Jade Rivers
A silver Volvo’s headlights appeared down the street and the panic I had been feeling in the car amped up. A human couldn’t see what was happening here. I had to distract them. I had to do something. Maybe I could call Tracey. I had to call Tracey. I gazed down at the wrecked vehicle and quickly extracted my purse from the passenger seat. I rushed to the car as it grew closer and it slammed into park. I looked into the wild eyes of my best friend behind the wheel. Relief crushed my chest and my knees wobbled.
I wrapped my arms around myself to keep the shaking from starting. What was with these wolves? Why did they have to keep ruining the fun I was trying to have? A life I was trying to live? Couldn’t I have a normal life? What did fate have against me?
Tracey’s door swung open and before I could blink she had her arms wrapped around me. Then she threw her head back and pushed me at arm’s length to inspect the bite on my neck. She breathed out a sigh of relief before she yanked me back into her arms.
“How did you know?” I found myself saying into her hair.
She stiffened. “I’m not sure if you’re ready for that conversation.”
I looked over at the two wolves fighting and I believed her. I didn’t want to know right now because I knew it was going to make me angry enough to get in between the two monsters hashing it out.
My body was still trembling when we pulled into the Crimson Pack’s lands. The Bruiser Pack’s vehicles and trucks were still parked everywhere but I couldn’t hear the chatter of their conversations. I chalked it up to my nerves and adrenaline still pumping through my system.
“What happened?” Tracey finally asked as she put the car in park.
Where did I even start?“Everything was going great and the chemistry was there. I swear I had never felt like I did in that car. No man or boy or anything had ever made me feel so good.” I paused to swallow and get my wits about me.
Tracey leaned over and grabbed my hand in hers and then I smelled it. My wolf smelled it. I knew immediately it was guilt. She was feeling guilty over this happening again. I squeezed her hand in mine before I continued. “Then he pressed his teeth to my neck and something wasn’t right. I felt like everything was wrong.”
Tracey’s brows pulled together as her eyes looked at my neck. My neck still hadn’t healed and the blood was still wet there. “That isn’t normal. You said you didn’t feel a mate’s bond? He shouldn’t have tried to claim you like that. Something is definitely wrong.” Her eyes flicked to the Manor in front of us and there was Rafe’s mom. She held up a little towel and a first aid kit. “As soon as Rafe left to follow you,” She stopped and I pondered on her words. Rafe had followed me from the party. “I came back here. There was no use in me following too. I don’t like to watch other people and I figured Rafe was just going to check on you. He screamed down the Alpha link and I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Wait,” I held my hand up to her. “You didn’t leave before us?”
Tracey blinked slowly and shook her head. Her curls bounced with the movement. “No, I was waiting on you. I wasn’t even the one that noticed you were gone from the party. It was Rafe.”
Carden had lied. Why wasn’t I surprised? I blinked then blinked again as I tried to process all of this. The Manor was empty as we walked into it. Save for, Alice, Rafe’s mom. She sat at the large dining table, watching and waiting. Her mouth was set in a grim line as she watched us approach. Alice nodded once and Tracey threw herself into one of the chairs at the table, I did the same. I startled hard as a pitcher of lemonade appeared in front of us. Two glasses were already half full. Tracey shrugged with a small smile on her face.
“Perks of being a witch, I guess.”
Alice smirked. “You’re more wolf than witch.”
Tracey leaned back as she sipped from the glass. She didn’t say anything back to Rafe’s mom and I didn’t know what to say either. So I just sat there and stared at the pitcher as the ice cubes melted. Exhaustion pulled at my brain but all I could do was stare.
Alice broke through my mindless stupor. “We should probably clean your neck.”
I only blinked at her as she got up with a first aid kit and came to my side. I didn’t say anything as she cleaned the blood from the side of my neck and then put a bandage over it. “The wolfsbane is probably preventing you from healing.” Her eyes flashed to Tracey and my friend grimaced.
“Did I do something wrong?” I had to ask, I had to make sure. I knew I had already done something wrong by trustinganotherwolf bad boy. But who could blame me? Maybe these men were just a bad batch. I sighed as Alice thought over her words carefully.
“No, but Tracey knew better. We don’t permit wolfsbane outside of the pack lands. This is how bad things happen. All you need is a little in your system and then small superficial wounds won’t clot. Wolfsbane has many good uses but sometimes the younger wolves forget that it can also kill you. Thankfully, Granny is the one that mixes all of our alcohol so I trust that there is no lethal amounts in it, but still. It renders us vulnerable all the same.”
Tracey pressed her lips together.
I jumped as the front door slammed open. Rafe leaned in the doorway and my heart stopped. He was a bloodied mess from his head to his toes. His clothes were shredded and offered him little modesty. His tattoos extended well past his arms and to his chest and what looked to go down his abdomen. How much pain had he endured for his art?
“He was a rat,” Rafe spat. “The glamour fell away from him as soon as I bit into his skin and tasted the magic in his blood.”
I swallowed before I inhaled hard. Rafe was injured and it wasn’t healing.
Alice’s spine straightened. “What of Carden? Where is he?”
Rafe’s smile was ruthless and full of malice. “I dropped him off at Granny’s.” Like it was something innocent but the look of horror on Tracey’s face told me everything I needed to know. Granny wasn’t going to take it easy on my date.
“Glamour?” The question slipped past my lips. I was still reeling from Tracey magically poofing lemonade into the room. How much more could I take? How long would it take before nothing surprised me anymore?
Rafe swallowed and I watched as his sharp jaw tilted up. His eyes searched my face before they painstakingly ran down my neck and snagged on the bandage there. I could have sworn molten rage filled his gaze before he blinked and looked away. What was his game? “The tattoos, the piercings, and whatever else had you attracted to him wasn’t real.”
