A Dangerous Curiosity (The Holbrook Brother Shifters Book 3) Page 4

  I ducked beneath a half-fallen tree and stepped carefully along the path. I clicked on the small flashlight I brought with me and narrowed my eyes at the ground. It was obvious that people had been through there—the leaves were all ruffled and there were strange scrape marks in the dirt. Luckily for me, it had just rained a few days before, so everything was wet and there wasn’t much sound being made by my boots as I walked.

  As I crested the small incline leading to our old camping spot, I stopped, hiding behind a tree and peering into the clearing by the stream. My eyes blinked several times, trying to make sense of the shadows I was seeing. There were at least a dozen men, my two brothers included, standing around talking. Just a few seconds later, my brother clapped his hands and stepped up on a tree stump. Everybody quieted down, surrounding him.

  “Let’s go ahead and change. It’s the only way we’ll be able to block out others from hearing us,” he said to the crowd of guys.

  I furrowed my brow, half expecting to see a dozen men change their clothes right there in the middle of the clearing. But what happened next was far beyond what I ever imagined. Each one of the guys stripped down naked, and then their bodies began to twist and contort. Very slowly, I stood up, my eyes wide and my mouth gaping open. My fingers dug into the tree next to me as I watched both of my brothers, and the rest of the men, shift and change until every single one of them stood in wolf form, staring around at each other.

  My heart beat wildly in my chest. I had no idea what was happening. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or fear but I took a step backward without thinking and crunched right down into some old limbs from the tree above me. My head shot up toward the clearing and all heads turned in my direction. I whirled around and started running as fast as I could. I could hear what sounded like hundreds of paws slapping through the wet leaves as they chased after me.

  I tripped over a stump, rolling down the embankment, sliding across the dirt and coming to a stop at the other end of the stream. I groaned as I picked myself up, rising up on all fours, feeling the sting of small cuts and bruises from rolling down the hill. Before I could get up all the way, though, I heard footsteps beside me and a low, simmering growl.

  Very slowly, I turned my head and found a wolf standing there snarling at me, its fur shimmering and its teeth pointed and sharp. I turned over and put my arms up in front of my face as it leaped toward me. I could feel its claws sink into my arm and down my left thigh. I winced at the burning that seemed to surge through my entire body. Just as I thought I was done for, another wolf slammed into the one on top of me and they both went rolling into the creek.

  I gasped, digging my fingers into the mud and taking off as fast as I could. I limped, but I didn’t want to slow down, not until I was out of the woods. I had no idea what was going on, but whatever my brothers had gotten into, it was far worse than I ever could have imagined.

  6

  Lily

  “So, what are they planning on doing about it?” I asked my grandmother, concerned as she told me about the doctor’s appointment she had last week.

  My grandmother took in a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders as she carried the teacups over to the sink. “I’m not sure. They said something about surgery, but they also said something about trying physical therapy first. I guess when you fall when you’re old, it’s not a good thing. Whatever it is, I’ll be fine. I’ll just let them replace parts like I do my car until I’m a completely new person.”

  I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t think it works that way, but it’s a good thought.”

  “Speaking of old,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “It’s about time for my afternoon nap.”

  I stood up, looking around. “Oh, what can I do? Would you like me to start cleaning up?”

  My grandmother shook her head. “No, not yet. Go home and get settled in, and we’ll talk in the morning. We’ll set up some sort of schedule. That way you don’t have to feel like you’re at my beck and call at all times.”

  Part of me didn’t want to leave her, especially after what she had told me about her hip and everything else going on in her life. At the same time, though, I knew that I wouldn’t get much done that day and I could tell that she was tired and needed some time to herself. I stood up and walked over to her, hugging her tightly and kissing her on the cheek. “I love you, and I’m very happy to be here. Thank you for the tea, have a good nap, and I will call you in the morning.”

  As I got to the door, she called out to me. “Not too early now, you never know what kind of late-night antics I’ll get myself into.”

  I laughed, walking out the door and shutting it behind me. As I walked down the path and out the little white gate, my smile faded. I looked back at the big house and it didn’t seem so bright and shiny like it had when I arrived. I was worried about my grandmother, finding that she was in far worse shape than I had believed she would be in when I had originally packed to move out to Galena.

  When I got to my house, I walked inside and looked around, finding the place quiet and slightly uncomfortable. Even living in southern Maryland, I was used to busy streets and always doing something. The cable hadn’t been hooked up yet and neither had the Internet, so my options were listening to music on the radio or reading a book. Considering the options my mother gave me for reading, I feared I would end up like my grandmother, taking an afternoon nap.

  After a couple of minutes of wandering around the house, I grabbed my phone and my jacket and headed out. “It may be too early for a nap, but it’s never too early for a drink.”

  I needed a distraction, something to take away from the fact that I had just realized, in my 20s, that my beloved grandmother was not immortal. People in my family tended to last a long time, but that didn’t mean we didn’t age. My mother and I still got mistaken for sisters, but age had crept in through the shadows of the old Victorian home and wrapped my grandmother up tightly. Even for people like us, the stagnant air of death waited patiently in the wings. It wasn’t the most comfortable realization to have, I’m not gonna lie.

  As I passed by Holbrook Sporting Goods, I glanced in the window, watching the employees excitedly hanging up the Halloween decorations. I had only been there a couple of times, and my grandmother would send me pictures of the holiday displays they did at Christmastime. This year I would get to see for myself what it was like. I was assuming it was the same family that owned the furniture store, or the multitude of furniture stores.

  Three doors down from the sporting goods shop was a local pub, and by the local pub, I meant the only bar in town. That was fine with me—it made my decision really easy. When I walked inside, the place was pretty empty, with some music playing and the bartender cleaning glasses to the side of the bar, talking to one of the older gentlemen sitting with a beer in front of him. They both looked up at me, pausing for a moment before nodding politely. I took off my jacket and sat at the other end, glancing around at my choices. It was relatively early in the evening—or afternoon, considering it was not quite four o’clock yet. I figured I should start with a beer so I didn’t end up becoming completely wasted by nine. I didn’t have any plans to stay that long anyway. I just wanted to calm my nerves.

  “Hello,” the bartender said, a tall, middle-aged man wearing an AC/DC T-shirt, jeans, and boots with a ponytail tied at the nape of his neck. “What can I get for you?”

  I puckered my lips and nodded toward the bottled beer case. “Heineken?”

  He glanced back over her shoulder with his eyebrows raised. “Yep, we got those. We have one customer that comes in here from time to time and that’s all he drinks, so you’re in luck. You’ll be the second customer ever to buy Heineken in this bar.”

  I chuckled. “I guess I kinda gave away that I’m not from here.”

  He popped the top of my beer and held his fingers up, measuring just a centimeter between his two fingers. “Just a little bit. But that’s all right. I’m Hank, your friendly neighborhood bartender.
”

  I took a sip of my beer and reached out my hand, shaking his. “Lily, Lily Tucker.”

  He looked at me for a second with narrowed eyes and then pointed. “Tucker, you’re Elizabeth’s granddaughter. My mom goes to church with her, and she had been raving about her beautiful granddaughter coming to stay in Galena for a little while.”

  I lifted my beer. “That would be me.”

  He tapped his hand on the bar. “Welcome! First beer’s on the house. Your grandmother has always been a staple in our community, as was your grandfather.”

  I gave a kind smile, feeling the tension in my chest as I thought about how I missed my grandfather. Maybe that was what was wrong. Not having him there. The last time I had been there was for his funeral, but I had to go back to school. I was a senior in high school so we didn’t stay long. This had been the first time I had been to Galena and he hadn’t been there.

  The bell on the door behind me jingled but I didn’t look back to see who was coming in. Hank greeted them, and I could hear the stool pull out a little bit down from me as whoever it was took a seat.

  “I’ll have my usual if you got it,” the voice said.

  “You haven’t been here in a long time, but I still keep the Heineken stocked. It’s going to be a record, considering the young lady right down from you ordered one as well.” Hank chuckled, winking at me as he walked by.

  I looked over, surprised at who was sitting next to me. He was handsome, with bright eyes and dark hair, and a smile that was almost entrancing. I dipped my beer to him. “Thanks for being a Heineken drinker. I’m not sure what I would’ve done.”

  He smirked and lifted his beer to me. We both took a sip and turned back toward the wall of liquor and muted television on the wall. The entire bar stayed quiet for the next few minutes, and I glanced back over at the guy, this time taking a really good look. I had noticed it at the beginning, but he looked kind of bewildered and out of sorts. There was dirt on his cheek, and his hair was ruffled. His clothes looked new and clean, but his boots were covered in mud and his arms were wrapped in a bandage. As he moved, he reached down with a wince and grabbed his thigh.

  “You alright?” I asked.

  His eyes shifted up toward mine, and a small hint of gold sparkle shimmered across them, taking me by surprise. I glanced up at the lights above us, figuring it was just the reflection of the yellow orb pendants hanging above the bar. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was out in the woods, taking a walk, and wasn’t watching where I stepped. I ended up rolling down the embankment. I’ve always been kind of clumsy. I got a cut on my arm and thigh. It’s fine, though. I ran to the local drugstore and bandaged myself up, got a change of clothes, and counted to make sure I still had all my fingers and toes.”

  “And?” I asked.

  He wiggled his fingers at me. “All there.”

  Lifting both eyebrows, I nodded my head. “I wish I could say that I didn’t know how that felt, but unfortunately, I’m pretty much the clumsiest person to ever walk on this earth. The number of times I’ve tripped on the stairs is astronomical. Not to mention the very bad idea my mother had when I was a small child to put me in dance class. I think they still call that recital the massacre of dance troupe 419.”

  He laughed, motioning to the spot next to me. I nodded, situating myself in the seat as he moved over. He was handsome, and despite his bewilderment, charming too. He had absolutely no qualms about making conversation and it felt really natural just to be talking to him. It almost felt like he wasn’t a stranger at all. One drink turned into two, which turned into four, and by the time the bar was busy, we were both pretty drunk and having a blast.

  “He just pulled it right out of his leg, shrugged, and kept going,” Brighton said, laughing as he told me a story about him and his brothers as kids.

  I leaned back slightly in my chair, grabbing the side as I felt a little bit tipsy. The laughter bellowed from my stomach and I watched Brighton as his cheeks lit up just from the way I laughed. I had never had someone pay such close attention to me before. As the laughter died down, I glanced around at all the people in the bar and suddenly felt a bit claustrophobic.

  Leaning forward, I put my hand on his knee, more for stability purposes than hitting on him, but it definitely got his attention. “It’s really crowded in here. What do you say we head over to my house? It’s just a block and a half away, and we can drink there.”

  Brighton closed one eye and looked into his empty bottle before grinning up at me. “I’m down. Let’s do this.”

  Had I been sober, I might’ve actually thought twice about what I was doing, but throwing caution to the wind seemed to be my gameplay that night. I never thought it would turn out the way it did…

  7

  Brighton

  Yes, I was tipsy, but I wasn’t nearly as drunk as I should’ve been for the amount of alcohol that I had consumed. I had never been a lightweight, but whatever was going on with my body, I was metabolizing the alcohol at a very fast rate. It was hard to even think about, though, especially with Lily right in front of me, giggling as she stumbled down the path to her front door. There was something about her. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but from the moment I sat down next to her, there was some sort of crazy connection between the two of us. It was like something inside of me just drew me straight to her. Between the alcohol and that feeling, when she asked me to go back to her place, it was a no-brainer.

  “Before we go in, I just want to apologize for the way it looks. I just moved in,” she said with a bit of a slur to her words.

  I waved my hands. “I don’t care about that. I literally work out of an office every day that doubles as a stock room. I haven’t even unpacked all of my things from college and I moved back home two years ago. There just isn’t enough space. I think I can handle a couple of boxes.”

  She stared at me for a moment, slowly leaning back against the front door. Our eyes were locked, and it was almost as if we couldn’t separate them. I stepped forward and she took a deep breath. It was shaky and nervous as I leaned down and took the keys out of her hand. I could feel her eyes staring at me, and it made me chuckle.

  We half walked, half stumbled into her house, and I closed the door behind me, locking it. She put her arms out and looked around. “Down the hall is the kitchen, to my right is the living room, to my left is the office, and upstairs are three bedrooms and a bathroom. Only one of the bedrooms has actual furniture in it right now. I just moved in this morning.”

  The only remnant of moving in that I could see was a pile of broken-down boxes. It made me feel like a complete and total lazy ass considering I hadn’t even attempted to fully unpack all of my clothes yet. As I walked into the living room, I smirked, seeing the furniture that she had. I ran my hand along the back of it. “The Verona Collection. I like it. Classic, sleek, and very well made.”

  Lily furrowed her brow at me. “Is it a rule that everyone in this town memorizes the furniture catalog for Holbrook furnishings?”

  Suddenly I realized I hadn’t even told her who I was. I was standing in her living room, naming off the names of the collections of her furniture without her realizing that I was one of the kids of the owner.

  “I didn’t tell you my last name, did I?” I chuckled.

  She shook her head, leaning against the side table. “No, and to be honest, I completely forgot to ask you. You could totally be a psycho killer and I could be about to meet my untimely death in the blender in the kitchen, and all because I didn’t ask you what your last name was.”

  I laughed, shaking my head. “And you know the last names of all of the psycho killers in this country?”

  She pursed her lips, her eyes shifting up toward the ceiling as she thought about it. “I guess not. Okay, what’s your last name, then?”

  “Holbrook,” I stated. “Brighton Holbrook.”

  Her mouth dropped open for a moment. “Wait, Holbrook as in the people that pretty much own this entire town? I guess t
hat explains why you know the name of my furniture collection.”

  She began to lean forward and I stepped up, grabbing her before she could topple over. She blinked her eyes wildly. “Maybe I should just sit down.”

  I nodded and walked her over to the couch, sitting next to her. She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “How are you not drunk?”

  I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I was just about to ask you how you weren’t completely passed out from the amount of alcohol that you drank.”

  She wrinkled her nose and patted me on the leg. “I have a really high metabolism. Obviously, though, it’s not as high as yours, which I’m now oddly jealous of.”

  I laughed. “Don’t be, I’m not normally this tolerant of alcohol. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because the pub has crappy beer.”

  I watched Lily as she closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath, her cheeks red, her hair wildly flowing around her. She was incredibly beautiful, quite possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. As she exhaled her breath, she let out a long hmmm with it, and somehow, she suddenly looked way less drunk than what she had been just moments before. It was noticeably strange, but to be honest, sitting there in her presence, I really didn’t care. All I could think about was her and those lips, and those hips, and pretty much everything else about her.

  I was never a shy guy, but I was never upfront and bold with women. So, what happened next was incredibly out of character, but at the same time, freeing.