A Bit of Wolf in Her

13. Talk about a plot twist

As if the world slowed down for a second, Winnie felt the fear coursing through her veins at Elijah's words. His comment stunned Lydia and Stella, but not Winnie. Oz had gotten to one of them, like Winnie had feared; just not in the way she thought he would. Instead of hurting them to get to her, he was manipulating them. Or rather, Elijah.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Noah appeared like Lydia said he would, having caught the end of this cousin's sentence just in time. He looked about two seconds away from jumping his cousin, hands fisted at his sides. Elijah's focus, however, stayed on her.

"Tell them the truth right now, or I will."

There it was.

The force of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

Noah turned to Winnie, the anger slowly leaking out of him as concern and confusion took its place.

"What the fuck is going on, Winnie?"

She let out a breath, suddenly very calm. The reality of her situation was hitting her, and it wasn't looking very good for her. Either she told them the truth only to get beaten to a pulp by a werewolf or she lied and most definitely got beaten to a pulp by a werewolf.

"Oz works for my parents. It's where we first met." Winnie could feel all the surrounding air dissipate and the words hung in the air between them, the tension growing with every passing second. "It's the real reason he's been after me all this time."

"So, the people we've been after all this time–they're your parents?"

Winnie nodded, not mentioning that she had a sneaking suspicion about who killed Elijah's dad too. When Lydia's words resonated, though, she stopped. "Wait, what?"

Lydia looked at Noah and he nodded, not making eye contact with Winnie. "We found out who Oz is working for a few days after you told us he was here."

"Lydia!" Elijah interjected, but she went on.

"That's what we wanted to tell you, Winnie. Noah and I were against it from the start, but some thought-"

"Against what?"

"We're using you as bait to get to Oz so he would lead us to the–your parents," Lydia said, her voice wavering. "We figured out it was them killing off pack members for a few years now, but the killings have become more frequent." Winnie thought back to the man in the woods, to Oz cutting him open and to the Werewolves who ripped him apart. "The plan was to keep you here in Seaford until he came for you and then we'd catch him and make him take us to the head of the snake."

Talk about a plot twist.

Winnie stood, staring ahead of her as she tried to wrap her head around the new information. The Delaney's hadn't planned on protecting her at all; only to get to Oz before he disappeared. It was a good plan; she had to admit, even if she was the butt of the joke. Her head hurt, and a heavy weight settled on her shoulders. All the aches and pains that fired up when she moved. The wind seeming so out of place as it gently swept over them, cooling some of the fire in her lungs.

"I'm leaving," she said finally, more to herself than to the others.

"The fuck you are," Elijah said, breaking Winnie's moment of peaceful purgatory. Anger shot through her veins like they injected her with a syringe full of it. She ripped her arm out of Elijah's way before he could grab hold of her.

Noah lunged forward and pushed his cousin hard, but Elijah didn't budge. Winnie pushed Stella toward the front door and out of the way of the fighting werewolves. Elijah swung, catching Noah square on the jaw, and his focus shifted in an instant to her. Pain stung her face as Elijah punched her and a hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her until her feet were dangling in the air.