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He began to explain. At first, I couldn’t believe what he was saying until I remembered that Jill had said Pac was a top-notch plastic surgeon who had a side project he was working on.
“I was a science project, one of the first,” he continued. “But there were many after me. I really didn’t see the harm in what he was doing. He just wanted us to all smell like him. Said it was for the scientific good; like a perfume, you know, but more permanent. He paid us well for it, and well, it was the money that really made me agree. I was able to buy a house and travel again. I’ve honestly never seen any of you before, and I would never do anyone any harm.” He was groveling so low to the ground now that his forehead was touching the dirt, and I could barely hear what he had to say at the end because it was mixed in with his sobs.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The lengths Pac had gone to—and was still going to—was unbelievable. It was obvious he’d been planning something for a long time.
Fear was beginning to prickle up the back of my neck. Fear that he had Jill and was using her for another part of his plan.
Sandy was the first of us to speak up. “What was my turtle’s name?”
We all turned to look at her in shock. Turtle? What in the world?
“Sandy, when have you ever had a turtle?” Mom asked.
She didn’t answer, only kept staring at Pac, who looked back at her with a blank look. If there was someone who didn’t know the answer to something, he would be it.
“He doesn’t know,” she said, then she turned and walked away, changing into her wolf and running back home.
“I . . . I . . .” Tears were running down the man’s face. “I don’t know what she’s asking of me.”
“None of us do, but clearly she’s sure you’re not Pac,” Dad said.
“I’m not! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all. I never even saw his face, so I couldn’t point him out to you either.”
“What?” Dad roared. “How is that even possible?”
“We signed up to the experiment online and received bottles in the mail. That was it.”
“You’re telling me you drank some liquid without being aware of what it was, and from someone you’d never met?” Jacob said.
“No. I work in a lab, so I had the items tested for poison. There were no traces of it. I’ve had no side effects, and the smell has lured females to me, so I’d say it was a win-win—until now that is.”
“You never thought to question why someone would be making something that would change your smell?” Brandon asked.
He shrugged. “I just thought it was another one of those sale gimmicks, and my buddy had been nagging me that I wasn’t brave enough to do a dare. I wanted to prove him wrong,” he finished in a whisper.
This time I heard a few growls beside me, including my own. Our family didn’t tolerate bullies.
“Not much of a friend if he made you do something like that,” Mom said.
Dad put an arm around Mom, and she let him keep it there, even though I could tell she was still mad at him because he hadn’t told her about Pac.
“I believe you,” I said.
“How? This story is ridiculous,” Brandon said.
“Jill said the Pac she knew was called Rich, and he was a talented plastic surgeon who also dabbled in science projects on the side. She said their home would sometimes smell like gardenias, and she’d have no idea where it was coming from because she didn’t think he’d be home. She also said he’d have odd men coming by randomly, and she’d help from time to time with packaging up bottles of liquid and adding labels to them explaining recommended dosage.”
“And you never thought it important to tell us this when you mentioned you found Pac?” Dad said, now standing next to me.
“Why would I tell you? It’s not like you told us what Pac had done to Sandy. She had to tell us herself. And what about the time you told all of us that you had taken care of him, but really, because you loved Pac so much, you just told him to run away instead, never thinking that he’d come back for vengeance and hurt our family again.”
“That’s enough!” Mom said. She had one hand on Dad’s arm, which I knew would only hold him back for so long. “That’s enough,” Mom repeated in a quieter tone, now coming to stand between me and Dad. “We are a family. We deal with problems together.” Mom paused. “Luc, why did you come today?”
I took a deep breath. “My mate is in trouble, and I know it has something to do with Pac, who we think is her ex. He’s up to something, and now she’s missing.”
“How do we know this so-called mate of yours is real?” Dad said.
Mom turned to give him a glare, and I felt my brothers close in behind me. It felt good to know they had my back in case Dad got really mad.
