Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) (19 page)

“I’m not saying that I don’t want it,” I told them. “I’m saying I need time to think about it. I need time to discuss it with my family. This is huge, and I only just turned yesterday. I just learned what it feels like to be a wolf. I need time to grow and develop if I’m going to lead a whole pack of them effectively.”

“That sounds wise. Doesn’t it, everyone?” Dad asked from the doorway.

Marcus probably wanted to tell him to shut his domestic-ass mouth, but thankfully Noel piped up. “It does, Paul. Come on, guys, let’s go home.”

“I’ll meet you guys in a bit, okay?” Cade asked. He’d appeared out of nowhere. Noel just smiled at him and told him not to stay out too late. I was starting to like her. She really seemed to have it together, though I didn’t know how she could stand by Marcus all the time. Agreeing with him constantly must get old.

“Alright, Aiden. But I want to discuss this further with you. In fact, I want you to take the day off from school tomorrow. Think about things; clear your head. And come see me when you’re ready to really discuss this. Agreed?” Marcus asked, glancing at his wife.

“Sure,” I said.

Once they were gone, Mom made some cinnamon rolls, and we all just sat around eating. We didn’t talk about what had happened. Alli raised hell about me getting to skip school. Finally, she wore Mom down and somehow got her to agree to let both of us stay home. So, I wouldn’t be lonely. I had a feeling everyone was waiting for me to bring up what had happened with Marcus, but it was a subject I wanted to ignore.

Eventually, Cade was ready to leave. As he put on his coat, he walked over and asked if I would mind giving him a ride home. I thought that strange, but I figured what the hell. Then it occurred to me he might have an ulterior motive. It hadn’t just been my life turned upside down by Marcus’s announcement.

“I was hoping we could talk about what happened today,” Cade said as we got in the Jetta.

“Yeah, we probably should,” I agreed.

He didn’t speak for a moment. I started the car and we began heading toward his house.

“I understand that being the alpha is technically your birthright, since you’re older, so if you decide that you want the job I won’t fight you for it.”

Holy shit. Fight me for it? The thought had never even crossed my mind. It got me wondering if anyone else would want to fight me for leadership. I’m a decent-sized guy, bigger than Cade, and if we fought as humans I could probably take him, but as a wolf…? Not a chance in hell.

“Okay,” I muttered, unsure of how else to respond.

“But I need you to understand that this has always been my future. I have known all my life that I was going to replace my father. Until Alli showed up, I’d never disobeyed him. I have always put this pack first,” he confided.

I pulled into his driveway. We sat there in silence for a while, then Cade continued, “I want this. I have always wanted this. So, please be one hundred percent sure before you decide to take it.”

For some reason, I felt like he wanted—no, probably expected—me to step down and let him be the alpha. But I wasn’t ready to just hand over the honor. I promised him that I would not take the decision lightly, and as Cade got out of the car I heard him say, “I can’t believe my fucking dad.”

That’s when I really starting contemplating the situation. Why the hell would Marcus want me to be alpha and not Cade? Was this really about Cade choosing Al over Kendall? Was it because Cade hadn’t done what he was told? Marcus was out of his mind if he thought that
I
was going to blindly do whatever he wanted. Cade would make a great alpha; but if he wanted it so bad, why would he just let me take the position away without a fight?

I drove back to my house. As I walked into my room and prepared for bed, all I wanted was to just go to sleep and make the day end; the only part I wanted to remember was the walk with Teagan. Which reminded me, before I fell asleep, I needed to text her and let her know that I wouldn’t be at school the next day.

My phone buzzed just as I reached for it.

Teagan: Thanks for the visit today.
:)

I grinned. Then I sent a quick text back before surrendering to sleep.

Aiden: My pleasure. I was about to text u. Not going to school tomorrow. Have some family stuff to deal with. Miss u. Night, beautiful. ;)

And I really did miss her. Like no other girl I’d ever been with.

41.

Peter

How to kill werewolves
was typed into Peter’s laptop search engine. He couldn’t just expose this pack for what they were, they needed to be dead. All of them. And while he’d done research on eliminating the creatures before, he wanted to make sure he missed no new element that might give him an edge.

Finding a team of believers would be the hardest part of the plan. They were essential, though; he could not do this on his own. He knew firsthand just how powerful the beasts were. To try to kill an entire pack by himself would be nothing short of suicidal.

“I think we need a different strategy,” James said as he took a seat across from Peter at the diner where they’d decided to meet. He’d been successfully convinced that werewolves existed and that his daughter was in grave danger. Peter had shown him all of his research last night after driving back with it: the newspaper articles about animal attacks, his official “werewolf profile,” the photos of the local suspects that matched it. Soon he’d have DNA results, too. It was time to put a plan into action.

“Hey, James, glad you could make it,” Peter said, quickly closing his laptop.

“So, I was thinking about this plan of yours all night. I’m sure there is no way that we will be able to convince enough locals that there are”—James looked around nervously before whispering—“werewolves living down by the lake.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed and his gut clenched. He resisted the urge to reach across the table and grab James by the throat. The only thing that stopped him was need. He didn’t like the way this conversation had begun, though, and if James planned on backing out…well, Peter would just have to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Listen, Peter,
I
believe you. I think. But to get that many grown men to believe in the unbelievable…” James let the sentence fall away. “Maybe we should just tell them it’s something else.”

“What are you suggesting?” Peter asked through clenched teeth. Telling people a lie wouldn’t vindicate him or avenge his uncle. He wanted the truth to be known!

“A cult.”

“What?” Peter said.

“We convince people that the lake-livers are all involved in some kind of weird cult. We could start some rumors about them brainwashing young women. Say they are convincing outsiders to marry their members or something like that, like those polygamists you see on TV. Have you been out there? It kind of looks like that already. All those huge houses surrounding the lake and woods like they’re protecting something—or hiding something,” James explained.

“When did you go out there?” Peter asked.

James looked ashamed. “I must have driven out there drunk one night a few months back. I passed out on the hood of my car with a bottle in my hand. A kid about Teagan’s age woke me up and told me I was on private property. I got in my car and left.”

“Did you get a good look around?” Peter asked, both surprised and excited.

“Not really. Like I said, I was drunk when I got there and hung over when I left,” James answered.

Peter sat back in the booth and crossed his arms. He needed a minute to think about James’s plan. Spreading rumors about a cult might work, he supposed. Based on his experience, crazed polygamist cults were more likely to be believed than werewolves. And maybe the werewolves would shift back into wolf form when killed. That would prove he’d been telling the truth all these years.

“I like it! I think it will work. We need to get the rumors out there, and then we can let the grapevine take over,” Peter said. Then they would fan the flames of revulsion and anger.

“Good,” said James. “Let’s meet at the bar tomorrow night after we draw up some actual rumors and figure out who to tell them to. The sooner I get Teagan away from that boy the better.”

“Tomorrow? Yes, tomorrow. See you then, James,” Peter told him.

As soon as James left the diner, Peter continued his search online. He would make one final scan and then he needed to get busy stockpiling weapons.

42.

Teagan

I walked in the door after school to the sound of my father banging around in the kitchen. What the hell was he doing now? I didn’t have to wait long to find out, because before I made it two feet he was yelling.

“Teagan, get your ass in here. I need your damn help.”

Seriously? I dropped my backpack and purse by the door and headed into the kitchen. His legs stuck out from underneath the sink, and I knew this wasn’t going to be fun. My dad was no plumber, and he’d flood the entire house before he’d pay someone to fix anything.

“What’s up, Dad. We got a leak?”

He lifted his head to give me his no-shit look. When apparently that glare wasn’t enough, he muttered, “What do you think, dumbass? I’m just under here for the fun of it?”

Dumbass? Nice.

But, for some reason his insults didn’t bother me like they used to. Maybe it was because I had Aiden. I did have Aiden, didn’t I? I still tingled from yesterday’s kisses.

I chuckled at the memory, which made my father angry. He cursed under his breath and scooted out from under the sink. Watching him struggle to his feet, I reached down to help him up.

“I don’t need your goddamn help. Just get the hell out of here. You’re no help to me anyway.”

Without replying, I turned to walk out.

Apparently, that wasn’t the right move either. Dad immediately started shouting obscenities so loud that the neighbors could hear. Not that they hadn’t heard it all before, but it was still as embarrassing now as when we first moved in. After hearing one of my father’s infamous rants, someone came by to check if everything was okay. The meeting didn’t go so well. Dad told them to mind their own damn business, and to stay the hell off our property unless there were gunshots or a fire. After that, the neighbors have just kept to themselves.

Figuring it was probably best to ignore him, I didn’t stop. He could scream all he wanted; I didn’t need to stay and listen to him call me every name in the book.

I slammed my bedroom door and began a search for my phone. It had been missing all day, and since Aiden wasn’t at school, it was driving me crazy that I’d forgotten it at home. I finally found it between the wall and my bed, and I remembered that I’d fallen asleep holding it after reading Aiden’s text.

There were no new missed calls or texts, so I resisted the urge to text him and wrote to Alli instead. Maybe she wanted to meet up at the mall. That seemed like a natural, girly thing to do this close to Christmas. Plus, for some reason she hadn’t been at school either, and I kind of needed her to weigh in on what to do about Aiden. Truthfully, I wanted her to reassure me that he could be trusted.

My phone pinged.
Alli.
I was surprised to see that she’d invited me over to her house instead of meeting at the mall. I quickly texted back, let her know that I’d be there in a bit. After a long day at school I needed to freshen up. Aiden might be there, not to mention his parents.

Oh God, his parents! Things were different now, though. At least, I hoped they were.

I rushed to make myself presentable as quickly as possible. I tried to convince myself otherwise, but I knew it was because I was banking on Aiden being home. It might have only been a day since I’d seen him, but butterflies had taken up permanent residence in my stomach after yesterday night and I couldn’t wait to see him again.

The drive over was equally bizarre as the first time. It was definitely like these people were hiding from the outside world, but I shrugged off the weird and headed up to the Wrights’ front door. Before I knocked, I took a deep breath, trying to contain my nervousness.

I had barely touched the door when it swung open. Alli ushered me in quick, like we were late for a movie. We bypassed the living room, with Alli shouting, “Going upstairs, guys.”

Her parents, who seemed to be in the middle of an important conversation, looked up with surprise. I smiled and waved, trying not to be rude, but Alli grabbed my arm and all but dragged me up the stairs.

“Sorry, my parents have had kind of a weird day so far. We all have.”

“Oh, is that why you weren’t at school? Should I go?” I asked. Obviously something was going on.

Alli just smiled slightly and wandered to her bed. “No, it’s okay. Really. Don’t worry about it. Just family stuff. I’m glad you’re here. How have you been?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. How much had Aiden told her?

I walked over to the chair in the corner. “Good. I’m good. How about you?

Ignoring my question, Alli said, “So, you and Aiden, huh? I’ve hardly gotten the chance to talk to him alone, but I can tell something is up. So, what’s going on with you two?”

Shit. How was I supposed to answer that? I’d been hoping to get information out of her. “We’re good,” I said.

“Good? What does that mean?”

“I mean, well…I like him, and I think he likes me too.” There, I’d said it. No going back now. I’d set myself up for ridicule if it was going to come. Not that I really thought Alli was going to—

“You think he likes you too? Of course he does! I’d be surprised if he wasn’t in his room right now writing love poetry and shit.”

Alli never failed to make me laugh, and I loved her for it. “I didn’t take Aiden for the love poetry type.”

“Oh, no? Well, lately he’s been all ‘wherefore art thou Teagan,’” Alli said through laughter. Then, out of nowhere she banged on her wall. “Aiden!”

“Alli! Don’t!” I begged, instinctively jumping out of my chair.

She didn’t stop. “Calm down. Why do you think I invited you over? Figured I’d give y’all some time to chat.”

Aiden’s head poked through the door, and he smiled like he’d expected me to be standing there in the middle of his sister’s room. He was wearing jeans and t-shirt, but his hair was wet and he was holding a towel by his side like he’d just gotten out of the shower. My heart all but leapt out of my chest.