Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1) (10 page)

Crap!
 
Crap!
 
Crap!
 
All the banter stopped instantly and four sets of glowing yellow eyes
landed on me, expectantly.
 
Waiting.
 
I slouched a
little,
trying to look relaxed, and shrugged my
shoulders, brushing it off as no big deal.
 
I held their eyes for a long minute before I said, “She’s nothing.”

“I don’t know about that,” Erika said and
laughed again, but there was no humor in it.
 
“She seems smitten and by the sound of your wild heartbeat, I’d say you
are, too.”

~ JADE ~

“Dom, what do you
mean it wasn’t you?” I asked.
 
My voice
was barely a whisper, and the metal lined hallway suddenly seemed … small …
tight … airless.
 
I had hugged that wolf,
and I had let it smother my face with wet kisses.
 
I felt … violated.
 
At least I knew why Dominic hadn’t tried to
talk to me yet, although knowing it didn’t really make me feel any better.

“I’m not a black wolf,” he said again, a
little helplessly this time.
 
He took a
step toward me, and when I took a step back, he put up his hands in
surrender.
 
“Jade, you’re not looking so
hot.
 
Are you okay?”

I focused on breathing.
 
In and out.
 
In and out.
 
I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so upset,
but my throat was burning and I fought hard to swallow the tears that were
threatening to break loose.
 
My heart was
breaking — again — just like it had two years ago.
 
And I realized, unexpectedly, that part of
me, even though I had been fighting it, had really hoped that I was going to
get my Dominic back.
 
That he’d heard my
confessions.
 
That he wanted to start
over and
fix things
like he’d
said.
 
And I was pretty sure that the
fact that he hadn’t heard me say all those things was distressing me more than
knowing some other wolf was stalking me.

I shook my head.
 
“Nope,” I said calmly, and before he had a
chance to make me even more
not okay,
I turned from him and started down the hallway.

“Jade, wait!”
Dominic called.
 
His
footsteps were extremely loud in the vacant hallway as he jogged to catch up to
me.

I spun back around and put up a hand to
stop him.
 
“I can’t do this right now,
Dom.
 
Just tell Mac I’m not feeling
well.
 
Please.”
 
My voice sounded as hollow as I felt, and it
really didn’t sound like my own.
 
I tried
to close the doors.
 
I wanted to hide my
feelings, but I couldn’t.
 
I couldn’t
focus.
 
I could barely breathe.
 
Each small breath I managed to suck in hurt,
burning down my throat like a lit fuse, and into my lungs.

But Dominic didn’t seem to have the same
problem.
 
His face hardened as he closed
himself off from me, and it made my stomach drop.
 
I could see the doors slamming shut as he proceeded
to lock me out and cut me off, and I hated him for it.
 
He nodded.
 
“Take the sidewalks.”

I offered a weak smile and a little wave,
but he didn’t respond.
 
He just looked at
me with those cold, uncaring eyes and waited for me to leave.
 
And that’s exactly what I did.
 
I left.
 
Just like he had left me two years ago.
 
Without a backwards glance, I weaved through
the empty hallways, and out the front door of the school.

My key was stuck in
the lock.
 
It wouldn’t turn and I
couldn’t get it out.
 
It was frustrating
as all hell, and without thinking, I kicked the door.
 
Hard.
 
It hurt.
 
I yelped, and my big toe throbbed.

But it was worth it.
 
I yanked on the key again, and it came out,
just as the door flew open.

Dad smiled at me.
 
It was the kind of smile that only a dad
could give.
 
A bit excited, a touch
worried, and a lot happy.
 
It was one of
those smiles that encompassed every emotion he had, and it was exactly what I
needed.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, and without warning, I
launched myself at him for one of his epic bear hugs.
 
“Welcome back.”

He caught me just as I knew he would,
squeezing me tightly and spinning me over the threshold.
 
But the hug didn’t last nearly long
enough.
 
He put me down and held me at
arm’s length, giving me one of those concerned fatherly looks.
 
“Hi, honey.
 
What are you doing home?”

I wiggled out of his soft grip, and slid by
him, kicking the door shut with my heel. “Wasn’t feeling good,” I lied, and
padded into the living room.
 
I dropped
down on the couch, focusing all my effort into looking sick.

He didn’t buy it for a second.
 
“You never get sick,” he said bluntly,
following me into the room.
 
He sat down
beside me and asked, “What’s going on?”

Dad looked tired but relaxed.
 
His silver-dusted black hair was flat on one
side, as if he had been sleeping on it, and he had pillow creases indented on
his cheek.
 
He had on his favorite navy blue
jogging pants, and a gray T-shirt, and by the tightness of his lips, I guessed
he was fighting against a yawn.

“Sorry I woke you up,” I said.
 
“How was your trip?”

“Jade,” he said with a no nonsense tone,
“what are you doing home?”

I bit my bottom lip, and wiggled on the
couch as I considered lying again.
 
But
then I looked into his bright blue eyes, and I saw the concern painted on his
face and the floodgates burst open.
 
Everything rushed out in a mess of words.
 
I told him about Erika and the locker
room.
 
I blurted about the black wolf.
 
About Dominic.
 
About Ray.
 
About how no one was supposed to know he was
dead.
 
I told him about Mom being all
jumpy.
 
I talked about losing Dominic,
and about how much I missed him.
 
It was
as if I was stuck in a tornado,
gushing
everything out
in a spinning gust of wind, unable to stop.

But just like a tornado, I touched down,
and ran my course, and when there was nothing left, I flopped back on the
couch, feeling drained and a little deflated.

Dad considered my story for a long and way
too silent moment before he asked, “Does Dominic know about the black wolf?”

“What does that matter?” I asked a little
breathlessly.
 
Out of everything that I
had blurted out, he had to focus on the black wolf.
 
I wanted to be upset, or angry, or anything,
really, but I couldn’t.
 
It all seemed
like too much energy.
 
And all I felt was
empty.
 
Not in a bad way.
 
It was more of a contented kind of empty, as
if I had expelled all the badness and all that was left was … exhaustion.

“He has always watched out for you, honey,”
he said softly, and he reached out, brushing some hair from my forehead.
 
“Even if it didn’t feel like he was there, he
was.
 
He always will be.
 
You know that.”

Did I?
 
Not really.
 
But I nodded and
smiled anyway.
 
“I’m going to lie down,”
I said, hauling myself up from the couch.

“Wait,” he said, taking hold of my wrist
and pulling me back down.
 
He wrapped me
in a hug, leaning his chin on the top of my head.
 
“I know you think we are pushing you, your
Mom and I, to join them, and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to give
Dominic an excuse.
 
He hurt you.
 
He knows that.
 
You know that.”
 
Dad sighed and his shoulders slumped a little
against me.
 
“But you can’t judge them
all from his stupidity.
 
I just want you
to be safe, honey.
 
I know you can’t see
it, but the pack is safe.
 
They always
have been, and having the wolves as friends isn’t as bad of a thing as you
think it is.”

I knew he was trying to be comforting, or
give me some kind of life lesson full of wisdom, but it really wasn’t
helping.
 
There was nothing safe about
the pack.
 
It didn’t matter which way he
tried to spin it; werewolves were not safe.

I pushed out of his arms, giving him what I
hoped was an agreeing look.
 
“I’m going
to take a nap,” I said, and I left him sitting there with concern marring his
face, and I headed to my room.

It wasn’t until I got to my room that I
realized he hadn’t told me about his weekend, but at that point, I was just too
drained to care.

I screamed.
 
There was something on me, smothering
me.
 
I couldn’t breathe.
 
I tried to push it off, flailing my arms
around, pulling at the comforter.
 
I
couldn’t move.
 
It was dark.
 
Too dark.
 
I was drowning.
 
Suffocating.
 
Another scream ripped from my lips, but it
was muffled and distorted with barely any sound to it.

“Chill out,
Jade
.”
 
Marcy’s voice belted out, wrapping
around me like a soothing blanket.
 
She
grabbed hold of the comforter and pulled it down.
 
I sucked in a ragged breath and it burned
through my empty lungs.
 
She was laughing
and grinning, and she was sitting on top of my stomach.

I pushed her off of me, giving her a dirty
look.
 
“What the hell?”

Marcy giggled.
 
She flopped on to her stomach and made
herself comfortable on my bed, resting her chin in her hands.
 
“What happened to you today?”

I grabbed my powder blue comforter, pulling
it back up to my chin, and wiggled under the covers, trying to find the sweet
spot again, and hoping that she’d just go away.
 
I closed my eyes, and kept wiggling, but I just couldn’t get
comfortable.

Marcy cleared her throat dramatically
loud.
 
I opened my eyes and gave her
another dirty look, but she just grinned.

“Nothing happened,” I said.
 
“I just wasn’t feeling well.”

“Liar,” she said, pursing her lips.
 
“You never get sick.”

I groaned and rolled onto my side.
 
“Whatever.”

My curtains were open, revealing the star
speckled night sky.
 
The silver moon was
almost full, and there didn’t appear to be a single cloud.
 
I must have slept for hours, but yet, I was
still exhausted, and I was sure if Marcy would just leave, I would have no
problem falling back to sleep.

Marcy had another plan.
 
She smacked at my legs.
 
“Get up.
 
We’re going out.”

“Just let me sleep, Mac,” I said, snuggling
a bit deeper under the blankets.

“Not happening.”
 
She laughed evilly, and crawled over me so we
were nose to nose.
 
She was grinning
mischievously, and her eyes danced with laughter and what looked a lot like
secrets.
 
“We’re going to get ice cream
and you are going to spill everything.
 
Especially the part about why Erika was asking about you.
 
Whatever you said to Dom, she's fuming about
it.”
 
Her smile widened, and she giggled
a little.
 
“And I have awesomesauce news
of the boy variety.”

~ AIDAN ~

That night, Dominic
was the moody one.
 
Not that I was overly
moody per se, it was just that Dominic was never really anything, except when
Jade was involved.
 
Again, I found myself
wondering what that girl had done to make my pack so uneasy around her.
 
It wasn’t just Dominic and Erika; it was most
of them.
 
They all watched her with
leery
eyes, and she seemed oblivious to it.
 
The girl was too busy being overly sure of
herself, and I couldn’t help but think it was a complete act.
 
No one could be that tough, not when they
knew what they were up against.

Dominic hadn’t spoken a word to me since
lunch.
 
After Jade left, he had talked to
her friend, and then stormed off.
 
I
still couldn’t believe that Jade tried to drag him out of the cafeteria by his
ear, and if I hadn’t been the reason for her anger, I’d probably be laughing
about it now.

We were sitting in my motel room watching
the night descend upon us; well, I was sitting.
 
Dominic was pacing.
 
I had figured
he would have come around by now, but he hadn’t.
 
Every once in a while he would stop his
relentless pacing to slam something around, but still not a word.

The first challenge was scheduled for
tonight. I was sure Dominic wouldn’t be here otherwise.
 
Erika wasn’t wasting any time.
 
She was determined and strong and competent,
and I absolutely hated it.
 
She was a
bitch and not really someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
 
But then, none of the challenging females
really sparked my interest.
 
They were
all just so … bitchy and conceited and fake.

But Erika, she had to be the worst of
them.
 
Actually scheduling a challenge …
it just wasn’t normal.
 
Females were
usually more creative, not relying solely on strength to beat their opponents.
 
They picked their times carefully and rarely
broadcasted when the attack would happen.
 
It gave them the edge of surprise.
 
As long as there was one witness to testify to the outcome, the winner
would move forward.

Erika though, she wanted an audience.
 
Most likely, she was trying to intimidate the
others, letting them see what she could do.
 
And I didn’t like it.
 
She was too
full of herself, and conceit wasn’t really a great leadership quality.

A frustrated growl penetrated my eardrums,
and Dominic slammed a coffee mug onto the dresser, shattering it.

“Stop slamming things around and just spit
it out already,” I said, sprawled out on my lumpy bed, staring up at the
popcorn ceiling.
 
I couldn’t take much
more of his brooding.
 
The stress of
tonight was eating at me, and he was only making it worse.
 
And at the rate he was going, I wouldn’t have
a single mug left in this crap hole of a room.

“I asked you to stay away from her,” he
said through clenched teeth.

“And I told you that wasn’t your call to
make.”
 
I tried to hide the amusement
from my voice, but it leaked out, completely unintentionally.
 
Seriously, for a guy that didn’t even like
women, he sure acted like a crazy jealous person.

He stiffened, every muscle in his body
tensed, and he glared at me.
 
“She’s not
going to join the pack.”

I offered up a smile.
 
“I never said I wanted her to.”

The smile worked … a little.
 
Dominic sat down in the desk chair and leaned
forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
 
“Then what are you doing with her?”

Now that was the question, wasn’t it?
 
What was I doing with her?
 
I didn’t even know.
 
I hadn’t meant to go to her.
 
I hadn’t even realized it was her scent that
I was following, but once I was there … I just didn’t want to leave.
 
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
 
I wanted to leave, but my inner-wolf had
wanted something different.
 
She was born
to be an alpha.
 
She had the strength.
 
She had the compassion.
 
She could make me tremble with a single
look.
 
Jade had it all, or she would, if
she was one of us.
 
And I’d have her.

The sudden and completely unexpected
realization made my stomach squirm in a nervous, happy kind of way.
 
I could almost picture her standing beside
me, not a step behind.
 
I knew from the
way the other females treated me they would always be hiding in my
shadows.
 
But Jade …

I shook off the thought, or rather my
inner-wolf’s elated dream, and instead of telling Dominic all of that, I said,
“You know, I hate to point it out, because this whole thing is actually quite
entertaining to watch, but haven’t you considered what could happen if you keep
telling me to stay away from her?
 
It’s
like she was just a girl, and now she’s forbidden fruit.
 
You are making her so much more
intriguing.”
 
He shot me a foul look and
I chuckled.
 
“Oh, and not to state the
obvious, but I didn’t even speak to her.”

“We only have one black wolf in the pack,”
Dominic snapped, but then he chuckled, and a mischievous grin began to pull at
his lips.
 
“You think I’m worried about
her safety, but really, I’m not.
 
Jade
can take care of herself.
 
It’s you I’m
looking out for here.
 
She’d tear you
apart if she knew who you were.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes.
 
“A bit dramatic, don’t you think?
 
She’s just a girl,” I said, except I kind of
believed that it wasn’t all that dramatic.

Right then, my phone rang, a loud shrill,
and the sound felt like doom.
 
Okay,
maybe not doom exactly, but definitely one step closer to it.
 
And by the way Dominic was watching it
vibrate across the
nightstand,
I figured he was
thinking close to the same thing.

“You going to answer it?” he asked, without
lifting his gaze from the phone.

I reached over and snagged it up, tapping
the flashing call button, and then held it to my ear.
 
“What’s the verdict?”

“You’ve got to come down here,” Joe said in
a rush, panting as if he had been running and was completely out of
breath.
 
“Erika’s lost it.”

My jaw clenched, and I gripped the phone a
bit tighter.
 
“Against
the rules, man.
 
I can’t
interfere.”
 
This was the part I hated
the most about the games.
 
Alpha males
were not allowed to attend the challenges.
 
It was supposed to stop distractions, and provide each female with a
fair playing ground.

“Aidan, she’s going to kill Becca,” Joe
said.
 
“Get down here.”

My gut twisted.
 
Dammit!
 
I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.
 
I took a deep breath and said, “I can’t.
 
They knew the risks.
 
If Becca won’t submit …”

“Becca already submitted,” Joe snapped,
cutting me off.
 
“She submitted five
minutes ago.”

“Where?”
I asked, jumping off the bed and snagging my keys.
 
I mouthed, ‘
Let’s go,’
to Dominic and threw the door open.
 
According to pack law, fighting to the death
was fine if neither of them would give up.
 
But killing after submission was punishable by death.

“The park, and hurry up,” Joe said, clearly
flustered.
 
I could hear shouting in the
background, tinted with panic.
 
“She’s
already bit a few of us that have tried to step in.”

“I’ll be there soon,” I said and hung up.

Dominic was already in the car when I
jumped in and started it up.
 
I threw it
in reverse, and the tires squealed.
 
My
muscles were so tight they burned.

“What going on?” Dominic asked, as I
shifted gears and spun onto the road.

“Erika’s trying to kill Becca.
 
Where the hell is the park?”

It was a tense and silent drive to the
park.
 
I was actually a bit stunned that
Dominic didn’t have anything to say.
 
He
always seemed to have something on the tip of his tongue.
 
He listened as I told him the little bits Joe
had said, which took less than a minute, and then he sat there staring out the
window with a locked jaw.

It took four and a half minutes to drive
across town and reach the park.
 
I
figured that was one of the pluses to living in a small nowhere town, but it
still felt like a long drive.
 
As soon as
I parked, Dominic was out of the car and running toward the crowd that was
gathered in the center of what looked like a soccer field.
 
The sky was clear and the moon, extra-bright,
was casting the ground in a dull silvery light.
 
I took a deep breath and emerged from my car, letting the door slam, and
I started over.

The field was set back in an alcove.
 
On three sides, tall pines hid most of the
view from the rest of the park.
 
If the
parking lot hadn’t been directly in front of it, I wouldn’t have even noticed
it.
 
Raised bleachers outlined the playing
area, and a walkway skirted the open end.

Dominic was already pushing everyone back
as I approached, opening up the circle of onlookers.
 
With a quick scan, I was relieved to see that
they were all part of the pack, and for half a second, my focus settled on the head
of the enforcers.
 
Jared stood just
outside the crowd, watching.
 
He smirked
at me, and my blood boiled.
 
“You couldn’t
have dealt with this?” I snarled.

“Not my job to keep the peace, alpha,” he
said with laughter in his voice.
 
“I only
deal with those who have broken pack law, and that hasn’t happened here, yet.”

I gritted my teeth, focusing back on the crowd.
 
I had never liked the enforcers in my
father’s pack, and the ones here were no different.
 
Always waiting on the sidelines to deliver
punishment, but never stepping in.

And then my eyes landed on Erika.

She was in wolf form, her white coat
speckled with blood.
 
She was snarling,
circling around a gray wolf that lay motionless on the ground.
 
The wolf was still breathing; I could just see
the slight rise and fall of its stomach.
 
Erika stalked toward her, growling, low and menacing.

“Enough!” I shouted, closing the last few
steps to tower over her.

Erika swung her head, fixing her eyes on
me.
 
She let out another growl, baring
her teeth.
 
A rush of raw adrenaline
coursed through my veins and my skin prickled.
 
I pulled off my shirt and pants and tossed them aside as my bones
started to break, reshaping, and changing.
 
It was a rush, hot and cold.
 
Spine-tingling and thrilling.
 
A hot chill slithered over me and my body
shifted, forming into a black wolf.

I growled, and snapped out at her.
 
My fur bristled along my spine, and I curled
my lips, exposing the full length of my canines.
 
Erika backed up a step, her eyes darting
between Becca and me.
 
Blood dripped from
her muzzle and she snarled again, savagely.

I held her eyes and stalked toward her, a
low growl rumbling from my throat.
 
I
gathered my scent, letting it trickle through my imprint, and into the
air.
 
It was as if she just realized who
I was because a flash of panic suddenly flitted across her eyes.
 
For a second, she looked as if she was going
to bolt, but then she dropped to her stomach, shimmied across the ground until
she was at my feet, and began to lick my chin.

I snapped at her to stop, and she
whimpered, rolling onto her back, exposing her vulnerable neck and belly to
me.
 
I looked down at her for a moment,
disgusted, and then I turned from her, and let my body reform to human.