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

The pressure died down. “You will be whipped for your insubordination. I'm sure Silas will be happy to have the honors."

Silas finally looked up from his nails, his lips twisting into a grin. “I will do it for the good of the pack, of course. Although it will pain me.”

Like usual, he knew just enough to appear normal, but he couldn’t hide the devil within. He was too eager.

“This is bullshit. I thought protecting the pack was important. I did a good thing.”

"Without permission. Loyalty first,” Dominic said, his eyes studying me. I could sense the intelligence within the dark glow. “Sometimes I wonder if you're secretly conspiring to be Alpha. Your motivation for greatness is too strong."

I laughed out loud. “Greatness? You think that's what I'm doing here? Maybe I just want to keep the pack safe.”

His eyes burned a deeper red. “Are you implying I’m not capable of that?”

I looked down, showing complete respect and obedience. “No, sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

It killed me to bow to him like this. I shouldn’t have said that though; it was almost a challenge.

He turned his back to me, dismissing me. "Do I need to call my security team to take you downstairs, or can you walk there yourself?”

"I know where it is.” I opened the door and began to leave.

He sat down at his desk again and returned to the paperwork in front of him. Conversation over.

Silas called after me, his voice practically singing the words. "I'll be along within the hour. I’ll give you some time to think about what you’ve done.”

I clenched my hands together. As soon as I was out of their earshot, mostly anyway, I punched a hole in the wall.

"Everything okay?" Ryder was suddenly behind me.

I ground my jaw together and made my expression go slack. “It’s fine. Silas just rubs my ass wrong.”

“Welcome to the pack. He does that to everyone. They say his mother was a hell-hound and his father the devil."

“That makes sense.” Behind him, my uncle, who was standing in the mouth of the hallway, motioned his head for me to come over. I glanced back at Dominic's office. They might be a while.

I placed my hand on Ryder’s shoulder. “Go upstairs and rest. I’ll catch up with you later tonight."

I didn’t want him to see me get whipped; he would know the truth then.

He nodded and walked toward the front door where his car was still parked. I watched him for a minute, wishing he could live a different life altogether. There were so many other packs, better packs. Packs where his goodness could thrive.

As I stared at him, I considered introducing him to such a pack. Maybe after all of this was over.

When I reached my uncle, he pulled me to the side and into the kitchen. The mansion was mostly empty, but there were a few people still passed out on couches in the living room.

"There were some Greybacks sniffing around the woods here last night,” my uncle said. “I assume that had something to do with you bringing Ryder back?"

"You heard they took him, right?"

"I did, but only after you left. You shouldn't have gone there alone. It was extremely dangerous."

I held my ground. No matter what anyone said, I did the right thing. “Ryder's important to the pack, and he's important to me."

His brow wrinkled. “Are you two together?”

"Hardly. I just think he's worth saving.”

My uncle stared down at the floor, thinking. “I haven’t known him long, only a couple of years. He’s always been kind to me. And he was one of the few shifters who didn’t take a crack at me when I was tied up.” He looked up at me. "But can we trust him?"

“Absolutely. Especially after I rescued him. He will be loyal.”

I glanced back at Dominic's office again. I shouldn't waste any more time.

My uncle followed my line of sight. "You weren’t supposed to rescue him, were you?"

"What's done is done. Besides, it will be good for the rest of the pack to see me get punished for saving Ryder. A lot of them won’t like it.”

“Good point.” He brushed his fingers across my jaw in a playful motion. “Your father always said you were a little schemer. What's your punishment?"

"Stupid whipping. It wouldn't be a big deal, but he put Silas in charge of it. I don’t want that guy anywhere near me.”

My uncle frowned, worry creasing the corners of his eyes. "Maybe Dominic will let me take your punishment.”

My heart warmed, a part that had been cold for a very long time. That’s what family was all about–having each other’s backs. I’d forgotten how nice it felt. “That’s nice of you, but I got this. A few lashes are nothing.”

Concern remained rooted in his gaze. “I hope that’s all it is.” He glanced back at the basement door, the same one I should’ve already walked through. “Have you seen the drugged human recently, the one locked up in the basement? He’s insane. I can't imagine what will happen to the city if Scorpion’s Breath is introduced."

"Way ahead of you. I've already got a plan, but it's going to take a little time."

"Want to fill me in?"

I shook my head. "I'm still working out the details. How much longer are you on greenie duty?"

"Another week and I’ll be given full rights back into the pack."

"Good. I need more eyes on the inside. I need to go." I turned to leave but stopped. "Hey, have you seen Luke?"

"He's the one who told me you went after Ryder. He drove to the Greybacks’ place to try and find you. A few hours ago, he texted me and told me the place was on fire and suspected you had something to do with it.”

“Fire’s pretty,” I mumbled, but I was only thinking about Luke. I can’t believe he came after me. “Where is he now?”

“Not sure. I texted him when I saw you come in, but he hasn’t responded yet.”

“Thanks for doing that. I’ll see you soon, a little bloodier, but a hell of a lot tougher.”

He gave me the knuckles. “You’re a Moretti through and through.”

I said goodbye to him and headed downstairs to await my punishment. All the while I thought about Luke and how he had come after me. Why would he do that? I know he heard Dominic tell me not to go. Luke was a rule follower, or at least I always thought he was. If Dominic knew he had followed me, he would probably be whipped too.

Whose side was he really on?

The basement with its long halls and grimy walls was cold and smelled of rusty pipes. The floor was concrete and the lighting was spotty. It was the perfect place for the setting of a horror film. Today, I was the main character in said B-rated film.

I walked past the room where they had forced me to torture Lynx, my stomach tightening. I never wanted to think about what I had done in there ever again. If only that were possible.

Instead, I walked toward the room everyone called the OTC room: Obedience Training Center. A couple of weeks ago, I, along with several other pack members, had to watch as a female shifter was whipped for disobeying Dominic's rules on having a relationship with a human. She had been dating a man for almost a year until she was caught. Dominic had personally whipped her twelve times, one lashing for every month she was with him.

He had not been gentle. Blood had run down her bare bottom and thighs into a drain on the concrete floor. I wondered if they’d make me get naked too. Not that I cared. Pack members saw each other naked all the time when we shifted.

Getting whipped didn’t bother me either. In fact, I was looking forward to it. I wanted the other pack members to see how I was punished for saving one of their own. It would cause strife among them and hopefully fracture some of their allegiance toward Dominic.

A sound unlike anything I had ever heard stopped me cold. It was that of a wounded animal, full of pain and despair. It made the hairs on my arms rise.

I followed the chilling noise to a locked door and peered through an elongated window. It was the human we’d gotten from the vamps. He was locked up inside, squatting in the corner of the room. His hair was drenched in sweat, and his coloring was more gray than white. He wore only white underwear that were clearly soiled in the back, despite being given a bucket in the corner.

Sniffing the wall, he scratched at the concrete with his fingers. He must not have any fingernails left, because the wall was stained red.

I pounded on the door. "Stop that!"

His head snapped in my direction, and his bloodshot eyes widened in recognition. He lobbed over to me, moving much the same way a monkey scrambles across the jungle floor.

For a moment, he disappeared from my view. I stood on my tippy toes to look down just as he slowly rose into my view, his face void of any kind of emotion. I stumbled back, shocked and surprised at the change that had come over him so suddenly.

He blinked, and when his eyes opened again, I recognized sadness beyond