Revelations (Brighton Wolves #1)

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Gabe took them the long way home, and by the time they had finally arrived, the bleeding on his arm had slowed. It still oozed in a couple of spots, but the bandage she had fashioned was holding strong. As Gabe parked into their normal spot beneath the tree in the front yard, Gwen was finally able to take a deep breath, and she felt herself begin to relax. She knew it would probably take a long time to get over what had happened today—if she ever did—but being home where they were safest was a good start.

  Gabe turned off the car and leaned back against the seat, his eyes closing and his shoulders slumped. He looked exhausted, and she knew the wound on his arm was only part of it. There had to be so many thoughts racing around in his head, all screaming at him at the same time. She knew her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and like her, Gabe hadn’t had much time to sort them out. Everything was happening so fast now.

  Finally, they dragged themselves wearily from the car and made their way up the porch steps. Gwen held the door open for Gabe, and when they stepped into the living room, Karen and Sandra both rushed to greet them. It was obvious that Karen had been crying, and Gwen wondered what their dad and uncle had said before they left. Had Karen been seeing pictures of her dead children in her head? Had she been forced to stay behind and do nothing but worry and feel helpless?

  Karen’s eyes immediately found the wound on Gabe’s arm, which soaked his shirt before the bleeding had stopped. Her eyes went wide and her face paled, as if she had just seen a ghost. It was obvious that Karen knew what a bite wound like that meant, and there was no more hiding the truth from them. It was too late for that now. Without a word, Sandra disappeared from the room, probably to grab the first aid kit they kept in the house.

  Karen gasped as she peeled back Gwen’s makeshift bandage. A sob caught in the back of her throat, and she closed her eyes, as if she could shut it all out if she tried hard enough. Gwen felt a surprising rush of anger at her mother’s reaction, and part of her wanted to scream at her, to make her say anything in her defense. If Karen tried to excuse her actions, it would give Gwen a justified reason to be furious at her.

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you,” she said, her voice soft as a whisper. Gwen felt her anger begin to fade away in surprise. “This is all my fault.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Gabe asked through clenched teeth as their mother began to wash his wound. “No more lies or secrets!”

  “It’s not my place to tell you everything,” Karen said, keeping her head down as she worked. “I’ll let your father and uncle do that. It’s their story, more so than ours. I’m sure even we don’t know everything,” she said, glancing at Sandra out of the corner of her eyes.

  “But you know some stuff,” Gwen said. “Tell us the basics.”

  “I wouldn’t know where to start.”

  Gabe snorted. “How about you start by telling us that Dad and Uncle Geoffrey are both werewolves, and I’m one now, too.”

  She sat back, her shoulders stiff and her eyes glassy with tears. Even though she was devastated, it was clear to Gwen that she took exception to his tone and the accusatory look on his face. For a second, she thought their mother might snap at him and tell him to watch his tone, but with great effort, she calmed down and relaxed.

  “Yes, your father and uncle are both werewolves. And now you are, too. Or, you will be. Very soon.”

  “How soon?”

  “On the night of the next full moon, your body will forcibly change, and you’ll officially become a werewolf. But there will be changes before then.”

  “What kind of changes?” Gwen asked. Her brother had lapsed into thoughtful silence, and she could practically hear the gears turning in his head as the realization hit. He was going to turn into a monster, a creature of nightmares and mythology. And to think, it had only been two weeks since their lives had been turned upside down and irrevocably changed forever. Their normal, everyday lives almost seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Before Karen could tell them about Gabe’s future changes, the front door slammed open and Grant rushed into the room, breathing deeply. His eyes were crazed and his hair a disheveled mess, and Gwen could see a patch of red stained on the front of his shirt near his left hip. It looked like he wasn’t seriously injured, and now that Gwen was certain of the truth, she realized that werewolves must heal abnormally fast, and that was how both Grant and Geoffrey had managed to be okay after their brutal fight.

  Grant rushed over to the couch, with Geoffrey not far behind. He knelt down on the ground in front of her and took Gwen’s hand in his, his eyes quickly searching every inch of her body for signs of injury. When he was satisfied that she was in one piece, he sighed and let go of her, his eyes closing as the tension left his body. “Thank God you’re not hurt, too.”

  “How did you know Gabe was hurt?” she asked. His attention had been fixated solely on her. She didn’t think he had even glanced in Gabe’s direction once, and she was about to be offended on his behalf. But Gabe didn’t seem to care that Grant was more worried about her. In fact, he almost seemed relieved not to have any attention on him.

  “I could smell his blood back on the road, and I knew he’d been hurt. And before I even entered the house, I could tell that his scent had already started to change, which tells me that he’s turning. It won’t happen for a little while, but I’m afraid it’s unavoidable.” He looked over at Gabe, his face softer than Gwen could remember seeing it in the longest time. “I suppose you two want your answers.”

  “I think we deserve that,” Gabe said, his voice flat.

  Grant sighed. “I’m afraid this is going to be a long story.”

  Geoffrey snorted. “Don’t act like you’re not dying to tell this story. We all know you’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. That and you like the sound of your own voice entirely too much.”

  Grant whipped his head around, and Gwen could only imagine the glare on his face. Surprisingly, he calmed himself down and returned to what he’d been saying. “All of this started a long time ago, and you might not find this surprising, but it all started with a girl.” He glanced back at Geoffrey. “A girl that we both dated back in high school.”

  “Which of you dated her first?” Gwen asked, already suspicious that she knew that answer.

  “That’s not important,” Grant said, confirming her suspicions. “She was a wild, carefree girl. Mysterious and daring, beautiful, captivating, everything you could ever want in a woman.”

  “She was also bat shit crazy,” Geoffrey said, his arms crossed over his chest and a blank look on his face. Clearly he didn’t approve of Grant’s nostalgia. “Mae and I dated for a short while, before she switched her attentions over to your father. She loved the feeling of being wanted and desired and she craved attention like nobody I’d ever met before. It was insane, the things she could get us to do to prove our love for her. But finally, Grant and I could take the competition no longer, and we tried forcing her to choose.”

  “Unbeknownst to us, she had zero intention of only having one of us. She liked the power she held over us and there was no way she was giving it up. She met with each of us separately, convincing us that we were the one she was choosing. Then, she turned on us. Within twenty-four hours, Geoffrey and I had both been bitten, and our lives changed forever.”

  Geoffrey picked up the story. “Grant was the first of us to complete the change, though I’d been bitten first. Mae explained to us later that intense emotions can trigger the change before the closest full moon.” He glanced over at his brother. “And Grant’s always had a far worse temper than the rest of our family. I held out until the next full moon in the hopes that I’d be able to find a cure. After seeing what Grant was going through, I wanted no part in it.”

  “I was becoming even angrier, not to mention faster and stronger. I could hear and smell things I never could have before. It was incredible. After the initial trauma of such a painful experience, I
began to enjoy the power and freedom it gave me. I was amazing; I was unlike anybody else. It was a rush.”

  Gwen looked to her uncle. “What about you? Did you enjoy it, too?”

  His answer was immediate. “No, I hated it,” he said with absolute certainty. “It’s not the life I would have ever chosen for myself, and if I ever had the chance to go back and not meet Mae that night, I’d do things very differently. Perhaps my life wouldn’t be where it is right now.” His face turned away from them, but Gwen could see the pain in his eyes, and she knew his thoughts were on Ginny. “It’s a curse and nothing more.”

  Grant shook his head. “It offers a chance of freedom, to be wild and untamed, to test your limits and push yourself to be the absolute best you can be. There’s nothing more incredible than the feeling of wind in your fur, of your paws hitting the ground with each powerful stride, of knowing that you’re powerful and graceful and proud. You have a permanent connection with the moon that gives you the opportunity to experience all of the beauty the night has to offer.” His eyes closed as a smile graced his face. “I can’t imagine ever giving it up.”

  Though she heeded the caution in Geoffrey’s words, the excitement in Grant’s had her heart racing. What would it be like to be wild and free? Would it be amazing to know the power within and be able to express it? Even though she was terrified of wolves, she could feel her fascination with them growing. It was obvious that Grant thought the world of his wolf side, and Gwen wondered if she could learn to get over her fear of wolves if she ever got a taste of it. Could she ever learn to be powerful and carefree and so confident in herself?

  “Why didn’t you tell us any of this?” Gabe demanded, rising to his feet to tower over their father, who was kneeling in front of the couch.

  Grant was on his feet in an instant, his face inches from Gabe’s. The two of them glowered at each other, and Gwen silently begged them both to keep calm. The last thing she wanted right now was to see another fist fight between two people she loved. Gabe was injured, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing him angrier than he was right now. If things got ugly, there was a possibility that at least one of them would have to be hospitalized.

  “You weren’t ready to know,” Grant said. “We decided it was best if—”

  “Shut up!” Gabe shouted, startling both Gwen and Sandra. Karen alone remained stony and impassive on the couch beside her, and Gwen wondered if she was just used to dealing with her husband’s temper tantrums. “I’m done listening to anything you have to say. You’ve done nothing but lie to us our entire lives, and Ginny died because of it. It’s your fault she’s gone!”

  Grant’s lips pulled back in a feral snarl, and Gwen found herself drawing as far away from him as possible. She was too reminded of the terrifying wolves that had plagued her nightmares and her waking moments. She tensed her shoulders, waiting for the first blow. Instead, Karen jumped to her feet, putting herself between her husband and son. There was a look of desperation on her face as she began speaking frantically.

  “It was my decision to keep it from you,” she said, her back to Grant. Her hands cupped Gabe’s face gently, and she touched her forehead to his. At their mother’s touch, she could see the tension begin to leave Gabe’s body, and the situation was quickly diffused.

  “Why?” Gabe asked, his voice strangled.

  “I knew about Grant’s curse when we married, and when we had you, I was worried that you would turn out to be just like him. Grant assured me the curse wasn’t hereditary, that you would simply have a better chance of surviving if you were bitten. It was my duty to make sure that never happened. I couldn’t bear the thought of either of you ending up like that. We talked about our options and I decided it would be best if you were both kept in the dark for as long as we could—forever if possible.”

  “You should have told us…”

  “I hoped that pretending it wasn’t real would let us live our lives blissfully unaware of the darkness in our world and our family. I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I never wanted this to happen, any of it.  I wanted us to live happy and unaware, but instead you’ve been forced into this evil world, and all I did was make you unprepared for it. It’s my fault you’re in this mess, just as much as it’s your father’s.”

  Grant scoffed, earning a glare from Geoffrey and Karen. He turned his back on his family to avoid their accusatory stares, and Gwen knew that the worst of it was over. Gabe had gotten some of his anger out and Karen had taken the brunt of his anger, meaning nobody was going to end up hospitalized or worse. Now that the tension had left the room, Gwen felt herself relax, and her curiosity about their situation was back.

  She had a lot of questions left to be answered, but there was one on her mind more than the rest. She turned to their father. “How did you and Uncle Geoffrey find us? We made sure not to tell anyone where we were going. Have you been following us or something?”

  Grant frowned. “No, we haven’t. And I have to say I’m pretty disappointed in the two of you for sneaking all over the place. Your mother’s been worried sick about the two of you. Now is not the time to be trying to stick it to us and act like rebellious hooligans.”

  Gwen ignored his jabs. “So how did you find us?”

  “Someone left a note on the front door while we were out,” Geoffrey said. “I came home and found it. It took me a minute to make out the terrible handwriting, but once we figured out what it said, we hurried off to help you two. I have no idea who left it or why, but I’m grateful they did. Things could have ended worse today.”

  Someone left them a note? Who could it have been? Se wracked her brain trying to think of who their helper might have been, and it finally came to her. Skyler. It had to be him. Nobody else who knows what’s going on would have stuck their neck out and helped us. He really must have been trying to help us when he warned us to leave Brighton.

  She glanced over at Gabe and saw the blank look on his face. For once, it seemed they weren’t on the same page. Do I tell them it was Skyler? Or do I keep it a secret? He obviously doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s doing, or he’d just come out and help us. But everything he does, he does in secret. I wonder if he’s scared of Roman. But if so, why would he even help us in the first place?

  She kept her mouth shut, not wanting to expose Skyler. He would reveal himself if and when he was ready. Until then, she would keep his secret in the hopes that he would continue to help them. It wasn’t like they had a lot of options when it came to friends, so it would be smart not to alienate the one she knew they had.

  “I just don’t understand what Roman wants with us after all of these years,” Grant said, pacing across the living room floor. His hands were winding around one another, but Gwen couldn’t tell if it was nervousness or frustration that was making him fidget. “I don’t see what he plans to accomplish by destroying my family.”

  Geoffrey’s head whipped around like a cobra about to strike, and Gwen didn’t even have time to prepare herself for the explosion. “Your family? You think your family was the one he destroyed? My life ended the day Ginny’s did; he took a piece of my soul that I’ll never get back. I’ll never see her smiling face or hear her beautiful voice again. My daughter is dead, Grant! And don’t play so innocent; you and I both know why this is happening now and it’s all your fault!”

  Grant whirled on Geoffrey and in an instant they were chest to chest, making the room feel suddenly small. Nobody in the room even dared to breathe as they waited for the fallout from Geoffrey’s words. Gwen closed her eyes as she waited for the bomb to drop, and she felt Gabe place a hand on her shoulder.

  “If you had just let me claim her, none of this would have happened!” Grant shouted, shoving Geoffrey back.

  For a minute, there was total silence in the room. As Grant’s words sank in, Gwen felt her heart pounding in her chest. She had no idea what she was feeling—confusion, excitement, anger—it was all a crazy whirlwind.

  When Grant finally realized what he
’d just said, both he and Geoffrey took several steps back, putting a safe amount of distance between the two of them. But for once, it looked like the two weren’t prepared to fight. Instead, the two of them seemed to both be paralyzed by shock. Gwen could see Grant’s mind racing as he was already thinking of a way to explain away what he’d just said, but he didn’t get the chance to come up with some half-assed lie.

  “What do you mean, ‘claim her’ Grant?” Karen was still sitting beside Gwen on the couch, but she could tell it was through a tremendous amount of effort that Karen hadn’t leapt to her feet. Her hands were folded together in her lap, but Gwen could see them trembling. She could see her mother’s mind start to unravel as she realized the truth was impossible to ignore. “Grant!” she screamed, getting to her feet so fast she knocked over a glass of iced tea, spilling its contents on the floor. “You answer me!”

  Karen’s hands stopped their pitiful trembling, and instead she looked ready to strangle him. The gears were turning in her mind as everything was falling into place. There had probably been clues for years, but Karen would have formed a block in her own mind in order to keep her family together. Now that wall was coming down and she couldn’t pretend any longer.

  “Ginny really was our sister,” Gwen said, beating her mother to the punch. It killed her to say the words. She felt revulsion at the thought of her father and aunt, but even more than that, she felt blind, seething hatred. Not only had their father betrayed their mother and their family with his own selfishness, but he’d robbed Gwen and Gabe the chance to bond with Ginny on an even deeper level. Now she understood what horrible secret had caused Grant and Geoffrey to have a falling out. It was all his fault they’d had to pack up and move away from the only family they had.

  “She left me a goodbye letter calling me her sister,” she said, her voice soft and fragile. “I thought she meant because we were so close…not this.” Gwen closed her eyes in an attempt to keep the tears locked away, but they broke free like a dam, flooding down her cheeks. “How could you?! What is wrong with you?”

  Karen was speechless. Her mouth opened but not a word came out. What was there to say? The truth was out in the open and there was no denying it—no justifying it. She looked to Sandra, who at least had the decency to look away in shame. Tears in her eyes, Karen darted from the room, racing past Grant and all of the sorrowful eyes that were focused on her. Grant chased after her, excuses already on his lips as he begged her for a chance to explain himself.

  The front door slammed shut as their parents both disappeared, and the tense feeling in the air vanished with them. Gabe sat back down on the couch beside her, and the two of them waited for either Geoffrey or Sandra to speak. It was like there were so many questions in Gwen’s mind that she had no idea where to begin. What did she ask first? Did she even want to know the answers? Their parent’s marriage should have been something private and sacred—not something to ever be discussed with their children.

  Sandra was the one to finally break the silence. “You should never have found out this way,” she said. Her voice was stronger than Karen’s had been, but there was so much remorse buried in her words. “Our selfish actions caused this family so much pain, but we’d put the past behind us and moved on with our lives. I’ve spent nights lying awake wondering if what happened to Ginny was our punishment for hurting others.”

  “Would you have ever told us or would you have kept it a secret forever?” Gabe asked.

  “The three of us talked about it and decided to spare everyone innocent in this terrible situation. You, Gwen, and Ginny. Karen, too. None of you had done anything wrong so we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell you the truth—even if you would have gained a sister out of it. The truth would have destroyed the rest of your family. So we pretended it never happened and hoped that everything would somehow go back to the way it was. But Grant couldn’t let go.”

  “So Dad is Ginny’s real father?” Gabe asked.

  “No,” Geoffrey said immediately. “I raised Ginny. I claimed her as mine from the day she was born. I loved her more than anything in this world, not your father. He was selfish and thought of nobody but himself, like always,” he said bitterly. “Actually wanted rights to her, despite what it would have done to your family.”

  “So now we know what tore you two apart,” Gwen said, her gaze passing over to Sandra. “Just like when you were younger. It was all because of a woman. A woman that our Dad shouldn’t have wanted.”

  “A woman that he wanted to take from you,” Gabe said, looking down at her. He shook his head and Gwen could practically feel the disgust emanating from him. It was easy for her to identify his intense feelings because they mirrored her own. Gabe sighed, leaning back against the couch and resting his arms across the back of it. “So, tell me about becoming a werewolf. What do I need to know to prepare myself?”

  Geoffrey’s body relaxed, thankful to be on a different subject.