Tristan’s aunts, Clarinda and Adeline, had spent the entire morning teaching her about pack dynamics and trying to get her to ‘feel the mystic within.’ Ashlee learned the pack rules rather easily; some of it felt intuitive, as if she already knew it, and the rest she absorbed without any problems. But awakening her magic was another matter. If Ashlee was any judge, she didn’t have any magic to awaken. But the Aunts were persistent. They told her a young woman who could become a wolf all on her own by just stepping foot onto Westervelt must be filled to the brink with untapped abilities. They had been very patient with her, which Ashlee appreciated.
If Clarinda’s style of dress was eccentric and eclectic at best, Adeline looked like she’d walked out of a New York City fashion show. Her hair, dyed black—Ashlee could see her grey roots—was slicked back with mousse and cut close to her head. The sleeveless, mustard yellow shift dress she wore showed off her shapely arms that had to take a tremendous amount of work to maintain. Red pumps and black silk stockings finished off the outfit; not colors Ashlee would have put with mustard yellow, but it worked for the older woman.
When they decided it was time for Ashlee to meet the rest of the pack, they’d dragged her across the Institute to the meeting chambers, where she now stood feeling like the new kid in school who the teacher made stand up and speak to the class. Tristan walked over to her and put his arm around her waist. She knew she should want to be more independent and not labeled as ‘his woman,’ but she liked it. Her wolf, who had gotten more and more vocal as the day went on, liked it too. Tristan had said eventually she and the wolf would become one unit, and Ashlee could see how that would work better than this constant discussion between the two of them about the proper ways to behave.
Tristan smiled at the group. “This is Ashlee. She rescued me from the zoo in New Jersey. She is my mate, and as most of you know, she changed into a wolf by herself without any outside help.”
Ashlee felt her cheeks heat. “The last bit was entirely not my own doing. Believe me, I would rather have not gone through that alone.” Laughs met her remark and she was relieved to see almost everyone in the room looked at her with a friendly demeanor. Theo still appeared somewhat hostile, but maybe that was just the way he looked most of the time. A man she didn’t know stood in the circle next to Michael, looking at her with a demeanor of distance the others didn’t share.
“We were just discussing the plans to go after my father. Cullen—” Michael indicated the man next to him who’d given her the distant appraisal, “—was just telling us our father’s headquarters has been active and on the move.”
“He has a headquarters?” Ashlee was confused. Why hadn’t they eliminated him by now if they knew where he was?
Michael nodded. “He and some of his less-than-reputable medical partners run a mental health facility in Mexico where they perform unnecessary medical procedures on the criminally insane. Tristan just told us you met three of his former patients outside of the zoo before you came here.”
A vision of Snake-man plunged into her mind. His sick smile, the half of his face designed to look like a serpent. Ashlee hadn’t thought of him since they’d left him dead in the parking lot. Just the thought of his face chilled her to the bone. Tristan’s father had experimented on him, had made him that way, and now they wanted Tristan.
No one was safe on this island, not by a long shot.
Suddenly, Ashlee needed to know all the details of Tristan’s imprisonment. “Tristan, how did you get caught in the first place?”
“Rex and I drove into Portland to get some supplies that we needed.”
“Tristan wanted watercolors and I ran out of Yuengling Lager.“ Rex cut off Tristan’s story.
“Don’t lie,” Tristan spat. “You wanted more than beer, Rex. He loves music and can spend endless hours in that used CD store on Fore Street. After waiting an hour and a half, I finally had enough of his musings about Nirvana and Garbage so I told him I would go to the art supply store myself and meet in front of Gritty McDuff’s pub down the block. I waited outside the pub for twenty minutes before I was jumped. I assumed they had Rex so I fought back instead of losing them, which is the protocol in cities or around large crowds of people. I thought I could rescue him. But they struck me with this spell. It felt like worms crawled all over my body, and I shifted against my will. We must have made a commotion, because people came pouring out of the pub. Dad’s men ran off.
Then I ran because I wasn’t going to be any good for Rex stuck as a wolf. I don’t know where I actually went but when I woke up I was in the back of an animal control car on my way to New Jersey.”
Ashlee blanched at the way Tristan told the story, his voice devoid of any emotion.
She realized that at some point during that drive, Tristan must have become convinced Rex betrayed him to his father. It wasn’t polite, but she was going to ask him about it.
“After the fight in the parking lot, you acted like Rex had betrayed you. Why?”
“The longer I stayed in that cage, the more I became convinced he must have told them where I was. He was the only one who knew I was in Portland that day and where I would be.”
Rex shook his head. “It wasn’t me. I was late; I’m always late. I missed you by fifteen minutes. I caught your scent, I knew you had shifted. I could smell it. I knew you would never have done that in the middle of Portland if you’d had a choice. I followed your scent for miles before I lost you. So I called Michael and we decided I would go hide out at Dad’s facility and see if you showed up there. When those three goons left last week, I followed them and ended up in New Jersey.” Rex was silent for a second but the look on his face, the way his eyebrows slanted down, led Ashlee to believe he wasn’t done talking, “I knew you would think I betrayed you, but I hoped you knew better.”
Cullen, the distant one, stared at Rex. “I never smelled you at the facility.”
“I smelled you; and if I could, I knew Dad could too. I stayed the hell away, I didn’t want him recognizing me.”
“But why couldn’t I pick up your scent?”
“You’re not the only one with tricks, old man.” Rex’s tone was jovial but his eyes had gone wolf. Ashlee swallowed, remembering how he’d done that on the boat too. Rex must let his wolf loose more often than the others. Cullen made a growling noise in his throat.
“All right.” Michael interrupted their display. “You’re both big men. For the moment, I’m in charge here and I say enough. Ashlee’s going to take Trip and run out of here faster than any of us can imagine if we don’t all start to behave like civilized people.”
Ashlee opened her mouth to object, but then closed it as her wolf growled at her.
Alpha.
Ashlee wasn’t sure what that meant, but she had a feeling it was her wolf’s way of telling her not to argue with the boss.
“Trip, you’re no good to me like this, all gooey and doe-eyed. I want my warrior back. So take your mate and get the ritual done so we can have you back. Tonight we run as a pack. I want Ashlee integrated now. Then tomorrow we meet and figure out a game plan for dealing with Dad and the witch. Cullen, I expect you to stay and run with the pack. No disappearing right now.” Michael nodded to everyone and left the room.
“Why doesn’t he just become the full-fledged Alpha?” Ashlee whispered to Tristan.
Tristan looked at the floor. “Because he’s afraid, as we all are, that we’re too much like Dad. That the power of the Alpha, after the ceremony, is so intense he’ll go mad with it like Dad did and betray everyone we love.”
“Your father did that to you on purpose. He kept the six of you weak so you’d never be a real threat to him. I didn’t realize that’s what he was doing at the time—I didn’t realize a lot of things about our former leader—but that’s what he did. But your mother made you strong. Just look for her power.” Cullen’s voice from right behind her startled Ashlee so much she jumped. Tristan put his hand on her shoulder to steady her as Cullen turned on his heel and left the room.