She really hoped they could get along anyway because he would be deciding her immediate future. She tried to keep that in mind and remember to be as pleasant as possible, owing him that much just for the meal.
Here hoping something works out right for once.
~*~*~*~
“They did what?”
Cade arrived at Blue Moon about five minutes after Leo. They'd convened to the empty game room so no one would overhear their conversation, and Leo had just finished telling him everything he knew.
After hearing it, the Alpha felt like he could throttle someone in the most literal sense of the word—if not much worse.
“Yeah,” Leo nodded, “they've been beating on her, and now she's escaped, runnin' around, potentially exposing us because of these bastards. She doesn’t know who they are exactly, or where they’re from, blacked out too much to remember, but she said they’re followin' her. She picked up their scent tonight at Spring Oaks and got on the bus to try to get away from 'em.”
“Good for nothin’ trash,” Cade muttered.
He was just as appalled by the story as Leo was. To turn a human, lupines followed the rule of permission, because a human definitely needed to know what to expect, and they had to be trustworthy in turn.
Most times, turning was reserved for humans that a lupine had become very close to, and others for when there was a need for numbers to increase the pack's strength.
But no matter what the reason, the human always gave permission.
Turning a human involved biting them on the right side of the neck as a wolf. The bite passed on the primal instincts of their kind, overwhelming the human, who changed without control almost immediately.
Because of this, turning was usually only done on the night of a full moon when the change couldn’t be avoided for younger lupines and newborns. That seemed to help ease their transition.
The newborn was then watched after by the pack until they could gain their bearings because even after they'd changed for the first time, their instincts were still extreme enough that they could be made to do it again easily—especially if provoked.
And nothing got the instinct to kick in like fear and anger.
That got Cade's mind back to the night his father was murdered, and the fights Brady was betting on. Leo already mentioned that he was pretty positive this girl was used in them, and if that were the case, the situation was unique.
Cade tugged his phone out of his pocket and gave his younger brother Caleb a call with the thought in mind, all the while hoping that Caleb had remembered to pay his phone bill.
But his brother answered, and Cade gave him the information about Ashley to pass it along, instructing Caleb to organize some lookouts, members of the pack who would patrol the territory to search for intruders.
Caleb responded in kind, saying he’d get right on it. Though Caleb could sometimes seem oblivious, he was reliable, and the best hunter and tracker in their pack.
Cade hung up, feeling better about the situation in knowing something was being done now.
That was when Leo pointed out, “If it's true that she survived those fights, Cade, the asshole we've been looking for might turn up with the one's chasing her.”
“I know,” Cade replied. In a year's worth of time, he still hadn't found the man who led his father to a trap, and no one he'd encountered had the bastard's scent.
Before he could let his anger take hold though, he told Leo, “Caleb will probably get Brandon and Hobbs out looking, maybe Joe, so if they're still here, we'll know soon.”
He wondered who they might find, if anyone—not that he expected any easy answers.
Lupines were known in the supernatural world for being hard to squeeze information out of, specifically to outsiders of their packs, and those caught gambling on the fights wouldn't talk, likely because if they squealed, they'd piss off the game runners and get lynched somehow or another.
This meant that people like Cade and Leo had a hard time figuring out where other game runners might be located in order to stop them.
The only other way to get information would be to find a newborn who'd been forced into the fights that might know where the packs running them could be found. But sadly, none ever survived, and rumor had it that most were killed after a short time anyway.
So no one had ever met a survivor, until now—if this newborn was actually one of their fighters. But since she couldn't remember anything because she'd blacked out so often, getting information didn't seem very likely.
Considering it, Cade commented, “We’d better not mention any of this to that newborn for now. Need to make sure she’s not gonna snap before we start pinging a sensitive topic with questions.”
“Well, she hasn't snapped so far, even when she told me about what they did, but you're right,” Leo agreed. “No need to risk upsetting her too much.”
“Where did she say she was when she got attacked again?”
“Highway 33 near South Carolina.” When the name of the highway didn’t ring any bells, Leo supplied, “It’s a shitty little two lane highway not too far outside of Burston and Morgansville. No packs live around that area that I know of.”
“Damn,” Cade muttered. “I was hoping we might get something to tell Hunter's Moon.”
“There's a chance she might remember sometime,” Leo suggested, “and Hunter's Moon won't do anything until you have a location anyway.”
“I know,” Cade muttered.
In the supernatural world, there were Orders governing different races, and the one that looked over lupine affairs was called Hunter's Moon. Cade had to make reports to them as the Alpha, and whenever someone was caught doing something on a scale such as this, the Order had to be notified.
Hunter's Moon knew of the newborn fights, and Cade had an Uncle named Travis, his dad's older brother, who was an elder. Though he'd been a huge help, the Order wouldn't act unless Cade had something concrete to tell them.
Not even Travis could do anything about that.
So for now, he'd only be expected to keep things out of the human public's eye and do his own investigations, which meant he needed to meet that newborn.
“Come on, let’s go talk to her.”
On the way, Leo mentioned, “I’m warnin' ya now, Cade, seein’ her’s gonna piss ya off.”
Leo was right. When they reached the office, Cade let him go in first so he wouldn't startle the woman, but when he laid eyes on her, he could almost feel his blood boiling.
She was small and had a face that was sweet, even innocent looking, especially when she glanced up from where she sat with a pair of big, hazel eyes, trying to smile bravely.
But Cade could sense that she was nervous as hell.
That didn't surprise him. On the other hand, seeing the traces of the abuse she'd suffered, Cade had to ball his fists. He couldn’t see much of her figure in the baggy clothing she wore—no doubt stolen—but he knew he could both lift and throw her without much effort.
She's a small female for god’s sakes! What asshole would wanna do this kind of thing to someone like her?
Ashley placed the remainder of her burger back into her box as Leo broke the silence.
“So what’s the verdict on the food, Ashley?”
“Good, but I’ll give a better assessment when I’m not so hungry that anything would taste like heaven.”
Chuckling, Leo replied, “Then I owe you a second meal sometime.” He took a seat at one of the two desks in the room, and Cade sat behind the other as Leo introduced him.
“Anyway, this is Cade Hodgins, the guy I told you about. Cade, this is Ashley Passmore.”
Cade reached to offer his hand in greeting once he was introduced. The one he got to shake was nowhere near as big, and Cade was suddenly uncertain she could've survived the fights that he and Leo believed she’d been put in at all.
Maybe looks were deceiving, but she just seemed too frail to allow him to think she was very menacing, making him question
their theory completely. Still, he’d love the chance to rip someone’s throat out for lifting a finger to hurt this small woman.
“Nice to meet you, Ashley.”
“Is it?” she asked, settling her hand back down. “You don’t look too happy.”
“It’s not you,” Cade replied. “Leo told me everything, and I’m not happy with that.”
Ashley pursed her lips, the expression saying she could agree. But hearing that she wasn't the cause of his displeasure, she seemed to relax a bit, though she still looked at him warily.
“I’m sorry if this ruined your evening.”
“I wouldn't say that. I'm just surprised by the situation and wanna make sure you get where you need to go.”
Ashley turned her gaze back at the Alpha from taking another bite of her meal, her expression saying she wanted to believe him as badly as she wanted to breathe. Cade didn't see that kind of desperation in someone's eyes everyday, and it was telling of the amount of turmoil she'd experienced.
Briefly, he wondered how much they'd be able to help her out after all, or if she would be able to help them find the bastards responsible and stop them for good.
There was only one way to find out.
Chapter 5
One thing Ashley could certainly say about this Alpha: he was intimidating.
His expression gave her the impression that he wasn’t exactly thrilled to meet her. Then again, he seemed a little rough around the edges, so maybe that was how he normally looked.
Ashley hoped not, or telling when he was happy was going to be a challenge.
He was a good bit younger than Leo, but still looked experienced, steel blue eyes waylaying that he wasn't a greenhorn. Green wolf? Whatever.
His skin was slightly tan and there was stubble from a day's worth of beard growing on his jaw. His hair had a tiny bit of a wave to it, long enough to hang around his cheeks, being a coffee brown in color that was close to black, but not quite.
The last thing she noticed was that even though he looked intimidating, as with Leo, something told her she could trust him—very well in fact. He had a scent that she really liked, and she wasn't sure why.
So Ashley wasted no time and asked the most pertinent question of all.
“What are you planning on doing?”
He looked her over in consideration, saying, “For now, it seems easiest if I take you in, try to help you control yourself. Then we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
Swallowing more food, she shook her head uncertainly. Leo had probably told the Alpha everything before they'd headed into the office, but she wanted to make sure he understood how threatening her former captors were to her.
“Not if you live in this town. Those assholes are still around, and they could come back.”
“They’ll be sorry if they do stick their heads out in this territory,” Cade replied as if it were just a matter of fact. “You need to understand something, Ashley. I'm not letting an inbred pack of bitches who can’t follow the rules fuck shit up. Once I get your story out to my own, they’ll be itching to get some payback for you. For us too.”
“Us? Why us?”
“Because what they did to you could've exposed our kind to humans,” Cade replied. “That pisses us off.”
Ashley pursed her lips, glancing between the two men while trying to assess their ability. Both of them were big, looked as if they could beat the shit out of anyone, and probably had at least once or twice. So if she could trust them, she was definitely in good graces.
Was everyone in their pack as strong as these two looked? As she wondered, another question came to mind.
“But why the hell would your pack fight to get payback for me? No one around here knows me.”
Leo grinned, which threw her off. When he saw her curious look, he explained, “I’ll put it like this. First rule is that no one breaks the rules, and these guys broke the rules. That’s enough in itself. But another rule between our wolves is that no one hits a lady. I sure as shit don’t wanna just let those bastards get away Scot-free myself.”
Ashley thought about that quietly, looking down in consideration of everything she’d heard so far. She couldn’t make herself believe they were lying, and that was her biggest ray of hope.
But her thoughts were suddenly turned on her when, as if he knew what she was thinking, Cade said, “We have just as much reason to distrust you, Ashley.”
She glanced back up at him quickly, her eyes wide. “I'm not lying!”
He lifted a hand to get her to stop for a second before adding, “I know, but I can see how wary you are.”
“Can you fuckin’ blame me?”
She’d asked the question heatedly, but she couldn't help that, continuing on with the words, “Those bastards locked me up, collared me, and beat on me. I thought I was goin’ insane. Of course I’m wary, of you a lot more than I am him.”
Cade just lifted a brow over the words and leaned on his arm against his desk casually. Ashley ignored the look though, asking, “Why the hell would I lie about something like this?”
“Infiltration. Send in a cute girl to try to find weaknesses in our pack.”
Cade said it so plainly that she figured things like that had happened before. Just great. Apparently she didn’t have to worry about trusting them like she’d thought, and instead, had to worry about getting their trust. That's rich!
Ashley was so frustrated that she felt like crying. “I’m not . . . no!” Her eyes were getting misty as she spoke, and she suddenly had a change of heart, standing from the couch.
“Thanks for the meal, Leo, but I’d be better off running if this is—”
Cade stood up and stepped into her path before she could go anywhere or finish her statement. Though he was a good deal taller and much bigger than she was, she shot him as hard a look as she could muster, able to feel her anger rising.
Sadly, it didn’t seem to effect him at all.
“Move,” she growled, and the sound of her own voice surprised her. Did I just fucking growl at him?
“You're not goin’ anywhere,” Cade returned, but his own voice was much more even. “I think you’re telling the truth. Besides, if you leave now, you’ll probably be dead inside a week. So calm down.”
Ashley watched him quietly, and decided to listen if only because she hadn't expected to actually make any demands of Cade, which told her that her control definitely needed some work.
So she backed up and sat down on the couch again, letting a deep sigh of breath while asking, “If you believe me, then why did you say that?”
“Wanted to see how you’d react,” he replied honestly, going to his seat again. “I gotta protect my own after all, and figure out just how volatile you might be on top of it so I know what I’m dealing with.”
“Don’t get mad, Ashley,” Leo added, drawing her attention. He seemed to know that Cade was testing her, and wanted to mediate. “Like I said before, you actually are dangerous. Cade has to know what to expect.”
Ashley’s brows narrowed, her expression growing sad. She whispered back to them, “I don’t wanna be. I just wanna be normal again.” Breathing in deeply, she added, “You said I could get control of myself, right?”
“It’s possible,” Cade replied, “with time and effort, and the proper treatment.”
So she could go with them, learn to control her impulses, or she could leave and likely get killed. It really was a no-brainer.
“Okay, I'll stay. I'm sorry I snapped at you, um . . . what do I call you?”
“Cade,” he replied simply, and even seemed a little more relaxed now that she'd given her agreement.
Leo also looked relieved, and after mentioning he had kids, Ashley could only imagine that maybe he felt that way because he could see them in her position. But she'd already decided that she couldn't like him anymore than she did.
For a moment, she wondered why and how it was that Leo wasn’t the leader of their pack too. After all, he was o
lder. Or did it go to strength?
In a fit of curiosity she didn’t see dying anytime soon, she asked about it.
“So, age doesn’t matter when it comes to Alpha?”
Leo shook his head, “No, just depends on strength and smarts. Wisdom and age don’t go hand in hand, and neither does strength.”
Ashley nodded in understanding, looking down at her now empty box of food. She knew she’d wolfed everything down—how ironic—and they’d probably be leaving sooner rather than later. But at that moment she was in no huge hurry, maybe because she'd been running for two days, and wanted to continue their conversation about the Alphas.
“Do you get different ones often?”
Both lupines knew that she was definitely a newborn if she wasn’t even sure of the answer to that. The look they exchanged said as much, and Leo explained it to her.
“There’s challenges sometimes, but typically it goes for several years, even decades before we get a new one.”
Ashley suddenly felt like a kid who needed to be schooled—not exactly a thought she relished—though she was glad to finally learn more about what was going on. Lupines 101, this is gonna be a pain in the ass.
But she still felt like this was all going to come at a price. “There’s gotta be a catch. No one offers something like this without wanting something in return, even if you do have some kind of obligation to keep an eye on me.”
She didn’t get an answer she liked. Cade regarded her with a serious expression, and his tone was stern and no nonsense when he informed her, “You’re right, I do want something in return. I want you to do what I tell you to without question. Don’t go anywhere unless I say so, and don’t talk to anyone unless you know who they are. That’s the catch.”
“To keep me isolated?”
“For everyone’s own good, including yours,” he confirmed easily. “There’s a lot at stake here, and I'm not gonna be responsible for something that could've been easily prevented. You don’t have a choice, and neither do I.”
It sounded highhanded, but getting a little protection and a handle on herself—hopefully—seemed worthwhile. Hell, I'd take a highhanded Alpha to an abusive pack of rednecks any day of the week.
Blue Moon Page 5