Chapter 9

Elder Hendrick got back from the Rink’s new recruit meeting as I put the last dish in the dishwasher. Human inventions made simple tasks like these a breeze.

If only they figured out a cure for a mating bond severing, then I wouldn't be halfway to Asmodeus.

"Elder Hendrick, come to lecture me?"

"No. I heard what happened, John might be my nephew by birth, but I assure you he's not a favorite by choice. I'm here to apologize for my nephews behavior. I didn't know Desiree and him were shacking up."

I lifted my head at his words as the loose braid fell over my shoulder. My dark auburn hair mattered across sweaty skin.

My eyes must have resembled a crazy person, or maybe they were small with the way they stung and burnt. I wouldn't have known, couldn't know.

The frown on his face, the curled lip, and two brows creased into worried frowns should have said a thousand words.

I was all sweaty, biting my wolf back.

"You are dismissed for the next three days." I didn’t have to be told twice.

"I'll get one of the Sentinels to give you a lift to your place. Until your bond is severed, rest child."

The Elder couldn’t hide his waring eyes and stern face even if he smiled. He was the real bad wolf in our pack, although my Aunt insisted it was not the case, I believed he was truly the fiercest Elder we had.

The Alpha obviously was worse, but Alpha Conan wasn't scary. He maintained a peaceful demeanor and unlike John his asshole of a son, he was what many considered a good leader and caring mate. He was almost three hundred years old and thirty six of those years our Alpha.

"Thanks." I don't recall much of the drive back to my caravan, until a white hot heat licked at my flesh as my body burned like it was a rotisserie chicken scalded by an open flame. I hunched myself in the corner of my caravan. Sweating, drenching my clothes as my eyes scorched themselves every time I blinked. And all I could think about, all I wished to see was John Brooke’s head on a freaking platter with an apple in his mouth and a small flag saying ‘if only she liked me.’

I ignored the knock on my door, and as my pain threshold dwindled with each passing moment, I couldn’t remember making it to the bed. The taste of soup on my tongue.

A cool cloth, though welcomed on my chest and neck, also felt like sandpaper rubbing against my flesh. The night was long, and the torture didn’t end. It was a crescendo, and by the time nightfall was full on, I knew I had to change and give my wolf her due, give her the strings to my humanity, after all we were one. Even if we didn’t agree or have the same vision for our imminent future, we both agreed that human Ashlyn wasn’t strong enough to go through the severing mate bond.

The wolf Ashlyn was strong, fierce, and liked the warm hand on our feet. The low hum, the silhouette of the intruder.

“Who are you?”

“Never mind that, rest Ashlyn.” That deep voice, that baritone. How strong does a man have to be to produce such an Alpha voice? I try to open my eyes, but it’s like I’m stuck in a haze. I’m too weak to focus on anything right now. Who is this ? Why are they helping me?

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve always known your name, love.” Love? Am I dreaming? Is this the god of dreams?

A sudden shock of electricity shocked my entire body and with it the shift. My wolf shot to the surface, and I stretched my hind legs, lifted up my butt, swishing my tale as I released myself from the constant confines of my human form. My wolf snarls ‘weak’ as she lifted her head up to see the shadow form of the trespasser in its space. The figure giving just enough illusion to wonder, by the sight of his broad shoulders, tall lethal form, and peculiar scent.

A scent I knew somewhere in the back of my mind, I was supposed to know but couldn’t for the life of me remember.

His presence ran like a drum beating against my ribcage, into my chest, vibrating through my entire nervous system.

But with each step my wolf took closer, the unknown man cloaked himself deeper within the confines of his shadow.

"You should rest.”

“You should leave!” My wolf snarled, showing her fangs. A warning.

He laughed, it was hollow, and something ancient stirred within the small confines of the room.

“A wolf trying to scare me is a first.”

“Go or I’ll hurt…” My last word didn’t reach the tip of my tongue because a sudden wave of nausea hit me full throttle and with it a liter of green stuff. The taste was tangy as the bile rose up again.

“Easy black wolf, easy.” His fingers on my hair and other palm on my back wasn’t as unwelcome as I wanted it to be.

Nightfall took me over, and although I didn’t try to put a face to the voice since I was too focused on aiming for the bucket, I knew somehow the kindness of the uninvited guest said a lot more to me than his face could have.

The last thing I remember was his simple promise, “One day I wouldn’t need to hide in the shadows black wolf.”