn’t have a bathroom but I had already had plans drawn up for one to be added on. It wouldn’t cost very much and I knew Jade would want her privacy. At her home with her parents, I could see the love she had for her own space.
I tucked my hands into my pockets as I nudged her door open with the toe of my boot. The room still smelled like wet paint and the burger I had devoured in the corner at lunch. I had painted her bedroom white and had installed dark hardwood floors. The wall that the bed would go on was black and a gold circular mirror hung from the center of it. Now with the bed about to go there, I knew it would go better over the black dresser that would sit on the opposite wall. I was simply waiting for it to be delivered too. It had also been in Jade’s online cart. I hadn’t wanted to decorate her room or buy anything until I knew it was what she would want. Thankfully, she had her entire bedroom furniture picked out already and waiting to be purchased. It was the least I could do. Especially since all of this was my fault. I had been the idiot that night. I hadn’t been careful enough. I hung my head as the men hefted the massive box into the room and sat it in the middle of the floor. Knox wouldn’t look at me and I didn’t care. I was done caring what anyone else thought.
The tip of my finger extended into a sharp claw and I cut down the middle of the box. Clanking echoed around the empty room as the pieces of the bed rolled out onto the dark floor.
“Is she going to like these things?” Rafe looked pained as he took it all in. I couldn’t blame him, it made me feel the same. Guilty.
I nodded my head. I didn’t need to explain myself. I knew Jade far better than any of them did. Rafe had made sure of that. He had handpicked all of my classes to be with hers. He hadn’t known if she lived on campus or not so he had organized for me to live there, just in case. It added to my story. He had someone follow her at the grocery store to figure out the foods she liked. I knew her better than everyone because it had been my mission to do so. But I also knew her better than anyone because even through all of this, she had still called me. She had still texted me when she knew things weren’t as they seemed. She had trusted me even though I wasn’t to be trusted at all. She had given me a chance to be
her friend.
All of my motives had been sour from the start but she had come to trust me and I wouldn’t ever do another thing to put that in jeopardy again. Her friendship had become such a bright spot in my life. In my boring life. I loved Rafe. He had been like a brother to me after I had realized we would never be mates. I had followed him and the Guardians around like they were my older brothers, before they swore their lives to Rafe’s. They were my family but Jade had always been a choice I was glad I made. She was the one thing that I had chosen for a good reason, rather than a selfish one.
The friendships and relationships within the pack had a certain order. It was how it was done. There was no changing it. There were social circles and friendships I was never allowed in simply because of my dominance as a female. The abomination of the dominance. I had listened to the whispers around the pack growing up. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to have so much fire and determination in my wolf. That it was because my brother was a witch and somehow, I had taken his wolf because the wolf didn’t choose him. My mother told me not to listen, but my little wolf ears had picked every word up. I had devoured the negative energy and tried my hardest to harness it into something good. Something better than them. My mother called them the busybodies. They had nothing better to do with their time but be jealous of a tiny child.
I shook my head. Those were thoughts for another time. I needed to numb myself. I needed to get lost in the task and let my mind go.
Knox’s words hit me like a physical blow. “How do you know she would even want you to do this for her? What if all of this will just make her angry? This is her home, not yours.”
I ground my teeth together as I stood up from my numbing task. The numbing wouldn’t take effect until they went away. I cracked my neck as I came face to face with the bastard. His nostrils flared as I took a step toward him. “What if she never comes back? Then none of this matters. Leave me be and let me handle my grief in the only way I know how. Why don’t you do what you do best? Go find a whore house, get sloppy, then find my friend. Isn’t that the only thing you are good for anyway? Being a soldier.”
I spat the last word like a curse. I knew I was being nasty. I knew the things I said hurt and I liked it. It was the only thing that didn’t make me feel terrible inside.
Chapter 10
Jade
“I want to know your name,” I finally said after a few minutes. We had stood there, locked in each other’s gaze without saying a word.
He shrugged as he placed the knife on the floor. A peace offering. “I will answer your questions but only if you answer mine.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “A question for a question then.”
He ran his tongue over his teeth. “This feels like we are fifteen and playing twenty-one questions.”
I chose to ignore the comment. There was no need for flirty banter. I was gonna go along with his plan but I wasn’t going to do so at the expense of myself. Of my body. There were other ways I could win.
He leaned against the wall again and watched me with heavy eyes. “Here, they simply call me the boss but I once had a name, a long time ago.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. It wasn’t an answer. I pressed my lips together. “Fine,” He looked up at the ceiling and his eyes crinkled in the corners in what I imagined was amusement. “Damian.”
That wasn’t so bad. He looked like a Damian. “Am I allowed to call you that?”
He smirked. “It’s my turn to ask a question.”
I nodded my head. It was going to be like that.
“Why didn’t you join the Crimson Pack?”
That was a complex question with a complex answer. “I don’t like Rafe Crimson.”
He took a step toward me. “I know that much. But why?”
“He turned me against my will.” It wasn’t the only reason but I didn’t have to give him all of that. He cocked an eyebrow and nodded his head. He knew the answer already but was testing me.
“What did Rafe do to you?”
Damian flashed his teeth. “He was born.”
I rolled my eyes. “How vague.”
“He has been my rival for a very long time. Everything he did was thrown in my face. I could never live up to the wolf he is. I was never enough.”
I wanted more, I scented a story in the air but I knew I couldn’t pry. There was only so much this man would give. I would have to be careful.
He cracked his neck as he thought of his question. Maybe he was just hesitating for my benefit. He probably had all his questions planned out in his head. “Are you going to tell your parents what you are?”
The question stunned me. I blinked abruptly. “Probably not.”
He nodded his head like he expected that. “You’ll be relieved to know that we haven’t bothered them since that night. Since the night the ball was thrown through the window.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to get you away from them, away from the pack. Rafe was becoming a problem for my people.”
I rolled my shoulders. Pain from standing in the same position was starting to get to me. I had no idea how long I would be standing there but I wished desperately for a chair. My body was too weak to keep going like this.
“Your people?”
He wagged his finger at me. “It’s my turn to ask a question.” He ran his fingers down his jaw. “Where do you think your parents think you are now?”
I had dreaded it. I had dreaded the thought of how they were coping with my disappearance. I had been physically ill thinking about them and what they were going through. “Dead.”
He smiled and my blood ran cold. “They know you’re safe.”
He was baiting me to use up all my questions on things that didn’t matter to him, but on things that only mattered to me. “What did you do?”
Elongated canines poked his bottom lip as he continued to look me over. “The great thing about having witches in my employ is that they can manipulate anything. Your body, your voice, even reality.”
My legs ached. I sunk to the floor and bowed my head. What had he done? Had he smoothed everything over? Had he made everything worse? How was I going to recover anything when I got out of here?
Chapter 11
Tracey
I took a steadying breath as I turned down the street Jade’s home was on. I was too much of a chicken to call her parents. How was I going to explain all of these weeks gone? How was I going to explain anything to them? I had zero answers and just as much heartache as I was allowing myself to feel. I didn’t know how to prepare myself for when they got home and I would have to break the news to them in person. I ran one of my sweaty hands down my leg and then slammed on my brakes.
I was only a few houses down from her’s, but I could see clear as day that the Rivers were home. I was about to backtrack when Jade’s mom lifted her head from the mailbox and waved to me. She didn’t look worried. Her eyes were bright and her skin looked good, a healthy tan from probably being in the sun a lot in the east. I couldn’t tuck tail and run now.
Somehow I pulled into their driveway and got out of the car. Somehow I walked up to the door where Mrs. Rivers was waiting for me. Her lips formed a genuine smile but there was some sadness in her eyes.
“Hi, Mrs. Rivers,” I started before I paused then swallowed hard. “How have you been?”
She placed a hand on her hip. “I should be asking you that, you look terrible. Have you even been eating?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Not really.”
She sighed. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail on the top of her head and she didn’t look a day over thirty, even with her silver hair. “Jade told me that the fight was bad between the two of you but I had no idea it was this bad.”
“Fight?” My voice shook. What was going on? Was Jade back? “Is Jade here?”
Mrs. Rivers ran her hand down the length of my arm as she led me inside. Mr. Rivers was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he was
actually in the office, working. I knew he did some sort of accounting, it was where Jade got her love for numbers.
“She must not have told you because of everything that happened.” Mrs. Rivers’ words felt like physical blows. Jade’s phone in my back pocket felt like a weight. “She is still on a trip with her work, you know she got a job with the Crimson’s, right?”
I nodded my head slowly. I didn’t know where we were going with this but I couldn’t turn away now. My chest didn’t feel so tight for the first time in weeks. Maybe this would get us closer to finding answers. Maybe she escaped and she had run away to get out of all the madness that came with our kind. All sorts of speculations swirled around in my head.
Mrs. Rivers held her phone up and showed off a grinning Jade in front of the Grand Canyon. She had a loose sweater on and baggy jeans. Her hair was pulled into two tight braids on either side of her head. She held her thumb up and I knew that it wasn’t her. I smiled but I felt my stomach drop. Whoever had her was doing a good job of keeping her disappearance from the press.
“Have you spoken to her on the phone?” My voice sounded faraway to my own ears.
Mrs. Rivers nodded. “Yes, she calls me more than ever. She sounds so happy and full of life. If we had known that giving her independence would help her flourish then we would have encouraged it a long time ago.”
They were talking on the phone?
“She told you about our fight? What did she say?”
Mrs. Rivers’s face fell. “She said that she didn’t have any intention of speaking to you in a while. That lots of hurtful things were said because of something that happened at a party a while back?”
I twisted my hands in front of me. “Yeah, I thought we had gotten over that. I didn’t realize she was still so upset.”
I had to do anything to find out more information, even if it meant continuing the lie. There was powerful magic involved, I had no doubt.
