Wolfsbane (6 page)

“If anyone hurts her, you’l be sorry,” Shay said to Monroe.

“She won’t be harmed.”

Their conversation, taking place as if I wasn’t there, left me uneasy. I could understand, and even appreciate, Shay’s desire to protect me, but I was a warrior. I didn’t need protecting. A burr of resentment settled beneath my skin.

“An incident like that won’t happen again,” Monroe said. “I assure you.”

“I’m sorry about what happened,” I said suddenly, no longer wil ing to be voiceless while my fate was being discussed. “I know it probably doesn’t mean anything to you.”

I looked at the empty doorway through which Ethan had been dragged. “Or him.”

“It means something, if it’s sincere.” Monroe said, regarding my troubled expression with thoughtful eyes. “It wil take some time before he trusts you. If he ever wil .”

“This isn’t going to work.” Shay paced back and forth, fists clenched at his sides. “How can we get anywhere if one of you is always trying to kil her?”

He had a good point. I wouldn’t be helping my pack anytime soon if I had to worry about vengeful Searchers shoving daggers into my back.

“Ethan may be grief-stricken and angry, but he stil fol ows my orders,” Anika said. “No one wil harm Cal a while she’s under my protection.”

I pivoted to face her, arching an eyebrow. “Under
your
protection?”

Maybe Shay was right. This al iance could never work. Alphas didn’t need protection. The Searchers didn’t understand my world or me. But was there any way I could save Ansel, Bryn, and the others on my own?

Anika offered me a wry smile. “I’m afraid that is your lot, Guardian. At least until you manage to convince the others of your loyalties.”

“My loyalty is to my pack,” I responded automatical y, and then winced.
The pack I left
behind.
I thought of Ethan’s crazed sorrow, wondering if I would have responded any differently had our situations been reversed. Would I have any room in my heart for forgiveness? I might not have kil ed Kyle myself, but he was dead because I’d done my job. I couldn’t blame Ethan for focusing his rage on me.

I don’t have any other choice; this alliance has to
work.

Shay folded my hands in his own. The warmth of his touch pul ed me from my dark thoughts. I met his eyes and remembered why I’d been wil ing to leave Vail. My earlier resentment draining away, I threaded my fingers through his and ran my thumb over his wrist. He smiled and my pulse stuttered.

“We’re going to help them, Cal,” he said quietly.

“I’m back now, and that’s what we’l do. We’l help Ansel, al of the pack.”

I nodded, though the smile I wanted to give him in return wouldn’t appear. The lines around Monroe’s eyes tightened as he glanced at our entwined fingers. Self-conscious, I shook Shay’s hand off, wondering if al the Searchers despised the notion that their precious Scion could love a Guardian. My chest tightened when a nagging worry flitted through my mind. If they did, would it change how Shay felt about me?

“That’s what we al hope for,” Anika said. “But we need to know a bit more before we can make the next move. How long have you been planning to rebel against the Keepers?”

How long had I been planning to what?

“Uh . . . I—” Words tangled with my tongue. I hadn’t planned anything. Every decision I’d made had been about saving Shay. Choices made in the space of a breath. And it had been utter chaos.

“She was being forced to marry someone,” Shay said, revulsion edging each of his words. “At age seventeen . . . can you believe that?”

Monroe nodded, opening his mouth to respond.

But I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
Why does it
always have to come back to me and Ren? Doesn’t
Shay realize the sacrifice Ren made by letting me
go?

“That is not what—” I bit off the words, realizing that I didn’t want to air my relationship issues in public.

“I know it’s not al ,” Shay said. I saw his sharp canines flash as he spoke. “But it’s important. That ceremony, having to be with
him,
it was insane.”

“How can you talk about him that way?” I snapped.

“Ren tried to help us. He lied for us and the Keepers wil know it. They could kil him!”

No, it was worse than that. And the awful truth of it was what fueled my rage. I lowered my lashes and spoke to the floor. “They
will
kil him.”

I didn’t bother to hide my grief when I looked at Shay again, unblinking though my eyes had fil ed with tears.

Shay’s face paled; the veins in his neck were throbbing, but it was Monroe who reacted to the sound of Ren’s name.

“Ren?” His eyes widened. I could tel he was fighting to keep his tone neutral. “Do you mean Renier Laroche?”

“You know who he is?” I asked, startled.

Monroe turned his face away. “I know of him,” he said, his voice rough.

Anika was watching Monroe careful y. “That’s an interesting development. It could be vital, don’t you think?”

Monroe didn’t meet her eyes, but he nodded.

“Tel us more about this ceremony,” Anika said. “It would help us to understand exactly what we’re walking into in Vail.”

“Cal a and Ren were supposed to form a new pack this spring,” Shay said, stil glaring at me.

“Another set of Guardians to protect Haldis Cavern.”

His jaw clenched. “One of the Keepers’ arranged unions.”

I glared back at him, biting my tongue. Hadn’t I run from the union, leaving Ren behind, risking everything to help Shay escape? What else did I have to prove to him?

“We’re familiar with that practice.” Monroe met my gaze. “You were running away from him?”

“No, not from him,” I said. Shay’s hands formed fists and though it was petty, I felt a pinch of satisfaction. “The Keepers were going to make us kil Shay as part of the union. I found him tied up in the woods. I had to run to save him.”

Shay wasn’t looking at me anymore, and the ripple of smugness faded to guilt. It didn’t help that Adne had taken his hand, leaning in to whisper to him.

Great, now I’m a slutty bitch and she gets to be the
good friend. Nice work, Calla.

“The sacrifice,” Monroe said. “We knew that was going to happen at Samhain, but we didn’t know where. We tracked the Scion’s location to Rowan Estate.”

“Lucky for us,” I said, shuddering at what might have happened if the Searchers hadn’t appeared that night.

“Were the Guardians tracking you?” Monroe asked.

I nodded. “They sent the Banes after us.”

“An entire pack?” Anika frowned. “How did you elude them?”

Shay sighed, as if he were conceding a major point. “Ren helped us get away. He caught up with us in the woods, and he let us go, kept the rest of the pack off us.”

“He helped you?” Monroe’s eyes found me; the dark glint of his gaze remained utterly unreadable.

“Yes.” My response was barely a whisper. I was finding it hard to breathe. Each moment I relived from that night was like a stone placed on my chest, piling up one after the other to suffocate me.

Adne continued to watch us.

“That’s good to know,” Monroe said.

“Yes, it is.” A smile appeared on Anika’s lips and vanished just as quickly. “That bodes very wel for our plans.”

Connor reappeared in the doorway. “What’d I miss?” His eyes flicked to Adne and Shay’s twined fingers, and he grimaced. “Let me guess, the Scion proposed to you.”

“She knows Renier Laroche,” Adne said, grinning at his sour expression and keeping her hand clasped in Shay’s. “They both do.”

Shay grimaced and twisted his fingers free of hers, looking at me sideways. I smiled at him, and his expression softened.

Connor whistled, his irritation giving way to surprise. “Isn’t that interesting.”

The two of them exchanged a knowing glance.

Why do the Searchers all know about Ren?

“For the moment that’s not our concern,” Monroe said curtly. “Where’s Ethan now?”

“I sent him to work point for the Reapers,” Connor replied. “I think the outpost is a safe enough distance.”

“He’s just come off patrol.” Monroe frowned. “He’s not due to go back out until tonight.”

Connor shrugged. “Lydia thought it was a good idea too. Ethan needs something to keep his mind occupied. Besides, you know he’s our best sniper.”

Monroe made a low, affirmative sound, leveling a serious gaze at Shay. “I understand why you were about to attack Ethan, but you’d best avoid shifting into your wolf form while you’re among us unless we’re out in the field, fighting. There are a lot of itchy trigger fingers around here that belong to soldiers trained to shoot Guardians first and ask questions later.”

“I’l keep that in mind,” Shay muttered.

“Thank you,” Anika replied. “Cal a, before you left, had any of your packmates expressed discontent with their lot? If Ren was wil ing to take that risk for you, it would fol ow that others might come to our aid

—with your leadership, of course.”

Would they?
I thought about Mason and Nev.

About Sabine. Life under the Keepers was brutal for them. They’d jump at a chance to leave, wouldn’t they?

And Ansel. He wanted the freedom to choose a life with Bryn. But that wasn’t the only thing convincing me that my brother would join us without a second thought.

I would never betray the Keepers. Unless you
asked me to . . . alpha.

And it wasn’t just Ansel. By keeping my first encounter with Shay a secret, Bryn had risked her safety. She was just as loyal as my brother.

“Yes,” I said. “They’l join us.”

“Your parents?” she asked. “It would be al the more helpful if the elder Nightshades would come over to our side.”

“Maybe—” My heart jumped beneath my rib cage, leaving me breathless. My father and mother were alphas, my alphas. I’d always submitted to their wil .

What would they think of their own daughter trying to lead them? Guardians weren’t big on shifting hierarchies.

“What about the Banes?” Shay asked. “Don’t you want al the wolves?”

“Some of the younger Banes, maybe,” Monroe said. “But the elders won’t join us.”

“How do you know that?” Shay asked.

“We have some history with the packs,” Anika said lightly. “Emile Laroche would never seek an al iance with us.”

History.

“You mean they won’t join you because the Banes that would have revolted are already dead,” I said.

“They died the last time you tried for an al iance.

When Ren’s mother died.”

Monroe drew a sharp breath. “How do you know about that?”

“We found the Keepers’ records of the Guardian packs,” Shay said. “We know that Corrine Laroche was executed for planning a revolt with Searchers.”

“But al I’d ever been told about her was that she was kil ed in a Searcher ambush at the Bane compound when Ren was only a year old,” I added.

“Until the night you attacked Rowan Estate, we were the only ones who knew otherwise.”

Silence swept over the Searchers, al their faces paling as they exchanged troubled glances.

“No wonder the Guardians serve so loyal y,” Anika murmured. “The Keepers have twisted your minds about the way lives around you have been broken.”

A trembling began in my shoulders, traveling down my back. “That’s what Ren believed, but the night we ran, I told him the truth.”

They al stared at me.

“You told him?” Shay hissed. “You didn’t say anything about that!”

“It’s the reason he let us go,” I whispered, unable to return his gaze. Part of the reason. I kept my second thought hidden, remembering again the desperation in Ren’s face. The way he’d kissed me.

And he was somehow caught up in this. The Searchers weren’t tel ing us everything.

Monroe suddenly turned on his heel, walking swiftly away. “If you’l excuse me.”

“Monroe!” Anika cal ed, but he was already out of the door.

“I’l go after him,” Connor said.

Adne was shaking her head. “It’s always the same.”

What just happened?
I glanced at Shay, but he seemed just as confused as I was.

“Maybe he shouldn’t be part of this mission,”

Anika said.

“You think he’d ever let it happen without him?”

Adne laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “He’s waited years for another shot at this. He’s waited my whole life.”

Anika’s mouth flattened. “Show a little respect for your father, child. You don’t understand how much he lost.”

“Your father?” Shay asked. He looked at her in a way not unlike how he’d just looked at me, like he’d been betrayed.

The sudden bite of jealousy was sharp as teeth snapping at the back of my neck
.
How close had they gotten while I was recovering?

Adne cringed, blushing as if she’d revealed a terrible secret. “Yeah. Monroe is my father.”

“You never told me that,” he said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s not that important.” She turned away, crimson painting her cheeks.

I frowned. “Why do you always cal him Monroe?”

I’d deferred to my own father as Nightshade alpha, but I stil cal ed him Dad.

“Because I don’t want special treatment,” she said. “And because it drives him crazy.”

“Respect, Ariadne,” Anika said. “It matters more than you think.”

“I’l try,” Adne said, but it looked to me like she was trying not to rol her eyes.

Anika clasped her hands at her waist. “Despite this unfortunate little disruption, what you’ve said confirms our hopes about the Guardians. We’l execute the mission accordingly.”

“When?” I asked. “When am I going to find my packmates?”

Anika smiled. “Now.”