Page 121 of Burning Embers

I exchange a wary glance with Emery…before the two of us seem to realize what we’re doing and immediately look away.

Most of our pack meetings take place in Ashton’s “room.” And I say “room” with quotation marks because it’s actually a small house on his father’s property.

The tiny pool house has only two rooms. The main one is a combination of a bedroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen. All four blend in seamlessly with each other, the smooth tiles of the kitchen transitioning into lush carpeting and then the carpeting turning into bamboo floorboards on a slightly raised platform that holds Ashton’s bed. The living area consists of two couches, a single armchair, and a flatscreen television connected to every single gaming device I can think of.

The only other room in the tiny home is a bathroom.

Ashton throws himself into his customary armchair, and immediately, Pepper moves to snuggle on his lap.

Pepper is Ashton’s pure black cat he found years ago when she was just a kitten. Ashton worried initially that the tiny cat would be scared of the four of us—some animals can sense our wolves—but it proved to be the exact opposite. Pepper clings to the four of us with the steadfast devotion and love only a pet can emulate.

Who would’ve thought that the big, scary Ashton is secretly a cat lover?

Ashton strokes Pepper’s fur as he waits for Reid to take his seat. However, the large man remains standing, his muscular arms folded over his chest and his scowl firmly in place. He glares at Ashton with an almost incandescent fury that makes me instantly cautious. And curious, if I’m being completely honest.

What the fuck did Ashton do?

“Is someone going to explain what’s going on here?” Emery interjects, flicking his gaze between a brooding Ashton and a glowering Reid.

Ashton grits his teeth together. “Christian’s back.”

Out of everything I expected him to say…it wasn’t that.

Even Reid seems taken aback by Ashton’s announcement, like he thought the purpose of this meeting would be for an entirely different reason.

“Christian?” Emery asks in disbelief. “The fuck?”

I haven’t seen Ashton’s older brother in…well… Who the fuck knows how long? Years, maybe. The last time I saw him was on his eighteenth birthday, when it was officially revealed he was a lone wolf without a pack. Ashton always assumed he would join our pack, so to discover his beloved brother was fated to go feral? That destroyed him.

But whatobliteratedhim was Christian’s decision to leave town without a single goodbye to his brother. Ashton alreadylost his mom and most of his dads. And now his brother? It was a near fatal wound, one Ashton still hasn’t healed from.

Ashton looks as if he’s going to be sick. “I’m sure you all heard of the new vice principal, Mr. Montgomery.”

“I hear the girls talking about him,” Emery responds with a roll of his eyes. “But what does that have to do with Christ—” He cuts off with a sharp inhale. “Holy shit! Christian is Mr. Montgomery, isn’t he?”

Ashton nods stiffly. “It appears as if he changed his last name.”

“What the fuck is he even doing at our school?” Emery demands. “Why now? Do you think your father asked him to come? To spy on us?”

As the next pack slated to take over the Council, we’ve been under a microscope since we first came into power. Our dominance surpasses that of any other pack in the territory, and that makes people afraid.

Including Ashton’s father.

Personally, I don’t believe one pack should rule over all. That’s a dictatorship waiting to happen. I’m firmly on team “democracy.”

But my opinion doesn’t matter. Not yet.

Not until I’m officially on the Council.

“Wouldn’t put it past my father to add two spies to the school,” Ashton mutters, his voice dripping with acerbic distaste.

Reid growls harshly. “Izzy isn’t a damn spy!”

“No?” One of Ashton’s eyebrows arches. “Then why is she here? Why now? Why did she arrive the exact same time Christian did? I don’t believe in coincidences.”

I have to ball my hands into fists to keep from doing something stupid—like slapping him. Or choking him. Or clawing his eyes out.

Emery doesn’t have the same restraint.

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