Tristan bared his teeth. He would tear Cullen limb from limb. Tristan leapt in the air and landed on Cullen’s back. His teeth bit into Cullen’s fur. Furious, he tore and bit into the dark brown wolf. He was Alpha; he would be obeyed.
“Mom, please don’t let Tristan kill that wolf.”
Summer’s voice hit Tristan hard. It passed through his Alpha fury into his consciousness. Her voice was so much like Ashlee’s.
“There’s nothing I can do, baby.”
Victoria let out a sob. Tristan realized she knew exactly what was happening. If he wasn’t careful, Ashlee’s mate would kill Summer’s.
Cullen, freeing himself momentarily from Tristan’s assault, bit hard on Tristan’s side. He backed up, showing his teeth in fury. Tristan didn’t know if Cullen could still be reasoned with or if he was gone to the anger that accompanied the Alpha fight.
Yield to me, Cullen.
Cullen snarled. Never.
I will be Alpha and you will be dead. Who will care for your mate? She has never known you, will never have a mating ritual. Neither of you will ever know the joy of that.
Tristan leaned back on his back legs, ready to pounce if Cullen did not yield.
She is mine?
Only you know the answer to that.
You think to trick me, to distract me from this fight.
Tristan snorted through his snout. I am stronger than you; I could kill you any time I pleased. Instead, I tell you to yield so that you may know your mate.
I have waited a long time. I hardly believe it.
Do you yield?
Cullen paused for a moment and Tristan could see a war of emotions rage in his wolf eyes.
Cullen dropped to the ground, his eyes lowered, his body in a submissive stance. I yield, my Alpha.
Moving with instinct alone, Tristan called the shift back onto himself. He stood before the pack. Sweat dripped from his muscles, his breath coming in short gasps as his human form gained control.
Kill her. She’s almost dead anyway. He heard his father’s sick voice in his head, but it was weak, he could barely make out the words. It was time to complete the cycle and end the spell. He looked at Ashlee, unconscious on the ground and he raged inside.
He spoke the words the Alpha shifters had spoken since the beginning, they poured out of him as if he’d always been meant to say them. “I am your Alpha, I am your liege.
You owe me your fidelity. I will have your power now.”
Around the circle, compelled by magic and Tristan’s force of will, each member of his pack fell to their knees. A red light pushed out of each shifter, causing each of them to shift to their wolf form before the lights slammed into Tristan. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes.
He heard Summer scream as it was her turn, her first shift upon her, but he couldn’t watch. Each beam of red was part of his pack member’s soul. It belonged to him now; it was his to safeguard. The responsibility overwhelmed him.
Inside of him, his wolf paced back and forth and roared with delight. It had been waiting for this day, had always known it was Alpha.
Tristan tried not to smile. Why didn’t you tell me?
Not for me to tell.
The Alpha power drove the spell from his body. Tristan opened his eyes. On top of his skin, his burned flesh disappeared, replaced by new skin. His eyes smoldered and tears fell down the sides of his face. He closed them and when they reopened, seemingly of their volition, the world looked different to him.
I see out of them now too.
His eyes had gone wolf; they would stay that way now forever, as his father’s had been before he betrayed them. Tristan would not follow the same path.
A wolf rubbed against him, and he looked down. It was white and red—Ashlee. He stroked her with his hand, rubbed her head and finally pulled her small wolf body into his arms.
The spell’s not totally gone yet, my Alpha.
He flinched at the word used by Ashlee. That is not what she would call him, but this was not the place to argue or the time for it.
It’s not? I feel cleaned.
Ashlee called the shift onto herself and she glowed in the white light as it surrounded her. Tristan sucked in his breath; she had done that so easily. The spell had caused him to miss Ashlee’s transformation into a secure, magically talented wolf. He would see his father dead for that alone.
She approached the side of the circle and picked up the cup filled with red blood that Cullen had brought. Walking to the center of the circle, her legs shook as if she wasn’t steady. He stood up to help her and she smiled weakly at him.
“You called me back from death. I heard your Alpha yell and I needed to give you my allegiance.” She touched the side of his face with her free hand. “You already had my love.” Ashlee poured the red liquid onto the ground in front of them. “Now you’re clean.”
With that last sentence, she collapsed in his arms.
Chapter Fifteen
Ashlee looked around the abyss she’d awoken to and tried to make sense of what she could remember. She had failed in her attempt to remove the spell, but Tristan had done the Alpha ceremony and become the leader of their pack, freeing himself from his father’s curse.
“I’ve been waiting to meet you for so long.” Ashlee whirled around. In front of her stood a woman who looked to be twenty years old, with chestnut brown hair and grey eyes. She grinned from ear to ear and she wore a long, floor length white dress.
Ashlee swallowed. “Am I dead?”
The woman laughed. “No, you passed out and I brought you here for a few moments, although I’m giving my son a bit of a heart attack at the moment.”
“Your son?” Realization dawned on Ashlee. “You’re Mary Jo? Tristan’s mother?”
Mary Jo nodded. “And you’re Ashlee, Tristan’s mate. I wish I could have lived to meet the children you will have.”
Ashlee opened her mouth to tell Mary Jo she wouldn’t be having any babies, but before she could, Mary Jo placed her hand on her belly.
“You can now.”
“What?” Ashlee was confused.
“The pain in your abdomen that keeps coming and going, it’s your wolf healing your reproductive organs. She’s fixed what was wrong.”
Tears welled up in Ashlee’s eyes. Babies? She could someday have children with Tristan? She swallowed hard and Mary Jo pulled her into her embrace. She stood like that for a moment, feeling content to let Tristan’s mother comfort her. Finally, when she felt foolish, she pulled back and wiped her eyes.
“What is this place?”
Ashlee watched Mary Jo glance around the room. “It’s where we wait for our mate to join us so we can go to the afterlife together. It was very crowded for a while, when I first moved on. A few days ago, my sisters-in-law finally met up with their husbands who had been waiting here with me. Now it’s quiet.”
Ashlee narrowed her eyes at Mary Jo. “You’re still waiting for Kendrick? Why would you do that after what he’s done?”
Mary Jo sighed. “He’s my mate, and whatever has happened to him to make him as sick as he is, to make him do the things he’s done, I will always love him, even if I can’t forgive him or even begin to understand.”
“So, it’s been lovely meeting you, really it has. You raised six wonderful men, and of course I’m rather fond of one in particular. But if I’m not dead, why am I here?” Ashlee wanted to get back to Tristan. He was finally healed, and she needed to see him.