Page 117 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

Rhea purred, “Let’s use sexy fun ways to get him on our side.” I teased, “It’s such a hard life we lead, but I suppose you’re right. I’ll make my points and sex him into agreeing.” Rhea cackled, “That’s the spirit.

Despite our banter my fury could not be matched at this moment. Before this information I thought I’d wanted Alpha Davis dead most out of them all, but now I’d changed my mind. The lying sack of shit Trevor McCann, he had to go down first.

I stalled those thoughts when Alpha Theo said Ashley wouldn’t file the necessary paperwork with him so they could look into it. What? No! She had to! That was disrespectful to the Moon Goddess, Ashley, and Trevor’s real mate.

Rhea linked, “Not that we care but also to Trevor himself. His wolf could be pissed. If he agrees then he’s a bad wolf.” I snarled, “I could care less about him. He’s a super slimy bastard.” Honestly, I was just so disgusted that someone would ever do such a thing. I took out my phone and started to type.

Ashley,

First off, I am glad you are ok. Alpha Theo is here and now I understand why you haven't had a chance to check your emails. Once again, I find myself feeling so proud of you. I want you to know that none of the things that happened would have happened to you here in our pack. EJ, I, and the other Alpha’s, Beta’s, and Gamma’s would proudly fight by your side.

It is not normal for leadership to hide away. That shouldn’t happen, and I find myself again offering you a safe place to land. Here. In Black Mountain. Please consider this offer more seriously than in the past. You don’t have to say yes or no right now. Just think about it.

Now, onto this matter about Trevor McCann I just found out about. I know why you didn’t tell me, but this is serious. I am worried about you. He could try to forcibly mark and mate with you. To claim to be your mate and use the fact that you do not have a wolf is reprehensible. No true mate would say those words. He would want to comfort you and be proud of you. I strongly urge you to file with the Werewolf Council. They will protect you because it’s their job.

The mate bond is a powerful force. It is a spit in our Goddesses face to claim to be your mate when he is not. We both know if your mate was Trevor then you’d feel sparks when you touched each other. He would smell nice to you. Iknow you believe your mate is someone back home. I urge you to go see him and find out. I don’t think he will reject you because he would be crazy to do so.

I am yet again sorry your pack leadership is trash. Neither EJ nor I would ever let this stand here. That is unacceptable and your Alpha should punish him for this. Please get out of there. Even if you choose not to come here. There are safer places to land. Alpha Theo genuinely likes you and would offer you a place in his pack if you wished. I would love to have you here, but your safety is paramount. I do not feel you are safe there given all this information. If you want to bring others with you, I know they will be accepted. Just think about it.

Alpha Theo seems to think you and Trevor have a past. It was alluded to in front of him. Did you date him? Did he get obsessed with you? I am truly worried about you, Ashley.

Elise

My heart flew into my throat and tears filled my eyes when Eric mentioned rape. Rhea snarled, “He wouldn’t dare.” Alexander linked me, “She’d tell you.” I’d like to think that was true. I quickly thought over his words and heard the menacing anger behind them. Did Alexander like Melanie and Ashley?

Rhea linked, “I don’t think she’s been raped. She told us she’s never had sex.” I sighed in relief when Alpha Theo confirmed it. I knew Ashley well enough to know that she wasn’t a liar. It would have devastated me if all this time she’d been suffering being sexually abused that way and I never knew. At least my instincts weren’t totally off. I knew I was missing something about Ashley though.

EJ asked about her brother. I’d asked him to track him down because I wanted to bring him here and talk to him myself. Orget Haley to. I knew he was angry but taking it out on Ashley was not ok. They needed each other and he just callously pushed her away.

I linked Eric, “You found him?” He replied, “He’s never there when we are.” Rhea snarked, “Isn’t everything about this just incredibly convenient? I swear to God anytime we made any sort of progress with anything BAM. We hit a wall.”

I knew Missouri was full of bad people, but so did everyone else. It was believed that the vast majority of Missouri were corrupt. Similar to the undergrounds, we just couldn't prove it. I voiced my concerns because I felt it in my bones someone didn’t want us to dig into Ashley.

It felt like someone was intentionally putting blockers into our path. But why? My head began to feel like a spike was going through it. I knew my physical pain didn’t reach EJ though because our bond showed no concern. Good for me figuring out how to do that. Rhea grumbled, “We can’t do that.” Yet we were, obviously.

Alpha Theo held back on taking out the leadership of Black Path because Ashley asked him to. Rhea reasoned, “Thor assured me they are watching the pack.” I asked, “How closely though? We don’t have a source inside their pack. We only have Phil’s Warrior friend in a neighboring pack, and they still aren’t our allies. They just lived in the same place.”

It clicked that Alpha Theo wanted Ashley as a source. Rhea mused, “She is the most obvious choice. She hates that pack, and she doesn’t bother to hide it.” I replied, “So, why doesn’t she tell any of us stuff?” Rhea didn’t have a reply to that.

I knew Ashley trusted me, but she didn’t like to talk about leaving Black Path or things her pack leadership did. I didn’t push her because I was taking a page out of my mother in law’s book. Ashley was skittish and we all knew it. Wasn’t I the smartest choice to get Ashley to be our source though?

Eric linked, “Theo is just another line we have with her. I think if she’s going to be anyone’s source it will be yours. We are playing the long game.” I wasn’t surprised because he always was. Logically, Ashley was too smart not to see the signs of the bad things Black Path was involved in. Especially since she was now the Female Lead Warrior.

Why wouldn’t she tell me though? Rhea sighed, “Not to disagree with Alpha Theo, but Ashley isn’t really the blackmailing type.” I didn’t know about that. Everyone had that inside them, especially supernatural’s. Ashley just wouldn’t do it for the reasons other people did. The loss of her family drove her, but it might be heading into reckless abandon at this point.

Which means that whatever this pack was doing she was working to bring them down herself. She had trust issues, and for some reason she did not appear to trust the Werewolf Council. Taking Black Path down on her own was more her style than blackmailing Alpha Davis for anything in my opinion.

EJ offered the idea that Ashley could be playing Alpha Theo. I nearly smacked his shoulder but refrained. Rhea huffed, “Ashley isn’t like that, and he knows it.” I was just as annoyed as she was. That idea was quickly tossed out as an option. Which they should be grateful for. I was ready to go in on them.

Which circled my thoughts back to there being so many parallels between this girl and Melanie. If we ever got them together, they would probably take over the world. That wasn’t even an exaggeration. If they fought side by side, woe be it for anyone who stood in their way.

Melanie had assured all of us she kept up with her training. My brothers got the report from the Alpha in New York now. They hadn’t been able to pin him down for a phone conversation, but he emailed them the reports. She was just as good as she ever was.

We listened to the conversation. Rhea hummed, “It’s true Ashley would be a crowd pleaser in the undergrounds we see.” I asked, “You don’t think she’s in the real ones. Do you?” Fear gripped me hard. Rhea replied, “If she is, she wins. Shady people would mark her if they pinned her to tame her.” I didn’t like that thought at all.

Rhea agreed, “I don’t either, but I’ve seen that side of the world in my past lives. I don’t think, even as good as she is, Ashley could withstand the toughest fighters they have for this long. She’d be dead or marked. Unless she has some insane strength we don’t know about.” What a happy thought.

Haley and I had invited Ashley to represent Black Path at the Summit. Alpha Davis turned that down. I told Ashley that I’d been disappointed at their pack’s refusal. She told me she hadn’t even heard about the offer.

---