Aaron shrugged. 'My pack is hungry and I promised them a hunt while we were out here. I'm not one to disappoint.' He gestured with his hand to the other, now human, guys that made up his group.
'Then we'll hunt with you,' Liam said with a straight face.
Aaron paused. 'Sure,' he said.
'Charlotte, stay here with Steve.' Liam said. Steve appeared at my side. 'Make sure she stays safe.'
You would have thought this the assignment of the century. Steve beamed. 'Right, Sir,' he said with a salute. Liam grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Liam's palm cupped my chin. 'Please just stay here,' he whispered. 'I can't bear anything happening to you.' He pressed his lips to mine. 'I'll be back in an hour tops.'
Chapter 20
My chest ached as I watched Liam disappear into the forest with his brother. They'd be able to shift away from me, and that scared me. Too easily they had both bloodied the other. I cringed, wanting to stop him.
'Don't worry. He'll be all right,' Steve said.
'Thanks,' I whispered, even though I didn't believe it. Too many unknowns saturated this plan. Aaron gave up too soon. I saw the fury in his face. I didn't like this.
'Nothing's going to happen,' Steve said as if reading my mind. 'That's why Liam's going with them. He's keeping tabs on Aaron. As long as Liam's with him, he can't do anything to you or Ty.'
I slumped down to the ground and leaned my back against a tree. Tucking my knees to my chest, I fiddled with a twig in the dirt. 'But that doesn't keep him safe,' I said.
Steve sat down next to me. 'Hey, the guy didn't become Alpha from the lottery. He's smart, strong, and very skilled. He's dealt with his brother before. He can take care of himself. Don't worry so much.'
'You really have a lot of faith in him, don't you?' I asked, lifting my gaze. Steve seemed so young, alone, without the others. He reminded me of a little brother, had I had one.
'Liam came to me when I had no one. He taught me to be who I am, how to live the way I do. I'd follow him to the ends of the earth if I had to. I owe him my life.'
The candidness of Steve's words shocked me. 'What happened to you? I mean, how did you...'
'Become a werewolf,' Steve said with a small grin.
'Yeah.'
'My mother was a photographer for a small wildlife publication in New York. I was on Summer Break, so I joined her at the location she was at in Australia. Rumors sprang of a wild dog break, tearing up the local farmsteads, mostly killing livestock and the likes. While my mother was out one night, doing a shoot, she was attacked. They brought her to the local hospital. I never left her side. Perhaps in hind sight I should have, for when she shifted that first night, I was her meal.'
'What?' I gasped, staring at him. I couldn't summon a coherent response.
Steve shrugged, his focus on the dirt, as he picked at it. 'It's okay. It wasn't her fault. The first shift without anyone helping you is terrifying. Her wolf was scared and the natural instinct of a wolf when scared is to attack. I doubt she knew it was me.'
Wow. I couldn't believe how strong he was being. My problems felt so small. 'What happened to her?' I asked.
Steve fidgeted, and I regretted the question. 'The medical staff,' he said, 'put her down.' 'They didn't understand. They saw a wolf attacking a kid. They stopped her.'
'Steve, I'm sorry.'
'It's okay,' he said, not looking at me. 'I didn't shift until after I was flown back here. Liam picked up my scent. He took me in. The pack's my family now. They can be a little annoying,' Steve said with a forced smirk, 'but they're all I have.'
I took a breath and exhaled. 'I don't even know what to say.'
'The point is, trust Liam.' Steve nudged me in the side with a small grin. 'He won't fail you.'
I decided I really liked Steve. 'Maybe you're right.'
'That makes you the first person to admit that this year,' Steve said with a chuckle. 'Maybe you can talk to the others?'
I couldn't help but laugh, and shook my head. 'I'll try,' I said.
My gaze drifted to the surrounding woods and I wondered what Liam and the others were doing. 'Do you guys...hunt a lot?' I asked. The vision I had of them killing some animal with their own claws and teeth made me woozy.
'Every night,' Steve said. 'Sometimes twice a day. Once you've had raw meat in wolf form, it's kind of hard to turn back. We eat mostly that way.'
He must have seen my appalled expression because he added, 'It's an acquired taste. You'll see once you've made your first shift. Everything changes.'
My gut knotted. I still didn't believe that I could ever do something like that, never mind turn into a wolf.
I stood up. What was taking them so long?
'Shouldn't we have just demanded to be taken to Ty?' I asked. 'She's probably scared stiff and all alone. She could even be tied up, or worse.' I started to pace.
Steve watched me from the ground. 'Probably,' he said. 'But Liam knows how to play his brother's games. We already demanded for them to leave our territory, to make another out right demand, we'd have to challenge him again.' Steve shrugged, standing up. 'It's politics, Charlotte. One win, equals one resignation.'
'But I can force him not to change, Steve,' I said with a groan.
'True, but I think Liam wanted to try to do this as peacefully as possible. I don't know Aaron really at all, so I'm just guessing. I don't think you want to make Aaron more upset than you have to. The guy's a little loony.'
'That's why I'm worried about Ty,' I said.
It didn't matter anyway, they already left. No one would run back here just because I wanted them to. At least I didn't think that possible.
The cell phone in my pocket rang and I muttered an obscenity under my breath. Couldn't my father let it go this one time? I told him I'd be home soon. Pulling the small black phone from the pocket, I flicked it open. 'Dad, please. I'm okay. I'll be home...' My voice broke off and everything in me went cold. 'Ty?' I asked.
She spoke so fast, I could barely understand her. Steve jumped to my side, listening. 'Okay, Ty, calm down,' I said. 'Where are you?'
'I got away,' she said. Her voice trembled. 'I need your help. I'm trapped. I'm in some kind of underground tunnel. I can't find the way out. It's so dark.'
I tried to take a deep breath. 'Okay, how'd you get to where you are? Where was he keeping you?'
'In the basement of an old barn,' she said. 'I don't know. I just managed to get out and I found this passageway. I thought it would lead me outside. There's water everywhere. I can barely see. I'm so scared.'
'There must be an old well system under the farm,' Steve said.
Ty screamed.
'Ty?' I yelled back.
Sobbing filled the receiver. 'I thought I saw something move,' she said. 'Please, Charlotte. I'm so scared.'
I turned to Steve. 'We have to get her.'
He looked torn. 'We should wait for Liam,' he said. 'They're supposed to meet us here. There'd be no way for them to know where we were.'
'We'll leave a note!'
'Charlotte,' he said with whine.
'Do you hear her Steve? She's in trouble. She needs us now. I'm not leaving her there with who knows what down in some dark tunnel. She needs us. I am going with or without you.'
The phone still to my ear, I started through the woods. I had no idea what direction to go in, but I didn't care.
