Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) (16 page)

He paused for a response, but I didn’t give him one. I’d learned a long time ago that it wasn’t worth it.

“He’s just waiting for you to spread your legs. Then he’ll be done with you. Just like that last boyfriend of yours, Adam whatever. You’ll see. But I guess it won’t matter to you. You’ll just find another man, and another, just like that whore mother of yours—”

I slapped him so hard that he stumbled backwards. He reached up to touch his cheek, and something I’d never seen before registered on his face. Fear? Remorse? I didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t the drunken rage to which I’d grown accustomed. Maybe it was simply guilt.

We just stood there, staring into one another’s eyes. When tears threatened, I turned to walk away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me hurt yet again. But before I could escape, Dad grabbed my arm. He was gentle this time.

“Teagan. I’m sorry, baby. Really, I am.” Slowly he let go of my arm, and I didn’t want to look at him but I couldn’t stop myself. A single tear was rolling down his swollen cheek.

I was tired—tired of feeling bad for him, tired of his excuses, tired of it all, and the first of many tears made its way down my own face. “Keep your fucking hands off me. You’re dead to me. Do you hear me, Dad? Dead. To. Me.” Then, without looking back, I stormed off to my room and slammed the door.

I backed up against the wall and slowly slid to the ground, unable to stand any longer. I was done. Done trying to make it work. Done listening to excuse after excuse. I only had a few months until my eighteenth birthday, and after that I was out of here and would never look back.

It took what seemed like hours, but finally I had the energy to move. I lifted what was left of myself off the floor and crawled up into bed. My eyes were a mess from the buckets of tears I’d cried, and I needed sleep, needed this day to end.

Knowing I’d look like hell in the morning, I curled up in a ball and closed my eyes. I tried to relax, pushing all thoughts of my screwed up father aside. That was when memories of Aiden’s lips filled my mind, and for the first time since I’d gotten home I smiled. The way he’d stared down my father, grabbed my hand as if he couldn’t bear to let it go, kissed me hard right there in front of the world…

Heaven help me. This boy was trouble. He’d been like an alpha dog claiming his territory, but it sent chills up my spine. Good chills. And with Aiden planted firmly in my thoughts, I drifted off to sleep, praying that I’d see him soon.

What was that he’d said? Oh, yeah. I missed him already.

34.

Peter

Peter circled his car around to park deep in the shadows where no one would see him. He felt like a real detective on a stakeout, which added to his excitement. This was the most conclusive evidence he’d ever found. Today was the day, and his quest was nearing its conclusion. At the very least the path was becoming clear.

He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long, because the driver had left the car running. Someone would have to come for it soon, or it would run out of gas, or worse, it would be stolen.

Raymond’s voice echoed from the car’s back seat. “This is it, Peter. I can feel it in my bones.”

Peter adjusted his rear view mirror, and there his uncle was. “You’re a ghost. You don’t have bones,” said he said with a smile. But he was glad to have his uncle’s company. He was a little nervous about what might take place here. He wasn’t yet ready for a direct assault. He was still working on that drunk from the bar to be his second in command, and he had yet to begin recruiting his werewolf attack team.

“If we get what we’re hoping for tonight, you’ll need to work faster,” Uncle Raymond commanded.

“I will. I promise.”

“You’ll need more than the town drunk. Weres are strong, dangerous, and don’t forget they have teams of their own. Packs. Weres are as deadly as they come,” Raymond said.

“This is it! Look!” Peter pointed to a motorcycle that was slowing down near the Jetta. “Who the hell drives a motorcycle in the winter, in the mountains no less? He’s
got
to be one of them. Any normal person would freeze to death.”

Both Peter and Raymond sat in the car and watched as the motorcycle stopped. Someone got off the back, a second rider that Peter hadn’t seen. And when the bike helmets came off, confusion sat in. It was a beautiful blonde teenager. He quickly grabbed his camera from the glove compartment and shot a few photos. She walked over to the Jetta and took a look inside before walking into the woods, came back out with something in her hands. Getting into the car, she closed the door.

“A blonde? They can have blonde hair, too? Damn. Do we really know anything about them at all?” Peter yelled. He slammed his hands down on the steering wheel and turned to his uncle in confusion.

“We’re learning more and more every day. Now, stop being a baby and follow them,” Raymond commanded.

The motorcycle had pulled away from the side of the road, following closely behind the blonde. Peter rolled his eyes at his uncle’s insult and eased his car from the shadows. He tried to stay far enough behind so he would not be seen, but he didn’t want to lose the wolves, either. He would never hear the end of it if he did.

“They’re slowing,” his uncle whispered. “There! They’re turning right.”

Peter slowed his car and watched. Both the Jetta and the motorcycle turned off the interstate and onto a dirt road. They disappeared in the darkness.

Should he follow? He didn’t think so. He would come back another time, when it wasn’t so dark, when he could see where he was headed. The road looked little-traveled, and he didn’t want anyone asking what he was doing there. Also, these were dangerous creatures and he didn’t want to be caught unprepared in their territory.

“I’ll start building a team tomorrow,” Peter said to Raymond, but there was no response.

When he looked in the back seat, his uncle was gone.

35.

Aiden

“Aiden, wake up.”

Alli tapped on my door before letting herself in. I opened one eye then the other and looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table. “Jesus, Alli, it’s Saturday and only nine. I want to sleep.” I covered my face with my pillow and listened for her to leave, but she didn’t. I growled, “What?”

She walked into the room and leaned down like she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “You better get up. Everyone is here.”

“Who’s everyone?” I asked.

“Marcus, Noel, our grandparents, your other grandparents, nearly the whole freaking pack. I swear Dad is about to lose his mind. You have to come down before it gets to be too much,” she said.

WTF.

“News travel fast around here, huh?” I sat up and rubbed my hands over my face. I didn’t want to do this today. I wanted to get my phone and make sure Teagan was okay; I’d fallen asleep before they got back with it. But I relented. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be down.”

Alli gave me a little smile and started walking out, but before she made it through the door she turned to me and said, “Hey, Ad, you do what
you
want to do, okay? I’ve always loved that about you, you don’t care what people think as long as you’re good with it. I wish I had that quality myself.”

A chill went down my spine. “What are you not telling me, baby sis?”

“Just hurry, okay?”

As soon as I walked down the stairs, I knew what was happening. All conversation stopped, and the gathered people stared at me like I was from another planet.

“There he is! Son, we are so proud of you,” Marcus announced, liked I’d just won an Oscar.

“Umm…thanks, sir,” I said. But, what the hell? Had he just called me son in front of my dad?

I glanced around the room at my new family, though only three of them counted. My dad was sitting in the kitchen staring at his coffee cup, my mom was placing store-bought muffins on a plate for her impromptu guests, and my sister was sitting by the fireplace with Cade. No one else in the room was really family. None of them even knew me.

“None of that ‘sir’ stuff anymore, Aiden. Call me Dad,” Marcus said, smiling at everyone in the room except me. I was about to tell him that maybe I should start with “Marcus” when he introduced me to his parents. They were very nice, but it still felt like they were putting on a show. I looked to Mom for help but she just shrugged. Marcus was incredibly overbearing, and I got a glimpse of what life might have been like living with him. I was thankful that Mom got us the hell out.

“Aiden,” Marcus said, “we’re having a meeting this morning so that I can formally introduce you to everyone as my son. Go get dressed. The meeting starts at ten sharp.”

My dad stood up, looked around the room full of strangers and left. I wanted to run after him. I wanted to tell him that Marcus wasn’t not my dad, that he was, but I wasn’t given a chance. I was hurried up to my room.

Was this what Alli had been talking about?

It was almost time to leave for the meeting when I came back down from my room. My dad had emerged from his, and he was dressed for the meeting.

“You’re coming with us, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Yes. I won’t hide. I’m part of this family too.”

“Dad, it doesn’t matter what he says, you know. We both know who my real dad is, right?”

He stood up and gave me a quick hug. When he pulled back, I saw tears threatening to spill from his eyes, but he shrugged them off and said, “Car’s rolling out in five minutes. We better get going.”

I turned to get a bottle of water from the kitchen and saw my mom standing there. She must have been watching the whole time. Walking up to me, she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “You are the best kid, you know that?” she said.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. But it was feigned cheerfulness as I walked out of the house.

*****

The lodge was packed. As the meeting hall and the main gathering space for all members of the pack, it was decorated like a high-end ski resort lounge, complete with a huge fireplace and a few comfy-looking sofas toward the back. All that was missing were some dead animal heads displayed on the wall. At the front stood an imposing podium on a raised stage. The rows and rows of chairs facing that podium were filling up quickly as Marcus made his way to the stage.

As soon as I entered, I was ushered to the front by Phillip, Marcus’s right-hand man, and given a seat next to Cade and Noel in the first row. It felt weird to be sitting up here again. The last time had been with Cade, Alli missing. It was hard to believe that so much had happened so fast.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats,” Phillip said to the assembled pack. “Marcus has some exciting news to share with you today.”

Cade looked over at me and said, “Are you ready for this?”

“Dude, if I could disappear right now, I would,” I admitted. He smiled, but I got the feeling that he was just as nervous about this announcement as I.

The pack waited patiently for Marcus to speak.

“I have just come to learn that Cade is not my only child,” he announced. The entire room gasped simultaneously. Marcus motioned for Cade to come up and join him, waited for the excitement to die down a little before he continued: “You know Cade, but I have another son. Aiden, come up here. Ladies and gentlemen, my firstborn son.”

The pack went crazy. Not in a good way. There was a lot of anxious discussion, and I looked around the room and thought I might be sick. Mom had her head in her hands. My dad was sitting tall, but the look on his face was one of pure torture. The only person enjoying himself was Marcus.

“All right, all right. Calm down, people. Long story short, Lily didn’t know that she was pregnant when she left us all those years ago. We just recently found out that Aiden was my son when he needed a blood transfusion,” Marcus set out to explain.

It was nice of him to cover for Mom, but somehow I knew this was not going to end well.

“I called this meeting for two reasons,” he continued. “Yes, I wanted everyone to know that Aiden is my son,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder. “But I also wanted to discuss the future of the pack. I will not be alpha forever, so I wanted to officially introduce my son Aiden as my eventual successor, the next alpha of the Red Ridge pack.”

This time there wasn’t just excited discussion, there was outright shouting. The elders, with the exception of my grandparents, seemed downright outraged.

I myself was dubious, just like I’d told Marcus before. This was crazy. I couldn’t be the next alpha. I’d just turned into a wolf yesterday, and I couldn’t even control my shifting yet. Even if I could, the people here didn’t know me that well.

I glanced at Cade, and he watched me in disbelief.

“Marcus, you can’t be serious!” one of the elders shouted above the others.

“I am very serious. Aiden is my eldest son. Lily is an extremely strong woman. Aiden will make a great leader. And that is that,” he said, like it was final.

The same brave elder spoke again. “This is unacceptable, Marcus. Cade is the next alpha. He has always been. We trust him, we will follow him. We cannot and will not support this other decision.”

I had to get out of there. Part of me was furious. How dare Marcus give me no warning, not discuss his announcement with me? How dare he put me on the spot like this? The other part was embarrassed. And as I looked around at the pandemonium that he’d just caused, I knew that if I didn’t get out of there I was going to say or do something to cause myself further humiliation.

I looked to my dad. Our eyes met, and I nodded in the direction of the closest exit. He smiled and nodded back. That was all I needed. I had his support.

As I hurried past, he handed me the car keys.

36.

Teagan

I woke the next morning and checked my phone before I even managed to sit up in bed, hoping that Aiden might have texted. No such luck. Only a text from Sean, letting me know that he was finally passing French. As I held the phone in my hand, willing it to ring, my heart sank. It didn’t. Maybe I’d officially freaked him out with the whole psycho dad thing. After last night, there was a good chance he’d never call again.