Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) (9 page)

“I’m sure
they
don’t have any trouble luring in prey,” Peter said to himself as he viewed the photos. The pair would have been gorgeous if he didn’t know they were bloodthirsty animals. But he did know, and Peter immediately chastised himself. Their attractive facades would not blind him.

“Remember Peter, they’re not human.”
The voice of his uncle rang in his head. His uncle’s voice kept him strong. Motivated. It was Raymond’s voice that had helped him survive all those years in isolation, survive the abuse of the doctors and guards who’d made his life a living hell, and the voice was a constant reminder of why he’d dedicated his life to exposing werewolves. Because they were evil. Because they could hide in plain sight and still do great harm.

Lost in the memory of his uncle and the night Raymond was murdered, Peter almost missed the two were-girls as they walked out of the boutique. But it was obvious the pair was in no hurry. Just out window-shopping, they continued popping into store after store. Peter soon began to feel he was wasting his time. He wanted to know their leaders, he wanted to know their base of operations. He didn’t care if they preferred beanies or berets. He didn’t have time for this nonsense.

Giving it one last hour, Peter followed them into the local bookstore. He pretended to read a book on the same shelf that they were scanning, and surprisingly, one of the girls smiled seductively at him and said, “Hey, there.”

Peter’s blood ran cold. He plastered his best smile across his face and countered with, “Hey, yourself.”

The second girl giggled, grabbed her friend’s arm and said, “Come on, Becca. Let’s get out of here.”

Becca smiled at Peter again, and then they were walking away. He knew they were talking about him as they did.

Peter went back to fake reading for a moment, just long enough for the girls to head toward the door. They exited, and Peter followed. Just as he opened the door, though, he saw the talkative one toss her latte into the trashcan just outside. A light bulb went off.
DNA.
He could get a DNA sample from her cup.

Hurrying to the trashcan, he found the girl’s cup, light pink lip gloss marking the rim. Excitement boiled through him.

“I would give anything for a Ziploc bag right now,” he said to his uncle. His uncle didn’t respond, and at that point it occurred to Peter he had no idea what to do next. It wasn’t like he carried a DNA kit around. He didn’t even know how to get his hands on something like that. So he headed back to his motel room feeling like a kid at Christmas waiting to play with a new toy that didn’t have any batteries.

Just as he arrived, he had another thought—or maybe it was his uncle whispering in his ear. He opened his laptop, double-clicked on the Internet icon and Googled “home DNA kits.”

Score!

19.

Teagan

After the incident with Becca, I managed to successfully dodge Aiden and his harem for a few days. Alli didn’t mention him in class, so I wasn’t sure what to think about what had happened, but that was fine with me upon later reflection. Then, just as I was leaving school on Friday afternoon she stopped me. Her brother stood a few feet away.

I refused to look his way. I knew if I did, all my efforts to convince myself to stay away from him would be lost. He had that effect on me, just like he had that effect on a lot of other girls. I didn’t want to be one in a long line of admirers. I had to keep my distance or I had a desperate feeling I might become another one of his mindless, love-struck groupies.

“Hey, Teagan. I was thinking we could get some work done on our economics project at my house tonight,” Alli said.

Her house? I was caught completely off guard. “Uh, I thought we were going to meet at the library or something. Tomorrow.”

Alli paused, and I could swear she glanced over at Aiden. “Yeah, well, uh…don’t you think we’d be more comfortable at my house? I don’t want to get stuck in that stuffy old library for hours. Besides, we’ll have snacks and stuff, and you’ve never been to my house. It will be fun.”

Something told me there was no way out of this, and we certainly couldn’t meet at my house for “snacks and stuff,” so I reluctantly agreed. I would most likely regret the decision, but who knew, maybe Aiden wouldn’t even be home. We did have to get the project done.

“Great! How about six o’clock? I’ll text you directions,” Alli said.

She walked off toward Cade, then, and Aiden did too. But he caught my eye and smiled before he went.

Damn him for smiling. This would be so much easier if he would just ignore me in return.

*****

It was six on the dot as I drove down the winding dirt road that supposedly led to Alli’s house. For a moment I thought that I’d been the butt of some practical joke. Who the hell would live way out here in the woods? But I continued down the path convinced that Alli was not Kendall. She wasn’t like the rest of the Beautiful People; she wouldn’t lead me out to no-man’s land if she didn’t actually live there. Then the road narrowed, and I was literally driving on a dirt path with gigantic trees and brush on each side. Shit. Maybe this was a prank. I was going to get lost and die out here.

I pressed my foot down on the brake and brought the car to a stop. Searching for my cell phone, I prayed that I could actually get a signal. Surprisingly enough, I had four solid bars. What were the odds of that out here in the boonies? But I wasn’t going any further until I was sure there was a house on the other end of the path, so I texted Alli:

Teagan: Hey, I’m hoping u forgot to mention
that u live in the woods. On a dirt path. Worried I’m lost.

Seconds later, my phone chimed.

Alli: Ur going the right way. I told u it
was kinda out of the way. No worries.
Keep driving.

Still unsure if I was crazy for believing Alli, I put my car in drive and kept going.

Only a minute or so down the path I breathed a sigh of relief. The whole area opened up, and right in front of me lay the most picturesque scene imaginable. I stopped my car and stared. In the middle of a vast open area was a small lake, and lining its banks, a ring of massive houses. It was like a hidden neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. Totally off the grid.

A hidden compound, eh? Again I was reminded of a cult. A beautiful people cult.

As I contemplated turning around, my cell chimed again.

Alli: R u coming? I see you. Drive around
to the left. I’ll meet u outside.

Too late to turn back now. Hesitantly pressing the gas, I turned my car to the left and drove slowly down the curved road.

Alli’s house could’ve had its own zip code, it was that huge. Her life was
so
different from mine. She stood outside and waved her arm over her head to get my attention. I pulled my car into her long driveway and got out.

She led me to the front door and said, “So…whatcha think? A little weird, right?” She almost sounded embarrassed.

Oh, thank God. She knew this was strange.

Relieved, I replied, “Well, a little. Shocking is more like it.” Then I laughed to soften my words. “What
is
this place?”

“The estate. All of the adults here work at a pretty profitable company together, so the company built this for their families. Kinda like a perk, I guess. That’s why Cade and all of his friends seem so tight. They all grew up together, though they don’t broadcast the fact. Aiden and me are the new kids on the block, but it’s not so bad.”

So, the beautiful people all came from their own little community that didn’t discuss itself. Yeah, that was definitely odd, but I supposed royalty has always had a way of protecting itself. And I didn’t have much more time to think about it, because Alli opened her front door and my jaw immediately hit the floor.

My God. This wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. Something you’d expect to see on
MTV Cribs
.

Alli shut the door behind us and laughed. “I know it’s a bit much, but it comes with the job when you work for the company.”

“It’s beautiful, Alli,” I whispered. “I can’t believe you live here.”

Alli showed me through a kitchen built for a top-tier chef and then up the stairs to the second floor. There didn’t appear to be anyone else home. I started to ask where Aiden was but decided against it. I didn’t want her asking any questions in return that I wasn’t ready to answer.

We walked into her bedroom, and again I was in awe. It was literally as big as my whole house.
Thank God I didn’t bring her home with me,
I found myself thinking. This place was unbelievable.

Alli plopped down on some comfy chairs by her window. “So…where should we start?”

The econ assignment was to make a PowerPoint presentation or a video, and also to make a poster. I made my way over to the chairs, trying to pretend like being in this monstrosity of a bedroom was no big deal and said, “How about an outline?”

*****

It was soon after seven. Alli and I were working hard on our project, but the end was nowhere in sight. She stood up and stretched, looked at her watch and said, “We need to eat.”

She was right. I hadn’t realized I was even hungry, but I was.

Together we made our way downstairs, and I could hear someone rustling around in the kitchen. Part of me hoped it wasn’t Aiden. The other part of me prayed it was.

Just before we entered the kitchen a gorgeous woman popped her head around the corner. She looked like she belonged on a commercial for some expensive facial cleanser. She was absolutely flawless, just like Alli but older.

“Oh, Alli, you didn’t mention you had a friend over. I was wondering whose car that was.”

“Sorry, Mom. This is Teagan. We’re working on a project for school. Is there anything to eat? We’re starved.”

As if on cue, the back door swung open. In walked a man holding several pizzas. “Dinner is served,” he announced. His eyes reached me. A look of uncertainty washed across his face; then, just like that it disappeared. He smiled brightly and asked, “Alli? Who’s your friend?”

Her father, I assumed. He reached out his hand and introduced himself to me as Paul. Alli’s mother was equally polite, but as we grabbed a box of pizza and some Cokes to take upstairs, Alli’s mom stopped her.

“Alli, can we talk to you for a minute?”

Alli turned to me and said, “I’ll meet you upstairs in just a minute, ’kay?”

I nodded my head. Balancing the pizza box, I made my way toward the stairs but couldn’t help pausing when I heard my name. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d moved back closer to the kitchen to listen.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, hon.” Mrs. Wright was speaking.

“What’s the big deal? It’s just one night. And we’re doing homework.”

Mr. Wright: “I know, honey, but what if Marcus finds out?”

Marcus? Who the hell was Marcus?

“Exactly,” Alli’s mom said. “I’m not sure how he’d feel about her being here.”

“Come on, this is stupid.” Alli again. “Are you really saying I can’t have any other friends besides the pack?

The pack?

“Of course not. But let’s keep their visits to a minimum. Just tonight, okay? Let’s not risk drawing attention to—”

I thought I heard Alli coming my way, so I scurried up the stairs and prayed I’d successfully turned the corner before she saw me. I grabbed a piece of pizza and pretended I’d been up in her room all along.

If she was suspicious, it didn’t show. Alli grabbed a slice, too, and after swallowing a massive bite announced, “So, my mom said you can stay overnight if you want. Then we can get more done.”

I wasn’t sure what to think. It didn’t sound like her parents wanted me here. In fact, it kind of sounded like they were worried they’d get in trouble. Red flags were flying high, but I nonetheless found myself saying, “Sure, why not?” What was I thinking? I guess that it was nice to have a friend and feel normal.

We finished off most of the pizza and went back to work. With our PowerPoint presentation well on its way, I started on the poster. Alli and I chatted as we worked, and I wanted desperately to ask about Marcus and “the pack” but finally decided I shouldn’t. I also wanted to ask about Aiden. I needed to keep my mind on the task at hand. Honestly, though, I couldn’t have cared less about stupid supply and demand.

After an hour and a half of more work, we still had quite a bit to do but we agreed that it was time to take another break. It was after nine. Alli ran downstairs to grab something to drink, but I stayed upstairs, not wanting to see her parents again. Once was enough. Instead I took the opportunity to stretch my legs and wandered over to take a closer look at the framed pictures on Alli’s bookcase. They were all of her family, mostly snaps from when she and Aiden were young. The two kids had been both perfect; it almost looked as if the photos had come with the frames. Even when they were ten, they’d both been adorable. What had happened to their awkward stage? It was like they’d come out of the womb ready to pose for a camera.

I was just about to grab a framed picture of Aiden in a baseball uniform for a closer look when there came a loud knock at the door. Before I could say anything, the door swung open and there was he was. Aiden.

Shirtless.

“Hey, Alli, would you—” He stopped mid-sentence.

Holy mother of God. My hands of their own volition flew up to my mouth to cover my gasp. Bright red scars covered his shoulder and part of his chest. They looked horribly painful but…well, the rest of him was perfect. His sweat pants hung loosely on his hips, and it only took a moment for my eyes to drift down those wonderfully chiseled abs.

My God, could he be any more gorgeous? It was like looking at Adonis himself.

He noticed me staring—gawking was more like it—and he covered the scars with the t-shirt in his hand. “Oh, sorry. It’s not as bad as it looks, really.”

I didn’t know what to say, not that my mouth was cooperating. Neither were my eyes, since I couldn’t take them off him. Aiden. Unbelievably hot Aiden. Shirtless. This was so not good.