Aric barked out a laugh. “If you’re an insult machine, what am I?”
“My love machine.”
“I’ve been called worse.” Aric tightened his grip on my hand as he reached for the cabin’s door handle. “Are you ready?”
“I have you. I’m ready for anything. You are my hero, after all.”
Aric’s eyes were full of love when they locked with mine. “Let’s do this.”
“SO, YOU’RE the famous Zoe Lake. You’re not quite what I expected.”
It turns out a council of wolf elders looks a lot like five guys sitting in a sunroom smoking cigars. No, wait. It looks exactly like that.
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I regarded the five men – all of whom had white hair and spark plug eyebrows. “Were you expecting scales or something?”
Four of the men frowned, but Lincoln, the elder I met by the bonfire a few nights ago, chuckled.
“I see you’re still funny,” Lincoln noted.
“I’ve considered a career as a sitcom actress, but I don’t know if I want to dedicate my life to something so trivial,” I said. “I’m thinking of being a hand model instead.”
Aric shifted from one foot to the other, uncomfortable, but remained silent.
“I understand you have some questions for me,” I said, changing tactics. “Let me have it.”
“We do have a few questions,” one of the men said. Aric introduced him as Chester Broughton upon our arrival. “What can you tell us about your lineage?”
“I have a mother and father, and they’re former mages.”
“Yes, but what about grandparents and brothers and sisters?” Chester pressed.
I shrugged. “The way my parents explained it, they were taken to mage school – which is nowhere near as cool as Hogwarts, yes, I asked – when they were young,” I explained. “They never saw their parents again. Either way, my grandparents would’ve died a very long time ago. My parents are both only children as far as I know, and I have no brothers and sisters.”
“When did you come into your powers?” Christopher Finn asked, leaning back in his chair.
“I’m not sure,” I answered. “I killed a vampire when I was eighteen. That was the first paranormal thing I ever did. I guess it started there.”
“And what is the limit of your powers?” Martin Caffrey asked. His nose was so misshapen it looked as if an inchworm died under his skin and somehow hardened.
I didn’t feel comfortable asking that question and glanced at Aric for help. “Um … .”
“As far as we can tell, Zoe has no limit to her powers,” Aric answered for me. “Every time we think we’ve hit a limit, we find out that’s not the case. Her powers don’t manifest at a steady pace, but whenever we’re in trouble she always manages to muster enough magic to get us out.”
“I asked her,” Martin pointed out.
“And I’m her husband, and we’re in this together,” Aric shot back. “I’m familiar with the wolf council. She isn’t. If you think I’m going to let you bully her, you’re wrong.”
“No one here has any interest in bullying Ms. Lake,” Christopher said.
“Mrs. Lake-Winters,” I corrected. “I took my husband’s name when we got married.”
“Not fully,” Martin pointed out.
“That was partially my idea,” Aric interjected. “People were already afraid of Zoe Lake. I didn’t want her to give up that identity in case enemies kept searching for us.”
I wasn’t sure why that was important. “Why does that matter?”
“Because it’s a sign of respect for wolf mates to take their husband’s name,” Lincoln explained. “By not doing it completely, you shun our ways.”
“No one ever told me that.” Er, wait. Did James tell me that? He probably did at one time. I’m not prone to listening when I’m annoyed. “It doesn’t matter, though. I took Aric’s last name and melded it with my own.”
“And you’re mated forever?” Christopher asked.
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s why we got married.”
“I’m sure you can understand my line of questioning,” Christopher said. “Most wolves with genealogy lines as strong Aric’s marry other wolves. When he didn’t do that … well … .”
“I screwed everything up,” I finished, cocking my head to the side. “I’m well aware of the plans you all had for Aric.”
“It’s not just that,” Martin said. “Wolf families find strength in their blood lines. The Winters name will die now if Aric doesn’t find another mate and have a son. Is that what you want?”
“Is that a trick question?” I challenged, working overtime to tamp down my growing irritation. “Are you asking me if I want Aric to find someone else so he can have a son, or are you asking if I want the Winters name to die?”
“Both.”
“Well, I don’t particularly want either, but I can’t do anything about the Winters name, and if he tries to have a son with someone else I’ll castrate him to solve that problem,” I said, earning a smirk from Aric and a scowl from everybody else. “Is that what you guys want? I can pretty much guarantee the Winters line will end with the castration thing, too, so you might be out of luck on more than one front.”
“Do you think that’s funny?” Christopher asked.
“I don’t really care if it’s funny.” My patience was wearing thin. “Quite frankly, I don’t get your fascination with boys anyway. I love my boy, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sorry we had a girl. Sami can carry on the Winters name at some point. She might decide to hyphenate her name down the line.
“Even if she doesn’t, I’m not sorry we had her,” I continued. “As for a son, you’re fresh out. We can barely keep the child we have alive. I won’t risk Sami’s life just to carry on the Winters name.”
“I’ve already been over this with my father,” Aric said, his irritation showing. “If you guys are here to give my wife grief because we didn’t have a boy, we can leave right now. The decision has been made, and we’re not backing down.”
“But surely you want a son,” Martin pressed. “Every man does.”
“I’m not every man,” Aric shot back. “I’m my own man. I am more than happy with my wife and daughter. They kick more ass than any boy in this pack. I can guarantee that.”
Martin shifted on his chair, making a grunting noise as he glanced at his fellow council members. “We heard what happened in the woods last night. Is that a normal display of your powers, Ms. Lake?”
“Why don’t you just call me Zoe,” I suggested.
“That doesn’t seem appropriate.”
“Yes, well, if you call me Ms. Lake one more time, I’m going to inappropriately put my foot up your behind.”
Aric slapped his hand to his forehead.
“Fine, Zoe,” Martin gritted out. “Was last night a normal display of your powers?”
“Pretty much,” I replied. “Fire hands, invisible domes and healing are all part of my normal repertoire.”
“Is that true?” Martin asked, turning to Aric. “Is she lying?”
“My wife doesn’t lie,” Aric replied. “Er, well, she mostly doesn’t lie. She will lie about finishing off the last of the salt and vinegar potato chips and blame the kid, but I always know it’s her.”
Drat. I guess I couldn’t play that game anymore.
“It seems you’re quite powerful, Zoe,” Martin said, stressing my name. “You’re even more powerful than we were led to believe.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say to that.” I honestly had no idea what he was trying to say. “I didn’t lead you to believe anything, so … .”
“So how powerful are you?”
It was just another way to ask a question we couldn’t answer the first time around. Aric was fed up when he realized it, too.
“We’ve already answered that,” Aric snapped. “There’s no limit to her power. We’re not here for this. We want to know if you recognize the symbol on the dead wolf
from last night, or if you have any information on what pack he might be from.”
“We have information,” Martin replied, bobbing his head. “We know the symbol belongs to a cult long since thought dead.”
“What can you tell us about the cult?” I asked, intrigued.
“Nothing right this second,” Christopher answered.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re not full members of this pack, and we only share information with full members.”
I felt Aric stiffen beside me and shifted my eyes to him. He clearly wasn’t happy with the statement.
“I don’t know what that means,” I admitted after a beat.
“It doesn’t matter what it means,” Aric said, grabbing my hand and tugging me back a step. “We’re not joining the pack full time. If that’s what you think is going to happen … .”
“Then we have no information to share with you,” Christopher said coldly.
“I guess we’ll have to live with that,” Aric said, matching the man’s tone as he pulled me toward the door. “Thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.”
We really appreciate it? Um, no. We didn’t get anything out of that conversation. I was nowhere near done. I wisely decided to keep my questions to myself until we were alone, though. I didn’t want to press him in front of an audience.
Still … what just happened here?
Twenty
“I don’t understand what just happened.”
“I’ll explain when we get away from all of the prying ears,” Aric said, placing his hand at the small of my back and pushing me inside the cabin. He glanced around the open camping area before shutting the door. He was acting paranoid, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Sami is with your parents,” I said, reading the note on the counter. “They’re getting her breakfast and hanging out until we’re ready to collect her.”
“I think we should collect her right now and go home.”
Aric’s announcement took me by surprise. “You need to tell me what just happened because … I honestly don’t understand.”
“They’re trying to blackmail us.”
“Oh, I got that part,” I said, shaking my head as I sat on the couch. “I’m not actually surprised by that. I thought they would want something for helping us. Most people do.”
“I’m not going to be blackmailed.” Aric sat next to me and ran his hand over the back of his hair. It was overgrown a bit, longer than he usually kept it. I thought it gave him a rough and tumble look that was incredibly appealing, but now wasn’t the time for vapid thoughts.
“Aric, I don’t want to be blackmailed either, but you left before we could even negotiate,” I pointed out. “We don’t know what their line in the sand was going to be. You always start out with an opening gambit and work to a compromise. We didn’t get that far.”
“And we’re not going to,” Aric said, frustrated. “Do you understand what they were asking?”
“I just told you I didn’t understand any of it.”
“They want me in the leadership training arm for a future spot on the council.”
“Okay.” He wasn’t making any sense. “They didn’t say that.”
“But it’s what they want,” Aric said. “That was the track my father had me on when I was younger. If he had his way I would be on the third rung of the leadership tree and he would be one of the council members.”
“Why isn’t he?”
“Because my defection – at least that’s what they call it – cost him,” Aric replied, grimacing. “When I pulled away from the pack it reflected poorly on my father.”
“That doesn’t really seem fair,” I pointed out. “You made the decision for us. You didn’t make it for him. He’s never wavered in his support for the pack, has he?”
“Yes and no,” Aric hedged, shifting. “Some of the things my father did to protect you when we were at Covenant College kind of … well … skirted pack rules.”
“I’m going to need some examples.”
“You were an outsider, Zoe.” Aric looked pained. “Generally the pack only helps its own. Do you remember Zach?”
“The sphinx who tried to kill and bury me in his makeshift cemetery in the woods? Yeah, I remember him. You raced to the rescue and saved Paris and me that night. You were my hero.”
Aric flashed a genuine smile. “You don’t have to keep pressing the issue, Zoe. I get it. I’m your hero. I don’t need my ego bolstered.”
I wasn’t sure that was true, but I decided to leave it alone for the time being. “What about Zach?” I asked. “If I remember correctly, your father’s men took him into custody. I’m guessing they killed him at some point. Then they made sure all the bodies made it home to their rightful families.”
“Yes, but technically they only did that because I asked,” Aric explained. “They would’ve left you to die without my intervention. The only reason they got involved was because of me.”
“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised by that,” I said, resting my hand on his knee. “I was nothing to them. Heck, I was barely anything to you at that point.”
“You were already everything to me, which is why my father helped,” Aric countered. “He knew I would walk away from the pack then if he didn’t. I was willing to do whatever it took to protect you, and that included killing Zach on my own.”
I still wasn’t getting the full story. “Aric, that all happened a lifetime ago,” I said. “I’m not sure what bearing it has on us now.”
“I’m simply trying to explain the politics of this entire thing,” Aric said. “There were other times, too. I asked the pack to step in when Laura lost it. I didn’t want you to have to deal with it. They refused.”
“And that time you sided with the pack,” I said, steeling myself for the gut punch that inevitably followed talk of that situation every time it came up. “I remember that, too. I don’t want to talk about that again.”
“Well, we kind of have to,” Aric said. “I sided with the pack and regretted it because I was downright miserable. I told my father then that I was going to leave, but he threatened to disown me at the time and I … capitulated. I’m sorry.”
My heart rolled at the earnest expression on his face. “You did what you thought you had to do. It all worked out in the end.”
“Yes, well, I lied to my father during that time,” Aric said. “I told him I was investigating Blake and his sister because they were a threat to the pack. Technically, they were a threat to the pack. They were also working with the pack.”
I remembered that, too. Blake’s sister was the first person I burned alive. She was torturing Aric at the time, and I didn’t have a single regret about her death. “You were doing most of the work to save me. I know that. I think I knew it then even though I didn’t want to admit it.”
“My father didn’t want me with you back then, but I told him I was going to do whatever it took to get you back,” Aric said. “The council threatened me, but I didn’t care about never moving up in the ranks or claiming the council seat they thought my family deserved.
“When their threats didn’t work and I helped you anyway, they censured my father,” he continued. “He was very … bitter … for a little bit of time and we didn’t talk.”
I racked my brain, searching for the timeframe he was describing. “Was that during the summer you lived in one of the condos up at the resort?”
Aric nodded.
“I kind of wondered what was going on then,” I admitted. “You seemed happy to be with me, but sad when you thought no one was looking.”
“I’ve never been sad as long as I’ve had you, but there was a lot going on back then and I didn’t share it because I didn’t want to risk you running away,” Aric said. “Eventually my father came around. I think my mother had something to do with it. They were both ready to meet and accept you during Christmas that year.”
“I remember.” I smiled at the memory. “You
wore a Santa hat with mistletoe attached to it.”
Aric grinned. “Yes, I was quite the dashing boyfriend, wasn’t I?”
“You had your moments.”
“Anyway, my father was basically resigned to me being with you at that point, although he was still angry about losing the fast track to the life he always wanted,” Aric said. “I’ve always felt guilty about that, but I don’t regret the choice I made.”
“This has all been very enlightening, but I still don’t know what that has to do with today,” I pressed. “Why are you so upset?”
“Because the council elders didn’t say they wanted me to join the pack in exchange for information,” Aric replied. “I wouldn’t have been thrilled with that, but I might’ve been able to work something out and dedicated some time to pack affairs.
“They said they wanted our entire family to join the pack,” he continued. “That’s a vastly different scenario.”
“I don’t understand why.”
“Because if we did that we would essentially be giving them the right to make decisions about our marriage,” Aric said. “If I joined the pack, I’m still beholden to the rules we set forth in the marriage. The pack can’t control you and Sami. If we all join the pack, they can set rules for you … me … us.”
“Like what rules?”
“Like forcing a surrogate for a male heir.” Aric looked disgusted with the admission.
Things started to slip into place. “Oh.” I ran my tongue over my teeth as I considered the ramifications. “Can you explain to me why they’re so desperate for you to have a son?”
“Because that’s the way it’s always been done,” Aric said, holding his hands palms up. “This is a patriarchal society. Men have always been treated as more important than women.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know I don’t feel that way, right?” Aric grabbed my chin and forced my eyes to him. “I don’t care about that. This is one of the reasons I’ve never missed being part of the pack. They have some antiquated ideas.”
“Well, I’m not going to pretend that I’m not agitated about the boys being better than girls thing, but I can hardly change that,” I said. “As for the rest … they can’t force you to have a male heir. It’s ridiculous.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 44