Free Marked (The Pack) by Suzanne Cox Page A

they are. That house is huge.”
    Louise kept her eyes on the road, not even bothering to glance at me. “We’ll work on it bit by bit. What else are you going to do this summer?”
    I didn’t respond. What else was there to say? She was exactly right. I might as well paint a house because what else was I going to do all summer?
     
    ***
     
    Myles dad met us in front of the cedar lake house. It was a very nice house, but nothing spectacular like Channing’s or Brynna’s.
    “Come on, Alexis.” He started off toward the lake and led us inside a huge boathouse.
    Two boats were suspended above the water by belts hanging from the ceiling. No less than five jet skis were on individual motorized platforms so they could be slid into the water or lifted out with ease. He took me to a royal blue and white ski that I loved immediately.
    “For the summer this can be your jet ski. You can come get it anytime you want. I’ll show you where the keys to the boathouse and the lifts are kept.”
    “That’s so great. Thank you, Mr. Branton.”
    ”It’s no problem. They’re sitting here and need to be used.”
    I was already wondering if there was a trail on this side of the lake that would lead me to their house. My own jet ski, well, practically my own.
    Myles trotted through the door. Eric followed behind him.
    Below my feet, the decking seemed to tilt. I hoped no one else could notice how Eric’s presence in the room affected me. The slightly increased beat of my heart, the jittery feeling in my stomach, all seemed to occur when he was around. I couldn’t seem to control it.
    “Hey, let’s go riding.” Myles immediately began lowering one of the lifts.
    “That would be good.” Aunt Louise said. “I need to talk to your dad.”
    Myles looked at me. “You can ride in that if you want, but if you’d rather get a swimsuit we can go kind of slow over to your side of the lake and you can run up the trail to your house.”
    I glanced at Myles then down at my short skirt, tight lacy top, and sandals. While Myles walked away to get life vests, Eric waited in front of me.
    Without warning, he reached toward me and tugged at the shoulder strap of the lacy top. “Doesn’t look quite right for jet skiing.”
    I held my breath and his hand slipped away while he frowned. A whirling vortex sucked me toward him. My body didn’t move, but part of me, inside, did. A part I wasn’t sure had ever moved before. Opening my mouth slightly I sucked in a breath. “If you don’t mind I’d like to get the swimsuit.”
    Myles walked over and tossed me a vest. “Probably a good idea.”
    In ten minutes we were inching the jet skis into the shallows near the path to Louise’s house.
    “We’ll wait here while you go change.” Myles said.
    “No, Myles can wait. I’ll go with you.” Eric jumped off his ski and tossed a rope to Myles to keep the machine from drifting away.
    “Okay.” I was already wading ashore with my strappy sandals in hand.
    I figured if I used the path enough, I’d forget the bad dreams I’d had about the place and soon the hair on the back of my neck wouldn’t tingle every time I set foot on it. Still, the bushes I passed rattled and more than my neck hair tingled. My whole body quivered. I turned slowly, not really expecting to see anything. But I was wrong.
    Eric was two steps behind me and just past him a single wolf with a very light gray-brown coat stepped onto the path. I stared at it and hoped we didn’t look like lunch. Backing along the path toward the house, I thought what I’d do if it were a regular dog. Didn’t those wolf hybrid dogs come from a German Shepherd or Husky dog being bred to a real wolf. This animal was massive and I wondered how they bred them to be so big. Surely, there had to be some normal dog in there.
    I stomped my foot. “Go on. Get out of here. Go home.”
    Clapping my hands I advanced a step toward the animal rather than retreating. “Go away, you hear me. Take