Sage's Mystery (13 page)

“They said that was impossible and that I was just traumatized.

They stuck me in a mental hospital, trying to convince me that what I heard wasn’t what really happened. I knew what I heard, so I stayed adamant, and stayed locked up. As the years went by, I began to realize that no matter how many times I protested what they said, I wasn’t going to convince them and I was going to stay locked up. So I started saying that maybe I was wrong. And then I started believing that I hadn’t really heard the howls or my parents being killed. But by then, no one believed that I was telling the truth, you know, that I hadn’t really heard the howls. They thought it was some sort of game to get out of there. So one night, I broke out. I wandered around for the longest time, lost. Everything was strange to me because I grew up in a locked facility.”

“And then you found your way home,” Sage said as he lay next to William, his hand propping his head up.

“Yeah, it was the only place I remembered before they took me away. Now the howls are back and I’m one of those werewolves.”

William wiped at his eyes. Anytime he thought of his mom, he got all sentimental and remorseful that he couldn’t have saved her.

“Hey,” Sage said as he pushed up from the floor and grabbed William, pulling him into his arms. “You’re not one of them, okay?

You’re one of us. There’s a difference.”

“Like what?” William asked, trying his best to hold back his tears.

“What’s the difference between the ones who killed this town, my parents, and what I am now?”

102

Lynn Hagen

“Because we don’t kill innocent people. I’m not sure what’s going on, but like I said before, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

William wasn’t sure what to believe right now, but he knew the only person he had in the world was Sage. And wasn’t that ironic? He should hate all werewolves, including himself right now, but he couldn’t find it in him to hate the one man who had shown him any kind of love since that horrific night.

“We’re not all evil,” Sage said in the darkness, somehow reading William’s thoughts. “You can’t condemn an entire race of werewolves for the act of a few.”

William could, he had plenty of reason to, but he knew it wasn’t in him to do that. He knew what it was like to be an outcast himself, different from the rest. He hadn’t had a normal childhood, and he wasn’t one to pin his anger on someone who didn’t deserve it.

“I’m tired.” William didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He wanted to forget what happened so long ago and what was happening now. He wanted a normal life, whatever that was.

“Okay, slim. No more talk about what happened to you.”

William could tell that Sage was placating him. He just hoped Sage left it alone. He had grown up fighting to forget. He didn’t want a trip down memory lane while lying in his mate’s arms.

* * * *

Isaac slammed the breaker box closed. At least that was in good condition, which was a shocker considering the state the house had been in. He had to admit it was shaping up to be a real nice place.

“Good?” Monterey asked as he clomped down the basement steps.

“Good,” Isaac confirmed as he looked around at the large basement. This would be a rip-ass workout room if they got the place into shape. The foundation was great. “I need to check the rest of the house. We don’t need a fire after all the hard work we put into the place.”

Sage’s Mystery

103

“I still can’t believe Sage bought an entire town. Who the hell sells an entire town? How did he even hear about it?” Monterey tossed the questions out one after the other.

“However he found out, it got us away from the pack. His old man is a powder keg waiting to ignite. I could see it in his eyes. He’s got, like, a hard-on for his cause now. You saw him. He wasn’t backing down for no one.”

“I always knew he was a hothead, but I never took him for the kind of guy to toss Sage out like that. Sage was his golden boy.”

“His only boy,” Isaac reminded him.

“No matter now,” Monterey said as he climbed the steps out of the basement. “Whether he likes it or not, he’s the alpha here. He’s a born leader, and no one can run from that.”

“True,” Isaac agreed as he left the basement. He just hoped Sage realized that as well.

* * * *

The ax flew through the air, hitting its target dead-on. Sage stopped to wipe his brow as he looked up at the house. It was colder outside now, and they had cleaned the fireplace and the chimney, making sure everything was in workable order so the house could be heated.

The electricity was on, thanks to Isaac, and Sage had gone over to Mayfield County and purchased a bed. He couldn’t wait for that to be delivered. He might be a werewolf, but he hated sleeping on the floor.

He hated for William to sleep on the floor, although the guy had been sleeping almost on top of Sage every night.

Everything felt so domesticated to him, like he had a real family.

A family that wasn’t psychotic like his father. Most of Sage’s new family members weren’t psychotic anyway. Okay, they all were nuts, but in a good way in Sage’s opinion.

104

Lynn Hagen

Sage tossed the cut wood into a wheelbarrow and then slammed the ax into the cutting stump as he wheeled the chopped wood toward the house. They had heat from the furnace, but with all his money going into repairs, corners needed to be cut.

He had worked his whole life, saving damn near every penny he had made, but it wouldn’t last much longer with all the repairs. The town still needed to be brought back to life, so he needed to generate some kind of income, soon.

He had an idea but needed to talk to his friends about it. William and Patrick were cooking dinner, so Sage knew dinnertime was his best shot at having them all in one room. He set the wheelbarrow down by the back porch and grabbed a few logs for the fireplace.

“Smells good,” he said as he walked through the kitchen. William and Patrick were busy making dinner, but William stopped to beam up at him.

“Patrick’s teaching me how to cook,” he said with pride. “And if my cooking kills you, then I have plenty of space to bury the bodies out back.”

Sage stopped walking as his brows crinkled. “Maybe I should order takeout.”

“He’s doing great,” Patrick said as he laid another pork chop into the grease. “He’s a natural in here.”

William’s smile hadn’t faltered as he stuck his tongue out at Sage.

“I’m a natural.”

Sage shook his head as he left the kitchen. He sure hoped so because he was sick to death of sandwiches. The pork chops smelled good sizzling in the frying pan. Thank fuck the stove had been electric. Sage was afraid to call the gas man. He might disappear, too.

Samuel hadn’t come back around, so they must have found the electrician. Sage hoped that was the case.

Sage tossed the firewood to the side of the fireplace and then walked upstairs to take a shower.
Let someone else get the fire going.

His shoulders were cramping up on him, his muscles tight. He had to
Sage’s Mystery

105

admit, he loved the fact that everything seemed to work off of electricity in this house, even the boiler.

A hot shower was long overdue. Washing up in cold water had almost made his dick crawl up into his body permanently. Sage’s shoulders slumped as the heat pounded into his sore and tight muscles.

He growled when he heard the bathroom door open. If it wasn’t William, someone was getting his ass kicked.

“Hey, man,” Jeremiah called from the doorway. “Something strange is going on over in town.”

That was all Sage needed to hear. He cut the water off and climbed out.

“Get some clothes on,” Jeremiah said as he wrinkled his nose.

“What the fuck? Do you think I shower fully dressed? You’re the one who came barging in here. Get out.”

Jeremiah grunted as he left. Sage was seriously considering adding a few more bathrooms on to this house. He knew it would be a while before any of the other houses were ready for occupancy.

Sage tossed a pair of jeans on and then stuffed his feet in his boots. He shoved his head into a sweater and then clomped down the steps. The other men were waiting at the door. “Been hearing some howling for the past five minutes,” Mercy said as Sage walked outside. “Not much, but no one should be over there.”

This would be the first time Sage had heard any noise coming from town except on the night he had shifted. One way or the other, he was about to find out what the mystery was in Mystery.

106

Lynn Hagen

Sage stalked over to town with his four friends. Patrick had stayed behind to keep an eye on William. He was beyond pissed right now.

His mouth had watered for one of those pork chops, but instead he was out here in the fucking cold, hunting down werewolves. What a shitty ending to his day.

Missing William’s first attempt at cooking made Sage want to knock heads. He was going off of Patrick’s claim that William was a natural in the kitchen, and Sage wanted to find out. He didn’t want to stomp around in the cold, chasing down insane werewolves.

“Over there,” Isaac whispered as he pointed a finger at the run-down diner. Sage’s head snapped around, seeing silhouetted figures moving around inside the darkened building. The moon was the only light given to them, but it was enough for him to see
something
moving around.

He growled, ready to go kick ass so he could get back home and chomp on some pork. He couldn’t figure out why werewolves were running around a deserted town. The people were dead, long gone.

There was nothing here but ramshackle buildings. What was the attraction?

Sage growled low and tight as he watched Brody, in human form, walk out of the diner, a look of frustration on his face. Before he could stop himself, Sage did his first ever voluntary shift.

It was fucking fantastic.

His bones didn’t crunch, and the shift seemed to flow smoothly all around him. It was like a freedom he’d never felt before, not even when he shifted with the full moon. He could finally control it.

Sage’s Mystery

107

“Sage, wait,” Jeremiah quietly called out, but Sage wasn’t listening. Brody, the bastard who had bitten William, forced him into this life, and dragged him kicking and screaming into the life of a werewolf. And Sage was going to make him pay.

Brody’s eyes widened when he saw Sage barreling at him, full speed ahead. He knew he needed to question Brody before killing him, but his emotions were riding his ass strong. Sage wasn’t thinking straight as the man spun around and took off.

Coward.

Brody must not have been mated. He couldn’t be because he wasn’t shifting. Good to know. Sage really didn’t want to leave a mate behind after he killed the sorry son of a bitch. But of course, if that person was mated to Brody, they couldn’t be worth the air they breathed.

He could hear his friends racing to catch up, their footsteps heavy on the ground, but Sage was only focused on the figure running in front of him, trying to escape.

Leaping into the air, Sage tackled Brody, taking him down in one swift move. He didn’t want to hear any damn begging or pleading. He only wanted to hear the gurgling sound as the son of a bitch drowned in his own blood.

“Wait!” Brody shouted as his arms flew up to protect his face. “I can explain.”

Sage heard the low growls close by, but he didn’t care. This piece of shit was going to pay for what he’d done to William. Two werewolves appeared from behind the diner, but they stayed back, watching curiously.

“You better start talking before Sage tears your fucking throat out,” Jeremiah shouted from off to the side.

“The cure is here, buried somewhere!” Brody screamed as Sage bit into his arm, yanking it away from his face.

“Cure for what?” Jeremiah asked.

108

Lynn Hagen

“For us. For werewolves. To reverse the curse inside of us,”

Brody said as he howled in pain. Sage didn’t want to hear any more lies. He wanted Brody’s head on a fucking
silver
platter.

Brody writhed in pain as he tried to scoot away. “I’m telling the truth!”

“Is that why all those people were killed here?” Jeremiah asked as rage began to mount in his voice, threatening to erupt. “For this supposed cure?”

Brody swallowed as he nodded, a thick sheen of sweat covering his face as he stared up at Jeremiah, begging with his eyes to be saved from Sage.

“So you’re telling me that this town was slaughtered for some fucking cure?” Jeremiah’s voice rose with outrage.

Brody’s eyes cut to Sage and then his head swung back around to Jeremiah. “We couldn’t exactly go searching with a town full of people. But it wasn’t the werewolves who killed the humans. We hired other humans, greedy humans who only thought of the money, to kill the townspeople.”

“We?”

“Me, my dad, a whole pack of werewolves wanting out of this life,” Brody began to babble. “Admit it, Jeremiah. You want the curse lifted as well.”

Jeremiah took a step forward, his eyes narrowing as he cut Brody down with his glare. “Not at the expense of innocent lives!”

“Innocent?” Brody spat. “They’re humans.”

Isaac, Mercy, Monterey, and Jeremiah all surrounded Brody as Mercy leaned forward, turning his head to spit on the ground. Sage watched closely. Mercy was the one who was the quietest of the six.

He was the one everyone needed to keep an eye on. The man was a thinker. “You may have been born a werewolf, but that doesn’t make you better than humans.”

Sage’s Mystery

109

Brody’s terrified look melted into a sneer as he glanced over at Mercy. “Bullshit. It makes me ten times better than them! I was born a freak, but I’m still superior to those rotten-ass humans.”

“Is that why you bit the human at Sage’s home?” Jeremiah asked with a snap to his tone.

“He’s a casualty of war.”

“War?”

“There’s a war coming. Werewolves versus humans. Some think being a werewolf is the ultimate species. They think our race should be the one ruling the earth instead of helpless humans.”