Aubrielle hugged me, “Don’t tell her then! I want to share the news.” I squeezed her tightly, “Are you happy?” She pulled back smiling, “I’m so happy. Which you know because the bond tells you.” It did but I wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth. I kissed her forehead, “Good.” I shook Wren’s hand again before they left.
My mom teasingly chastised me, “We were trying to have a family breakfast before they left.” I laughed, “You should’ve sent someone else then.” My mom rolled her eyes, “Duly noted.” My dad smirked probably because he’d mentioned that and was ignored.
I followed my connection with Cass, quickly realizing where she and Alexander were. It was mine and Cassie’s spot. I stopped when I heard what they were talking about. Melanie McAlister. They must be very involved in their conversation to not realize I was here. The second Cassie mentioned Levi, I texted him.
Me:I don’t know what you know about Alexander and Melanie, but please tell me you don’t have a crush on her.
Levi:I know she likes him and always has. As I am observant, I know he likes her too. I don’t have a crush on her, but I like the kid. She has moxie.
Me:All that’s good news. Here’s some bad: Cass might have spilled the beans that you met Melanie.
Levi:To whom?
Me:Alexander. He’s incoming.
Levi:FUCK!
Me:Best of luck since he seems unhappy.
Levi:It wasn’t like EJ and I planned it. With all that damn border crossing bullshit it just happened. Something weird is going on with that whole thing. The whole damn situation is fucking weird. God help you if you say that though. T made me promise to leave the whole damn thing and Melanie alone. It was fucking bizarre. We were talking about it here in person and he admitted it was fucking weird she’d never come home. He left, then an hour later I got this text asking for my word to leave Melanie alone. He flipped shit on me in a text.
Me:That is weird. You guys have been friends for forever.
Levi:I know but I dropped it. I don’t say shit about Melanie and the FUCKING WEIRD SHIT anymore. I’ll be waiting for Alexander
When Alexander popped away, I had to laugh because Cassie threw herself onto the ground. It wasn’t her fault she’d spilled the beans. She didn’t know that it was a secret. I was surprised it hadn’t come out to Alexander before now, and I was more surprised I didn’t know.
Something about that nagged me briefly. Levi and EJ met Melanie. Ashley’s words from our first meeting came to mind. She’d met a full blooded Hackura and a partial. No. That was crazy. Ashley and Melanie were different people. I pushed those thoughts away. Honestly, I’m sure other people met Melanie and kept it a secret.
I was quite proud I’d snuck up on them, finally. With their sense of smell, it was hard to do. We got onto the subject of Melanie. I didn’t honestly know much about her. I knew of her tough. I knew that Elise missed her, she can dance, and is quite smart. I also knew she hadn’t come home since she left. There ended my knowledge of Melanie McAlister.
Well that, and I knew Alexander believed she was his. According to Levi, Melanie liked him too. I’d never known him to be wrong about things like that. So, I’d believe him until proven otherwise. We talked for a little bit longer before I glanced at my watch. I needed to get moving.
Cassie wasn’t happy I was leaving, but I’d be back tonight. Her mom had insisted. It was good that this wouldn’t take longer than that, or I’d have to hide from my mother in law. Which was basically an impossible task since she could pop to me.
Cassie wanted to meet Ashley, but Ashley still refused. I had no idea what the HELL that was about. Ashley seemed to get scared and became extremely skittish if I mentioned Cassie meeting her. There was also a very clear plea in her eyes to meet Cassie. She wanted to meet her, but she was terrified and kept refusing.
Cassie and I both believed that Ashley was the best sniper in The Ring Resistance. That sniper always shot six times. That made sense to me because she was saying she was always on our six. We just couldn’t ever get to the snipers hide in time to talk. I’d asked Ashley point blank if it was her. She evaded.
When I pushed her, she told me to prove it was her. She didn’t deny it, which told me it HAD to be her. I just needed something tangible. Physical proof it was her, and she would talk to me about it. I could tell part of her really wanted me to figure it out. Micah and I both felt that way, but everyone said it was conjecture. Which was true, it just felt right.
I could make her talk, but at the same time I couldn’t. Uncle Bjourn and his brothers said the same, but they were wrong. I couldn’t torture information out of Ashley. Or even use harsher tactics. The thought physically repulsed me. She helped us and the thought of raising a hand to her made me sick.
Harper backed me up on that and he’d only seen her on video. He said she needed to be protected. The reasons I couldn’t torture her were because: One, I truly believed she’d withstand torture better than people thought she would. Two, I couldn’t hurt her. She was like a little sister that I needed to protect.
Uncle Bjourn admitted he hadn’t been talking about torture but bringing her to our realm until she sat down and answered questions. He pointed out that she was possibly facing enough assholes in that pack being shitty to her. She had responsibilities and if we had her our realm, she’d have to talk to us to go back home.
I toyed with his idea a lot. Especially when Micah and I would see her with unexplained bruises. Which made no damn sense. I’d watched her teach fighting classes and I’d gone up against her myself. She was impressive to watch and fight against.
I couldn’t shake the part of me that felt Ashley wanted me to figure The Resistance piece of it all. I truly believed she hoped I did. The other part of her seemed terrified of what would happen if I did. I’d tried telling her that none of us would ever hurt her, but she seemed to disagree. I just couldn’t figure out why.
I’d even told her we owed her as a people if was true. She got us to Cass on time. That meant something to our entire realm. Hell, it meant something to the Conners. Her eyes would flash with sorrow when I mentioned my in-laws. I just couldn’t figure out what the fuck that meant.
After Ashley didn’t shift, which she wouldn’t talk about, something changed in her. She was darker, harder, and definitely angrier. I couldn’t blame her when I heard the rumor that her dad wasn’t her dad. It sounded like complete bullshit. Wolves have to be in heat to conceive.
So, I didn’t buy for one second some dude raped a she wolf in heat, then her mate showed up and didn’t kill that guy. Yeah right. Something was wrong with that. Ashley seemed broken about it though. Like she believed the lies but didn’t at the same time. It was like she was being torn down into believing the rumors though.
That thought was cemented when she’d told Micah her biological dad may not be the man she thought he was, but the man who raised her would always be her real dad. She said it didn’t make sense becauseeveryone said she shared features with her dad. Not that I could vouch for it since she wouldn’t show me his picture or talk about it.
