Shadows of the Ancients (13 page)

“Fine. Your little wolf was thrown in front of me by fate. I smelled you on her from a mile away.” He snickered. “Maybe the Lesser females like to test drive the merchandise before bonding.” He eyed me curiously then. “Must have been something special to snare my brother here. He’s very picky.”

Evan chose to ignore the comments. “Well, now you know. She is my intended. Is your business concluded here? We have places to be.”

“No, my business has not concluded. That was only one of the reasons I was sent here. You actually have bigger problems than just this.” Mikael pointed to me with disgust written all over his face. “Father is never happy when a Lesser openly complains about his boys, especially when part of the claim is that you helped usurp rule of a local wolf pack.”

“Marcus!” I growled. I knew he was a coward, but adding rat to the list of his attributes never crossed my mind. I couldn’t believe he’d go above my father after being ousted from the pack in disgrace. “My father should have killed him,” I hissed.

“Now, I see it, a little. She has some fire inside her. I’m sure it flares up outside the temper tantrums too. That explains the fact that you’re wearing each other’s scent as if you were already bonded.” A low growl emanating from Evan’s throat stopped Mikael from saying any more about that, and I was not going to rise to his baiting either. If he wanted to think we were sleeping together, then let him. “Marcus. That was the fool’s name. You know we have an edict barring us from interfering with Lesser pack hierarchy.”

“I did nothing to interfere.” Evan stated. He had most certainly implied my dad should take his rightful place, but he never put any of his own power behind the suggestion, or in the removal of Marcus.

“I see. Well, I will need to speak with the new pack leader at any rate.” Mikael looked me up and down again before he continued, “so this new pack alpha is your father, then?”

“Yes.”

“And you say Evan had nothing to do with this transfer of power?” I wished I could knock that smirk off his smug little face.

“I promise you, my father is not easily influenced. He was also not happy about Evan and me. I had already been promised to another when I met Evan.”

“I see,” he said. “Well, I think we better get going. It sounds like we’re headed to the same place now. Your friend was taken to the pack lands, was she not? That means she will have to be presented to the pack master to be accepted, if he so chooses. If she survives.” He smiled again as he stood and walked to the door. “Let’s go see daddy.”

Suddenly, I feared for my dad, but after Evan was willing to jump to my defense in front of his brother earlier, I was trusting he would keep us all safe. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ashley as we got in Evan’s car with his brother.

Mikael asked me something as we drove, but I hadn’t been paying attention, because I was lost in thought. He snapped his fingers in front of my face, and Evan spoke up for me.

“She is concerned for her friend, whom you mangled earlier. Leaver her be.”

“A wolf has no business being friends with a human anyway. Let this be a lesson to you!”

A growl rose up from deep within me, and it was matched by the one coming from Evan. He was the one who spoke though. “Jess owed a life debt to that human.”

“What?”

“Yes, that particular human saved her life when she was going through the calling. Then the same human stuck around to assist with another wounded wolf. Just that alone could have gotten her killed.”

“I did not realize.”

“No, because you act hastily, as always, Mikael.” A life debt wasn’t an easily dismissed thing among the werewolves. It was a thing of power in and of itself. That’s why Ashley was able to know about the pack, and why her brother was able to become one of us and go through the transformation when he requested to.

“Evan, if Ashley…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish that statement. If my friend died, I would be lost without her. We may not have had anything like a mated wolf bond, but we had the next closest thing possible. Ashley was my sister in all things.

“Her brother made it through the change, right?”

“Yes, a few years ago.”

“She’ll pull through. Usually, if one in a family does, then they are all capable to an extent. If Ashley’s sibling made it, then she should too.”

“I hope so,” was all the answer I could get out in response. When we pulled up every light in my house was on.

CHANGES

I saw someone watching from the front door that was cracked open just a bit, but no one came out until I stepped out of Evan’s car. All at once, the door flew open and Jack, Ashley’s brother, came running out to me. He threw his arms around me and squeezed tight. “Thank God, you’re okay.” He whispered in my ear.

“What about Ashley?” I asked breathlessly.

“She’ll be okay, Jess. She’s made it through this far. The wolf that brought her, is that who did this? He wouldn’t answer anyone’s questions. I couldn’t exactly confront him with Ash in his arms.”

“No, I’m the one that did it.” Mikael answered smugly. “You can thank me for it momentarily.”

Jack didn’t hold back. He let me go, and stormed straight for Mikael, hitting him right in the jaw. Evan had to stop Mikael from retaliating. “Relax brother, if you couldn’t tell, he is the girl’s true sibling. You should expect nothing less, and you deserved far worse.”

“It may have been a well-deserved hit, but it’s the only one you will be getting.” Mikael spouted off as he spit blood free from his mouth, and touched his jaw. Power rolled off Mikael in waves, forcing Jack to his knees. Mikael looked surprisingly at Evan and me when neither of us were forced to bow to his power. It hurt like hell not to do it, but I refused to give in to the man who just shredded my best friend. “Interesting,” he said as he reigned his power back in.

Jack spoke to Evan once he righted himself again, “your friend, Asi, seems to be doing something to lessen her pain.”

“It’s a talent of his. He can swallow another’s agony, but since he feels it for them, he doesn’t do it very often.” Evan considered something for a moment, and then added, “He enjoys your sister’s company though.”

I didn’t say anything about that, but gave Evan a questioning look which he returned with a shrug and a smile. “I want to see her,” I said as I stepped closer to the porch.

“Wait,” Jack said, looking past me at Evan. “You know she won’t be ready for anything like that right away!” The worry in his eyes made me wonder what he meant.

“Asriel won’t push it. Your sister will be fine.”

“Wait, won’t push what?” I asked looking back and forth between the two of them, willing either of them to answer the damn question.

“He’s taking her pain from her because he likes Ashley. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s going to want next.” Jack said venomously.

“Um, apparently it does, because I’m slightly clueless. Asi has been hanging out with Ash a lot because of Evan and I seeing each other. Of course he would help her.”

“He’ll want to mate with her too, Jess.”

“What? Seriously, she isn’t even a wolf yet! That’s ridiculous, Jack!”

As we stood there debating it, a tandem scream ripped through the walls of my house and out into the night from Ashley and Asi. The sound filled me with terror. What if it was her rejecting the change? I started forward, trying to run to them, but the moment my foot hit the bottom step Evan’s arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back out of the way.

A beautiful red wolf came barreling out of my house, followed by a black and silver wolf. Had Evan not pulled me off the porch when he did, the red wolf would have smacked right into me.

“Holy shit! That was close. Was that Ashley?” I asked, and Evan nodded.

“That was definitely Asriel following her,” he confirmed.

“She’s gorgeous!” I watched as she and Asi ran off into the forest beside my house. “Maybe we should shift and go after them?”

“No, you shouldn’t. They’re fine, and we have business here still.” Mikael was already up the porch steps and heading for the front door as we caught up to him. Evan walked around his brother, and held the door out for me first. A gesture that Mikael was huffing over, and secretly made me incredibly happy.

We all went inside, and I called out for my parents to come join us in the living room. Mikael stood there, looking at me as though I’d lost my damn mind when my parents came into the room.

“What?” I choked out.

“Were you raised with any manners at all?” He asked.

“Apparently not,” I said as I looked between Mikael and my parents.

“I am Jameson St. Marks, this is my mate, Eileen.” My dad stated it clearly, and gave me a look that said I should have known better. Damn, I did hate embarrassing them in front of a jerk like Mikael.

“Mom, dad, this is Mikael De’Lune. He’s one of Evan’s brothers.” I tossed out the introduction about as enthusiastically as I would the trash, and my mother’s mortified look told me I was going to be in trouble for that later. “What? He’s a jerk. He’s the one who hurt Ashley.”

“You did what?” My dad’s chest puffed up as the words left his mouth. Ashley may not have been a blood relation, but she was family none the less.

“I’m going to need for everyone to stop being shocked and pissed off already. The girl had a temper and came between a conversation I was having with your daughter. I was well within my right to punish her for the intrusion. I won’t apologize for it. Anyway, the girl survived the transition, and is off running the woods with a friend. All’s well that ends well. That being said, I am here on business.” Mikael walked over and helped himself to a seat on our couch, holding out his hand, indicating he expected all of us to come take our seats in the living room as well.

“You’re still an ass.” I said as I followed Evan into the living room. He sat in a chair and pulled me down on his lap. It didn’t matter what else was going on around us, Evan never failed to have an effect on me physically. My heart picked up its pace as I sat with my legs draped over his. “Sorry for being a bitch to your brother,” I whispered into his ear.

“Never apologize for that, sweetheart.” He said to me, pulling me closer to him. I took advantage of everyone getting settled in, and the waterfall curtain my hair created. I nipped at his earlobe, eliciting a response from him. “Mmm, if you continue to do that we will not be sitting through this meeting.” He warned me quietly.

“I’m okay with that,” I said as I did it again.

“If you two don’t stop, I will separate you!” My father said and then turned his attention back to Mikael. “Now, what business did you have that brought you to our home?”

“My father is curious about the circumstances that led to you becoming pack leader.”

“It’s really nothing to be curious over. I was the intended pack leader to begin with.”

“Explain.” Mikael said, as he sat forward, feigning rapt attention.

“When my own father passed on in an accident, I did not chose to step up and take over. I had a young family at the time, and felt I was needed at home instead. Marcus stepped up and offered to take over, no one challenged this, and that’s how he came to power.” My father took in a deep breath and sighed it back out. “Marcus had plans for my daughter to be bound with a young wolf from our pack.”

“Did you agree with this match?” Mikael interrupted to ask.

“Yes, at the time, I did. Zach was the strongest male of their generation. I thought he was the best match my daughter was going to be able to have.”

“Until she met my brother,” he interrupted again.

“Yes, she came home with his scent on her, and all hell broke loose.”

Mikael looked at Evan. “Really? Do tell!”

My parents explained the chain of events to Mikael, and I didn’t feel up to listening to them rehash it all, so I got up and asked Evan if he wanted something to drink.

“I’ll help you,” he said as he followed me to the kitchen.

“Sorry, I just didn’t feel like sitting through that little story again. I feel like I should be ashamed of myself for what happened, but I’m not.” He grabbed me and pulled me around to face him, backing me up to the kitchen counter. Evan leaned down and kissed me, lightly at first, and then a more powerful kiss. His arms had me caged in so I couldn’t go anywhere, but I certainly didn’t want to be anywhere else. I melted into his embrace, and let myself be swept away in the feel of him all over me. In his spicy scent that would linger on me long after he pulled away.

He stepped back long enough to look down at me with those beautiful cobalt eyes of his. “I don’t want you to ever feel ashamed of being with me. I don’t want anyone else, Jess. I marked you because we had some kind of amazing connection that night. I’ve never in my life felt something like that, and I don’t want you to ever think this was something I took on lightly. I don’t just want you in my life, I need you with me. I have hope for the first time in a long while, and you gave it to me.”

“Evan…” I whispered his name on my lips, but his mouth was back on mine before I could reassure him that I felt the same way. Since I couldn’t say it in words, I put everything into that kiss, into him. I let myself go, as we drowned in each other.

“I’m rather parched in here,” Mikael’s annoying voice pierced through our little bubble of love from the other room. “I thought you went to fetch us drinks?”

“Ugghh, seriously, how is he your brother?” Evan smiled down at me, placed one more quick kiss on my lips, and pulled a jug of ice tea out of the refrigerator.

“We better go ahead and get this over with. He’ll just get more annoying the longer we stay in here.” Evan looked around the kitchen, trying to decide which cabinet might hold the glasses. “Which one?”

“Over here,” I said, moving away from him, completely frustrated. I wanted to dive right into Evan and not come up for air, but everyone around me seemed determined to get in the way of that. Well, not everyone, just a certain annoying brother of his. I pulled five glasses out of the cabinet, and set two more aside in case Asriel and Ashley came back.

Evan carried the tea and a couple glasses while I took the rest. I was all ready to settle back into the same chair Evan and I had occupied before, but Jack was sitting in it now. I had forgotten about him when Ashley ran out of the house in wolf form.