A Shifter's Curse, Raven Steele [the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT] 📗

"She comes inside.” Luke pushed the door open and brushed past her.

I did the same, gloating at her as I went, but it disappeared the moment I realized where we were. The basement looked like a drug operation right out of a mob movie. Rows of tables lined the room, with medium-sized bags filled with white powder and money in designated positions. A man in a dark business suit sat next to small green stacks of money. He stood up to greet Luke, eyeing me warily.

Luke shook his hand. “She's cool.”

I was a little surprised Luke was showing me all of this. I know he didn't believe my motives for joining the pack, so why show something that was obviously meant to be kept secret?

"When will the truck be here?" Luke looked over the piles of bags.

"In about an hour.” The man went back to the stack of money and pushed it into a counting machine. “It should only take my men eight hours to get to Coast City. Victor’s men are waiting for us there."

Coast City was a huge metropolis up north. I’d heard rumors that the local government and police force had lost control, and the city was pretty much run by the mob. If the Silver Claws were working closely with them, then Rouen might soon share the same fate as Coast City.

Leaning against an empty table, I watched Luke. He moved around the room, still talking to the man in the suit, as he eyed every other person. Most of the women gave him a friendly face, and he winked at them, smiling. He seemed familiar with the operations as he talked with the man, going over their schedule for the next week.

It was rare for shifter packs to be involved with drugs or any kind of illegal shit. It usually drew too much attention to our kind, but those who dared risk it were mostly small packs and ran even smaller operations, just a way to make extra cash, but the Silver Claws were something different. They were deeply involved in making and selling, not just in the city, but across state lines. This scared me.

And just thinking about Luke being involved made any attraction toward him grow cold. Even my wolf snubbed her nose at him.

It took another twenty minutes for Luke to finish up business. This gave me time to analyze the workings of Dominic’s operation. Not only were there a few shifters, but there were also a couple of vampires mingled in with the humans. They didn't seem at odds with each other, which could only mean one thing: they were making some serious cash.

I stood up. Luke watched me intently as I crossed the room.

"I'm going to catch some air,” I said to him in passing.

I was out the door before he could respond. I made my way up the stairs and through the racks of clothes, guilt eating at my insides. Could I really do this? Was I willing to watch drugs being tossed into the streets, just because I needed revenge?

Outside, I sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the brick building. The air was humid, and moths and insects buzzed around street lights. I looked up, searching for my lone star, but it had disappeared. Instead, inky blackness stared back at me. It was vast and threatened to swallow me whole.

I felt small and insignificant in a grimy world. It felt ugly. And I, even uglier for being a part of it. I wanted to scrub the mess from me.

Instead, I waited patiently for Luke. It wasn't long before he joined me.

He didn't say anything as he leaned against the brick wall next to me. His arm brushed across mine, but this time I felt nothing. We were both quiet for a moment, staring at the tagged buildings across the street. One of the words read, “Hypocrite.” Appropriate.

I finally broke the silence. “Do the humans know who they are working with?”

He shook his head. “To them, the Silver Claws are just another gang. A scary as hell one. Still want to join the pack?"

I played with the hem of my shirt. “I haven't decided."

He glanced at me sideways, and his hair fell into his eyes. “It’s okay if you’re not cut out for this. I get it.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s not a bad thing, you know.” He inhaled a deep breath. “In fact, it’s probably a good thing to be repulsed by what we do.”

Turning, I faced him. “Why do you do it?”

His eyes met mine. “For a bigger cause.”

I groaned, disgusted. “Don’t tell me you believe in that pack crap.”

“I won’t.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Then, what?”

Grabbing my arm, he pulled me closer. “Tell me why you want to join.” I opened my mouth, but he interrupted me. “The real reason. I’m not buying that other bull.”

I didn’t, couldn’t, answer him. You didn’t go around telling people that their Alpha killed your whole family. Instead, I looked away, and I slowly pulled my arm out from his hold.

He sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“Some secrets aren’t meant to be shared. I have my own, just like you have yours. It's better we keep it that way."

He didn’t answer right away. When I looked back at him, my face firm, he stood up and nodded to his bike. “Come on. I'll give you a ride home. You can decide tomorrow."

The ride home was different from before. He didn’t zip through the streets. In fact, he drove slowly and my hold around his waist was lighter. I couldn’t involve myself in his secrets. Especially if they kept me from getting my revenge. I distanced myself, determined to untangle any feelings toward him.

I had to keep things simple and couldn’t get distracted.

I had to focus on killing the men who slaughtered my family.

When we pulled up to my house, I slid off the bike and didn’t say anything as I made my way toward the house.

“Briar.”

I turned around. The look he gave me made my chest constrict. He looked sad, and a little vulnerable. I didn’t want to see him that way so I glanced behind him, focusing on the house across the street. When I finally glanced back, his expression was harder, and his hands gripped the bike handle. He took in a breath and I stilled, waiting to hear what he would say.

“Not everything is as it seems.”

Before I could react, he sped off, shooting down the road as if he was running from the devil himself.

I ignored the suffocating feeling in my chest and pushed my feelings deep into a place where they couldn’t easily surface. I didn’t have any room to complicate my life. Especially with a man who was complicated himself.

Turning back toward the house, I shuffled down the walk toward the porch steps when I heard my name. I swiveled around, glaring into the darkness beyond the yard. My wolf eyes saw the outline of a man standing at the tree line.

“Who is it?” I growled this out, the hairs standing at the back of my neck. “Show yourself.”

The man took a threatening stop toward me. I bent down and swiftly yanked a blade from my boot, my pulse racing.

“If you’re looking for a fight, I don’t mind spilling your blood.”

And I meant it. I was tired of being pushed around today.

Chapter 14

“Stop, please,” a familiar voice said. “I didn’t come to fight.”

He stepped into the faint moonlight—my uncle.

"What are you doing here?” I glanced around nervously, making sure we weren't being watched as I returned the knife to my boot. He might be my uncle, but I still wasn’t sure I could trust him, especially after learning about the Silver Claws’ illegal activity. Anyone involved with them couldn’t be all good.

He motioned me deeper into the forest, disappearing within its darkness. I hurried over to the tree line, but hesitated before following him into the woods. I called upon my wolf to take partial control so she could take in the surrounding area and listen to the heartbeat of the night. She noticed nothing suspicious. I rolled my shoulders back and followed after him.

He didn’t speak for a while but continued deeper into the woods. When we were a safe distance away from the house, he stopped. “You accompanied Luke tonight. What did you think of the Silver Claws’ operations?”

"How do you know about that?"

"I've been watching you all day." He admitted