Pack Secrets || WLW

The Harrison Bloodline

My mind races through a million possibilities before the driver gets out of the car. Worst case scenario, it's Sheriff Gray. Or maybe Lindsay. I'm not sure which would be worse. The sheriff would take June to jail. Lindsay would blackmail her.

I still think June would be okay if the sheriff took her in. She'd say it was self defense and I'd confirm her testimony. Ricky doesn't have the best record already and everyone saw the fight that took place in the bar before hand but June's not worried about going to jail. She's worried about something else. Something I don't have all the details about yet.

The breath is stuck in my chest until I realize it's not either of those people. It's my dad. I recognize the brand of boots he's been wearing since I was a child before I notice anything else because I can't bring myself to look at him.

My friend just murdered his best friend. He didn't care when I was still a kid and Ricky tried to put his hands on me. Is he going to care now?

"Sawyer?" my dad asks, closing the driver's side door. "Is everything okay? What's going on?"

"Dad, I..." I'm not sure what to say so I close my mouth and swallow hard.

My dad moves close enough so I can see his expression in the dark. June is standing next to me now and his eyes flick to her and then back to me.

"What's going on, kiddo?"

Kiddo

He hasn't called me that in ages. Or if he has, it hasn't been like this. To comfort me. The word makes me want to hug him and cry into his jacket like when I was a kid.

"I came here to talk to you but you weren't home and Ricky was trying to get in the back," I explain, motioning to his backyard.

His eyes move to the backyard and back to my face. Letting out a groan, he takes both of my shoulders in his hands. "What did Ricky do? Are you okay?" He looks at June when I don't respond. "Did he hurt her?"

June shakes her head. "No, sir."

My dad looks back to me, his deep brown eyes searching my face for an explanation I'm not ready to give.

"He was going to," June continues. "He was um... Undoing his belt when I got here and..." June clears her throat and turns to the side so my dad can see past her. So he can see the body of his best friend lying in his flower garden.

He stands up straight, letting his hands slip off my shoulders as he stares at the scene in front of him. It's quiet for a long time. He doesn't say a word as he stares at Ricky. So much time has passed by the time he speaks that I'm sure he's going to suggest we call the sheriff and let him handle this but instead, he extends a hand to June.

She takes his hand skeptically and he shakes it.

"I should have put a bullet through his head the first time Sawyer ever told me he tried to violate her." He clears his throat and when he looks at me, there's tears in his eyes but he doesn't let them fall. Looking at June again, he says, "Thank you for protecting my daughter."

"What are we going to do?" I ask, skipping over the heart to heart they're having. "There's a body in your yard."

My dad nods once. "You two get out of here. Go back to June's place. I'll take care of the rest."

June steps forward. "Mr. Harrison. I'd like to help clean up the mess I've made if that's alright."

He shakes his head. "You guys need to get out of here. I need your scent out of my yard by the time the police start looking for him."

"Dad," I say, but I don't know how to continue. I don't want him to go down for this if Sheriff Gray shows up. I don't want anyone to get in trouble because of Ricky. Because of me. "I can go to Sheriff Gray. I'll tell him what happened. I'll say I was the one who... It was self-defense."

My dad looks at the body again and shakes his head. "Won't work, kiddo. His head's torn clear off. What are you going to say? You ripped his head off with your bare hands?"

June clears her throat. Her eyes are focused on the ground when she mutters a, "sorry."

"You two get out of here," my dad says again. "Don't worry about me. I have a plan. I'll clean this up."

Something about the way he sounds so sure is comforting. Like maybe all of this will work out in the end but my gut is telling me something's wrong, that this isn't going to work out and I can't help the feeling that I'm making a huge mistake as we say our goodbyes and drive up the mountain to June's house.

We don't speak at first. I find my way to the brown leather couch in front of the fireplace and sit down. June goes somewhere else and comes back with a glass full of something brown. Sitting next to me, she blows out a long breath. She already smells like liquor. 

"June." My voice shakes.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm sorry. I didn't... I shouldn't have done what I did." She throws the rest of her drink back and places it on the coffee table but she does it with so much force that the glass splinters. "When I saw what he was going to do..." She shakes her head instead of finishing the sentence.

I turn so I'm facing her and take her hand in mine. "It will be okay," I tell her but the words are laced with uncertainty. How am I supposed to comfort her when everything feels wrong? My stomach has been twisted into a knot since we left my dad's house. Nausea rises in my throat and my thoughts are racing a million miles an hour.

The flashbacks take hold of my mind without permission. Ricky slamming me into the side of the house. The way he pressed himself against me. The way his unblinking eyes stared at me after June ripped his head off.

I shake the thought off. To change the subject, I say, "So, you're like... A dog?"

June's eyes snap to my face, serious at first until a smile pulls at her lips.

I push her shoulder playfully and we both fizzle into half-hearted laughter.

She's nodding before she's done laughing. "Yeah, I kind of am."

I'm not sure if it's the shock after everything that's happened tonight but we laugh even harder at her response. "Okay. Tell me what this all entails. I think I deserve an explanation."

June's watching me with an expression I can't quite read. Finally, she nods. "I think so too." She places a hand over her chest. "I'm a shifter. Um. Like a... Werewolf."

I roll my eyes and rub the tension from my forehead. "This sounds so fucking fake, June."

"I know." She's watching me closely, like she's debating saying something. She waits for me to look at her to continue. "You want to hear something even crazier?"

"Crazier than you being a literal golden retriever lesbian?" I motion for her to continue. "Lay it on me."

June winces as she speaks, like she's preparing for my reaction. "You're also a shifter."

I give her leg a shove. "This is serious, June. You can't mess with me right now. I'm already having a hard time wrapping my head around all this."

I'm expecting her to laugh or apologize for twisting my arm at a time like this but she's silent. My eyes snap to her face.

"You're joking. Aren't you?"

June shakes her head slowly. "No, Sawyer. Your bloodline... The Harrison bloodline has been able to shift for decades."

***

Hey all! 

A little bit of a shorter chapter this week because I'm editing my other WIP and it's actually consuming my entire fucking life. I am not even exaggerating when I tell you that I've thought about deleting the entire 60 thousand word manuscript and giving up writing for good more times than I can count. Like, literally multiple times a day.

Hopefully, all of this stress just means that it will be the best thing I've created yet. Hopefully, it'll mean I can get it traditionally published... Hopefully. 

But anyway! How do we feel about the information we just received about Sawyer? I'm curious what you think about it.

 Thank you all so much for reading and, like always, if you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to vote! It really helps me get new eyes on the story and gives me a reason to continue pushing this story out!

***