Cloaked in Secrecy Read online

  The crowd’s murmurs silenced. Sonia got up from her seat and clutched my wrist. “Remember what we saw in the cards last week?” She offered me a frown and hurried across the stage to stand behind the curtain with three other wulfkin.

  Yeah, I remembered all too well what Sonia’s cards had said …

  That a stranger would emerge and forever change my destiny.

  Father was already in position, garbed in his long, fitted red coat, black jodhpurs, knee-length boots, and a microphone in hand.

  Tonight, a heavy air tightened around the pack’s throats. Plastering a fake smile on my face as Nicolai lay in a jail cell left me feeling dirty and guilty. Father had to rescue Nicolai. Little else mattered, especially not one sexy Varlac who was the manifestation of danger in disguise.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ENRE

  I sat among the spectators, staring up at the high wires, and uneasiness settled in my gut. Humans applauded and cheered when the clowns finished their balloon stunts, and I couldn’t stop shifting in my seat.

  If I failed to stop Maxim from attacking my family in Transylvania, we’d all be slaughtered by this Bulgarian pack.

  On top of everything, if Maxim contacted the Varlac clan in Hungary, my web of untruths would turn into a blade at my throat. Father would never back me up or confirm that I was investigating on their behalf. He’d throw me to the wolves and tell them to kill me. Plus, knowing Father, he’d remind me that when I turned twenty-five next week without my own pack and an alpha status, he’d have the right to kill me himself. It was bullshit, but reality.

  Fuck, this was why I hated being a Varlac.

  A sudden change of music from the playful, mischievous beat to a slow, melodic tune reminiscent of the tango drew my attention to the ring below. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone on lush red curtains. A single figure stepped out from behind them—Alena, in her fishnet outfit. With each quick, ballerina-like step, her boobs bounced, and my pulse accelerated. I slid to the edge of my chair. When she twirled on the spot, my breath jammed in my throat. The dip of her waist to the curve of her hips held my attention. My hands tingled with the desire to stroke her long legs, and I remembered how strong those legs had felt around my waist.

  With a grumble, I reined myself in and winced from the pain shooting up my leg. When would this damn injury heal?

  From the ceiling, two red silk ribbons cascaded down and dangled in the center of the ring.

  Alena wrapped her wrists in the silk and paraded around the ring with her arms stretched outward. She broke into a sprint, gaining momentum with each step.

  My eyes locked on her form, her tapered waist, and toned arms. This wasn’t great for my self-control, but I couldn’t tear myself away. The crowd was silent, and even the music had died. Only the tapping of her feet on the sawdust-covered ground resonated as she picked up speed in her circular race around the ring. The red ribbons twisted overhead and drew her hands upward with each rotation.

  On her next step, she lunged forward and lifted several feet off the ground. Her body, straight as a pin, orbited the circular performance ring, and the momentum of the ribbon starting to unwind sent her into a frantic spin.

  The spectators cheered, and I found myself clapping in hypnotic awe.

  When the spinning finally ended, Alena was lifted higher and dangled halfway up to the ceiling, held by the fabric. In one quick flick, she widened her arms and threw her legs over her head into a handstand. Her strong legs spread into a perfect gymnast’s split, and it took every bit of strength to stop myself from lunging for her. The idea of her striking that pose in the bedroom had my pulse kicking into turbo speed. Sure, wulfkin strength made acrobatic stunts easier than they were for the average human, but such resilience wasn’t a trait we were familiar with. The way Alena moved and contorted tightened my jeans. I needed to leave the tent and calm down.

  With my thigh still rigid from the bullet wound, I carefully eased out of the seat and shuffled along the top row, taking my time and clenching my jaw each time I put pressure on the painful leg. Going down the stairs was the hardest part. I managed to reach the edge of the curtains in great pain. With one last glimpse, I found Alena arching into a backbend, the ribbon wrapped around her tiny waist, supporting her in midair. My wolf whimpered.

  Heal, discover what the alpha was up to, and protect my leader and our pack from death—that was my plan. Not Alena.

  Behind the curtains, a trampoline sat waiting for the next act. Numerous wulfkin eyes settled on me—blades at my back. They probably contemplated ripping into me. I would, too, if a stranger entered my home. Get over it.

  I trudged past them. Outside, the rain softened to a sprinkle, but a cold wind slapped against me. Free of the heavy human and wulfkin scents, I contemplated heading to the island of trees near the freeway for a fast transformation, except the change might mess up my injury further. My insides itched, and the wolf within me ached for release. Soon.

  Night blanketed the land behind the circus tent, hinting at trailer shapes in the near distance. The faint sound of voices reached me from my right. Curiosity and the need to attain insider information had me limping around the tent in the direction of the noise.

  The parking lot came into view, lit up by the circling Ferris wheel nearby. Engulfed by shadows, I thanked the moon that the breeze blew in my favor. Mud kept slipping beneath my boots. I better not fall on my ass.

  Three figures stood several feet away. A flurry of gusts brushed past, carrying the scent of the alpha, his goon, Damir (though I preferred “Blackie”), and a human female I didn’t recognize. Pressing my back against the curved tent, I held tight and listened while the trio walked out of view.

  “She was seen near your circus the day before she vanished. Both witnesses said she was with a young man who fits your son’s description at the time.” The female’s voice rang through the night. I wouldn’t be surprised if her words reached people in the tent. “And today, Nicolai was caught with a dead man. Odd coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Like I told you before, I know nothing of the missing girl,” Maxim responded, his tone on edge. “Today’s tragedy has had an effect on everyone at the Moonlight Circus, and I’m working on getting my son out on bail any day.”

  That was news to me.

  “Now I know you’re lying to me,” the female said. “You touch your chin every time you lie. Bail was denied. Nicolai is never getting out. Once another warrant is approved, we’ll turn this place inside out and uncover every filthy secret you’re hiding in this freak show.”

  The woman had guts, and her words didn’t hold a hint of doubt in them. In her mind, she’d probably already stamped guilty on Maxim’s forehead. If the authorities denied Nicolai bail, it would have massive repercussions for all wulfkin and Varlac. He’d shift into his wolf form during the full moon, exposing our kind to humans. Not to mention the penalties the Varlac would inflict on this pack when they found out Maxim’s pack was endangering wulfkin secrecy.

  Shuffling feet sounded, and my muscles tensed, ready to bolt from my hiding place. I inched forward, but they weren’t coming my way. Blackie paced in a small circle behind them. I released a long exhale.

  “You’ll slip, and we’ll get you too,” the woman said.

  The authorities weren’t letting go of Nicolai. And for all I knew, he could have killed that human. But was I missing something here? There had to be more to this.

  Maxim, shoulders rigid and hunched forward, stared at the human who stood a few inches shorter than him. Neither said a word. Blackie had the alpha’s back, his glare piercing into the female. I suspected that if Maxim gave the word, Blackie would rip the woman’s heart out in a fraction of a second.

  Maxim turned away first. “I’m finished with this conversation.” He stormed toward the tent entrance.

  Blackie strode by his side, swearing loud enough for the woman to hear. “Fucking pigs.”

  This pack was in shit.

&n
bsp; The female waited in the rain a while longer, studying them, then whirled and trekked into the army of parked cars.

  I wiped my face of drizzle—what was left of the storm. Seemed like Daciana’s pack, my family, wasn’t the only one with colossal issues. Daciana had killed our previous alpha, Sandulf, alleviating some of our troubles, but in this pack, Maxim was sinking in quicksand. If the authorities had already suspected Nicolai of kidnapping, and now he’d been caught with a dead human, I’d say the police would be watching them nonstop.

  Footfalls and the squish of mud behind me made me spin in time to spot a figure approaching.

  “Who’s there?” I asked.

  Alena stepped out from a patch of darkness, wrapped in a trench coat, wearing rain boots and stage makeup slightly smeared from the moisture.

  My wolf snapped awake.

  “What are you doing?” She crossed her arms over her chest, water trickling down her face.

  “Getting fresh air.” I couldn’t nip the grin spreading across my lips, remembering how good she felt beneath me. “Watched you perform. Your flexibility has me intrigued.”

  “I see past your flirty words.” Shadows slid across her hard expression. “Don’t think I trust you.”

  I shrugged. “Most people don’t trust Varlac. I get that.”

  “How can you stand being so arrogant?”

  “It’s actually confidence. There’s a difference.”

  Her gaze narrowed, and if we’d been in her trailer, I was certain she’d have chucked something at me. Yet, my heart refused to calm down around her.

  Before I could stop myself, we were standing a hairbreadth apart, and my arm was snaked around her waist, holding her close. The inner wolf growled in my chest, begging for more.

  For a split second, a ravenous hunger slid into her eyes. She felt it too. Part of my brain yelled to ease off, to remember my mission, the danger she posed, and how life between us would never work. But my body had other ideas.

  “Shall we return to your room and finish what we started?” I asked.

  She shoved her hands into my chest, and I stumbled away from her, barely remaining upright as my knee wobbled.

  “Why are you fighting it?” It was my wolf pushing me again. Damn troublemaker.

  Her attention lowered momentarily, and when her head lifted, her expression was fierce; fire burned in her pupils, and her mouth remained tight. “Because I can resist what’s not good for me. I have self-control. Something you’re obviously lacking. Being a Varlac doesn’t mean everyone will bend over backward for you.”

  “I kind of wish you would.”

  “Shut up. I don’t like anything you stand for. Your family members are murderers.” Her words were venom from a spitting cobra, striking an open wound.

  I didn’t know my parents well enough to disprove her accusations, but my father was a bastard of a wulfkin … That, I could attest to. Still, the way she called them killers sounded as if she’d seen their actions firsthand. Despite my curiosity, I couldn’t poke holes in my cover. My insides hardened, and my wolf retreated. This was why I had to keep my distance, get the job done, and move on. This wasn’t a game, a challenge to chase the prettiest wulfkin, regardless of her lure. I had to protect the lives of my family.

  She whirled around and marched away. “I’ve found another trailer for you to stay in until you heal. I’ll take you there now.”

  What was going on with me? My stomach wrung tight. Was this guilt? Couldn’t be. I didn’t do guilt.

  Driving my mashed-up thoughts aside, I hurried after Alena. She slipped in and out of the shadows, and soon we stopped in front of a trailer, which was two down from hers.

  Once inside, she switched on the light. There was a bed, table, sofa, and countertop.

  “Whoever lives in this trailer has no taste.”

  “The wulfkin who stay here have simple tastes and don’t believe in collecting objects. You can use it for the few days you’re here.”

  That should give me sufficient time to get my plan into action and get further dirt on the alpha.

  She broke the silence. “Lie on the bed and take your jeans off.”

  My pulse charged at her words. I smirked and wiggled my eyebrows at Alena, whose expression remained stoic.

  “Father asked me to help heal you, and that’s what I’m going to do,” she said through clenched teeth and a forced smile, pulling up the softness of her lips.

  In no time, I lay flat on my back in my briefs and T-shirt, again. I threaded my fingers behind my head. After Alena’s little confession outside, I wasn’t sure what to do with my attraction for her. What had my family done to elicit such hatred?

  Kneeling near the bed in front of my injured leg, she wiped the rain off her face with a towel, still wearing her gloves. Perhaps she had a fetish about having sex while wearing gloves—after all, she hadn’t removed them while we kissed. I could handle that. And with that thought, an erection was already building inside my boxers. Shit.

  Alena placed her small hands above the bullet wound without touching me.

  “Close your eyes and relax.”

  The stiff tone of her voice was anything but calming. An instant heat radiated from her hands, burning into my thigh, drowning my desire. It relieved as much as it stung to high hell. How exactly was she doing this? I’d never encountered or heard of a wulfkin with such a healing ability. To what extent could she heal someone? A bullet wound, a broken bone, or someone on death’s doorstep? It had me intrigued because Daciana had recently gained the ability to determine with a single touch if someone was true of heart and spoke the truth. She’d gained it after the Lunar Eutine a couple of weeks ago.

  I shut my eyes, ignoring the madness of the day and the corner I’d wedged myself into with the half-truths. My wolf still craved Alena—and she was the daughter of the alpha rumored to be worse than Attila the Hun. So, I was screwed.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ALENA

  Pain seared down my arms as I dangled from the branch of a giant oak tree, held by vines around my wrists. Twigs caught in my long hair. No matter how much I stretched, my toes were suspended just above the ground. When I glanced around, my throat seized at the sight of butchered bodies everywhere. Moonlight revealed the tangle of limbs and torsos heaped in a pile. So much blood. The copper tang filled my nostrils.

  Then I noticed him … Father’s face among the corpses, dead. I gagged. Panic gripped my lungs, squeezing. I tugged against the vines, kicking the air, my body swinging from the tree.

  “Help! Someone, please.”

  Footfalls closed in from behind, and I strained my neck to look over my shoulder—darkness. Turning back around, I found Enre several feet in front of me, standing in the nude. My insides fluttered as my inner wolf snapped awake, whimpering for Enre’s touch. Glancing past him, I saw the bodies were gone. Not a single stain marked the perfect, white snow. No footprints. Nothing.

  Enre’s pale-blue eyes claimed me. All of me. Staring down, I noticed I wore no clothes either.

  I kept telling myself this was wrong, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember why it was bad. Especially not when arousal coursed south, burning between my thighs.

  Silver light gleamed off Enre’s sinewed pecs and the V tapering at his hips. Shadows conveniently covered his erection, but I knew it was there. The savagery in his gaze promised sex.

  Goddess of the moon, help me. I yearn for him. Before I could knock any kind of reason into myself, impulse kicked in.

  “Fuck me.” My words purred.

  At my invitation, his lips split into a smile. He stepped closer as he caressed me with his eyes.

  “I’ll give you anything you want.” His warm breath on my skin had my nipples beaded tight, and his devilish smirk made me wet and breathless. When his hands slid across my waist, I moaned with anticipation.

  My legs curled around his hips, and my pelvis rocked back and forth over his hardness. I gripped the vines tying my hands to the bra
nch in expectation of him stretching and filling me. The unrelenting need crashed through me.

  “Please, Enre.”

  The tip of his erection dipped into me, teasing. I pushed forward, every nerve in me focused on that single point of contact.

  With hands clutching my hips, he pushed me away.

  I cried out, arching toward him.

  “First,” he said in a deep, sultry voice, “promise me.”

  My inhales quickened; I trembled with desire. “What?”

  “Promise you’ll be mine forever.”

  A pleasurable ache swirled in the depths of my belly as he rubbed himself along the length of my sleekness. A half grunt spilled out from my wolf. She’d already claimed Enre as her mate, and I was powerless to contradict her. I felt the connection, deep inside me, threatening to splinter my heart if we ever lost him.

  Meeting Enre’s lusty stare had desperation surging in my veins, and I pined for him to embrace me and never let go.

  “I … ”

  The words jammed somewhere between my stomach and throat. My wolf grumbled and rolled for release.

  A song of howls broke nearby, startling both of us from our private moment.

  Wolves circled us, dozens of them, their noses in the air, releasing howling chants. And suddenly, everything felt right … Enre’s arrival … my attraction to him … the coming change.

  • • •

  I woke with a sudden gasp, drenched in sweat, and the sweet, rhythmic pulse from the dream still thumping between my thighs. Throwing the covers off, I slid my legs over the edge of the bed, reached for the water bottle on the nightstand, and gulped half of it without taking a breath. I straightened the lamp and sat there in the streaming morning sunlight. Why had my attraction to Enre seemed so harmonious in the dream? What had any of it meant?

  Enre’s arrival was a bad omen. It had to be, and he was smack in the middle of the oncoming disaster. Come to think of it, so was I. In my nightmare, the wolves represented the pack. I got that. Perhaps they gathered to celebrate the union between Enre and me. But why was Father dead?