Black Wolf (Black Wolf Series Book 1) Read online

  “Can’t we—”

  “Stop. I understand—no”—Diesel waved off the interruption Lathan was preparing—“believe me, I do. But you’ve got to let her go. You’ve said it yourself. You’re too dangerous and unpredictable to be around her. And come on—she’s a teenager, Lathan, and you’re hardly more than that in human years. Who’s to say her infatuation with you won’t end tomorrow?”

  “That’s not how it works,” Lathan cut in.

  “That’s her decision to make when it’s time. Just because you’ve imprinted on her doesn’t mean she’s going to feel the same way about you when she’s old enough to make that call. You’re both kids—but she’s human. And she’s—”

  “I don’t want her that way right now. Fate, I’m not a monster.”

  “Depends on who you ask,” Ren called over, and Aveleiyn giggled before she slapped his arm. “Ow! I mean, really though, we can hear them. Do they expect us to pretend?”

  Lathan gave Diesel a pointed look.

  “Give them a break. They’re about to steal a girl’s memory and destroy her family. If humor is how they have to handle that, then let them laugh.”

  “Never thought I’d hear you say that,” Lathan said bitterly.

  “Me either.” Diesel sighed.

  Lathan looked over at the others. Ren, the too-handsome Protector, who would be the one Grace looked to for safety. Aveleiyn, the deceptively youthful-looking vampire, who would carry Grace’s memory of him. He didn’t want to admit it, because he hated to cede control, but Diesel was right. They were the only option if he wanted to keep Grace safe.

  “Okay.” Lathan hoped he sounded more self-assured than he was. “Let’s do this.”

  Grace couldn’t do anything but laugh in disbelief. Maybe it was the shock of seeing her crush turn into a wolf. No matter how crazy that had seemed, though, it wasn’t turning out to be the weirdest part of her night. Because her parents had hustled her inside, closed themselves into the laundry room with her, and then moved the washer about three inches to the right. Which had triggered a section of the floor to lower them into an enormous room under what she’d always assumed was the first floor of their house. Not just any enormous room, either. Oh, no—a lab.

  An I-am-so-not-shitting-you secret lab. With test tubes and everything.

  She laughed out loud for the twelfth time. She’d been counting—it was another way she could maintain control, and damn if she didn’t need all the composure she could get at the moment.

  Her parents weren’t saying anything. Her mom looked tearful, her dad was ashen. But neither one seemed willing to break the silence.

  So she broke it, for the thirteen time.

  A buzzing sound interrupted her and all around the room, red lights flashed a warning. With a hiss, the ceiling gave way, a hydraulic frame moving smoothly to draw the platform down to the floor. From where she was seated, in a clinical-feeling clear plastic chair, she could see the shelf over the washer and dryer—the one with all the usual suspects. Detergent, fabric softener, a little jar of clothes pins. It was so normal.

  The four people on the floor—no, ceiling—no, whatever the hell: platform?—were anything but normal. She knew she was right about that, and not because Lathan was in the mix. That big guy with the silver-blond hair had picked her up and tossed her around like she weighed as much as an ant. And the new arrivals? Her skin was humming at the very sight of them.

  The man with the chin-length hair was the one who cut the tension.

  “Hell of an underground facility. Guessing the vamps had something to do with it?” He seemed to be directing the question to the blond next to him.

  She smiled, but didn’t respond. Grace had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. She couldn’t help wondering what Lathan thought, but when she looked to him his expression was an unreadable mask.

  Grace stood up when the four stepped off the platform as a single unit. There was an energy in the air that she couldn’t understand, but she knew it was coming from them.

  Lathan finally met her eye as he crossed the room, but he continued beyond her to her parents.

  “Have you had time to prepare everything on your end?” he asked.

  “It’s months earlier than we expected. There’s no other way?” her father asked, his brow furrowed. “We haven’t finished testing our methods of chemical control. I still feel like there’s something we could do, if we could perfect one of them.”

  “We don’t have time to test and develop, Chris. You saw how aggressive he got—no offense, dear,” her mom said, smiling sadly at Lathan. “We’d have to lock her in the safe room to keep him away—and even if we did—”

  “We’re already risking everything—” her father argued.

  “Are you wearing my dad’s shirt?” Grace heard herself ask suddenly.

  Everyone turned to look at her, but no one spoke.

  “Are you?” she demanded.

  Lathan cleared his throat and closed half of the distance to her in one step. “Yes.”

  “Great. That’s…just great.” She shook her head. “And now that you’re acknowledging my presence in all of this, how about you answer another question I’ve got.” She knew she was trembling and her cheeks were flaming. “What the hell is happening?”

  “Gracie—” her mom scolded.

  “No. No! Someone needs to tell me what all of this is about. You”—she threw her finger in Lathan’s face—“turned into a wolf. I was there. I saw it. And this?” She glared around him at her parents. “This is a secret lab. A secret lab. That’s screwed up. And…and”—she flung a hand at the other three visitors—“well, I don’t know where to begin, but there’s definitely something weird about all of them. So someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on, or I’m going to lose my mind.”

  And then she burst into tears.

  Lathan could feel the heat crawling up his spine, reaching to the nape of his neck, tightening the skin behind his ears. His wolf wanted, needed, demanded to be set free. But so close to Grace?

  That wasn’t going to happen again.

  “He’s gonna blow,” Ren said, moving forward.

  “Do you see the sleeve of this jacket? Don’t touch her, at least not in front of him,” Diesel said. “I learned that lesson the hard way.”

  Lathan clenched his teeth and backed up a step. And then another. He let Ren block his view of Grace, even though his body was fighting to override his commands.

  “If we’re doing this, it would be best to finish it sooner rather than later,” Aveleiyn said softly from somewhere to the left. “I might need to treat Lathan, too.”

  “No.” Lathan spoke through gritted teeth. “If we’re going to send her away, I need to remember every second of it.”

  “Send me away?” Grace cried out. “What do you mean? What does he mean?” Her voice was panicked. She was terrified—and she was right to be.

  Despite what he preferred to believe, he was a monster. One who was fully and completely capable of tearing her apart. But from the moment he had imprinted on her, the animal in him had grown worse. It was like his wolf had doubled in size and strength, ready to take out anyone who stood in the way, rushing forward at every sign of emotion—good and bad—in her. Things couldn’t go on that way.

  But the plan her parents had helped them form, the one he and Diesel had honed to perfection, had a huge problem. There was no guarantee that he and Grace would ever be reunited; even if she did come back into his life, who knew whether or not they would ever be friends again? Which was good, he reminded himself, because he didn’t want to hurt her.

  Living without her forever, though? His imprint on her was strong, and he knew he could be giving up on the chance to build a life with her in the future. That was a loss he would grieve for the rest of his almost eternal existence.

  “Chris, we can do this. For Grace. We know better than most how bad things can get. It’s too dangerous. We have to let her go.” Allie was talking gently to her husband.

  Diesel and Aveleiyn were standing at the ready.

  Ren was planted in front of Grace.

  Grace was sobbing.

  He wanted to shove that cocky, angelically-coifed motherfucker out of the way so he could comfort Grace. He was desperate to dry her tears and tell her everything was going to be fine, because he was going to save the day.

  Instead he glanced back at her parents. “Time for goodbyes,” he said.

  He stepped out of the way.

  “Are you sure?”

  Aveleiyn was looking up at him with tears shimmering in her eyes. The tears of a vampire—white, like their blood. He was touched. It was hard to make a vamp cry.

  “I’ll never be sure. A hundred years from now, I’ll still think it was a mistake.”

  Grace was hysterical—not that he blamed her. She was laughing and crying and shaking her head, paying no attention to anyone else in the room. Lathan winced as the weight of his actions settled heavily in his soul.

  “I’m going to take her hand.” Aveleiyn was talking him through it one last time. “And then I’ll begin to take the memories. When I’m done, the only things she’ll have are the ones I leave her with. I’ll comfort her, though,” she pledged. “That won’t last. When she comes back around, her world will be different. It will be painful and confusing, but while I am able to give her relief, I will.”

  Lathan nodded, because he was having trouble finding a way to speak around the lump in his throat.

  “Ren will take her from here,” Diesel spoke up. “If you want to have a last moment, now’s your chance.”

  “No,” Lathan croaked. He swallowed hard, fighting off his own tears because he didn’t deserve to shed them.

  A hand fell on his arm
and Grace’s mom said, “You’re doing the right thing. This is a tough decision for such a young wolf. You’ll make your pack proud.”

  “You don’t blame me?” He swallowed again, but this time the tears were stronger than he was.

  “Oh, Lathan. Never. Things will work out the way they’re supposed to. She’ll be back one day, and because of you, she’ll be safe until then.”

  Grace’s father looked about as unconvinced as Lathan felt, and it was almost enough to make Lathan change his mind.

  He didn’t think either one of her parents had tried to say goodbye.

  Grace was still sobbing. Rubbing her hands up and down the outsides of her arms, like all she needed was for someone to take the pain away.

  Ren gave a solemn nod from across the room.

  Lathan nodded back. He prayed to Fate that Grace didn’t end up falling for the guy, but if she did, there was probably no one more deserving. Even him—hell, especially him, seeing as he was the one condemning her to this whole shit-show.

  “Alright, do it,” he said to Aveleiyn. “Make her forget me. It’s the only way to protect her.”

  “I could never forget you.” Grace choked the words out.

  His heart shattered, the fragments more numerous than the stars in the sky or the trees in the Forest. He would never, despite all the years he was sure to live, find a way to reassemble something so wholly obliterated.

  “How can you do this?” she pleaded. “I know you care about me. It’s bigger than that, though, isn’t it? Like we’re soul mates. I feel it, too. I—please Lathan, I feel it, too.” The sobs took her over again. “Mom. Dad. Please. Why are you—please!”

  “I can’t do this.” Her dad turned away.

  “She could die if we don’t,” her mom whispered. Her lip was trembling when she nodded at Aveleiyn. “Go on. Do it. Make her forget all of this.”

  Aveleiyn nodded and moved across the room. There were no sounds at all, except Grace’s sobs.

  Lathan wanted to turn away, but he made himself watch as his wolf clawed up his throat. He was going to shift again—he could already feel it, but they’d anticipated this one. All he had to do was hold out until Grace had been moved to safety, so he focused every ounce of his energy on keeping his beast at bay.

  Aveleiyn took Grace’s hand, and the sobs stopped immediately. The vampire was speaking softly and quickly in her foreign tongue. Grace’s eyes went glassy and her face fell still. Then she blinked heavily, and her muscles relaxed. Lathan feared that she would fall, but Ren caught her when her legs finally gave way, hoisting her up easily.

  “I’ve got you, darlin’,” Ren murmured as he passed by, carrying Lathan’s love and life in his arms.

  Ren and Diesel stepped onto the platform, and Lathan was vaguely aware of Grace’s dad crossing to a panel of buttons on the wall. The platform started its journey upwards.

  “Safe room,” Lathan growled at Grace’s parents and Aveleiyn. They knew what to do, and moved quickly to the chamber across the lab.

  Chris spun, his eyes searching wildly, “Just one notebook—”

  Allie grabbed him, hauling him along frantically as she cried, “No! We agreed!” She dragged him into the safe room seconds before the solid metal door slid into place, locking them in the small, but impenetrable, fortress.

  Above Lathan, the platform sealed with a mechanical thunk.

  And then he was alone in an enclosed space full of millions of dollars in equipment and two decades’ worth of research that had been helping the entirety of the Races and Breeds—much of which he would very likely destroy.

  It was a sacrifice Chris and Allie were willing to make as penance for their own part in sending their daughter away. The years of research and work they were risking would be the punishment they deserved. If Grace had to start over, so did they.

  This time, when the fire engulfed Lathan, he didn’t fight it. The splintered pieces of his heart burned to ash as his wolf came forward, but there was nothing he could do.

  She was gone, and he was forgotten.

  Chapter Two

  Present day

  Grace cursed as the rental car sputtered to a halt. She hadn’t driven in ages and this certainly wasn’t giving her anything to reminisce about. At least she’d made it to the driveway, but that was where the excitement ended. The sleek black convertible parked there was the first sign of trouble; the tall, gorgeous brunette leaning against its trunk was the second. For a woman with a broad vocabulary, Grace usually didn’t bother with bad language. Today was an exception.

  “Shit.” She ground the word out as she grabbed her purse and popped the creaky door on the forgettable sedan.

  “Ohmigod, you’re here!” The brunette shrieked, alerting the entire town. She rushed forward with all the grace of a chicken in high heels—arms flapping, impractically tall sandals clicking noisily on the cement drive. And then, there was the hug.

  Grace braced herself for the hug.

  “Yep.” She managed before her breath was crushed away by the enormous squeeze from her best friend’s arms.

  “I cannot believe it! Ohmigod, let me look at you. No, let’s get inside first. Ugh, could it be hotter right now? Where are your bags?” Emmeline rushed around the side of the car, peering into the empty back seat, then going to wait by the trunk.

  “I’m not staying here, Em,” Grace said, unable to keep the tired frustration out of her voice. “I’m at the hotel by the airport. I dropped my bags with the porter as soon as I got off the plane.” She dutifully ignored the scoff that came from the other woman. “I wanted to break the seal on this horrible reunion as quickly as I could.”

  Em crossed her arms, one eyebrow arching as her perfectly lip-glossed mouth swept up into the tiny pout that had been her signature as a child. It obviously still got her exactly what she wanted, because she had refined the expression into an art.

  “That’s not going to work on me.” Grace shook her head. “But you can get the bottle of wine out of the trunk, if you’re so desperate to help.”

  She pressed the trunk button on the key fob and was pleasantly surprised when the thing actually complied.

  She didn’t wait for Em to join her as she turned to look up at the house.

  “Doesn’t look any different, does it?” Em clicked along behind her.

  “No. It’s creepy. Like time stopped.”

  If only that had been the case.

  Grace lifted her aviators off once she got under the shade of the front porch. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

  “You didn’t think it would have been a polite gesture to tell your best friend you were coming home for the first time in fifteen years?”

  “How did you hear so fast?”

  Em’s free hand went to her hip. “Your parents told me you might be coming. But even if they hadn’t, as soon as you rolled onto the scene the rumors got started. This is the smallest town in the history of the known universe, remember?”

  “It really isn’t,” Grace muttered, fumbling with the set of keys she hadn’t used in ages. Which one was it…

  “Your knowledge of the world has made you so literal,” Em chided.

  Success; the lock on the front door gave a solid click. With Emmeline on her heels, Grace didn’t bother to hesitate the way she wanted to. She let the door swing open first.

  Then she hesitated.

  She stood right there on the porch, looking down the hall.

  It was Emmeline who crossed the threshold first.

  “I came by this morning and turned the air on for you. I couldn’t stand to think of you melting away in the heat,” Em said, stopping inside the door to wait.

  “Wh—?” Grace frowned. “Why wasn’t it already on? How did you get in?”

  “Oh, that was easy. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t already have a key, considering I have more contact with your parents than you do.” She pulled her enormous purse around and rummaged through the contents until she produced a keychain in the shape of a pink flamingo, which she dangled for Grace to see. “See? Just had to flirt a little with Johnny down at the hardware store. Your dad keeps a set down there for the cleaner and the handyman and stuff in case they need something handled while they’re not around, so I charmed my way into a copy of my own. It was a little awkward—Johnny’s creepy. Oh”—she clicked her tongue as she tossed the key back into the depths of her bag—“You know, he’s dating my cousin. I need to tell her how easy it was to get him to budge.” She paused to take a breath, then cocked her head at Grace. “What are you doing here right now, though? They’re out of town on a business trip. Everyone knows that.”