“I thought we were friends,” I grit.
“We are friends, Mona. But when Kendrick gives you an order, you obey.”
“Fuck Kendrick!” I snap.
She growls, but doesn’t defend him. At least Silas was in the dark too—I’m not alone in my ignorance. But the rest of them? I can’t believe they didn’t tell me.
Ghost must have known from the beginning. And there I was, commenting on how weird that Kendrick guy is. That he kept watching me, and how his power seemed kind of subdued. I’m such an idiot.
Andrea pipes in, “You still haven’t told Grayson and Orion about Ghost being your mate.”
“That’s seriously how you want to play this? Also,notthe same thing.” Each step becomes more of a stomp. “Totally different!” I yell, throwing my arms into the air.
So many secrets. And why wouldn’t they want me to know?
Does this mean I have a mother out there somewhere? I haven’t heard anyone mention a woman in his life, though, not with how Lily is his mate.
Oh my god, Lily is his mate. That makes her my…
Okay. This is a lot. Too much, maybe. My head feels like it’s swimming. I can’t seem to get my bearings, and I feel kinda nauseous. Andrea’s eyes narrow as she watches me struggle.
“Come,” she says, when we near the heart of downtown. There’s a UTV parked with the keys hanging, and Andrea heads right for it.
“This isn’t ours,” I tell her when she climbs into the driver’s seat.
She shrugs. “It’s an unspoken rule. You leave the keys in the ignition, it’s free use.”
I still feel like we’re stealing it when I climb in. It feels somehow hotter inside the open-air vehicle—the vinyl seat sticks to my thighs as Andrea cranks the ignition. The UTV’s engine sputters, then roars to life, and she peels away from the meeting house, kicking up gravel that pings against the undercarriage. She drives along the road, taking a couple of sharp turns that have me gripping the door frame, heading toward West Creek.
Eventually, she pulls off onto a narrow path. Along the way, we pass locals. Some bare ass naked with sun-bronzed skin glistening with sweat, others in loose cotton summer clothes with frayed edges, most carrying faded beach towels slung over shoulders. Some pad alongside the path in wolf form. They all raise their hands, waving lazily as we drive past, their expressions a mix of curiosity and indifference.
At the end of the road, more shifters congregate around a clearing ringed with sun-bleached logs. I don’t recognize a lot of them.
There’s something a little feral about these wolves.
When Andrea parks the UTV, she turns to me, eyes bright, and grins. “These are the wild ones.”
Then she climbs out, leaving me scrambling awkwardly after her.
The wolves gathered call out Andrea’s name as we approach. She greets them back, her face transformed by a smile I’ve never seen before. Without warning, she peels off her clothes and tosses them aside. She reaches the edge of a small cliff, then yells, “Keep an eye on our omega!” before launching herself into the empty air.
“Andrea!” I scream as I skid to a stop at the edge, just in time to see her splashing in the water below. Seconds later sheresurfaces, her wild laughter bouncing off the rock walls, joined by howls from the other wolves.
We can jump further,Beep tells me.Allow yourself at least twenty steps, and I will share my strength to push you farther than her.
Sure, Jan, I say back, having too much fun to call her a psycho right now for turning everything into a competition.
Who is Jan?
“Nevermind,” I grumble under my breath as I strip off my clothes. I don’t get completely naked, but I’m down to my underwear. And I can feel Beep’s excitement as I run, then leap off the edge of the cliff.
In the air, I feel free.
The cold water shocks my system as I crash through the surface. It’s a contrast from the summer heat, but feels incredible. I climb up, then jump off that cliff five times in a row, each leap carrying away a piece of my frustration—at my mate’s secrets, my apparent father’s bullshit, everything that’s weighing me down. By our sixth leap, my muscles are pleasantly tired, and my mind feels clearer.
Andrea gestures toward the group lounging on the rocks. “Come meet everyone.” These wolves I’ve never seen before nod and smile like we’re old friends. They’re almost all naked, and many in wolf form, just lounging and relaxed as could be. Even Beep, usually so guarded, seems to enjoy herself.
A cold bottle presses into my palm. I eye it skeptically. “Shifters can’t get drunk, I thought?”
