Ashes To Ashes (Wolf Guard Book 2) (8 page)

"Would yer like me tae get him?"

I shook my head and passed the body to him, "he's going after her....I'll get her first. Smell her better."

I turned my back and started for the town only to hear Conall cough behind me. I looked around and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Change your clothes, Lane. Girls doan't like gettin' kidnapped by men covered in blood."

I looked down at my shirt and combat trousers, boots sticking to the leaves littering the floor.

No blood....right then.

Chapter 11

I opened the second bottle of the evening. Some sort of vodka that Ty had appropriated from the store. He was certainly a resourceful man, not only had he managed to bring that wolf to his knees, he'd also swiftly stolen several bottles of alcohol that he claimed were 'payment' for avoiding the building's destruction. Personally I believed he was being particularly liberal with that excuse but I wasn't about to turn down anything for free. I'd lived life without, preferring morals over my own survival - it had only lasted until I was hungry enough to see those shaded areas of integrity.

It seemed even such valued females were quickly thrown aside when their parentage was questionable. It was nothing but some snobbish view of what made a wolf - I was wolf and yet I was a percentage too empath to ever be considered valuable. That had been made perfectly clear on the night of my parent's death, some forty two years ago. Not grown enough to shift and yet grown enough to be tossed to the street and let the fates decide on whether I lived or died. Perhaps I should have been grateful that he allowed me to live, that I was spared the same torturous end as those that birthed me, that noxious swell of extermination swayed only by a single hand of deaths most prevalent reaper.  But that would be much more forgiveness then I had left in my soul.

Should I meet that particular wolf again, I'd give him his own ending. One that gave me my effervescent freedom and his hide a cold stone floor to lay on, a rug for the slum I slept in, an animal skin for warmth in the winter and a prize to gloat at in the summer. Eight years old and those flashing amber eyes had been carved into my memory for all time, bright eyes against tough, darkened skin. He'd thrown me to a life of constant death and destruction, one that bled the colour from my skin until I was some watery wash of the appearance of animation. I found in my search for life after death, I was but a brewing pot of witches cauldron, simmering caustic smoke in it's intention for sabotage, cackling rhymes of rotting misfortune. In my worst moments, I was nothing but my hatred and contempt. How I rolled luxuriously in my desirable slow burn of resentment, how I found peace in such black bitterness.

And that one shooting star that should have been my reward for a life lived so precariously?

A blond wolf that was one slice short of a loaf and quite possibly killed the only people I called home.

How far we fall.

I knew what Ty thought, his beady blue eyes were focused intently on the side of my head. His mouth opening in almost speech before he shut it quickly, rethinking his approach. I knew that look though, the one that said I should give the wolf a chance. How odd that the same man that attempted strangulation should receive Ty's blessing. Perhaps he only thought to give me that chance, in hopes that I'd been wrong about his smell. As if I wouldn't know that rolling thunderstorm anywhere. And if I somehow managed to see past the deaths of Michael and Sarah, ignored the seething boil that simmered for justice, would that be any better? How could that be fates plan? Allow a man to kill and be forgiven for a bond. Surely she is not that cruel.

I turned my attention to the man huffing beside me, losing his patience for his chance to talk. "Out with it, Ty."

He grinned as we locked eyes, a smile of too many years together to lie willingly to each other. "You know what I think, Sashy pants."

I scowled at the name and swatted at his head.

"His smell was there, not the wolf. Maybe it's not as bad as you're so determined to think."

It's not like I hadn't had a moment of such foolish thinking myself. "The guy tried to strangle you at first sight, I'm not overly convinced he even remembers half the people he's killed."

Ty conceded my point with a nod, "probably, still doesn't mean he killed those particular two."

"And that's okay is it? As long as it's not the two people I actually liked?"

He shook his head and tipped the bottle to his mouth to swallow deeply. "That wolf that killed our parents, he’s the madness we followed for so long, not this Alpha."

He passed the bottle along and I took a sip of something different, sweeter than the vodka I'd started with and a pleasant burn that ignited it's journey south. "He fits, Ty. The scent, the blood, the lunacy. Tell me you can't see his claws ripping them apart." And that was the thing - I knew he couldn't deny it.

"He fits perfectly, but even the worst offenders get a chance for defense."

Sometimes that brother of mine was too damn smart. I could easily give him that chance, the problem that I couldn't quite voice was the hope that would seed and grow, become some giant aged oak in it's strength of optimism, only to fall crashing to the dusty ground at his guilt. "And if he did it?"

Ty shrugged, broad shoulders moving fluidly in a contradiction to his usual clumsiness. "Then I'll do it, so you don't have to."

I agreed, much to the animal's distaste. I only hoped she wouldn't make a choice between the mate and the brother, I wasn't completely confident which she'd choose.

The night drew ever closer, a darkness only seen by vagrants, without the artificial light so relied on. The warehouse we occupied was barren in it's state of disrepair, the only sign of previous existence being old machinery rusted and broken in aged pieces, papers yellowed and stuck to the floor in dampness and disintegration - what gets left behind when life moves on. It was these times that I truly enjoyed the creature that lazed within, eyes that saw through such dark night and blood that chased away the biting wind and penetrating frost. A nose that perked and smelt rain and sunshine on it's way.

"Fuck."

Ty frowned at me and I sighed in response, "he's here, remarkably close by how strong I can smell him." Sneaky wolf, got much further than I anticipated before I caught that flavour.

My skin became hot to the touch, a flush that seared it's way to my face, darkening the surface and flooding vessels with animal reactions I'd only previously felt in anger. Skin that felt too tight, a wildness that fought to break free and have it's chance at a first meeting. I denied her push for escape, fought to control the shift that begged for a game of chase the mate. Our perfect fluidity was becoming a wreck of misshapen pieces in the face of our disagreement and we would be weaker for it. Still I conquered the beast, I refused to find myself in a situation I couldn't get out of.

He entered the warehouse so calmly, he could have been walking into a house full of trusted family. I found that very odd - that not a single part of him was wary at the unfamiliar place. He was no longer covered in crimson red, a uniform of black combat trousers, boots and t-shirt had replaced the sodden material. His hair had been tied low at the back of his neck, leaving a short ponytail and his now shaven face, completely bare for my eyes. The wolf looked her fill, she found him to be the epitome of strong, virile male and eagerly panted inside my head. I could already see I would have to keep a heavy hold on that leash of hers.

His smile flashed wide and clear, pure white teeth that sharpened at the canine. It was a slightly unnerving smile, one that seemed less like a greeting and more as if he were famished. I stood as his steady steps brought him closer, putting Ty slightly behind me and letting him know he'd have to come through me to get at him. I may have agreed to that one chance but I certainly didn't trust the wolf yet.

"Little witch...I am pleased to see you alive."

His insistence on calling me a witch, was becoming an aggravation. "Why wouldn't I be, Alpha?"

He frowned and lost his carefully placed smile. "You may call me...Lane."

"Yes, I could."

He seemed awfully confused for quite some time.

He stopped ten feet in front of us, a distance I appreciated. "I've come to...collect you."

What? Like I was a package or something? A tiny scowl worked it's way onto my lips and I felt the tug of my mouth as the muscles tightened. "As much fun as that sounds...no."

Again confusion descended rapidly over his tanned face, I couldn't tell if he simply couldn't believe I wasn't falling at his feet or if he didn't understand what I was telling him.

He thought for over a minute, I could practically see those wheels turning. "Conall said, I should not...take you without asking.." more seconds of serious thought, "..I asked and you refused. So then I should just...take you."

I envied his thought process. It was quite frankly simply astounding. "How exactly do you expect to do that?"

His head cocked to the side, "usually unconscious...however I understand that would not be...an acceptable way to treat a mate."

He paced a little and I looked at Ty in bewilderment, his returning frown was equally baffled.

Lane’s smile quickly returned and I dreaded the conclusion he'd come to. "If you come with me...I will not kill the empath."

He looked pointedly at Ty and I felt that anger rise to almost molten levels as he managed to look extremely pleased with himself.

"Touch him and I'll kill you." It came out almost sickeningly sweet and the smile that graced my lips was almost on par with his.

He sighed and regained his frown, little mumbles leaving his lips. Pacing soon resumed and I very nearly laughed at the agitated bounce his leg had now added to his walk. He stopped for a moment and seemed to struggle with himself before leveling that steely gaze on me once more. "A wolf is looking to...kill you. I would like you to...stay alive, you are safer with me."

I could have almost felt sorry for him. That broken speech and roughly strained voice only pointed to a man not used to speaking so many words. Of course that was before he'd threatened Ty. "We've already met him I think, red hair?" Lane nodded and savagely snarled at my words. "We left him on his knees in the town."

I think it quite possibly could have been pride on his face, some glorious type of sunshine that allowed his skin to glow and his eyes to lose the brutal coldness of hard metal and gain the polish of soft silver.

"Dead?"

I shook my head in the negative and his scowl dropped once more.

"Then we will see...him soon." He looked around the warehouse for what must have been the first time since he entered and a question filled his expression, "you are living here?"

I don't know where the embarrassment came from, normally I wouldn't care what others thought and yet for some reason his opinion mattered - more aggravation filled my stiff form. "We are."

His eyes swept the empty bottles on the floor and he locked gazes with me again, "I have alcohol at...the house. Food too."

Now that's just bribery. "We're fine here."

Sneaky wolf produced a sneaky smile. "Then we will all...be fine here," and proceeded to sit himself on the cold floor and stare unblinkingly at me.