Wolf Shifter Diaries: Lies Tamed (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 2) by E. Hall (books for men to read TXT) 📗

“We have a long drive ahead of us. Just tell me everything you know.”

Clattering and grinding come from under the hood. Rhonda doesn’t seem thrilled by that fact. I send a text to arrange for alternative transportation.

“For one, species don’t just suddenly evolve into man-eating, bloodsucking, tormentors. It didn’t add up. What I do remember was endless research, trying to put everything I could together,” Greyson says.

“The secret room in Lonsdale?” Kenna asks.

“Yes. You’ve seen it? That’s my life’s work. But pieces are missing from my collection. Namely, my mother’s journal, her cloak, and the Triad Jewels.”

Kenna shifts in the front seat. She has one of the gems but strangely doesn’t say so.

Why don’t you tell him? I ask her in the wolf-way.

Get out of my head, she growls.

Kenna clears her throat and says, “What are those items, Dad?”

“My mother, Isa, a fae, left the Court of Ken and Clover. It wasn’t only because she fell in love with my father which was as forbidden then as it was when I fell in love with your mother. I always wondered why.”

“And you hope those three items will answer the question.”

“How romantic,” I say sarcastically.

“I also believe they’ll explain why we were made to believe that we’re dangerous.”

“Because we are,” I answer.

“I don’t think that’s the whole story, Corbin. I can tell that you’re Alpha. Perhaps start thinking like one.”

The wolf in me growls.

“I mean to say think for yourself. Ask questions no matter how dangerous it may be,” Greyson says.

My main question right now is how I’m going to end a hollow ghost.

Chapter 19

Kenna

Rhonda sputters as we blaze down the freeway. I want to learn more about the magical past, but have to concentrate on the road. Cars whiz by as the minivan struggles to keep up. I got gas recently so I don’t think that’s the problem. Perhaps it’s the battery again or something else.

“Kenna, I have the plane waiting in Los Angeles. We can fly out,” Corbin says.

“I can’t leave Rhonda behind.” I pat the dashboard.

“I’ll have it towed back to New Hampshire.”

“Is this you riding in on your white stallion?” I’m not won over by his act of gallantry.

“I’m a wolf. I don’t need a horse.”

The steering stiffens, and the car slows some more. I struggle through three lanes of traffic and am glad I didn’t opt for the HOV lane. Rhonda gives one last gasp before going still on the shoulder of the road.

I tilt my head back. “Well, looks like you have plenty of time for story hour, Dad.”

“A car service will be here in two minutes. The tow truck will be right behind them. The airport is seventeen minutes away if the traffic doesn’t get worse.” Corbin speaks with efficiency.

“I can see how eager you are to turn us into the Council. Is it possible to stop in New Hampshire so I can see my mother one last time?”

“Jacqueline is in New Hampshire?” Greyson asks.

“Yeah, we have a new apartment there. This is her car.”

“This?” His eyes bulge. “She was practically a princess. Vampire royalty and she drives a—”

“Shh. This minivan has been through enough. But yes. We lived frugally to blend in.”

He leans back as though disturbed. “She deserves better. And so do you.” Greyson glares back at Corbin. “If he’d open his mind, he’d see that—” My father goes silent. “I can’t remember.”

“Are you sure your existence is all you traded?”

A car honks behind us. I gather up everything I can from Rhonda in case she doesn’t make it back. It feels silly, but I let her know she’s been good, loyal. I feel like I’m leaving something behind. Like so many others lately, this is another last time.

The ride to the airport is quiet. The driver must be magical because he acknowledges my father with a vague nod. There isn’t much to talk about that wouldn’t reveal that the guy is transporting two of Magical’s Most Wanteds or my anger at Corbin.

However, once back on the posh private plane, which I’m too peeved to appreciate, my curiosity pushes past the silence. “Maybe it will help you remember things if I tell you what’s been going on since you became a hollow ghost.”

“Which was when?” Corbin asks.

“When I learned the history of Lila.” Greyson has the opposite of a smile in his voice. “There are two versions of the story. Which would you like to hear today?”

“That’s easy. The truest one,” I say.

“It was said that a man captured a fae. Charmed by her beauty with dark hair and fair skin, the secrets of the woods rippling in her eyes, and the melodic sound of her voice, he brought her on land against her will. Then she lost her most valued asset, her voice, rendering her relatively helpless to her plight.”

I recall the story Pepper told me and say, “And ever after, to avenge their loss, on the full moon, the fae maidens would lure a huntsman into their midst and take his life for her own.”

My dad nods. “Later, one fae maiden, my mother, felt like the Initiation practice was wrong and fled with the huntsman who became my father. Only, shortly after their love was known, a werewolf attacked him.”

“How did the fae kill the huntsmen exactly?”

My father gazes out the window. “The cry of the fae, an enchanting, but deadly song activated under the light of the full moon has the power to kill.”

The hair on the back of my neck lifts. I inhale, realizing I was holding my breath as I think of the song I thought I heard from the diary. I’m debating whether or not to