I blinked, a little surprised at her candor. But also appreciative. Idrissa didn’t beat around the bush, and I loved her for that.
“Okay, that’s fair,” I said.
“It is?” Isaac asked.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I get it. I wouldn’t want to risk being found out either. But how do I convince them I’m not going to tell anyone?”
“So you can leave?” Isaac asked.
“I don’t know.”
“We know about your plan to cut out,” Idrissa said.
My jaw dropped. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Oscar called me yesterday,” she said. “He checked your browsing history and found internet searches for job postings in three different towns a couple of hours from here.”
“What the hell, Ash.” Isaac clearly hadn’t known, judging from the scandalized look he gave me. “I thought we were soul sisters.”
My chest panged with a regret that didn’t even exist yet. “Listen, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but even if I do leave, I want you both to know your friendship means a lot to me.”
Isaac huffed.
Idrissa simply lifted her brow. “Funny way of showing it,” she said. “Leaving us without a goodbye.”
“We all have things we needed to say but didn’t,” I pointed out.
“Touché.” Her expression grew serious. “But look. I’m telling you now. The Falls is full of werewolves that will hunt you down if you so much as cross the county line. As your friend, I need to advise you against that idea for now. Okay?”
I swallowed hard as her words hit me. “You realize you just casually mentioned I might get murdered, right?”
Isaac grabbed my hand. “I will casually fuck someone up if they even try.”
I offered him a tentative smile. “Thanks. But I think it would be best if I made peace instead.” I looked from him to Idrissa. “Which brings me back to my earlier question. How do I convince them I won’t spill their secrets?”
She shrugged. “You prove you’re one of us.”
“But…I’m not.”
Isaac bit his lip, hesitating. “Ash, you’re Oz’s niece. Your dad was pack alpha before—” Idrissa punched him, and he winced. “Before he left,” he finished hastily. “That makes you one of us.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never shifted. Oscar said he can’t smell my wolf at all.” I glanced at Idrissa. “What’s wrong with me?”
She frowned. “I don’t know, but the pack thinks you’re a wolf,” she admitted. “Like Isaac said, it’s in your blood. And even more so considering your dad was the alpha. They see you as a threat or at least an equal competitor.”
“But I’ve never even shifted,” I said.
“They don’t believe you’ve never shifted. Or that you can’t.”
“How do I convince them? Will they leave me alone then?”
She shook her head. “I know it’s a Catch-22, but the only way to get them off your back about that is to shift.”
“And to fight,” Isaac added.
Idrissa shot him a look.
“What?” he demanded. “She should know everything.”
“Whatever it is, just tell me,” I pleaded. “I’m sick of not knowing stuff I’m clearly supposed to know.”
Idrissa glared at Isaac then swung her gaze to me.
“Remember Silas and his comment about having you fight?” she asked.
“Yeah. So?”
“So, it’s how we do things here. Newcomers fight, and it solidifies their place in the pack. Once you’re one of us, you also get things like pack protection.”
“Protection from what?” I asked, suddenly interested.
She shrugged. “Each other. Outside threats. Whatever. It means you have support.”
“Can I report douchebags like Devon harassing me at work?” I asked.
“Devon being a douchebag is nothing new,” she said. “But yes. Fighting for your place here would offer that kind of protection. As well as prove to them what you are. That you can be trusted. If you refuse to fight, you can’t stay.”
“Hmm. They do know this isn’t the Dark Ages, right?”
“I know it sounds barbaric from a human perspective, but wolves do things differently. It’s part of our animal nature to use our beasts to understand where we fall in the pecking order.”
“They want me to fight…as a wolf?”
“That’s the only way to survive,” she said wryly. “Considering your opponent will be a wolf too.”
Isaac grabbed my hand. “But you don’t have to do it. We’re going to protect you. They won’t fuck with us.”
“Can’t I just opt out and take the bottom place or whatever it’s called? Part of the pack but not a threat?”
Idrissa shook her head. “It’s more than hierarchy,” she said. “It’s like a rite of passage.”
“Can’t your alpha or council or whoever make an exception?” I asked.
“We don’t have an alpha,” Isaac said, and I swore he sounded almost sad.
“That’s what everyone keeps saying. I don’t understand. Don’t all wolf packs have alphas?”
“We’re a little different than other packs,” Isaac said.
“But you used to have an alpha,” I reminded them. “So, what happened after my dad left? Why was he never replaced or whatever?”
He and Idrissa shared a quick look.
“Great, more secrets,” I said.
Idrissa slid closer in her chair and lowered her voice. “It’s not…I can’t…” She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, they were lit with a painful determination. “There’s a curse,” she finally said.
“A curse,” I said.
She nodded.
Isaac leaned toward me. “Magic binds us,” he whispered. “We can’t…say much…”
“Magic,” I repeated, stunned.
He nodded.
“And you can’t tell me,” I realized. “Like, literally can’t.”
“We want to,” Isaac assured me.
Whoa.
“Okay. So, magic is real. And your pack is spelled or something?” I said slowly, trying to put the pieces together.
“Sort of.”
“Cursed,” Isaac said, looking strained as he pushed the word out.
“Okay, your pack is cursed by magic,” I said.
“Yes, exactly.” Isaac smiled like I’d just figured out some complicated math problem.
“We call ourselves the Lone Wolf Pack because that’s what we are. A bunch of lone wolves banded together.”
“Wait. Lone Wolf… That’s the symbol I saw on that biker’s vest. The name of the motorcycle club.” I looked from her to Isaac. “That’s the name of your pack?”
“Original, I know,” she said with an eye roll.
Uh, originality was not my concern.
“Are you telling me you’re all part of that biker gang?”
Isaac took one look at my expression and cackled. “Is that more disturbing than knowing we’re all wolf shifters?”
“Well, yeah. Kinda,” I admitted. “Bikers are notoriously dangerous.”
Idrissa lifted a brow.
I sighed. “Touché,” I muttered.
Isaac hooted, clearly enjoying this. I thought back to the brawling men I’d seen at the bar, Bo’s. So, everyone in Ridley Falls was a wolf. And everyone was also in a biker gang. I’d never underestimate the weirdness of my life again.
“Also, I can’t really picture you in a leather vest,” I told Isaac.
“So true,” Isaac agreed. “Leather chaps, sure, but the vest is way too cliché for me.”
Idrissa folded her arms. “You two done yet?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head. “Sorry, you were saying. You’re all in a pack, but you’re lone wolves because you don’t have an alpha. What does that have to do with magic? Or a curse?”
“For starters, I’m sure you’ve noticed that without an alpha, our
wolves are a bit unsettled.”
“Unsettled?” My brows rose. “Is that what we’re calling the violence and the mayhem I saw at that bar the other day?”
“We don’t exactly have control—”
Her words were cut off by the revving of a loud engine from the direction of the main road followed by a chorus of yells that sounded urgent.
“Shit,” Idrissa hissed, jerking her gaze to Isaac’s. They shared a nervous look.
“Who is that?” I asked as the yelling grew louder. Closer.
The engine cut off.
I stood as the twins shoved to their feet, grabbing bags and pulling me toward the exit.
“What the hell,” Idrissa snarled, stopping short.
Peering past her shoulder, I saw a figure blocking the alleyway we’d used to come in. Broad shoulders. Longish hair.
Silas.
My stomach clenched.
“What does he want?” I asked, knowing whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Not from the serial killer look he wore.
“You,” Idrissa said simply, which still didn’t really answer my question.
People wanted me for a lot of things these days. None of them sounded like fun for me, though.
“Take her through the back,” Isaac said. “I’ll hold him off.”
Idrissa didn’t argue. She grabbed me, tugging me to follow her in the opposite direction.
“Wait, we can’t leave Isaac,” I said, but Idrissa was strong, and I had to nearly run to keep up with her or risk faceplanting.
“He’ll be fine,” she assured me. “We need to get you out of here.”
Behind us, Isaac said something to Silas in a growly voice. Silas responded, a lot closer than he’d been before. I couldn’t make out the words, but judging from the animalistic sounds, they were either already shifting or were about to.
I picked up the pace, ready to be out of here. Suddenly, the garden wasn’t so much secluded as isolated. If Silas did something to me back here, who would know? How long would it take Oscar to find me?
I hurried ahead with Idrissa, but at the mouth of the alley, she stopped short.
I peeked around her shoulder and spotted Presley, the James Dean look-alike. He was just as pretty as the other day. But he looked a hell of a lot meaner and intent on violence now.
“Pres, you don’t want to involve yourself,” she said in warning.
“She needs to fight, Dris. You know that.”
Shit.
“She can’t shift,” Idrissa told him.
Her voice held no trace of the panic I felt. She shoved me behind her as Presley took a step forward.
“She should have thought about that before she decided to crash our hunting party the other night.”
Hunting party? Is that what their gathering had been about? And why Kai had said I was lucky he’d been there to protect me from them?
I shuddered.
“If Cohen sent her, we’d know by now,” Idrissa said.
I blinked. There was that name again. I really needed to find out who this Cohen person was. So far, he’d only made things complicated for me, which was bullshit considering I’d never heard of him.
“She has to prove it,” Presley said. “You know that.”
“She didn’t grow up as a wolf,” Idrissa told him. “She doesn’t understand how it works.”
“I’m just following the rules,” he said.
“What rules?” Idrissa demanded. “Lone Wolves do what the hell they want.” But I could hear it in her voice. Presley was going to win this argument. Maybe not today but eventually. It was some sort of code they had.
“Not when Silas is involved,” he said.
“Fuck Silas,” Idrissa hissed.
Pres smiled in a beautiful-yet-deadly show of teeth. “I think Isaac’s doing his best.”
Idrissa started to turn back to check on her brother, and Presley’s eyes glittered in anticipation. I realized too late he’d only said the words to distract her. The moment Idrissa looked away, he dropped into a crouch, and before I could even blink, he’d shifted. His clothes exploded off his body, the shredded fabric flying in all directions.
This was nothing like Kai’s shift. When he’d shifted, it had been graceful. Fluid. And maybe I should have been terrified then, but Kai didn’t scare me. Not even as a giant wolf. Not like Presley did.
I screamed, and Idrissa whirled
An enormous wolf with a coat the color of vanilla crème stood staring back at us. It bared its teeth, first at Idrissa, then at me.
Idrissa cursed and then shoved me, whispering, “When I attack him, run. Get back to the Throttle, and lock the doors.”
I didn’t even have time to nod before she shifted too.
Idrissa’s wolf was a dark, dark chestnut, so brown it was almost black. Her tail brushed my hand, a silent signal, and then she jumped at Presley.
I didn’t wait to see who would win the battle before I fled for my life.
Chapter Thirteen
Heart racing, I rounded the corner, slipping past Presley while Idrissa distracted him. A hand closed over my arm, yanking me sideways. I screamed, the sound muffled as another hand clamped over my mouth.
A body pressed in close.
I inhaled the scent of pine and broody male.
Kai.
He loomed over me, wrapped in shadow from where he’d pinned me against the side of the building.
“Don’t scream,” he mouthed.
I nodded, eyes wide, and he dropped his hand. Despite his intimidating posture, relief flooded me. Kai was an asshole who spoke his mind without thought to other people’s feelings. But he wasn’t a killer. Or, at least, not when it came to me. I wasn’t even sure how I knew that. Especially since Silas and Presley probably wouldn’t hesitate to do just that. But Kai Stone was safe for me.
I didn’t know how I knew it; I just did.
“Follow me,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.
He grabbed my hand and led me through an opening barely large enough for me to squeeze through sideways.
On the other side was a motorcycle parked facing the street.
Kai hurried to it and handed me the helmet hanging off the handlebar.
I shoved it onto my head, and Kai reached over and snapped it underneath my chin, his fingers practiced and agile. His knuckles grazed my chin, making me shudder, but he didn’t seem to notice as he turned and swung a leg over his bike, motioning for me to climb onto the back. I slid a leg over the side, pressing my body to Kai’s.
My hands fumbled a bit as I tried to figure out how to hold on.
Kai reached back and grabbed my wrists, wrapping my arms around his chest in silent instruction. I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, heart pounding in both fear and excitement. Kai started the bike, the engine rumbling to life around us.
My body hummed with the vibration of the engine. It was thrilling, the feel of the powerful machine. And Kai’s body pressed hard to mine. Adrenaline coursed through me but not from fear. My arms squeezed his torso as Kai kicked us into gear and shot out of the alley. He didn’t even slow or stop to check for traffic before zipping onto the main road. A car honked, and I held my breath, braced for impact, but none came.
When I let myself look up again, we were speeding through town, weaving in and out of cars with an ease that took my breath away—this time out of pleasure.
The wind whipped my hair until it stung where it hit my cheek and collarbone. A chill snaked up the back of my shirt, but I didn’t mind it. The sensation of being on the back of Kai’s bike felt like flying. Here, I was safe. Here, I was free.
Kai drove us out of town and down a series of windy back roads until I had absolutely no idea where we were.
As the chill on my skin worked its way toward cold, I thought briefly about the bags of clothes I’d dropped in the garden in my haste to get away. That sucked. Then again, losing a few clothes seemed like a small price to pay for keeping my life.
Finally,
Kai pulled off the road and cut the engine.
The sudden silence echoed around me, and I reluctantly peeled my hands off Kai’s chest so I could climb off. Kai did the same, and for a long moment, he just looked at me, his eyes searching mine. Then, he reached up and unhooked my helmet.
I shivered, and his eyes darkened knowingly. Whatever wall he’d put up between us, it was crumbling now. I could see some of the emotion he’d been hiding. And the attraction. It made my skin tingle.
He released the clasp and dropped his hands. I slid the helmet off, shaking out my hair now hopelessly tangled from the wind.
“Thank you,” I said finally, mostly because the silence was killing me.
“For what?” he asked.
“Saving me,” I said.
His brow lifted in challenge. “How do you know I didn’t bring you out here to kill you?”
“Because you would never hurt me.”
“You shouldn’t trust me, Ashes.”
“Why not?”
He sighed. “I’m a Lone Wolf,” he said as if that explained everything.
Instead, all it did was make me go completely still.
“What did you say?” I asked slowly.
“I said I’m a Lone Wolf.” He sighed. “It’s the name of our pack.”
“Your… and the symbol is a white wolf’s head tipped back in a howl?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. So?”
I swallowed hard, heart racing. My head was a jumble of panic and fear and sudden understanding. If I’d been standing before anyone else on the planet, I would have fled. But this was Kai. And I knew one thing for absolute certain.
“You won’t hurt me,” I repeated, more firmly this time. Mostly for my own benefit. “I can see it in your eyes when you look at me.”
He held my gaze until my racing heart had nothing to do with my fear from a moment ago and everything to do with the way he always seemed to draw me in and make me want to jump his bones.
“And what else do you see when I look at you?”
His voice was quiet and just rough enough to rake me over with its sharp edges.
“You want to be friends with me.”
He smirked. “Is that right?”
“But I think you don’t know how to be friends. Or don’t want to let yourself be happy. Why is that?”
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