SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) (10 page)

“When are you heading back, Ollie?” I asked once I was no longer the center of attention.

“In two days,” he said and I slumped against the sofa.

“What? You just got here!”

“I know, Kenz. But I can’t stay long. I had to choose between Christmas and New Year’s, I couldn’t have both holidays.”

“Well let’s not mope around, k?” Amy said as she checked out our DVD collection. “Let’s watch a movie and chill.”

While she called out movie titles, the doorbell rang. I stiffened for a moment, thinking it might have been James or someone from his family. I wasn’t afraid of them—I mean seriously, what could they do to me—but I didn’t want any drama. Coming home was supposed to be relaxing and we’d seen them not too long ago. He could have changed his mind about approaching me.

“I’ll get it,” Ollie said and got up to go to the living room.

Jonah was sharing the sofa with me and leaned in to whisper. “You okay?”

I nodded and smiled but it wasn’t completely sincere. He put his arm around me and pulled me into him, kissing the side of my head. Oddly enough, I felt at home cuddled up with him. It was a pleasant feeling.

“Uh…Kenz…they’re some guys asking for you,” Ollie came back into the room, with a very tense and pissed off Sebastian.

“Sebastian?” Jonah and I both said at the same time. We were still snuggled close together on the sofa and the Alpha’s face tightened as he took in our state.

“Kenz, who is this?” my brother asked and his protective side was unleashed.

“Who are you?” Sebastian countered and the two of them looked like they were about to face off. What the hell was going on?

“Hey!” I said and got up, shaking off my state of shock. “Stop it, Bash. This is my brother.” I needed to get that out there to break up the dominance competition because while Ollie is a total Army badass, I didn’t know how he’d fare against an Alpha werewolf. And I didn’t want to find out.

Sebastian relaxed a bit but his face was still grim. His eyes traveled across the room until they landed on Jonah, who was now standing guard next to me.

“What’s going on, boss?” Jonah asked and I could see the confusion in his beautiful face. Ugh, I sounded like a girl with a crush and I needed to get over it. I couldn’t be getting all lovey dovey with Jonah and then having inappropriate thoughts about Sebastian. I was turning into a hussy.

I peered up at Jonah who looked a little perplexed. I knew he had been keeping Bash updated since we arrived, so he must not have known he was coming here. After spending the past two days together, I think he would have told me.

“We need to talk. You, me, and Mackenzie. Now,” Sebastian demanded and he left the room. Jonah followed him without hesitation and I wished I could say the same. I stalled for a moment and I felt Amy and Ollie’s eyes on me, waiting for me to explain. Jonah stopped at the doorframe that separated the living and TV room.

“Come on,” he jerked his head to the front door and left.

“Kenzie, what’s going on?” Amy asked and I wished I could tell her but I didn’t know. I think it had something to do with the summit and if so, then I needed to figure out my next move.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled and followed the two werewolves out the door.

Outside my house was the same black SUV that had pulled up in front of Pete’s when they had taken me, and two (I’m assuming) werewolves were standing guard. Jonah and Sebastian were on the porch waiting for me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in a quiet voice. It must be bad news if he had to come all the way over to little ol’ Cold Spring to break the news.

“We have a problem,” Sebastian said but his back was to me. I didn’t know if he was talking to me or Jonah, or both of us.

“The Summit?” Jonah questioned and Bash shook his head.

“I have news about the summit, but that will have to take a backseat for the time being,” he said and turned to look at us. “Jackson’s been kidnapped.”

I held my breath. Had I heard him correctly? Jonah’s body didn’t move. I was scared to look at him, so I diverted my eyes and got a glimpse of his shaking hand.

“What. Happened.” he gritted out.

I peered up at Sebastian who was watching me. “We don’t know.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know?!” Jonah yelled and was about to pounce on Sebastian. I gripped his arm with a reflex I didn’t know I had—but I shouldn’t have been surprised—and stopped him before he did anything stupid.

“
Jonah
,” I said sternly and he tensed.

Sebastian’s jaw dropped a fraction and he picked it up quickly, hoping I hadn’t seen, but I did. He gazed at me for a while longer and then looked to his Beta. “I’m sorry, brother. I wish I had more to tell you, but this wasn’t something that was appropriate for me to say over the phone. I didn’t want anyone else to tell you beside me.”

There was a long pause before Jonah nodded stiffly. “I understand,” he said and I released my hold on him.

“Because of this, you need to come home. We need to figure out what happened.”

“What about Kenzie?” Jonah asked and Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. He caught the nickname.

He watched me for a moment. “I was going to make her come back with us, but I think she’ll be fine if she wants to stay,” he said and waited for my response.

He was giving me a choice, which should have been easy for me and I should have said I was staying, but something in my gut was telling me I needed to go with them. Jackson wasn’t the president of my fan club, and I’m not his biggest fan either, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone—not even Diana Stone. No matter how much of a douchebag he was, Jackson was Jonah’s brother and I was stunned when I thought how much that weighed in on my decision. What if it had been Ollie? If it was important to him, it was important to me.
I’m turning into such a chick.

“I’m going,” I said and Sebastian smirked at me like he knew what my answer was going to be. Jonah snapped his neck my way and his eyes were golden as he glared. “He’s your brother. I want to help,” I whispered.

He continued to glare. “No. You’ve done enough,” Jonah growled and I jerked back like he’d slapped me across the face.

Jonah reached into his jeans pockets and got out his car keys. “I’ll see you back in the city,” he said over his shoulder and was gone before I could say a word.

I stood there, not able to speak or move. Not even five minutes ago, we were joking and playing around. Now I was a pariah.

“Don’t take it personally, Mackenzie,” Sebastian said. “He’s upset and feeling guilty.”

“Guilty for what?”

“For not being there to avoid it.” And I heard the underlying message in that. For being too busy with me, he wasn’t around to save his brother. I had been in the way.

“Do you think I should still go?” I asked because I understood now and didn’t want to be where I wasn’t welcomed.

“Yes. I think you should,” Sebastian said and it was settled. I was going whether Jonah liked it or not.

Sebastian followed me back into the house to find Amy and Ollie standing by the living room window that looked out to the porch.

“Ollie, this is Sebastian. Bash, this is my brother, Sergeant Oliver Grey,” I said and slid in the solider mention. This Alpha needed to learn early on that he was meeting not just my brother, but someone who understood what being an Alpha was all about. While Ollie may not be as intense as the werewolves, he was protective of the people he cared about and when the time comes, he suits up.

They shook hands, but my brother eyed him guardedly. This wasn’t going to be as easy as it was with Jonah.

“What’s going on, Kenz?” Amy asked.

“Jackson’s been taken,” I said and realized I should have kept my mouth shut. My brother’s eyes snapped to me and grew an inch.

“Who’s Jackson? And taken as in kidnapped?” What other way was there? I nodded. “You need to call the police,” he said it like it was common sense, and to the average human, well, yeah it was. But these were wolves, it wouldn’t be easy to take one of these suckers down—much less a jerk like Jackson, who’d run his mouth so much, they’d change their mind about kidnapping him—so this might be supernatural? They did tell me that vampires were real and if the myths are correct, we have beef with them.

“We can’t, Ollie,” I said and drifted my gaze between him and Sebastian. Could I tell my brother? Could I tell him that his baby sister is a werewolf—a monster?

“What are you involved in, Mackenzie?” he questioned in a stern voice. He said my full name which meant he wasn’t playing around anymore. He was mad.

“Nothing illegal,” At least I hoped not, “I swear. It’s just…complicated.”

“Then un-complicate it for me,” he said and crossed his arms over his chest.

I blew out a breath, my hands got clammy and I rubbed them intently as I tried to come up with something or build up enough courage to blurt out the truth.

The door swung open and the hinges creaked. “Mackenzie Grey! Damnit you better be here and talk to me!” James yelled as he came in uninvited. Maybe he was good for something, the loser. “What is
he
doing here?” he said as he walked in to the living room and pointed an accusatory finger at Sebastian.

“Jesus Christ, Jameson, what is wrong with you?” I said exasperated. Seriously, the kid needed to learn to knock or not piss off a wolf. Because that’s what he was doing for the second time this week.

“We need to talk about yesterday! You can’t just assault me and then not keep your part of the deal and come to dinner!” he continued to yell as if I wasn’t in the room.

“I’m not deaf, damnit! Pick that wedgie that has your undies in a twist, man. Good grief,” I said and dropped down on the nearest sofa. So much for coming home and getting away from the crazy.

He huffed but didn’t say anything.

“You know him?” my brother asked James as he watched Sebastian. I didn’t blame Ollie. Bash had an air of menace to him that would make anyone question whether he’ll keep you from danger, or if he was the danger. I’m still not sure myself.

James puffed his chest. Oh please. “Yeah, I know him. He’s a cop, he’s protecting Kenz.”

My brother’s face turned tomato red and I wanted to kill James right then and there. I scowled at him and he flinched. He better be afraid, I was about to make his life hell.

“What does she need protecting from? What’s going on Mackenzie!”

I take it back. He’s not mad, he was furious.

“It’s not that serious, Ollie. I was involved in a hostage situation, no biggie,” I told him our cover story and tried to brush it off like it was nothing.

“No biggie?!” he exclaimed.

“Who says ‘no biggie’ anymore?” Amy mumbled.

“What the hell Mackenzie! I swear, you’re not going back to the city. I told dad it was going to be a bad idea,” he said and started to pace.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t go back to the city, you should probably stay here,” James smirked at me.

“Bitch, shut the fuck up,” I growled. He was worried about me ‘degrading him as a man,’ he was about to get a hell of a lot worse.

I clenched my fists at my side and tried to calm my breathing, but I sounded like I was overweight and going up ten flights of stairs. The wolf stirred for the second time in two days and if I kept getting my buttons pushed, I wouldn’t make it to the next full moon. She wanted out and I might not be able to control her.

Sebastian pushed me toward the kitchen. James and Oliver were yelling at each other and Amy had followed us out.

I was huffing now, with my hands on my knees.

“What’s going on?” Amy asked, worried, and I could smell the fear that was laced in her voice. I didn’t hear it, I smelled it. It enticed me. I wanted her to be scared.

I peered up at her and she stumbled back. “Her eyes,” she mumbled.

“Get me a bucket of ice and water, separately,” Sebastian quietly demanded. He was more delicate with her than with me and it made me snarl at both of them.

Sebastian roughly pushed me onto a chair and kneeled down in front of me. He grasped my face in his calloused hands and forced me to look at him. “Calm down,” he ordered but I was in full defiant mode.
No, I won’t calm down
. I growled a little louder now and deep down I knew I shouldn’t, the others could hear me but the wolf didn’t care. She was hungry…wait…she was hungry?

“Here,” Amy said as she handed over what Sebastian asked for. “Anything else?”

“Meat. Check to see if they have any raw meat.” She was hesitant for a moment but I flashed my canines at her and snapped my teeth. Making her almost run to the refrigerator.

“Easy there, pup. She’s a friend,” he said and I turned my glare on him.

Before I realized what he was doing, he grabbed a handful of ice, pulled at my shirt and dump the ice down my front; using his hand to smash it against my chest.

I howled.

Everything stopped. Amy froze and the chatter in the other room ceased as well. There were wild wolves in upstate New York that had migrated in the last few years, but not around Cold Springs.