Truce: Book 1 in the Aftermath Series

by Alainna MacPherson

  Wolf bite, Luna identified. Whoa, no one had said wolves could be made, I thought it was our DNA, genetics. I eyed Bri, who caught my gaze.

  She gave me a weary look. “Wolves aren’t made often,” she told the three of us. “When they are, it’s not every day they survive it.” Turning to me, she added, “A person can’t change unless they already have fae in their blood. The saliva in our bite can accelerate the genes to come to the surface, bringing out the lycan nature. But it can harm the human DNA if they aren’t strong enough, or if the Lycan in them isn’t potent enough.” I nodded my understanding, looking at them for a moment, seeing so much back story behind Marshall’s dark brown eyes.

  “Was it your choice?” I asked him directly, barring any niceties about it.

  His jaw muscles popped at his cheeks before he shook his head. Shelly supplied, “Vic wanted to expand his pack in a hurry.”

  Wide eyes met mine as Bri and I both put the puzzle pieces together. They’d been changed three months ago, about the time that Vic had kidnapped Jerry’s family. Before I killed him. He must have been trying to grow his pack to help his chances of winning the fight. Bri turned back to look at Shelly.

  “Where are you staying? Here on the compound?” she asked.

  Shelly’s eyes grew wide and when she looked ready to open her mouth to answer, Marshall cut her off. “We’ve got a place off the comp,” he said. I could see the clip in his words, even though I couldn’t hear. It was a touchy subject, where they were living. Taking a moment to think on it, I watched them both take a calculated sip of their drinks, probably not really tasting it.

  Finally, I broke the awkward silence. “I’d like for you to move into the main house,” I found myself signing. Before Bri could argue, which I could see she was about to, I added aloud, “I need someone to keep the house while I’m away. I can’t stay here every night. Not yet anyway. There’s a lot going on and I can’t be here full time just yet.” I didn’t want to admit that I had no idea if I could at all. I honestly had no idea if and when that would happen, my life was such a fumbled mess right now.

  I could see Marshall’s shoulders tense and his eyes go crazy wild. “No,” he said, staring me in the eye.

  Challenge, Luna warned. I understood she wanted to burst forth and remind him that I was alpha, but that wasn’t at all what I needed or wanted just then. Trust, I needed his trust.

  “You’re safe here. And free to come and go anytime you like,” I told him, looking at Shelly. “The thing is, I can tell when you’re lying, and I know that wherever you’re staying right now isn’t safe.”

  Marshall hated that I was airing out what I knew, while his sister looked relieved.

  “How about a trial period?” Thank god for Bri, she always knew what to do. “Say, a week, seven days, in the house. If you’re not comfortable, we’ll find you other accommodations, somewhere safe?”

  Nervously hopeful, Shelly glanced at her brother. Fearing he would refuse; she spoke up first. “Yes,” she said, looking between Bri and I. “A week, as a trial. Sounds doable.” I could see her nudge her brother in the ribs and he reluctantly tore his gaze away from mine, which never wavered. He may be beta, and strong too, but Luna was stronger. I was stronger.

  “Good. It’s settled,” I announced, not giving him room to wiggle out of it any further. “Have your stuff moved over by tonight. Get some help if you need it, take the van, whatever you gotta do.”

  I couldn’t explain it, but something told me not to allow them to stay another minute wherever they’d been staying. Something was pulling at me, telling me they weren’t safe wherever they were sleeping.

  When they hung around a little longer, looking at me oddly, I glanced at Bri. “Will you have Ro give Marshall the keys, please?” She nodded and waved for them to follow her. As they both moved to do so, Shelly stopped and leaped forward to hug me tight. It was a surprise and I could see the worry take over Marshall’s expression suddenly, but I hugged her back before he could pull her away.

  “Thank you,” she said to me after she’d pulled away, the shyness back again.

  At that, her brother took her by the wrist and tugged her out of the house. I found a stool at the bar of the island and sank into it, taking a moment to regroup. I knew I wasn’t done, not even hardly. I was sure that Gearden or Bri would find something that needed my attention. This whole Alpha thing was way more than I was ready to take on. Surely there was someone else more equipped to handle this job.

  Until that someone came along, I was it. Thank Danu for Bri. And for Gearden, keeping his distance. The last thing I needed was to have a male alpha from another pack whispering in my ear.

  “We’re done out here, want some company?” I looked up to see Gearden standing at the doorway, holding the screen door open, an impatient Lugh hovering behind him. I nodded, trying not to let my exhaustion show.

  He ticked his chin to Lugh, giving him the all-clear and they entered, the spring on the screen door slamming it closed. Lugh looked anxious about something.

  I watched him, my gaze hawking him until he reached the island. He tilted the soda bottle over to read the label. “It’s a sugary drink with bubbles,” I told him, smiling a little at the perplexed look that erased the antsy one he wore a second ago.

  “Would you like some?” I asked him. He shrugged uncaringly, still no idea what the heck he was in for. I raised a brow at Gearden, who nodded. Taking down the last glass in the cabinet, I also grabbed a plain white coffee mug, filling each and handing one to both men. Gingerly, he lifted the mug to his lips and took the tiniest of sips, coughing a little at the surprise of the carbonation catching him off guard.

  Gearden and I both smiled at his reaction, but he recovered quickly, taking another sip, more prepared this time around. He licked his lips and beamed at me, “Amazing!”

  I barked out a laugh. The first one in a while. It felt so good, too. All the pent-up anxiety and responsibility that had happened in just the last forty-eight hours had weighed me down so much I wasn’t even aware how it pressed on me until the moment. That little break in the stress had the laughter turning quickly from mirth to well needed tears in a release of tension.

  Setting down his drink, it was Lugh who stepped closer, gathering me in, not saying anything, just holding me. And I let him. I didn’t think about all the reasons I shouldn’t. They weren’t nearly as loud as the reasons that told me I should. The comfort I felt in his arms felt just like Gearden’s but different. After a moment, the tears now coming full force, I felt Gearden’s chest against my back, his forehead resting on the crown of my head. I doubted they were touching one another, but they made sure to engulf me with their strength and care. They absorbed the sigh that shuddered through me, breaking it down into nothing.

  When I felt drained of the stress, along with my energy, I pulled back, letting myself lean into Gearden as I moved. Lugh arched a brow at me, looking ready to catch me again if I fell. I gave him an appreciative smile and squeezed his arm. As I moved to let go, I felt him tense, and suddenly both were standing in front of me. The next thing I knew, Dom and Tomos were barreling through the door.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Gearden, who stood by Lugh, both unmovable statues in front of me, glaring at the door.

  He turned to look at Dom, who said something to him that I couldn’t see. Then relaxed a little. “It’s the human hunters. They’ve tracked you here.”

  “What?” I gasped out loud. Putting some extra strength to it, I pushed past the two, holding a staying hand out to Dom and Tomos, leaving them all to follow me as I strode to the door and out onto the porch.

  Panic met my eyes. The Hunters entered the Westboro compound for the second time – this time uninvited – sending some lesser wolves back into their homes to watch from their windows. A few others, Bobby included, stood in front of the house at the bottom of the steps, placing themselves between me and the Hunter leader, the colonel I’d fought and spoken with right before s
tepping through the portal with Lugh.

  I felt the four men at my back, the screen door slapping against the frame as it sprung back into place. “Colonel,” I greeted out loud, nodding to Bobby, signaling that he should keep his position. His eyes grew steely, taking his role seriously, which struck a chord inside me. Pride. Pride for my packmate.

  In my peripheral, I saw Bri and Ro race around the corner of the house, looking ready to shift. I put a staying hand out to them. The last thing I wanted was to be the one to instigate a fight that would most likely end up in someone losing their life, Hunter or Wolf alike.

  The older man, devoid of any weapon on his person from what I could see, approached the steps, stopping a couple feet from Bobby.

  “Ms. Thompson,” he looked up at me, his eyes taking in all the extra manpower I’d collected around me.

  He said something to me, and Bri stepped to the side to interpret. “We’d been waiting for your return,” he said, steel eyes moving to land on Lugh.

  The older hunter, a general of sorts, looked like a man who’d been hunting our kind since before he could drive. Which would make sense, as some of the hunters standing behind him looked to be even younger than me if that was possible. That they feared us so much they would send them so young, boggled my mind.

  “We decided to extend our stay with the Seelie,” I answered, using Bri’s voice.

  He looked untrusting as he glanced to Gearden, Dom and Tomos before turning back to look at me again. “Did you return with any more of them?” he asked, nodding to Lugh.

  I didn’t hesitate to answer, “A few.”

  Thank goodness Bri didn’t fumble on the lie either.

  “I’d like to…see for myself. There are things we need to—"

  I stopped him there. “You’ll meet them when they’re ready,” I told him, taking a small step forward.

  I felt a wave of energy surround me suddenly. Looking around the compound, I saw that those who had sought shelter in their homes were coming back out, stepping down their porch steps, heads lowered between their shoulders, eyes yellowed with the start of their shifts. Any second now, fur would no doubt start to burst from smooth skin, sharp teeth replacing the dull human ones.

  I held a hand up to my new pack, telling them to hold. Thankfully, they did. Staggard in the clearing at the center of the compound, they stared down the hunters, lips lifting to bare their teeth, snarls spitting out.

  “Perhaps you should have called first, Hunter,” I told him, turning back to him, Bri reading my words flawlessly.

  His obscenely thick brows crunched together in a scowl. “Maybe you should have reached out before I had to go looking for you, wolf.”

  I didn’t entertain him by biting on that line but glanced pointedly to the Westboros waiting for my “go” sign, telling them to attack. “I only just took over as their alpha,” I told him. “I’m not sure how much authority I have over all of them.”

  Thankfully, he got the point. With long stares at myself and Lugh, he eyed the dozen or so people, all in different phases of shifting, ready to pounce.

  Quickly, he spun on his heel and led his troupe off the property. Not until I could no longer see them through the trees down the dirt driveway, did I turn to look at the men and women only just beginning to relax and straighten from their threatening stances.

  “They showed bravery because you did,” Gearden told me. Bobby looked up at me from the bottom of the stairs, the yellow in his eyes fading as he smiled wide.

  I looked back to see people gather around the fire pit. Someone brought out beer, and I wondered if everyone involved was legal.

  “Come on. There’s some financial stuff you should look at,” Ro told me, pointing towards the house.

  Nodding, I told him to wait just a second and turned to Lugh. “You’ll have to prepare your people. I can’t hold the hunters back for long. They’re going to find a way onto McIntire property to get a look at you. And your numbers will be seen as a threat, I’m sure of it.”

  He nodded, as if to tell me he was way ahead of me. “I’ll handle my people. Don’t worry about that. You’ll have to find a way to broach the topic of peace, worry about that.”

  Damn if he wasn’t right. Though he oversaw the Seelie, it was my job to find a way to create peace between the two. Most humans were unaware of their thousands-year old one-sided fight against the Tuatha De, and the hunters probably wouldn’t be receptive to the idea of full reintegration.

  They led me inside to a small office on the main floor in the back, right next to the stacked laundry and a mudroom door, where the dog door was. I shook my head at the memory of seeing fully shifted wolves coming out of the thing. Then I wondered if there was ever a real domesticated dog on the property or if the door was installed for the sole purpose of quick and easy access for non-opposable thumbs.

  Ro and Bobby hovered around me, showing me contract after contract, bills galore, bank statements and other official stuff that had to do with money, I’m sure, but my eyes started to glass over after the first thirty minutes. My mind was nowhere near up to taking in any more information. Numbers and stuff were not my thing. Science, most definitely, but income to outcome, not so much.

  Gearden walked in from doing whatever it was he was doing with Lugh and the rest of my male followers, to let the two know that I needed a break, thank Danu.

  He led me back to the kitchen where someone had begun laying out a spread with all the makings for sandwiches on the island. When Ro walked out from what I suspected was the pantry, I rolled my eyes. Of course, the sandwich king would be responsible.

  He smiled at me proudly when he spotted me, setting the case of orange soda on the counter. I highly doubted he bought it himself, as I’d never seen him drink the stuff, but it suddenly sounded delicious right then. He quickly washed his hands and turned to ask me, “Want one?”

  I nodded eagerly, my belly rumbling. I slid onto one of the three stools at the island and watched as he deftly stacked sandwiches together. All the while, Bri, Dom, Tomos and Bobby made one for themselves as well, taking turns with the condiments.

  Sandwich in his bare hands, Bobby remained standing, leaning a hip on the island farthest from me, taking a hearty bite. As he chewed, I asked him, signing with my spoke words, “What do you know about Shelly and Marshall?”

  A guarded expression took over his boyish looking face. He found an empty plate and set his sandwich down to sign, “As you’ve probably already suspected, Vic turned them in hopes to build our numbers quickly.”

  I nodded solemnly.

  “He got names of wolf descendants from the hunters as part of the deal he made with them. No one knew about it until he just came home with them one day. It was a day or two after that shit hit the fan. Their first time shifting was that day you and the rest of the McIntire pack came in.”

  “Do you know where they’re staying?” I asked, taking the plate that Ro handed me, loaded with sandwich and a whole dill pickle.

  I scowled at the vinegary vegetable but took a bite of the sandwich. Mmm…roast beef and cheddar. I swear I heard Luna purr as my taste buds rejoiced.

  Bobby did the same. As he chewed, he signed, a little slow, but still getting the hang of it. “I just know that as soon as Vic was gone, they weren’t required to stay on the compound. I’m sure they wanted to leave, go as far as you can from this, but they were still trapped. No one else would know what being a wolf was about. So, they stayed close. That’s all I know really. No one knows where they’ve been staying.”

  “No one cared to ask,” I added for him, and he didn’t deny it, even looking a little ashamed himself.

  “I’ve invited them to live in the house,” I told him. The bite he had in his mouth seemed to lodge itself in his throat. He grabbed Ro’s soda to help wash it down, the closest beverage. When he was done, I watched the disgusted look from Ro tell me Bobby was close to losing a limb for taking something that was his. I pulled a new can from the box and ha
nded it to him as a peace offering. He took it, popped the top and purposefully took a large chug from it, eyeing Bobby over the rim as he did.

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Bobby asked, probably in a word vomit, which is why I didn’t take his doubting of a decision I made personally. This time. One thing I’d learned from Liam as an alpha, not to take even the slightest of challenges lightly but still, not to take everything personally. It was a touchy line we walked on to keep the balance; I was learning.

  “Turned or not, they are members of our pack,” I reminded him softly. He still felt the whip of my reminder that pack was pack, no matter what.

  Then it occurred to me, “Is there a bedroom for each of them?”

  He smiled and nodded. “There are five bedrooms upstairs and one in the basement. They’re all small, but they’ll do.”

  Perfect. Popping the last bite into my mouth, I looked to Gearden and Lugh. “I want to check it out. Wanna come with?” I asked them, ignoring the surprised look on the faerie king’s face. Turning, I headed for the stairs, but not until after I tossed the pickle back at Ro, who caught it expertly and took a large bite, chuckling at me.

  At the top of the stairs, we were met with a window and a long hallway filled with doors. We walked down it, peeking into each room, finding that Bobby was right, the rooms were a little on the small side. Marshall and Shelly could still have their own rooms though, thank goodness. There were four bedrooms, all the same squared shape, with a bathroom in the center on one side and a linen closet on the other. At the end, a large door led to the master bedroom, which was about twice the size as the other rooms. A small but useable ensuite bathroom with a tub and shower combo looked ready for use. A king size platform bed, sans a headboard, was pushed up in the middle of the far wall, a large dresser with a mirror opposite it. They were the only pieces of furniture, all looking newer, but a little on the used side. The mattress smelled unused though, thankfully. I had prepared myself to throw out anything that smelled of Vic.