SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) (12 page)

Once it was just the two of us, his eyes roamed up and down my body. Chills racked me and not in a hot Alpha way—in a creepy, he’s-a-possible-serial-killer way.

The silence stretched over us for what felt like forever. He walked around the bed to where I was standing and stood at arm’s length.

“Where do you come from, Mackenzie?” he whispered and I got a close up at the scar on his face. We were both about the same height and it was more gruesome than I thought.

“Who gave you that scar?” I countered and he stiffened.

“I asked you a question first. Answer me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? I came from my mother’s womb. What’s the deal with your face?”

His hand came up and grabbed my face roughly—squeezing my cheeks inward.

“Don’t play games with me, little girl. You might have Sebastian and Jonah fooled, but not me. I’ll find out your secret sooner or later.”

I pulled away from his grip and scowled.

“Secret? What are you smokin’?
I
don’t know anything about why I’m what I am. And I don’t appreciate you putting your hands on me, so I’ll be nice this time. But do it again, and your balls are mine.”

I turned to leave the room when I heard a grunt. And it wasn’t coming from Caleb, my new best friend. Times like these, I was starting to miss Jackson’s brand of asshole.

The wolf on the bed tried to speak but his mouth was too dry. I pushed past Caleb and reached over the night stand for the glass of water. Lifting the boy’s head, I tipped the glass to wet his lips.

“Are you okay?”

“Get away from him!” Caleb latched on to my arm holding the glass and pulled me away—spilling the water on the bed.

“What the hell!”

“You’re not a Luna and you’re definitely not Pack. Keep your filthy, mutt hands off him.”

“Hey, asshole! I was just trying to help since all you were doing was looking at him like he wasn’t supposed to wake up,” I said and stopped. I could hear the squealing of make-believe tires coming to a halt in my head. Did he hope the guy wouldn’t wake up?

“H-h-hel,” Sam tried to speak, his brown eyes flashed wide and wild.

“He’s asking for help, give him water—”

“You don’t know anything. Get out!”

Caleb turned his back to me and pulled an envelope from his back pocket. I backed away to the door, but the boy’s eyes were on me and I felt like they were pleading with me to stay. A tear trickled down the corner of his eye.
Oh god
…

I ran out of the room and to the second floor railing. I leaned over and scanned the main floor where dozens of wolves were congregated.

“Sebastian!” I yelled over the room once I spotted him in the middle of a group on the far right side of the floor. It was too loud and he couldn’t hear me—no one could—it was chaos down there.

My gut told me something was wrong. I went back into the room but came to a screeching halt under the doorframe. Caleb was feeding the wolf some sort of tea. I could see the heat above the plastic cup and what looked like a leaf at the bottom of it.

“What is that?” I said, slightly out of breath. My heart raced as my adrenaline kicked in. Maybe I was paranoid without reason but there was a gnawing in my stomach that didn’t trust Caleb.

“Why don’t you try it,” he said with his back to me.

I scoffed.

“Do I look that stupid to you? For all I know, you’re poisoning him.”

“Relax. It’s just an herbal tea to calm him down—chamomile. You should have some, you’re getting worked up over nothing.”

He got up from the bed and I saw the boy was now sleeping soundly again, his chest rising slightly as he slumbered.

Caleb turned to me with the cup outstretched. I peered into it and it did look like tea, but I still wasn’t sold on the idea. Instead of messing around here, I should have gone downstairs to get help. I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid.

“Give it,” I said and grabbed the tea from him. I brought it up to my nose and inhaled.

My nose scrunch up as a tangerine-like scent flavor tickled my throat. I coughed to get the acid taste out of my mouth but it only built up this thick mucus. Left with no other choice, I swallowed it and felt the bile rise up.
That shit was nasty.

“Smells great, huh?” Caleb said with a smirk.

“You’re an asshole.”

“I can live with that. Now I won’t say it again, get the fuck out.”

I walked out of the room with the taste of the tea still in my mouth, but it was diminishing. I needed to get out of there before he ticked me off and I did or said something I’d regret.

I went down the stairs and tripped on the last couple of steps. Luckily, Blu and Amy were there to steady me.

“Whoa, why do you look like you’re five margaritas in?” Amy joked.

I shook my head, I wasn’t dizzy, but the trip down the stairs exhausted me and I was sweating bullets.

“I don’t know,” I whispered and tried to get my bearings straight. I sat on the last two steps of the stairs and put my head in between my knees. My bones felt heavy and I didn’t know how long I was going to be able to hold myself up.

“Did Caleb do something to you?” Blu asked.

I slowly shook my head. “Caleb?” I questioned.

Blu raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, the guy upstairs.”

“Oh, Scarface, yeah. Besides being an asshole? No, I think I’m just hungry.”

After a few minutes, I felt my body get control of itself again and the feeling of my limbs eased.

I peered up and caught Blu’s face. She’d been crying again.

“Don’t worry, Blu, they’ll find him,” I reassured her. They had to find Jackson.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Jonah said from behind Amy and I turned to look at him. He glared at me and I was starting to get ticked off.

“I didn’t promise anything,” I said in a neutral voice, still not feeling a hundred percent.

He snorted. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back home with your cheating boyfriend?” he said and I clenched my fists at my side.
Okay, now I’m starting to feel like myself again.

A thought stopped me, maybe it was better if I gave him space before I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth.

“Low blow, Jonah,” I said and got up on wobbly legs. I walked away with Amy trailing behind me.
What was I going to do?

Amy latched onto my arm to steady me. “Hey, what was that about? I thought you guys were, you know,
friends
,” she said.

“I don’t know what we were but he’s just pissed he wasn’t around to help Jackson. I think he’s taking it out on me. At least that’s what I understood from Sebastian. We’ll see,” I said and approached the Alpha who was giving orders to a team of five.

“…and I want team one to take Central Park North, team two takes the South, team three West and team four East. The tactical team I want near the reservoir talking with the Fae. I need to know if they saw anyone that night. Any questions?” Sebastian said. He was in full-on Alpha mode. It was kind of hot. Oh geez, there’s something seriously wrong with me. While I’d been paying attention to him, I hadn’t noticed the five guys were staring at me. I waved at them and got a couple smirks, prompting Sebastian to turn around.

“Mackenzie,” he motioned to me and I walked over to the table. “Meet our Pack’s captains. Thomas, Daemon, Muhammad, Bernard, and Caleb.”

I hadn’t recognized him in the group before but as my gaze landed on Scarface, my smile fell. Thomas and Daemon sent me a slight nod and Bernard came over and gripped my hand in a firm shake. He was a burly, gruff guy who looked like a lumberjack with his outgrown reddish beard. To his left—Muhammad—was a guy as tall, but more toned than Bernard. His eyes were two empty pits of black orbs, like if he killed someone, he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. I assumed he was the tactical team captain, which suited him. He appeared to be Middle Eastern but I could be wrong. He didn’t nod or shake my hand, just gazed at me with those dead eyes. I didn’t even want to look at Caleb, I could feel the smirk on his face.

“Mackenzie is not Pack…at least not yet,” Sebastian started and I rolled my eyes. That got a couple snickers from the captains. “Keep information limited and make sure she doesn’t leave the building,” he said and my eyes bugged out.

“Hold up!” I raised a finger to him and the entire main floor quieted. “I didn’t come here to be locked up again.”

The room fell silent and I almost heard when Sebastian quirked an eyebrow.

“And what do you suppose I do with you then, Mackenzie? Send you out on the field?”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was a criminal justice major, I could be useful. Unfortunately my physical activity was very limited. I never even took karate as a kid. Damnit.

“
Kenz
,” Amy whispered in warning as she got closer to me, probably nervous with all these werewolves staring us down.

I ignored her.

“Are you trying to call me weak?” I questioned and I heard gasps all around the room. My mouth might get me in trouble, but I’ve never allowed anyone to make me feel incompetent.

“I’m not calling you strong, if that’s what you’re aiming for,” he said and crossed his arms over his chest.

I scoffed. “Well I am, and I can kick your ass any day of the week,” I said and Amy’s grip tightened and became painful. She dug her nails into my arm. I swear my nerves made me say the stupidest things.

“Oh yeah?” Sebastian said with a hint of a smile. “Let’s test this theory out.” The captains laughed with one another and started to move the cafeteria style tables out of the middle of the floor, forming a make-shift dance floor—or a fighting ring—I guessed it was the latter. Sebastian’s eyes never left mine as he stripped out of his shirt and shoes, standing before me barefoot, with his jeans hanging low and exposing his V-cut that I couldn’t look away from.

I gulped.

“Kenzie, maybe we should go,” Amy said and I knew she was freaking out—hell I was too.

“Even if we wanted to, they wouldn’t let us,” I muttered as I removed my shoes and coat. Stuffing my hat and gloves in my coat pockets. I walked to the middle of the empty floor space where Sebastian was standing, in my jeans and sweater.

The wolves—and Amy—encircled us and I saw Jonah cut through the crowd. His chocolate eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. He rushed over to us and pulled me away from Sebastian, the big, bad wolf.

“What the hell, boss, what are you doing?” Jonah asked.

“She challenged me, Jonah, you know Pack rules; a challenge doesn’t go unanswered.”

“She’s a pup, Bash! She doesn’t know this stuff, she’s also not part of the Pack.”

“Doesn’t matter, and if you ask her, oh how did she put it?” Sebastian looked around the crowd.

“She said she can kick your ass any day of the week, boss!” yelled Bernard.

Oh man, they were enjoying this. I was about to get my ass handed to me. Great.

“Bash, we shouldn’t be wasting time on a
stupid
,” Jonah turned to glare at me, “challenge and better spending it to find Jackson.”

Sebastian stiffened and his gaze traveled over to Jonah, who even though he was irked by me, was becoming my knight in shining armor. But did I want to be thought of as weak or needing protection from a male wolf? If I started to think about Pack laws and stuff, then I’d just be proving a point that the female wolves were only good at being domestic Lunas and nothing else. And that was not right.

“Thank you, Jonah,” I started and he turned to me with a look of relief, “but,” and he tensed, “if I challenged Bash, unknowingly might I add, then I need to step up and follow through.”

For the first time since I met him, Sebastian smiled, a genuine smile at me and I wanted to melt right there where I stood.
That’s so lame…

“Kenz! He’s an Alpha for a reason, damnit Kenzie, listen to common sense!” Jonah yelled and his eyes were wild. He was freaking out and rightfully so.

“Jonah relax,” I said and I wished I could take my own advice. “I’ll be fine.” I winked at him and he scowled. I pushed past him and the crowd cheered as Sebastian and I bumped fists.

Let the games begin.

The ripples of his muscles as Sebastian moved was a welcomed distraction. I was able to duck and swerve his punches. Which meant I was on the defense and needed to step my A-game up and try to get a lick in. I’d never had any formal training to fight, but Ollie liked to practice the wrestling moves he saw on TV as a kid, and I was his sparring partner. I’d like to think that it prepared me for this precise moment. Also, I remember a homeless man who avoided a fight with someone in the subway once and told me that if you pretend to be crazy they leave you alone. With a combination of both, I prayed to God I’d win this or at least make it out alive.

After ducking a right hook, I crawled between Sebastian’s legs and popped up behind him. Wasting no time, I jumped onto his back and got a good grip around his neck with my arms, and wrapped my legs around his thick waist. He tried to fling me off but I held on tight.

The cheers in the background thundered and I hoped a beat cop wasn’t walking by to hear it. I was glad it was loud enough that no one could hear me screaming—no one except Sebastian at least. Maybe it was nerves, or adrenaline, but I screamed “I’m crazy, I’m crazy!” like a hysterical looney, giving Bash a hard time because I yelled it into his ear.

“Kenz! Fight fair, damnit!” Bash was growling but nothing he said was getting me off him. I squeezed my arms and tried to choke him—not as easy as it looks, he’s a big guy—but it helped that his body was firm, warm and strong, which made me want to hold on even more.

“Fine, have it your way,” he said and charged backwards until he slammed my back onto one of the tables. I sucked in a breath as it was completely expelled from my body. I tried to hold on, but with that blow, I was seeing stars and lost my grip on him.

Sebastian went back into the make-shift circle. Two people grabbed me on either side, and without waiting to see if I was okay, they threw me back into the fight. I slid across the floor and my eyes played catch up. I didn’t see Bash come toward me and pick me up by the front of my sweater.

“SEBASTIAN!” I heard Jonah roar from the crowd, right before I was slammed back down on the ground. I gurgled a grunt and couldn’t open my eyes. It might not have been the pain, more the fear of fighting, that I lingered a little too long on the floor. When I opened my eyes, Sebastian was in half wolf mode and coming toward me on all fours. Shit.

I scrambled backwards until I could pick myself up and scurried out of the way. He skidded across the concrete once he missed me and fell into a group of werewolves, giving me the time to regroup. As I edged farther from him, I saw Bernard and Caleb holding Jonah down, who was also in half wolf mode and snapping his canine at us. Amy stood beside them, but I could see the worry and fear etched on her face. That poor girl, I was giving her gray hairs. I needed to wrap this fight up already and quit messing around. I chuckled—as if I actually could.

Resolved, I stood up straight and grabbed the hem of my sweater and pulled it over my head, exposing everyone to my black sports bra. Whistles resonated around the room and Jonah ripped out a lion like roar. He was pissed. I crouched forward and focused on Sebastian who ran toward me at full speed. Narrowing my eyes, I felt like everything went in slow motion. I felt the wolf peek out of her hiding spot and without her saying a word, I knew she asked me if I wanted her help and she knew I said yes. My upper lip furled up and I growled, showing off my canines. Just as he was half a foot away from me, I swerved to my right and jumped up and onto his back again, bringing him flat on his stomach with unexpected force.

I had realized during the first half of the fight, Bash was going pretty easy on me. His moves seemed coordinated but careful. He wasn’t trying, and if I could figure that out, so could his wolves and then my whole purpose would be moot. Even if I did win, everyone would know it was because he let me win, which was convenient and all but not what I was going for, so I had to anger him. I succeeded when he wolfed out and that’s when the fight became an actual fight. Now that it was all about me winning, I had a slight problem. Maybe I called out to her or she’s always been around, but I accepted the wolf’s strength and agility to get me to where I was now; on top of Sebastian and pinning him to the ground for my final blow. What might that final blow be, you ask? In my usual Mackenzie fashion, I couldn’t go out without a bang, so I did what all crazy homeless fighters and TV wrestling impersonators did—I went for the nuts.

With Sebastian thrashing below me, I turned my body to the side and reached over between his legs for the ultimate nut snatch.
Take that, Alpha!

The howl that ripped out of Sebastian made my ears pop and the room went silent. The cheering and friendly howls that boomed seconds ago were now mute. Everything was in a standstill. Jonah bounded towards me and plucked me off Bash. My feet weren’t even touching the ground as he carried me across the main floor and out of sight from everyone who now sneered and growled in my direction. Amy was the only one that was running to keep up with us. He brought me into the room that I had seen Blu emerge from the day I escaped the warehouse and I was right—it was a laundry room. Jonah set me down on one of the folding tables while he began to pace. Amy caught up and barged into the room and shut the door behind her. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling, her face was an unusual neutral.

“Okay, someone say something because the silence is killing me,” I said through ragged breaths. Jonah froze and stared at me mindlessly.

“Are you okay, Kenz?” Amy asked, worrying her gloved hands.

“Yeah, I totally kicked ass out there!” I said with so much excitement that I sounded like a Valley girl for a second.

Amy laughed nervously. “You so did, Kenzie,” she said and then watched Jonah warily. “See the thing is, you’ve made a lot of big wolfey’s angry out there.” Her gaze traveled back to me and she gave me her ‘oopsie’ face. How did I make a boo boo?

“I don’t get it, what did I do wrong?”

“It’s in our nature to defend one of ours—especially from an outsider,” Jonah said as he pursed his lips. “Kenz, you just hurt our Alpha and to make matters worse—you’re a woman, a Luna
and
a lone-wolf. The Pack is going to want your head on a platter.”

I sucked in a breath. Shit. That was not supposed to happen.

“Why does being a woman matter?”

“Mackenzie, when are you going to get it through that thick head of yours? The Pack hasn’t caught up to modern human times. In this world, women have a place and they are kept in line! Not doing so is insubordinate,” he yelled and I flinched. I should have been pissed—but seeing him so angry, and the yells from the main floor that filtered in the room made me worry.

“Jonah?” I got off the table and went to him. “Am I dead meat?” I whispered and could feel a panic attack rising.

He sighed. “Kenz, I don’t know, but its better if we steer clear from the Pack, they’re going to want a punishment issued.”

I shivered and he pulled me toward him, wrapping me up in his warmth. I was in my jeans and a sports bra, and with my adrenaline depleted, I was cold.

With my face smashed to his chest, I mumbled, “I didn’t mean to.”

He squeezed me even tighter. “I know, Kenz, I know.”

A knock came at the door and Bernard poked his head in the room. “Can we come in?” I felt Jonah move against me and heard two pairs of feet shuffle in as someone shut the door.

“What’s going on out there?” Jonah asked and Amy came to stand next to us as she rubbed my arm.

“It’ll be okay, Kenz,” she whispered to me.

“It’s chaos. The Lunas took Bash to the infirmary and the captains are trying to keep the Pack under control but…don’t you feel the turmoil? She’s not Pack, Jonah,” Bernard said as he scratched his beard. “This isn’t going to end well, you should call Charles.”

“He doesn’t need to get involved, this is a Brooklyn Pack matter, not Summit,” Jonah said.

“I don’t know, I have a feeling Caleb is already doing so.”

Jonah’s body tensed underneath me and I pulled away. His eyes were flashing gold and he snarled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number and put it to his ear as it rang, waiting for someone to answer.

“Father,” Jonah clipped out. “It’s under control—no father…he’s a liar and a sneak…Caleb should have never jumped the chain of command and spoken with you…yes, it is the same girl…no, she doesn’t…I will…yes, father. Goodbye.” He hung up and Amy, Bernard and Blu who had also come into the room, were watching Jonah’s conversation intently, while I tried to eavesdrop on his phone call, but was unsuccessful. I didn’t hear anything his father said.

Jonah sighed. “Well, Caleb’s officially on my shit list,” he said as he ran his hands through his chestnut hair. “He told my father what happened and he wants us to head over to the Estate.”

Bernard cursed. “This is bad timing, Jonah. We need to be trying to find Jackson, not dealing with this. She’s a liability—no offense.”

“None taken,” I grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I don’t think you know how much danger you’re in, Kenz. We hunt lone-wolves,” he paused, “We don’t usually accommodate strays like we have for you.”

“Well, what do we do?” I asked.

“We should be heading to the Estate to talk with my father…but I think we should wait. I haven’t spoken to Bash about what went on at the Summit and I don’t know my father’s position on your particular situation. Until we have more info, we need to wait it out,” Jonah said and tapped his fingers on his chin. “Bern, get me a group of your most trustworthy wolves. Then I need you to get everyone back to work on finding Jackson. I want an update on him in two hours, no exceptions. We better have a lead.”

Bernard nodded and walked out the room. “What about me, what can I do to help?” Blu asked.

“I need you to keep an eye on Sebastian and ask him for details on the Summit. He might not reveal them to you but call my cell and put him on the phone. Don’t let anyone in his room to see him, no matter how trusting they seem. Especially Vivian.”

“Got it,” she said and left the room as well.

“Why can’t we talk to him ourselves?” Amy asked what I was wondering.

“Because we need to keep Mackenzie away from the Pack and I won’t leave her side until everyone has settled down,” Jonah said.

We stood around awkwardly, as if waiting for the next shoe to drop. “So…we’re going to hole up in the laundry room?” I asked, breaking the silence.

Jonah rolled his eyes. “Of course not. We’re going to look for Jackson.”

Once Bernard came back with a group of four werewolves, Jonah directed two of them to guard the door and the other two to infiltrate and play spies within the Pack to find out what everyone was planning. Jonah, Amy, Bernard and I left through the back door that led to the small area where the Lunas hung wet clothes. Bernard handed Jonah a brown spray bottle that had a picture of a deer and in bold letters said: SCENT KILLER.

“What the hell is that?” I exclaimed as he was about to spray me.

He sighed. “It’s exactly what the bottles says, Kenz, it kills your scent. Hunters use it to sneak up on their prey. In this case, we need it so when the Pack eventually realizes we’re gone, they’ll have a harder time finding us.”

After a moment, I consented and the four of us were sprayed down. It wasn’t too bad, almost like mosquito repellent. When we finished we met a brick wall of about seven or eight feet that we needed to hop over. Bernard picked Amy up and sat her on the ledge. He climbed over and set her down on the other side. Jonah and I climbed over on our own and I was surprised I was able to do so. Maybe I was still running on adrenaline from the fight or from the news of now having a bounty on my head. Who knows? I was just glad to have Jonah in my corner to back me up because if I didn’t, this might have been a whole different case.

We took the train back into the city and were close to Times Square when we stopped outside St. Paul’s Cathedral. Everyone had been quiet, probably lost in their own thoughts on the trip over, so I didn’t ask where we were going or why. With a quirked eyebrow, I watched Jonah and Bernard climb the cathedral steps while Amy and I stood back. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t a religious person—I believed—but I didn’t go to church every Sunday. I usually went for holiday services. I knew it would never get me into heaven, but after the Change, I didn’t think I’d be allowed in anyways. There’s no way God would have created a monster like me. I was most likely the devil’s work. I didn’t deserve to enter holy grounds.

“You two coming?” Jonah called out.

Amy had other reasons for not going in. She didn’t really look the part with all her tattoos and piercings, they’d think she
was
the devil.

“Why are we here?” I questioned.

“We have to talk to someone who lives here,” he said and didn’t wait for a response. He turned back around and walked into the church.

Amy shifted uncomfortably next to me. “Are we going in?” she half asked, half groaned. I wanted to say,
hell no
—no pun intended—but I was kind of curious as to who we were meeting. It had all the fittings of a typical gothic Roman Catholic Church, even the pointy tower-looking thing in the front, but even with all the nice architecture, it appeared a little run down. The grey paint was faded and chipping, and the little bit of lawn area around the cathedral had either patches of dirt with dead plants or overgrown grass and weeds.