Shifted Scars: A Wolves of Forest Grove Novel Read online

  Shifted Scars

  A Wolves of Forest Grove Novel

  Elena Lawson

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Bonus

  Soul Bound

  1

  Forest Grove had hardly changed in the four years since I’d moved to pack camp. There were still groups of teenagers hanging out around the entrance to the corner shop, sipping slurpees and sneaking cigarettes.

  The restaurant down the block was still somehow open even though I’d never seen a soul go inside, and the old couple who walked arm in arm every afternoon through the town were just taking their break on a park bench near the intersection.

  They weren’t the reason I came to this part of town, though. The windows of Jacqueline’s bookshop reflected the afternoon sunlight in an almost blinding square of gold as I walked up, pausing when a strange scent drifted by on the summer breeze.

  Through the small oval window in the door, I could see Jacqueline waving at me to come in and shucked off the distraction. The sweet, musky smell of old books welcomed me as I entered the shop, and I sighed. Wednesday’s had to be one of my favorite days.

  “Right on schedule,” Jacqueline called with a grin from the register. “Your special order came in about an hour ago, and the newest Tate James arrived with yesterday’s shipment.”

  “You’re a saint.”

  I’d been waiting for that book for months, and I couldn’t wait to devour it, but… “I’m just going to have a quick peek at the shelves before I check out.”

  “Don’t you always?”

  I let the serenity of the shop wash over me as I took my time browsing the stacks, finding two more books to add to my pile. I passed over what used to be my favorite section when I worked here four years ago, gaze slipping past bright blues and purples with shining silver fonts.

  Paranormal romance was my go-to through all the years of middle and high school. Until Devin took away my mortality, and with it, my ignorance. For a solid year, I hardly read anything at all. Half because I’d lost interest in my favorite genre, and half because I’d been too afraid to come back to Jackie’s shop.

  The way I had to leave wasn’t the greatest. I’d basically forced her into letting me go and replacing me with her niece. Not even able to come in in person and talk to her about why I had to do it. But time mended a lot of things, and when I came in a few years back to get a copy of a new release, she was genuinely glad to see me.

  I’d come in every Wednesday since. Books from Jackie’s shop were pretty much the only thing I spent my share of the pack’s earnings on.

  I lifted a new urban fantasy she had prominently displayed and flipped to the back cover. Yellow eyes stared back at me, and the first line promised the reader magic and mayhem. With a shudder, I placed it back on the shelf, turning to the contemporary area.

  Once, I’d have snapped up a book like that in a heartbeat. Eager to escape my mundane life into worlds of the supernatural. Now, I needed to escape my supernatural life by reading about normal people and normal problems.

  How ironic.

  “You know this one is a reverse harem, right?” Jackie asked as I made my way to the front counter as an older couple entered the shop to browse.

  Flushing, I nodded, watching her scan my special ordered reverse harem book along with the others and pop them into a bag. She clearly hadn’t realized that three out of the four books I was buying today had similar romantic partnerings. At first, I started reading them to feel more normal. Mating to two shifters made me an anomaly among my race, but in these books, it was commonplace. Plus, if I were being honest, they were super addictive.

  I cleared my throat. “They’re really good,” I said, trying for nonchalance. She was the one who’d taught me never to judge a reader’s tastes. “You should try one.”

  She lifted a thin brow and smirked. “Maybe I should,” she agreed with a wink. “For...research.”

  I laughed as I took the bag from her, shuffling away from the counter to let the older couple pay for their purchases. “See you next week!”

  There wasn’t a whole lot of time for reading, being the alpha of one of the largest packs in the eastern United States, but I made time. Usually up all hours of the night, binging until one of my mates wrestled the pages from my fingers to force me to get some sleep.

  I pulled out the newest book in the darker series I’d been waiting for and anxiously flipped to the first page like an addict looking for a fix. There was no way I could wait until tonight to figure out if the hero were still alive.

  The strange smell from before distracted me, and it was too late for me to stop when I looked up from my book before running headlong into the man standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

  My book flew from my hands, and like an idiot, I used my supernatural speed and ability to launch five feet to the right and catch it before it could fall into the oily puddle at the side of the road.

  Dammit.

  I flashed a quick smile at the man I ran into, trying to blind him with it. “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”

  “No harm done,” he replied brusquely, brushing his palms over his pressed jacket as though my touch had somehow tainted it. Jackass.

  I snorted, putting my book back in my bag.

  “You’re right on schedule.”

  I glanced up, wondering who the man was talking to now as I stepped away but there was no one else, and he was staring straight at me. That’s when I noticed it.

  The odd smell—it was coming from him.

  There was an otherworldliness to him I hadn’t noticed at first, but it was there. An air of power and knowledge that shouldn’t have belonged to a man who looked barely older than thirty.

  He isn’t human.

  “What did you say?”

  “You must be Alison. I was told I might find you here.”

  “Allie,” I corrected him sharply, hands clenching into fists.

  The smell, a smoky odor with an undercurrent of something tangy tugged at a distant memory. But what? My brows rose as I realized where I knew it from. Stella’s house. She was a witch who lived just outside Forest Grove and had helped us a time or two.

  “You’re a witch.”

  “We prefer alchemist, but yes.” The man dipped his head in a formal sort of greeting, and I took in his stature, measuring him up. He wasn’t very large. A few inches below six feet tall with a clean shaven face and dark brown eyes. “Gregory.”

  Something he’d said before returned, and I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling my inner wolf surface. I tampered her with a steadying breath and straightened my spine. “You said I was right on schedule. Were you waiting for me?”

  His lips twitched into a sly grin as he swept an arm toward the coffee shop next door. “Join me for a coff
ee?”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Heat skittered up my spine and this time when my wolf strained against the confines of my human body, I let him see it. I let him see her in the glow of my eyes.

  His smile vanished. “If you’ll join me, I’ll be happy to explain.”

  “Hard pass.”

  Jared and Clay would kill me if they found out I went off with some witch to have a private chat, even if it were in public.

  “If you have something to say to me, you can do it right here.”

  I lowered my voice as a few teenagers strolled past, reeking of tobacco and minty chewing gum.

  The man, Gregory, dragged his tongue across his teeth, a look of disgust on his face as he considered something. “You’ve...how should I put this...you’ve piqued the interest of the Arcane Council. My superior would like a meeting with you to discuss your deformity.”

  My upper lip curled back, and I could barely contain it as a low growl reverberated in my chest. “You can tell your superior that I have no interest in meeting with him. And you—”

  “That’s too bad,” he interrupted. “He doesn’t like to be refused.”

  A thinly veiled threat in his reply put my teeth on edge. Sweat beaded at my brow, and it had nothing to do with the heat.

  “And I don’t like being stalked by witches in my town,” I retorted, meeting him blow for blow with a threat of my own. “If I see you on my streets again, I’ll remove you myself.”

  Surprise flashed quickly in his eyes before his expression settled back to the haughty disdain of a moment before, and he tucked his hands into his pockets.

  “Well then,” he said with a smirk squirming at the edge of his mouth. “Goodbye for now, little wolf. I’ll be seeing you.”

  “You better hope you don’t.”

  I walked seven blocks, taking the longest possible route back to where I’d parked the Chevelle, needing the time to calm my rattled nerves.

  Why were the witches interested in me now? Nothing had changed. I’d been the same Allie Grace—the twin soul wolf—for the last four years. Either they hadn’t known about me until now, or they didn’t care until now. I assumed the former, but if the latter, what changed to make them curious all of a sudden?

  I viscously shoved the thoughts away, locked them up for later inspection. I’d told Clay I’d stop by Grove’s End while I was in town, and if I didn’t calm my racing heart and break up the mosh pit of worried thoughts in my mind, he would sense there was something up.

  No need to worry him. I’d already sent the alchemist prick away, and if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t come back.

  I sighed as I unlocked the door and slid into the seat of my baby, accepting her hug as her leather seats formed to my curves. She’d been a gift from my mates and my two best friends when I turned eighteen. She’d been a wreck then. All rusted out and falling apart. Not anymore. It’d taken almost three years, but she was a sexy thing now. All polished chrome and conditioned leathers and pristine glossy black paint.

  It was too bad I only got to drive her on Wednesdays. There wasn’t much use for a car on pack land, there being no roads leading in or out. Being able to run faster than a car also sort of made the use of one a moot point.

  “Let’s go see Clay,” I muttered to her, easing out onto the road, my hands tense on the wheel.

  2

  It was a short drive to the pub. Well, everything was a short drive in the small town of Forest Grove, but in reality, Grove’s End was the furthest you could get without leaving town limits. It sat just on the outer rim, a little down the way from Gerry’s Shake Shack.

  It didn’t look like much on the outside: a tall, slender building with the lower level—the pub—painted all in black with silver lettering for the sign hanging above the door. A tall window gave passersby a glance inside, but keeping it fairly dim made it difficult for mortal eyes to see in without actually entering.

  The scent of beer and tang of liquor mixed with the mouth-watering salted grease perfume of fresh cut fries as I parked and made my way inside.

  It being a Wednesday and smack dab in between lunch and dinner, there were only the usuals seated at the bar. An older gentleman called Tuck, a younger guy named Darren in his construction boots and safety vest from an early morning shift, and Clay.

  I grinned at my mate as I made my way to him. He sensed me before he saw me, and I caught the slight upturning of his lips on his side profile before he turned.

  “Well if it isn’t the queen, herself,” he teased, and I leaned down to kiss him, but he yanked me onto his lap instead, making me yelp.

  “Hey!” Destiny chastised from behind the bar. “Those stools aren’t built for two.”

  I tried to squirm out of his hold but that only made him hold tighter, his big hands gripping my hips like vises, keeping me pinned against his lap.

  “Horseshit,” Clay grumbled in reply. “Have you seen some of our customers? If they can hold them, they can sure as hell hold me and this toothpick.”

  “Have you seen you?”

  She had a point. Clay was huge. The biggest shifter in the Forest Grove pack by far. Even if he weren’t big boned and over six feet tall, the countless pounds of muscle added to his already large frame made him downright monstrous.

  Despite myself, I laughed, giving up and letting Clay hold me there. I didn’t actually want to move anyway. I hadn’t seen him since yesterday and already the nearness of him was settling my nerves and reinvigorating me through the mate bond.

  His grip loosened, and he slung an arm around my middle, leaning in to breathe in my scent. His stubble pricked the back of my neck, and I shuddered as his warm breath fanned over my collarbone. Bastard knew exactly what he was doing to me.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked a moment later as Destiny left to pour another beer for Darren. I didn’t dare turn to face him, lifting a shoulder in a little shrug.

  “Nothing,” I replied, covering the waver in my voice by clearing my throat. “Hey, Des, want to grab me a whiskey?”

  She raised a brow at my request. I rarely ever drank at the pub. I definitely didn’t during the day. But a whiskey might be just the thing. The Chevelle would be safe parked at Grove’s End overnight since we had someone here twenty-four hours for security, and I could use the run back to pack camp.

  “Make it two, then,” Clay added, giving my side a little squeeze that told me without words that he knew something was up but wouldn’t push me.

  Not right now anyway. Not with mortal ears four seats down the bar and Destiny hovering.

  “So, how’s things here?” I asked both Destiny and Clay, sipping my whiskey and letting the burn of it slinking down my throat sear away the last dregs of my unease.

  “Good,” Clay and Des answered at the same time.

  “Better than we expected so far,” Des added. “Season doesn’t really start for another couple weeks but we’re full most nights.”

  I smiled genuinely at that, throwing Des a wink. “Told you it would be.”

  Grove’s End was Jared and Clay’s baby. After I took over for the corrupt former alpha of the Forest Grove pack, Jared took over running his family’s quarry. He’d always been good with numbers and over the years, we slowly replaced all the employees as they moved on or retired with shifters from the pack. Business was booming, and when Clay saw that this old building had been listed for sale, the two of them agreed this would be a smart move.

  I couldn’t even put into words how glad I was to see it thriving. The first year had been rough, like any new business just starting out they ran into pitfall after pitfall. Barriers to getting a food and liquor license. Mold in the ceiling. A burst water pipe a month into the grand opening. Not to mention that the normal people in town tended to shy away from the place based purely on their natural instincts.

  They may not be able to physically see the wolves within the owners and employees of the pub, but they could sense it. We we
re predators. They were prey.

  A few months of one-dollar happy hour and two-dollar beers made them set aside their misgivings though. Now we charged full price and they still came. Truth be told, there weren’t many half decent places in this town to get a good pint or a half decent burger, and if there were two things shifters did best, it was burgers and beer.

  “You’re coming to the bonfire later, right?” I asked Clay, tipping back the rest of my whiskey with a shudder.

  “For a while. It’s my patrol tonight.”

  A sinking feeling in my gut had me clenching my teeth, and Clay tugged me closer. “Hey,” he said, grabbing me by the chin to make me look at him. “I can pass it off to someone else if you’d rather I—”

  “No,” I stopped him. “No, it’s fine. I’m just—I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Tired, I guess.”

  He wasn’t buying it, I could tell by the way his brows pulled together and his keen blue eyes narrowed. If the witch came back again, I’d tell him. For now, there was no reason to bring it up. There was no reason for me to be worried that he’d be running the perimeter of our lands tonight.

  There’d be at least one other shifter with him. They’d be fine.

  I leaned in and kissed him before he could say anything else, lingering there long enough for his lips to soften and for him to reach up and tangle his fingers in my hair. My skin flashed hot from his touch, thighs clenching, before I forced myself to pull away. It was too easy to get carried away with Clay.

  “See you soon?”

  “See you soon,” he confirmed, his face returning to the stoic mask he wore for everyone else but me. I fluffed his hair, trying to bring the smile back, but he only batted my hand away. He’d kept his inky black hair cropped short for so long that the new look, with it longer on top and shaved down to almost nothing on the sides still made me pause every time I saw him. It was severe in a very Clay way. It suited him.