“It doesn’t matter,” Marc said, only to wince when pain shot through his hands when he grabbed the handlebars.
“How about this?” Ashley asked, gesturing back towards the house. “Why don’t you come inside and we’ll get those cuts cleaned up and call your parents to let them know that you’re safe and see if someone can pick you up so that you don’t have to ride that bike home on ice?”
He opened his mouth to refuse, but for some reason that he couldn’t explain, found himself nodding as he placed his bike off to the side and followed her back to the house, careful of the large bear devouring the bowl of frosting before stepping into a house that was incredibly inviting. It was…perfect. It was filled with warmth and love, the kind of house that he wished they had. He liked living in the mansion, but it reminded him of the compounds. He missed their old house in New Hampshire, missed his grandmother’s cooking, and he missed being normal.
“Why don’t you have a seat, boy-whose-name-I-still-don’t-know,” Ashley said with that warm smile that made it difficult to refuse.
“Marc,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table as he took in the rest of the house and nearly groaned when he smelled something mouthwatering cooking on the stove.
It had been a long time since he had a homecooked meal. He usually grabbed whatever was in the fridge or they did takeout since everyone was busy between taking care of the babies, patrolling, and-
Struggling with his sister’s death.
He really missed Jill.
“Why don’t you call your parents and after you’re done, we’ll clean you up?” Ashley said as she placed a cellphone on the table in front of him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Marc said, shaking his head as he watched her grab a first-aid kit from underneath the kitchen sink.
“Why’s that?” she asked, frowning as he took in her long, golden blonde hair, her green eyes filled with warmth and found himself wondering where he’d seen her before.
“They have enough to deal with,” Marc said, shaking his head as he held out his hands so that she could look at them.
“I don’t want them to worry about you, Marc,” Ashley said as she pulled a small bottle of saline from the kit and some gauze pads and set to work cleaning his hands.
“I doubt they even know that I’m gone,” Marc said, only to add, “My sister died a few months ago and they’re struggling,” at her questioning look.
“I’m sorry, Marc,” Ashley murmured softly as she carefully cleaned the cuts on his knees.
“I miss her,” he found himself admitting, wondering why it was so easy to talk to her.
“I bet she was an amazing sister,” Ashley said as he found himself nodding.
“She was the best,” Marc said hollowly, still having a hard time believing that she was gone.
Jill had always been there for him. He missed everything about her, but he missed her smile the most. He always knew that he would use his ability to change one person into a Pyte on her so that he would never have to lose her, but he never got the chance and now, he never would. He never even got to say goodbye to her.
“Are you hungry?” Ashley asked, giving him the distraction that he needed.
“Yeah,” Marc said, clearing his throat as he forced himself to look away before he did something stupid like cry and-
Was that bear pouting? Marc found himself wondering as he watched the large bear that had scared the hell out of him press his face against the window and…he was definitely pouting.
“What’s the story with the bear?” Marc asked, watching as she grabbed another metal mixing bowl from the fridge and headed to the front door.
“He’s spoiled,” Ashley said with a fond smile as she opened the front door and waited for the bear to steal the bowl and lumber off before she closed it and joined him back in the kitchen.
“He really seems to like frosting,” Marc noted as he watched her make quick work of washing her hands before she scooped what looked like beef stew and dumplings into a large bowl and placed it in front of him along with a loaf of homemade bread and a glass of chocolate milk.
His stomach growled as he took in the large chunks of beef and vegetables. He found himself digging in and groaning. God, this was so good, Marc thought, quickly devouring every last morsel. Before he finished the last bite, she was placing another bowl in front of him.
“Thank you,” he mumbled around a bite of beef stew as he watched her cut the bread and place several slices on a small plate for him.
“You’re very welcome,” Ashley said as she refilled his glass and he found himself wishing that he had some blood to wash this down with, only to frown when he heard the familiar voice growl, “Asshole,” making everything in him go still as he looked back in time to see Kale Quinn walk through the door.
Swallowing hard, Marc shifted his gaze from the large shifter that hated him to find Ashley smiling as Kale made his way towards her. That was followed by Marc frowning in confusion as he watched the shifter that was always glaring, smile as he cupped Ashley’s face as he leaned down and kissed her.
“God, I missed you,” Kale said, brushing his lips against Ashley’s as Marc sat there, shaking his head in disbelief because this was definitely the last thing that he expected to see today.
“Did you remember the ice cream?” Ashley asked with a teasing smile as she plucked the white grocery bag that Marc hadn’t noticed before out of Kale’s hand.
“Yes,” Kale said as he turned his attention to Marc just as his eyes flashed silver in warning.
Marc forced himself to hold that glare when all he wanted to do was run away, but he came here for a reason. Never taking his eyes off the shifter, he grabbed a large slice of bread and took a bite.
Giving Ashley one last kiss, Kale growled, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Be nice,” Ashley said with a stern look that she really couldn’t seem to pull off. She actually reminded him of Jill, except his sister could have pulled off that look. She’d been incredibly kind, but she’d never had a problem putting someone in their place when they needed it. Something about Ashley told him that she was just too freaking nice, which made him wonder what she was doing with Kale because the shifter definitely wasn’t nice.
Which was the reason why he was here, Marc reminded himself.
With a growl that didn’t seem to bother her, Kale sat down across from him, his silver eyes returning to green as they locked on him while Ashley placed a large bowl of beef stew down in front of him. “Thank you, mo ghrá.”
“You’re welcome,” Ashley said, rewarding Kale with a kiss on his cheek that had the shifter’s eyes flashing silver again.
“What are you doing here?” Kale asked, grabbing his spoon and digging in as Marc tried to figure out how to do this only to decide to get it over with.
Taking a deep breath, Marc said, “I want you to kill me.”
Chapter 49
Sighing heavily, Kale said, “I’m not going to hurt him.”
Ashley’s reply was a vicious growl as she bared her teeth at him and-
“I…can’t…breathe…” came the mumbled words that had her ears pointing up and her growl ending abruptly as she swung her large head back and moved away from the wall so that she could check on Marc, who she’d been protecting since the kid made the asinine request. With a quick lick of his face to make sure the boy was okay, Ashley swung her glare back on him, baring her teeth again.
Sighing, Kale reached over and rubbed her large muzzle. He pressed a kiss against the top of her head as he said, “Let me handle this.”
After a glare, and god, she couldn’t pull it off even as a werewolf without looking beyond fucking adorable, Ashley released a huff as she walked over to the corner and curled up with a glare locked on him. So fucking adorable, Kale thought as he gestured for Marc to join him in the living room.
“What’s going on?” Kale asked as he dropped down on the couch, well aware that his mat
e’s gaze followed his every move.
After a slight hesitation, Marc pushed away from the wall and moved to join him, his gaze turning curious as he took in Ashley, who’d shifted in record time to get between him and Marc before he could find out what was going on. He watched as the kid that he’d been terrified would grow up and destroy someone else’s world, stared down at his trembling hands, looking lost and-
He was just a kid, Kale realized, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched Marc struggle to hold it together.
“I’m sorry, Marc,” Kale said as he rubbed the back of his neck, having absolutely no fucking clue how to fix this. The longer they sat there, the harder it was for Kale to see him as that fucking monster that had destroyed his world. Marc was a good kid and Kale was…a fucking idiot, he realized.
“Why do you hate me?” Marc asked, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth when he finally managed to look at him.
“I don’t hate you,” Kale said, sighing heavily as he watched Ashley make her way to her old bedroom and carefully squeeze her large body through the door before closing it behind her.
“Yes, you do. I’ve seen the way that you look at me,” Marc bit out angrily as tears filled his eyes and his hands clenched into fists as he struggled not to lose it.
“I don’t hate you, Marc. I hate what you could become,” Kale explained, wondering how he was supposed to explain this to a kid without scaring him.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Marc whispered hollowly.
“You’re not going to hurt anyone,” Kale said, knowing deep down that it was the truth. He was so much like his father and brother, both good men who would never let Marc fuck this up.
“You don’t know that. I saw what my father did,” Marc bit out angrily. “I saw the look in his eyes when he came for us. He didn’t even recognize us. If it hadn’t been for you, he would have killed us.”
“Yes, he would have,” Kale said softly, knowing better than to lie to the kid. “But he lost control, something that he hasn’t done in a long time because he’s careful. Losing Jill like that took him by surprise and he reacted badly, probably welcomed it to escape the pain, Marc. He wasn’t thinking.”
“What if that happens to me? What if I lose control and hurt someone?” Marc demanded as Ashley, fresh from her shift, walked back into the room, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and one of his shirts over a tee-shirt.
“You’re not going to hurt anyone, Marc,” Kale promised him as he reached for his mate and pulled her down onto his lap.
“How do you know?” Marc asked, looking completely lost.
“Because she hasn’t,” Kale said, making the boy frown.
“She’s a shifter. I’m not,” Marc pointed out, looking confused.
Shaking his head, Kale said, “She’s a Pyte and she’s mine.”
He watched as understanding crossed the boy’s features and then…
“You stole someone’s mate?”
“No, she’s mine. She was born a Pyte and a shifter,” Kale said, chuckling as he removed his watch and held up his arm to show the boy his mating mark.
“You’re mated?” the kid asked, looking confused.
“Yes,” Kale said, smiling at his mate, who was still fucking glaring.
So fucking adorable, Kale thought, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose, which only made her narrow her eyes on him.
“Does Izzy know?” Marc asked, frowning and just like that, Ashley’s eyes turned red as he tried to bite back a wince at the reminder that there was still so much that his mate didn’t know about him.
“No, she doesn’t,” Kale said, clearing his throat as he tried to figure out how he was going to explain Izzy to his mate without mentioning that she was a Sentinel since that probably wouldn’t help.
“Who’s Izzy?” Ashley asked as Marc sent him a sympathetic wince.
“She’s my sister-in-law,” Marc said, and when that didn’t seem to help, he added, “You don’t have to worry about her. She’s a Sentinel and loves my brother.”
Oh…fuck…
“Sentinel?” Ashley asked, swallowing hard as she moved to climb off Kale’s lap and-
“She’s completely harmless,” Kale assured her as he pulled her back down on his lap, noting that the spike of fear that she gave off at the mention of Sentinels hadn’t disappeared yet.
When he found the Sentinel that fucked her over and handed her back to her stepfather’s Pack…
Nodding, Ashley took his hand in hers and held it as he tried to remember what else he’d neglected to tell her when Marc once again tried helping. “She’s really nice. Everyone at the mansion is and I’m sure that they’d love to meet you. They’re just down the road and…and…”
“Fuck,” Kale said, dropping back against the couch with a heavy sigh as he watched his mate jump off his lap and race across the living room, head into her old bedroom, and-
“Is…is she hiding under the bed?” Marc asked, looking confused as he glanced from the closed bedroom door to him.
“Yes,” Kale said with a long-suffering sigh as he tried to figure out how he was going to lure her out this time.
“She does know that she’s a Pyte and a shifter, right?” Marc asked, once again frowning at the closed bedroom door.
“Yes,” Kale said, moving to gesture towards the door only to give up and drop his arm back down with a sigh.
“Should we do something?” Marc asked as Kale heard Ashley’s quietly mumbled, “Stupid boobs,” as she tried to get more comfortable beneath the bed.
Nodding, Kale said, “A lot of fucking groveling.”
Chapter 50
One Month Later…
“Are you okay?” Marc asked, throwing her a questioning look as he reached for another cookie.
“I’m fine,” Ashley promised even though she was wondering the same thing.
This morning, she woke up feeling…off. There was no other way to describe it. Before she opened her eyes, she knew that something was wrong. One minute, she was burning up, and the next, she was freezing. For about an hour, she lay in bed, alternating between wrapping every blanket that she could get her hands on around herself and shoving everything away until she couldn’t take it anymore.
That led her to taking a shower with the hot water turned all the way up, but it hadn’t been enough. It had taken her longer to finish her shower, mostly because she hadn’t been able to stop trembling, but once she was done, she really regretted using the one hundred percent Egyptian cotton towel to dry off. It felt like a Brillo pad had been dragged across her skin, leaving her with no other choice but to stand there and wait until she was done air-drying.
That decision had been quickly overturned when she began shivering again. That had been followed by muttering quite a few profanities when she was forced to dry off with a towel before she raced back into her bedroom and dove beneath the covers where she encountered a new form of torture.
Kale’s scent.
It drove her crazy. As memories of all the things that Kale had done to her the night before played through her head, her breaths came faster, goosebumps raced over her body, her skin had tingled, her nipples had hardened, and she’d-
“When is Kale coming back?” Marc asked, thankfully stopping her mind from going somewhere that she really didn’t want it to go, not when she knew that Kale wouldn’t be back for a week to do anything about it.
“He’ll be back in a week,” Ashley grumbled pathetically, making Marc chuckle as he popped the last bite of cookie in his mouth and chased it down with the glass of blood that she’d heated up for him.
“You don’t have to stay here by yourself. You can come stay with us at the mansion,” Marc said, finishing the rest of the blood before helping himself to another cookie as she did her best to bite back a wince because the last thing that she wanted to be was surrounded by Sentinels.
“If I went to the mansion, then you wouldn’t have anywhere to hang out every day,” Ashley pointe
d out as she focused her attention on the game of Monopoly that they were playing and found herself debating putting a house on Park Place.
“True,” Marc murmured in agreement, nodding absently as he waited for her to make her move.
The day after he’d met Cuddles, Marc showed up on their doorstep with a shy smile and a promise that he wouldn’t tell anyone about her. He’d been back every day since, keeping her company, watching movies, playing video games, and sneaking extra frosting to Cuddles whenever he didn’t think that she was watching, and telling her all about the occupants of the mansion down the road. For the first week, he’d kept his distance from Kale, watching him anytime he was in the room, and then, little by little, he became Kale’s shadow, following him everywhere.
Kale was so good with him. He was patient, kind, sweet, and…
God, she wanted him, Ashley thought, biting back a groan even as she couldn’t help but wonder why it was so hot in here. Maybe she should turn the thermostat down again, Ashley wondered as she found herself shifting in her seat again, wondering why it felt like she was about to come out of her skin. It had to be the full moon coming.
Or maybe she just needed blood?
“Ashley?”
“Hmmm?” she murmured, looking up to find Marc watching her.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Marc asked as he helped himself to another cookie.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile only to frown when she watched Jacob walk into the room, his normally baby-blue eyes were silver, his jaw clenched tightly, and-
“Hey, Marc, it’s getting kind of late. Why don’t I give you a ride home before your parents wonder where you are?” Jacob suggested, his gaze never leaving hers as he swallowed hard.
Nodding, Marc shoved another cookie in his mouth, grabbed a bowl of frosting out of the fridge for Cuddles and a handful of cookies for himself as he headed for the door with a mumbled, “See you tomorrow, Ashley.”
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