The Falcon Ridge Series Book 4: Art of a Girl

(Chapter song ‘Smooth Criminal' by Alien Ant Farm)

BASTIAN

I look around the large property as I stand at the porch steps of the Red Rock pack house.

I don't want to be here, but for Sam, I'd crawl through hot lava to help her.

I bite back my pride and climb the steps. Sucking a breath, I knock on the door and wait.

The door opens and I greet Luke’s younger sister with a smile. "Lucy. Is Luke here?"

She crosses her arms and leans on the door frame. "Bastian. What brings you out of the castle on the hill?" She smirks at me and lifts a brow.

I blow out an irritated breath. "You and your brother are really the same person, I swear. Is he home?" I ask harshly.

She pushes off the frame. "Yeah, he is. Come in."

She leads me into the common room, directs me to wait, then leaves to get her brother.

I'm always shocked at how small this pack house is considering the income for Red Rock is pretty substantial. You think they'd expand it more.

I have a seat, lean on my thighs, and tap my fingertips together as I wait. Everything that I witnessed over the last few days plays in my mind. I stare at the floor and start to piece it all together. The missing time. The accidents. The wounds. I knew something was off with Sammy. I think my wolf knows it, too. I wonder if that’s why he’s so quiet when Sammy’s around me. Him just sitting and listening from his cage is like he’s trying to figure her out. It’s almost like he’s trying to understand. Like I am right now.

Sammy’s going to murder me, but I’m in over my head here. I have no choice. I need to talk to the source.

After about fifteen minutes, Luke and his big mouth walks down stairs with Alexi and Lucy in tow.

"God. What now?" Luke groans as he crosses the foyer and walks into the common room. He stops and flops his hands at his sides.

"I swear. I come in peace." As soon as I see him, I stand and throw my hands up in surrender.

"Bastian Cole showing up anywhere is never peaceful. What do you want?" Luke crosses his arms and arches a brow.

I bite my tongue and remember why I’m here. "I need your help. More specifically, Alexi's help."

Alexi pushes past Luke. "What's wrong?" She asks with concern.

Luke pulls her back to his side. "What could you possibly want with my mate?" He lets out a low, challenging growl.

"Luke, behave." Alexi scolds.

"Look. I get that I'm not your favorite guy, but a friend of mine has a big problem. I need information and the things we discuss here cannot leave this house. Understood?" I place my hands on my hips and float my eyes between them.

If Draco Torrent was a Turner, Alexi is the only person in the Alliance who would know that for sure.

"You have my word." Alexi steps forward and stops in front of me.

Luke was pushes on her. “Babe! Are you kidding?”

“Luke. Be still.” She scowls over her shoulder then turns back to me. It’s actually pretty funny to see the Bad Boy Alpha of Red Rock get his hand slapped.

She motions me to the halls where the offices are. "Come. Let's go to the conference room."

I glance to Luke's scowling face as he waves us forward.

Once in the room, Alexi shuts the door and they take a seat when I do.

Luke glares at me. "Talk." He demands.

"Ok." I hold the bridge of my nose for a moment, saying a silent pray that I can trust these guys to not run to the Alliance.

I lean on the table. "I'll tell you what I know, but you all have to swear to me that none of this gets back to the Alliance."

"We swear, Bastian." Alexi says, folding her hands on the table.

"Well, maybe you do." Luke mumbles which gets him a backhand to the chest. "Fine. I swear." He leans back and rubs his chest.

"Ok. 20 years ago, a family was attacked outside the town of Silver Lake. Wolf attack. Shifter." I start.

"My father's conquest?" Alexi looks around the table.

I nod. "Yes. There were three in the car and only one survived. A 5-year-old little girl. The shifter tore her parents to pieces right in front of her."

"Jesus." Luke cringes.

I swallow and press my lips together. "She survived with only one injury. A scar..." My hand goes to my shoulder blade. "A bite mark. Right here."

"It scarred?" Luke asks.

"Yeah." I confirm.

"Must have been one hell of a bite to scar." He crossed his arms.

This is where I swallow everything I have and forget about breaking Sammy’s trust.

"The reason it scarred was because this little girl wasn't born a shifter." I look into the eyes of the people I'm putting all my trust in.

"What was she?" Alexi eyes me.

My face fills with concern. "Human."

"Bastian. That can't be." Alexi’s brows cinch as she leans a little forward.

"What? What am I missing?" Luke looks at his mate.

"Has she changed at all? Anything?" Alexi’s words were determined as she motions Luke to wait.

I shake my head. "Not willingly. It's... Alexi, I don't know what I'm dealing with here. I need your help. You're the only person who would know anything about this.”

"Will someone fill me the fuck in already?" Luke scowls. Clearly, he can't put the pieces together.

Alexi held his hand. "The little human girl was bitten by a shifter who had the capability of making shifters." She tilts her head to him.

"Get the fuck out. A Turner? Seriously?" His brows shoot up then turns to me.

I nod. "Alexi. That shifter? From what my friend remembers. The wolf had red eyes and a cross mark on its forehead."

"My father." She stares at me. "My father killed that poor human family?"

"My guess is, he was either pumped with the kills or thought they were trying to escape Silver Lake. Either way, he wanted my friend dead. Someone called the battle won and he left before he could finish her off."

"Fucking scumbag. I hope he's getting triple tortured in hell." Luke growls. He turns to Alexi. "No offense, babe."

"None taken, my love. As the days go on, I'm finding out even more how sick my father was." She sighs.

"Alexi. I need you to confirm for me. Was your father a Turner?" I lean on the table.

She thinks for a minute. "I can't confirm it, but there were rumors. Stories I would hear from the around the pack house. One, in particular, stands out. Before my father met my mother, it was rumored he fell in love with a human woman after he escaped the lab. She found him, injured and alone. It's said she nursed him back to health and they had an affair. Apparently, on the night of the Blue Moon, he marked her, but his poison was too much and she died. He then found my mother. It's just a story."

I turn my head slightly. “They had an affair? Did they have a kid by chance? A boy?”

Alexi seemed put off. “No. My father had no other children. Why do you ask?”

"No reason.” I chew my cheek thinking it’s entirely possible that Sammy’s dream guy is just Torrent through a 5 year olds trauma. She may have inadvertently seen his picture somewhere along her life and it stuck. “So, he knew he could turn humans?" I ask.

"It's possible he knew. It's also possible he didn't know." Alexi supplies.

Knowing Draco, I’ll bet my ballroom, he fucking knew it. His type of wolf was extremely rare. Draco Torrent was a white Southern Black wolf. He was born a polar opposite from his entire pack. For him to have and command an army of 4000 wolves that look exactly like him would not be possible if he wasn’t.

"So, this girl of yours? She's a shifter now?" Luke asks.

"She's not my girl. She's just a friend." I correct. I’m not sure if Sammy is mine yet. Let’s get this all straight first.

"Whatever. Is she a shifter?" Luke waves me off, then leans on the table.

I shake my head. "No. I mean, I don’t know. Her wolf… It's broken somehow. Evil. It's like it treats her like it's trapped inside her. The two can't talk. It seems like they don't know the other exists until it tries to shift and when it does… Fuck, Luke. I've never seen anything like it. It tries to kill her." My face pains as I recall the bloodbath I saw with my own two eyes.

"Have you seen it?" Alexi asks.

"No. Neither has anyone else. It looks like it's only been successful a few times and it's when she's asleep. I need your help, Luke. I wouldn't come to you if I didn't think you could help me." I have to grovel because the Jackson’s connections to the Dragons are too good to pass up.

Luke rubs his chin. "I can't help with information, but I think I can help in the wolf training department."

I arch a brow. "What do mean?"

"Well." He stands and goes to his desk. "It sounds like your friend has a little communication problem with her wolf. The wolf side of shifters, they hate getting locked up. Just like with Rogue Sickness, they turn feral inside. It's why we start wolf training at 12. That way the pups will get a good handle on their wolves when they emerge the next year. Obviously, they can't shift, but the first year is about finding it and developing the link between the human and wolf. From the sounds of it, your friend never got that training."

He pulls out a piece of paper, writes some things down and walks the paper to me.

I nod. "I remember. I had private trainers, but I remember how useful it was when I turned. It makes sense as to the reason why it’s so angry. Her brother said they never gave her trainer because they didn’t know what they 3 dealing with. This started at 8."

“At 8?” Alexi asks shockingly.

“Holy shit!” Luke’s brows shoot up. “She shifted?”

“No. It just made its presence know by injuring people. My guess is, it can only control Sammy's body or parts of it, but it can’t take her over enough to shift.” I lean back and read the paper. “Trainers?”

He points to the paper. "That's Wren’s number. She's our best pup trainer. The other is Camilla. She's a councilor. She bridges the gap between human and wolf. Opens the door so the two can bond."

He sits back down next to Alexi as I put it in my pocket. "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Luke nods. "So, this friend. Wouldn't happen to have long legs, long brown hair and big brown eyes by chance?" He smirks.

Alexi narrows his eyes at him. “Alpha?”

He double takes her then holds his hands out. "What? I'm just askin'.”

I try to hide the tiny smile I had going, but Luke saw it.

"It is! You dog." He leans on the table. “So, you took my advice and hit that?"

"Luke!" Alexi slaps his arm.

"What? It's not me. It's him." He points at me.

"No need to be crude." She scolds.

I laugh. "No. It's not like that. I'm just helping a friend."

"My 100 bucks is still riding. You two are going to end up together. I'm sure of it." He smirks.

I stand. "Well, right now, I have to fix this problem for her."

Luke shook his head.

"What?" I ask.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Bastian Cole thought of someone other than himself. It's a good look man." He stands and extends his hand out to me.

I take it in a handshake. "Thanks." I chuckle. "I still hate you, though."

He nods with a smile. "Don't worry, I hate you, too."

"I'll see myself out. Alexi, always a pleasure." I slightly bow my head to her.

"Bastian. I hope we've helped in some way. Good luck to your friend. If she's feeling up to it, I'd really love to meet her." She stands and shakes my hand.

"I'll have to set something up when we have time." I walk around the table and head for the door. "Thanks again." I pat my pocket and leave.

I walk out of the pack house and climb into the back of the Buick.

Nigel looks at me in the mirror. "Did you get what you came for?"

"I hope so. I really do." I look out the window as he turns around in the driveway.

As we turn onto the road, I think of Sam. I think about how she’s too beautiful to have something like this happen to her. It's not fair and if I can change her life, I will. No one should be living a life of suffering in my pack. I won’t allow it.

I also thought about how I wish I could have Draco Torrent in my claws. I would crush his windpipe while staring into his evil face. If he wasn't dead already, I'd kill him myself.

The image of that baby girl scared and alone has my blood boiling. The movies make us shifters out to be monsters, but in reality, we care about everyone. We aren't mindless killing machines, but every so often you get one that's so cruel, you'd think the devil itself created it.

I pray that it's not too late for Sammy. She's lived so long with the monster inside. But I know there's got to be a way to fix it. A way to correct what's broken. If Wren and Camilla can do what Luke says they can, maybe Sammy can feel her wolf and repair the damage of decades of entrapment.

When we get to the pack house, it's well after dark. Nigel let me out in front and left to park the car. I jog up the steps and run through scenarios on how to break this to her. No matter how I bring it up, she’s going to know I talked. I just have to reassure her she’s still safe. I’m pretty damn sure the last person Luke or Alexi will run to is River Blake or Alpha Fredericks. Both are on Luke’s shit list, so I think I’m pretty safe.

I was going to go to bed, but instead, I decide to go to the ballroom to think. When I get to the door, it's open a few inches. There's a strange light coming from it and I hear muffled growls.

I stop at the door, scrunch my brow and analyze the pulsing and moving light outlining the cracks in the door. I lift my hand to the door face and push. When it swings open, my jaw drops.

The full moon is casting its white light through the skylight onto the floor in a large circle like a spotlight. I swallow as I enter the room and the growls seem to become more desperate.

My heart races when I find her.

In the dark of the ballroom, underneath the sparkling moon chandelier, she sits with one leg bent at the knee and hunched over the other one. She's doing something feverishly. The weird light is pouring across the floor and it looks like it’s coming from her. I can’t see her face because her matted and messy hair is hanging like curtain in front of it.

She’s huffing out small growls like she’s protecting a meal while she eats. I’ve never heard a shifter make that type of growl before. My wolf is completely confused. He’s panting and pacing behind my ribs as I slowly approach her in the middle of the floor.

The growling stops as my shoes enter the circle of light. I can see her arm moving very quickly and I stand on my toes to look over her knee. I see black on a paper. She’s drawing?

"Sam?" I whisper as I close the gap cautiously.

She doesn't look up. The growling starts to get louder again and she doesn’t stop. In fact, she speeds up. The light gets even more intense as I stand with only about a foot between us.

"Sammy?' I squat down to her and try to see around her hair.

Her growling quiets, but her drawing continues. I reach my hand out to touch her shoulder when she whips her head to me and lets out a loud demonic growl. I fall back on ass in shock and throw a hand up to her.

“What the fuck?!”

Her canines are out, her face his twisted in a warning threat and her eyes are misshapen almost like a wolf’s. They’re also glowing HOT FUCKING PINK!!

"Sammy?!" I choke as lower my hand and my eyes widen.

She snarls her lip and turns back to what she’s doing and I’m staring at her like I just walked into some sort of demonic possession.