The Trinity: The Ashland Pack Series (20 page)

Mace
stayed at Adrianna and her mate’s house until the next morning. They had changed most of the plans and
had changed the passwords that were previously given. It was time to bring more players
in. Mace, Cade, and Samson would
make the contacts. They were
trusted pack and clan members. Adrianna
excused herself to her bedroom; she didn’t know how to react to anything anymore. She felt odd, disconnected from everybody. She felt as if she couldn’t trust
anybody any more. She loved Selena
like a mother. Her mates were mad
at her. They were joined together
by the fates. She wasn’t allowed to
fall in love with her mates the old fashion way. They really didn’t want her, but they
were now bound to her. She knew
they probably cared about her, but true love was a different story. She needed to be by herself to think
about all of this. Everything was
happening too fast and out of her control. She went to the bathroom to soak in the tub. She needed to be alone.

Cade
walked Mace outside as he was leaving. “Adrianna didn’t look right, Cade. She looked distant, out of touch with us. I don’t know what is going on with you
and Adrianna, but the tension was written all over your face. What’s going on?”

“Mace,
we’re just getting to know each other. This with Selena has put a lot of stress on all of us. Adrianna thinks of her as a mother. I don’t know how she’ll take it if it
really turns out that Selena is the bad guy. We need to keep her focused on our
plans, but it will be hard for her not to act differently to Selena. We have a lot to work out with each
other; it will take time for that to happen. I can’t wait until you find your
mate. Then you will understand how
we feel and how out of control it makes you feel.” Cade sighed then walked back on the
porch.

“I hope I
don’t find my mate, at least not now,” Mace said, and then he walked to his
truck. “Call me later today; we’ll
put the plan into motion. Take care
of my sister, Cade. That’s all I
ask.”

“I
will. Bye, Mace.” Cade stood watching Mace drive out of
the driveway. Then he walked back
into the house, needing to be near Adrianna.

Cade
walked back to the master bedroom, expecting to find Adrianna and Samson. He saw Samson leaning against the wall
telling Adrianna to open the door.

“What’s
wrong? Why is the door locked?” Cade asked Samson.

“Exactly! Why is the door locked? I hear her in the bath tub, but she
continues to tell me that she needs some alone time,” Samson stated angrily.

“Then
leave her alone. Let her come to
us. It’s time she learns that we
don’t just cater to her. If she
wants to be in this relationship, then she has to give a little too.” Cade stated as he walked out of the
room.

Samson
followed Cade as he walked out of the room into the kitchen. “Let’s eat. I’m starving, I’m pissed off, and I’m
craving Adrianna. Which pisses me
off too,” Cade said as he got out the ham to make a sandwich for Samson and
him.

Adrianna
hated being a bitch toward her mates, but she felt like she needed to distance
herself a little because she knew she felt more than her mates felt for
her. Cade pretty much said that
today. It would probably be better
to sleep in another room too. That
way they could all calm down. It
was already eight in the morning. She needed to get busy on the plan. Her first job was to spy on Selena, try to find out more. She couldn’t sleep anyway, so she might
as well go to the hotel and see Selena. She had some jobs for the Protectors that were going to be watching the
Supreme Alpha. She didn’t know if
Selena might try to hurt Afton, so she had to plan for it.

Adrianna
looked out the window and saw the protection detail arrive who were there to
protect Adrianna, Cade, and Samson. She had trained most of them. She didn’t recognize some of the Guards who had just flown in to meet
with Samson. She could hear the
detail talking to Cade and Samson in the living room.

Adrianna
walked into the living room, the room fell silent, and all eyes fell on
her. “I’m going to the hotel,
whoever is going with me, let’s go.” Adrianna couldn’t show any emotion. She needed to get away from her mates. The further away, the better she’d feel.

Cade and
Samson watched Adrianna walk out the door without saying anything to them. The Protectors and Guards looked at each
other feeling the tension in the air. Antoine Pugh looked at Samson asking whom they wanted on Adrianna’s
protection detail.

“Antoine,
you stay with me and you three go with Adrianna. Stay close and protect my mate, even
from herself,” Samson instructed. Two Protectors and one Guard left to find Adrianna.

Cade asked
Antoine and the others to go outside so they could get a feel for the
grounds. They would need to know
the smells of the area around their house in case they smelled something
different. Cade needed to talk with
Samson about Adrianna.

Cade
looked up at Samson when the Guards walked out the door. “What the fuck? What is wrong with her? Damn it Samson, I don’t know if I can
take my mate hating me.”

Samson leaned on the table, and then he
sat down in the chair. “I
know. I never thought I would feel
this way for her. I care about her
more than I thought I would. I
thought I would always be fighting because she would want more from me than I
could give.” Samson inhaled
sharply. He felt the pain in his
heart as he made the comment, but he knew he already loved Adrianna.

Cade
sighed as he told Samson, “Let’s get to work, maybe with the distance from each
other will help her. Maybe the
mating pull will make her want us as much as we want her.”

Samson and
Cade went into the office they were going to share to do the paperwork that
needed to be done. Then they’d get
the people who would be arriving that day prepared for the new plan.

Adrianna
stayed silent as her protection detail drove her to the hotel to meet with the
Supreme Alpha and Selena. She had
already made plans to meet with Mace at McDonald’s Pub. It looked like an old-fashioned Pub
except bigger. Adrianna couldn’t
wait to see how much the place had changed since Mace took it over, but first
she needed to meet with Afton and then Selena. Plus, she needed to do a little spying
on Selena. She needed information
and knew Damen was the one to help her with it.

Adrianna
walked into the hotel with her protection detail following her. Jacob came around the corner
smiling. “Hey, Adrianna. I was about to ask Mace for a ride to
your house but here you are.”

“Hey, Jacob. I loved what you did with the
house. You did a great job.” Adrianna praised Jacob. “Have you seen the Supreme Alpha and
Selena this morning?”

Jacob was
looking at the men who were standing behind Adrianna with curiosity, wondering
who they were here for. He was so
preoccupied that he didn’t answer Adrianna.

“Jacob,
did you hear me?” Adrianna asked.

“Oh yeah,
sorry, Adrianna. What did you
say?” Jacob silently cursed because
he didn’t hear what Adrianna said. He didn’t want her to think he couldn’t do the job for her. Especially, since it seemed he couldn’t
even pay attention when she spoke to him.

“Do you
know where the Supreme Alpha and Selena are?”

“Yes, they
are in the Supreme Alpha’s office, meeting with some of the staff that just
arrived from the Resort,” Jacob said as he pointed down the hall to the Supreme
Alpha’s office.

“Thanks,
Jacob. I will be here in town for a
while today, so I’ll call you when I start to head back to the house. You can ride with me. Oh yeah, this is my protection
detail. If you don’t mind, can you
show them the dining hall? I’ll be
in with the Alpha for a while,” Adrianna asked.

“Oh sure,
Adrianna. I can do that,” Jacob
said shyly.

She
pointed at Jacob and then introduced them to him. “I need to speak to the Supreme Alpha
for a while. If you’re hungry, then
Jacob will show you to the dining hall so you can eat. Make yourselves at home.” Adrianna didn’t give them time to ask
her any questions as she walked down the hall knocking on the Supreme Alpha’s
door.

“Come
in.” Adrianna heard the Supreme
Alpha mutter.

She knew
he had a lot on his mind, but he usually made time for her.

“Hello,
Luv.” Adrianna looked up as Selena
was walking back into the office. “How do you feel this morning? I was worried about you last night. We need to practice today. We need to get you prepared,” Selena advised Adrianna.

“Hello,
sweetheart,” Afton said as he got up and walked over to Adrianna, hugging her.

“So how do
you like your house? When can I
come and see it?” Afton asked as he
was sitting down on the couch beside Selena. Adrianna watched as Afton took Selena’s
hand, kissing it.

“Today
would be great,” Adrianna said calmly as she watched Selena. “Remember Selena, we still need to go to
Seige Field and practice,” Adrianna said as she watched for Selena’s reaction.

“Well
Adrianna, if you don’t mind, I think it would be better if we practiced around
here or at Mace’s house. Maybe it
would be better if we didn’t practice where everybody would expect.” Adrianna looked at Selena in
surprise. She had said earlier that
she wanted to practice at Seige Field because it held a lot of magic for her.

Okay, this
doesn’t mean anything, Adrianna said to herself. It made sense that they wouldn’t
practice in the field. It was too
obvious. But it still made Adrianna
nervous. She would look around for
anything and try to feel Selena out.

Adrianna
sat with Afton and Selena for about an hour then agreed to meet at Mace’s house
to practice. Adrianna needed to
talk with Mace and Damen and get Damen to look more into Selena. She needed to check her laptop and see
if someone could check her phone records to see whom she had been calling or
who had called her.

Adrianna
remembered that Mace said Jacob was a whiz at computers, but she didn’t want to
get Jacob hurt. Adrianna knew she
needed Jacob now; she didn’t have time to wait on finding another person. First, she needed to talk with Jacob; he
needed to understand what he was getting himself in to. He could get her laptop while she was
with Selena practicing. Damen would
help him distract others from coming into Selena’s room so Jacob could do a
little spying.

Adrianna
went searching for Jacob when she ran into Damen. “Hey, beautiful,” Damen said smiling at
Adrianna.

“Just the
person I need to talk to.” Adrianna
dragged Damen outside and over to the trees in front of the hotel. She explained her plan to Damen who
looked at her as if she was crazy.

“You want
me to do what with Jacob?!” Damen
yelled.

“Be quiet,
you big mouth. I don’t think Selena
heard you. Speak a little louder
next time,” Adrianna whispered looking around to see if anybody had heard
Damen.

“Do you
know what you are doing, Adrianna? Jacob doesn’t look like he could break a sweat, much less into Selena’s
computer,” Damen scolded as he looked around checking the area.

“Mace said
he was a whiz at computers. I have
faith that he can. Come on, Mad
Max, I need to know if Selena is evil. I have to know. Please help
me,” Adrianna pleaded.

“Adrianna,
you know I’m going to help you. I
need to know too because if she is, then Mace and I are going to kill her
before she can hurt you or anybody else.” Damen looked sad as he told Adrianna his plans.

“I
know. I heard Mace already say that
last night. If it comes down to
that, then I will be the one who kills her. She is very powerful, Damen. You don’t know the extent of her
magic. I do. Let’s try to find out the truth first,”
Adrianna said quietly.

Adrianna
walked back into the hotel in search of Jacob. She was running out of time and needed
to speak to him and ask for his help. Jacob was sitting in a big chair with his laptop.

“Hey,
Jacob. I need a favor. Do you have a few minutes to go over
some things with me?” Adrianna
asked.

“Sure
Adrianna, anything you need,” Jacob said.

Adrianna
held her hand out to Jacob walking him outside to meet with Damen. Adrianna’s protection detail was
discreetly following Adrianna checking the area. They didn’t need to be told what to
do. Adrianna had trained them all
and they knew from her training just how to guard the target.

Adrianna
and Damen explained what had happened at Seige Field and then asked for Jacob’s
help in breaking into Selena’s laptop. Jacob couldn’t take his eyes off Adrianna. He couldn’t believe the Supreme Alpha’s
mate could be a trader. He shook
his head out of the daze he had been in, shocked with the knowledge that
Adrianna and Damen had trusted him with this information. He didn’t know if he should feel proud
that they had trusted him enough to ask for his help, or to feel scared that he
would probably die if Selena caught him.

“Well say
something, Jacob,” Adrianna said.

“Umm,
well,” Jacob slurred.

“Look,
Jacob, don’t worry about it, I shouldn’t have asked you. I only ask you not to tell anyone what
we have trusted you with,” Adrianna said, she could smell the fear coming off
Jacob and she didn’t want him to get hurt.