Red Ridge Pack 1 Pack of Lies (3 page)

Still smiling, Dad said, “That would be your mom, son, and no cussing at the dinner table.”

I wasn’t screaming or jumping on table tops. Instead, I was frozen in place, seemingly suspended in time. Dad was laughing, Aiden was shaking, and my mom…wolf…mom-wolf, whatever she was, was staring at us all with the same dark brown eyes she’s always had. It was real. She was real.
Holy shit is right! My mom is a werewolf!

Chapter 3

ALLISON

After the initial shock of Mom’s little “announcement” settled in, my mom, no longer in her wolfie form, decided to tell us
the real
story of how Dad and her got together. The one that was supposedly going to explain all of this craziness and help us understand just how we ended up in this paranormal state of existence.

Mom took a moment to straighten her clothes before she began. “Well, you know the story of how your father and I met?” Mom asked.

Aiden and I nodded.

“It’s all a lie. We didn’t actually meet in church like we told you before. I’m sorry kids, but we couldn’t exactly tell you the truth,” she bluntly admitted.

“Holy shit, Mom. What else is a lie? Is he even our real father?” I asked without thinking first, which was probably not the best thing to do, but to be honest, I was completely appalled by the whole absurd situation.

“Your mouth, Alli. Jeez, we did not raise you to speak that way,” my dad immediately scolded.

Tempted to get up from the table and storm away from this whole nightmare, I reminded myself to calm down and to breathe. I couldn’t run from this. I needed to know what was in store for me now, now that I’m apparently not as human as I had previously thought.

After a few deep breaths, I said, “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit freaked out at the moment. Can you blame me?”

Mom patted me on the leg. “It’s okay, honey. I know this is a bit hard to swallow.”

“So what is the truth, Mom?” Aiden added sympathetically, playing the-good-son part.

“The truth? Oh God, where do I start?”

“How about the beginning, Mom,” I suggested trying to keep the irritation out of my voice but failing miserably. I was riding a rollercoaster of emotions that I couldn’t seem to get off of. I went from being a jerk to apologetic to a jerk again in no time flat, and I wasn’t able to control it.

Mom gave me a snarky little smile before explaining, “When I was twenty-one, I went with some friends from my pack into town for a music festival.”

“Wait, you had a pack, like a wolf pack? This is kinda cool, Mom,” Aiden said.

“Shut up,” Dad and I said in unison.

“Yes, I had a pack, but, if you don’t mind, can I tell the story?” Mom paused for a moment to make sure we were listening. “So, we went to see this punk band that we had heard was pretty good.”

“A punk band, Mom? Really?” I asked, surprised to hear that Mom would have actually liked that kind of thing, even that long ago.

“Hey, don’t knock it. It beat the bluegrass bands that were there most nights. Anyway, there we were watching this really great band,” Mom said as she winked at Dad, “when I saw your dad. He was the bass player. Our eyes met and… what can I say. It was love at first sight. I made my way up to the stage just as they finished their set to introduce myself, and, well, we ended up spending the entire night together after the show.”

“Spent the night together, huh?” Aiden said before he smiled and winked at Dad.

Mom glared at him and said, “It wasn’t like that, honey. It was the perfect night. We talked, and danced, and talked some more. After that night, I snuck off the estate whenever I could to see him because, you see, at the time, I was kind of engaged.”

“What! Engaged? To whom?” I asked, astounded that my mom was engaged to someone else, someone I had never heard of, and that she was cheating on him with my father.

“Yes, sort of. Promised, really, to my pack’s soon-to-be alpha. We dated for a long time, but see, we were friends and while I did care for him, I didn’t love him, not like that anyway. The truth is that if we were to have gotten married, it would have been to strengthen the pack, not because we truly wanted to be husband and wife.”

Dad reached out and grabbed Mom’s hand, a sweet gesture that I’m sure Mom appreciated. Watching Dad be all husband-like, I couldn’t decide which was harder to believe, that my mom was a werewolf, or that my dad was in a punk band. I mean my dad’s cool and all, as far as dads go, and he
is
a musician, well a song writer now, but a punk band. Wow! That pretty much blew me away.

While I was in the midst of pondering over were-mom and punk-dad, apparently Aiden was more concerned about what soon-to-be-alpha meant. He turned to me with a look on his face that I didn’t quite understand until he finally asked, “Wait. Alpha? What exactly does that mean?”

“Well, werewolves live in a pack. We’re like real wolves in that respect. In every pack there is always an alpha, who is the leader,” Mom explained.

“Are there a lot of us? I mean, how many werewolves are we talking about here?” Aiden asked, clearly as shocked I was about the whole thing.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve been away from the pack for a long time. But yes, there are many different packs, and surely hundreds of werewolves here in America, probably thousands all over the world,” Mom explained.

“So the alpha controls everything. Like the president?” Aiden asked.

“Well, yes, sort of. There are very specific rules when living with a pack, and if you’re going to stay in the pack, then you have to follow the pack’s rules.”

Sounds more like a dictator than a president, but I didn’t bother correcting anyone.

Mom looked over at Dad and smiled as she continued, “Being with your father was definitely not following the rules. And not long after we met, I decided that what I really wanted most was to be with him, but I couldn’t, not without telling him the truth. I knew if we were going to be together, I would have to leave my family and the pack. There were very strict rules at the time, and I was breaking just about all of them. Late one night during one of our secret dates, I decided to come clean.”

I looked over at Dad to find him smiling as if he was remembering that night.

“So this is where I can kind of relate to how you guys feel,” Dad added. “It was quite a shock finding out that the woman you are in love with is a werewolf, especially when she just blurts it out. I’ll never forget that moment. We were sitting on the floor in my dorm room, talking about nothing in particular, when she casually interrupts me and says, ‘Would you still love me if I were a werewolf.’ And well, after I came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to be her dinner, I accepted it. I had to. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? I loved her, everything about her, even the fact that she could kill me with her bare hands… or paws, I guess I should say.”

This was unbelievable. My mother, Lillian Wright, PTA board member, SUV driving, IT nerd was a werewolf. I watched Mom and Dad holding hands under the table and longingly staring into each other’s eyes as if telling the story made them love each other that much more. On one hand, it kind of made me want to gag, but on the other, it was pretty amazing to think it all worked out, Mom telling him the truth and him not running the other way. I’m guessing not everyone would take that kind of information so well.

“So, without any plan at all, we ran off together and started a life here in Houston. I haven’t talked to the pack, or my parents, for that matter, since the day I left. I miss them, but I can’t say that I regret leaving. It was them or your dad and I made my decision and never looked back,” Mom admitted.

“Wait, so we like have grandparents?” Aiden asked. “I always assumed they were dead and you just couldn’t deal.”

“Well, that’s a whole other story. I told you both when y’all were little that your grandparents lived far, far away and then neither of you ever asked about them again, so I didn’t mention it. Kind of worked out easy that way.”

“Okay, not to butt in, but where exactly does this leave us? Me and Aiden, I mean,” I asked, not sure whether I was ready for her answer or not.

“Well, let’s see. All the stuff you’ve been experiencing is actually completely normal. Rapid growth, increased strength, and aggression. I’d assume your senses are better, like sight and smell, maybe even taste?”

“Is that why I’m freakin’ hot all the time? I’m like having one long hot flash, like a menopausal old lady,” I admitted, relieved to finally have a few questions answered.

“Actually, yes. Your body temperature is increasing. Werewolves are very warm-blooded. Don’t worry, you get used to it after a while.”

Aiden looked around confused. “Are you sure I’m a werewolf, Mom? I haven’t noticed anything different about me.”

“Really, Aiden? Come on! You’ve grown a foot in the last year, and you have girls chasing you down like kittens in heat. Thought I might have to take the water hose to ’em. Hate to burst your bubble son; you’re a good looking’ kid and all, but there are these little things called pheromones, and they’re bursting out of your pores,” Dad added laughing to himself.

“Huh? Really? I thought it was my winning personality and these big guns,” Aiden said, flexing his muscles like Mr. Olympia.

“Anyways, so what now, Mom?” I asked, rolling my eyes at my idiot brother.

“I’m not really sure. I mean, I grew up knowing I was a werewolf. I’m not sure how you two are going to be able to handle the change. Or even if you will be able to adjust to being a were in this setting. I heard of lots of weres who live outside of packs, but I’m not sure how it works with teenagers. It’s something we will all have to discuss as things progress. But for now at least you know what’s happening.”

***

We wrapped dinner up with a whole lot of unanswered questions. Yes, I know what Mom is and what Aiden and I will be one day soon. But what about everything else? I got into bed and pulled the covers up over me. Then immediately threw them back off. I genuinely missed the days when I could snuggle up under the comforter to keep out the cold, but apparently, those days were long gone.

I closed my eyes hoping sleep would find me, but this was all too much to take in. There were so many questions I should have asked, but I didn’t even know where to begin.
What now? What is going to happen to me? Will I be able to control it? What if I morph into a wolf in the middle of Calculus? Can that even happen? Will everyone keep hating me? Will I always be a freak?

Chapter 4

ALLISON

It’s my birthday today. Seventeen. I’m supposed to be excited, overjoyed, ecstatic, right? But what did I have to be happy about? That could be summed up in one word—nothing! I had no one to be happy with, except for my now totally dysfunctional family, complete with wolf mom, ex-punk-rocker dad, and the ever-popular brother, who couldn’t wait to go out and party with his friends tonight after my oh-so-exciting birthday celebration.

After an excruciatingly long birthday dinner at Benihana’s, Dad pulled into the driveway, and I couldn’t wait to run upstairs and take a shower. I smelled like a hibachi grill, and with my new heightened senses, that wasn’t a good thing. I had been resisting the urge to hold my nose all through dinner, and could barely keep my once-favorite restaurant’s food down. Well, there’s one more sucky thing to add to the list of sucky things about being a werewolf. I could no longer enjoy the one dinner I look forward to all year.

Of course, Mr. Perfect Werewolf, Aiden, gobbled up everything in sight like it was the best thing he ever tasted. According to him, he could smell it, but it didn’t bother him enough to stop gorging himself. Jerk. Why did he have to be so good at everything? He was already a better werewolf than me, and we hadn’t even become wolves yet.

While washing the stench of hibachi out of my hair, Aiden began pounding on the door to hurry me up. “I need in there, Al. The guys will be here any minute, and I need a shower too. You’re not even going anywhere. Are you?”

“I’ll be out in a minute. And no, I’m not. Thanks for rubbing it in,” I shouted back.

“Well, maybe you should go out with me. You shouldn’t stay home on your birthday.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was only inviting me to join him because he felt sorry for me? Who was this guy? There was a time when he wouldn’t have dreamed of going out without me on
my
birthday. But that was because he wanted me there. This invitation was clearly different.

I guess I shouldn’t be mad at him; he still has friends, so I shouldn’t blame him for not wanting to hang out with a social outcast.

I hurried out of the bathroom, trying to make it to my room without having to talk to Aiden, knowing it would only make me feel more pitiful. I had made it as far as my door when I heard him call out from his room, “Hey, if you’re still up when I get home, let’s sneak out front and have a beer. Like we did last year, okay?”

“Sure, if I’m up,” I said feeling a little better that he was at least trying to be nice.

I plopped down in my papasan chair and tried to read a book, but for some reason, I was too jumpy to relax, or concentrate, for that matter. Attempting to ease the unexplained jitters, I instead decided to pace back and forth in my room. When that didn’t help, I did a few jumping jacks. I even tried a mini makeover, but nothing would calm the anxious, itchy feeling inside me. It was the strangest feeling, and it didn’t seem to be going away. What I really wanted to do was rip my skin off and throw it in the washing machine. Since that really wasn’t a viable option, I grabbed my Adidas and headed for the treadmill. I had just showered, but at that point, I was willing to try anything.

I hopped on the treadmill and started out walking at a brisk pace, but that just wasn’t doing it so I cranked it up a bit. I jogged for a few minutes, without any improvement, so I upped the speed even more. Before I knew it, I was full out sprinting. Never had I run that fast in all my life, and I wasn’t even getting winded. After thirty minutes, I finally slowed it down and got off, completely flabbergasted that I had hardly broken a sweat. The good news was that the itching was gone, thank goodness, but I still felt uneasy.