Rogue Shift (The Wolves of Rock Falls Book 2) Read online

  A sigh gusted through my teeth. It was such a relief to have a friend—an ally. Someone else to make the decisions for me right now. My brain was soaked in panic, despair, pain, and confusion. He squeezed my hand lightly and I squeezed back.

  “I’ll lead. My eyes are better in the dark,” he explained unnecessarily. Although it merely confirmed another thing that would have been helpful tonight if I was a werewolf.

  I hissed as a nasty, sharp stick poked into the soft hollow of my foot.

  “Rachel?”

  “Sorry, I kicked my shoes off when I ran.”

  “You’re barefoot?”

  “Yes,” I whispered back, angry at the offending branch and on the edge of terror.

  “Come here. I’ll carry you. You’ll break your leg trying to go through these woods at night.”

  My heart did a little flip.

  “I…”

  “Come on.” Kyp turned his back to me and crouched down so I could climb up on his back. I was a little self-conscious about Kyp carrying me two or more blocks back to his truck. I wasn’t skinny by any stretch of the word. I wasn’t fat, but the curves were present. And no guy had ever offered to carry me before. It was a strange feeling to throw into the mix of churning emotions already stomping through me.

  A twig snapped to our left and I climbed on without another thought. I heard Kyp’s quick intake of breath as his hands closed over my fishnet clad calves and I cringed, my eyes shutting as I felt the heat of mortification sliding up my face again. To his credit, he said nothing, only took off at a brisk pace in the direction we had been going.

  We kept to the trees, and a few minutes later, we were poised to cut across the neighbor’s yard. Kyp’s truck was parked on the curb in front of the house. I hoped we were far enough away and shadowed enough in the dark that nobody would notice us.

  “Do you want me to walk? It’s probably only grass here,” I murmured as Kyp glanced over a few backyards to the party still going full strength.

  “Are you okay to walk? We might be able to move a bit more stealthily if we’re both on foot.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, breathless. He crouched down, and I slid off, the feeling of his hands on my legs burning little fires of embarrassment right through the fishnets.

  On Kyp’s mark we moved. We were silent in the grass, still manicured though it was the beginning of November and had been below freezing at night for weeks. My teeth started chattering again as my bare feet moved over the cold grass. The beer that had been dumped over my head had mostly dried, leaving me smelling and feeling as dirty as the bathroom floor of the boy’s locker room.

  Mercifully, no one sober enough to care saw us moving across the yard. I didn’t know if they’d given up the chase for me, or if they were still out there, but I was profoundly grateful for Kyp and his truck as he ushered me in the seat and quietly closed the door behind me.

  Chapter 2

  Kyp

  I shut the passenger door with Rachel tucked inside my truck and scanned the area once more. Whatever Rachel had done, she was totally spooked. I’d seen a few guys milling around, watching, hunting around the party, and assumed they were searching for her. I didn’t see them now, so my focus moved back to the truck.

  Pulling open the driver’s side door, I glanced up at Rachel, just enough light from the streetlamp across the road spilling over her so that my wolf’s enhanced vision saw her clearly.

  “Oh, wow.” The words tumbled gracelessly from my lips without my permission. I could have swallowed my tongue as Rachel’s eyes clinched in embarrassment and she turned her face away from me.

  The sweet, outgoing girl who had become my first friend in Rock Falls, my first real friend in a long time, sat in my truck in a black leather skirt that barely hit her thighs—thighs covered in ripped fishnet stockings. Her boobs had been shoved into a tiny, tight black top and I was momentarily distracted by the line of white skin showing above her skirt where the teeny top didn’t meet. The little jacket she wore only covered her arms but wouldn’t be doing anything against the cold November air.

  I shrugged out of my own coat even as I took in the globs of black running from her eyes down her cheeks, her mass of hair matted and wavy, and smelling like a brewery. Handing her my coat without a word, I cranked the heat and aimed the vents at her.

  Quickly clicking my seat belt with fumbling fingers, I scanned one more time in the rearview mirror. No one followed. Pulling the truck into the street, no one seemed to notice our departure. I sighed in relief.

  Rachel hiccupped. Her eyes were still shut, and her head was bowed, the rest of her curled up under my coat.

  “Rachel?” She was in pain. I could tell that much—the why I didn’t know. People reading had been a skill I’d been forced to perfect early in my life with the Kentucky pack where getting an accurate read on someone had been the difference between praise or fierce punishment. I couldn’t reconcile this broken-looking creature with the vibrant, vivacious redhead who was my friend.

  A sob echoed in the cabin of my truck. Rachel swiped at her eyes, smearing the black stuff more.

  “Thank you for coming,” she whispered.

  “Of course.”

  “My mom called this afternoon.” She paused, and I said nothing, not wanting to pressure her, although I wanted the back story. “Joanie’s into bad stuff.” The words strangled themselves from her throat.

  “Joanie—your sister?”

  She nodded before her face crumpled into a mass of wrinkles and tears. Completely perplexed and out of my element, I reached over and took hold of one of her hands that gripped my coat like a lifeline.

  “She overdosed. Nearly killed herself. Might still have done.” Rachel sniffled and dragged a hand over her face again. My heart beat heavily in my chest. I knew Joanie was a few years older than Rachel and that the two of them had at least once been close.

  “Rachel, I’m so sorry.”

  “She’s at the hospital now. I was going to go, but I couldn’t make myself. So instead, I went to face off with the guy I knew sold her stuff.” She took a shuddering breath. “I saw her once, totally by accident last year on her spring break, buying something off Lenny DiVen. Wretch. She said it was only some pot. I told Mom and Dad, and they talked to her—but that was the day she stopped trusting me. She went back off to college, and things seemed great. She was making good grades, having fun, hanging with her friends. We only saw her once a month or so. And then she started coming home even more infrequently. We haven’t seen her all semester. She was coming home this weekend.” More tears tracked down her face. “And this came totally out of the blue. We had no idea. We, we thought she was growing up more and finding her own interests or was busy with classes.” Rachel stopped, her breathing stuttered. She gripped my hand harder and covered her mouth with her other. I had no idea what to do, so I just held on, letting her know I was here. Silently I navigated into town. Sam’s cabin was on the other side, away from the prying eyes of townspeople and close to the rest of his pack.

  “What happened at the party?” I asked quietly as I turned the corner past Huckleberry’s Family Restaurant.

  “He said horrible things,” she whispered and swallowed hard. “I punched him. Punched him hard enough his nose bled. And then he sent his minions after me.”

  My mouth dropped open in a silent O. I was still fairly new in town, but punching out the face of a known drug dealer in front of his posse didn’t seem like the popular thing to do.

  “It was stupid. I was stupid for even going in the first place. I had this great idea that I would get him alone, get him to offer me drugs, and that I’d record the whole thing. Turn him in. Get him sent to jail where he belongs.”

  Her pain was talking. I could practically feel it bleeding off her.

  “Stupid, stupid,” she muttered.

  “No. You’re not stupid. You’re hurting. You want justice. Revenge. You want your sister back.”

  She glanced at me. I no
dded solemnly. I got it. Grief made you do strange things. I’d spent half my life grieving a father I never knew, grieving for a place I belonged, grieving the lack of acceptance I’d found in my former pack. Rachel tipped her head back against the seat and closed her eyes with a shuddering breath. She still gripped my hand, and that was fine with me. More than fine. I wished there was something I could say, something I could do that would make her feel better—make the whole situation go away. But of course, I couldn’t, so I did the only thing I could. I offered her my presence.

  ****

  The rest of the ride to Sam and Megan’s cabin was quiet. A few more tears slid down Rachel’s cheeks, but aside from the silent plea for comfort that her hand made against mine, we didn’t say anything. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It wasn’t deafening. It wasn’t happy with all the grief surrounding it, but I think it offered Rachel a momentary reprieve.

  Shining cheerfully against the darkness, the porch light next to the front door welcomed us. The nearly finished addition going onto the side stuck up like a giant whale skeleton picked clean by scavengers. Moving like an old woman, Rachel shrugged off my jacket and crawled out of the truck. I would have gotten the door for her, but she climbed out the same time I did. I waited for her by the front of the truck and let my hand drift near hers in case she wanted to hold it again. She didn’t, and we made it up the few steps. Before we could knock, Sam jerked the door open, Megan right behind him, concern and worry written on both their faces.

  Sam ushered us both into the warm light of their kitchen, and Megan took one look at her friend.

  “Rachel Everley Crumb!” Her voice incredulous, she didn’t say another word, only wrapped Rachel up in a giant hug. Sobs erupted from somewhere deep in Rachel’s throat and my skin crawled.

  I felt like an intruder into such a private moment, even though I’d just spent the last half hour with Rachel and her grief. I glanced uncomfortably at Sam and he nodded his head to the front door. He met Megan’s eyes over Rachel’s head. Snagging his coat, he followed me out into the cold night air.

  “Thank you for going after her, Kyp.” I heard his wolf’s deep rumble in his voice.

  “I’m happy I was able to help,” I replied honestly. Rachel was my friend. I was flattered and honored that Sam, the Beta of the pack I desperately hoped to join, trusted me enough to go after his mate’s best friend. That was a pretty big deal in the werewolf community, and I wasn’t even an official member of Sam’s pack.

  “Tell me what you know,” he said quietly.

  I gave him all the information I had about Rachel and what happened, which wasn’t much.

  Sam groaned. “Not good,” he muttered. “But not as bad as it could be. I don’t know of any ties Lenny DiVen has with any werewolves.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll talk to Dad about how he wants to handle it.”

  “Even though it’s not actually pack business?” I questioned, feeling free to do so with Sam—something I wouldn’t have dared to do in the Kentucky pack.

  “Rachel is practically pack by proxy. Kind of like your mom will be,” he transitioned, and I felt my heart hit my ribs. Probably hearing the quickening beat of my heart, Sam continued. “I spoke with Dad yesterday,” referencing Dominic Wolfe, the Alpha of the Wolfe pack, “and we’d like to set up your pack joining two weeks from now. Does that work for you?”

  I couldn’t stop the grin that split my face. “Yes. Yes, that works for me.” Bubbles of joy threatened to lift me off the ground. My head buzzed. A home. A family. A pack. One that didn’t care that half of my genes were straight human and not all wolf. A place to belong. “Is it okay if my mom comes?” I still wasn’t sure how much involvement they allowed humans inside pack business. The number of humans that even knew of werewolves’ existence was next to none. My mom, Rachel, and Megan’s grandpa were the only regular humans I’d ever met that knew about shifters. And Rachel only found out a few weeks ago when Sam turned Megan.

  Sam laughed. “Your mom is definitely welcome. She might as well be an honorary pack member. She’s put more stitches in me than I can count. Having an EMT around who knows all about us is pretty helpful.”

  “She enjoyed working as an RN in Kentucky—that was the one good thing that came out of being in that pack. They put her through nursing school in order to make her work for them.” I gave a sad sigh. Life had been hard in Kentucky. “She’s liking the change being on an emergency response crew, although I think she’d take another nursing position if one opened up.”

  “I’m glad. I think you both are going to make excellent additions.”

  I felt the heat of his words down to my bones while Wolf chuffed in satisfaction inside me.

  “You guys can come in now. She’s in the shower,” Meg called softly from the door. Sam nodded and we went back in. I resisted the urge to shiver when goose bumps broke out over my forearms under my flannel shirt as I entered the cheery heat of the cabin. My coat was still in my truck where Rachel left it before she slithered out.

  “Is she okay?” Sam asked as Meg gave him a sad stare then set to getting bowls out of the cupboard. “Not okay then.” Meg baked when she was stressed. Rachel said it was something they had in common.

  “Joanie is mixed up in drugs. She’s at the hospital now. The doctors are doing everything they can for her, but they’re not sure she’s going to pull through.” A crease appeared between Megan’s eyebrows as she measured out flour into a bowl. She set it aside and grabbed measuring cups and the bag of sugar.

  “I’m so sorry, Meg,” Sam said quietly, going over and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. I turned my head, uncomfortable with such overt affection. It wasn’t that I was opposed to it—quite the opposite—I just didn’t know how to behave around it. It wasn’t something the Kentucky pack had embraced. Literally or figuratively. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to leave now that I’d dropped Rachel off, or if I should stay.

  I wanted to stay and make sure Rachel was all right. I didn’t want her to think I bailed on her, but I didn’t want to hang around if my being there would make her uncomfortable. I had become the awkward third wheel. Wolf nudged me uneasily.

  “Kyp, what did she say about Lenny DiVen?” Megan glanced at me as she cracked eggs into the other bowl on the counter.

  Jerked out of my awkwardness, I stuttered and felt my cheeks heat. “Sh, she said she punched him in the nose, and he sent some of his guys after her. She was hiding in the woods when I got there. I had to sniff her out to find her,” I admitted.

  Megan bit her lip. “You think Lenny will retaliate further?” Meg shot her question to Sam.

  “If I were Lenny, I absolutely would. She made him lose face in front of a room full of people he needs to impress and keep under control.” Sam ran a hand through his shaggy hair.

  Megan sighed heavily as she threw in an extra dash of vanilla.

  “Kyp, you might as well take a seat. I’ll send some cookies home with you. Rachel will probably want to thank you again once she’s looking more like her normal self.” She shook her head as she packed brown sugar into a measuring cup. Her caramel-colored hair swished against her back. I sat and waited, my heart beating faster than normal, unsure what to expect next.

  Chapter 3

  Rachel

  Stupid. It was the stupidest thing I’d ever done. I’d always been impulsive, but my impulsivity had never before put me in danger like this. An icy chill swept over my shoulders and down my back despite the hot water beating down from the shower. I shook my head and wiped the water out of my eyes before snagging Meg’s bottle of pink body wash. I scrubbed and scrubbed, wishing I could scrub off the fear and despair that still clung to me.

  Lenny wouldn’t just let this go. I knew that. I didn’t think he’d go out of his way to make my life miserable, but if I ever crossed paths with him again, it would be a different story.

  Cursing my impulsivity again, I shut off the water and wrung out my auburn hair. Meg had
set out a towel for me and I snatched it up and wrapped it tightly around my body, warding off the steam-filled air. Red crept into my cheeks again as I glanced at the foggy mirror and realized that the oversized towel covered far more than the skimpy outfit I’d had on earlier. My eyes slid shut in mortification. What Kyp must have thought—what he must think—of me?

  I swallowed my shame as best I could and threw on the sweats and t-shirt Meg let me borrow. I rolled the pant legs twice. Megan was all leg where I was all curve. Fortunately, we could still share clothes if there was stretch or elastic involved. With a fortifying breath, I opened the door and exited with a waft of steam.

  The smell of warm cookie dough met me, and I inhaled deeply, the smell relaxing my shoulders a fraction. Megan had made walnut chocolate chunk cookies. My absolute favorite.

  “They’ve got about three more minutes in the oven. Here.” Meg handed me a steaming mug of tea.

  “Thanks,” I replied as I took in the two boys sitting at the table at the other end of the tiny kitchen. I cleared my throat. “Thanks for coming after me tonight, Kyp. Sam, thanks for your part, too.” I meant it to my toes. I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t still be freezing in the woods right now if they hadn’t put things in motion and gotten me out of there.

  “Anytime,” Kyp said, his dark brown eyes serious. His reddish-brown hair was longer on top and had just enough wave that a few pieces stuck up, giving him a rakish appeal.

  Sam nodded, concern evident in the way his dark blonde brows drew together.

  “What do you need right now?” Megan came away from the counter and put an arm around my shoulders. I put my tea down on the table as I felt my chin wobble. I took a deep breath, determined not to sob all over everyone again. The shock of things was wearing off and it was leaving me spent and completely drained.