Blood Bond (38 page)

“The Lexingtons split. Jack, Derek, and Fee
are trying to track them now. Wes and Cord went to check on Sam and
Angela. Cambria’s calling your mom.”

“I didn’t get him.” A fuzzy memory of being
slammed to the ground midattack slid through my mind. I tried to
identify the force that had held me still.

“No.”

I glared at him. “Why’d you stop me?”

“If you’d attacked, they might’ve gone after
your mom, or one of the girls,” George said quietly. “I used the
bond to hold you until I could reach you myself.”

“The bond?” I blinked up at him. “How?”

“I’m not sure exactly,” he said with a shake
of his head. “I told you it’s powerful. You just aren’t using all
of it.”

“Whatever. Why the heck are we still sitting
here? Let’s go help.” I tried again to push him aside.

“Tara, if I let you up, you can’t run off.
Jack says we have to stay here. We should probably go inside.” He
looked around.

“I’m not going inside. My mom—”

“Tara.” Jack’s voice carried from the far
edge of the woods. He bounded up to us and nodded at George who
eased up enough to let me sit. Jack towered over me. “Your mom is
safe. She’s on her way here.”

“And Sam? Angela?”

“We’ll know in a few minutes.” His eyes took
in the length of me. “Well, I guess we figured out what it’ll take
to make you shift.”

“What?” I asked. He didn’t answer. I looked
back and forth between them in confusion.

“Tara, your hands,” George said.

I looked down and my stomach dropped to my
knees. My hands and arms were covered in down. Gingerly, I reached
out and touched it with the tips of my fingers. It was soft,
feathery light—and wrong. I jerked my hand away.

“Vera was right,” Jack said. “Your trigger
is hybrids. The more, the merrier, it seems.”

“Did I shift completely?” I asked. It came
out a whisper. I couldn’t get my voice to work right. I remembered
the haze—the voices, the conversation as if heard in a wind
tunnel.

“No, just this,” Jack said, nodding to my
fur.

My abdomen brushed against the fabric of my
shirt. More fur. I stilled, not wanting to know how much of me was
covered. “Did I—did I hurt anyone?” I asked.

“No, the hybrids were already, uh, taken
care of,” George said. He nodded toward the edge of the trees where
several wolves lay unmoving in the deadened grass.

“The Lexingtons?” I asked.

“They slipped away when you ah, distracted
us,” Jack explained. “Fee and Derek are sweeping the property for
more hybrids. Soon as they’re back, we’ll try and track them.”

“What about … you guys?” I asked, finally
voicing my worst fear.

“You think you hurt us?” Jack asked, clearly
confused at my question.

“We’re fine, Tay.”

Relief washed over me, so strong it almost
made it all right that I was still covered in fur. Almost.

Fee and Derek appeared from around the side
of the house. Their eyes widened when they got close, both of them
staring down at me. Neither one commented on the fur covering my
arms and legs.

“Anything?” Jack asked. Both of them shook
their heads. “Let’s get going, then. George, take her inside and
lock the doors. Don’t come out for anyone. If you hear anything
before we’re back, go to the back window and howl once. We’ll hear
you.”

“You got it.” George started toward the
house, but I held my ground.

“Tara, don’t be difficult.” Jack’s tone
shifted, becoming decidedly alpha. “I need you here.”

“They’re my friends,” I said.

“And you being safe is the only leverage we
have against their lives. Go inside, lock the doors, and talk to
Vera.”

“Why Vera?” I asked.

“Maybe she can tell you how to fully
shift.”

“Shift which way?” I said.

“Either forward or back. Doesn’t matter.
Pick one.” He turned and ran for the woods with Fee and Derek at
his heels.

Chapter Twenty-Three

My skin returned to normal within the hour.
I couldn’t remember if it’d taken that long the other times. I
didn’t think so. Vera said it was because my wolf was getting
stronger. To prove her point, I accidentally growled at George when
he complimented me on the soft brown color of my fur.

I swallowed the rest of the snarl that rose
in my throat. “Don’t,” I said.

“I was just saying—”

“I looked like the female
version of
Teen Wolf
.”

He didn’t say anything else after that.

I sat in Vera’s room, only half listening
while she explained her theory about the hybrids being my trigger
for shifting. After what happened out back, I knew she was
right—and that I should be more concerned with that fact—but all I
could think about were Sam and Angela. Threatened. Possibly hurt—or
worse. I couldn’t think about “worse.”

“Tara, did you hear me?” George asked.

I blinked and shook free of my dark
thoughts. “What?”

“The girls are both at Angela’s house.
Cambria called and told them to stay inside until Wes comes to get
them,” he said.

“Are they alone?”

“Yeah, their parents are at work. But Wes
says there are hybrids in the woods out back. They’re waiting for
dark—and reinforcements.”

“Who exactly …?” I realized it at the same
time George answered.

“Alex,” he said. “And Edie. I need to signal
Jack.” I watched as he went to the open window and tipped his head
back, letting loose a long, low howl. My skin prickled and
something unexpected washed over me. Yearning. My inner wolf
strained at the sound. The urge to join him rose in my chest, but I
swallowed it back.

I caught Vera watching me curiously and
stood abruptly.

“Where are you going?” George asked, turning
away from the window after an answering howl. It sounded distant,
but there was no mistaking it was Jack.

“I don’t know. I can’t sit still.”

I knew he wanted to stay near the window, to
watch. It made him feel useful. I gathered that through our
bond—which meant I knew he could feel my restlessness just as
clearly. He let me go without following.

I wandered the downstairs until I couldn’t
look at the same stretch of walls any longer. I went up to the
bedroom that had been my recovery room all those times, the room
that now belonged to George. I went inside and lay down on the
mattress that still smelled like dried leaves and mothballs, but
that didn’t last long. My brain was working overtime to process all
of the worst-case scenarios.

I took a shower, managing to find an old
pair of sweatpants that I’d left in the closet, and paired it with
one of George’s lacrosse shirts from his brief stint on the team
sophomore year. It smelled like him—like his scent before he’d
turned. Completely human. Then I remembered where I’d seen these
sweatpants before. I’d borrowed them from Sam months ago. My
breathing hitched and I blinked rapidly.

I heard noises downstairs, then doors
opening and closing down the hall. I poked my head and listened to
the voices. Jack, Fee, and Derek had returned. Dresser drawers slid
open and closed. I imagined them shifting, donning clothes, gearing
up to meet Wes and the others. The urge to demand that I be
included hit me again. I met Jack as he came out of his room. The
hallway seemed narrower with his broad shoulders filling the
space.

“You look better,” he said.

I tucked my wet hair behind my ear. “I want
to come.”

“No.” He started for the stairs. I
followed.

“You said yourself that I’m better,” I
argued.

“That’s not the problem.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“We can’t expose you,” he said. “I’m already
taking a risk exposing Cord, knowing they want her too.”

I crossed my arms. “In other words, Cord can
take care of herself, but I can’t.”

“I’m not going to argue with you, Tara. You
need to stay here. Your mom’s on her way. We need everyone together
when we get back. To decide what to do.” I gave him a blank look.
“About the Lexingtons. And their ultimatum. Do you remember
anything they said?”

My brow wrinkled as I tried recalling the
exact wording. “They said Cord and I have twenty-four hours to give
ourselves over to them or they’ll kill my friends.”

“Right. So until we know what they want with
you and Cord, you’re not going anywhere.” He towered over me, his
mouth drawn down in a frown, looking every bit the alpha. Something
inside me wanted to challenge him, but the human side of me knew
better.

“Whatever,” I mumbled. I stood there,
staring at the buttons on his shirt until he walked away. Fee came
up behind me. Her hand landed on my shoulder.

“You know they won’t come back without your
friends,” she said.

“Jack or Wes?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

She planted a kiss on my forehead and
slipped away.

I stood clinging to the banister, listening
to the sound of voices drifting up from the direction of the
weapons room. Cambria appeared at my side.

“You look sulky,” she said.

“They’re going without me.”

“I called your friends. They’re safe.”

“You stole my phone.”

“You wigged out and grew fur.”

Derek walked up, still tucking stakes into
various places along his waistline and into his boots. “We’ll check
in every hour. If we miss a call-in …”

“We’ve got the Carolina pack on standby.
They can be here in under two hours if needed,” Cambria said. “I
got this. Go kick hybrid ass.”

He kissed her long enough that I felt
awkward standing beside them. When he pulled away, the expression
on Cambria’s face surprised me. It was more than infatuation.

Derek nodded at me. “Glad to see you’re back
to normal,” he said.

Jack and Fee waited in the open doorway. He
joined them after a final wave. I waved back, even though it was
probably directed at Cambria. She blew him a kiss as George closed
the door behind them.

“You love him a little bit,” I said.

“I might.”

I stared at her, shocked that she’d admitted
it, shocked it was true.

“Don’t look at me like that. Close your
mouth,” she snapped before marching off.

*

True to their word, Derek checked in with
Cambria hourly. The first time they called, I spoke to Wes, but it
was brief. He sounded distracted. Sam and Angela had been alerted
to the rescue party. All they knew was that someone was after them,
trying to get to me. I hadn’t talked to them directly, because I
had no idea what to say if they asked for the rest of the story.
Vague seemed best at this point. Angela managed to keep her parents
away, along with her little brother and sister, so it was just she
and Sam in the house.

Wes said he’d counted twelve hybrids, all of
them stalking the tree line like they were waiting on a signal of
some kind. Hearing that made my stomach clench.

“Are you okay, from earlier?” Wes asked.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry I left.”

“It’s okay. I know you did it to help
them.”

“Is George taking good care of you?”

“Not as good as you would,” I said. “But
yeah. I can tell he’s tired of playing babysitter. Wishes he were
there with you guys.”

“He’s not ready for something like
this.”

“I know.”

“You wish you were here.”

It wasn’t a question. I answered anyway.
“Yes.”

“I’ll bring them back.”

“I know.”

The phone beeped with another incoming call,
and I had to hang up. It was Logan. I handed it to Cambria. Not
because I didn’t want to talk to him, but after delivering the news
to Victoria that her parents were alive, and seeing how happy she’d
been about it, I really didn’t want to tell her we were currently
trying to kill them.

My mom arrived in a windstorm of worry and
stress. She carried a bag full of disinfectant and rags. I rolled
my eyes and left her to it. It’s not like Fee would complain once
she saw her sparkling house.

George wandered in and out, both of us more
and more restless as time went on. At some point during the wait,
we found ourselves knee-deep in weapons and padding, and proceeded
to reorganize the entire supply room. Jack could thank—or yell
at—me later.

At midnight, Derek called and said they were
ready to move.

“I think you should lay low when the girls
get here,” I said, restacking the last of the bins onto the
shelves. Jack wasn’t going to know where to find anything. I didn’t
care right now.

“You want me to hide out?” George asked.

“Just until I tell them about you, explain
everything.”

“It makes sense. They’re going to freak as
it is,” he said.

“I know.” The bond between us filled with
nervous tension.

The next hour crawled by.

By the time the phone rang again, at four
minutes after one, I’d convinced myself they were all dead. I’d
torn an entire stack of napkins into little pieces now littering
the bar top. My mother glared at me. I pretended not to notice and
bored holes in Cambria’s back as she spoke into the phone across
the room.

“It’s done,” she said when she hung up. “Sam
and Angela are safe. They’re on their way home.”

I scooted to the edge of my seat. “Is anyone
hurt?” I asked.

The hesitation in her eyes gave it away.

“Tell me,” I said.

“A few scrapes and bruises. Nothing
serious.”

“Tell me,” I repeated.

“Fee took a hard hit. She’s
unconscious.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The crunch of tires on gravel came just
before two in the morning. George took his cue and ducked out. I
jumped up, my feet practically coming off the floor trying to get
to the door. Cambria reached it first and flung it open. Derek
stood on the threshold, wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fitting
jeans and a pair of flip-flops. His cheeks were dirty, and I could
still smell the animal scent clinging to him—a sign he’d only
recently changed back.