SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) (11 page)

Gasping for air and for the burn to stop, I reached for Sebastian and gripped the front of his shirt. His blue eyes pierced me into submission and I felt the wolf subdue and slowly crawl back to whatever dark corner she was hiding in.

“It burns,” I chattered and he released his hand, making the ice cubes slide down to my belly; causing me to jump. “Ow, ow, owie,” I said as I hopped around and the melting ice fell to the floor.

“Do you still need the meat?” Amy whispered and I think she was nervous about getting close to me again.

“It’s okay, I’m myself again,” I said and she nearly plowed me down. Her little body came and hugged me so tight that the chair I was on tilted back for a second.

“I was so scared, I thought you were going to eat me,” she muffled in my hair.

I snorted. “Really?”

“I felt like Little Red Riding Hood,” she whined and I couldn’t hold back my laugh. Sebastian snickered behind her, his mouth in a tight line, holding back a smile.

Sebastian went to the counter and then came back to where Amy was now on my lap and still holding me in her death grip. He handed me a plate. “Eat.”

“Ew. What the hell is that?” I grimaced at the reddish pink glob that he was trying to hand me.

“It’s food, so eat. Your body went through a half change and your energy is depleted. You need strength.”

“Dude, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that’s not food,” I said.

“Are you a vegetarian?” he exclaimed and I thought I was going to give him a coronary.

“No! No, I eat meat, but…I don’t know what that is.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s raw meat, Mackenzie. I don’t have time to make it pretty for you.”

“Raw meat?!” Now it was my turn to shout.

“Holy hell, Mackenzie. Tell me you’ve had raw meat before?”

I only stared at him. The answer to that question was pretty obvious. But something was nagging me, “Where is my brother?” I didn’t give two craps about James. I was hoping Ollie gave him the beat down he deserved.

“Don’t worry, I’ll compel them,” Sebastian said and pushed the plate closer to Amy and my face. “Now, eat.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Damnit, Kenz, just eat the damn thing!” Amy said and I sighed. This wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Will I get sick from it? Like salmonella or something like that?”

“No, you’ll eat a lot worse than this at some point. What you should be doing is shifting and going on a hunt, but Jonah told me,” he paused, “he told me about the cage. We’ll have to ease you into the hunting.”

“Hunting? Like in the woods?” Okay, that didn’t sound like a very intelligent question.

“Yes, like the woods, Mackenzie. Now eat.”

I grumbled. “Fine, but if I puke, you’re holding my hair back!” I pointed a stern finger at him and he nodded. I grabbed the plate and Amy got up to watch.

She pulled out her phone from her back pocket. “I’m so recording this. YouTube stardom, here we come!” she said and I glared at her.

I glanced down toward the plate of what I guessed was raw ground beef. It was still slightly bleeding but the smell wasn’t too unpleasant. That thought scared me. I couldn’t turn into Hannibal Lector.

Taking a deep breath, I stuck my finger in the mound of meat and flicked a piece out. With a scrunched up face, I closed my eyes and slowly put my finger in my mouth.

I chewed on the mushiness and I thought I was going to throw up, but then I swallowed and my body tingled. I opened one eye and peeked at the two people who were eagerly awaiting my analysis on what was soon becoming my late afternoon snack. I tried a heftier scoop and stuffed my face. It wasn’t too bad. Maybe with a little salt it would taste better but it was feeding a hunger deep inside me—a hunger I never knew I had.

After a moment, I went for another bite but the plate was empty.

“Holy shit, Kenz, you demolished that junk. Must’a been good, huh?” Amy said with her phone camera still aimed at me.

“I’m still hungry,” I deadpanned and looked at Sebastian. He squatted in front of me with a kitchen towel. He gently grabbed my chin and began to clean me. I really must have stuffed my face because he wiped at places that should have been clean. I didn’t remember taking more than two bites.

His thumb that held my chin started a slow caress and I gazed into those glowing blue eyes. “I’ll feed you,” he whispered and I wasn’t sure what he was talking about anymore.

After two more pounds of ground beef and a sirloin steak, my appetite was curbed. I couldn’t believe I had eaten my fair share of raw meat without a grimace.

“How are you feeling?” Sebastian asked as he washed the dishes we’d used.

“Surprisingly satisfied. I don’t know whether to be content or horrified at what I just did,” I mused as I stared off at the ceiling.

“Well, I’m off to go find your brother and that boy. Hurry up and pack, we live within the hour.”

“Wait. Why are you looking for them?” I jumped up from my chair and stood in the doorway, blocking his exit. What was he planning on doing?

He narrowed his eyes. “What? You think I’m going to hurt them?”

I shrugged.

“Mackenzie, they heard you howl. I need to compel them to forget or two things will happen: either they expose you and the rest of us, or people think they’ve gone crazy and they end up in an asylum. What’s it going to be?”

I hated how Sebastian was right all the time. No wonder he was Alpha. I sighed in defeat and stepped aside. I really didn’t care about James, but Ollie was a different story.

“You better not hurt my brother,” I said as I squared my shoulders and raised my chin.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Yeah right.

I left the kitchen and went to find Amy to tell her what was going on and how I needed to go back to the city. I told her she could stay with my family that they wouldn’t mind, but she didn’t want to and I couldn’t make her.

Once we were all packed up—which wasn’t much—we headed to the SUV that was still waiting outside, but this time only the driver was there. While we loaded our things in the trunk, Mrs. Carson came outside toward us. I tensed at her approach because I didn’t know what James had told them and I didn’t want to start pointing fingers. At the end of the day, he’s their blood and right or wrong, they’d take his side. And I don’t blame them, I just don’t want to put them in a position where they have to actually choose sides and feel guilty about it.

“Mackenzie,” she nodded to me and I had no choice but to go to her.

“Hello, Mrs. Carson,” I said, trying not to make eye contact.

“I spoke with James,” she said and paused as if rethinking what she was going to say next. “I heard what happened yesterday. I knew something was off with the two of you but I waited for either one of you to tell me. I don’t like that you two thought you could pull a fast one on me and lie, but I’ll let it go because you don’t deserve it, Mackenzie,” she said and reached for my hand. She squeezed it and her eyes watered. Crap, I didn’t see this happening. What exactly did she hear anyway?

“Mrs. Carson, it’s okay,” I said.

“No, it’s not. I’ve already told Nana and she isn’t happy with James either. He was wrong and no matter what troubles you both had, that was the wrong way to handle it,” she paused, “I’ve also told him he better not bring that home wrecker around, because I’ll really give him a piece of my mind.” I wanted to engulf her in a hug. I didn’t know how much it would matter to me, but it did. She chose my side.

I chuckled. “Thank you, Mrs. Carson. I’m sorry for lying.”

“It’s over and done with now. Just make sure you tell your folks, I won’t lie to them.” She looked at the SUV behind me. “Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I had an emergency back in the city that I need to attend to,” I said and wanted to pat myself on the back.
That was very diplomatic of you, Kenz.

“Oh. Well I hope you aren’t running away because of James. I promise he won’t bother you,” she said. That’s probably why he barged into my house, because he got a good talking to from his mama.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Carson. I don’t run away,” I said with a smirk.

We said our goodbyes and a few moments later, my parents and Ollie were down the street, walking back to the house. I waved at them and Ollie jogged the rest of the way to me.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he said as he looked at the SUV and back to me. I thought of the compulsion and figured Bash had already done it. He didn’t look suspicious of anything—just normal.

“I have to go, Ollie.”

“Is this about the kidnappers? Did they follow you here?” he growled and I patted his arm. I guess he didn’t compel everything away.

“Easy boy. No, a friend of mine is in trouble and needs help. I promise I’ll come visit you for spring break, yeah?” I said, trying to lighten the mood. It’s not like he wasn’t going to be leaving in a few days either.

I pulled my parents inside and told them I had to leave. My father questioned me but didn’t push, and that’s just the kind of people they were. We weren’t a really close bunch, but it didn’t mean we hated each other either. We just didn’t hover.

Everyone was already waiting in the car when I hopped into the passenger seat—Sebastian was driving—when my brother came up to my open window.

“Call or text me when you get there and if you need anything, Kenz, let me know. If I have to extend my leave for an emergency, I’ll do it and it won’t be a problem. Okay?” I grabbed him through the window and pulled him into an embrace.

“I love you, Ollie,” I whispered and his arms tightened around me.

“Kenz, I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, but I trust that you know how to take care of yourself. Just don’t face the world alone if you don’t have to; I’m here for you,” he said and I placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

“I know, Ollie. I’ll call you when I get back to the city.”

We got to the city in record time, only forty five minutes, which was outrageous but with Sebastian behind the wheel…it was a speedy trip. He took us straight to the warehouse in Brooklyn. I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that, especially with Amy coming, but if we were here to help find Jackson, then I needed to suck it up.

“I can’t believe Jackson’s been kidnapped,” Amy whispered behind me. I watched her from the car side mirror as she looked out the window. Her pierced eyebrows were scrunched in and worry lines etched her forehead.

I didn’t know how much help we could be, but after spending the last few days with Jonah, I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing. He might be taking his anger out on me right now, but I’d like to think we’re at least friends, and friends don’t back off when the other needs help.

When we arrived at the warehouse, it was packed to the hilt with men and women who I could only assume were werewolves. Amy stuck close to me—smart girl—but her face was awestruck by all the very…uh, good looking guys milling around without shirts. Jonah wasn’t lying when he said they needed to wear the minimum to be able to shift at a moment’s notice. The women were fully clothed but the men barely had anything on—only jeans—and it was freezing cold out. Amy’s face peeked out from the gap between her scarf and hat.

“Bash!” Jonah yelled from across the main floor and waved him over. He froze in mild surprise when he saw me. Sebastian approached him and I started to follow until I heard my name.

“Mackenzie!” Blu squealed and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried when the guys went out looking for you and then when Jonah didn’t come back. How are you?” she rambled and I noticed her eyes were bloodshot like she’d been crying.

“I’m fine, Blu. Are you okay?” I asked and motioned to her face. She took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed her eyes.

“I’m sorry, it’s just really hard right now with Jackson missing,” she said. I patted her arm because I knew I had to be sympathetic and while he may have been an asshole to me, maybe he wasn’t a bad guy to the rest of them.

“Do they know anything about his disappearance?”

She nodded. “He was patrolling Central Park with his team when they were attacked. Andrew was killed and Jackson was taken. Sam came back but he’s been out of it and speaks incoherently. They think it might have been vampires,” she said, her eyes wide with fear. I didn’t know what to say so I gripped her hand.

“Well what do we have here? An unmated Luna and a lone-wolf…pathetic,” V said as she approached us. Amy tensed beside me and I gripped her wrist through her coat. Bash’s girlfriend was our new Diana Stone and Amy was going to go head to head with her if given the opportunity.

Blu dropped her eyes and searched for something interesting on the ground. She started to worry her hands and I had to put mine on top of them so she wouldn’t scratch enough to draw blood.

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” I said.

She sneered and flicked her sleek blonde hair back. A group of about three Lunas stood behind her. This was starting to look like a B-rated version of Mean Girls.

“I’m Sebastian’s soon-to-be mate and I suggest you don’t forget that—I’ll soon be the Lunas’ Alpha.” Her pearly white teeth shone brightly as she smirked.

The thought of her being with Bash already made me want to vomit and knowing she’s going to be an Alpha of some sort was making me feel bad for Blu. She’s obviously not part of the ‘in’ crowd with these chicks.

I chuckled. “Oh yeah?” The dumb bitch nodded. “Well I guess I’ll wait to remember when you
actually
become Alpha—until then—who are you?”

That earned me a friendly growl from our resident vixen. Amy giggled beside me.

“You think you’re so cute don’t you—”

“Yes I do.”

“It wasn’t a question! Don’t interrupt me again,” she glowered.

“Mums the word,” I said and ran an invisible zipper across my lips and tossed the key behind me.

“You’ve never been a part of a Pack, so let me school you on how it works around here. You’re a Luna, which means you listen and do as I say until you’re mated. Don’t go around changing the status quo, Mackenzie Grey,” V snarled. The posse behind her nodded their heads in conviction as if this chick was the next Messiah. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” I said cheekily.

She huffed and turned around, barreling through her group of followers.

Once they all dispersed, Amy and I hunched over cackling. With hands on our knees, we tried to catch our breaths between laughs.

“Kenz! You can’t talk to Vivian like that! She’ll ruin you,” Blu said, red in the face.

“Ruin me? Oh please, that girl needs a reality check.”

“You don’t know how things are run around here. She governs all of the Lunas and she’s right, once Sebastian is mated to her, she’ll have complete and total control of us. She’ll be
our
Alpha.”

My smile faltered. “Is she really going to be mated to Bash?”

“Most likely. They’ve been together for years. He hasn’t been with anyone else,” Blu said as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She read something on the screen and then looked up to the second floor. One of the wolves was waving for her to come upstairs.

“I have to go upstairs and check on the survivor, want to come?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, sure.” I didn’t know why I felt this irked about Sebastian and V but it wasn’t sitting well in my stomach. It’s not like it was my business, I wasn’t even part of the Pack—it shouldn’t matter.

We followed behind Blu up the stairs when Amy sidled beside me.

“You okay, Kenz?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you look constipated, what’s up?”

“Nothing, just ticked off at that V chick,” I said.

We made it to the room where they were keeping the hurt werewolf and beside him was another wolf with a mop of dirty blonde hair. He seemed as if he was once attractive but that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the big slash across his face. It extended from just above his right eye, over his nose, a smidge of the left corner of his upper lip and just below his jaw line. It was intensely scary and interesting all at the same time.

“Everything okay, Caleb?” Blu asked as we entered.

“I don’t know, he started mumbling something but I couldn’t understand,” Scarface said. His green eyes met the three of us. “What’s she doing here?”

Blu worried her hands and began to stutter. “Sh-she’s Mackenzie, sh-she came here with Sebastian.”

I cocked an eyebrow and reassessed the man in front of me. I must have been missing something about him if he had Blu all nervous. Did she like him?

“The lone wolf?”

She nodded.

“I’m right here, you know. You could just ask me,” I said as I approached the bed of the unconscious wolf. He looked very young—no older than maybe nineteen. His eyes were sunken in with dark circles. Slow and shallow breaths puffed out from between his purple chapped lips.

“You’re not Pack. What are you doing here?”

“Man,” I sighed, “you guys are so welcoming. It’s a breath of fresh air, truly.”

“Get out, Luna, and take the human with you,” Caleb said to Blu, but never taking his eyes off me.

“I have a name, tight ass. It’s Amy, not
human,
” Amy muttered.

“I said,
get out
,” he gritted between his teeth. My hands clenched into fists beside me.

“What crawled up his ass?” Amy mumbled as Blu dragged her out of the room.