Something inside me broke.
I had no idea who the man on his knees was, and I didn’t care. It only mattered that he was outnumbered and being attacked by a mob.
I wasn’t going to let that happen a second time.
With a cry of my own, I launched myself at Silas. The force—okay, probably the surprise—sent him sprawling, and I managed to knock him to the ground.
He took the brunt of the fall for us both, and the moment he was down, I rolled away, knowing better than to let him get his hands around me. With a violent jab to his ribs, I managed to twist away before he could grab me.
I came up and met the eyes of the man they’d detained.
“Run,” I screamed at him and then twisted again, slipping out of the hands that grabbed for me.
I broke into a run.
The crowd parted but not before someone sturdy and unmoving slammed into me from behind. Arms came around me and lifted me clear off the ground. I kicked wildly, but my feet met only empty air as my captor dodged every defensive maneuver I made.
The others moved aside, and I was carried away from it all—straight through the back door of the Throttle and into the empty garage.
“Let me go,” I screamed, but if anything, the grip around my arms and middle only tightened until suddenly, they released me. I fell in a tangle of limbs onto the hard concrete floor.
Pain radiated up from where I’d landed on my arm, and I hissed through closed teeth. Turning quickly, I looked up into the eyes of my attacker.
“Oscar, let me out of here,” I demanded.
“Not a fucking chance, kid. Are you trying to get killed?”
I glared at him. “I’m trying to stop a mob from killing an innocent person.”
“Innocent, huh?” He rubbed his salt and pepper goatee. “Do you know something about that damned spook that we don’t?”
“Spook?” I echoed, confused.
Movement caught my eye, and I felt a fresh wave of fury at the sight of Kai striding up behind Oscar. With him were Silas, Drake, Presley, and the twins. Fear coiled in my gut as I took in their faces one at a time. No one looked okay about seeing me here. Or what I’d just done.
I stood up, hating the feeling of having to look up at them all. My arm twinged, but I ignored it. No way would I show any of them a weakness now.
“I told you she was a threat,” Silas said.
His eyes were trained on me as if his stare alone could extract whatever punishment he had in mind.
“She’s not one of them,” Oscar said in a hard voice that sounded almost like a warning. Almost.
Except that he was still looking at me like he wanted to whoop my ass too. They all did.
“One of who?” I asked, mostly because it seemed like whoever that guy was, aligning with him was about to get me in way more trouble than I could get out of.
“Like she doesn’t know,” Silas scoffed. He glared at me. “Stop playing stupid.”
“She’s not playing,” Oscar said and then winced when he realized he’d accidentally just insulted me.
“Look, I don’t know what that guy did, but it doesn’t make right what you were doing to him,” I told Silas.
“That guy was trying to climb in your window,” Silas said, and I blinked, suddenly at a loss for words.
“Oh, now he deserves what he gets huh?” Silas shook his head.
I looked over at Kai, but his expression was too intense for this moment. He wasn’t moving to defend me, which only made my heart hurt.
I looked at Idrissa. “Is that true?”
She nodded. “It’s why we were so worried about you after…”
She shot a look at Presley, who looked completely unharmed by their little battle earlier. In fact, they both did, which only made me more wary of them all.
“Why would some stranger want to get into my room?” I asked, but even as I said the words, I knew.
Vorack.
He’d found me.
“Good question,” Silas said. He crossed his arms over his chest, and I knew he’d seen the answer written in my eyes. “Why don’t you tell us.”
I hesitated. But keeping my secrets wasn’t an option anymore. Not after this. My shoulders sagged.
“My dad owed some people money,” I said quietly. “Bad people. They came to collect, and when we didn’t have it, they killed him for it.”
My eyes burned with tears, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of these people.
“Ash,” Oscar began, but I ignored him, forcing out the rest of the story before I lost control of my emotions.
“Yesterday, the guy, Vorack, called me and said I still owed the debt and that he’d find me so I could pay him—one way or another.”
Kai cursed under his breath, but I didn’t dare look over. I couldn’t take any more shit about keeping secrets or one more lecture about how I shouldn’t be here.
“You should have told me about the call,” Oscar said.
“I didn’t take it seriously,” I said. Not entirely true, but I’d had other things on my mind that felt way more of a threat. “How would he ever know to look for me here?”
Idrissa whispered something to Isaac, and I looked down at the floor. This was it. The moment they all chased me out of town for being too big of a burden to deal with.
“What a heartbreaking little story,” Silas said into the silence.
I met his glare with one of my own. “Go to hell.”
“Oh, trust me,” he said with a snort, “I’m already there.”
Presley snickered.
“If you don’t believe me, that’s your problem,” I said. “I’m telling the truth.”
“Oh, we believe you, Ashes,” Silas assured me, his gaze condescending and hard. “The problem is that it has nothing to do with that guy out there.”
“What are you talking about?” I shook my head, confusion warping my logic. “You just said he was trying to break into my room—”
“That guy is a spook,” Presley said. “A spy for the hexerei.”
I frowned, remembering Drake’s use of the word. I still had no idea what it meant. “What are the hexerei?”
“Witches,” Drake said with a pointed look.
And one by one, the pieces began clicking into place.
Witches. The pack’s enemy number one. The people who’d cursed the wolves all those years ago and made them into what they were now: Violent. Unsettled. Wild. And above all, mateless.
No wonder they’d been beating the shit out of the guy. He’d come here to spy on them and probably use whatever information he uncovered to make their lives even worse.
Maybe innocent had been a strong word.
“I still don’t understand. Why was he trying to get into my room?” I asked.
“Didn’t we already try this line of questioning?” Presley looked at Silas in mock confusion. “Because I feel like we already tried this once.”
“She clearly doesn’t know,” Idrissa said. “Just give it a damned rest.”
“We’ll give it a rest when we know the truth,” Silas snapped at her. “Kai?”
Everyone turned to him, and I let myself pretend, just for a moment, that he’d be on my side.
But he didn’t even meet my eyes.
“She’s been through some human drama that’s got her all jammed up,” he said flatly.
“We could bring her in,” Drake said. “Make her talk.”
My insides twisted with fear at that. I didn’t need to ask to know whatever he planned wouldn’t make the interrogation pleasant.
Kai shook his head. “I don’t think she knows a damned thing about any of it. Her pop lied to her about everything. This shit isn’t our problem. We should be out there dealing with the spook.”
Silas looked reluctant to agree.
Presley was neutral as always, but Drake stood his ground.
“I think we need to rule it out one way or another before we can let her stay,” Drake said.
&n
bsp; “She’s nobody,” Kai said, and I felt his words like a punch in the gut.
“Then let her prove it,” Drake said.
“How the hell do I prove I’m not a witch?” I demanded. “You going to toss me into a lake and see if I sink or float? Because—fake news.”
Isaac snickered.
Silas shot him a dirty look.
Isaac gave him the finger.
“You wish,” Silas muttered.
“Nah. I don’t want your mother’s leftovers,” Isaac said in an acidic voice.
Silas growled and took a step, but Idrissa slid between them.
“Easy, boy,” she whispered.
“She fights or she leaves,” Drake said, drawing everyone’s attention back. “Those are the rules, right?”
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Silas and Presley were the first to nod their agreement.
“Guy has a point,” Silas said, looking way too smug as he glanced over at Kai.
“Idrissa?” I asked quietly.
She gave me a pained look. “Those are the rules,” she said.
I looked at Isaac.
“I’ll shit on every one of their pillows tonight, I swear it,” he said solemnly. And then, after a pause, “But those are the rules.”
Silas grinned, and I wanted to claw the smile right off his violently handsome face.
“Kai?” Oscar said, and one by one, they all turned to him.
They might not have an official alpha, but Kai Stone was apparently as close as it got. And now, my fate rested in his hands.
He glared back at me, and I could practically hear the words being projected from his brain: you shouldn’t be here.
It was a tired refrain.
And for once, one I agreed with.
But there was no going back now.
“I’ll fight,” I said, condemning myself before Kai could do it for me.
Everyone looked at me.
Idrissa’s eyes were wide. “Ash, no,” she hissed.
It was stupid; even I knew that. But if I was going to die, I’d do it on my own terms. Not theirs. And if, by some miracle, I survived, at least, I’d have some shred of protection against them doing shit like this to me in the future. Not to mention Vorack—should he ever find me.
“Just tell me when and where,” I said, exhaustion creeping in to take over the adrenaline that had kept me going before.
“We’ll let you know,” Silas said.
He looked satisfied. For now.
Turning, he sauntered back toward the exit.
“Come on, let’s go string ourselves up a spook,” he called over his shoulder.
With one last look at me, Drake and Presley fell into step behind him.
Kai stood staring at me, his expression hardened into something completely unreadable.
“That was a mistake,” he said simply.
And then he turned and followed his asshole friends out.
Chapter Fifteen
After Kai was gone, Idrissa and Isaac rushed at me, pulling me into a hug that I was quickly beginning to consider my lifeline to normal human experience.
“Ash, you’re insane,” Idrissa said, squeezing me tight.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Isaac added.
“No, she’s not.” Idrissa drew back and looked at me then Isaac. “We’ll help. And we’ll figure it out.”
Isaac nodded. “We won’t let anything happen to you,” he said to me.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice cracking now that the assholes were all gone. “Both of you. I can’t—I mean, I should have told you about my dad, but—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Idrissa said firmly.
“Yeah, please.” Isaac rolled his eyes. “I mean, we all have daddy issues.”
“Okay, I’ll take it from here.”
The sound of Oscar’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I stepped away from the twins, my heart thundering. Part of me wondered if Oscar would kick me out for good now. After all of that, maybe he agreed with Silas. Maybe he thought I was some kind of spy or infiltrator.
Idrissa and Isaac squeezed my hand and then left with a promise to talk soon. Oscar waited until they were gone and then simply said, “Let’s talk upstairs.”
I followed him up in resigned silence. If this was it, I wasn’t going to beg. Oscar might be my only family left, but if he was going to toss me out when I needed him most, that would break the ties that bound us in a way that would never be repaired.
I braced myself for just that.
In the small apartment, Oscar closed the door behind us and gestured to the kitchen table.
“You want to sit?” he asked.
“No thanks.”
He’d yet to meet my eyes, and rather than lose it, I crossed my arms and let my temper cover my fear. Leaning against the counter, I stared across the space at him.
When he still didn’t speak, I decided ripping off the Band-Aid was probably best.
“If you’re going to throw me out, just do it, and spare me all this build-up.”
Finally, he looked up at me and met my eyes. Confusion shone back at me as his brows dipped and he shook his head. “I’m not throwing you out.”
“You’re not?”
“No, why would you think that?”
I dropped my arms and blew out a breath. “I don’t know. Because I’m a spy or an outsider or whatever else.”
“You’re family,” he said firmly. “I’m not turning my back on you.”
For some reason, the simplicity of it all tugged at my heart, and I felt a pang in the same place I felt my dad’s loss every second of every day.
“Thanks,” I said quietly.
He continued to frown.
“But something’s on your mind,” I added. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re brave for volunteering to fight,” he said. “But you can’t win unless you can shift.” He ran a hand through his short, graying hair. “We need to figure out a way to get you out of this.”
“I appreciate your concern, Oscar, but I can’t continue to live in this town with a target on my back.”
“If you show up to that fight, unable to access your wolf, that target will become a bull’s eye, and those guys don’t miss.”
“What else am I supposed to do? I’m not allowed to leave. So, I either walk right up to them or let them hunt me down.”
He hesitated. “We’ll ask the twins to train you. If anyone can draw out your wolf, it’s one of them.”
Hope rose in me. Training with Idrissa sounded terrifying, but Oscar was right; it was my best chance. “Okay.” I nodded. “How long do you think they’ll give me before the fight?”
“Not long, knowing those jackasses.” He glanced me up and down. “You’ll need to put in some serious conditioning. Take a few days off. I can pay you vacation pay or something.”
“No way. I’m not skipping out on my responsibilities.”
“You’re stubborn.” He shook his head. “Just like your old man. Fine. Half days, and I’ll dock your pay.”
“Fine.”
“You shouldn’t go anywhere alone.”
“Agreed.” For the first time since arriving, I wasn’t going to argue about the whole house arrest situation.
He grunted, apparently satisfied. When he turned to walk away, I made a decision.
“Oscar,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“I think I need to show you something.”
He looked instantly wary. I couldn’t blame him. “What is it?”
I peeled the waistline of my pants down just enough to reveal the mark on my hip. Oscar stared at it for a long moment then looked up at me, eyes wide.
“That’s the mark of the curse breaker,” he said. Then his eyes widened. “Holy shit, I just said that. How in the hell… Do you know what this means?”
“I’m starting to think it’s important.”
He shook his head insistently. “Look, Ash, that mark i
s as sacred as it is dangerous.”
“So I’ve heard.”
His eyes narrowed, and he marched up to me. “From who? Who else knows about this, Ash?” His voice was urgent now.
“Kai saw it,” I admitted. “Accidentally.”
My face heated at the memory of that particular “accident.”
“Shit,” Oscar muttered. “Okay, Kai. That’s not a problem. I’ll speak to him. Anyone else?”
“No.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
“But the twins—”
“No one else can know, Ash. I mean it. Not a single person in this town can be trusted with knowing about that mark on your body.”
“This is so insane,” I said. “I don’t know where it came from or why I have it, but suddenly it means I’m public enemy number one.”
“You’re already public enemy number one,” he said, which was true, but still made me cringe. “If anyone sees that mark, you’re dead.”
I blinked, a little taken aback he’d just said it so casually. Okay, maybe not casually but still. My death shouldn’t even be on the table, and here Oscar was, pointing out the serious likelihood.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said quietly. “But I would like to know more about this so-called curse and how I’m supposed to break it using only a birthmark.”
“The curse is very real,” he said.
“No mates, no alpha, I’ve heard all that, but I don’t understand why.”
Oscar blew out a breath and motioned to the chair again. “Might as well sit. It’s not a simple story. And to be honest, I’ve never been able to tell it until now.”
He still looked dazed by that fact, and I was starting to develop a theory I definitely didn’t want to face just yet.
This time, I took the chair.
“Twenty years ago, our pack was moving toward peace talks with the hexerei. A channel had been opened—which, by the way, took about fifty years, to begin with—and it seemed like we were headed in the right direction. Finally. After centuries of war and conflict.”
“That sounds like a good thing,” I said.
“It was,” he said. “In some ways.” He stared out the window over my head, his gaze far away as he recounted it all. “But there were many pack members who didn’t want that peace. Didn’t trust it. We’d lived through lifetimes of distrust and prejudice, and it’s hard to let that go for some.”
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