Verity (24 page)

“They’re right, son. We’ve hidden away for long enough. Let them come. We’l be ready next time. Hiding ourselves has been a mistake. I’m going to find out who they are and what they want. Then I’m going to deal with them. I won’t lose any more of my family. They won’t get away with it.” The look on his face scared me. It was harsh and cold, everything Jakob wasn’t. He wanted revenge. I didn’t blame him.

“But, Dad.” Byron sounded a little like me.

“I mean it, we’re staying.”

“I don’t think....”

“Byron. We’re
staying
.”

Jakob’s voice was surprisingly firm. Both men stared each other down.

“Stop it,” Byron said, his voice less controled.

“Stop what?” The tone of Jakob’s voice was so cold, I couldn’t stop shuddering.

“I’m the alpha. Stop trying to force your wil on me! I can feel it,” Byron shouted, panic in his eyes.

Nathan’s hand tightened on mine, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but it seemed important.

“We’re staying,” Jakob said, rock steady.

Amelia whimpered, but I watched, fascinated, as Byron finaly bowed his head and turned away.

I could see the mix of emotion in Byron’s conflicted expression and knew that I had won for now. He couldn’t make me leave. Although he let it go, I was sure he would try again, even though Jakob was determined to stay.

It didn’t matter because I knew I had Amelia, and more importantly, Nathan by my side. My life began to change when he came along, and now I knew I was a stronger person for it. We were cursed. Al three of us.

Except now we had the truth on our side. The werewolves might leave us alone, but we had no way of knowing for sure. They didn’t want us together; they probably wanted me dead. Living meant I would forever carry the heavy weight of the worst secrets. My Dad spent his life protecting me, and I had thrown it al away with one bad decision.

Byron banned me from teling anyone what I’d done; I was too scared of him to try his patience. But as long as Nathan was with me, I could carry on, fake being the same person I was before. The werewolves didn’t want us together, but I was determined; I
needed
Nathan now. Nobody was going to separate us. I pitied anyone who wanted to try.

“Calm down! There’s nothing we can do right now. I know you’re upset, but getting yourself kiled accomplishes nothing. We stil have work to do.” Ryan held Wilow’s arms tightly, expecting her to bolt again.

“I have to do something. You saw what she did to my father! The little coward, attacking us both from behind.” Wilow shook in anger, her face twisting into something ugly.

Deep down, Ryan pitied her, but he couldn’t let her risk his life or his position in the pack. As if she knew what he was thinking, she sneered, looking him straight in the eye. Her height had always irritated him.

“Jack was careless. And so were you. She’s just a human. We wasted our chance, and now we have to face the consequences. You know the rules,” Ryan said, his voice low and careful.

She struggled against him, kicking out in her frustration. Only a hard slap across the face calmed her down. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. She licked it slowly, al the while staring at him.

“Don’t ever,
ever
, talk about my father. You’re practicaly human yourself. You don’t even come close to comparing to the wolf he is. The wolf he was. This isn’t over no matter what you say. Vin wil agree, and then we’l see. I’l
never
let this day go. And when I’m done with them, I’l come after you. You’l see what my father taught me.”

Her tone chiled him. He shivered in spite of himself at the hatred in her eyes. Her rank was less than his, and yet something about her terrified him. He was too weary to fight her; nothing had gone right. Both girls lived, the one werewolf female who had ever successfuly bred healthy shifters was dead, and the alpha’s prized fighter had been kiled by a human teenager. It was a disaster.

He had nothing to worry about; Vin would kil him before Wilow could even try. Ryan let her go, shaking his head. Wilow stayed against the wal, hunched over slightly, her blonde hair covering most of her stil blood-stained face. She seemed almost feral, ready to leap at him if he gave her an excuse.

“Wilow. It wasn’t my fault. It was his idea. I wanted to wait. Pick them off one by one. But you’re right.” He tried to placate her knowing he needed her story to back him up. “A cowardly attack kiled your father. A fluke. He was unlucky. She’l pay for it, but first we need to let the others know what happened. If we stick together, we’l be okay.” He brushed the hair back from her face carefuly, hearing a low whimper.

She sucked her lower lip and sank to the floor, holding her knees and rocking herself. Her eyes were black and wild, but she was shut off from the world, lost in her own mind. Ryan sank down next to her, his forehead creased with worry. He had seen Wilow’s ‘episodes’ before, leaving her be and waiting was his only choice. She had always been unstable, but now Jack was gone, it would be worse. He often wondered how badly damaged her mind realy was. Mating didn’t work for werewolves, so what made the Evans family so special? Now the one female they realy needed was dead, they might never know the truth for sure.

Wilow whimpered again. He stared at her, sympathy mingled with repulsion. She was a poor excuse for a wolf, despite the boasts of her family. He wasn’t sure how he could control her now she was so intent on revenge. But more importantly, he didn’t know if the alpha would spare his life and give him another chance.

Ryan puled out his walet and stared longingly at the photo of his family. He had to do whatever it took to get them back. “I’m tired of this, Wilow,” he whispered to the unresponsive shifter, knowing she couldn’t hear him. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to kil. I sure as hel don’t want to babysit a werewolf with mental problems.

How did we mess up so bad? They’l never let me go home now.”

He groaned, frustrated. Al they had achieved was giving the Evans family an excuse to want them dead. Things were going to get messy. He could only hope he survived the next fight.

###

Thank you for reading Verity (Cursed #1)—for more information check out Claire Farrel’s blog.