Page 23 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Tuesday

Zoey

“Shit,” Bennett said as he pulled his fingers out of me.

“What…what…what the fuck is that?!” I screamed, my orgasm disappearing faster than it ever had before. Because there was a… Seriously what the fuck was that beast that had been Titan a minute ago?!

“Titan had the watch before he turned,” Bennett shouted over to the other guys. “Show me that the three of you can handle this.”

Titan growled again, spittle flying everywhere as he bared his teeth at Bennett.

I took a step back. He was… This isn’t possible…

Bennett cracked his neck to the side and then leapt forward, transforming in midair. He landed on four paws in front of Titan.

They were…

I shook my head.

But I couldn’t unsee it. I wasn’t imagining it. They were…cats. The biggest cats I’d ever seen in my life.

Titan lunged at Bennett. Bennett stood up on his hind legs, meeting Titan’s attack.

“You need to come with me,” Ace said and grabbed my hand.

“But… ”

“Get her out of here!” Otto yelled as he tried to grab the pocket watch off the ground.

Titan swiped at him and he barely dodged the sharp claws in time.

“Otto!” I screamed.

“Zoey, we have to go.” Ace tried to pull me toward the door.

I couldn’t leave! They were going to kill Otto! “Otto!” I yelled again as Bennett lifted his massive paw.

Otto turned to me instead of paying attention. His face would have been scratched off if Huxley hadn’t just shifted into a huge cat and tackled Bennett onto his back.

Oh God, Huxley too?!

“Fuck,” Ace said. He let go of my hand and stepped toward the chaos.

They were all…they were all…what the fuck?! They’d transformed into cats. Kind of like…werewolves. Only cats. Werecats weren’t a thing!

“Get her the fuck out of here!” Otto yelled again.

But it was pretty clear he needed help. Every time he stepped toward the watch, one of the cats tried to maul him to death.

Maul him.

To death.

I thought about the severed hand in the hay maze. No. No, no, no. I thought about how King had tried to warn me about more supernatural creatures lurking around this cursed town. I hadn’t really believed him. Because I didn’t want to.

Shit. Otto had literally told me he was cursed when I’d flirted with him. And I hadn’t thought anything of it. I just thought he was being dramatic and messing with my head.

I really didn’t know what was going on, but it was clear that Ace and Otto needed my help. And Titan had just kicked the watch toward me. It was only a few feet away. I inched closer, holding my breath.

But Titan heard me.

He slowly turned around. His black eyes met mine and the low guttural growl that escaped his throat was the loudest yet.

I held up my hands. As if that would help at all. Why the hell had I thought I could grab the watch when it was inches away from him? I took a step back. And Titan prowled toward me.

“Otto!” Ace yelled. “Get Zoey!”

Otto gave up trying to grab the watch as he realized Titan’s intentions.

“Zoey, don’t move!” Otto yelled at me. “Not an inch.”

But he didn’t have to tell me. I was frozen in place as Titan lumbered toward me.

“It’s going to be okay, Zoey. Just…stay still.”

I couldn’t stay completely still. My whole body was shivering.

Each step made the muscles in Titan’s legs ripple. Titan opened his mouth and growled louder than ever, some of his spittle hitting my cheek. I could barely even breathe. I’d never seen anything so ferocious looking in my life.

Otto slid underneath Titan, grabbed the watch, and tossed it at Ace.

Ace kicked one of Titan’s back legs so that he’d turn toward him with the watch .

Otto ran over to me and I didn’t know whether to turn away and run from him or let him protect me from his friends.

I didn’t get a chance to decide, because he lifted me up over his shoulder. He sprinted toward the vaults lining the back wall. Before I could process what was happening, Otto had tossed me off his shoulder and into a vault.

“Otto, what the…” But he didn’t hear the rest of what I was saying, because he slammed the vault door in my face, locking me inside. “Otto!” I screamed and banged on the door. “Let me out!”

I kept banging on the door as I looked over my shoulder. My fists stopped midair. I wasn’t in a vault like the one Bennett had shown Emma and I the other day. The one I’d seen was pristine and filled floor to ceiling with beautiful relics.

This one was horrifying. Dented metal and gashes. It looked like some kind of prison.

There was a loud banging noise against the door and I fell backward. Something hit the outside of the door again.

I stared at the dents and gashes on the walls. Did they…go in here when they changed? I couldn’t imagine anything else causing this much damage.

They locked themselves up.

Because they were monsters.

I felt tears falling down my cheeks. I hugged my knees to my chest. Suddenly Callum didn’t seem so scary. He drank animal blood. He controlled himself. But these guys? They didn’t have any fucking control.

I can’t breathe .

Emma was right. About all of it. They were barely even human. Practically animals.

Emma. She could help me. I fumbled with my phone in my purse. I hit her number and pulled the phone to my ear.

I thought I heard her say hello, but the reception was terrible in the stupid metal vault.

“Help!” I yelled. “They changed…they…” I didn’t even know what to say.

“Zoey? Zoey, I can’t hear you!”

“It’s like you said!” I choked through my tears. “They’re what you said!”

“Zoey, you’re breaking up…”

The line went dead. I looked down at my phone. Zero bars. Fuck!

I leaned over my knees as I gasped for breath. Why hadn’t I just stuck to what worked? Dating guys online was so much easier than dating them in real life. Especially since I’d fallen for the villains.

One of the walls next to me made the same loud clanging noise as the door. I cringed as it made it again.

I closed my eyes and cried. I couldn’t catch my breath.

I thought I’d had it all figured out. I thought I’d finally found a way for me to be happy. An unconventional way. But I didn’t want anything this unconventional.

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest as the banging noise continued. Louder and louder. The sound was echoing in my head.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there. But my tears eventually dried on my cheeks. And my breath slowly returned to normal as the banging ceased .

The vault door hissed and I pushed myself backward on the floor. I wanted to get as far away from whoever was on the other side as possible.

I expected a huge werecat to come barreling inside the vault. But it was just Otto.

“Hey,” he said as he stepped toward me.

Hey? Really? That was all he had to fucking say?! “Are you one of them?”

“Zoey…”

“Answer me!” But I already knew the answer.

He nodded as he stepped closer to me.

“Don’t,” I said.

He stopped. “Zoey, I wanted to tell you. But I couldn’t. We all took a blood oath so our secret wouldn’t get out. You just had to see for yourself.”

He was a monster.

“We’re working on controlling it. We’re working on finding a way to reverse the curse. But until then…when we turn we use that pocket watch to get us in these vaults. So that nothing bad happens.”

So that nothing bad happens? I looked at the dents in the metal walls. That could have been me instead of the metal. I could have died.

“This vault is mine,” he said.

Jesus. I started shaking as he stepped closer to me again.

“There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m still me .” He reached out and touched the side of my face.

I shuddered.

He knelt down to try to look me in the eyes. “It’s me, Zoey.”

No. The man I knew wasn’t a monster. He was kind and funny and sweet. And… cursed .

“It’s me.” He cradled both sides of my face. “Zoey, look at me.”

I realized I was trying not to stare into his eyes. Because I knew his eyes. But everything I thought I knew was a lie. I started crying again. I tried not to let my body shake.

“Zoey.” He brushed away my tears with his thumbs. “You know me,” he said

“Get away from her,” said a deep voice.

I turned to see Callum and Emma standing in the vault doorway. I never in my life thought I’d be happy to see Callum.

But only a monster could protect me from another monster. And I’d never seen Callum lose control. I pushed myself away from Otto and ran over to Callum.

I threw my arms around him. It was like hugging a cold brick wall. I was a little surprised when he put one of his arms around me to hold me against his chest. He was a cold brick wall that would protect me.

“I’ve got you,” he said. “We’ve got you.”

Emma rubbed her hand up and down my back.

“Zoey,” Otto said. “Don’t leave with him. We can work this out. We…”

“One more step and I’ll end you,” Callum said.

“Zoey,” Otto said again. “Please.”

I didn’t have anything else to say.

“I love you,” Otto said. “Don’t do this.”

He loves me?

Callum pulled me out of the vault.

But I looked at Otto over my shoulder. He looked…dejected. Part of me just wanted to run over and hug him. The other more sensible part of me wanted to run away from this fucking town .

“She’s shaking,” Emma said.

“I’ve got her.” Callum lifted me into his arms. He carried me out of the bank. “I think she’s in shock. Let’s get her home.”

I pressed the side of my face against Callum’s hard chest. I was so grateful for them for coming for me. But I wasn’t in shock. At least, not anymore. I’d been in shock when it felt like I was locked in that vault for an hour. But now my heart just hurt.

I thought I’d finally found something real.

I closed my eyes but all I could see was the pained expression on Otto’s face. He looked haunted. I didn’t want him to feel that way.

It hadn’t been that long, but I’d already grown used to falling asleep in his arms. He loved me. And everything just really fucking hurt.

Emma opened the door to my house and Callum carried me inside.

“Whoa, what happened?”

I opened my eyes. I’d totally forgotten that Kebe would be here. And she looked very concerned. There was a strong likelihood that I looked like a hot mess right now. I just stared at her. I had zero energy for this discussion. Today had not been a great day for her to move in.

“Long story,” Emma said. “Callum, let’s get Zoey upstairs.”

“No,” I said. “I’m okay. Really. You can put me down.” I didn’t want Callum to see my room. Emma had probably already told him about my camming. But just in case she hadn’t…I still wanted to keep it on the down low.

Callum lowered me to the floor .

“Callum, the real estate agent. I’ve heard so much about you.” Kebe offered her hand to him.

He shook it. And maybe my mind was still lagging from earlier, but I swear he held her hand a beat too long. And I didn’t love the way his smile came so easy to his lips.

Callum liked frowning. It was kind of his thing. Why was he smiling at Kebe like that?

“Come on,” Emma said and put her arm behind my back. “Let’s get you upstairs.”

Kebe and Callum started laughing about something.

I couldn’t really say that Callum was cold toward me. He’d literally just saved me. But…he didn’t look at me like that. Or laugh with me like that.

“I’m okay,” I said when we reached the landing.

“You should go back down there and hang out.” Kebe seemed cool, but I didn’t really know her.

What if she one of those girls who loved sleeping with men in relationships?

I wasn’t going to let her flirt with Callum all night just because I wanted to curl up in a ball and let Emma hold me while I cried.

Emma ignored me and pulled me down the hall. She opened my door and practically dragged me inside. “What happened tonight?”

“They’re…they…”

“They’re werecats.” Emma breathed a sigh of relief. “God, I’m so glad we can finally talk about this without it feeling like I’m dying.”

Glad? I felt tears welling in my eyes again. I wasn’t happy about any of this.

Emma sat down on the edge of my bed despite the fact that I could hear her man laughing from downstairs. What the hell was Kebe’s game here ?

“Zoey?” she said.

I sat down on the bed next to her. “You were right.” I grabbed a pillow and pulled it against my chest. “They’re dangerous. They’re barely human.” I held the pillow tighter.

“Maybe it’s the other thing that’s more important though.”

“What other thing? The fact that they’re thieves? God, why did I start dating any of them when I knew that?” I was done with bad boys. I wanted a nice guy. Like Callum. I sighed. Since when did I classify Callum as a nice guy? He was a blood sucking vampire! This town had ruined me.

“I was talking about the fact that Otto said he loved you.”

I pressed my lips together.

“Are you in love with him too?”

“I don’t even know him.”

“That’s not true,” Emma said.

Yes it was. I closed my eyes and pictured Otto’s hands on my face. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m still me. ”

I pictured his hands on my body. His hazel eyes boring into mine. My name on his lips.

Fuck. I opened my eyes. Was I in love with Otto?