When we laughed, we laughed together. When one of us needed help, the other two didn’t even hesitate. And when we cried, we did it together, because the pack shared not only the joy, but the pain each of us brought to it. And so, when her first sob of anguish, pain, and fear filled the air, I wrapped my arms tightly around my friend, held her close, and cried with her.
Because that’s what it meant to be pack.
****
When we got back to the dorm, my mouth was already watering before I even got through the door. That was because even from a hundred feet away, the scent of cooking meat filled my wolf-enhanced senses and had my stomach writhing in anticipation.
Fresh meat is better.
Quiet you, I silently told that wild voice that shared residence alongside my human one, we can’t hunt yet.
Two-leg law is nothing.
It is to me, I told my wolf firmly. We’ll hunt soon, I promise.
Two-leg promise is…
Wolf promise, I growled, which seemed to appease it as I felt its presence draw back into the background of my mind once more.
“You okay?” Kitty asked as we drew closer to our dorm.
“Yeah,” I said with a shake of my head, “my wolf was just giving me shit about eating cooked meat again.”
“Dr. Wellman said he’d work on getting you clearance to hunt soon, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t give me any kind of a timeline,” I told her with a sigh. “I just hope it’s soon. I’m not sure how much more I can bargain with it before it decides to just take over.”
That seemed to bring my friend up short as she grabbed me by the wrist and spun me to face her. “You never said something like that was possible,” she said worriedly.
“I was exaggerating,” I told her with a dismissive wave of my hand. “I’m not going to go all rage form or anything, but the urge to shift into a wolf and go hunt will turn into something like… well, kind of like what happened with you.”
I doubt there was any other kind of comparison I could have offered that would have been any clearer than that. It wasn’t so long ago that Kitty had been under the influence of a sex demon that we’d… I guess banished is the best word for it, since apparently, it was impossible to actually kill her. When she’d talked about what it was like and how it felt, she equated it to feeling like a drug addict or alcoholic in varying stages of needing a fix. I hadn’t really appreciated what that meant at the time since I’d never done drugs or drank, but the longer I went without giving my wolf some time out, the more desperate I was feeling. I imagined that’s what it had felt like for Kitty when it came to sex before Ms. Hollister had managed to exorcise the demon bitch’s influence over her.
“Have you told anyone this?” she asked.
“It hasn’t really gotten bad yet,” I assured her.
“Yet,” Kitty pointed out. “Key word there. You need to talk to Dr. Wellman, today. If you don’t, I will,” she threatened, and I fully believed she would do it.
“All right, all right,” I surrendered, “I’ll talk with him about it at lunch or after classes.”
“Good,” she said as we stepped into the dorm, “because the last thing we need is for you to wolf out right in the middle of class.”
“Wolf out in class? Are you okay Aiden?”
Looking over at the reasonably-sized kitchen, I watched as our gorgeous redheaded friend, dressed, ready, and looking like a modern-day princess, hurried from the stove over to us where she took my hands in hers. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” I assured her with a shake of my head and a smile, “my wolf’s just bugging me about getting out and hunting.”
Immediately, Ashley’s brilliantly green eyes flashed over to Kitty. “You told her if she doesn’t talk to the headmaster we will?”
“Of course,” the brunette bombshell said with a self-assured smile.
“Good,” the smaller girl said with a firm nod before turning me around and shoving me towards the stairs. “Now go and get a shower. Breakfast’ll be on the table by the time you two are dressed and ready.”
“All right, all right,” I acquiesced with a laugh as I headed upstairs to the bathroom Ashley and I shared. I turned my head to give Kitty one last look, which she responded to with a silent nod. It was a simple agreement between the two of us that we’d made during the run back to the dorms: Ashley wasn’t to know about my accidental stabbing. It wasn’t that we were ashamed or embarrassed about it. We just didn’t want to upset our tender-hearted friend when she was already trying to cope with the pretty serious issue of a presidential candidate who was excessively anti-fey.
Besides, getting Ashley upset might mean she wouldn’t be the right frame of mind to cook us a fabulous breakfast that would be the envy of the school, if anyone actually knew about it.
Hopping into the shower, I did my duty and thoroughly cleaned the sweat, grime, and forest floor from my hair and body using the feminine soap, shampoo, and conditioner that Ashley had taken to demanding I use. I don’t know where it had come from, but my redheaded friend had apparently decided to take it upon herself and try to ease back my tomboyishness and bring out the femininity she was certain was lurking in here somewhere. I’d like to say I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was wasting her time, but the truth was, it was kind of working. I’d long since stopped worrying about smelling like flowers or strawberries and my wardrobe had slowly shifted from consisting only of jeans and T-shirts to a significant amount of decidedly more feminine articles. Hell, even my underwear wasn’t strictly utilitarian anymore.
That really was the true power that Ashley possessed. Yes, she had the power to heal others that apparently was the strongest anyone in-the-know about such things had ever seen, but that was only part of it. From the moment I’d met her, Ashley was able to somehow bring out the good in practically everyone she encountered. That wasn’t a fey power or anything, but it really was a testament to what kind of a person she was.
It was also the reason why I was so fiercely protective of her. While she wasn’t so naïve to think that everyone had good in them just struggling to get out, she was also too kind-hearted for her own good. That and she absolutely abhorred violence, even if it was in the defense of herself. I’d tried to get her to learn to protect herself, but so far she’d rebuffed my offerings. Until I could break through her stubbornness on the issue, I was more than happy to be the adult wolf to her pup.
Of course, she also had the strength of personality that often had me bowing to her wishes… like this morning. Without really even thinking about it, I automatically made my wardrobe selection based upon what Ashley would probably like to see me wear. No, I wasn’t operating like some lovesick school girl wanting to please her significant other. It was just… I wanted my friend to be happy. She had suffered so much heartache and tragedy in her life that wearing snug black leggings and a slouchy, lightweight green sweater designed to slip off one shoulder really wasn’t all that much of a sacrifice. Besides, I was kind of starting to like wearing things like this.
Not that I would ever admit something like that.
Kitty was coming out of her room just as I bounded down the stairs. As usual, she was dressed to tease and please, though I will admit she’d toned it down quite a bit lately. Yes, she wore a skirt that hit around mid-thigh, and yes, her top showed off some cleavage, but really, it was far more modest than when she used to dress like a walking advertisement for sex. Honestly, I had to admit, she looked like probably every other teenage girl taking advantage of the last few days of warm weather.
“Looking good wolf girl,” the brunette bombshell said with a mischievous grin and a saucy wink.
“Shaddap,” I grumbled as we headed towards the eat-in kitchen and the source of that smell so delicious I wished I could simply pluck it out of the air and devour it. When I saw the rather extravagant spread of sausage, bacon, and eggs, I immediately turned a suspicious gaze towards Ashley. The girl certainly
loved to cook, there was no doubt about that, but this was overdoing it for an average breakfast. “Okay Ashley,” I said carefully as I took a seat at the table with Kitty, “what’s up?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with an innocent fluttering of her long, thick lashes that I didn’t buy for a second.
“She means last night you were an absolute wreck because of what we saw on TV, and now, you’ve gone overboard with breakfast and sunshine,” Kitty answered even as she picked up a piece of perfectly cooked bacon and nibbled on it. “What’s going on with you?”
Sighing, she set down what seemed to be the last of the morning meal, a small stack of toast glistening with margarine, before heading over to the coffee maker. Since it had been clear by the expression on her face that she was composing her thoughts as opposed to avoiding the question, I didn’t hassle her while she put together three cups of coffee and brought them to the table. Obviously, Kitty had noticed as well because she joined me in giving our friend a little space to put her thoughts in order.
It wasn’t until we’d each gotten a cup and started eating breakfast that Ashley finally broke her silence. “Last night was bad,” she began quietly. “Hearing the way Westlake was talking about fey… it was like I was strapped down in that abandoned building again. He wasn’t talking about experimenting on us and figuring out how our powers work like Dr. Taylor did…”
Her voice cut off for a moment, and I watched her close her eyes and take several deep, calming breaths as her scent became utterly saturated with fear. Had it been pouring off of literally anyone else outside of this room, my wolf would be utterly salivating at the prospect of hunting down such frightened prey. But this wasn’t anyone else. This was Ashley and she was pack, which meant that scent of fear elicited a much different response from my wolf. Instead of hunger, I could practically feel her silent, furious growl vibrate through my very soul. I actually came close to mimicking it with my own throat before I managed to catch myself. This is how it had always been for Ashley. The very name of the man who had tortured and terrified her back in San Francisco haunted her from beyond the grave Ashley herself had put him in. I wished, just like I did every time this happened with her, that I could bring the son of a bitch back from the dead just so I could kill him a thousand different, excruciatingly painful ways.
As it was, the best I could do was reach across the table and give one of her hands a comforting squeeze as Kitty did the same. The smile we both received was wobbly… but warm, as our diminutive friend gave us a squeeze in return. “Anyway,” she continued in a voice that was a bit watery but strong, “he didn’t say the same things, but the meaning behind them was pretty clear. He doesn’t think of fey as being human. He doesn’t think we should have the same basic rights as every person in the country, and I’ll bet he wants to just round all of us up so he can figure out just what makes us tick.”
By the time she’d finished, her voice had risen dangerously close to the point of hysteria. I was about to rise from my chair to gather her up in my arms when she took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. “That’s why I needed to sleep in your bed with you Aiden,” she told me. “I just… I couldn’t stop shaking in my own. I just felt so alone and vulnerable. I could actually picture men in black breaking into my room and dragging me away to God knows where, and there was nothing I could do about it.”
“Hey,” I whispered to her, giving her hand another squeeze, “you know I’m fine with it.”
“I know,” she said with a sniffle, swiping at a few tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall, “wolf thing. You like snuggle piles.”
“Then, why won’t you ever join me in bed?” Kitty asked with a playful wink while sexily nibbling on a piece of toast. I didn’t think it was possible to be sexy while eating toasted bread, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Kitty.
“Because when we do it, it’s pack,” I informed her for probably the thousandth time. “When you do it, it’s because you’re horny.”
“Spoilsport,” she pouted jokingly.
“Anyway,” Ashley said with a roll of her eyes, “when I woke up this morning and found you guys gone, I panicked. I went racing around the dorm looking for you. I think I was halfway up back up the stairs to go for my cell phone and call Ashe when I saw your note on the door. That’s when it really hit me.”
“What, that everything was fine?” I asked in confusion.
“That I had become a complete and utter wuss,” she corrected with a self-depreciating smile.
Setting down her mug, Kitty stood and laid her hands on our friend’s shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Ashley, sweetheart, you’ve gone through more hell than most people ever have in a lifetime. No one could expect you to come out of it without some perfectly natural fears.”
“True,” she acknowledged with a nod, “and I’ve got the PTSD to prove it. But there’s a big difference between coping with PTSD and being scared of your own shadow. I don’t want to become that girl who can’t even leave her own home unless she has someone to protect her. That isn’t fair to you guys. More importantly, it isn’t fair to me. I know I didn’t deserve to be treated the way I was,” she told us in such a firm tone of voice there would be no correcting her, thank God, “but more than that, I don’t deserve to be forced to try and live my life as some kind of mental and emotional invalid. So, I did what I should have done a long time ago.”
“Which was?” I asked carefully.
“Said to myself, ‘What would Ashe say or do?’ and then actually follow through on it.”
This wasn’t the first time Ashley had invoked that name to give her strength. While she certainly viewed me as a protector, Ashe was so far above that status I wasn’t even sure there was a word for it. Guardian angel might be appropriate, though from everything I’d ever seen or heard about the man, avenging angel probably fit a lot better. Or the deadliest predator on the planet, that worked too. I might be able to go full rage form and become an unstoppable killing machine… except Ashe had done exactly that, stopped me with one hit. I had a hell of a lot of respect for the man, but Ashley practically worshipped him. It actually concerned me a few times how in awe she was of the vigilante, but if using him to give herself strength worked I wasn’t going to argue it.
“So what would he do?” I asked as I leaned back and crossed my legs.
“Fight, of course,” the redheaded beauty replied with a whimsical smile.
“But you don’t…”
“I still don’t like hitting anyone,” she said, cutting off Kitty’s words, “but I realize I need to be able to defend myself instead of constantly being a walking victim. I don’t want to be that kind of person anymore.”
Rubbing her chin, a gesture I presumed was some kind of personality bleed from back when she’d been Keith Blake, Kitty took another sip of her coffee before helping herself to some eggs. “There are several martial arts out there whose primary focus is on throws or joint locks instead of strikes. Aikido comes to mind right off the bat.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said around a mouthful of yummy, meaty, goodness as I held up a finger. “Steven Segal studied Aikido and he beat the living shit out of people in his… movies,” I finished, my voice trailing off.
“Exactly,” our genius friend pointed out, “movies, as in fake. Real Aikido primarily utilizes throws and joint locks, using your opponent’s weight and balance against them. It’s basically a way of getting someone away from you effectively so you can go for help.”
“Or break a limb or two,” I expounded with a grin.
Pointedly ignoring my more vicious connotations, Ashley nodded at Kitty in agreement. “That actually sounds like something I might like to try.”
“We can check the school’s extracurricular activities after class and see if they’re offering anything like that,” the brunette suggested as she brought her dishes over to the dishwasher and placed them inside. Following her lead, Ashley and I also put up our dishes before all o
f us gathered up our things and headed out.
There were a few hellos here and there, but there was definitely a subdued feeling on campus that morning. It didn’t take a genius to figure out just what had caused it. Even if some of the students here didn’t watch the news, it was a pretty good bet they all got calls from their parents the moment Westlake’s announcement hit the airwaves.
The three of us sure did. I actually spent a good hour on the phone with my parents assuring them that I was okay when in reality I was quaking inside. Yes, I presented myself as the big badass wolf, and for the most part that was pretty accurate, but even I knew just how immense this was. We were talking about someone openly anti-fey, who was the owner and CEO of one of the biggest multi-faceted companies in the country, declaring his candidacy for President of the United States. That in and of itself was frightening enough, but according to Kitty, Angela had told her that social media and the internet was practically exploding with support for this asshole.
While I maintained that cocky, aloof demeanor for my parents, it wasn’t until Dad’s assurance that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that racist would ever even come close to being the leader of the country that I felt better. While I certainly still had my doubts, the sound of his strong, certain voice was enough to keep that nagging fear at bay for a while.
As we entered Foghlaim and headed for our first class, I silently hoped that Dad’s words would end up being true. The alternative was… well, let’s just say Ashley wouldn’t be the only one in the dorm that had to worry about being plagued by nightmares.
Westlake Industries, Reading, Pennsylvania
“The initial figures are looking quite promising,” Mallory Thompson said as she scrolled through the data on the tablet in her lap. “There was some initial push-back from staunch pro-fey figures in the public eye and on the Hill, but from what our intelligence team is able to gather, you’re blowing up on social media.” Lifting her eyes from the screen, she smiled at the large man seated behind the expansive oak desk. “You’re the number one trending item on Facebook and Twitter.”
Marking Territory: An Awakened Novel (The Rising Storm Book 1) Page 2