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

I’d been. If I wasn’t such a weretard and could shift like any other teenage wolf, at least I could have tried to fight, but I’d just stood there stunned. That dream, that whole night, made me feel like such a loser. Like I wasn’t the man I thought I was—which led to the second part of the nightmare, with me waking up not knowing who I am. This part was almost worse than nearly dying. I think that’s why I was so angry with my parents. That they’d kept from me the secret of my biological father’s identity made me feel the same way: like I don’t know who I am anymore.
    I wasn’t in the best mood when I woke up for dinner, so the fact that my parents and I got into it wasn’t a surprise. It was my fault, I know it was, but I just couldn’t seem to control my temper. The situation was new to my parents. They’d always known what to say and do when Alli lost it, but not me. Before this week, I don’t think I’d ever even raised my voice at the dinner table. It was a silly argument, too. They’d wanted to talk about our feelings, about how I was handling things, about what I really thought of my new father and brother, and…well, I didn’t want to talk about it. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it. I just wanted to let it all go.
    I walked out on dinner and went to my room, but I couldn’t stay in the house so instead I changed and quickly headed back downstairs. Grabbing the keys to our car, I put them in my pocket.
    “Where are you going?” my mom asked, and I could tell that she was worried.
    I didn’t want to make her any more upset, so I walked over and kissed her cheek. “Mom, I’m sorry. I just can’t, okay?”
    She nodded.
    “I need some retail therapy,” I said, using one of her favorite phrases. “I’m going shopping. I could use some new jeans anyway.” Then I smiled, which clearly made her a little happier.
    “Be careful and don’t drive too fast,” she said.
    “I won’t.”
    “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
    “Of course I do,” I said. And I did. “I won’t be long, Mom,” I promised.
    Shopping had always been my thing. It calmed me down and helped me think. The guys back home used to make fun of me for it. They said I was a metrosexual, but my response was always the same. “I’ve got to look good for the ladies.” And they couldn’t argue because, well…I had done pretty well with the ladies because of it.
    The local mall was nice and had some good stores, probably because Red Ridge was a ski town that got a lot of visitors during the season, but it wasn’t all that big. Back in Houston I might have wandered around longer, but here I was able to get all my shopping done by eight forty-five, fifteen minutes to spare before closing—and that included stopping to chat with Luke, who was there buying his father a birthday present. I liked Luke, though he rarely hung out with anyone from the pack besides Gage, who’d apparently taken a leave of absence after the incident with Dylan and Kendall. I guessed Luke was kind of a loner. Lately, I could relate.
    I was almost to the exit when I saw her. She was sitting on a bench by the exit, obviously waiting for her ride.
    “Hey, Teagan,” I said, walking up. She smelled so good, it was hard to keep my distance, but I didn’t want to come off as a creeper.
    “Oh. Hey, Aiden. How are you?” she asked.
    She looked surprised to see me. A little unsettled, even. I cursed Kendall again and sat down on the bench next to her. “Did you just get off work?”
    “Yeah,” she said. “I’m just waiting for my dad. His car is in the shop, so he borrowed mine.”
    I became acutely aware of how close her leg was to mine. So close that if I moved even one little inch, we would be touching. “I can give you a lift if you want.”
    She was quiet for a while, and I hoped that she was considering. Finally she looked down at her watch and sighed, and I made up my mind.
    “It’s getting late. Let me give you a