Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) (24 page)

Throwing my backpack on my bed, I lay down next to it. The last three days had been utter hell. I’d successfully avoided Aiden, but it was growing harder and harder. After a couple of near run-ins with him at school, I’d taken to staying in my classes until the last minute and then bolting to the next. When he saw me and waited, I made conversation with teachers, and one time I even ducked into the teachers’ lounge on accident, interrupting their lunch break. Ignoring his calls and texts was killing me, especially when I remembered how perfect we were together only a few nights ago. When I remembered how much I felt for him. It had only been days, but it felt like a lifetime.

My backpack was overflowing, because I’d stopped using my locker altogether. The last thing I needed was Becca accosting me again, and Aiden was likely waiting for me there, too. I knew myself well enough to know that he could break down my defenses with one simple look.

Avoiding Alli wasn’t possible. I’d had to endure endless questions about what was happening, and though she’d assured me over and over that Becca was full of shit, I knew she wasn’t. Not entirely. There really was something about their little clique of beautiful people that screamed
Members Only
. That was why those people down by the lake were such perfect targets for my father and his creepy friend: They were beautiful and rich and exclusive. And they probably deserved to be. Not only did they have no reason to accept me, some of them would actively fight any intrusion. Even the adults. I thought again about Marcus Walker. I didn’t even want to think about what he would say about me being near his recently revealed biological son. If he knew what we’d done the other night in my bed…

I threw my arm over my face and recalled the day’s conversation with Alli. She’d been more persistent than ever. “You have to talk to Aiden. I mean it, Teagan. He’s really hurting. He loves you, and you just up and walk out on him because of something Becca said? If you don’t want to be with him, that’s one thing, but he at least deserves an explanation.”

She was right. I couldn’t keep avoiding him, either, but I knew I’d fall right back under his spell with one word. The truth was: I was hurting too. I loved Aiden and wanted nothing more than to be with him, but I couldn’t handle it if he left me because his family didn’t approve, or if after a few months he left me for another girl when he realized that he didn’t really love me like he thought. Someday he’d leave me just like Alex had, no matter what I believed. Just like Mom did. I didn’t want to suffer that again.

After a few minutes of wallowing in pity, I got up and pulled my door open as quietly as possible. I sneaked down the hallway and peeked into the kitchen. For some reason, my dad wasn’t there. Peter was alone in the kitchen, and he was talking to himself. No, not to himself, I realized, to someone who wasn’t there. I flattened myself against the wall outside the kitchen to listen.

“No! Uncle, you don’t understand. We will kill them, kill them all! But I can’t do it alone. I need James and the others… No! Just listen to me. What do you expect me to do, take out a werewolf pack alone? They’re monsters. I need help… No! James will help me. I’ve already convinced him that a wolf killed his wife and now his own daughter is… Just trust me, please,” Peter begged.

Holy shit. The guy was completely insane. My pulse was racing, and I had to hold my breath, afraid he’d hear me panting with fear. Where the hell was my father?

Peter was hunched over the table, his head in his hands; I saw as I peeked my head around the corner. Then I heard Dad yelling at someone in the front yard, so I tip-toed over to the window and saw Aiden. My father was shouting at him, but I couldn’t hear what was being said.

Aiden! I wanted to run out there and throw my arms around him, but I couldn’t. Not after everything that had happened. We definitely needed to talk, but it wasn’t going to happen here with my dad and his crazy friend around. Especially not when Peter was planning some sort of mass homicide. Was he really going to kill a bunch of the people down by the lake? Was he really going to hurt Aiden and Alli and their family? Was my dad really involved with that sort of insanity?

From where I stood, I could see that something was off with Aiden. It looked like he hadn’t slept in several days, which made my heart beat faster. He was clearly hurting just as much as I was.

Aiden turned and headed back to his car. I was making to go after him when I heard Peter start up again.

“I
know
one of them is out there. I can’t just go shoot him in the middle of the yard. We will get them, Uncle. We just need time to… No! You’re not listening! It will be done, and soon.”

I wanted to get to Aiden, but I couldn’t let Peter know I’d heard. I moved quietly to the front door and went outside, but I was too late. Aiden’s car was already near the end of the street.

“What did you say to him?” I yelled at my dad as he came up the steps.

Just then, the door flew open. Peter stood in the doorway.

My father turned, eyes ablaze, and shouted, “I did what any reasonable father would do. I told that piece of shit to get the hell off of our property. You need to stay away from him, Teagan. He’s dangerous.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Are you freaking serious? You think he’s more dangerous to me than
you?
Drunk old you and your crazy friends? Your crazy, murderous friends?”

My dad got right in my face, and for a moment I was sure he was going to hit me, but then I saw it: the fear in his eyes. Then and there I knew. He really did believe all of the crazy werewolf bullshit that Peter had been spewing. It made me sick to think that he might really help the nutjob carry out some terrible act of violence.

I turned to leave, but Dad grabbed my arm. “I mean it, Teagan. Stay away from him. Please, I’m begging you. I can’t lose you like I did your mother.”

I pulled away and ran inside. I needed to get to Aiden. I had to warn him that my father had finally gone completely nuts, and if Dad and Peter were really going to act on their fantasies, Aiden and his family were in danger. Everyone was down at the lake.

I grabbed my keys and flew back past my father, who was standing next to Peter in the yard. My dad lunged for me and said, “Teagan, don’t go!”

I dodged his hand and heard Peter say, “No, James. Let her.”

Yes, let me,
I thought. Without looking back, I jumped in my car, started it up, and sped off down the road.

51.

Peter

Peter stood with James Rhodes in the man’s front yard and watched his lovesick daughter run to her car and drive off after her wolf. They had discussed this contingency, and there were things to be gained from it.

As soon as the vehicle was out of sight, they both ran inside to collect their gear. Jumping in Peter’s car, they sped down the road after Teagan. They wanted to give her time to be far enough ahead so that she wouldn’t see them, but they also wanted to use this opportunity to find out if there was any different route into the wolves’ estate. Teenagers always seemed to know the back roads and secret entrances to places. That’s how it happened in books.

Peter drove while James took notes. They couldn’t afford to have anything go wrong, and so they were double-checking and noting everything. James photographed the small street sign that marked the entrance to the wolves’ estate. He drew a rough diagram of what they could see from outside; then they calculated in both miles and minutes the exact distance from James’s house to the turnoff. They were going to be prepared. They had to be. Later that day they were meeting the four other men they’d recruited and wanted to have accurate information to give them. The plan had been to attack under cover of darkness, and now it had to be tonight. Teagan might warn the wolves, so they had to act before the wolves could prepare.

Once they’d confirmed there was only one road that led in and out of the community—or at least Teagan hadn’t shown them another—they decided that everything they needed. It was time to rendezvous with the others.

Peter handed James his cell phone to send a text to the team and let them know when and where to meet. They had a lot to discuss. Peter needed to educate these guys. He didn’t want anyone to walk into the wolves’ den unprepared; that would be a suicide mission. They were already at a disadvantage, since the others thought they’d be rescuing Teagan from some kind of religious cult. They needed to be ready for a fight if one should ensue. Peter was still hoping that Teagan wouldn’t warn the wolves or they wouldn’t believe her, and that the element of surprise might still be on his side.

With a deep breath and a brave smile, Peter drove back to James’s house. As soon as they arrived, he used James’s computer to check his email one last time for his last piece of evidence. There it was, in his inbox, like a blessing from above: the DNA results that he needed to prove these beasts were real. He opened the attachment and it confirmed what he already knew. These “people” weren’t human. The results showed as: ABNORMAL, SPECIES UNKNOWN.

Quickly, he printed out the proof. This was just what he needed, but he decided to keep the information to himself. For now. Now was time the to prepare for the biggest night of their lives. Tonight his uncle’s death would be avenged. Tonight his uncle would finally be able to rest in peace.

52.

Teagan

Pulling into the driveway at Aiden’s house, I took a moment to compose myself. Did I really want to do this? If I frantically flew through the door shouting about werewolf hunters they might decide that I was really as insane as my father. I’d already been worrying about what Aiden’s family would think of me, and this would seal the deal.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to turn around, drive back home, and forget I’d ever heard anything. If I’d thought his mother would disapprove of me before, what was she going to think when I told her my own father planned to attack her and her neighbors because they were werewolves?

I put my car in reverse, about to chicken out, when the front door of the house opened. Aiden stood there. I almost slammed my foot on the gas to hightail it out of there, but again I noticed that something was really wrong. Aiden was ill. With a pale face and deep circles under his eyes, he hardly resembled the strong, stunning guy who’d kissed and held me so beautifully only a few nights before.

He rushed my car, and I put it in park just as he arrived at my window. Backing up so that I could open my car door, he lurched forward and threw his arms around me before I made it to a standing position, taking a long, deep breath as he did, if I was were the very oxygen that he needed to breathe. With his face still buried in my hair, he whispered, “Thank God you’re here.”

I pulled free to answer, but before I could say a word, his lips pressed firmly against mine. It was exactly what I needed. Maybe he was my oxygen, too.

We breathed together, deepening the kiss. With his arms surrounding me, I lost myself in his lips. I drank him in, all but forgotten why I was there.

When he pulled back to look into my eyes, I was startled once more by the change in him, this time in a good way. The color in his face had returned. His eyes shone once again, and the circles beneath them had disappeared. It was like magic.

What the hell was going on? A few minutes ago he’d looked like hell, and now he looked completely normal. Maybe I was going crazy too. I started to ask, but Aiden interrupted.

“I was starting to think you’d never talk to me again. Teagan, I’m so sorry about what Becca said. It’s all bullshit. I love you, and I don’t care what anybody thinks. You have to believe me. Nothing is going to separate us. Ever.”

He held me in his arms as if he could make his words come true, and I almost believed him. I certainly never wanted him to let me go. I was only kidding myself thinking I could ever truly stay away. He was my everything. Standing there, engulfed in his embrace, I finally felt whole again.

It was a good thing I now believed we could weather any storm that came our way. I had to tell him what my father was planning, and something inside knew it would be a hurricane.

“Aiden, I have to tell you something, and you’re going to think…I don’t know what you’re going to think, but I have to warn you,” I finally admitted.

Aiden drew back, and with his fingers he moved my chin up so that he could look me in the eyes. I couldn’t do it, though. My gaze shifted to the side. I couldn’t look at him. Not with what I had to say.

“Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me anything.”

Tears welled-up in my eyes, and I struggled to say the words without turning into a crying mess right there in the driveway. “I’m just going to say it,” I began, “but please know that I think it’s completely nuts. I know it’s not true.”

“Just tell me. It’s okay, really.”

“It’s my dad. He thinks y’all are werewolves. And I know this is completely insane, but he has a friend Peter, and I think they are planning to kill y’all. Everyone here.”

Aiden let go of me completely. Shock registered on his face, and he turned and looked toward his house as if to see if anyone else had heard. Then he turned back and said, “What?”

I reached for his hand. “I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t know what to do. This Peter guy is crazy. When you were out front with my dad earlier, I heard him talking to himself in my kitchen about attacking you.”

Aiden pulled me toward his front door. “Come on. Let’s get inside. I need to talk to my parents.”

I stopped him mid-stride, “No! I can’t go in there. They already don’t like me. I can’t stand there while you tell them that my father is trying to exterminate them because he thinks y’all are some mythical beast. Then they’ll really, really hate me.”

“Teagan, they don’t hate you.” Aiden dragged me up to his front porch. “You just have to trust me. You can go upstairs with Alli if you want, but you’re not leaving. I can’t lose you again, and you need to stay away from this Peter guy. He sounds dangerous. Did he happen to say when he’s planning on coming?”

“No,” I replied. I had no idea.