Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack) by Sara Dailey, Staci Weber Read Free Book Online Page A

unpacked and set up his bulletin board with all of the newspaper articles that he’d collected over the last few months. Once he was finished, he grabbed his coat, the town map and his laptop bag, and he headed to the diner down the street. He’d seen a sign bragging that they provided free Wi-Fi.
    Within minutes, he was connected to the Internet and searching for anything new on werewolves: facts, sightings, fictions. He had done this so many times that finding new material was almost impossible, but he wasn’t about to give up. His uncle wouldn’t let him even if he wanted. Ray was always in Peter’s head, encouraging him to continue the search, pushing him to avenge his death.
    The diner turned out to be a great place to people-watch, too. It seemed a hotspot for the locals, and before long Peter had a good understanding of the Red Ridge population. Still, no one came in that fit the werewolf profile that he and his uncle had put together. Not perfectly at least.
    Given their research, they’d decided werewolves in human form would all be well-built and athletic-looking. They’d imagined the bastards all stood on the taller side, too, even the women. Uncle Raymond was sure the wolves would have dark features, dark skin and hair, though Peter wasn’t quite sure why. However, the most important part of the werewolf “profile” wouldn’t be a guess for Peter. It was the eyes. Peter couldn’t describe verbally what he was looking for, but he knew with absolute certainty that he’d know when he found it. He remembered that inhuman look as well as he remembered any other moment of his life. He remembered his uncle’s killer, and he remembered those eyes.
    Peter had a good feeling about this town. All he had to do was keep his wits about him and be ready to find what he was looking for. And he was always ready for that.

13.
    Aiden
    I tried to pry more information about Teagan out of Alli on the way home from school, but it turned out she didn’t know that much. Not really. So much for them being really good friends. When I mentioned this, that she must be a pretty shitty friend if she didn’t even know where Teagan lived, Alli stopped speaking to me completely. Of course, with the way I felt right then, that was probably a good thing. My shoulder was throbbing, and I needed sleep in the worst way.
    I suddenly realized that I was being an ass and that I should probably apologize.
    “Listen, Alli, I’m sorry,” I said as we walked into the house. “You’re not a shitty friend. I’m just tired and achy and taking it out on you. Forgive me?” I asked, giving her my best puppy dog eyes.
    She turned and said, “I forgive you, Aiden. Actually, I think you’re right. I must be a pretty crappy friend. I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend or not. That’s going change starting with this text.” She started for the stairs with her phone in her hand. Glancing back she asked, “Hey, anything else you want to know about her?”
    “Plenty. But I plan on finding it all out on my own,” I said with a wink.
    “Eww…you’re a pig.” But Alli laughed as she went upstairs.
    “Who do you plan on getting to know?” my mom asked, appearing from the kitchen and scaring the hell out of me.
    “Oh, hey, Mom. Just a girl,” I answered.
    She smiled encouragingly. I knew she wanted me to elaborate, but things were still weird between us. I didn’t know what to say or how to act around her. I just needed space and time. Time away from her and Dad. And from Marcus. Definitely from Marcus.
    “I’m going to go lie down before dinner, all right?” I asked.
    The smile faded from her face. She just nodded and went back into the kitchen.
    *****
    I must have been really tired, because I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
    I hadn’t been sleeping well because of the nightmares. I was still dreaming of the night Alli was kidnapped and Dylan nearly killed me. What bothered me most about it was how defenseless