Red: Into the Dark
Read Red: Into the Dark Online
Authors: Sophie Stern
Sophie Stern
Copyright © 2016 by Sophie Stern
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Other stories by Sophie Stern
Dragon Isle
Stepdragon (Dragon Isle Book 0.5)
My Lord and Dragon (Dragon Isle Book 1)
The Dragon Fighter (Dragon Isle Book 2)
A Dragon's Bite (Dragon Isle Book 3)
Lost to the Dragon (Dragon Isle Book 4)
Beware of Dragons (Dragon Isle Book 5)
For my readers
May you find your wolves
Red:
When Red witnesses her grandmother's murder, she escapes into the woods before the killer - who happens to be her older brother - can catch her.
The cabin in the forest is peaceful, quiet, and isolated. It has everything she needs to survive. It even comes with a pet wolf who keeps her company.
But when her brother's henchmen find her hiding spot, she's all alone in the fight for her life.
Nash:
He didn't expect a human to wander into shifter territory, but now that she's here, Nash can't imagine life without Red.
When she's attacked by wolves in the dark of the forest, Nash has no choice but to save her.
There's just one problem: she doesn't know he's a shifter.
Nash
I’m late getting back, but that doesn’t matter. I can’t wait to see Elise. I really missed her today. It was my first time going out on a hunt in quite awhile, and I want to tell her all about it. Maybe I’m lame compared to her Alpha boyfriend, but my cousin loves me, and I know she’ll be excited to hear all about today’s adventures.
She’s always teased me about my hunting ability, but not today. Nope, today is going to be different. As soon as I find Elise, I’m going to tell her everything that happened today. She won’t believe it. She won’t believe that today, I conquered the forest. It might just be a few rabbits, but I feel like I conquered the world.
For the first time in a long time, things are looking up. Maybe it’s because the Alpha didn’t come on this hunt and I was in charge or maybe it’s just because I got to run with my friends all day, but I feel free.
I feel freer than I have in years.
Things have been a bit rocky between Elise and me since she started dating the Alpha. I’m not sure if “dating” is the right word for it. “Whoring” sounds so mean when it’s about my cousin, but that’s more accurate.
Elise is sleeping with the Alpha of the Silent Canines and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
I tried to convince her he was bad news, tried to show her the error of her ways, but none of that matters. She believes what she wants to believe, and I have to live with that. We all have to live with that.
The truth is that Elise is an adult. She can date who she likes. As long as the Alpha doesn’t hit her or hurt her, who am I to complain?
I hurry into the cave ahead of the others. We were all hunting all day and we’re all more than ready for supper. Ryder and Thorn take my rabbits to clean, knowing I’m in a bit of a rush to see Elise. Markus goes with them, along with Marybeth and a few other wolves.
They were all great today and we’re all feeling a bit of a rush. I hurry to my cousin’s room and lift my hand to knock, but when I reach her door, I’m overwhelmed by the scent of something tangy.
Something metallic.
Something I know very, very well.
Blood.
I don’t take the time to process what I smell. Instead, I push open the door and rush inside. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m standing in the center of Elise’s room and she’s here.
She’s here.
Her body lies in a crumpled heap on the floor and I can see why I smelled blood: she’s covered in it. My beautiful cousin is covered in blood and she’s not breathing.
He killed her.
“Elise?” I whisper even though I know it’s useless. She’s already gone and I’m too late. I’m too late for her.
I ignore the blood as I pick her up and hold her in my arms. She’s still warm. Knowing I was so close to making it back, knowing I almost was able to save her, it’s too much.
The tears come before I know what’s happening and soon I’m sobbing.
No.
No.
No.
This can’t be happening.
A scream escapes me before I cover my mouth. I can’t let them hear me. Not yet. Not like this. She deserves to be taken care of, even in death. Screaming will only make the other wolves panic. It’ll only raise questions. It’ll only cause chaos.
But she’s gone.
And I was too late to stop it.
Elise was so young and full of life. She was so sweet and wonderful. Who would do this? And why? Who would take such a sweet shifter away from the pack? Who would take away the woman who loved these wolves more than anyone else? Who would slaughter the one woman who wanted to see the pack become a safer, better place?
I know the answer even if no one else does.
He did this.
Why?
Did he even have a reason?
Who knows why the Alpha does anything?
He’s a bad man. A monster. He’s a creep and he needs to die. Now, worst of all, he’s a murderer who killed the woman I love more than anyone else in the world.
Elise.
I hear footsteps coming down the hall and I lay her body back down. He might be coming back. I don’t know. I can guarantee he’ll try to pin this on me somehow, but I don’t know how. I was gone when it happened. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Alpha will make me pay. He won’t take responsibility for this and he’ll need someone to blame. Who better than me?
A million questions race through my mind, jumbling my train of thought. I can’t focus as I’m bombarded with questions I need answers to.
Why would he hurt her now?
Why like this?
I want to sit here and cry over my cousin for awhile, but I know I can’t. Time is a luxury I just don’t have. Tired, dirty, worn out…I’m in no shape to fight, especially not multiple guys, and the Alpha always has his groupies with him.
I hear Kyle and Russell’s voices as their footsteps come down the hall. That was faster than I expected. I glance around the room, but hiding spots are few and far between. I settle with slipping into the closet, happy that our wolf caves are designed to look more like luxury apartments than your typical cave rooms. Turns out, I moved just in time. As I close the door over, leaving it just a crack, they enter the room.
“Whew,” Kyle says, looking around. “He did a number on her.”
“Yeah.” Russell sounds less enthused. “Where’d Nash go?”
“Markus and Marybeth said he was coming to talk to Elise. He should have found her by now.”
I close my eyes as they talk, hoping the scent of her blood covers my anguish and fear. They’ll smell me if they tried, but something tells me they aren’t trying their best right now.
No, they’re much too focused on my cousin, much too centered on whatever mission the Alpha sent them on.
“We need to find him, get him in here,” Kyle says. “He’s supposed to have her blood on him before dinner so the Alpha can end him.”
“I know. Nothing like an easy scapegoat, right?” He laughs. The bastard actually laughs. “Let’s go check his room. Maybe he decided to shower before meeting her.”
They both leave, and I realize that I’m out of my element. Not only has the Alpha taken my cousin from me, but he wants to put the blame on me, too.
I know it’s because I fought them about this relationship. It was just a few days ago that I warned Elise about him. Did she tell him? Was that part of their pillow talk? Did she confide in her boyfriend that her cousin didn’t like him because he was dangerous?
The Alpha has never liked me, but this is extreme. This is over-the-top.
I also know that no one would dare question him. If he tells everyone I killed Elise, no matter how little sense it makes, everyone will believe him. Even if they don’t believe it, they won’t question it.
They’ll be too
afraid
to question it.
It’ll be the pack against me, and I just can’t deal with this right now. I have to get out. First, though, there’s someone I need to see.
I peek out the door. The hallway is clear, so I move quickly down to my aunt’s room. I don’t bother knocking before I slip inside.
“Nash,” she says, looking up. She’s obviously surprised to see me, but then she takes in my appearance. Then her eyes meet mine. “Oh, no,” she covers her mouth as she starts to cry. She can obviously smell Elise’s blood on me. I know she can.
Before she can cry loudly, though, before the sobs arrive, I cover her mouth with my hand and pull her close to me.
“I found her,” I whisper. “I just got back from the hunt, and I found her. It was the Alpha. He’s going to say I did it.”
My aunt just shakes her head, but I have to tell her.
“There’s not much time. I have to leave or he’ll kill me. They’re going to come after me. You should come with me.”
She shakes her head. Elise wasn’t her daughter, but my aunt loves her like one. When our parents were killed, Aunt Germaine took in Elise and me and raised us as her own children. We’re all she has in the world.
“I’m an old woman,” she says. “They won’t come after me, honey, but you need to run. Do you hear? You need to run.”
She’s right, and for once, I’m glad I don’t have any weird ideas about staying behind to try to take on a group of angry wolves. Part of me thinks I should challenge the Alpha. If I was the one in control of the pack, things would be different. Things would be better.
I’m not the one in charge, though, and right now, it’s hard to see through the tears that are still falling for Elise. There will be plenty of time to cry later, but right now? Right now I need to get out.
Aunt Germaine starts rustling through a box under her bed, and pulls out some clothes.
“These were my husband’s,” she says, thrusting them toward me. I’m already undressing and pulling the new garments on. “They’ll mask your scent long enough to get you out of the cave. Take the back entrance,” she warns me, and I nod. She doesn’t give me money or food, but where I’m going, I won’t need it.
I kiss my aunt one more time and try to memorize her face.
“I’ll be back,” I tell her, and she nods.
“Take care of yourself,” she warns, and then I’m gone.
I grew up in these caves. I know every hall, every tunnel. I know every entrance and it doesn’t take me long to get outside. There, I run like mad, keeping my clothes and shoes on as I do. I would be faster if I shift, but I want to have these with me in case I need them.
Hours pass, but I keep pushing on, keep moving through the woods. I’m afraid if I slow down, the darkness will find me. He killed Elise in cold blood and I wasn’t there to stop it. My heart is torturing me. The physical pain of losing her is overwhelming and I stop more than once to vomit before I keep running.
When I finally find the dilapidated hunting cabin, it’s well past midnight. The tiny home looks abandoned and I wonder how long it’s been since someone last stayed here. I stumble up to the porch and look around.
“Home sweet home,” I whisper.
Home sweet home.
