For a moment I forgot to breathe, as I watched her bottom lip tremble. I didn’t need an awesome sense of smell to know everything she’d said was true; it was written clearly in that quivering lip. I pushed off the door and stepped over to her, perching on the edge of my bed. “Where’s Trevor been?”
She looked at me as if I should already know the answer, and I figured she was probably right. “Aidan has him and some of the others searching for the cougars. They keep finding tracks around town, coming closer and closer. Trevor said that they lead to the mountain, but once they get to the base of it, the tracks just vanish.”
“What?” I asked. “How don’t I know they’re trying to track them?” I didn’t expect an answer, and I was sure Marcy knew that, but even if she did, it didn’t stop her from snapping one out.
“Because you’ve been ignoring the pack. You’ve been ignoring Aidan.” She tossed the pillow at me, smacking me in the chest with it, and yelled, “Jeez, Jade, you’ve been blowing off everyone except that team of yours and as far as I can see, they aren’t in any rush to find your dad or those nasty beasts.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, keeping my voice just above a whisper, “and keep your voice down.” I was sure the whole team could hear her, and I knew they had to be listening. The house was quiet, so quiet it was as if the house itself were holding its breath.
She didn’t keep her voice down; instead she let it rise higher. “You know exactly what it means. You and those enforcers haven’t even tried to help find them. Do any of you even care that they’re actually coming into town. I woke up this morning to find tracks all over my yard. The pack is supposed to keep our town safe. You and those enforcers are supposed to keep us safe.”
“Shut up, Mac,” I hissed, squeezing my eyes shut, listening. It felt like an eternally long moment before I heard chairs scraping along the floor, shuffling footsteps, and the round of thank-yous for breakfast. And then, just as I was about to let out my pent-up breath, my bedroom door swung open and Jared walked in.
He didn’t say anything as he padded across the room, snagging his phone and stuffing his wallet into his back pocket. Taut, strained muscles lined his neck and shoulders. He opened the closet, reached in, and tugged a black long-sleeved T-shirt off a hanger and then pulled it on.
Marcy kept her head ducked, but I could see her watching him from the corner of her eye, and when he turned to face us, her complexion paled, just a little.
He didn’t seem to notice. He was giving me an expectant kind of look, although I really didn’t know what it was he was expecting, so I said, “I take it you’re going out?”
“Yep.” A cocky smirk twitched at his lips. He crossed the room in two long strides and reached out, running a finger along my cheek, before wrapping his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me to him. His lips were on mine, hot and rough, before I had a chance to even register what he was doing. Thankfully the kiss ended just as quickly as it started. He feathered a light peck on the tip of my nose and then let his hand drop from my neck. “You better hurry up, kitten. You’re going to be late,” he said, before turning away and leaving the room.
I sat in stunned silence, staring at the empty doorway. I had expected him to growl something at Marcy, to defend his team, even defend himself, or at the very least tell her to keep her nose out of enforcer business. I had figured he would give me a lecture about walking to school or snap at me for the way I had spoken to him downstairs, but he hadn’t done any of that. Actually, he had acted normal and that normalcy kind of freaked me out.
“Well, that was um … interesting,” Marcy squawked at the sound of the front door slamming. She cleared her throat. “What’s going on with you and Jared? He hasn’t given you the time of day since we were in seventh grade and you had that crush. And even then, he wasn’t interested and you know it.”
I hesitated, wanting to tell her the truth, but not sure if I could trust her to keep it to herself. I had never been away from Marcy for this long and right then, seeing her sitting there, I wanted to blurt out everything. I knew it was a bit hypocritical of me. I had told her I didn’t want to see her for a while. It was my fault she hadn’t been here, but really, she was practically my sister. And it had been three days already. Three long days of having no one to talk to about the mess I had gotten myself into with Jared.
Sure, there was Erika, and theoretically I should have been able to talk to her, but I just couldn’t. She didn’t get it. Anytime I tried she was all like, It’s not about your feelings, Jade, it’s about the pack, or, You’re the alpha, suck it up. In all fairness, Erika didn’t know the truth. She really thought Jared and I were together mainly because I didn’t trust her enough to tell her any different and thanks to the way my inner-wolf reacted to him, she believed the lie. Yeah, I had named her as my beta, but that had been a heat of the moment kind of decision and as the days slipped by, I realized how little I knew about her and how much I just didn’t like her. It wasn’t that she was completely awful, we just didn’t click. She wasn’t Marcy.
The thing was, even if I was sure that what I was doing with Jared was right, it felt sickeningly wrong. It felt wrong having him sleep at my house, let alone in my room. And honestly, I hated having to lie to the pack, letting them, and everyone else, think we were together. But I didn’t know what else to do. We had all agreed that my dad couldn’t know that I’d become the alpha female of the pack, and pretending to be with an enforcer seemed like the best cover up. Really, until we had a clear picture of exactly what my dad’s plans were, it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.
Maybe that wasn’t entirely true. There was a choice, but I knew one thing for sure: choosing Aidan right now had to be the worst of two bad choices.
Marcy nudged me. “Talk to me, Jade. What’s going on?”
“It’s complicated,” I said, glancing at the clock. It was already 7:30 and I still needed a shower. I got up and trudged over to the closet, riffling through the hangers. My mind was reeling. I couldn’t understand why Aidan would send anyone out searching without talking to me about it. Didn’t I have a say in what the pack did now? And he knew the team was working on it, kind of, well, okay maybe not really. Most of their time was taken up on working with me. But they had been spending at least an hour a day looking. That was something, wasn’t it?
“Well un-complicate it,” she snapped, following me to the closet. She reached in and snagged my plum hoodie, tossing it on the bed. “Because you’re going to end up regretting this. He’s playing with you. I know it and I know you know it, too. There’s something else behind this.” A thought dawned on her then; I saw it pass across her eyes a moment before she visibly shuddered, and when she continued, her voice was whisper quiet. “You haven’t slept with him yet, right? Please tell me you haven’t because I did with Trevor and well …”
I yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger, and grabbed a white tank from the shelf before turning to look her straight on. “I know, Mac. You’re mated. I can smell it. You have two distinct scents, yours and Trevor’s. It’s weird, though. I thought you had to be a werewolf for that.”
“Um, yeah, well, you and me both.” She blushed, a light pink, dropped her eyes, and smiled — a little. “I just … you can’t, not with Jared. You don’t even like him and Aidan …”
“My inner-wolf likes him,” I said, cutting her short, not wanting to hear anymore. “And really, who I end up mating with isn’t important.” I grabbed the hoodie she had tossed on the bed and started for the door. “I need to take a shower. You can wait or go, whatever.”
“This wasn’t Aidan’s fault,” Marcy blurted. “It’s all on me and Dom. If you have to hate someone, then hate us. Don’t take our bad advice out on him.”
I didn’t turn around, I couldn’t. I was sure my face was crumbling just like my heart and I didn’t want her to see it. I kept my hand on the doorknob, but I couldn’t bring myself to twist. “You didn’t make him lie, Mac.” I
swallowed hard, hating how raw my voice sounded. “You didn’t make him manipulate me. You didn’t force him to put me in danger. He was the one stupid enough to follow through with it all.”
“We just wanted you to be happy,” she pleaded, coming up behind me. She squeezed my shoulder. “You can fool everyone else, but not me. I see through you. I always have. Aidan’s the cheese to your macaroni and you know it.”
“The cheese to my macaroni?” I asked, as I dropped my grip on the doorknob and turned around. I arched a brow and pursed my lips.
She grinned, wrapping me in a too tight hug. “I’ve missed you, Jade. Three days is way too long.”
CHAPTER 4
~ AIDAN ~
Dominic looked uncomfortable. He was leaning against the kitchen counter watching Tommy fry up some bacon and scrambled eggs. His blond hair was gelled, but that was pretty much the only thing he’d bothered to do before coming over. His jeans were stained with dirt and his olive hoodie looked as if he’d been wearing it for weeks. His eyes were bruised, veined red. It was clear that he’d been sleeping just as well as me.
My unwelcome guests had made themselves at home while I’d taken a shower and gotten dressed. They had raided my fridge and cooked up the last of the breakfast food I had. A heavy layer of greasy smoke filled the room, and the small, dusty-gray countertop was covered with pots and dishes.
Chris drummed his fingertips on the table, watching the coffee pot as it gurgled and dripped. “Your dad was telling me your beta is in high school and the head enforcer is about your age.”
A strained tension shifted through the cramped space. For the last five minutes Chris and Tommy had been chatting with me as if Dominic weren’t there, and Dominic looked as if he were about ready to snap.
I scrubbed at my face and leaned back in my chair, stretching my legs out in front of me. “Yep, Dominic’s graduating this year and Jared’s a year older than me.”
Tommy grunted. “He looks like a pup.” He cut a quick look at Dominic. “How long have you been in the pack, kid?”
“Two years,” Dominic said, his tone more hostile than I would have liked, but I guessed I couldn’t really blame him. They were being dicks. He pushed off of the counter and headed to the cupboard, pulled it open, and grabbed four mugs, setting them on the table, before pulling out a chair and taking a seat.
“And Jade, the alpha female, she’s only eighteen?” Tommy asked, his tone calm, friendly even, as if we were old friends just catching up. He switched off the burners and began dishing out scrambled eggs onto the plates that were lining the counter.
“She is,” I said, keeping my tone just as friendly. I knew what they were doing. Trying to loosen me up. Looking for the foothold. They were under orders to stay and help me out, and they were looking for a reason to do just that. I probably should have told them that they would be sticking around for a bit, but honestly, I was kind of enjoying watching them sweat a little.
“So every pack member in a position of real power is under twenty-one.” The coffee pot rumbled and spat out the last of the brew. Chris reached for it, pouring himself a cup. He took a deep drink before glancing over his shoulder. “You ever heard of anything like this before, Tommy? Because I sure as hell haven’t.”
“Nope,” Tommy said, as he made his way over to the table, juggling the heaping plates of eggs and bacon, and passed them out.
“Ray replaced all the enforcers with newly turned werewolves,” Dominic offered. “He ran his last beta out of town, too, when I was turned. He wanted people he could mold, ones that didn’t know any different, didn’t know pack law.”
“Huh.” Tommy sat down, grabbed his fork, and shoveled in a large mouthful of eggs. His forehead creased, a sharp V forming in between his eyes, as he tried to make sense out of what Dominic said. We ate in silence for a long moment before he said, “And you’ve let your head enforcer move in with your mate.”
“She’s not my mate.” The words felt like gravel on my tongue. I hated how screwed up this whole situation was. I figured I deserved it all, but really, Jade was taking this too far. Yeah, I’d hid things from her and lied to her, but right now she was screwing with the delicate balance that I’d created within the pack and whether she knew it or not, she was on the verge of shattering it completely. We were supposed to be a team and her ignoring me wasn’t showing a united front. It was making the pack nervous, and a nervous pack of werewolves was really not something either of us needed.
Tommy waved a fork at me. “She’s the alpha female, which makes her your mate.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a long, windy sigh. “According to her, it doesn’t.”
“You know what I’d do?” Chris said casually, as if he were just making small talk and not trying to give me advice. “If I was the alpha, I’d force that enforcer out of her house. You said they aren’t mated. There’s really no reason why they should be living together.”
“I don’t know about that,” Tommy said. “If she’s as hard headed as I hear, she’d probably just follow him. I’d send him out of town; get him away from her altogether.”
I groaned. I was way too tired to play this friendly chat game. “Guys, I know what you’re doing. I’ve watched you work with Dad long enough to know what this is, so cut the small talk crap.” I snagged the coffee pot and poured myself a cup, thinking. They knew damn well they were gaining ground with me, but then I was sure that they’d both known they weren’t going anywhere the moment I let them in the door. After a long moment I said, “I can’t send Jared anywhere. Jade’s dad is coming home tomorrow and I need every pack member I have to deal with the cougars.”
Dominic’s eyes flared, and a spasm worked its way along his jaw. “You should send him out hunting them.” His voice was growled, and an angry red flush settled over his face. “The team has barely spent any time looking for them. He’s been too busy with Beck, teaching Jade how to fight.”
Chris chuckled, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He looked Dominic over, a flash of curiosity passing across his face, before he asked, “What’s the deal with these cougars, anyway?”
I almost told him it was none of his business. The words were right there, on the tip of my tongue, but the truth was, I wanted to hear someone else’s thoughts. Dominic was too close to the issue, too close to Jade, and well, the pack didn’t have much of a clue about what was really going on. Before I knew it, I was telling them everything. I told them about the video of Jade’s dad and about how the cougars used women. I explained the town’s dynamics and I even talked about Jade, telling them about the games, about the lies, about tricking her into competing.
And just like they did with my father, Chris and Tommy listened, throwing in their thoughts and pulling apart the problems, separating them and categorizing them. Breakfast turned into lunch, and lunch turned into early afternoon, but by the time we were done, we actually had a plan. A real, solid plan. It was just too bad it was a plan that involved Jade and Jared staying together.
~ JADE ~
School was well ... it was school. Nothing spectacular. I knew I was supposed to be learning something, but I couldn’t focus. All I could think about was that Aidan had been sending our wolves out to track the cougars — to track my dad. I should have been okay with it all. Clearly my dad was evil. He’d even said that he was going to be using me at some point. But even if I knew all that, there was this little nagging voice in the back of my head that kept reminding me he was still my dad and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t shake it.
The walk to school with Marcy had been insightful if nothing else. She’d warned me that most of the pack members that should be in school wouldn’t be. Aidan had them all running on fumes. From what she’d said, he’d turned into a bit of a slave driver over the last few days, but the pack had really warmed up to him. They respected him, trusted his judgment. Although, she also let me know that even if they respected him, they were also getting fed up with his short fuse, es
pecially the females. Personally, I couldn’t picture Aidan with a short fuse. He’d always been so laid back and carefree. Well, at least most of the time he was.
Marcy spent most of the walk and all of lunch trying to convince me that I needed to talk to Aidan. Really talk to him. I hated to admit it, but she was right. The thing was, yesterday hadn’t gone so well when I saw him. Just thinking about the broken look on his face when I walked away with Jared made my chest squeeze and my breath shorten.
And that feeling led me to another issue. The one I’d been trying to pretend didn’t exist. Was I lying to Aidan about Jared because it was needed? Or was my subconscious trying to inflict some kind of petty revenge for all the lies he’d told me?
Yep, the whole situation really sucked.
Word had spread about me joining the enforcers and as the day went on, I heard a few whispers about Jared and me. Really, I should have been happy that people were buying it, but I wasn’t.
Instead, it only made me feel sick. God, I hated lying. Nothing, nothing, good ever came from a lie.
Dominic hadn’t shown up yet. But then, I guess I’d never really believed he would. I knew he would be with Aidan, but still, I’d hoped to see him nevertheless. I’d fought with Dominic before. Hell, I’d even shunned him for two years. But still, after patching things up with Marcy, I wanted to see him, too. I wanted to make sure he was okay.
I shifted in my chair and glanced at the clock: 1:49. Six more minutes until gym, until laps. Oddly enough, for the first time in my life I was looking forward to the running. I felt restless, confined. Running would help — hopefully.
And after gym, I would go see Aidan.
I hadn’t quite figured out what I would say when I got there, but I knew, just knew, that I needed to tell him how I was feeling about the whole dad situation if nothing else.