The Gathering by Lily Graison

the
forest.
    Garrett gave chase the instant the boy ran.
The sun was bright, dew sparkled on the grass and the air was
filled with the scent of evergreen. The dash across the field took
the soreness from his limbs. Sleeping on the floor hadn’t been fun.
He couldn’t make himself leave the room, trashed as it was. It
still held Rayna’s scent and he was loathed to give it up.
    By the time he made it to the trees, Jacob
was nowhere to be seen. He stopped, raised his head, and tried to
pick up his scent. He smiled when he found it and was running again
before he remembered to tell Bryce where he was going.
    The chase led him over half the mountain and
when Garrett finally caught up with Jacob, the boy was sitting with
his back to a tree, arms propped up on his elbows. He was breathing
heavily which told him he’d tried his best to outrun him.
    Smiling as he approached, Garrett sat down
facing him. “So… fancy meeting you here.”
    Jacob grinned before picking up a small twig
and pulling the leaves off of it. “If I don’t get back soon, she’ll
skin me alive.”
    “Not if you’re with me, she won’t.” Jacob’s
eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What are you doing with her,
Jacob?”
    He sighed and tossed the twig away. “I didn’t
have much choice. After Caleb and his goons shot me with that Tranq
gun, I woke up in the mine. It wasn’t like I could just walk out.
Once Carmen showed up and got everyone moving, I couldn’t get
away.”
    “And what does she want you for?” Jacobs
cheeks turned blistering red then and Garrett didn’t even have to
ask why. He knew Carmen too well. She used sex as a weapon and had
a way of getting whatever information she wanted by the same means.
Apparently Jacob had been on the receiving end of her interrogation
tactics. “What did she want to know?”
    Jacob shrugged and averted his gaze. “Mostly
about you. What your relationship with Rayna was like.” He laughed
and picked up another twig. “The woman is seriously twisted. She
doesn’t even know Rayna but hates her enough to plot her murder on
a daily basis.”
    “She’s dead the minute she tries.” Garrett’s
wolf slinked closer to the surface just thinking about Carmen
hurting Rayna. He reined it in and focused on Jacob. “What
else?”
    “Your plans as far as Malcolm were concerned.
If you were going to challenge him to take the pack.”
    “And?”
    “And I told her you didn’t want it. That you
just wanted to get Rayna and go back to the city.”
    “But I didn’t do that.”
    “No. She wondered why you’d stayed and got
her answer when she sent Erik to the house.”
    “They were curious about Rayna?”
    Jacob nodded his head. “Yeah. Once Erik
confirmed her to be infected, Carmen set out to challenge Rayna.
She wants this pack bad, Garrett.”
    “Why?”
    “No clue. It’s all she talks about though.
What she’s going to do once she’s back inside the house. How
everyone will bow down to her.” He rolled his eyes before
chuckling. “You should hear her. She’s crazy, man.”
    “I know.” Garrett looked around the forest
and wondered if allowing Carmen to roam free was such a smart move.
The woman was dangerous. She always had been. With a group of
shifters at her beck-and-call, it was hard to tell what havoc the
woman could pull off. “What’s the story with the new pack she
has?”
    Jacob tossed his stick away and frowned.
“Those are the wolves Caleb made. Most of them are just as twisted
as he was but a few of them just do as they’re told and sit quietly
in the background.”
    “Like you?”
    Jacob grinned. “Like me.”
    Garrett was quiet for several minutes,
staring at Jacob and wondering what to do now. Getting Jacob back
had been a priority the day before but now he wondered if leaving
him with Carmen wasn’t the smartest move. “What do you want to do,
Jacob? Do you want to come to the house?”
    Jacob lowered his eyes and nodded. “I’d love
to.” He stared at his hands