Cursed (Howl, #6) Read online

  Seth was the first one to show up to their spot nestled within the woods. He had gotten there even before Luke, who had said he was going to take a quick shower before meeting with the rest of the pack.

  “Samara,” her brother said, as he came to stand in front of her. “I think there’s something we need to talk about.”

  Samara sighed. She had a feeling that she knew where this conversation was going to lead. “Look, Seth, I realize now that I was being inconsiderate when I didn’t tell you Grandpa Joe was alive before I told the rest of the pack. I didn’t think about how it would affect you until after the damage was already done, so . . . I’m sorry. I’ll try my best to tell you about things that involve our family before I tell the rest of the pack.”

  Seth shook his head. “No, it’s cool. Don’t even worry about it. I’m not mad. I mean, I was a little bit annoyed about it at first, but . . .” He trailed off before pulling something out of his pocket.

  When he held it up for her to see, Samara quickly realized it was the red Vyka paw print pin that Grandpa Joe had left behind for him—the one that her grandfather had said in one of his letters would help her brother make the right decisions.

  “I think I figured this thing out,” Seth explained, motioning to the pin that he held in his hands. “At first, I didn’t think it did anything at all and that Grandpa Joe was just trying to fuck with my head, but . . . I was wrong. It does do something.”

  “Well? What does it do?” Samara asked impatiently, anxious to know what the gift her grandfather had left her brother was capable of doing. Even though she knew that it was nice of her grandfather to leave her all his money, sometimes she wondered if Grandpa Joe had left her brother and cousin cooler, more meaningful, gifts. She knew that they must have had some sort of super power for their grandfather to have left it to them at all.

  “Alright, so I was at the mall the other day and I was wearing the pin. I know it seems kinda weird that I was wearing it at all, but I’ve been trying to figure out what it does, so I’ve been wearing it day and night for the past few days, tucked under my jacket so no one would see it,” Seth explained, running a hand over his dark hair nervously. “So, I’m wearing it, and I feel it burning against my chest. Not that long after, I hear a familiar voice. Ahead of me, Rocco is walking into Abercrombie and Fitch with Troy. Anyway, I look down at the pin . . . and I realize it’s not red anymore.”

  “It’s not?” Samara asked, raising an eyebrow, unsure of where Seth was going with this. She couldn’t figure out what Rocco and Troy could have to do with the pin.

  Seth shook his head. “No, it turned purple, just like our new pack color. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that it turned that color or not, but . . . I think I figured out the reason it does change colors, at least.” He paused, meeting Samara’s gaze. “It lets me know when one of our enemies is nearby. The reason it changed colors—and the reason I felt it burn against my chest—is because I was within a really close distance of Troy and Rocco.”

  “But Rocco and Troy aren’t our enemies anymore,” Samara protested. “We made a truce with them.”

  “Why do you trust them so damn much? I mean, really, Sam. Rocco might seem like a loyal friend now, but do you remember how we came to this truce? The reason was because he threatened to give up our hiding spot,” Seth said, the anger rising to his cheeks. “It might seem like he’s trustworthy, but he really isn’t.”

  “I know he’s not,” Samara admitted quietly. In fact, all it would take for Rocco to turn on them again is if he somehow figured out that violets weren’t really what Grandpa Joe had used to become so powerful—that the real ingredient was actually wolfsbane—and the Shomecossee pack would turn against the Tala pack. They’d had an agreement that, in exchange for the information about what Samara’s grandfather had done to become so powerful, Rocco wouldn’t rat out their hiding place to Darren Jackson, Colby’s dad and their arch enemy.

  Samara only hoped that Rocco wouldn’t find out the truth before the Tala pack figured out a way to conquer Darren and his pack. All the Tala needed to do was figure out his whereabouts . . . and hope that the Trusted Ones would be able to round up enough good spirits to ward off the dark spirits that Darren Jackson conjured to use black magic for fighting.

  “There’s something else,” Seth said, just as Samara heard a car door close loudly. Their other pack members were beginning to arrive.

  “What?” Samara asked.

  “Last night, when we were here in the woods, I felt the pin burning and it changed colors,” Seth replied.

  Samara felt her own eyes widen. “What are you saying?” she asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew.

  “One of our enemies was in the woods with us last night,” Seth replied, giving her the answer she was expecting. “It must have been someone from a different pack hiding out in the woods somewhere.” He lowered his voice, glancing around as though someone may have been listening in on their conversation. “I think they might have been spying on us.”

  “Which would mean that they overheard what we said about Grandpa Joe,” Samara said, her voice a mere whisper.

  Seth nodded. “Yes, it’s possible.”

  Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Samara knew, as she stared into her brother’s eyes, that he was thinking the same thing she was; if whoever it was had heard about their grandfather possibly being alive, it could be bad . . . very bad.

  As Penelope walked into the clearing, Samara told Seth, “Thank you for telling me, but let’s not tell anyone else, okay? I don’t want to make everyone nervous—not until we figure out what this means, exactly.”

  “No problem,” Seth replied with a nod. “I think that’s a good idea.” As Penelope approached him, he gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

  “I need to talk to you, Seth,” Penelope said, looking up into his eyes. She glanced over at Samara and a small smile crossed her face. “Hello, Sam.”

  “Hi,” Samara replied offhandedly. She watched as her brother stepped away with Penelope. Even though Samara was trying to be nice to Penelope, she couldn’t help but feel like the girl was hiding something—and not just from Seth, but from the rest of them, too. A thought crossed her mind at that moment. What if Penelope was the reason Seth’s pin had changed colors? What if there was some chance that she was one of their enemies? It still seemed strange, even now, how Penelope had appeared out of nowhere—and how she had insisted on becoming a member of their pack.

  Samara quickly shook the thought away, realizing that if the pin had turned because of Penelope, it would stay purple every time Seth wore it around her. Ever since Seth and Penelope had mated with one another, they had practically been attached at the hip. It was sort of surprising that Seth had been able to talk to Samara while he was alone today.

  Whoever had caused the pin to change colors, it definitely wasn’t Penelope. But who could it have been?

  Maybe Darren was back. Maybe he was in their woods, planning out his attack. It was sort of surprising that he hadn’t shown his face already. It’s not like he didn’t know that the pack hung out in the woods near Starlight Lake. If he wanted to attack them, he could do it. He just hadn’t yet, which Samara found really peculiar.

  “Hey, Sam!” Emma called, as she and Colby entered the clearing. Colby had a wide grin on his face and he poked Emma in the ribs. Emma giggled and bumped hips with him.

  Samara couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to see that Emma and Colby were both so happy, since they’d both gone through a lot in the past few months. Emma’s mom had disowned her when she found out that she was a werewolf, and Colby hated his own father ever since he’d found out that he’d fathered Jason and Josh Masterson. It made Samara happy that Emma and Colby now had each other to go through these tough times with, no matter how much they tried to pretend that they didn’t care about each other.

  “We’re here, but we have some pretty bad news,” Colby said, his face turning stony
once he came closer to Samara. “Josh got arrested.”

  Samara raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean Josh got arrested?! What did he get arrested for?”

  “For murdering Lilly and Jason,” Colby replied solemnly.

  “What? Why would they arrest Josh for murdering them? He didn’t do it!” Samara exclaimed, a feeling of dread forming in the pit of her stomach. Josh hadn’t killed either one of them; Jason had killed Lilly, and Seth was the one who had killed Jason.

  “They probably think it’s suspicious that Josh’s girlfriend and brother were both killed,” Colby explained. “It just makes Josh look sort of guilty, I guess. At least, I assume that’s why they arrested him. We were at Williams’ General Store this morning, and all they said was that he was under arrest for the murders of Lilly Phillips and Jason Masterson.”

  “Can you imagine if he gets convicted of this? He’ll probably have to spend life in prison, and they’ll notice when he doesn’t age,” Samara said, a newfound worry filling the pit of her stomach. As much as she wished that they could just come clean with everything to the human world, she knew it would never happen. But how would they explain that Josh wouldn’t age if he was somehow found guilty for the murders of his twin brother and girlfriend?

  Colby hesitated. “I’ve never thought of it like that before, but . . . I don’t think we’ll have to worry about it. I don’t see how they could possibly convict him, considering there’s no way there’s any physical evidence against him. I don’t understand how there was enough to even arrest him. It doesn’t make any sense.” Sighing, he added, “He’ll have to go through with a trial and everything now, though. It might draw attention to us. If Darren finds out about it, he might be able to figure out where we are.”

  If he didn’t already know was the only thing Samara could think. “Well, we need to bail Josh out of jail,” she said, trying to avoid the subject of Darren possibly being in the woods. She also couldn’t help but feel like a defensive mother bear. No one messed with her bear cubs—err, her pack members. It made her feel terrible to know that Josh was being blamed for this. He could go to jail for murder, even though he hadn’t actually done anything wrong—and that scared her.

  As if on command, her cell phone began to vibrate inside her pocket and when she glanced down at the caller ID, she saw that a number she didn’t recognize was calling her. “Hello?” she asked into the phone, even though she was pretty sure she already knew who it was.

  “Sam, it’s me,” Josh said quietly. “Colby probably told you what happened, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, he did,” Samara replied. “I can’t believe they arrested you for this. It’s insane. We were just going to come down to the jail to bail you out.”

  “Don’t bother,” Josh replied, and Samara heard people talking in the background. “Bail is set at two million dollars.”

  “But I have two million dollars. I have more than that, actually. My grandfather left it to me,” Samara said, noticing that the rest of the pack had arrived and Luke was walking down the stony path that led to the forest. “I don’t mind posting the bail money for you. We can be there in ten minutes.”

  “No, Sam, listen to me,” Josh said, a sharp edge to his voice. “Don’t do it. Don’t post bail. I have a better idea . . . another way to get out of this that doesn’t involve two million dollars.”

  Before Samara had the chance to say anything else, she heard a clicking sound. She glanced down at her cell phone. Josh had hung up on her. Sighing, she turned to the rest of the pack. “Josh doesn’t want me to post the bail money for him. I don’t know what to do.”

  “You can’t just leave him to rot in jail!” Emma insisted, shaking her head forcefully, her blonde ponytail moving with it. “Do you know what happens to guys in there? Especially to young guys who are as attractive as Josh? They automatically become eye candy!”

  “Hey,” Colby said, glaring at Emma. A low growl escaped his throat.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Calm the hell down, Colby Jack. I’m not going to lie. He’s a young, clean-looking guy. And no, he’s not ugly, so chances are, the perverts will mess with him in prison, if you know what I mean.” She turned to Samara. “You can’t let that happen to Josh. He’s like family. You have to do something.”

  “I personally have to disagree with Emma,” Steve spoke up from behind Samara. “I think if Josh wants to stay in jail, we should just leave him there. Why do something he doesn’t want? And to be honest, the kid’s been getting on my nerves lately.”

  “Well, that’s what happens sometimes when you share a room with someone. Sometimes you get sick of them. It’s just the way it goes. But that’s not any reason for you to turn your back on him. He’s a part of this pack, so he deserves the same treatment we’d give you if you ever got arrested,” Colby pointed out, shaking his head in annoyance.

  “But don’t you think it will look a little weird to the police station if Samara McKinley—who was originally a suspect in Lilly’s murder case—just walked in and handed over two million dollars to bail Josh out of jail? They might think it’s a little fishy. Just saying,” Steve said, throwing his hands up in the air innocently.

  “Not if we post bail as an anonymous donor,” Samara said, coming up with the idea on the spot. “I have an idea. Why don’t we all take a vote on this?”

  “That sounds like a reasonable idea,” Colby agreed. He glanced over at Steve and added, “Since it’s obvious that we won’t be able to agree on this one.”

  “All in favor of posting Josh’s bail?” Samara asked, glancing around at her pack members. Emma, Colby, Luke, and Seth raised their hands.

  “All in favor of letting Josh stay in jail like he wants?” Steve asked, raising his hand high in the air. Chris, Kyana, Kyle, and Silas all followed suit. Penelope raised her hand, too, seeming hesitant to do so because she wasn’t taking Seth’s side on this.

  “Okay, so there’s four votes yes and five votes no,” Emma said, counting on her fingers. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion when she glanced over at Samara. “You didn’t raise your hand.”

  “I thought I would let you guys make this decision so there would be an odd number,” Samara replied. “If I were to vote yes like I want to, it would be an even split.”

  “Actually, come to think of it, there is one pack member who’s missing,” Emma pointed out. “If you were to vote and Declan did, too, it could make a difference.”

  Samara felt her heart thump against her chest, just at the mention of Declan’s name. She hadn’t expected for it to hurt so much just to hear the name of her old best friend and the guy she had almost been mated to spoken aloud, but she wasn’t sure why. She had loved him . . . and as much as she wanted to deny it and she knew that Luke could never find out, a part of her always would.

  “Has anyone heard from Declan?” Luke asked from his spot next to her. He glanced over at Samara with an uncomfortable glance, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he had overheard her thoughts about loving Declan. When she met his emerald green eyes, though, she knew that he hadn’t. Even though he looked uncomfortable, his eyes revealed no pain.

  “The last I heard from Declan was when he called me to say he couldn’t make it to the wedding,” Silas answered, as he stood next to Kyle, holding his hand. “I don’t think anyone else has heard from him since then.”

  “We haven’t seen him since before the wedding,” Emma agreed. “I texted him to see if he wanted to go see a movie with me, so I could get away from Colby for a bit—”

  “Hey, I wasn’t being that annoying that day!” Colby insisted.

  “No, you were just following me around like a puppy dog,” Emma replied with an eye roll. She turned back to Samara. “Anyway, he never answered my text message, and I haven’t heard from him since. It’s kind of strange, because Declan’s always the type to get back to me right away.”

  “You’re right,” Samara murmured. At least, when Declan had only been just a friend, he had been the type
to get back to her right away. Things had changed when she’d first been bitten by Colby and then later when she found out she was mated to Luke. Even after that happened, though, when the Ima and Vyka packs had merged, Samara had been able to feel rest assured knowing that Declan would be there if she needed him to be.

  Now, she knew that he wouldn’t be. At least, she assumed that he wouldn’t be, considering she hadn’t heard from him since the day before the wedding, and it was obvious that he was avoiding their entire pack just because he wanted to avoid her.

  “Are we all sure he’s okay? Do you think Darren might have gotten to him?” Colby questioned. Even though Colby hadn’t called Darren Jackson his dad in quite some time now, it was still strange for Samara to hear Colby refer to his father by his first name.

  “Anything could have happened,” Seth replied. “Except, don’t you think that Darren would have used Declan as some sort of ransom or something? He would have made sure that he let us know if he did anything to hurt him . . . I think.”

  “Darren probably would have, but another pack might not have let us know,” Kyle said, ruffling his copper hair. “I don’t think it was the Shomecossee, now that we’re on good terms with them, but it might been another pack in the area. Or maybe even another pack that was passing through.”

  “That’s so scary. Poor Declan,” Silas said, a look of fear in his eyes.

  “Guys, we don’t even know that’s what happened,” Kyana said gently. “Let’s try not to get ahead of ourselves. There’s probably a perfectly logical explanation for why Declan hasn’t been around. If I had to guess, I would say it’s probably because he feels dumb because he didn’t show up for Samara and Luke’s wedding.”

  “True, he probably knows what bad wedding etiquette it is to cancel on the day of the wedding,” Silas agreed, his brown eyes relaxing a little bit. “Especially when you’re supposed to be in the wedding,” he added with what sounded like disgust.