Vynn (War Cats Book 4)

by Grace Brennan

  She’d never been in a museum before, but she imagined this was what it felt like. This place was far too grand for her, and her skin felt like it was stretched tight at the thought of breaking something.

  They reached a room that was a little more informal, and she relaxed a bit. Not much, but at least she didn’t feel like ants were crawling over her skin. A woman she assumed was Jessica looked up as they entered, smiling shyly when she saw Ashley. She had beautiful caramel colored skin, and her long black hair was draped in a thick braid over her shoulder. Her dark brown eyes were warm as she stood to greet them, and Ashley found herself relaxing just a bit more.

  “Ashley, this is Jessica. She’s a noblewoman and lives here in the palace. Jess, this is Ashley, Vynn’s mate.”

  Ashley looked at her sharply. She knew they were mates? Did that mean Vynn already knew, as well, and mentioned it to someone?

  “Hi, Ashley,” Jessica said softly, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Come on inside and have a seat. I’m sorry the room’s a mess.”

  She followed her to the couch, looking around her in confusion. There were some things out here and there, but it was by no means messy. “It looks clean to me. But why are you apologizing? I thought you were from one of the noble families. Are you the housekeeper here or something?”

  Jessica laughed lightly as she shook her head. “No, nothing like that. But I live here in the palace, and this is one of my rooms. I have a suite here in this wing.”

  “Oh, I see. Does your family have their own rooms, too? The palace definitely seems big enough for everyone to have one.”

  Shaking her head again, Jessica sat, smoothing her long skirt out over her knees. “No, I don’t have any family. That’s why I live here and not in my own residence.”

  Shit. Her and her big mouth. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I don’t really have any family, either.”

  “It’s no big deal. I’m not from Durga, and my parents dropped me off here when I was ten, and then left and never came back. I’m sure they’re out there somewhere, but I haven’t heard from them since they left. And I’ve accepted my past, so it’s not a big deal any longer. No need to apologize.”

  Kelly looked over at her, a question in her silvery blue eyes. “You said you didn’t have any other family, but there wasn’t truth in your voice when you said it.”

  “Kelly!” Jessica gasped, looking horrified. “I’m sorry, Ashley. You’ll have to get used to her. She has no filter and blurts out whatever crosses her mind.”

  She smiled and waved her hand. “Oh, I didn’t mind. I have brothers, but I’ve never met them, so I don’t really count them. I only ever knew my dad, and he’s gone now. And my mom, but she passed away when I was young. Now Kelly, you mentioned shifter gifts earlier. What exactly are they?”

  Brow furrowing, Jessica looked between them. “You don’t know what gifts are?”

  “No, my mom was the shifter. My dad was human, and he hated shifters, so I don’t know anything about that part of my heritage. Vynn was the first shifter I’d ever met.”

  Kelly frowned. “You didn’t tell me the part about him hating shifters. Why was he with your mom if he hated what she was?”

  Ashley shrugged. “I don’t know. I never asked, because he hated talking about my mom or anything to do with that side of me. And my mom wasn’t with him. I never even knew he existed until she died and the state sent me to live with him after tracking him down.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy,” Kelly replied. “I don’t think I could have gone without asking. Okay, so shifter gifts. All shifters have one. It’s something you’re better at than anyone else at, or something just extra, like an extra sense or power. Some are mental and some are physical. Like Zane, he can sense when something big is going to happen. Or like a friend of mine who’s faster than anyone around. Vynn’s is being able to track someone no matter where they go or how well they try to hide.”

  She cocked her head as realization dawned. “So that’s why he acted annoyed with the fact that he couldn’t find me for so long.”

  “What do you mean?” Jessica asked.

  “I’ve been here for a few weeks now. He said he caught my scent when I first arrived, but he never could figure out where I was until the other day.”

  Kelly held up her hand. “Wait. You’ve been here for weeks? I thought you just got to town yesterday.”

  “To the town itself, yeah, but I’ve been living in the woods by the lake for a while.”

  “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “Kelly!” Jessica hissed.

  She laughed, waving a hand. “It’s okay. It’s weird, I know. I’ve been making my way to Denver for a while now. I was going to buy a bus ticket there. But when I got here, I couldn’t seem to make myself move on. Then I met Vynn the other day when he came to bring me some food and blankets. He came back yesterday morning with a warning about the snow and how cold it was going to get, and told me I could stay with him and he’d drive me to Denver when he could.”

  “Oh, maybe that’s it,” Kelly said, a dreamy smile on her face. “That’s why you couldn’t move on. Because you sensed your mate was here. That’s kind of romantic.”

  Ashley bit her lower lip, and then blurted out the question she most wanted answers to. “What exactly does that mean? Having a mate?”

  Jessica looked surprised and then smiled. “I keep forgetting you don’t know that stuff. Has your fox told you he’s your mate yet?”

  “Yeah. Well, at first all she said was mine, and she didn’t have any explanations for why. But when Kelly mentioned being Zane’s mate, my fox said that’s what she meant by calling him mine. How do you two know? Did Vynn mention it?”

  Kelly and Jessica exchanged a look. Jessica hesitated, but Kelly shrugged. “Hell, we basically already told her. I see no harm in confirming it.” She looked back at Ashley, a smile on her lips. “Yeah, he mentioned it to Zane, Kian, and Jameson when you got here. Apparently, you were a fox and he was holding you, trying to keep you from escaping. You’d bitten him, and he was standing there, struggling to hold onto you, blood running down his hand, and they stopped him to ask him what the hell was going on. He told them then.”

  “I bit him?” she asked, aghast. “He never told me that.”

  Jessica cocked her head. “You don’t remember?”

  “No, I sometimes kind of black out when I shift. But he said I was his mate? What does that mean?”

  “Kelly,” Jessica warned as the other woman opened her mouth. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Ashley. “Each shifter has a mate. They’re special, because they’re rare and you only get one. We can love as many as we want to, but our animal picks who our true mate is. They know instinctively who our best match is. A shifter will do anything for their mate. Lie, steal, kill, die for them. Whatever it takes to make them safe and happy. Because having our mates be safe and happy is more important than anything.”

  Ashley’s fox stirred uneasily in her chest. Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel. But I’m not sure I like it.

  I’m not sure I do, either.

  She glanced up as the silence suddenly became weighty, and saw Kelly looking at her closely, a tiny frown on her face. “You’re not sure how you feel about that, are you? Look, Vynn… well, I can understand the hesitation. He’s not what a lot of women would want in a life partner. But you’re his mate. He’d never hurt you, because of that. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  She frowned. “What? No, that’s not it. I mean, you’re right about me feeling unsure, but it’s because I don’t like ties. I never have. That fact that Vynn’s my mate doesn’t even factor into it. Actually, the fact that it’s him makes it much more likely that I’d be okay with it. I don’t understand why people are so down on him around here.”

  “Not many people like Vynn here, Ashley—”

  “Kelly—”

  “No, Jess. This is stuff she needs to know, and she’ll find out soon enough if she’s here for
any length of time. It’s not necessarily that he’s a bad guy. He’s never done anything to anyone, as far as I know. Except for that one time when he tried to start shit between me and Zane. But he’s never hurt anyone. It’s just that he’s never made a secret of the fact that he prefers the old ways. And those ways were brutal, Ashley. He has this darkness to him, and everyone’s worried that he’ll try to get rid of Kian and Zane, so he can take Alpha. And he’s done nothing to ease anyone’s worries.”

  “Why should he have to?”

  Kelly cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “So he was a supporter of the old ways. You said yourself that he never tried to do anything. If others can’t get past that, I don’t see how it’s his fault. Why should he have to ease anyone’s worries? He’s done nothing wrong. Maybe everyone should stop being so judgmental and give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  Silence rang through the room as Jessica and Kelly shared a look. “Maybe she’s not wrong. Kian’s been saying something along those lines since he got back to Durga.”

  Kelly nodded. “Yeah, but he’s just as guilty as the rest of us. We’ve all done it. It pains me to admit it, but maybe Ashley has a point. It’s just that darkness he has that I sense. It makes it easy to question his actions.”

  “When Zane showed up today, Vynn mentioned that they used to be basically the same,” Ashley replied. “So surely, Zane had the same darkness when you met him, Kelly.”

  Kelly laughed ruefully. “And in a couple of sentences, you called me out on my bullshit. Yeah, he did. Honestly, everyone has a hint of darkness to them. I think it’s just that Vynn seems to embrace his in a way most don’t. You were able, in such a short time, to see a side to him none of us has.”

  She shrugged. “He was kind to me. He didn’t try to run me off when he finally found me. He showed up and gave me supplies, instead. And then when the weather got worse, he came and offered me a place to stay and a ride. That speaks more to me than stories anyone else can tell. No offense. I just prefer to go by actions, not words.”

  “No offense taken,” Jessica replied. “I think maybe that’s something all of us should have been doing.”

  No one spoke for a few moments, and Ashley contemplated the relief she felt over them not being offended that she hadn’t agreed with them. Since when had she cared what people thought of her? Especially when she was just speaking her truth. The way the people in this tribe thought of Vynn just didn’t jibe with the man she was coming to know.

  Hell, maybe they were right, and he wasn’t who she thought he was. She didn’t know. But she did know that she wasn’t comfortable with this. She was only here until the snow let up and the roads were clear enough to drive on. The most she wanted out of her stay here was to sleep with Vynn. She didn’t care what that said about her, but she wanted to experience a night in his bed.

  What she didn’t need was to care about what was going on in Durga Valley. She didn’t need to care what people thought about Vynn. She didn’t need to care about making friends.

  It had never been in her to care about anything like that, because she stayed away from people. She didn’t like them, and she did far better on her own than she did with others in her life. And she didn’t need to forget that. She had to remember she was leaving here soon, and she’d never see these people again.

  I don’t think I like where this is going, her fox said uneasily.

  You don’t actually think we should stay, do you? Just a few days ago, you were going on about hating humans and not needing them.

  These aren’t humans. They’re shifters, like us. We can’t just leave Vynn behind—

  We can, and we will. It’s the way it has to be.

  Is it—

  Ashley’s lips tightened as she suppressed her animal, pushing her down deep like she used to do. A slither of guilt wound through her, but she squashed it, too. She didn’t like feeling things. Didn’t like feeling like she was invested in the tribe—in Vynn.

  She was much better off alone. Life had taught her that, and she’d be a fool to forget it.

  “You want to go with us.” Kian’s words were more statement than question and dripping with shock and incredulity.

  Vynn cocked an eyebrow. “Is that really so hard to believe?”

  Zane snorted as everyone stared at Vynn. “You really have to ask that?”

  Vynn rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “Look, I know you all think I’m gonna pull shit. And I know that no matter how many times I tell you the truth about something, you’re still going to try to read between the lines, looking for things that quite frankly just aren’t there. There’s nothing I can do to change that. And I don’t even want to try. Think what you want, I literally don’t give a shit.

  “But this is my tribe, too. And if someone’s fucking with it, with my people, I will hunt them down and tear them apart. And you guys know you can use my gift. But I won’t offer again or try to defend myself. Take it or leave it.”

  Kian, Zane, and Karis all looked between each other, a long moment of silence stretching out. Vynn had just decided to leave and track on his own when Kian finally nodded.

  “We have thought the worst of you, Vynn. But you have to admit, you gave us no reason not to.”

  He shrugged. “What you all want to think about me is none of my concern. And you know as well as I do that it wouldn’t have mattered what I said, anyway. You still would have thought what you wanted. Look, talking about this shit is pointless. Do you fucking want my help or not?”

  Kian nodded again. “We do. Thanks, Vynn.”

  He shook his head as he turned to walk out of the room. “Don’t fucking make this weird by thanking me.”

  Karis snorted as they all walked to the front of the house, deciding which directions they were going to go in. Vynn listened to them, nodding as he left for his section. But he planned on looking over the whole perimeter himself. His gift was best used if he looked everywhere, not just focusing on one stretch of War Cat territory.

  I feel like you’re finally thinking of someone besides yourself for once. Our mate is good for you, his tiger said as they walked through the snow toward the section of land where he found Ashley.

  He snorted. Don’t fool yourself. This is still about me. I’m doing it because this is my tribe, and no one fucks with what’s mine. That’s it.

  Sure, keep telling yourself that.

  Fuckin’ tiger. He was wrong as hell, but Vynn wasn’t going to argue it anymore. He needed to turn all his concentration to using his gift to the fullest. But an hour later, he was stomping the snow off his boots at the palace’s front door, beyond frustrated. There had been no tracks to follow at all. And normally, even that couldn’t thwart him. His gift could find trails that were completely hidden. But there’d been literally nothing there.

  Which meant whoever did this wasn’t an outsider. They were a member of the tribe.

  He followed the sound of voices to the study, where he found the others. Ignoring them for a moment, he went straight to the big fire crackling in the fireplace and held out his frozen hands.

  “You were out there a lot longer than the rest of us,” Kian commented.

  “I wanted to check out the entire perimeter. I didn’t find anything. Not one hint of a trail, not even with my gift.”

  Karis’ voice was grim when he spoke. “Neither did we. We were hoping you’d find something.”

  “That means whoever did this is a tribe member,” Zane continued.

  Vynn turned around, immediately catching the suspicion in Zane’s eyes. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he swallowed his growl down. What the members of the tribe thought didn’t bother him. He’d been completely honest with that. But Zane… that shit did bother him.

  Before Zane left for Eagle Creek, he and Vynn were close. They were a lot alike, so they had a lot in common. Hell, when someone was messing with Kian in Eagle Creek, Zane had called him in. Then when Zane finally came home
, with his new mate in tow, he was different.

  That wouldn’t have bothered Vynn much, except for the fact that Zane was acting all high and mighty. Acting like Vynn was a threat, like he was a horrible person. Even though Zane hadn’t been all that different himself not long ago. That shit pissed Vynn off.

  Enough that when they first came back, Vynn tried to cause problems between Zane and Kelly. He wasn’t proud of that, at all. But he’d been hurting and shamed, having been newly scarred and removed from his position as a warrior. And then there Zane was, acting all superior because he’d changed, and suddenly treating Vynn like he was less than the dirt on his shoes.

  And Vynn acted out, stupidly. He’d been pissed the fuck off at the world, but that wasn’t much of an excuse. He’d come a bit more to terms with everything since then. Having his position as a warrior reinstated helped a lot, and having a plan for revenge against those who were responsible—that he wasn’t giving up, no matter what his tiger hoped for—had helped ease the anger he felt at everyone.

  But he was still on the pissed-off side at Zane, and every time he caught him looking at him with the suspicion he clearly always felt, it made it that much harder to control. But he wasn’t going to poke at him, like he’d taken pleasure in doing before. Someone trying to kill Kian was more important than the need to be an asshole to Zane.

  “That was the conclusion I came to, as well,” he finally replied. “It has to be someone in the tribe.”

  Karis exhaled forcefully. “Shit. Can you track them from the palace?”

  “No. There are too many people who come and go. My gift is powerful, but not enough to allow me to differentiate their scent from others who’ve been here.”

  Kian crossed his arms as he looked out the window. “Shit. That makes it impossible to get any sort of clue on who this might be.”

  Zane nodded. “I don’t fucking like this. I think we should put the palace on lockdown. No one in or out besides servants and those you trust.”