Change of Plans (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-four

Covered
Tracks

Caleb

I was hit by the scent as
soon as I walked through the door. It was strong and too flowery to be natural.
Either someone wore too much perfume, or it was a Wolf trying to cover
their
tracks. My eyes quickly scanned the foyer looking for
something out of place, but I came up blank.

“Caleb? Brody?” Allie’s
voice came from the living room along with something on the TV.

I dropped my duffle bag.
“Hey, Al.”

She ran toward me, wrapping
me in a hug. My eyes continued to survey the house, looking for signs of who was
here. Allie’s arms were wrapped tightly around me. Her lips, close to my ear
whispered, “I’m so sorry, Caleb. That wasn’t fair of me.”

I pressed my lips to her
forehead, “It’s alright. I shouldn’t have gotten mad about Matt. Did he come
over here?” I asked, trying to identify the scent. She shook her head no,
unwinding herself from my arms. Whoever it was appeared to be gone.

Leaning up, she pulled my
head down to hers, kissing me deeply. I responded instantly, mysterious scent
forgotten. Slowly, I turned her around and moved her back until her back was
pressed against the door. She groaned and kissed me harder, driving me insane.
I slid my arms around her hips, effortlessly picking her up until her legs
wrapped around my waist. My lips traveled greedily along her jaw and down to
her neck. Her head tilted back, giving me better access. Her hands tugged
lightly at my hair until my lips returned to hers.

Suddenly finding my
restraint, I pulled back and leaned my forehead against hers. “If that’s how
we’re going to make up, we’re going to be fighting a lot more.” She laughed
lightly, and I released her from my grip, setting her down on her feet.

The door behind her opened,
shoving her into me. The door tried to open again before Allie and I moved
back, unblocking it. Brody walked in, looking between
us and
the door
with a knowing look. Allie blushed and ducked her head, trying
to hide behind her hair.

Brody suddenly caught a
whiff of the scent I smelled earlier. “What’s that
sm
-”

“Who’s hungry? Because I’m starving.”
I gave Brody a look, telling him to save it for later. Allie had enough on her
plate without worrying about someone breaking into her house.

“You’re always hungry. Come
on, I’ll cook,” Allie said walking to the kitchen. Brody and I followed her closely.
Sitting at the table, we watched as Allie started cooking.

“We need music. I’m going to
go grab my speaker,” I said, indicating for Brody to make an excuse as well.

“Yeah, I’m going to change
quickly. I went on a run and I smell awful.”

Allie muttered an okay,
attention on lunch. Brody and I waited until we were upstairs, out of earshot,
before talking.

“Do you know who it was?”
Brody asked.

“No idea, I think it’s a
Wolf trying to cover their tracks.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“Yeah, that’s what I
gathered. Maybe your dad?”

“No, I saw him earlier. It’s
not Mrs. Griffin either, maybe Sierra.” Brody’s complexion darkened at the
thought of his pair.

“Maybe, whoever it was
covered their tracks well though. I’ll go see if I can pick something in the
woods later.”

“Okay, but for now, Allie
doesn’t hear about this.”

“Agreed.” Brody left to go
shower while I searched Allie’s room for the speaker. The scent of perfume was
strong in here, indicating someone spent a lot of time in here. Nothing big
enough to notice was moved, but there were little things that you could tell
were different if you looked closely enough.

I grabbed Allie’s Beats Pill
from the dresser and got an idea. Digging through her closest, I grabbed a
stack of blankets, and the biggest pillows from her bed. I quickly dropped them
off in the living room before entering the kitchen. Setting the speaker down, I
connected it to play a song by The Kooks. Allie started dancing with her back
still to me. Walking behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist, resting my
chin oh her shoulder.

“What are you making?” I
asked, placing a light kiss on her
collar bone
.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Grilled
cheese. Where’s Brody?”

“Taking a shower,” I kissed
her again.

“I’m going to burn the
grilled chesses if you keep distracting me,” she complained. I muttered my
consent and continued kissing her neck. “
Caleb…,”
she
insisted.

“Yes,
Caleb
. Please
stop making out with my sister,” Brody said from the doorway, toweling drying
his hair.

I groaned and turned toward
him, arms still around Allie. I glared while Allie continued to make lunch.
Allie swatted my back, “Go get chips, the sandwiches are almost done.”

I did as she asked, pulling
out Lays and filling three plates half full of them. Brody worked to get drinks
for us, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how domestic we seemed. Too bad we’re
Wolves, not dogs.

Sitting down for lunch,
there wasn’t much conversation. Brody and I kept sharing worried glances and
finally putting down her food Allie asked, “What is it?”

Brody automatically excused
himself, dropping his plate in the sink. When he turned the corner, and I saw
him head toward the back door, probably to go search for the scent. Allie
looked at me expectantly, and I shrugged. “I asked him if we could have some
time alone and he wasn’t too happy about it,” I was making this up on the spot
and I hoped she wouldn’t see right through me.

She didn’t say anything as
she stood to place our plates in the sink. I followed her closely, and she
turned toward me, hands braced against the sink on each side of her. “And why
would we need time alone?” she asked innocently.

I smirked, “To finish our
conversation from earlier.”

She blushed, “I don’t
remember having a conversation earlier.”

“Miss Underwood, are you
flirting with me?” I asked with forged shock. I walked toward her placing my
hands around her waist and pulled her close to me.

“Maybe,” she looked up at
me. “But do you know what I really want right now?” I groaned as her hungry
eyes traveled from my eyes to my lips. “Brownies.”
What?
She squeezed
out of my grip and dug in a cabinet, pulling out a box of brownie mix.

I still stood at the sink,
stunned by her change in mood.
One minute making out, the
next baking brownies.
I would never understand this girl. Allie smirked,
well aware of what she just did. “Caleb, dear, would you mind grabbing the
eggs?” she asked sweetly.

I walked toward the fridge,
purposefully brushing against her. Two can play at this game. I grabbed the
carton of eggs and placed it on the counter by her hip, skimming her as I went.
She narrowed her eyes, wondering what sort of game I was playing. I smiled
sweetly and reached around her to grab the box with instructions.

We moved swiftly, me
intentionally touching her and giving her playful kisses. She would swat me
away every time. Although many people might not know it, Allie couldn’t bake,
or read for that matter. The first batch of brownies was made with olive oil,
not vegetable oil like the recipe called for, which might have been my fault
since she asked me to get the oil. But, in my defense, she should have checked
it before she put it in. The second batch luckily had the right oil, but she
put in three eggs, not one. Another egg was cracked over my head, which the
recipe certainly didn’t call for. The third was finally made right, but were a
little burnt. No wonder we exploded everything in chemistry.

I went to take a quick
shower to get the egg out of my hair, which Allie claimed was a moisturizer.
Changing into sweatpants and a shirt, I went back in the kitchen to find Allie
cutting the brownies and pulling out ice cream. I came behind her and nuzzled
my hair in her neck, “Did the egg work?”

She ran her hand through my
hair playfully, “Absolutely, how many brownies do you want?”

“Just cut me half,” I
responded in all seriousness. She looked at me like I was crazy, but when I
didn’t
budge,
she cut half of the brownies and placed
them on a large plate. She scooped ice cream into two bowls, and I returned it
to the freezer. I took our bowls into the living room, placing them on a table
while I grabbed the huge pile of blankets and pillows from her room.

“What’s this?” she asked,
eyeballing the stack of fluffy blankets.

I looked at her with a
childish grin. “I want to make a fort.”

“A fort?”

I nodded, it was something I
never did as a kid, and the canopy around her bed gave me the idea. She looked
doubtful. “Please,” I begged, throwing on my best puppy face. She broke and
started pulling off the couch cushions with me. Building a fort was a lot harder
than it
look
, but finally we constructed the perfect
fort. The only opening was the entrance and a spot that we could clearly see
the TV through.

Brody still wasn’t back from
his search and I sent him a quick text. No response came.

“Ladies first,” I swept a
hand out wide while pulling the blanket back with my hand. She crawled in,
patting down the floor of pillows to get comfortable. I offered to bring down a
mattress, which was nothing for Wolf strength, but she refused, saying if we
were building a fort, we’re building it normally. I crawled in after her,
bringing the brownies and ice cream with me.

The fort was a lot smaller
than I thought and I had to pull me knees up to fit without knocking down a
wall. Allie laughed, trying to position herself where she could give me more
room. I found somewhere where it was bearable and pulled Allie to me.

She placed her head on my
chest, running her hand up and down my torso. I shifted underneath her, causing
her to grin. “I thought we were going to continue our conversation from
earlier?”
Allie,
I thought as she propped herself on her elbow.

I looked up at her, running
my hand up and down her arm. “Oh, yes, that conversation. What were we talking
about again?” I toyed with her.

“If I recall, there was no talking involved,” she grinned.

Chapter Twenty-five

Pack
Meeting

Allie

I woke up to Caleb’s groan.
Squinting against the sun, I saw the seat cushion of the couch on Caleb’s face.
It took me a second to remember where I was, but it quickly all came back to me.
Brownies, ice cream, the fort, other...stuff.

“Come on, we are going to be
late for the pack meeting,” Brody said as he picked the cushion off of Caleb’s
head and looked down at us. “Really, man? Where’s your shirt?” What? Oh yeah,
that might have been lost somewhere in the middle of the night. Brody probably
had tons of inappropriate thoughts running through his head, but it was
completely innocent.

Okay, not completely, but
mostly.

I groaned and rolled over,
shifting the pillows that fell when Brody kicked our fort. “Just five more
minutes, I promise,” I grumbled before pulling the blanket over my head again.
I was not a morning person. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb lean back
on his elbows and put his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun shining
through the windows.

“What time is it?” Caleb
asked Brody.

“Eleven,” Brody responded.

     
Caleb
cursed, complaining that we were going to be late. Brody left, leaving Caleb
with the impossible task of waking me up. He tried to shake my shoulders, but I
refused to get up. I was so tired, and after all, it was Caleb’s fault I was up
so late. Not that I had a complaint, but it was a Sunday, and Sundays meant
sleep days.

     
“Al,
baby, we can sleep later, I promise but you have to get up,” he said as he shook
me again, but my head stayed firmly planted on the pillow, eyes shut tight.
“Allie, I swear I’m going to give you three seconds,” he threatened.

     
“Or
what?” I challenged. I may be tired, but I always had energy to annoy Caleb.

     
“You
don’t want to know. One… Two… Three… Fine Allie, have it your way,” he said,
standing up. I sighed with relief, thinking he was going to let me sleep in. My
eyes popped up as I was scooped up into his arms.

     
I
wiggled helplessly. “Caleb! Put me down now!” I yelled at him.

     
“No,
you had your chance. Now we’re doing it my way.” His grip tightened on me as I
relentlessly tried to get out of his grip. He was so going to regret this. He
carried me swiftly into my room, not slowing down as he entered my bathroom.
The cold nozzle to the shower was turned on, spraying water.

     
It
clicked what he was about to do. “Caleb, no! Put me down! I swear if you put me
in that shower, I’m breaking up with you!”

     
He
laughed, not taking my threat seriously. Without hesitating, he took us both
into the shower. I screamed under the freezing water and slammed my fist on
Caleb’s chest. He still refused to put me down. He laughed again, apparently
delighted at my discomfort. “Are you awake now?”

     
“I’m
so breaking up with you,” I growled. He finally walked us out of my shower,
throwing me on my bed. I probably looked like a pissed, soaking wet rat. My
shirt clung to me, and Caleb grinned. I looked down to realize I was wearing a
white shirt. Great. At least my black sports bra covered everything up. I threw
a pillow at him, but he caught it.

“What, you can’t blame me?”
Caleb said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

“Yes,” I stood up to walk to
my closet. “I can. You are the reason my shirt’s see through in the first
place.”

“But that’s your fault
because you wouldn’t wake up.”

“But that’s your fault I was
so tired,” I shot back, referring to our long night making out.

He shrugged and I shooed him
out so I could change. God, he was so frustrating sometimes. It was like dating
and babysitting at the same time. I quickly got dressed and headed back
downstairs where Brody and Caleb were talking. Brody shook his head no to
something and Caleb slammed his fist into the wall, furious. What was going on?

Caleb turned around when he
noticed me, throwing on a facade. Aware I was going to ask what was going on,
he changed the subject. “Ready to go?” He walked out before I could reply.

I got into Caleb’s Jeep
while Brody got into his truck. I didn’t understand why we didn’t take the same
car, but I didn’t question Caleb about it. He was not in a good mood. Reaching
out my hand to place it on his own, I felt the similar tingle of electricity as
I drained Caleb’s anger.

“Thanks,” he mumbled,
sagging in his seat. His hand turned around under mine until they were threaded
together on the center console.

As we drive the way to his
house, I realized that I had never been there. We entered a gated community,
and I automatically knew it was going to be one of those houses only
billionaires could afford. Caleb seemed unfazed as we passed houses larger than
the school, but my jaw was open as I looked at each one we drove by.

At the end of the
cul
de sac stood the largest house, all white and at least
three stories. It was more like a museum than a house. Cars were parked everywhere,
but Caleb pulled into the driveway, pulling his Jeep into the three car garage.

“Wow,” I said. He looked
uncomfortable at my amazement. Walking around to my side of the car, he opened
the door for me and pulled me to the side door.

“Caleb!” A little girl came
running down the white hallway, her blonde hair flying behind her.

Caleb let out a genuine
smile and picked her up, placing her on his hip. “Hey Chicken,” he tweaked her
nose. “Meet Allie.”

She smiled at me, “So you’re
the one who's been keeping my brother away all week.” I blushed and she
laughed, her green eyes twinkling just like Caleb’s did when I was embarrassed.
She couldn’t be older than seven. Caleb had told me all about her.

Caleb threw her up, “Is Dad
starting yet?” She nodded and Caleb grabbed my hand with his free hand, taking
me down the hallway to where all the voices were. Halting in his path, Caleb
tried not to run someone over as they were coming out of the bathroom. He was
an older man with salt and pepper hair and goatee. He smiled when he saw Caleb.

“Caleb, son, how have you
been?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“I’ve been good, busy, but
good,” Caleb responded with affection.

“Ah well, I bet you have
been. And how are you, Miss Rebecca?” He addressed her from where she was still
placed on Caleb’s hip.

She giggled, “Good, I lost
my last baby tooth yesterday!”

“Really? Well, you’re all
grown up now, aren’t you?”

Rebecca giggled again before
Caleb put her down and she went running off down the hall, sending her blonde
hair everywhere. I was still awkwardly standing beside Caleb, not wanting to
interrupt their conversation. He took notice of
me and our
linked hands,
“You must be Allison, it’s an honor to meet you, dear. I’m
Nicholas Simpson, a good friend of your dad’s and the
Winters
.
Caleb here hasn’t stopped talking about you since eighth grade.”

Caleb groaned, obviously
embarrassed at the confession. I blushed again. It was a strange thing to think
about, especially since I just found out last week.

“Don’t sweat Caleb, I won’t bring
out any baby pictures. This time.” Nicholas winked at me. “Allison, how are you
dealing with everything?”

I shifted from foot to foot
and Caleb squeezed my hand. “It’s been different, but I’m adjusting. Caleb’s
been a huge help, but it’s difficult to understand why my father never told
us.”

“Ah, yes, Jim. Well, the
death of Amber shook him up quite a bit, but I’m sure there’s a reason,” he
said. “I remember when he was alpha, always a leader he was. I use to babysit
him, way back in the day. You know-“

“Caleb. Allison,” a voice
cut him off. We all turned to find Mr. Winters standing in the doorway leading
to the living room. He looked no different than he did at my house the other
day, cold and cunning. “I hate to interrupt bonding time, but I have a meeting
to hold. If you would be so kind to join everyone in the living room,” he said
as he swiped his hand in a broad gesture. He made it sound as a request.
It wasn’t a request though
,
it was an
order
. There was a strange pull behind his works, making me want to go
to the living room, but I could have easily resisted it. I guess it was an
alpha thing.

I followed behind Caleb and
Nicholas into the living room. The entire pack, all thirty of them, were
standing along the perimeter of the room, with this and next generation’s
alphas and betas in the middle. A woman I guess was Caleb’s mother, her beta,
and Mr. Winters’s beta were all standing by the modern coffee table, giving the
illusion of having some authority. According to Caleb, everyone here knew that Caleb’s
father had all the power, just as he wanted it. Brody and Sierra sat on either
end of an uncomfortable looking couch.

As Caleb and I joined them,
all eyes were on me. It was really uncomfortable, but I kept my head high,
trying to look like I wasn’t intimidated. I took my seat on the couch between
Brody and Caleb, giving Brody a small smile. Caleb’s father glared at me and
announced, “Now that we are all here, let the October Wolf Creek Pack Meeting
begin.”

———————————

I nearly fell asleep with
the petty ‘issues.’ Every issue was something irrelevant that was made into
something bigger so Caleb’s dad could gain more control. I knew I didn’t really
understand pack life or anything, but this was ridiculous. Everyone sat by as
he took over the show.

Every now and then a blonde
woman who I guessed was Mrs. Griffin, Sierra's mom would make a comment.
Assuming because she was on Caleb’s dad’s good side, she actually got an
opinion, but they were no better than Mr. Winters’s.

Slowly, I watched as the
heads of pack members, people I’ve known my whole life,
lower
as they were pushed slower and slower in submission.
This
wasn’t a democracy
,
it was a dictatorship
. I
wanted to say something, but taking the clues from others I stayed silent. That
was until the end of the meeting.

Mrs. Griffin, voice as
annoying as ever, stepped in smugly as the pack meeting was closing up.
“Jeffery,” she said referring to Mr. Winters. “Aren’t you going to tell them
the big news?”

     
He laughed,
obviously delighted at the ‘big news.’ “Of course,” he said, looking at every
pack member, his eyes deceitful. “There’s been a change in pack rank. When I
step down, which won’t be for a while, but when I do my son is taking over.”
This wasn’t news. “With Sierra Griffin.” But this was.