22: The Witch Elders Said No

What have I done?

What the hell was I thinking?

This is bad... real fucking bad.

I bit my bottom lip as I listened to the silence fill the room. The only other sound came from Trenton's rhythmic breathing.

How could he sleep at a time like this? I turned onto my side and slapped his chest to wake him.

"Get up and get dressed," I snarled as I jumped to my feet and started to drag on my clothes.

"Hey, are you upset?"

"Of course I am," I hissed. "This was a mistake. A big one. I shouldn't be getting tangled in our affair again when I have my daughter to worry about. She'll be seven in a fucking month, Trenton... I can't do this."

Trenton knew exactly why that mattered, so I didn't need to explain wolf scents to him or remind him what would happen when Rachel turned seven. He already knew, and judging by the look on his face, he understood exactly where this was heading.

"What else did Alastor say?" he finally asked as he got dressed.

I looked directly at him. "He said if he doesn't smell his scent on Rachel, you and I are dead."

Trenton went completely still, and for several seconds, neither of us spoke. Then he ran both hands over his face and released a heavy breath.

"Fuck."

"That's helpful."

"Ava, I'm thinking," he sighed.

"Then think faster."

He started pacing, and I watched him move back and forth across the room as though the answer might be hiding somewhere beneath the furniture.

"We need to figure something out."

I already had, but I couldn't let him know that. A part of me felt guilty knowing that when I left, Alastor would take his wrath out on him. I had to give him a heads-up, but I couldn't tell him tonight. I'd leave him a letter, and he'd find it when I was long gone. In the meantime, I'd have to play along and pretend to panic about what I was going to do.

"He doesn't know Rachel is yours. If he knew, we'd probably already be dead. At least we have a month to devise a plan."

"You don't know what the hell my brother knows."

"And neither do you."

Trenton stopped pacing and looked at me.

"We should tell him."

I stared at him because surely I had heard that incorrectly.

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"He already knows about us. Maybe we should tell him the truth before Rachel's birthday."

I continued staring at him while Kennedy remained silent for approximately two seconds before she started laughing inside my head. It wasn't because anything was funny. Apparently, even my wolf couldn't believe the stupidity standing in front of us.

"Tell him the truth? And risk my daughter getting killed over it?"

"Ava, listen..."

"No, I really want to hear this. Go ahead and tell me how that conversation works. What if he snaps and hurts Rachel?"

"Ava, he's a monster, but he's not the devil."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Look, I still think we have a better outcome if we come clean."

I chuckled humourlessly.

"Do we invite him for tea first? Maybe serve biscuits? Then you can sit beside me and say, Brother, remember the little girl you've believed was yours for almost seven years? Surprise! She's mine."

"Keep your fucking voice down."

"That's your concern?"

"I'm trying to protect you!"

"By confessing?"

"By getting ahead of this before he finds out himself."

I stared at Trenton, and suddenly, every reason I hadn't told him about my plans became painfully clear.

This was why I hadn't told him about Mount Hecate or Winifred, and it was exactly why I hadn't told him that in two and a half days, Rachel and I would be gone. No matter how much Trenton loved me, somewhere inside him lived a lifetime of obedience to his brother, and whenever things became difficult, his first instinct was always to find some way to make Alastor understand.

But Alastor didn't understand anything he couldn't control.

He took what he wanted, controlled what belonged to him and destroyed anything that threatened either of those things, while Trenton kept believing there was some reasonable man buried beneath all that cruelty.

I was done waiting for him to learn otherwise.

"We're not telling him anything."

"Ava..."

"Nothing, Trenton. This is my secret to tell, not yours. Don't you dare open your mouth and tell him jack shit."

His jaw tightened. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

Survive the remainder of my time here, get Rachel and Ashley out, reach Mount Hecate and disappear.

That was what I intended to do, but I couldn't tell Trenton any of it. Not when his brilliant solution to our current problem was to confess everything to the man who had just threatened to kill us.

So I looked my second mate directly in the eyes and lied.

"I don't know."

The disappointment that crossed his face almost made me feel guilty.

Almost.

Before either of us could say anything else, a faint tapping sound came from somewhere behind me. I turned towards the window and heard it again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Trenton went on high alert. "What the hell is that?"

My stomach dropped when I noticed the dark shape sitting on the other side of the glass.

The hawk.

Winifred.

I immediately moved towards the window before remembering that Trenton was standing directly behind me.

Fuck.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"That's clearly not nothing."

The hawk tapped against the glass again, and when Trenton tried to walk closer, I quickly moved into his path.

"It's just a bird."

"A bird knocking on a window?"

"Maybe he's polite."

Trenton stared at me, and I stared right back at him until the hawk tapped against the glass again.

Traitor.

"I'll deal with it," I said.

"Ava..."

"I'm tired, Trenton."

His expression hardened as he studied me. "You've been keeping something from me."

My heart skipped, but I refused to let it show.

"I've been keeping plenty of things from you."

The words hurt him, and I saw it immediately in his face, but this time, I didn't take them back.

"Go to bed."

He stared at me for several seconds before finally turning towards the door. His hand rested on the handle, but instead of opening it, he hesitated.

"Ava?"

"What?"

"If Alastor finds out Rachel is mine, I won't let him hurt either of you."

I wanted to believe him, and Goddess, I wanted to believe him so badly that a part of me almost did.

But thirteen years had taught me exactly what Trenton's promises were worth whenever Alastor stood on the other side of them.

"You need to take a shower. Wash off what we just did so no one suspects anything," I said. "I need to do the same."

"Ava..." He stepped towards me, and I backed away.

"Goodnight, Trenton."

He left, and the moment the door closed behind him, I locked it and hurried towards the window.

The hawk hopped onto the sill as soon as I opened it. Tied securely to its leg was the ointment I needed, along with a tiny piece of parchment. My fingers shook slightly as I untied them because the ointment was what I'd been waiting for, but the note meant Winifred had something else to tell me.

If Opal had managed to get word to her, then Winifred knew about Ashley.

Good.

I unfolded the parchment and immediately recognized Winifred's messy handwriting, but there were only a few words written across it.

~The Witch Elders said no.~

I read them once, then again, and finally a third time because apparently my brain had decided tonight hadn't already given it enough problems.

I stared at the message while Kennedy stirred inside me. 'Well?'

I folded the parchment. 'Well what?'

'What are we going to do?'

I looked through the window towards the dark forest beyond Drexel territory and thought about the mess my life had become in less than twenty-four hours.

I had one child, one abused Alpha's daughter who needed to disappear, one pissed-off group of ancient witches who had apparently decided she couldn't, and one husband who already suspected I'd had a child with his brother.

I sighed.

'We're taking Ashley anyway.'