'You have to know that I would never hurt you,' he said. 'I love you. The only reason I kept anything from you, was because I thought I had to. I thought I was protecting you.'
'I know,' I said, surprised at the confirmation of my words, but even more so by the next ones. 'I love you too.' Despite the unnerving inner battle in regards to everything happening, I knew it was true. It frightened me.
'Charlotte,' Liam said, his voice tight. 'No more secrets, okay? I Promise.'
Before I could think of anything to say, he grabbed my hand, pulling me further under the trees. 'Where are we going?' I asked.
He stopped in a small clearing. 'Revealing all my secrets,' He said with a grin.
My stomach felt caught in my throat. 'Liam, I...'
He winked and slowly took the edge of his t-shirt and swung it up over his head, tossing it on the ground. He started unfastening his jeans when I gasped. 'Liam, I know you said all your secrets, but really. Here?'
Liam chuckled. 'I have to shift into a wolf to find your friend, Charlotte. Taking off the clothes is kind of a necessity if I ever want to wear them again. They get destroyed.' Liam smirked, glancing up at me. 'Although, those secrets would be fun to uncover too.'
'Liam!' My cheeks burned.
The amused look on his face made me flush more.
'My brother's too clever to track in this form. There're too many limitations. My pack is going to need to be in wolf form as well. I figured I'd adapt you to this slowly, by introducing myself first.' He grinned.
'You're enjoying this aren't you?' I asked.
He shrugged. 'A little.'
I would have glared, but all my anxieties about dogs came raging to the forefront of my mind, not to mention the whole werewolf thing. 'Liam, I don't know,' I said. Thinking about Liam's wolf form in theory, not bad, but to actually see him shift?
'It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. It's still me in there when I'm in that form. I promise.'
'Okay,' I said, swallowing hard. My entire body felt like a giant knot.
Liam slowly backed away from me, his green gaze holding me in place. I clenched my fists at my sides, forcing myself to stay lucid despite the way the ground seemed to spin under my feet. Once he hit the edge of the small clearing, his irises began to dilate and expand into the unearthly gold color that I had become familiar with.
A ripping snarl emulated from somewhere in Liam's chest and his entire body began to tremble. His skin rippled as if it were molten rubber. I couldn't have turned away, even if I tried. Something snapped and popped. At first I thought a twig or a forest branch had buckled under someone's foot, but then I watched in horror as Liam's back cracked in more than three different places. With a groan, he stretched his arms outward. Claws erupted from seemingly liquid skin, and he fell to the ground on all fours. His jaw line extended, and with it, razor sharp canine teeth erupted behind pulled lips. With a loud snarl, the last phase came in a great explosive wave. His entire body burst with golden brown fur, and then before me stood a large wolf.
His nostrils expanded as his eyes met mine, and then the wolf-Liam started towards me.
The world went black.
Somewhere in my swirling semi-consciousness, I realized I had passed out. Movement came from under where I lay and the vague scent of musk and pine surrounded me. My hand fell to the side and the warm soft feel of downy hair startled me. If I hadn't been in a half murky state of awareness, I would have freaked out. No one spoke. The oddness of it brought my mind back into focus.
I retracted my hand from my side, rubbing my eyes. 'Liam?' I asked. Everything seemed hazy, and then the motion stopped. The soft bed I had been laying on had now become cold, and itched. Prickles from the leaves and sticks scratched at my skin. I had been placed on the ground.
Opening my eyes, Liam's green gaze stared back at me, amused.
'Morning sunshine,' he said with a crooked grin.
I scowled. 'Not amusing. I told you I was afraid of dogs.'
He chuckled, and I contemplated throwing the stick poking into my back, at him. He could fetch, and if didn't, at least the smirk would be gone.
I sat up. The earth moved and tilted before settling back to where it belonged. Liam tried to grab a hold of me, but I cut him off with a glare. The grin on his face grew. Ignoring him, I leaned forward on my knees to clear my head, and took in the surroundings. A thick forest canopy covered us and dusk had set in.
'Ty?' I asked.
Liam's expression turned serious and he sat down next to me. 'We still haven't found her. Don't worry. We will. I promise. She's alive from what the pack's gathered. There's been no scent of human blood or foul play anywhere that we've seen. Knowing my brother, he's using her as bait. I don't think he'll hurt her.'
'As bait for what?' I asked.
Liam cleared his throat. 'You.'
My jaw dropped. 'All because of that book?'
'Possibly,' he said. 'He could also just want to piss me off considering you're my girlfriend, or he could be curious about what you are. Honestly, Aaron doesn't need a reason. He's unpredictable.'
I felt sick.
The bushes ahead of us rustled, and the muzzle of a large black wolf poked through the branches. I grabbed Liam's arm, trying not to hyperventilate. The wolf moved without a sound, pushing himself the rest of the way through into the small clearing. His long legged body held a dusting of silver around the fur of his neck and down along his backbone. He let out a whimper as he lowered his broad head, and gazed up at me; golden hues meeting mine. I couldn't breathe as he stood there. He whined again, and then lay down on the ground only a few feet from where we sat. If Liam hadn't been sitting next to me, I probably would have passed out once more.
'He misses her too,' Liam said. 'Don't worry, we'll find her you big goof.' Liam reached out and rustled the fur on the top of the wolf's head.
My chin dropped. 'Byron?' I asked.
The wolf gave a short, quick bark and scooted himself forward on his hind legs, placing his oversized head on my lap. My eyes went wide.
'Hey, watch it man, 'Liam said with a chuckle. 'She's my girlfriend.'
The lips of the large black wolf pulled up over his sharp teeth, giving the illusion of a cheeky grin.
'Byron!' I said, with a gasp. I didn't know if I should laugh or freak out.
The tips of my fingers found the long ebony hairs on his head. Byron watched me, remaining still. I slowly ventured further, embedding my hand in his thick coat, and then rounded it up to scratch behind his ear. Byron leaned into my palm. I scratched again and he pushed his wet nose right into me, knocking me over. 'Stop that,' I said with a laugh.
'Alright, that's enough you two,' Liam said. 'Get out of here, you.' He shoved Byron off my lap and I sat up. 'Where're the others?'
Byron moved with a silent, long legged grace, back to the shrub's edge. He stopped, looking back at us.
'Go get them,' Liam said to him. 'We've got to move.' Liam got up, dusting the dried leaves from his jeans, and extended his hand to me. Taking it, I found my feet.
'You good?' he asked.
'Yeah.'
I spoke too soon. The edge of the shrubbery crackled and shook. My pulse soared and Liam squeezed my hand.
'It's okay,' he said. 'It's just the others.'
'That's what I was afraid of,' I said, as Byron stepped from the overgrowth with two other wolves flanking his side. Flynt and Eldridge: identical, even in this form; rusty brown hair with a hint of white tipping their ears and tails.
This is so surreal.
'You sure you're okay?' Liam asked.
I wondered if I looked as pale as I felt.
'Great,' I said with a forced grin
