Undying: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Crystal Lake Pack Book 2) Read online

  Today Caitlin wore strapped sandals and a flowing dress that blew easily in the wind. Her long black hair was drawn back by a low, puffy ponytail, the kind of hairband Addie had not seen for years. She waved a hand to the side, as if to swat away her mates’ worries.

  “I’m not doing any heavy lifting. I’m not overexerting myself,” Caitlin spoke, trying to hide her annoyed tone. “Guys, I’m okay, really. The baby is fine. Go—” She spotted Addie. “—I’m just here to help Addie learn how we do funerals.” She sashayed to Addie’s side, and her two mates watched her go, unable to stop her.

  Women were a force to be reckoned with, especially while pregnant.

  When she reached Addie’s side, Caitlin turned back to face her men. “Go on, then,” she said, when neither of them moved. Eventually, they wandered off, back to the trench in the rocky sand, helping to make it wider. “I love them,” she told Addie, “but sometimes they’re a bit overprotective.”

  “I’m sure they only want to keep you safe, and the baby,” Addie said, giving Caitlin a smile.

  Caitlin frowned somewhat, pausing to gaze down at her stomach. Large and round, ready to pop at any moment. She ran a loving hand over it and held it along her stomach’s bottom, as if she had to help keep it up. “I know. It’s just hard, because…” She bit back a smile, glancing to Addie. “Nothing you should worry about. Come on. Let’s get some wood, help out a little. You fine with doing the carrying?”

  Addie nodded. It wasn’t like she could say no. Either her or the pregnant one, so it would be her. Plus, she was morbidly curious as to what Caitlin had stopped herself from saying. Was it hard because of all of the bodies the pack had brought back from the clearing? All those corpses were reminders that they were not invincible, nor were they the highest on the food chain, so to speak. When it came to magic, wolves were not immune.

  They left the group, heading into the woods. They were not the only ones gathering branches; others hiked around, stopping to inspect any large, wide branches on the ground that might do the job, whatever the job was.

  The…the pyre her mother had mentioned? Addie shivered at the thought.

  When they were relatively alone, Caitlin spoke, “I heard you were there.”

  Rumors traveled fast in the pack, didn’t they? Addie wanted to make a joke, but now was not the time for such things. This was a morbid, serious, and quite melancholy situation. Definitely not the time for jokes. Her mother was right—Maze had to have rubbed off on her, because her first instinct should not be to joke.

  “I was,” Addie said, bending to pick up a branch Caitlin pointed to. Four feet long, it was decently thick. At this rate, she’d be able to carry three more before they had to turn around and go back.

  It was then she knew what they were doing, what their funerals were like. They didn’t bury their dead; they burned their bodies, and since there were so many… Her mother had mentioned shifter funerals were usually a joyous occasion where everyone drank and told stories about the deceased. Tonight…things would not be the same, due to the sheer number of dead and how they were taken from this world.

  “I’m glad you were there,” Caitlin said, turning her brown eyes to Addie. “This pack hasn’t been the same since the disappearances. Hannah was the first. We all thought she’d run off, like your mother. I was only a kid at the time, barely old enough to remember, but when Sarah ran off with that…well, your father, I suppose, she was the talk of the pack for months. Years, even. No one left the pack. Ever.”

  Hannah was her name. A pretty name. Addie wondered what she looked like, what her laugh sounded like. None of the wolves taken deserved the fate they got, and knowing one of their names only made her feel worse, which she didn’t even know was possible until that moment.

  “Forest was devastated. He forbade anyone to go looking for her, because he’s not that type of alpha. He would never keep anyone here who doesn’t want to be. He let her go, because he thought it was what she wanted,” Caitlin carried on, pausing to point at another branch. More like a freaking log, but Addie picked it up all the same. “It was only when the next went missing he started to realize she didn’t run, and by then, of course, it was too late.”

  Addie could imagine. With the barrier Clay had enacted, shifters couldn’t find his murder cabin, even though it was less than an hour’s hike from Crystal Lake. They’d go around it, believing they went straight. They had no idea the murderous creep was camped out in their backyard.

  “We lost so many,” Caitlin said. “Some of us wanted to move, but others, mainly the elders, refused. This is our home, they said. We will live and we will die in it.” She forced out a smile, though it fell off her lips quickly. “I bet they didn’t think we’d have a warlock to deal with. Hell, until you guys came back with your stories about Clay and what he did, I always thought magic was a thing in fairytales.”

  “You didn’t know magic existed?” Meaning, Addie wasn’t the only one taken so completely off-guard by its presence.

  Caitlin shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I heard some calling the man your mother ran off with a few…colorful names, but I was a kid. I didn’t know what they really meant by any of it. I was too young, I guess. It just goes to show there’s a whole world out there we don’t know about.”

  Yeah, and that was understating it. These shifters knew next to nothing about cell phones. Cell phones. The piece of technology that was currently glued to nearly every human’s hand at all times of the day. Even her professors had their phones sitting on their desks while they taught. Addie could not imagine being so freaking clueless.

  Plus, being able to Google anything she wanted whenever she wanted was kind of awesome.

  “I’m sure others in the pack knew, but they never thought it would be used against us,” Caitlin said with a shrug of her thin shoulders. “Not like that. This is…like a nightmare. Twenty-four of us, gone.” She stopped walking, breathing loudly.

  Addie turned to watch her, praying to God she was not going into labor, because that was something she could not deal with, but after a few long, heavy breaths, she seemed fine. Still, it got her worried, just like her mates had been. “Are you sure you should be doing this? I know what to look for—” Big, wide sticks that were more like logs. “—I can take it from here.”

  “I’m okay,” Caitlin said, straightening herself out, her hand resting on her protruding belly. “The guys are just freaked because it’s…” She quieted. “This isn’t my first.”

  “You have kids?” Addie blinked, shocked at the news.

  It was a moment before she whispered, “No.”

  “Oh…I—” Addie stumbled over her words, not knowing what to say.

  “It’s okay. This is…the furthest I’ve gotten. The guys are both excited and nervous, and they’re making me want to get a house by myself and be alone.” She chuckled, as if she wasn’t talking about miscarriages and losing babies. “You’d think I’d be the needy one, not them.”

  Addie nodded along, unsure of what to say. Clearly, Caitlin had dealt with it in her own way. Telling her she was sorry seemed a little pointless now, given it had happened long ago, before Addie had even come here. What was one supposed to say in a situation like this?

  “Look at me, getting all sappy on you,” Caitlin laughed, though what she talked about was not a laughing matter. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. It was an accident.” She started walking, but not two seconds later, she was stopped again. A pensive, thoughtful look appeared on her face. “This time, it’s just my bladder. Damn it. Okay, we have to go back so I can use a toilet.”

  She nodded again. Addie was not going to be the one to argue with a pregnant woman. She’d never squatted in the woods before, so she couldn’t imagine trying to do it while pregnant—not to mention while members of the pack walked by, lugging half a dozen branches to the lake’s shore.

  As they walked back and Addie carried the few branches Caitlin had pointed out, the woman added, “I’m surprised
you’re out here, and not with your mother. Henry was in an uproar about her, made sure every wolf in the pack knew she was here.”

  It didn’t surprise her. “Of course he did.” The ass.

  “I’m glad you’re nothing like him, no offense.”

  “Must take after my grandmother, then.” Addie meant it as a joke, but Caitlin must’ve taken it seriously, for there was some thought put behind her retort.

  “I never met her, but I’m pretty sure she died giving birth to your mother.”

  Oh. How lovely. Really, it wasn’t a wonder why Sarah never spoke of this place. Even if they weren’t shifters, she didn’t have a mother growing up; only a jerk of a father Addie couldn’t blame her for running from. Honestly, she would’ve run from him too.

  “Well, no matter what happened in the past,” Caitlin went on as they broke through the woods’ edge and trailed alongside the lake’s shore, heading for the mass of wolves working to arrange a pyre with a long, flat surface—for all the bodies to burn at once— “I’m glad you’re here now. If you wouldn’t have come, we might never have learned what happened to them all. The pack is lucky to have you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run to the restroom.”

  Addie watched her go. She waddled more than she walked, but she held her head high. Caitlin was such a nice woman, and it was ridiculously easy to talk to her. Though she knew hardly a thing about her, it was almost like they were friends.

  To have a friend again, after her old ones had abandoned her…it was a nice thought. Addie might have three future mates, but nothing could replace a good old-fashioned friendship.

  Hopefully she didn’t screw any of this up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Addie probably should have told someone about the whole Clay thing, but she didn’t want to take away anything from the funeral preparations. This pack had been beaten down time and time again by the death priest; they didn’t need any more. And then, when she thought about telling her mother, it was back to practicing her levitation—which she was getting better at. Slowly. Regardless, as soon as she and Sarah were in the living room practicing, Clay slipped her mind, as impossible as it was.

  And then, after dinner, after a shower, it was time to get ready. Addie and her mother were in her room, her mother fussing over her as if this was some dance and not a serious matter, not a freaking funeral for twenty-four shifters who’d lost their lives at the hands of a spellcasting madman.

  “Mom,” Addie whined, dodging her mother’s hands. Sarah wanted to doll her up. Makeup, hair, the whole shebang, and it was the last thing Addie wanted. Unless…dressing up and looking good for shifter funerals was normal? Her mother had mentioned they were usually a fun affair where everyone drank and told stories.

  “Oh,” Sarah spoke, pushing Addie to sit on the side of the bed, “let me fuss over you. I won’t be here forever. Let me…let me do this, honey. It’ll make me feel better, plus I’d love to see those wolves slack-jawed over you.”

  How could Addie go against her mother when she pulled the I-won’t-be-here-forever card? That was like, the most meaningful and depressing thing her mother could’ve said. Maybe she only meant she wouldn’t be in the pack forever, in this house forever. Because at this rate, if anyone was going to die first, it was going to be Addie. She didn’t want to think of a life without her mother; she could hardly picture a life here, at Crystal Lake, with her mother a day’s drive away.

  “Fine,” Addie gave in, shoulders slumping.

  Letting her mother take the lead, she played the part of a dress-up doll for the next hour. A nice, shimmery tank top—paired with one of her favorite jean jackets, because she had more than one packed, luckily—and some shorts that had sequins on the butt pockets. One of her favorites. At least her outfit would be relatively normal—even if it was weird to wear this stuff to a funeral.

  Everything else? Oh, her mother would make sure she was hardly recognizable.

  Her hair was next. Despite everything, there still remained some pink streaks in her brown hair, though the heat from the curling iron her mother waved in front of her face would only further fade them. Before her mother left, Addie would have to remember to ask her to send over her dye. Or maybe she and the guys would take a road trip, because she’d only brought one suitcase full of the necessities.

  Silly as it was, and so strange as it was, Addie had truly believed she would pop her head in Crystal Lake, see the pack, learn her heritage, and then skip right out of town. Things had grown to be so freaking complicated, so quickly too, she never really realized how fast her mind had changed. And, by extension, how rapidly she’d developed feelings for Maze, Dylan, and—ugh—Landon. The feelings were because of her wolf, because of her connection to her inner beast, or at least it’s what she would believe.

  To crush on three separate boys so fast was…stupid. Addie was nearly twenty. Almost a full-blown adult. She was just shy of being able to legally drink alcohol, though she already knew it was something she would not be participating in. Having crushes was so middle school, wasn’t it? She supposed she wouldn’t really know, because in all her life, no boy had ever elicited a similar reaction in her body, but her future three mates had.

  Maybe it was because she knew they were chosen for her. Maybe because they were going to be her mates, she was predisposed to like them. Either way, she was screwed when it came to the guys, because the more she thought about them, the more her feelings for them grew, sprouting and growing tall, three beanstalks she could not cut down.

  Would they be slack-jawed, as her mother put it, by an all made-up Addie? Would Maze, for once, lose his ability to talk incessantly? Would Dylan take off his glasses and wipe them clean, just to make sure he saw every part of her without a smudge? And Landon…the hot and cold Landon. Would he tell her she looked good, or would he work doubly hard to ignore her and not look at her once?

  Addie would find out soon enough.

  Her mother worked to curl her hair, and once every tendril was curled, she ran her hands through Addie’s hair, working to loosen the curls, making them more wavy and less curly. More natural and less artificial.

  She went to Addie’s suitcase, digging through her stuff. Sarah shot her an incredulous look. “This is all you have?” she asked, pulling out a small bag. “This is all you—” She let out a harsh sigh before Addie could even respond.

  It wasn’t like Addie had drawers and drawers of makeup at home. A small bag of the necessities, but that’s it. Mascara, eyeliner, some eyeshadow, concealer, and that was pretty much it. Addie never learned how to do contouring and priming and stuff. Spending every waking hour on her studies, she always thought it was a waste of time.

  Her mother held the small makeup bag to her chest, muttering, “I will work with what I have.” Sarah unzipped the black bag, spilling its contents out on the dresser, digging through it. “How are you my daughter, exactly?”

  Right. Because Sarah was all into makeup, especially when she had clients coming into the house for a reading. Luckily these days, most of her business came online or on the phone. Seeing her mother wearing deep purple eyeshadow and fake piercings was not something Addie enjoyed.

  Sarah got to work, moving like an artist where makeup was concerned. Addie probably should’ve voiced that she did not want to look like a Halloween costume gone wrong, but by the time she thought to say it, her mother had already applied the eyeshadow. Whatever she looked like, it was too late to change it, and washing it off in the bathroom would only upset her mother. She’d have to grin and bear it.

  “You could come,” Addie spoke as her mother finished up. “I’m sure you knew some of them.”

  Sarah frowned. “I’m sure I did, but I’m not going to go. This isn’t my pack anymore. It isn’t my tradition. Besides, my presence would only bring drama, I think, and other than those they’ve lost, you should be what they focus on, not me. You are the one who helped them find their missing brothers and sisters.” She set the tube
of mascara down, leaning her back on the dresser as she gazed steadily at her daughter. “You’re more a part of this pack already than I was after living here for sixteen years.”

  “Don’t say that—”

  “I’m not trying to get sympathy,” Sarah cut in with a shake of her head. “I’m only saying that…I hope you’re happy here, Addie.”

  She gave her mother a smile, unable to speak in that moment. This should be a happy occasion, but it wasn’t, because it was a funeral. Because of Clay. Whatever sappy moment her mother had hoped for she would not get today.

  Sarah moved before her, doing a final prep, straightening out her tank top, moving a stray hair out of her face, and doing a few other small, fidgeting things that meant she was done. “If only,” she whispered, her fingers on the collar of her jean jacket, “you could get rid of this—”

  “Not going to happen,” Addie said dryly. Her mother had always hated her fascination with jean jackets, and she’d often made the comment that she prayed to each and every god mankind worshipped her obsession would fade. It never did.

  Sighing, Sarah muttered, “A mother can dream.”

  “So,” Addie said, standing from the bed, “how do I look?” She did a mock spin, flipping her hair over her shoulder like she was some kind of model. Now wasn’t the time to act silly, but her stomach was suddenly so very nervous about this whole thing. She blamed her mother, what she’d said.

  Addie was the one to find the bodies, to find Clay. Would the pack expect her to give a speech? A eulogy for wolves she’d never met? Public speaking didn’t frighten her, but she didn’t think she was the best candidate for eulogies or even speeches, at this point. Addie hoped she’d just stand on the side and watch.

  “You look beautiful,” Sarah whispered. With a clap, she added, “Now let’s go see how those boys react.” Her mother was way too into this whole thing, but Addie supposed it was better than having a clueless mother who she’d have to explain the whole three mates thing to.