Deceived (36 page)

A howl echoed through the mountains and
reverberated in my eardrums.
My attacker perked its head to one side and listened. When it looked back at me, something changed in its
stare
.  The beast rushed forward and out of instinct, I stepped back. My feet slid off the edge
and down I fell
. I had a split second to be thankful I would die from the fall rather than being eaten alive. Unfortunate
ly
, the wolf wouldn’t let me go that easily. Its teeth sunk into my
forearm, and I screamed out in pain as it tugged backwards. Rather than having my arm torn off, I used my other arm to heave myself back up. I managed to get my top half on solid ground before I stopped
trying
, tears streaming down my cheeks. My adrenaline charged strength was waning.

The beast released my arm and went for my throat.
Its teeth sunk into my jugular cutting off my oxygen
.
But before it could snap my neck in half, a deep growl sounded next to us. The wolf released me and rolled on its back. I didn’t have time to think about how strange that was; the edges of my vision were blurry from blood loss, and my eyes were heavy.

“Wh
at have you done?” A man asked, at least I thought It was a man, the persons voice was muddled.

“I’m sorry.” The words formed as a whisper on my lips. I wasn’t exact
ly
sure who I was apologizing to, but I knew I shouldn’t have gone into the mountains by myself. There were multiple animal attacks in the past month, I knew better than this.

“I’ll let you have first dibs,” a female said and was answered with a deep growl.

A giggle formed on my lips as I imagined the wolves talking—the blood loss was causing hallucinations. Peeling an eyelid open, I stared at two naked bodies. The woman had shoulder length brown hair that brushed her skin as the wind play
ed with it. The man had a head full of
tousled honey locks. Both of them stared at me, the woman with hunger and the man with remorse.

Blinking a few times, I searched for the wolves who attacked me. When my eyes didn’t find the beasts, I wondered why the man and woman were naked. Perhaps they’d been camping nearby and my cries of pain interrupted their lovemaking. I feared for their safety. Somewhere, two wolves lingered waiting for the opportunity to strike the couple.

My fingers found the gaping wound on my neck and came away slick with blood. I was going to die. Staring up at the sky, I found a sense of peace and excitement that I’d get to see my parents again. They were up there, beyond the clouds, waiting for me by a set of pearly gates. Their smiling faces would welcome me and all would be right in the world.

“Master, please let me have her,” the woman begged with anxiousness.

“You have to stop this,” the man
ordered
, his words coated with authority.

I didn’t waste any more thoughts of their strange conversation. Instead, I continued to stare at the sky until darkness clouded its beauty and my eyelids fell shut.

“Anna, we need more wood,” Elle called from the kitchen.

Three months had passed since I was
attacked in the mountains. The fates had something other than death in store for me, something far more complex. Fairytales weren’t just stories. One little bite turned me into a creature who answered to the moon and had deep carnal needs that were harder to ignore than a
streaker
at a football game.

“On it,” I told my pack-mate. It was strange to be a member of a pack. But I was thankful to have a group of people who shared the same affinity for the moon and felt the same animalistic emotions. I didn’t remember a lot about the day I was attacked, and no one stepped forward to claim me as theirs. Rumors of a rogue werewolf spread, but I wasn’t so sure. One day my memory would return, and I’d know who sired me.
And then I’d kill them.

I
stepped
through the screen door and headed around the back of the house. Every society has a pecking order: children listen to their parents, employees to their bosses, and a person moves up the ladder through time and hard work. I was at the bottom of the order here and expected to prove myself every day. The jobs no one wanted were
set
onto my shoulders, and if I mouthed off or refused, I was taught a lesson through embarrassment. Adam, the alpha of our pack, would transform into his wolf and clasp my jugular between his teeth in front of everyone. When I first heard about it, I laughed
. It didn’t seem like that bad of a punishment.
It wasn’t until it happened to me that I understood just how humiliating it was. There was something in my DNA now that took on the traits of a common wolf. In their world, being reprimanded by the alpha in front of your pack was mortifying. You would think I learned my lesson after the first time, but since then Adam had his teeth around my throat four other times.

Curling my fingers around the axe, I split the wood for the fireplaces. Before I was infected with wolf saliva, there was no way I could have swung an axe, let alone split piles of wood all day long. Now, however, I was stronger than an ox. It was both a gift and a curse. A gift because, well, it was cool to be able to lift a car, and a curse because I couldn’t use exhaustion as an excuse to quit.

The
Everwood
pack, named after its alpha, Adam
Everwood
, consisted of twenty-five members. Their homes were sprinkled within the
Big Horn Mountains In Buffalo,
Wyoming, within walking distance of each other, and it was my job to chop and deliver wood to each of their homes. I spent three days a week chopping and delivering, and the other four days doing equal
ly
belittling tasks. My life BW (before wolf) had been simple. I worked as a teller at a small bank, lived in the home my parents left me when they died and came home every night to my
dog, Jitters. My life AW (after wolf) meant selling my parents’ home, moving into the mountains with the
Everwood
pack and handing my dog over to my neighbor. Jitters didn’t like me now that I was a canine, and my neighbor always loved her, so I knew she was being well taken care of. I didn’t have a lot of family. My parents died three years ago in plane crash with a newly licensed pilot. I told them not to fly with him, but they didn’t listen. They craved life and adventure, and that had gotten them killed.

They were on
ly
children which meant no aunts or uncles. A few of their cousins  contacted me when they died, but not enough to worry when  I vanished from my old life. If they called, they would find the number had been disconnected and the house  sold. I didn’t have a ton of friends
or a love life to speak of.
Overall, my life had become more complicated and a lot tougher.

When I was happy with the amount of wood I chopped, I pulled my Ford F150 around back and began loading the bed. I didn’t own a truck BW, but Adam insisted I trade my small sedan for something useful. At the time, I thought he meant a truck would come in handy for driving the rough mountain roads. Had I known what he real
ly
meant, the truck would serve as my delivery vehicle, I would have dug in my heels and kept my car—and probably ended up with his teeth around my throat
again
. Life is a bitch and because of my attack, now so was I—literal
ly
.

****

Driving from house to house was the most peaceful part of my day. The summer breeze blew through my windows while Lady Antebellum filled the cab. I sang loud
ly
to
American Honey
, and the wind caressed my hand that hung out the window. The sun glistened on the river, and the scent of flowers hung in the air. An eagle soared high above my truck; all was right in the world. I loved summer and the life and cheer it brought to the world. I intended to soak up every ray before I had to worry about winter in the mountains.

I
pull
ed into the Anderson’s driveway and jumped out of the truck. Every home up here was made of logs. The only difference was the color of tin on their roofs. The Anderson’s had navy and continued the theme in the color of their shutters and front door. I tightened my ponytail, unlatched the tailgate and began piling the logs in a neat pile by their garage. Most of the pack held regular jobs and were gone during the day, but they were seasoned wolves and I was not. I still had trouble keeping a lid on my inner beast, and Adam worried I’d snap and devour someone. The thought was enough to scare me, so I didn’t complain, even though the alternative was being a work horse for the pack. I made six more stops before I went towards Adam’s home—I should have delivered his house first, it was my little way of showing rebellion, I was in the middle of belting ou
t another Lady Antebellum tune about how life isn’t as bad as it seems.

I just finished the last line of the song when I
turned
into Adam’s driveway and choked on my words. Adam, all six-feet-three feet of him, was curled over the engine of his Silverado. The crunching of my tires drew his attention, our eyes locking before I looked away. It was
considered a challenge to stare the alpha in the eyes for too long. I learned that lesson the way I learned all my lessons since becoming a wolf—the hard way.

“If you say so,” I muttered to the radio before I shut the truck off and hopped out. I stood still for a moment and bowed my head to acknowledge his authority and power
over us mere unworthy subjects.
The whole thing made me snort in derision, at least mental
ly
; I wasn’t brave enough to defy Adam like I wanted to, my wolf wouldn’t allow me to, it cowered in his presence—the pansy.

When a deep rumbling echoed in Adam’s throat, a sign to carry on, I turned and got to work at unloading his supply of firewood. I spared a glance in his direction and immediate
ly
looked away when my gaze found his. It was a common occurrence for him to reprimand me for something, but he didn’t punish for admiring gazes, lucki
ly
. It was pure instinct I found him attractive, all the female wolves did; perks of being the alpha. The gleam in his
emerald
eyes and the smirk on his full lips all said he loved the attention. I heard stories about him, gossip that traveled on the lips of admiring females.
They say he takes what he wants, if you know what I mean.
One girl said with an anticipating smile.
He chooses a new mistress every month,
another claimed. That particular piece of gossip both got my carnal juices flowing and fleeing. There were only nine women in our pack, how long before he got tired of sampling the same tail and came searching for something new? I was the newbie, the untouched wolf, and the fact I might interest my alpha caused a
burst
of emotions inside of me. It’s hard to find someone attractive when you both resent and admire them. Adam took me in when I was lost, but he’d also shown just how much of an ass he could be. None of the woman in our pack would confirm whether or not Adam had sampled their goods. I figured
their silence
was either, smart, mandatory, or just
confirmation that it was all just
gossip.

None of it mattered though, because if Adam so much as sniffed in my direction Evelyn, or Eve as she
preferred
, would take care of me. Behind every alpha werewolf is an alpha female waiting to rip your head off should you even think about stealing her place in power. When I first learned my alphas were named Adam and Eve, I thought it was some sick way of paying tribute to our
alphas,
like a bad nick name or something. It wasn’t. I was told there used to be twenty-eight members of the pack, before Eve killed three females for moving in on her territory. With nine females left, I was surprised the men weren’t chomping at the bit to raid our panties. Some were married, but most weren’t, including Adam and Eve. There were hookups from time to time, but on
ly
two couples in the entire pack were actual
ly
dating. If I had hopes of finding love, it wouldn’t be here. Ninety percent of human males were dogs; throw in a group of actual wolves and the pickings for a faithful loving mate were slim to none. I finished unloading Adam’s supply and was ready to jump in my truck and hightail it as far away from his lingering gaze as possible when he called my name.