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

"Who told you?" As far as I knew, only Luke and my uncle were aware of what had happened.

"It doesn't matter. Is it true?"

I nodded my head and lowered it in shame, really playing it up. Maybe my beating could serve a purpose. My uncle must’ve told him, knowing how important it was to our plan. A risky move if he was caught.

Gerald’s nostrils flared as air puffed through them. "That's messed up shit. I didn't join a pack just so some Alpha could choose which rules to follow. I mean, sure, you might've gone after Ryder without permission, but one of our most important reasons to belong to a pack is knowing everyone has your back, no matter what. We never leave a man behind. Even Dominic preaches this. You did what any of us would've done, had we known. But you got punished for it. Did Dominic give a reason why you couldn't go after Ryder?"

I avoided eye contact and twisted my hands together like I was afraid to tell him. My voice soft, I said, "He said he thought Ryder might've returned to the Greybacks willingly."

Gerald barked out a laugh. "Why would he ever do that? Everyone knows how much Ryder hates that pack, and how much they hate him. Especially after Silas forced him to undress that girl."

I took this opportunity to stitch his doubts together. “So why then? Why would Dominic not send someone to save him?"

Gerald lowered his gaze to the ground, his eyes searching the ground as if he could find the answer there among the golden leaves and fresh earth.

I continued to guide his thought process. “Could Ryder know something about Dominic he shouldn’t?”

Gerald began to pace, his heavy boots crunching over fallen leaves. “Possibly.”

“Or maybe it has something to do with Scorpion’s Breath. Maybe he intends on bringing in the Greybacks to expand his reach, and he couldn’t do that with Ryder, Jackson’s own son, living with us. Giving Ryder back to the Greybacks could’ve been part of some deal they made.”

He stopped moving, his back to me. “Dominic wouldn't dream of merging with the Greybacks. We’ve been enemies for decades and for good reason. The things they do to humans? It’s jacked up."

"Power can do funny things to people. You saw how Dominic barely flinched at Toby's death."

I let my words sink in and form a monster inside his brain. The muscles in his back rippled, and he turned around. "What do you think of this new drug?"

"I think it will destroy us all. It’s meant for humans, but you heard what Mateo said. It’s stronger on supernaturals. How long do you think it will take until Dominic and Silas begin selling it to supernaturals? It’s just one more revenue source.”

He pressed his hands to his head as if this new thought gave him a headache. He wasn't used to questioning an Alpha’s orders. From the time he was born, he was taught specific pack rules. Where I was leading him was a place he would never have considered twenty-four hours ago. But now he knew. Alpha’s weren’t perfect, especially when they stopped working for the betterment of the pack.

His eyebrows lifted, and his eyes widened in concern. ”So what do we do? Should we say something?”

"For now, I don’t think we should do anything. I don't want to cause problems. Our pack needs to be strong."

He slapped his hand at a thick tree limb above him, snapping it in two. "This is bullshit. Everyone should at least know what Silas did to you.”

My wolf purred at his reaction. Anger like this can spread through a pack, dividing it, but in order for it to work, the flames had to be subtle. Barely felt and barely heard. If Gerald said anything now, before anyone else had doubts, it would only backfire. Dominic’s power was still too strong.

I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Please, Gerald. We must stay strong as a pack because I’m worried about the Greybacks. They could retaliate for what I did.”

The lines in his face deepened. "They wouldn't dare."

“But if they do, as long as we have each other’s backs, we’ll be okay.”

"Like Dominic and Silas have ours?"

“Screw them.” Those words, if spoken to anyone else in the pack, could’ve gotten me another horrible beating. But I needed to add fuel to his fire, deepen the rift between one of Dominic’s most loyal pack members.

I held out my hand, a silent promise. “I have your back. Always.”

He hesitated briefly before grasping it. "And I, yours."

I smiled, a genuine one. I didn't think I could produce one after what I had just been through with Silas. But my smile was triumphant.

My little army grows.

After my meeting with Gerald, rumors had begun to spread about the humans and Scorpion’s Breath. Many in the pack had become deathly afraid of it, and some began to voice their concerns about us selling something so dangerous. Of course, I was the breath blowing on these tiny embers of discord.

But I was careful though not to be seen or heard too frequently. I was already on thin ice with Dominic. Every time we crossed paths, he would give me a look as if he was trying to figure out the answers to a test that only he had been given. It didn't help that he was also asking questions about my past. Where was I born? What packs had I belonged to?

I wasn't afraid of his questions. I had long ago created a fake life for me, mostly. I explained that I had only joined a pack once when I was eighteen, but it was short-lived. If anyone wanted to confirm my story, they could easily look up the Blue Ridge wolves out of Michigan for confirmation. I had been a pack member, briefly, and there were shifters there who knew me. But they wouldn't be able to tell him much else.

In addition to Dominic acting differently, something had also changed between Luke and me. He would watch me when I entered the room, and always seemed to be near me when anything got dangerous. But he rarely spoke to me, not like before, or met my eye.

Once we were sitting next to each other in the car, I could’ve sworn I felt him lightly run his pinky finger down the outside of my thigh. I pretended to ignore it and, when we got back to Fire Ridge, he got out of the car without a word.

It had been eight days since my secret meeting with Silas. I returned home from Fire Ridge to get ready for work at the club. My hands shook as I got dressed, dread filling my entirety. I hated going to work now. To be among all those people. Their prying eyes. Their demanding voices. Where I used to feed off the attention, I now hated it. Hated pretending I was fine, that I hadn’t been beaten while naked and alone in a room with a total psychopath.

But I had to keep up appearances.

I showered and dressed. Instead of going for the sexy bartender look, tonight I wore something low key. I wanted to blend in as much as possible. I had to work the late shift tonight. It was only eight-thirty in the evening, but I was already feeling the effects of sleep tugging at my eyelids. Probably some form of anxiety about not wanting to go in. At the kitchen table, I poured myself a second cup of coffee and drank it down quickly. Then a third.

“You're going to give yourself a heart attack."

I turned around. Lynx stood in the doorway wearing a spaghetti strap, black dress. It snugged tightly against her hourglass figure. She looked amazing.

"Are you going out tonight?" I asked.

"I thought I'd go to the club with you.” She sidled up next to me and poured herself a cup too. "I know you don't want to tell me what happened to you, but I know something did. I can see it in your eyes. Plus, you’re acting all withdrawn. And what’s with your outfit? You look like you’re wearing a raggedy blanket straight out of a dog kennel.”

I glanced down at the long black skirt and oversized tan sweater. “That bad?”

She wrinkled her nose. “It might be okay for church. In northern Alaska. You’re a bartender, remember?”

“I’m serving people who worship the almighty drink while confessing their sins. Maybe this outfit is perfect.”

She raised one eyebrow.

I groaned. “Fine. I’ll change.”

I downed one more of the steamy, black liquid then moved to go upstairs.

Lynx stopped me. “I want you to know that whatever you’re going through, you don't have to go through it alone. I'm here for you."

I placed my hand on the doorjamb, wishing I could tell her everything. But that could hurt us both.

"Thank you, but I'll be okay. Time will fix this." And a lot of blood spilled from my enemies’ throats.

"Samira came back yesterday,” she blurted. “Have you had a chance to speak to her yet?"

This made me pause. "Did she say why she was gone so long?"

Samira had thought she'd only be gone