That morning, while flipping through the contents of her closet, she came across a sheath of snowy white and dove grey. Something about it felt... right. The dress clung to her curves as she slid out of her car and faced Vancourt house. Her core ached with each small movement. The muscles in her legs protested, but it all reminded her of what she’d shared with Cohen two nights ago.
It brought a smile to her lips. After she’d used her power on him, Cohen had stormed out of the apartment. There hadn’t been anger in his eyes, but fear. Fear of the words she’d spoken. She’d revealed a truth he’d worked hard to ignore. It was easier to run away from your problems and say that it was the right decision, than face them every day.
After finding the dress, Ashe had turned a few cards. What they told her had her feeling optimistic. Today would be the day Cohen faced his fears and became the man he was meant to be. He wouldn’t need some spell to cut his bonds to Kaylee and Gage. He would realize what he should have known all along. She just knew it.
Almost to the door, a figure prowled around the corner of the house. A sadistic smile lit his face. The silver eyes inside her looked down on Killian, somehow upturning a nose it didn’t yet have. It was a haughty creature.
Killian slunk close, ducking beneath the umbrella she held against the rain. Ashe scowled. He was far too close for comfort. The force with silver eyes whispered to her, her power slithering inside of her. She could make him fuck off. She could make him fuck off a cliff if she wanted. The realization sparked through her and made a smile curl over her own lips.
Confusion crossed Killian’s face. He didn’t understand the shift between the mousy girl she’d been and the smiling beast she was now. She didn’t want to say it was Cohen’s cock, but something had changed since the night she’d slept with him. She was less afraid of her own self.
“I heard about you,” Killian began.
“Do tell.” She cocked her head to the side.
“Your mother was burnt by your own Pack for being a witch. Not even her mate bond could save her. What do you think your Pack will do when they figure out you killed your own Alpha?”
Her blood froze.
Killian smiled, having the upper hand once again. “Your mother didn’t even kill anyone, and they burnt her. Once your Pack figures out what you did, there won’t be anywhere you can hide. They’ll hunt you. They’ll make sure you pay for what you did.”
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Ashe whispered. But, who would believe her?
Cohen did, the force reminded her. Cohen knew she was good. Cohen loved her.
But, Cohen wasn’t Pack. He was the outcast son of an Alpha who ran from the power inside of himself. The power that scared those around him. Even if he believed her, who would listen to either of them.
“What do you want?” she growled.
Killian reached out and traced a finger along the line of her jaw. Ashe jerked back, but he grabbed her chin and yanked her forward.
“I want you to work for me,” he said. “When I challenge Cohen, you use the gifts your mother gave you to make sure he doesn’t fight back. You hear me?”
She stepped back, his fingers dragging along her skin until he let go. “You’ll kill him.”
His brows rose, and he nodded. “Very astute. Either you let me, or I’ll let your Pack know just. What. You. Did.”
Fear punched her in the stomach. She could hear the voices, the shouts and screams. Ashe could deal with the pain she’d already endured, but she wasn’t ready to die.
“I-I-I don’t know…” Save herself or save Cohen and her Pack. The decision should be easy, but Ashe found herself shrinking. She curled in on herself, the confidence she’d just felt suddenly gone.
“You’ll make the right decision,” Killian said, touching her cheek again. Revulsion made bile burn in her throat. “And when I become Alpha, I’ll protect you from those who might want to hurt you. I promise.”
Ashe lurched for the door, eager to escape Killian and the oppressive rain. She slammed it behind her. Joanna’s head shot up, but before she could say anything, Ashe ran for the bathroom. She emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her mind was caught. Part of her was terrified while a small voice championed for what was right. She was afraid the voice would get drowned out.
***
Killian prowled around the house again, slinking back and forth. Cohen was amazed he didn’t meow to get inside like a cat. Cohen leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Killian. He’d returned for another round of fights.
Above them, the sky had opened up and unleashed a downpour, turning the yard into a quagmire. Mud clung to everything.
“Cohen,” Joanna said.
He twisted toward her. When was the last time she had spoken to him? He raised a brow at the woman. She shifted from foot to foot.
“What is it? Is Archer alright?”
She nodded. “Oh, he’s fine. Normally I would step in, but I don’t know if I’m the person she wants to see right now…”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s Ashe. She ran to the bathroom when she got here and hasn’t been out since.”
Upon hearing her name, his heart lurched into his throat. A single night with her and he felt like a puppy. He wanted to shake his head and berate himself, but his concern was overwhelming. He darted away from his post and ran for the bathroom.
The door was closed, locked against anyone on the wrong side. He pounded and demanded she open the door, but there was no answer. He could hear her breathing, could smell her scent through the chemical air freshener that lingered in the hall.
Concern bled into panic. He was moments away from breaking the door. He could use the power of his voice and make her obey. She was a shifter after all.
“Go away,” she snapped.
“Are you…” he didn’t know how to ask the question. He lowered his voice, hoping only the two of them could hear. “Are you pregnant?”
They hadn’t used protection. Neither had even considered it.
She laughed, a weak and broken sound. “No, you idiot. It doesn’t happen that fast.”
“Then what’s wrong? I need to know.”
“No. You don’t. Go away.”
The bear struggled forward. Something was wrong with Ashe and he needed to know. He needed to protect her. The bear thrashed, making his hands tremble. He would break the door down, but he was afraid of hurting her if she was too close on the other side.
He licked his lip and swallowed, knowing he might regret his decision. “Ashe,” he commanded, using the power in his voice. The power of an Alpha, just like she’d said. “Open the door and let me in.”
He could hear her groaning on the other side. There was a shuffling sound before the door flew open. He looked down at Ashe, fury burning her eyes. The muscle of her jaw twitched with anger, but it would be alright. He reached to touch her face, nearly melting into a puddle once he saw she was safe.
She jerked away from his touch and retreated into the bathroom to sit on the edge of the tub. “Can you just go away?”
“That’s not what you said last night,” he said, trying for humor.
He crouched on the floor in front of her, trying to get her to look at him, but she looked everywhere but at him. He knew they’d fought the night after they had been intimate, but he didn’t expect this. He didn’t expect this kind of anger and indifference.
His nose burned, the scent of vomit hanging in the air around them. Ashe leaned and hit the toggle on the toilet, the sound of flushing filling the room. He reached out to her, wanting to touch her, but she pulled back, slinking into the tub and pulling her knees to her chest.
“Do you know who might have killed your father yet?”
His brows furrowed. What did that have to do with anything? “What does that matter? He’s dead and there’s no saving him.”
She laughed, a bitter and brit
tle sound, before turning her head away from him and resting her cheek on her knee. “But, it might save me.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Cohen growled. The bear made his fingers curl into fists. He would destroy anyone who came near her.
“Killian is going to challenge you today. I… I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean? You don’t have to do anything.”
Still, she wouldn’t look at him. He watched her, curled up in the tub as if it would shield her from the outside world. Where had the enchantress he had bedded gone? He’d seen her accept her power, seen her acknowledge her strength. But, it was as if she’d fallen several steps back.
Cohen sat with her, his own mind working. The bear sat back with him, resting on its haunches and waiting for Cohen to make the right decision. It still snarled and demanded blood, Killian’s blood. Would the beast stop there if he killed the man? Or, would it continue destroying everything in its path?
“If I… If I become an Alpha,” Cohen said, his throat tight as if it wanted to swallow down the words he was trying to say. “Will you accept me as your Alpha?”
She turned her head to look at him. Her smile was weak. He leaned forward, wanting to kiss it off her face, but stopped. He wanted to pull her out of the tub and wrap her in his arms, kissing her until the enchantress came back.
It struck him that he might love her. Was this what it felt like? The pain he felt for her, the desire to fix whatever was wrong, was it love?
“But you won’t, will you? You don’t want the responsibility even if it might be your salvation. You don’t want anything to do with the people around you.”
“Now, that isn’t true,” Cohen argued. “I don’t think you know me as well as you thought.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but he knew she wouldn’t let him touch her. Whatever had happened, she blamed him. So, he stood and nodded. He would show her that he could do the right thing. All this time, he’d thought what he was doing was the right thing. He’d thought it’d been to protect the people around him, when really, it’d been out of fear.
He’d been afraid of himself. Afraid of the power he held.
Their father had taken one look at Cohen and known he would need another son. He’d groomed Archer to become the Alpha of the Pack, making sure Cohen was under his thumb. It’d led him to believe he was somehow broken. Cohen had thought there was something wrong with him, that he was a beast, a monster.
Perhaps, Sampson had feared his eldest son.
He feared Cohen would rise up and take his power away. He looked down at the woman in the bathtub. She was his equal in everything. She would see it, would find her power. He had to trust her.
Ashe stared at the bland white, plastic walls of the tub, trying to get herself under control. Her fear had been wild and untamed, driving her to empty her stomach. She’d thought she’d finally found a balance within her Pack and this shifter had come and tossed a wrench in it all.
Sampson’s death was his fault, but there was no way Killian had entered the house to poison one of her remedies. He would have been caught almost immediately. Each and every one of the Vancourt boys wanted the man’s head on a spike, for different reasons. Killian wouldn’t have been able to step one foot inside the house.
No, someone from inside the Pack had done it. She mulled the situation over, trying to control her still rising fear. Someone else had killed Sampson, unafraid of the Bear of the East since he was bedridden. But who? And how did Killian know? It was possible the shifter had also manipulated one of their Pack into killing Sampson.
The question was, how could she shift the blame off her own head before Killian threw her to the wolves? Could she even do it? It seemed like her life had been getting better, she’d been getting stronger, and then she’d fallen into the same hole she’d always lived in. In the span of moments, she’d gone from feeling invincible to being struck down.
Chapter Twelve
Cohen stepped through the mud, annoyed. The Pack gathered around, whispers turning into a dull roar. He didn’t know what they were thinking. Which monster they’d root for? Did the Pack of beasts want Killian to lead them? Had they really lost their way that much?
He scanned the crowd, searching for the one face he wanted to see. Ashe wasn’t there. He twisted, looking behind him to see if she was there, backing his claim, but there were only his brothers and their mates.
Cohen’s heart sank. He was doing this for her. Part of him wanted her to see, but he recognized hubris for what it was.
“I told you, big guy.” Killian cracked his knuckles. The cocky smile he wore was too much, as if he had an ace up his sleeve that Cohen didn’t know about. “I need a Pack to protect myself. I need this far more than you do.”
Cohen shook his head. “Having a Pack isn’t about having a weapon. It’s about family.”
Killian’s laugh was a bark. Then, Cohen saw a flash of movement behind Killian. His heart slammed into the ground, the world around him swaying. Ashe stood behind Killian, shame written across her face.
His lips parted, wanting to ask why. He needed to know why she would betray him. He loved her and to see her standing behind Killian tore him in half. The bear roared with jealousy. It tore its way out of Cohen. His body ripped apart, the bear bursting into the world. It was going to tear Killian apart one limb at a time. It was going to make him hurt.
He raced toward Killian. The shifter smiled and side-stepped Cohen’s lumbering form. He spun in the mud and swiped for the man. Killian ducked under the strike, quicker in his human form that Cohen was in his bear form.
The bear roared. The world around them shook. Killian wobbled in the mud and Cohen pounced.
“Ashe!” Killian screamed.
Hearing her name in his mouth infuriated the bear. He brought his fisted paw down onto the shifter’s jaw. The crack resounded through the circle. People around them gasped as Killian staggered away. Killian staggered and spun toward Ashe. Cohen couldn’t stand him looking at her. Killian destroyed everything he got close to and Cohen would not let him anywhere near Ashe.
She belonged to him. She was his equal like no one else in the world was. Cohen’s claws raked across Killian’s back. His spine arched, and he let out a long hiss. His jaw was slowly knitting back together, and he ground out Ashe’s name.
Cohen roared, drowning out the sound. What did the shifter think he was doing? All he’d managed to do was irritate the bear.
“They’re coming,” Killian spat out, his words mangled as his jaw healed.
Cohen didn’t have the sense to pause anymore. He had nothing, no reins to grasp, no thoughts to gather. A second set of claws crashed and raked over Killian’s back. He hissed, the sound morphing into a growl. His head snapped around and his snarl started to shift.
Killian’s body shifted, faster than it should have, from human to jaguar. The feline form was quick, faster than Cohen’s lumbering bear. While Cohen had strength, the agility angered him. He swiped and swiped, each time his claws only caught air. Each time, the cat snarled at Ashe.
Her face was drained of color, eyes wide with fear. Cohen didn’t know what was between them, what Killian might have said to threaten her. He wanted to turn Killian into a smear on the grass for looking at her, but she seemed to gather herself. Her brows rose, and she flung her hands forward.
Her power spilled out and grasped him. Confusion struck the bear. He whimpered, a sound he’d never made before. Had she just betrayed them? Was she working for Killian? He’d seen her standing behind him, fear clear on her face, but he only saw his own anger. What had he missed?
Ashe could have been working with Killian the whole time. But, if she had, would she have called them back to Stonefall? Cohen was confused, trying to put the pieces together, when his bear grabbed his attention. The bear turned him toward Killian. The feline shifter was also caught in the throes of Ashe’s magic, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The bear’s heart te
mpered. While Cohen was not sure what was happening, the bear trusted Ashe. She would never betray them, no matter what stood in her way. He asked Cohen to trust her too.
Ashe stormed toward Killian, her silver wrap dress flaring about her like the wings of a snowy owl. The bear watched with some smug expression. Cohen wanted to question what his beast knew that he didn’t, but he tried to focus on what was happening.
“You can’t do that!” a voice cried from the crowd.
Everyone except Cohen and Killian turned to look at Grover. Fury lined his still bruised face; the beating Killian had put him through not yet willing to go away. His fists clenched at his sides as he stormed forward. Archer and Gage held out their arms, stopping him in his tracks. Even their faces were covered in hesitant confusion. While they knew what she was doing was completely against traditional rules, they waited to hear her out.
“Grover,” she snapped. “Shove it up your ass before I do it for you. Don’t think I won’t.”
The bear looked on with pride as she mastered the power deep inside her. While the Pack did not understand it, it was just as much a part of the woman he loved as the bear was a part of him.
Her eyes flicked back to the frozen Killian. “You said they were coming. Who are you talking about?”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Grover paced behind the wall of Archer and Gage’s arms.
The bear could see, while Grover had questionable means, his heart was in the right place, too. Grover wanted power to protect his family. He thought he had it, thought he could grasp it, but his place was right where he was. The bear would have nodded.
Cohen regarded his beast with surprise. It was measuring those around them as if they were an Alpha weighing the worth of their Pack, and it was doing it with surprising accuracy. The fury it bore moments ago was gone and in it’s place was a calculating eye. Who was this beast and what had it done with the monster he’d lived with?
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