Red Ridge Pack 1 Pack of Lies (12 page)

I wondered if Marcus was suspicious. Surely, he had noticed my sudden disappearance, which made me curious as to what Cade had told the alpha. Where had he been spending his time?

Grudgingly, I strolled up to our front porch, and just as I was about to open the door, Mom swung it open. “Oh, hey Kendall. You scared me to death! I’m heading over to Noel’s. Would you like to come? I’m sure Cade will be there.”

I shimmied around her to get inside and said, “No thanks. I have some homework to catch up on.”

Mom turned around and followed me inside. “Homework? What? It can’t wait?”

Without turning to face her, I lied, “No, Mom. It can’t. I have an essay due tomorrow for English. I’ll be in my room. Text me if you need anything.”

I figured my measly excuse wouldn’t be good enough for her, and, of course, I was right. “Okay, I know something is up. Are you and Cade fighting? You better not be causing problems, young lady!” I turned around to find her standing in the middle of the foyer with her hands on her hips.

Before I took my leave up the stairs, I tried to assure her, “Mom, everything is fine. Really. Ask Noel. I’m sure she will tell you that Cade and I are more in love than ever.” That ought to keep her satisfied.

Almost satisfied, anyway. Before Mom headed out the door, she scolded, “Everything better be fine. You better not screw this up! I’m counting on you to keep that boy, or we will never be anything more than lowly pack members around here.”

I didn’t respond. As I stomped up the stairs, my mommy-dearest slammed the door behind her.

I made it up to my room just before my cell said, “Message received.” I flipped it open to find a message from Cade.

We need to talk. Can I come over?

Surprise, frustration, and excitement all coursed through my body simultaneously. It was the first time he contacted me since everything fell apart. I texted him back, and he was at my door less than five minutes later.

After I invited him in, he followed me into the kitchen. “Hungry?” I asked, hoping to dispel the nervous energy in the air.

“No thanks. Can we sit down?”

We sat down at the kitchen table, and he scooted his chair closer to mine. His blood-shot eyes were glued to the floor. He looked like hell, but I figured it would be best to keep that thought to myself.

After an excruciating long moment of silence, Cade admitted, “I spent some time thinking, and I realized what a jerk I’ve been to you. I’m sorry Kendall. Can we just forget the last three weeks and start over?”

These were the words I have been longing to hear, but what did he expect me to do? Just pick up where we left off like nothing had happened? Act like I hadn’t seen him getting it on with another girl? Every fiber of my being wanted to tell him to screw off.

But I didn’t. There was too much riding on me to make things right with the future alpha, no matter how much I wanted to physically hurt him for humiliating me like this. If anyone found out what has really been going on, I would be mortified.

Forcing my instincts to take a back seat, I smiled and said, “Okay. I’ve missed you.” Then I kissed him. Really kissed him. Just to remind him what he’s been missing. I said, “We have the house to ourselves. My mom won’t be home for a few hours.” Then, I straddled his lap and kissed him again.

Chapter 25

Allison

Even though I didn’t hear from Cade all day yesterday, I have been on cloud nine since Saturday night. It was unbelievable. Secret dating certainly wasn’t as good as for-real dating, but on Saturday night something changed between us.

Things were going to be different now, and before we left the lodge, Cade promised me that we would figure the whole Kendall thing out soon. He would find some way for us to be together. And I knew he would. Maybe that was what he was up to all day yesterday.

I knew in my heart that he cared about me just as much as I cared about him. Sneaking around for almost a month wasn’t exactly how I imaged our relationship would begin, but if it was my only option, then I’ll just have to wait it out.

Cade and Kendall couldn’t pretend forever, could they? I wanted nothing more than to be able to hop in Sammy’s car this morning, lean over, give Cade a kiss, and hold his hand on the way to school. It was so hard pretending like nothing was going on. At least, Kendall hadn’t been riding to school with us. Apparently, Shari was her new personal chauffeur, which was just fine with me. How awkward would that be? Me, Cade, and Kendall all sitting next to each other like everything was normal.

I heard Sammy honking the horn in our driveway, so I rushed the finishing touches on my make-up and ran downstairs.

“Who are you trying to impress?” Aiden asked giving me a little eyebrow raise.

I gave him a dirty look, and said, “Shut up, Ad. Let’s go.”

I rushed out into the cold, thrilled to be next to Cade once again, and pulled the Suburban door open, only to have my heart completely crushed. I could hardly believe my eyes. Kendall was sitting next to Cade, and to make matters worse, the she-devil had the nerve to smile at me.
Holy mother of God! WTF!

They were holding hands! And, since Aiden grabbed the seat in the back, the only open seat was next to Kendall. Cade kept his eyes on the seat in front of him, refusing to look my way, which was probably a good thing. I quite possibly would have lost it had he made eye contact with me.

Trying my damnedest not to look like I might puke at any moment, I took my seat next to the bitch and slammed the door shut a little too hard.

“Sorry,” I said under my breath.

The whole way to school, I kept secretly staring at Kendall and Cade’s entwined fingers. Cade didn’t say a single word to me; he didn’t even acknowledge that I was in the car. Every time, Kendall would lean over and whisper in his ear, I felt bile rise up in my throat.

It’s not that I really expected him to dump the bimbo “officially” already, but I honestly thought that he had more respect for me than to flaunt their relationship in front of me, especially now. Obviously, something was up, and Cade would better have an explanation.

By the time we pulled up in front of the school, I couldn’t wait to get out of the car. I didn’t look at anyone or talk to anyone; I hopped out of the car and hurried toward the entrance. I heard Aiden calling my name, but I kept walking straight ahead pretending I haven’t heard him, and concentrated on getting to first period as soon as possible. I had to get away from them, away from all of them. Fast. Or I was going to have a complete breakdown in the middle of the commons. That, I couldn’t afford.

I walked into room 302, and forced myself to muster up a smile when I saw Teagan.

“Hey, Alli-cat. Are you feeling okay? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

“I’m okay, I guess. I just don’t feel all that great this morning,” I admitted as I took my seat.

“Oh, maybe you should go to the nurse. Could be the flu,” Teagan suggested.

I closed my eyes for a moment to concentrate on not throwing up my breakfast. What just happened? Cade and Kendall? Just like that? And he didn’t even bother to tell me! How was I supposed to react? I laid my head down on my desk and tried not to let my emotions get the best of me.

I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry!
I repeated silently over and over again.

“You sure you’re okay?” Teagan asked again.

With my eyes still shut, I gave her a quick nod to let her know that I was alright. Teagan had really been the best these past few weeks. It was nice to have a real friend again, even if she was just a school friend. That was better than having no friends. I even told her about Cade. Well… I didn’t tell her his name, but she knows that I had a secret thing going on. And the best thing about Teagan was that she didn’t ask questions.

“Secret boyfriend troubles,” she said. “I hope he isn’t one of those testosterone-filled, alpha males that you have lunch with.”

Before I could stop myself, a small chuckle escaped my lips.
Oh man, she doesn’t know just how right she is,
I thought to myself.

“I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk about something else. Anything else,” I pleaded, finally opening my eyes.

“Sure, but talk to someone. Maybe one of those girls you eat lunch with. Or the counselor.”

I gave her half a smile. “I wouldn’t exactly call them my friends. We all live in the same neighborhood, and we ride together to school. That’s it. And I’m not talking to the school counselor. Me and counselors don’t mesh,” I admitted.

Teagan started sorting through her school work and let the subject drop. Thank goodness, because I was fighting the urge to spill my guts to her about the whole sorted affair, and only because the teacher droned on and on until the dismissal bell rang, did I keep my secret safe. We didn’t have the chance to say anything else to one another before the class was over. I surely would have regretted saying anything about Cade, but the need to tell someone was hard to resist. Teagan and I walked out together, and before she took off for her next class I asked, “Hey, do you mind if I sit with you at lunch today?” She smiled and said, “Sure thing, I’ll save you a spot.”

***

I made it to second period before Shari arrived. When she came in, she sat down at the desk next to mine and immediately said, “Hey Alli, we are going to grab a pizza after school if you want to come.”

Completely shocked by the invite, I found myself scrambling for an excuse not to go. Before I even realized, a reply a bit too close to the truth slipped out. “Really? I don’t know. I’m not sure that Kendall likes me very much.”

Not that it should have surprised me, but she acted stunned that I didn’t think of myself as Kendall’s favorite person. “What? Well, no worries. Kendall’s not coming. I think she has plans with Cade.”

Just hearing his name pissed me off all over again, and I almost told Shari
thanks but no thanks
, but I didn’t want to turn down my first invite to go out with the girls from the pack. I was having a hard enough time fitting in without giving them a reason to like me less, and I just would have gone home anyways, and obsessed over Kendall and Cade’s revived relationship. I definitely needed something to take my mind off them and whatever it was they were doing after school.

“Okay, sure. How are we getting there?”

Shari smiled, and said, “Oh, I drove to school today. It’s just going to be me, you, and Becca. Meet us after school out front.”

Of course, I brooded over Cade the rest of the day and tried to unsuccessfully convince myself that it wasn’t a big deal, to get over it, and that I should have seen it coming, but that wasn’t working, so I just ended up feeling worse. I was an idiot to think that our relationship would work out. He dated me in secret, for God’s sake. He was too ashamed to admit to anyone that he liked me, if he ever really did. I pretty much spent the majority of the day beating myself up for being so naïve.

Even though I sat with Teagan at lunch, I noticed that both Kendall and Cade were missing from the pack’s table. Nothing could have diffused the anger burning inside me. I couldn’t stop thinking about why they weren’t at lunch. A private rendezvous at the library stacks? Or maybe outside under the bleachers?

Squeezing my eyes shut, I wished the images in my mind would take a hike, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, so I sat there in silence, letting it drive me crazy. I’m sure Teagan could tell, but she was nice enough not to say anything. Everyone else I encountered that day asked me what was wrong and if I was okay. Obviously, I was doing a sucky job of hiding my emotions.

After school, on my way out front, my nerves were getting the best of me. I couldn’t believe I was going out for a pizza with Kendall’s friends. How bizarre was that? I caught up with Aiden on my way out and let him know of my plans. He seemed… I don’t know, pleased?

I saw Shari from across the way, and she waved me over.

“Hey Alli. You ready, girl?” Becca called, as if we had actually been friends since we first met. In reality, I think those five words were the most she ever bothered to say to me.

WTF! This was too weird. Why were they being all nice to me? My instincts were screaming that something fishy was going on, but I convinced myself that this was completely normal, and they were just trying to be friendly. This is what you do when you have friends, right?

We headed over to Gesseppi’s pizza parlor, which was only a few miles from school.

The girls gabbed the whole way there. Though I wasn’t exactly included in the conversation, I gave an occasional nod and giggle, so they knew I was listening. Once there, Shari ordered a large pepperoni pizza and drinks for all of us.

We got settled at a table, and as we waited for our pizza, Becca asked, “So Alli, how do you like being a werewolf?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I guess it’s better now that I know what’s going on with me. For a while there, I thought I was either really sick or really crazy, you know?” I replied.

Shari smiled and said, “I bet. You probably thought you were running a fever, huh?”

“Yeah, I kept having hot flashes. That sucked, but the worst part of it all was all the smells in the air. Every time I turned around, something else was making me nauseous,” I added.

As we all laughed, I couldn’t believe how cool these girls were being, especially since neither of them had really talked to me much since the first night we arrived. I couldn’t help but wonder what Kendall would think if she knew I was having pizza with her best friends.

“Aiden seems to be adjusting. I mean, he just kind of fits right in with a group of guys, who generally don’t like newcomers. Plus, he is so hot,” Shari said.

Just as I was about to tell them that Aiden didn’t seem fazed by any of it, I heard the bells over the door ring, and turned to see who was walking in.
Oh shit! I thought she wasn’t coming
.

Chapter 26

Kendall

“Hey chicas! And Alli. I guess I made it after all,” I announced as I waltzed through the door.