Ashes To Ashes (Wolf Guard Book 2) (10 page)

Chapter 14

Ty stood beside me, black hair in some style reminiscent of bed hair, as if his hands had run through it so many times it now remained in disorder. Blue eyes wide at the few children running after James as he allowed them their game of chase.

James was a young wolf, only eighteen, and yet he had none of the narrow mindedness of the rest of the pack. He always greeted Ty as some long lost brother and I found his enthusiasm catching, a boy without prejudice who's listens only to his own heart - a rare find indeed.

He was one of the few remaining males, a child still really, only just beginning to fill out with the weight of the animal inside, the beast that pushed against its restraints and forced the human body to increase in mass as the wolf grew to fill it. He had an ease of self that I was envious of, completely comfortable in his skin and carefree as he pounced on the young children in mock anger, making their giggles fill the courtyard and surrounding forest.

"Never knew he was so good with kids, he actually seems to like them chasing him around." Ty commented in almost awe.

A twitch threatened at the edge of my lips. "Jealous, Ty? Worried you've been replaced by tiny people?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes at me. "Don't be silly, I'm still his favorite."

And the annoying thing was that he was completely correct. James had some sort of hero worship towards Ty - I was consistently dumbfounded by the fact."He's obviously not as bright as I thought."

Ty grinned,"smartest boy I've ever met."

I shook my head at him and let my eyes wander to the remaining grounds. Morning sun glistened on last night's dew, crisp warmth that fed burgeoning growth, animation after twilight's stillness. In the glow of such simple beauty, where things seemed to only begin and flourish and start over, a tightness clenched the muscles of my stomach. A flurry of wings that flapped around my intestines, an insistent flush that silently pounded blood to extremities, readying every limb for action when all I could see around me was relaxation.

"What's that worry I feel?"

Sneaky empath, seeking out that thread of emotion that I buried and pondered in private. I huffed and turned accusing eyes his way. "Stop reading me, Ty. It's rude."

He laughed and ruffled my hair until I slapped at his hands and I still ended up with something resembling his own nest of black hair."Stop keeping things to yourself and I wouldn't need to."

I grunted and screwed my face up, taking a breath when a heavy tail thumped in response to his teasing. My wolf peaked out and turned excited eyes on Ty - she was forever childish when it came to him. Eager to pounce when his back was turned, slyly stalking and nipping his feet. "Don't wind her up," because he knew exactly what he was doing. "I don't have enough clothes to lose these when she wants to take a bite out of you."

He only laughed and nudged my side again, shifty amber eyes narrowed and growled playfully. Her back bowed as she crouched down and lifted her ass, tail frantically swiping against my spine. I punched his side and closed my eyes, breathing slowly as I promised her freedom to bite him as many times as she liked, if only she'd wait until later. Conall was in a meeting with Lane and I'd made the concession to take one of them with us if we went beyond the gate, just until the redhead was no longer an issue. It grated slightly - I'd spent long enough looking after myself that allowing that small thing had been hard on my ego. In the end it had been a choice between my own pride and letting a little of my control go. An inconsequential amount really, a tiny piece of me I gave away.

"You gonna tell me?"

I blew out a breath, "I don't know what it is, I just feel antsy I guess. Maybe it'll get better after a run." I couldn't explain much more then that, it was a deep feeling of oncoming dread, a force that burned to be acknowledged. But I couldn't separate where it came from, whether it was my own subconscious that plagued or if I was picking up feelings from across this fledgling bond, if the source was not my own worry but the man who set my nerves on fire when I felt his presence. And that was the crux of the problem, if it was Lane that was twisting my stomach then I couldn't do much about it and I refused to have that conversation with Ty.

"I can feel some of it, doesn't feel like something you should ignore. Could be -"

His voice cut off as a howl rose far in the distance. Not a wolf's call, or at least not a normal one. Garbled and strained as if the voice was obstructed by something or the mouth not able to form the action properly.

"What the fuck is that?"

A responding howl filled the air, this one a female, a call of pain and an alarm for the rest of the pack to heed. I turned to Ty's wide eyes and answered his question. "Get the kids in the house, make sure James stays with them. You don't let anyone passed that front door, Ty. Do you understand?"

That blue shone like cerulean ice, cold and hard and swimming with denial. "Not leaving you out here, Sash. Don't ask me to." He shouted across the courtyard and caught James' attention from where he'd been staring in the same direction as we had.

More howls rose across the forest, some warped and muffled and some feminine and angry. The fear on the younger boy’s face was obvious, chilling when it interrupted the normally laid back expression. He nodded at Ty and grabbed the four children who cowered around his legs, he was fearful but he'd not let down the man he respected. He ran to the house weighed down by wiggling bodies, tiny legs kicking out as they sought their mothers who were patrolling amid those eerie howls.

Lane and Conall burst out of the front door, a shiny new phone attached to the blond’s ear as he grunted back at the person he spoke to.

Conall frowned at me and raised his eyebrows. "What yer doin'? In the house, pirate."

I laughed at him, "not on your life, Irish."

Lane shut the phone and grunted in anger."Charlie can't get any guards...here til later. Take them five hours...or so," a smile crossed widely on his face as he looked at Conall. "Have to hold...them off til then."

I caught my breath at that smile, it was different to his normal awkward one - not so creepy. This seemed a true reflection of his enjoyment and it turned grey eyes metallic and made me wonder if he'd smile at me like that. I hadn't seen him since he’d paced in front of the kitchen window last night, he'd left me alone as I'd stumbled my way to bed and he’d and been locked away with Conall all morning. I found I missed him somewhat, it was hidden under anger that I struggled to keep a hold of but it was there, a tiny part of me that missed his stilted speech and always surprising actions. He'd never be predictable, and that was wildly attractive to the beast that purred at the sight of him.

"What's going on?" I imagined we had some unwelcome visitors but I couldn't decipher what the females had been trying to tell the pack.

"Wolves are coming...something wrong with them though. Don't know how many. "

Yes, there was definitely something wrong with those chilling howls that broke the air with eerie distress.

He flashed teeth my way and nodded to the house,"in the house...little witch."

I laughed at him as I'd laughed at Conall. "Yeah, don't think so."

He growled low and tiny shivers made their way along the bare skin of my arms. In the full light of day I finally realized what the bond had been trying to tell me all along - this man was mine and I had no escape from the inevitability of fate. I could curse and refuse to accept such conflicting emotions but when the dust settled and ash cooled, I'd still be here, with shivers tracing my skin at his every rumble.

His feet stomped as they turned to give me his back and the black uniform he wore daily split at the seams as wolf pushed to replace human. Dark grey skin forced it's way through material and muscles bulged and bunched as mass increased to take over and consume, a monstrous grace that engulfs and overwhelms, a form absorbed and rebuilt better. He towered over me, just over eight feet as his head reshaped to wolf and claws took over the hands grasped in exquisite pain at his sides.

Conall grinned as he peered around Lane and then glanced up at the wolf still facing him, "turn around, lad. Let her see yer."

I frowned at Conall but lost any breath to voice my question as Lane turned and I found myself staring at a wolf with eyes so like mine they could have been the same. Amber eyes that glowed as the sun bounced it's rays off them, eyes that had killed my parents, eyes that I'd hated for so many years my heart died within my chest. Withered to a husk of life, breath lost in the face of truth. I knew now where he found true enjoyment - only in the killing of others.

"You." It whispered from my mouth as if I couldn't stand the obvious. The word ached as it left my throat, a hollow pain that shuddered in horror and loss. A true sadness as years flashed by of chasing the wolf that killed so readily, that found pure joy in mutilation, the wolf I was struggling to find any light in.

"Your parents weren't good people were they? Perhaps you'll want tae wait and see why he did it?"

I shook my head. No, they hadn't been good people, but it had never been about them.

"We doan't have time right now, wolves nearly here. He was goin' tae tell yer though, just waitin' fer yer tae listen."

I tried taking my eyes from the wolf in front, it should be an easy task and yet I found it impossible to look away. He'd trapped me in burnished gold and I'd fallen into liquid heat. "Did he know?"

"Dat yer were his?"

I nodded as howls grew closer and females in wolf form surged from other properties on the land and poured through the gate.

"No, he wasn't quite as aware back then. Doan't even remember yer being there."

I gasped a breath, air that pounded on lungs forcibly expanded and released. A breath of life to a heart crushed. "And the empaths in town?"

Conall shook his head and I caught the instant movement from the corner of my eye, still locked on a wolf that held my future in his murderous hands. "No, he came in just after and saw the bodies. He's been chasin' Duncan fer the last few weeks, followin' his kills."

It shouldn't be this messy, shouldn't have to be this hard. I'm not sure forgiveness is something I'm capable of, especially an act that had quite literally thrown me to the wolves. My thoughts were interrupted even as they started on new paths and different atrocities, wondering how many of the bodies I'd found had been his kills and his joy. Disjointed growls and heavily distorted howls. I turned to see Ty looking at the entrance, a hand on my shoulder that I hadn't even noticed. A mass of heaving, shifting bodies fell clumsily through the open gate. Fur heavy in clumps, on skin that was scarred and bumped, jaws malformed in twisted muzzles that didn't quite meet when closed. Contorted limbs that bent in awkward positions and gave the impression of a human figure but not the reality. Each one was at least six foot in height, some grotesque mixture of human and animal like a science project gone badly wrong. Saliva dripped and seeped from those jaws as their throats attempted growls and couldn't quite form the right sound.