Moved

Chapter 7 #2

His shocked gaze met my steady one. He didn’t say anything as he slowly sat on the bed and hung his head. After a moment of silence, he looked up at me.

“When?”

“I found it two years ago. I thought about telling my dad but Larry said it would be safer for everyone if I kept going as if I didn’t know.”

“Larry?”

“Yeah. He’s my Dad’s oldest friend. He was there when my mom was still alive.

After the letter, I started watching, seeing things.

So I went to Larry. When I asked him, he wouldn’t tell me more than what the letter said.

Mom hoped your kind would leave me alone, but they never really left, you know?

I’m still not sure how do you fit in. Dad said we’re not related—”

“You knew?” His quiet voice worried me. “When you antagonized me...” He stood. “When you flashed me...” He stepped toward me. “When we kissed...you knew?”

I gave a cautious nod. We stood toe to toe. I refused to look away. He didn’t look mad. Annoyed, yes. But he almost always looked annoyed.

“Are you, like, a cousin six times removed?” I said with an arched brow.

He sighed, and a smile tugged at his lips.

“How did your dad handle you on his own?”

“He didn’t. Larry was there, too, and the rest of the gang.”

“Pack,” he corrected.

“They’re not all like you. The Alpha needed human’s to carry out some of his orders.” His eyes widened. “Yeah, Larry doesn’t know what all I’ve figured out. He seems like a pretty cool Alpha, though.”

“I need to sit down.” But he didn’t.

I laughed at him. “Seriously, this isn’t a big deal. I’ll continue to keep my secrets to myself, and you can relax around me and stop the silent treatment because of a kiss. I still want to know why, by the way.”

Instead of answering me, he pulled me close. His lips claimed mine again.

* * * *

We ate dinner together at his place and watched a movie.

For the first time, he actually seemed relaxed, smiling and laughing at the antics of the cops on the screen.

It wasn’t until I left his apartment that I realized I hadn’t heard from Dad.

I paused on the bottom step and pulled my phone from my pocket. No missed calls.

“Did you hear from my dad today?”

He shook his head. “He only calls me when there’s information, or you’re not accepting his calls.”

His words didn’t reassure me, though. I dialed Dad’s number, feeling a little worried.

“Hello, Gillian,” a soft familiar voice answered. “Tell that lone wolf you’re with that I’m coming for you. This time, we leave together.” The line went dead.

Little spots of light started blinking in my peripheral. I struggled for breath.

My eyes flew to Racer. “Chuck answered. Where’s my dad?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” he said with doubt in his voice. “Go upstairs. I’ll try Larry. I’ll let you know what I find.”

I nodded but hesitated on the steps as he went back into his apartment. Chuck was coming. What did he think he could possibly do against Racer?

I turned and walked the rest of the way to my apartment. Closing the door behind me, Chuck’s words replayed in my head as I absently wondered why it was so dark. I reached for the light but froze. Lone wolf.

Spinning, I reached for the doorknob as several things clicked into place. I couldn’t see a thing even though I usually kept the kitchen blinds open, and we had a yard light outside. And if Chuck knew what Racer was, then…

From behind me, a hand closed over my wrist at the same time one slipped over my mouth. My eyes widened in the dark.

“Shh, princess,” Chuck breathed in my ear. He spun me around without loosening his hold on my mouth or wrist. “We want to leave quietly.”

Like hell! I grabbed for the hand over my mouth and kicked out, aiming where I thought his legs would be, but my foot only met air.

My hand closed over his wrist and tugged.

He held firm and yanked me forward. I landed against his chest with a muffled “Oof.” The collision and the hand still covering my lips made it difficult to breathe.

He used my distraction to back me into a wall and lift me until my feet dangled off the ground.

I stopped trying to peel his hand from my mouth and swung up, aiming for his head.

His hand slid from my mouth and caught my fist.

Air filled my lungs, and I opened my mouth ready to scream.

His mouth crashed upon mine. My lower lip split, and I grunted in pain.

He growled and licked away the blood. I tried hitting him with my other free hand.

He caught that too, threaded his fingers through mine, and forced my hands against the wall above my head.

His hips and legs pressed against me. Panic bloomed in my chest. I tried to turn away.

He changed his grip on my hands, holding them both with one of his.

I couldn’t pull my hands free, and my legs where pinned by his, useless.

With his free hand, he held my chin in place. His tongue speared through my lips and brushed against my teeth. When I didn’t open, he broke away and bit my already split lip. I fought not to gasp, not to open up to him.

Remember. I needed to remember what I learned with Racer. I tried to calm my breathing. Think...

I stopped struggling and forced myself to relax. His punishing kiss eased. Slowly, I tried turning my head away again, and this time he let me.

“Not. A. Sound.” His words, punctuated with a soft growl, brushed against my ear. He knew, as I did, that Racer might hear.

A slow twist of my wrist loosened his tight hold. His fingers still circled it, but he let me move it down from the wall. I reached forward and threaded my fingers through his hair. He laughed softly and moved back to my mouth for a brief kiss.

“Later.”

He spun me around and had a gag in my mouth before I could gasp. I was facing away from him. Away!

I leaned back. My head touched his chest. His hands smoothed down the arms that he held tight.

Aligned, I stepped back a little, lifted my foot, and came down hard on his arch.

He grunted. I whipped my head back and connected with his nose.

His hold on my arms loosened. I bolted toward the door as I ripped the gag from my mouth.

“Racer!”

The knob turned despite my sweaty palm. I managed one step before Chuck’s hand snaked into my hair and pulled me backward. The door slammed shut, and he continued backing up with me.

“Stupid move, Gillian.” His menacing growl caused a shiver to run down my spine.

“Why me, Chuck?”

He laughed. “I have a better nose than the rest.” He buried it in the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply.

The door to the kitchen eased open, and blinding light flooded the room.

“Evening, Chuck.”

“Evening, Chuck?” I repeated, glaring at Racer. “He has me by the hair and that’s all—”

Chuck clapped a hand over my mouth, stopping my wrath.

“So what does your nose tell you?” Racer asked as if I hadn’t said anything.

“She smells human, but I caught a hint of something else weeks ago. Alpha. It only happened once but it was enough. It got me wondering how a human could smell like an Alpha. Then I saw her father with Larry. Good thing Gillian took after her mother and not her grandfather.” Chuck stroked a finger along my cheek.

Was he saying Larry was my grandpa? Larry looked more like my dad’s age.

“If that’s true, you’re starting trouble, taking an Alpha’s granddaughter.”

Chuck laughed. “How unforgiving can he be when he let his daughter run off with a human?” He thrust me to the side with his last word.

As I fell to the carpet, narrowly missing the coffee table, Chuck threw himself at Racer. Fear clawed at me. The idea of Chuck facing Racer had been laughable when I thought Chuck a human. But not now.

Racer’s eyes grew dark. He rolled his shoulders as his arms rose to block Chuck.

Time slowed and every detail of his change burned into my mind.

He grew taller, the cuffs of his pants rising to his sock line.

His thighs stretched the material so tightly seams started to give way.

The bottom of his hoodie cleared the waist of his jeans.

The dark hair on his stomach thickened. The muscles of his arms inflated as his bones stretched.

Between heartbeats, he’d exploded into a seven-foot monster with ripped clothes, fur, claws, teeth, and a pissy attitude.

His lips thinned and stretched over his jaw, which protruded slightly.

The growl that came from him made the hair on my arms stand up.

His dark blue eyes seemed to glow as he looked down on Chuck.

Chuck, seeing his attempt at attack fail, moved back a step and rolled his own shoulders.

Before Chuck could transform, Racer grabbed him by the throat and shoved him against a wall. The drywall cracked, caving in around the point of impact.

Chuck growled as his own body started to adjust. My fingernails dug into my palms, and I watched in terror as he started to grow.

His muscles expanded. His legs lengthened.

But Chuck’s changes seemed…smaller than Racer’s.

Then, everything just stopped. I blinked and realized Chuck’s change was complete even though he was still twelve inches shorter and much leaner than Racer.

My worry evaporated. I laughed, re-splitting my lip, at the sight of Chuck in his diminutive werewolf form.

Racer towered over Chuck, still snarling, and drew back his fist. Chuck growled back. He tried to claw at the hand still gripping his throat. Racer didn’t seem to notice as he jabbed his fist forward. One hit to the jaw, and Chuck’s head lolled as he fell unconscious.

Racer opened his other hand, and Chuck collapsed in a heap on the floor. That was it? It was done?

“What was that?” I said standing.

Racer turned toward me, a snarl curling his lips. “Pack dirt.”

I walked toward him. He wasn’t reverting.

“So how long do you stay like that?” I stopped in front of him.

He leaned in and sniffed me. “You smell like him.”

“That would be because he had me pinned against the wall, kissing and licking me.”

His eyes narrowed. He kicked out a foot, punted Chuck in the face, then started to shrink, regaining his more human form.

“Your dad lost his phone last night. He’s with Larry.”

“You mean Grandpa Larry?”

“They’ll be here in a few hours. When they lost track of Chuck, they got worried.”

“Did they know what he was?”

“They never got close enough to be sure, but they suspected.”

They suspected and sent me off to a backwoods apartment to keep me safe while they tried to track him down.

I sighed and glanced at Chuck. One of my mom’s kind had been that close to me, and I hadn’t known it.

Why? Because my dad chose to keep the truth from me.

The things I’d guessed at hadn’t been enough to keep me out of trouble.

Racer bent, picked Chuck up, and tossed him over his shoulder.

“I’ll keep him downstairs until your father gets here.”

I nodded. Lovely. What did finally catching Chuck mean? Was I now free to return to school? Would Racer tell Dad that I knew about their kind? Would I be trapped here forever? Would that be a bad thing?

“I’m going to take a shower,” I said. I had a lot to think about.

* * * *

The next morning, while I lay on the couch, listening to music, I heard the motorcycles roar into the yard. With a sigh, I sat up.

All I’d managed to do last night was think myself in circles.

If Racer didn’t mention what I knew to Dad, then Dad would tell me it was time to leave.

My heart twisted at that thought because I wanted to stay and see what there might be between Racer and me.

Yet, if Racer said something to Dad...then what?

Would Dad take me away and try hiding me again?

I thought of my mother’s letter. What would happen if their kind did pay attention to me?

But weren’t they already? I mean my grandfather—I still had a hard time thinking of Larry that way—had stayed close.

I groaned and went to open the door and wait for Dad.

As soon as the outer door opened, he saw me and huffed up the stairs. Larry walked in behind him and went straight to Racer’s apartment. When Dad reached me, he threw his arms around me in a relieved hug.

“Gillybean, I was so worried.”

I smiled and hugged him back. “I’m fine. I promise. You picked the right spot to keep me safe. Racer did a great job.”

He pulled back and gave me a long, piercing look. “What do you mean?”

His sudden suspiciousness worried me. “Huh? Mean about what?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. You ready to come home?”

The moment I dreaded. How to answer? His worried eyes met mine, and I had only one answer to give.

“Sure, Dad.” My words sent lightning bolts into my stomach, but I kept my expression bland.

He smiled at me, kissed my forehead, and let me go. “That bathroom got toilet paper?”

I laughed as he walked away. He stopped just outside the bathroom and glanced back at me. “What the hell happened to this door?”

“Long story. I’ll just go downstairs for a while.” I closed the apartment door behind me.

With an unhappy ache in my chest, I passed Racer’s door and stepped outside. Dad and Larry’s bikes were beside the pole shed. I sighed as the door opened behind me.

“Sure, Dad?” Racer said. “Just like that?”

I turned. He stalked forward until he stood before me.

Facing his thunderous expression, I frowned. “What was I supposed to say?”

“How about, I think I love him, Dad?” He stepped closer to me.

I tilted my head back to meet his dark eyes.

“Or maybe, I stay awake at night just listening for any sound, anything to indicate he might need me, any excuse to go running up the stairs and see him.” He lifted my face, his gentle fingers tracing my features.

“I think you mean down the stairs,” I whispered with a smile.

“No...I didn’t.” His lips brushed against mine. He kissed the split on my lower lip twice. It twisted my heart. His mouth opened, and I couldn’t deny him. We kissed until we both struggled for breath.

“Well, that complicates things,” Dad said.

I froze. Racer gave me one more sweet, gentle kiss and then pulled back. My face burned as I turned my head. Dad and Larry stood just outside the door. I couldn’t speak.

Larry shook his head at my dad. My stomach dropped. Racer’s arms tightened around me.

“No,” Larry said. “It finally uncomplicates things. She knows. She’s known for a few years. That’s why I put the dart here.” A slight smile lifted his lips as he looked at me in Racer’s arms. He glanced at Dad. “I told you she’d do well in this place. Good retirement home, too.”

He’d put the dart here? Stunned, I recalled the delayed silence. Then, butterflies took flight in my stomach.

“I can stay?”

“We can stay,” Dad said. He turned to Racer. “You’ll need to fix the bathroom door, though.”

I threw my arms around Racer and kissed him. A life with a werewolf. It would be full of adventure, I was sure.