Page 103 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

I shoved my thoughts aside knowing Melanie would be so excited to hear this news. She would probably reach out and offer to be the girl's best friend. I was shocked Micah knew Ashley. He was bummed out to hear she was wolf less. My heart ached for this girl yet again.

I wondered why she was so sure she’d get a wolf. Sometimes with partials they didn’t expect it, though they usually knew there was a chance they would be wolf less. She could just need to be marked by her mate. Then her wolf could come.

I didn’t think there was a single chance Black Path would make an appearance at the Summit. The Nashville packs knew they weren’t respected by anyone. They wouldn’t dare show their faces around strong Alpha’s rubbing their nose in the fact that they were shit at their jobs.

EJ was a hundred times the man and Alpha they would ever be. Rhea chuckled tell me, “Rocket is already acting like this girl is his best friend.” Rocket was Phil’s wolf. I could see the respect in his eyes when he talked about her.

I made a mental note that I needed to talk to him. I wanted Ashley’s email address at least. Maybe with his contacts he could get it for me. I felt bereft when he mentioned she was an orphan. Something about this was wrong.

Rhea encouraged me, “We just need to talk to this girl.” She was right. Maybe because she reminded me of Melanie that I felt this urge. Maybe it was because I couldn’t get Melanie to listen to me. I just needed to help this girl and let her know she wasn’t alone.

Micah told us more about Ashley. Rhea sighed, “She has a GED and is crazy smart. This is because she reminds of us Ladybug.” My heart broke even more. I locked eyes withAlexander, and we shared a moment knowing this girl sounded so much like Melanie.

Except of course, Ladybug wasn't an orphan. Rhea said, “Well, Micah just gave you another thing to write to her about. She saved Micah which directly affects our brother in law.” She was right, I owed Ashley. Micah had become a brother to me because he was Max’s mate.

My eyes went back to Micah when he said Ashley was staying in Nashville because she was doing penance. What the hell? She was sixteen. Max linked me, “Micah obviously has her information.” I asked, “Huh?” He replied, “I see your mind going. I’ve got this.” He suggested he meet up with her. That was perfect! He could get me her email address and I wouldn’t need to ask Phil. I linked him, “Thank you.” He winked at me, “I’ve got your back sister in law.” I loved the Conners family so much.

EJ and Alexander started talking, but I slipped out to talk to Micah. I turned a corner and ran smack into him. He grabbed me and kept me from falling. Micah laughed, “I knew you were following me. I just don’t know why.”

I explained, “You’re friends with this Ashley girl.” Micah nodded, “I say we are friends. I’m not sure what she would say. She seems terrified to acknowledge we are and somehow feels guilty about it.” That was weird.

I blurted out, “Can you ask her if you can give me her contact information? Even an email address. I just want to reach out to her.” Micah studied me, “I can ask her. I just don’t know if she’ll say yes. Something about this area seems to bring bad memories or mental pain.” Alarm bells felt like they went off in my head.

I pressed, “What do you mean?” Micah shrugged, “It was quick, but pain crossed her face when I mentioned where I lived part time with my mate. Which is odd since she clearly knew that already because she knew who I was.” My head felt like a spike was being driven through it.

I studied him asking, “Who are her parents?” Micah apologetically told me, “I’m sorry but I can’t really talk about her.” I frowned, “Why?” Micah sighed, “I just can’t tell you much more about her.” I nodded, “Ok.” That was weird.

Rhea said, “Ashley must be a source for him.” She was right again. That meant Ashley was a source that the Hackura were keeping close. What did she have that they wanted? I went over what I knew mentally. She’d met Micah when he was on a mission.

That pulled me up and had my fury firing. What was Nashville up to? Sending a girl that age out. Sure, now she was a Lead Warrior. Before then she should've just been a pup being protected. Those thoughts had me conflicted. If she hadn’t been out somewhere Micah could’ve gotten hurt. She saved him, but we would’ve gotten to him. What had Nashville done to this girl?

I’d tried to research her myself. There was nothing on google searches, and I couldn’t ask Max for help. It wasn’t overly surprising that I couldn’t find her. She had two common names, but I was still frustrated. The book series kept coming up though and google was trying to tell me I spelled her name wrong. Which had me growling at a search engine more than once.

EJ had picked up on my frustrations and took me on a date. Rhea purred, “He’s perfect.” He was and I loved him for it. I explained my thoughts to him. I just kept relating everything about Ashley to Melanie in my head.

Her reaction about it puzzled me too. Melanie had been excited about Ashley, but not as excited as I would’ve thought. She’d just said it was cool because of the book series she liked. That was it. No mention of being her friend. No shouting excitedly, and definitely no rambling. All in all, it wasn’t a Melanie reaction.

Maybe I just didn’t know her anymore, but people rarely changed that much. I shoved those thoughts away because ithurt that she was off, changing without me. Honestly, I was worried Melanie was running herself into the ground. Rhea agreed, “None of this is healthy.” I agreed, but then she’d tell me it was her dream. I had to back off then. Melanie was stubborn and determined to see if this could work out.

Ashley felt like someone I could help when I couldn’t reach Ladybug. Maybe we could get her to our pack. She needs love and Nashville couldn't give it to her. We could though. I didn't even know if Micah had told her I wanted her contact information. I could get her Lead Warrior email, but something warned me off that. I trusted that instinct.

EJ agreed to talk to Micah. Rhea purred, “I love mate so much. We should’ve told him earlier.” She was right. Why hadn’t I? What was wrong with me? That thought hurt my head. Just like knowing there was something I should be doing about the Melanie situation. Her living her dream held me back.

Sometimes I felt like it was as mistake to back off. Before I could voice that Angela popped in. Rhea growled, “Someone is messing with her visions.” I reasoned, “No, that’s not it. Melanie’s blurry to her too.” So, it just couldn’t be.

We popped back and soon my heartbeat froze for several seconds. Julianna and Everly were missing. Several strong Alpha’s around me were worried and that was unsettling. Then there was Beta Finn Frost. He always had a joke, but there was fear in his eyes.

Haley tried to pop, but it didn’t work. I linked Eric, “You know she felt she needed to try.” He replied, “I do but I don’t like her getting hurt.” I agreed, “Me either.” I just didn’t know what else could’ve happened in this situation. Haley was undeniably always a good person.

I tried to lighten the situation. Rhea told me, “It was a good attempt.” It didn’t really work though. I needed the Beta bloods to do that, but everyone was worried. When EJ and Alexanderpopped back in with two boys I’d grown up, with whose heartbeats were so slow they were nearly dead, I paled.

Haley and Alexander jumped into action to save their lives by healing them. I sat down feeling faint. What was happening? Before I could process that a guy came on screen with a Hunter tattoo. I screamed to my wolf, “NO!” She whimpered in my head.

It pissed me off that Hunters didn’t care that we didn’t hurt people. They just hated us. If they had Julianna and Everly then this was a very dire situation. Rhea reasoned, “They won’t just kill them.” I scoffed, “No, they’d just torture us with the knowledge that they’d put them into the Ring.” Rhea didn’t reply because there was nothing to say. I was right.

Jayden was trying to get answers. I didn’t know why he was even trying. You couldn’t reason with a Hunter. They just wanted us dead. He showed us Everly and Julianna. Both looked frightened but Everly looked far more pissed off than scared.

Everything in me tensed when he left, and another figure came in. My heart felt like it seized in my chest and my head exploded with pain. I barely kept it off my face. My heart clenched as I noticed Tristan looking like he was in physical pain.

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