Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) (20 page)

“Hey. When’d you get here?”

“Just a few minutes ago. Alli invited me over,” I answered, silently praying he was happy to see me. Walking over, he scooped me up in his arms. My body reacted as usual: complete and total meltdown.

“I’m glad you’re here. I missed you today.”

Alli chimed in. “Okay, you two. Get out of here and spend some time together. I got her here, Aiden, now it’s up to you. But I’d take a walk or something. I have a feeling Mom will be up here any minute to offer Teagan a snack.”

Aiden looked at me, nodded toward the door and asked, “You want to get out of here?”

Looking the way he did in that moment, I’d have followed him anywhere. I nodded and smiled at Alli, trying my best to thank her with my eyes. She just said, “Run out the door before Mom can stop you. Go! But don’t forget your coats.”

Aiden dragged me by the hand down the stairs. Out the front door we went, without a word to his parents, who both glanced up as we flew past the living room. Safely out the door, Aiden shrugged on his coat, and I noticed him looking around like he was checking to see if anyone was watching. Strange, but I tried to ignore the fact that he lived on what looked like some kind of freaky compound with people who seemed vaguely cultish. I thought it best to save that conversation for another time, a time in the distant future. The
very
distant future.

Aiden had yet to let go of my hand, and I welcomed the comfort of having him so near. Together we headed down toward the lake.

“You’re going to get sick out here with wet hair, you know?” I said as we meandered alongside the water’s edge.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. You cold?”

“No, I’m fine. I wasn’t inside long enough to take off my coat.”

“Sorry about that. My parents are ‘talking.’” Aiden air-quoted, which for some reason made me smile. Everything about him made me smile. I had officially turned into one of his giggling ding-bats.

“What’s going on? I mean…you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just…” I stopped speaking and silently cussed myself for being so damn nosey.

“No, it’s okay. Just stuff with Marcus. It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it,” Aiden said.

I quickly changed the subject. “So, how’s your shoulder doing?”

“It’s okay. The doc says my arm looks good. I’ll be as good as new before I know it.”

We walked a few feet in silence. Aiden let go of my hand and threw his arm around me, pulling me against him. Without thinking, I stopped moving and melted into his embrace. His lips found mine, and I snuck my arms into his coat and wrapped them around his perfectly sculpted body. Somehow, even in the frigid temps, his body was warm.

All too soon he pulled away. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” I admitted as he held me tight, and for the first time I truly didn’t doubt how he felt about me. With those strong arms engulfing my small frame, I knew he didn’t want to ever let go.

Aiden’s head perked up, and I turned to see a car pulling into the driveway a few houses down the street. He pulled away, and immediately the cold seeped into my bones. I shuddered.

“I should get back home,” he said, “and you need to get out of this weather. Can I call you later?”

Oh. Trying to appear as though I was not completely bummed, I said, “Sure.”

Aiden walked me to my car, and I told him to tell Alli that I’d call her later. I felt kind of bad since I was supposed to have come over to see her, but I was pretty sure she’d just been trying to get me and Aiden together. He gave me a soft kiss goodbye, and before I knew it I was on my way back home again.

43.

Aiden

“Man, it’s getting cold out there,” I said as I rubbed my hands together. I had just come back inside after Teagan left, and I was trying to be pleasant in attempt to hold on to my good mood. Mom and Dad were in the living room, so I hung up my coat and went in to thaw out by the fireplace.

I could almost feel my fingers again when my mom looked over and said, “Baby, it’s probably not a good idea for Teagan to just show up here. We wouldn’t want her to see something that she shouldn’t. You know?”

What? Now
she
was telling me stupid things I could and couldn’t do? I’d never had to ask permission for friends to come over before, not back in Texas. When I thought about it I saw Mom’s point, but it wasn’t like any of us wandered around here on all fours or sat on our haunches howling at the moon. What the hell would Teagan mistakenly see?

Just as I was about to start complaining, someone pounded on the front door.

“Who the hell could that be?” my dad asked, sounding extremely annoyed. “Of course,” he muttered to himself after walking over and glancing through the door’s peephole. He pulled the door open and made a grand gesture of ushering someone inside. “Come on in, Marcus. Obviously this is pretty important, but you don’t have to punish our poor defenseless door.”

Marcus stared at my dad like he was from another planet, clearly unamused. “I need to speak to Aiden.”

“By all means,” Dad said. He shut the door and followed Marcus back to the living room, leaned up against the wall next to the fireplace and crossed his arms.

Marcus looked pissed. I stood up and walked over. “What’s up, Mr. W?” I asked, trying to stay cool.

“‘What’s up?’ Aiden, are you serious? You had a domestic on the estate?”

I took a step back. Not because he was intimidating, but because I was extremely weirded out. I wasn’t used to being yelled at. My parents rarely even raised their voices.

When I didn’t say anything, Marcus continued his rant. “You can’t go bringing random girls around here, Aiden. We can’t have it. I can’t have it. It is unacceptable.”

“It’s my fault, Mr. Walker,” Alli interrupted, coming into the room. Everyone turned to stare at her. “She’s my friend from school. I invited her. We were supposed to go shopping.”

Alli looked at the ground then, like she was expecting to feel the wrath of Marcus firsthand. But there was no way in hell I was going to let her take the blame.

“No, Alli,” I intervened. “Mr. Walker, Teagan is not some random domestic. She’s my girlfriend, and I didn’t realize having her at the house would be a problem. Now that I know that, it’s fine. We can meet somewhere else,” I added.

When I looked around, shock was written on my mom and Marcus’s faces.

“Girlfriend, huh?” my dad said. He smiled. “Cool. I like that one.”

“Well, I don’t,” Marcus growled. “Aiden, you cannot date a human. You are going to be the next alpha. You have to think about what is best for the pack. What’s wrong with the girls on the estate? What would everyone think, you dating some weak domestic?”

“Now wait a minute. He can date whomever he wants,” my dad said in return. He threw his hands in the air, and his voice was louder than I’d ever heard it.

Marcus completely ignored him, continued to glare at me.

“Mr. Walker—,” I started.

“Quit calling me that! I am your father, damn it,” he said. He turned to my mom and pointed his finger in her face. “This is your fault, Lily, and I expect you to fix it. He will not date a human, he will take my place as alpha of this pack, goddamn it, and he will start calling me father!”

Oh, hell no. This guy obviously knew nothing about parenting. Yelling at my mother in front Paul and my sister was beyond stupid. It certainly wasn’t the best way to get me to do what he wanted.

My dad stepped up, took my mom’s hand and pulled her to him. Alli walked over stand beside them, and she reached out to hold my mom’s other hand. It was like they were building a wall, teaming up against Marcus. I walked over and took a position as well.

“I think we should talk about this another time, Mr. Walker,” I said with disdain.

“Aiden, please,” he begged.

“I will continue to consider your offer. I will make sure that Teagan does not come on the estate again, but she is my girlfriend, and I will not let anyone come between us. And I mean
anyone,
” I growled. He wasn’t going to bully me or my family ever again.

He stood there a moment longer, anger and frustration written all over his face, but finally he said, “Aiden, we will continue this conversation. I will not let you ruin your future or the future of this pack.” And with that he walked out of the house.

“You okay, Ad?” Alli asked.

“Just great. But that guy is an ass, Mom,” I said.

My dad chuckled. “I second that.”

My mom didn’t smile like she normally would have; she looked at me as if genuinely concerned for my well-being. She knew what Marcus was capable of, I suppose. She’d known for years, and that’s why she left.

“Mom, is this how it’s going to be from now on? He disapproves, so he runs over and jumps on my ass?” I asked.

She didn’t argue. Instead, she whispered, “I’m so sorry, Aiden.” Her voice cracked, and I thought she might start to cry right there in the middle of the living room.

“I don’t know how Cade manages,” Alli said under her breath. “Living under his roof.”

This was all too much. I’d thought being a werewolf was going to be the shit, at least at first when I was told. Superhuman strength, speed, ultra awesome senses… But it’s been nothing but stress and pain. First I got my ass kicked by Dylan because I couldn’t shift; then I found out about Marcus; now all this crazy alpha drama? I’d only transformed once, and I had no idea how to even do it again.

Oh, man. I didn’t even want to think about what Teagan was going to do when I told her the truth. I couldn’t keep it from her forever.

I also couldn’t tell her. Not just yet. She wasn’t ready.

Or maybe the truth was, I wasn’t.

44.

Teagan

I came home to find my father packing an overnight bag. He looked up and nodded, acknowledging my existence but not bothering to explain where he was headed. Nice. First he called me a dumbass, then he planned to just take off? Sometimes I wondered what would happen if he just left and didn’t come back. Where would that leave me? There were times I worried that he would do just that. Mom had. Why not him too?

I stood in the doorway watching him. When it was clear he really wasn’t going to divulge his little plan, I asked him straight out. “So, where are you off to?”

He cleared his throat: one of his infamous signs of deception. He’s always been a shitty liar.

“Uh…just going on a little hunting trip with Peter. We should be back tomorrow.”

“Hunting? Since when do you hunt?”

Avoiding eye contact Dad replied, “Well, I don’t really. Just going along for the ride. No big deal. Like I said, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

I didn’t bother with any more questions.

I’d only been home a few minutes and I already missed Aiden, so I wandered off to my room. Inside, I reached up and touched my lips. No matter how much I tried to fight it, I’d fallen for him. Hard. Fast. Just like I’d been afraid of. Damn it.

I sat down at my desk and shuffled through my schoolwork, hoping to catch up on some studying. As I did, I heard the front door close and the sound of my dad’s car pulling out of the driveway. Relief washed over me. I was glad to have him out of my hair.

I’d almost made it to the halfway point of my math homework when my phone chimed. It was Aiden, so I couldn’t help but smile. This was the distraction I needed.

Aiden: Gotta get out of my house. Want to meet somewhere?

As fast as my little fingers would move, I typed a response:

Teagan: My dad is gone for the night. Want to come here?

Wait, what was I doing? Was this a good idea? I sat and stared at my phone awaiting a reply. My pulse was racing just thinking about having Aiden here all to myself, in the house, and I wanted to kick myself for feeling excited but couldn’t help it. Spending time alone with him was exactly what I wanted. Even if it was the worst idea in the world.

When my phone chimed again, a stupid schoolgirl giggle fled my lips. His response Inspired giddiness:

Aiden: Already on my way.

I rushed to the bathroom to reapply my makeup. A little blush and lip gloss would do; I didn’t want to be too obvious. Then I hurried to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. I hadn’t had dinner, and I thought it would be nice to make something. But of course our pantry and fridge were bare. The doorbell rang just as I started my search for the number to the pizza place down the street.

My heart pounded as I made my way to the door. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm the swarm of butterflies in my stomach, then I opened the door and there he stood, looking as mouth-wateringly hot as always.

I moved aside to let him in. He entered without taking his eyes off of me, which only intensified the tension building inside. God, he could make me swoon with just a look. What was he going to do now that we were alone? Would my nervous energy ever subside? He was just too yummy for words.

He breezed past me, calm and cool, and I tried to ignore the urge to jump his bones right there in our tiny entryway. “So, you want to order pizza or something? Not much to eat around here.”

Aiden turned on his heel and headed back. Wrapping his strong arm around my waist, he pulled me close and planted an all-too-chaste kiss on my lips. Damn him. Did he have any clue what he did to me? He always left me wanting more.

Seeming completely oblivious, he said, “I’m up for whatever you are.”

My thoughts turned to everything but food. An evil little grin spread across his face, and suddenly I wondered if that had been his intent all along. Was he teasing me? Was he suggesting we do something other than eat? Hopefully his thoughts were more innocent than my own. At least, I thought I hoped that.

Much to my dismay, he left me standing there wanting again. Heading into the kitchen, he walked over to the landline and asked for the pizza menu. I reined in my raging hormones and found it, and after I ordered we sat at the kitchen table making small-talk.

In the back of my mind, all I could think about was the fact that we were alone. We’d only been seeing each other for a short time. If I took his hand and led him to my bedroom, which is what I really wanted to do, would he think I was a slut? The last time I was in this situation, it didn’t turn out so well. But this was Aiden. It felt different this time. It
was
different with Aiden.