Marked (The Pack) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Other Books

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  About Author

  The Pack

  Marked

  By

  Suzanne Cox

  The Pack (Book 1)

  Marked

  Copyright © 2012 by Suzanne Cox

  eBook Edition: ISBN 13: 978-0-9859049-1-3 (10: 0985904917)

  Print Edition: ISBN 13: 978-0-9859049-0-6 (10: 0985904909)

  Cover Art - Claudia at Phatpuppy Art

  Typography Ashley at Bookish Brunette

  Layout and Formatting - Lasting Impressions eBook Creations

  Published by Suzanne Cox Books

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination.

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information retrieval and storage system without permission of the publisher.

  Ebooks are not transferrable, either in whole or in part. As the purchaser or otherwise lawful recipient of this ebook, you have the right to enjoy the novel on your own computer or other device. Further distribution, copying, sharing, gifting or uploading is illegal and violates United States Copyright laws.

  Pirating of ebooks is illegal. Criminal Copyright Infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, may be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used in a fictitious situation. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, organizations, incidents or persons – living or dead – are coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  Other Books by Suzanne Cox

  Harlequin SuperRomance

  A Different Kind of Man

  Unexpected Daughter

  One Man To Protect Them

  Young Adult

  Breathe (Atlantis Series Book One) Available July 2012

  The Pack series Book Two available Winter 2012

  Chapter One

  My leg trembled while warm droplets trickled along my bare upper thigh. Heat from the sun burned through the window but still my skin remained cold as ice. I crushed my eyelids together, not wanting to look, to see what I already knew I’d find. My eyes opened, I guess my body knew the sooner I looked the sooner this might end. Burgundy rivulets of blood wound a path along my skin. I tried to shout, but I was paralyzed. It was kind of like when you’re half awake but still asleep. You can hear someone coming to get you, but you can’t move, can’t do one single thing about it.

  “Alexis.”

  With a jerk, I opened my eyes that hadn’t been open at all. The cup of watered down soda I’d been holding hit the floorboard and I scrambled to grab it before the liquid inside could leak onto the rubber mat. I stuck the cup in the closest cup holder while I mopped at the water that had dripped onto my leg from the bottom of the cup. Had I been sleeping? I didn’t think so, though lately I couldn’t be so sure. I glanced to my mom in the front passenger seat. Then I remembered where I was, where I was going, and a million reasons I wanted to jump out of the car and run home. Except home was hundreds of miles behind me.

  “Are you all right?”

  From the front seat my mom regarded me in the mirror of the flipped down sun visor. I’d seen that look more than once over the last year, way more.

  “I’m fine, why?”

  “You were making weird noises.”

  “Was I?” I fiddled with the seatbelt not meeting her eyes again.

  “Yes, you were.”

  “I was daydreaming, I guess.” I looked over at my newly acquired stepdad, who was driving. He stared at the road ahead, not speaking, the same thing he’d done for most of this trip. My mother had thought this drive south from our home in the suburbs of Chicago would be fun, a bonding experience. It had been more like an experience in torture, silent torture. I couldn’t blame him. Aaron was a nice guy and I liked him. He knew I wasn’t happy about what they were doing to me. He’d had the decency not to try and convince me I was getting a good deal by staying with my aunt, who I barely knew, while they toured Europe for a belated honeymoon. My mother, on the other hand, was not so decent.

  “You’re going to enjoy the summer here, Alexis.”

  I didn’t answer immediately but stared out the window at the trees that barricaded the sides of the road. Occasionally, a brackish stand of water would appear among the tree trunks with moss hanging from the branches, dipping gray tentacles into the dirty liquid that likely held a million squirming snakes and maybe even an alligator. Yeah, this totally looked like somewhere every girl wanted to spend her summer.

  “Don’t know why I couldn’t stay with some of my friends,” I muttered.

  At this point, my mom turned around in her seat to face me. I could see the lecture coming. I’d heard it before, and for a moment I wondered what had happened to my mom and me. We used to never argue, never disagree. She used to trust me.

  “If I recall correctly, all your friends were otherwise occupied this summer. One in rehab and one under house arrest, right?”

  “Which is exactly why I could have stayed at one of their houses. One wouldn’t have been home anyway, and what could Lindsey and I have done? She has that bracelet on her ankle and she can’t leave.”

  “Alexis, she burglarized people’s homes.”

  I started to say that the people Lindsey stole from were wealthy and wouldn’t miss the stuff anyway. It wasn’t like Lindsey wasn’t wealthy herself. In the end my mom would say stealing was stealing. In the end, she was right, but I wasn’t the one who’d stolen things. I hadn’t used drugs with Kat, which finally ended up putting her in rehab. But they were the people who had befriended me the first day of sophomore year, and at last I’d been pulled from the sea of nothingness to the island of popularity. I certainly didn’t want to have to come to… where was it? Lebeaux, Louisiana, and either make new friends or have none for the next few months. When I went back home at the end of the summer my friends would still be my friends. I wasn’t going back to life as it had been before they pulled me in. I didn’t have to steal with them or do drugs with them, but I did want to be with them, be part of them. Something my mom couldn’t seem to grasp.

  In front, my mom had turned back around and I saw that glance again in the mirror. Like she was trying to see past my skin, deep inside of me, but couldn’t quite get there and couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong with me. That was the real reason I was being sent here. Something wa
s wrong with me, and she didn’t know where to turn.

  “Aaron, pull over!” my mom shouted, making me jerk in my seat.

  Gravel crunched under the tires as he immediately wheeled the rental SUV into the parking area next to a black iron fence that encircled a large cemetery. My mother rolled down her window, then waved at Aaron and magically my window lowered. I sighed, resigning myself to another history lesson.

  “Look, Alexis. I bet most of those headstones are over a hundred years old.”

  Admittedly, she was likely right on that point. The stones in the graveyard were weathered and worn, some with crumbled pieces lying on the grass. A few benches were scattered around and I smiled wondering if visitors actually wanted to sit in the cemetery and pass the time. Huge trees with long flowing branches, some of which touched the ground, stood like guardians. Live oaks, my mom stated, also hundreds of years old. That had to be a joke, right? Live oaks in a cemetery? My mother, the amateur history buff, began to expound to us the details of the fencing and its “fleur de lis” pattern. To me, it mostly looked like a flower with peelings hanging down. As she droned on, I scanned the area wishing I was anywhere else. Then, at the very back of the cemetery fence, I saw it.

  Straightening, I unbuckled my seatbelt and stuck my head through the window trying to get a better view. A dog -a huge one- flashed its blonde bushy tail and seemed to stare straight at me. Well, I might have imagined that. It was a dog after all. Even from here I could see the hazy blue of the late evening sky reflected in the animal’s eyes. With a swish of its tail it started moving, fast, in our direction, covering the ground of the cemetery faster than I thought possible. Its teeth seemed to be bared, though I couldn’t be sure. But I wasn’t going to wait until the dog slobber hit me in the face to find out. I fell back inside.

  “Aaron, windows, windows, up hurry.”

  The electric window seemed to move in slow motion as the huge dog leapt the black fence with little effort. Front feet slammed against the SUV and it rocked precariously. There was a collective whoosh of air as all three of us gasped. The animal balanced on its back legs, dripping saliva onto my window. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it dropped to all fours and disappeared into the woods.

  “Holy crap. Did you see that?”

  “Kind of hard to miss.” Aaron twisted in his seat trying to see where the dog had gone.

  “What do you think it was doing?” I leaned between the two front seats.

  “I don’t know, but that was one huge dog, or wolf, or whatever it was.” Aaron cranked the car.

  I glanced at my mother who stared straight ahead, still not speaking.

  “You alright, Mom?”

  She didn’t move. “I’m fine. Let’s go. It’s getting late.”

  With another crunch of gravel, we were on the road again and slowly my heart stopped slamming against my chest. I put the animal out of my mind as we made our final turn toward Aunt Louise’s house.

  The driveway wound along with tree branches stretching toward each other from opposite sides of the road, practically forming a tunnel. Then the tunnel ended and there it was, looming in the middle of a freshly mown yard- my very own Louisiana state prison. It was a starchy white wooden house with black shutters and a porch that went across the front and all the way around one side. The car stopped, but I didn’t move.

  The front door of the house swung open, and Aunt Louise stepped through and onto the porch. Honestly, I’d been hoping she’d become meaner looking, ugly, so it would be easier to not like her. Louise Miller trotted down the steps and hugged my mom, who’d gotten out of the car. Then she jerked open my door and literally dragged me from the seat.

  “Alexis, you’ve really grown.”

  My lips felt stiff when I tried to smile, and I didn’t bother to mention that it had been nearly two years since she’d seen me and did she expect me to be the same? Her arms slipped around me in a quick hug. I didn’t hug her back even though I knew it wasn’t her fault I was here.

  As she pulled away our eyes met and my stomach clenched. Louise moved on to meet Aaron while I leaned against the hot metal of the car. It was that look again, only this time from my aunt. A look that said, “I’m watching you and waiting for something weird to happen.” She obviously knew about the nightmares, the sleepwalking, and my questionable choice of friends.

  After Louise had met and hugged Aaron, something that made me think she might be a little too affectionate since she’d only just met him, she came back around and grabbed my bags.

  “Come on, Alexis, I’ll show you to your room.” She motioned with her head for me to follow. Gathering the rest of my stuff, I trailed along inside and up a flight of stairs. Aunt Louise dropped the two bags she’d carried onto the floor of a room decorated with so much pink it made my stomach turn.

  “The room was like this when I got here. We can paint it if you want. I’d have done it already, but I didn’t know what you’d like.”

  “It’s alright.” I’d only be here for the summer, why bother painting. I shrugged and dropped an armload of tote bags on the bed. This wasn’t Aunt Louise’s house any way. She was renting it from a friend because she didn’t really live in Labeaux. My aunt moved around a lot. She was a teacher, but she never seemed to be in one place too long. Louise stared at me and I noticed her irises had gold flecks like mine.

  “We’re going to get through this summer just fine, Alexis. I know it’s a big change, for both of us. We’ll adjust.” Louise glanced around and pushed one of my bags closer to the bed with her foot. “Well, okay, let me go down and get dinner warming for you guys. I made gumbo.” She smiled, then hurried away.

  I nodded, but she was already gone. As I had suspected Louise didn’t want me here anymore than I wanted to be here. She’d been on her own for years and now I show up. The sound of my mom’s voice floated in from the bedroom next door, time for one final plea. Tomorrow morning mom and Aaron would get up early to make the short drive to New Orleans where they’d catch a flight that would eventually land them in England, the first stop of their vacation.

  I stood in the door of the bedroom where the two of them were digging through their bags. Aaron saw me, glanced at mom, then back at me.

  “Do I need to leave?” he asked.

  I had to give him points for knowing when he wasn’t wanted. I pushed the door open wider while mom frowned. Aaron left the room, closing the door behind him.

  “It’s not very nice of you to send him away like that. He’d like to try and be a father to you.”

  The muscles in my face stiffened. “I’ve made it nearly sixteen years without one, why do I need one now?”

  She didn’t answer and I figured I might have hurt her feelings. Not something I’d normally do, but these were desperate times.

  “Does Aunt Louise even want me to be here?”

  “Of course she does, why?”

  “Come on, Mom. You’re putting me off on your sister who doesn’t have any kids. She’s used to doing what she wants, when she wants, and now she’s stuck with me all summer. Do you really think that’s fair?”

  One side of her mouth turned upward. “That’s a nice try. I have to admit I never expected you to use the you should have mercy on your poor sister approach. But don’t worry. Louise offered for you to stay here.”

  That wasn’t exactly the response I was hoping for and my chest began to get tight. She walked over and hugged me. My eyes watered and I had to bite my bottom lip to stop it. I refused to stand here and cry. But inside a knot of fear was expanding to monstrous proportions.

  “Mom, you can’t leave me here, I’m … what if something happens… What if I …” I didn’t know where the desperate plea came from. I hadn’t planned it and I choked on whatever else was trying to come out of my mouth. I wasn’t even sure what I was afraid of.

  “You’ll be fine, I promise,” she whispered against my ear. “Aunt Louise will help you. She’ll take good care of you.”

  She le
aned back, and I saw on her face the same thing I’d seen in the mirror of the car. Definitely the same thing I’d seen countless other times this past year.

  “The summer here will be good for you. You need it, even if you don’t see it yet. You will.”

  She started to walk away, but I caught her arm.

  “Do you think I’m on drugs or something, is that it? Is that why you’re leaving me here with her? If it is I’ll go and get tested right now. I’m not doing drugs. I promise. You think that’s why I’m having these dreams and sleepwalking, don’t you?”

  She shook her head. “No Alexis, that’s not what I think.”

  My hand dropped to my side. “But I don’t know anybody here, not one person.”

  “You’ll meet people and you’ll get to know Louise better.” Then she was gone, out the door and into the hall shouting for Aaron.

  I’d always lived in Chicago, never even been too far away from my home. This year was the first year I’d ever made any friends. Now I’d been transported to another world where I was a stranger with strange problems. Leaving the bedroom, I returned to my new sickly pink room and stepped to the window. I stared at the lengthening shadows falling across the grass and the wall of trees at the edge of the yard. I shivered, the last trace of hope seeping away, the knot of fear still nearly choking me. Like it or not, I wasn’t going anywhere else. I stood there completely alone while the night closed in.

  Chapter Two

  The sound of the door creaking caused me to bolt to an upright position in the bed. I was positively jumpy lately, and being here, in the middle of nowhere, didn’t help.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” My mom came in with Aaron beside her. The glowing lights on the alarm clock read five-thirty.

  “It’s okay,” I mumbled.

  I realized mom and Aaron were about to leave to catch a plane in New Orleans. My throat tightened again even though I didn’t want it to.