Red Ridge Pack 1 Pack of Lies (13 page)

The look on Allison’s face was priceless. If only I had my iPhone ready to snap a photo. My day couldn’t get much better. First, Cade decided to drop the little home-wrecker on her poor, pitiful ass, and now I get to rub it in her pretty, little face, and all in the same day. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was my birthday.

After Alli wiped the shock off her face, she pushed her chair back from the table and said, “I’ll be right back.” She hurried toward the bathroom. Probably to go throw-up. Poor thing, doesn’t seem to handle stress well. She walked around all day looking like her favorite cat got ran over.

“Okay honey! Hurry back, we have so much to talk about,” I responded as sweetly as I could stomach.

As soon as the bathroom door closed, I turned to my girls and said, “Hurry, grab her stuff. Let’s get out of here.”

“We can’t just leave her here with nothing, Kendall. How will she get home?” Shari asked.

“I don’t care. The little ho-bag is lucky I didn’t rip out her throat. Now grab her purse and backpack, Shari!”

Without another word, they grabbed Allison’s stuff, and we ran out of the pizza joint before anyone noticed or had a chance to say anything. Leaving her stranded was nothing, compared to what I wanted to do to her, but she would definitely get the hint. She might think that she “loves” Cade—ugh!—but he is mine. He was promised to me a long time ago, and I will not back down. This will teach her not to touch anything that belongs to me. If she wants to be a member of this pack, she needs to know her place. At the bottom!

Chapter 27

Allison

I was only in the restroom for like three minutes, but when I came out, everyone was gone. I ran to the window just in time to see Kendall and the rest of the girls peeling out of the parking lot. I could only imagine what they were saying to one another as they took off for the estate, leaving me stranded twenty minutes from home without my purse and my backpack.

Completely mortified, I explained to our waiter that I had been left behind without any money. He took pity on me and was kind enough to accept my promise to come back tomorrow and pay for the pizza and drinks, plus a hefty tip. He knew as well as I did that I was the victim of a cruel, cruel prank, and he was kind enough not to make me go in to detail about why they left me standing there. The waiter offered to let me use the phone, but I didn’t have any of the new numbers memorized, and to be honest, I was too embarrassed to admit to anyone what had happened.

I stood there at the edge of the parking lot, staring down at the long road home, contemplating my next move. I had no phone, no money, and no transportation. I did the only thing I could do; I started walking. I followed the road for what seemed like hours. I must have walked five miles, and with each step, I became more and more enraged. By the time I made it to the city limits sign, I was not only fuming, but freezing, tired, hungry, frustrated, and hurt. To make things even worse, I was wearing brand new shoes that were absolutely killing my feet. With my knuckles clenched and my jaw tight, I was ready to draw blood. Cade and these bitches have messed with the wrong damn girl. Were they not listening when Aiden told them about me and my reputation at my old school? Were they stupid? Obviously they were.

I picked up my pace and tried to breathe slowly in and out. My chest was so tight that it hurt to breathe. Suddenly, I stopped in mid-step.

“Oh shit! Not now,” I said under my breath, recognizing the familiar pains shooting through my stomach. I doubled-over, gripping my gut. I needed to get off the main road fast. Even though it had already become dark, I could not risk changing into a wolf right here in the middle of the highway.

I walked as fast as I could, focusing on calming down, and slowing my breathing, trying to prolong the inevitable. This was so not good. I made it to the tree line that signaled the end of the city just in time. I doubled over in pain once again; then before I knew it, I was down on all fours.

In this form, with this body and all the speed I could gather, I ran. I dashed the entire way back to the estate. I didn’t slow down once. I didn’t take time to notice all the new scents. I couldn’t think of anything except ripping Kendall Stuart to shreds.

As I approached our house, I saw her. Kendall. My vision tunneled until all I could see was her. I finally slowed down, but not before I was only a few feet away. Acting on instinct, I hunched down, bared my teeth at her, and growled. I knew that she was frightened. I could smell it on her, and it only made me want to attack her even more.

It was only when I heard Kendall’s name shouted from nearby did I pause and take in my surroundings. I had been so focused on kicking Kendall’s ass that somehow I missed the crowd of people gathered on my front porch.

Holy shit! This wasn’t good!

Before I could figure out what to do next, Marcus and three others shifted in mid-air as they launched themselves toward me. The shock and fear of seeing four massive werewolves coming after me must have triggered my immediate change back because just as they reached me, I was human again. Human and completely, butt-ass naked.

***

Oh-my-God! This cannot be happening! Seriously!

I stood there literally dazed and confused, trying to cover myself with my hands, when Cade came rushing my way to throw his jacket over my bare shoulders. I quickly shrugged the jacket on over my naked body as I jerked away from him. Looking him straight in the eyes, I said, “Don’t touch me!”

Trying desperately to avoid all other eye contact, I hurried toward the front door as fast as my naked, human legs could carry me. Unable to believe that everyone, my mom, dad, brother, Cade, Kendall, and just about every other wolf in the pack was staring at me in horror, I sure as hell wasn’t about to hang around and explain myself. Thank God my grandparents weren’t there. Gram would have had a conniption fit.

I ignored the people calling my name. Really, what did they expect me to do? Stand around in only a jacket and chit-chat? I had just made it up to my room when I heard the front door open and close downstairs. I quickly threw on a t-shirt and jeans just as I heard a small knock on my door.

“Alli? Baby, can I come in?” my dad called from outside my door.

I considered not answering, but figured it wasn’t his fault that I shifted from wolf to human in front of everyone and ended up flashing my new pack.

“Yeah, you can come in.”

Dad slowly opened the door and peeked inside as if he was worried that I might actually still be naked.

“You okay, honey?”

I couldn’t hide my irritation. What a stupid question. “What do you think, Dad? The whole pack just saw me in my birthday suit.”

“We barely saw anything. Really. I think everyone was more shocked that you were a wolf than anything else.”

“Yeah right, Dad. I’m not a complete idiot.”

“Well, anyways… you want to tell me what happened?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it. It is just so humiliating.”

“Come on, Al. You’re going to have to tell us at some point.”

I so didn’t want to have this conversation right now. The entire incident was totally humiliating. Kendall must be in freakin’ heaven. First she embarrasses me; then I embarrass myself. How am I ever going to face those people again? And Omigod, Cade of all people.

Finally, I agreed to tell Dad the whole story. The invitation, my reservations, the pizza place, the angry walk home, my transformation, and well, he witnessed the rest. I could literally see his anger building as my story continued. First his face reddened, then he clinched his knuckles, but I knew he was really upset when he stood and began to pace. Yes, Dad was pissed! Really, really pissed. I couldn’t remember ever seeing my dad with that much rage in his eyes. Without looking at me, he turned toward my door and said through gritted teeth, “I’ll be right back, honey,” and he left my room.

I just sat there, my mind reeling. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I really could have killed Kendall. Surely, there can’t be a bigger bitch on the entire planet. How could anyone be so evil?

I lay back on my bed trying to convince myself to stay put. All I wanted to do was go sit by the window and peek out so I could see what was going on, but, for obvious reasons, I decided it was best to wait for someone to come tell me what happened after I fled the scene.

After thirty painfully long minutes, my mom showed up at my door with an oh-honey-I-feel-so-bad-for-you look on her face. My first instinct was to slam the door, but I didn’t. Keeping my temper in check, I asked her to sit down and tell me how much drama my little escapade caused.

She sort of half-way laughed before she said, “Of course, I’ll tell you what happened, but first I want to know about your transformation. Was that your first time?”

I’m not sure why I told her the truth, but I did.

“Actually, no. It happened one other time a few weeks ago.”

I left out the other night when Cade helped me change and we went running together.

“What! Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, not bothering to hide her disappointment in me.

“I don’t know Mom. I was so freaked out by the whole thing. I just decided to keep it to myself. Plus, it felt, I don’t know, kind of personal. I didn’t think about the fact that I might get so ticked off that I’d turn into a wolf and try to attack Kendall. It’s not like I could have known that could happen. Let’s face it Mom, I don’t know much more about being a werewolf than I do about rocket science.”

She may have looked at me incredulously, but she knew I was right. She hadn’t told me anything about the change: what to expect, how to control it, yada, yada, yada. But, I get it. I should have told someone. As I tried to assure her that I will be more open about my were-life, Mom droned on and on about needing to be honest, and how Aiden and I needed to learn how to control the transformation as soon as possible, blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t she realize that the only thing I really cared about at that moment was what the hell had happened outside?

After she finally paused to take a breath, I cut in, “So, are you going to tell me what happened out there, or not?”

“Well, okay long story short, all hell broke loose. Shari confessed about her part in the plan to ditch you. Marcus told the girls, including Kendall, that he was extremely disappointed in them, and their punishments would be announced at the pack meeting tomorrow night. Well, and then your dad came out yelling up a storm about how those girls are treating his baby girl.”

Oh freakin’ great. How embarrassing! I knew my dad meant well, but damn! Could he have made this anymore humiliating? And now we have to relive the entire ordeal again at a meeting. Just in case the whole pack didn’t see it first hand, they’ll be sure to get a play-by-play at the meeting.

“Can’t I skip this meeting, Mom? It’s just too embarrassing.” I asked, praying she would take pity on me.

“Afraid not, baby. Marcus wants everyone there, and he sounded serious.”

She put her hand on my shoulder and said, “It will pass, I promise. Do you want some dinner?”

I looked at her like she was nuts for even asking. As if I could eat after practically streaking through the estate. Just the thought of food made me want to vomit.

With a deep sigh, she tilted her head to the side like she always did when she couldn’t make me feel better. “Well, if you’re not going to eat, why don’t you try to relax? Maybe a nap,” she said, and then kissed the top of my head.

***

The next morning, I refused to ride with the evil were-herd. Plus the thought of seeing Cade after… well, after him seeing me in all my naked glory, was horrifying. I begged Mom to drive me, but Dad stepped up and offered to take me.

Knowing how slow Dad drove, I pleaded to Mom with my eyes until she finally gave in and said, “I will take you and Aiden to school this morning. You shouldn’t have to ride with that awful girl, in fact, we might think about getting a second car.”

I couldn’t contain my smile. A second car would be absolutely perfect. Aiden and I wouldn’t have to car pool to school anymore, and I wouldn’t need to be around the bitch from hell. But… I wouldn’t get to see Cade either, not that I should want to. Maybe
not
seeing Cade was just what I needed.

All morning and on the way to school, Aiden wouldn’t even look at me. He avoided me at all costs last night and this morning. Then he didn’t say a word to me on the drive to school. I should have just asked him what was wrong, but I didn’t want to make things even more awkward. All I could figure was that he must have been embarrassed. It’s not every day that you see your sister butt-ass naked.

On our way into the building, I couldn’t take the silent treatment any longer and finally said, “So, are you like never speaking to me again or what?”

He didn’t look my way, but at least he responded. “Sorry, Al. I’m just a little freaked out by the whole thing. But just so you know, I’m on your side. I hope Kendall gets in some serious trouble. She deserves it. I can’t believe she’d do something so shitty.”

“Are you sure that is all that’s wrong with you? You sure you’re not just embarrassed that you saw me naked?”

“Yeah, I guess. Well, no not really.”

“What else is wrong then?” I asked, pretty sure that I couldn’t have managed to piss him off about anything else. I practically locked myself in my room last night.

Aiden shifted from foot to foot and looked around to make sure no one could hear him. “Okay, but don’t laugh, and you better not tell anyone.” He paused for a moment to make sure I agreed with his terms, so I nodded my head. Finally Aiden admitted, “I can’t help but wonder why you became a wolf already and I haven’t. I’m older. It should have happened to me first. Right? It’s like I’m slow or something. Like I’m a were-tard.”

I had to laugh at that. Poor Aiden thinks he’s a learning-disabled wolf.

“Don’t worry, Ad. Your time will come. I just hope for your sake that it doesn’t happen in front of the whole pack.”