Cassie was pissed about the rumors. She laid out the flaws with the story, mirroring my own thoughts. The crux of the matter seemed to be about a guy she believed was her mate. Something happened involving him after she didn’t shift.
I guess her brother told her the guy she thought was her mate wouldn’t want her. That he’d picked her brother's side. Which made no goddamn sense because there should be no fucking sides. We tried to find her brother and whoever she liked, but no one besides the brother seemed to know who this guy was.
Ashley refused to say his name and didn’t talk about him much to us. I knew she really believed he was her mate, and the threat of rejection was killing her. That made me want to pulverize this man and her brother.
The brother always disappeared if we had anyone around the pack. We’d never caught so much of a glimpse of him. I was beginning to side with Eric about Missouri. They sucked and so did Nashville. Cassie thought the whole thing was shitty and it she was right. It was and it all seemed wrong.
I was honestly a little worried that somehow the Black Path pack had killed Ashley’s wolf the night she first shifted. Addison and Sierra weren’t there because they’d gone on a trip. Something they seemed to feel overly guilty for. I found it odd they left of their own free will on her birthday. Hendrick and Mason King were sent off by the Alpha.
When it got down to it, none of Ashley’s friends were there for her.Something Paige in particular had been pissed about because she only went thinking they were going to be there. It was something even she seemed to be on the outside of for some reason.
Ashley told me she didn’t fully remember the night she was supposed to shift. Or much about it other than screaming in pain. All she knew for sure was that she woke up in the Alpha’s office with her aunt, being told she had no wolf. She was given a letter that I hadn’t read, but she always had it on her person. The whole thing reeked of something being wrong.
What I knew is the guy she thought was her mate was an idiot if the brother was telling the truth. Honestly, I leaned towards believing her brother was lying. Or someone was. Hell, anyone who wasn’t Ashley was lying. She was the literal worst liar of all time. She could evade but that was it. If she ever tried to lie, you and everyone else knew she was.
I wished she would tell me who she thought was her mate was, because I’d find him. If her brother was telling the truth, he’d get his ass kicked Hackura style. Then I’d ask Emmaline and Aria Lyons if he was her mate. I might kill him either way to be honest. She’d get a second chance. I just had no damn clue who the guy in question was.
I knew I didn’t understand all the actions surrounding that girl. She was a victim too. She was fourteen years old, and she woke up in a hospital with someone she’d never met, with a gunshot wound. That was cruel. No matter if everyone in the damn pack was hurting or not.
I held Cassie close, not wanting to let her go. Max and Micah popped in together. Max frowned watching his sister. At least I know she could somewhat vent her frustrations to her brother. I opened a portal and Micah and I stepped through.
Micah sighed, “It’s so hard not telling him. I just want to confess it all and see if Max can figure out a way to fix this shit that we can’t.” I sighed, “I know. We can’t lose Ashley as a source though. Also….” Micah interrupted, “Yeah, also I just need to protect her. I want her to be happy. I think that Ashley is in the REAL undergrounds.” I jerked my head back to him.
We were alone in the apartment we’d set up for him. I groaned, “Tell me you have proof to back that up.” Micah snorted, “Of course I don’t, or you’d know. That night she called us about Cass, I had my dad track down the building her call came from.” I shivered whenever I thought about that night.
“We didn’t get to it until a day later, but it was crazy clean. It reeked of cleaning products. What abandoned building gets scrubbed like that? She has these unexplained bruises that she doesn’t want to talk about. I don’t think it’s just the pack doing shit to her. If you were the real undergrounds, you’d want her fighting right?”
I acknowledged, “Eric says the same thing.” Micah nodded, “I know and I think he’s right.” I ran a hand through my hair, “FUCK! Why can’t we just get a break with this girl? Just one goddamn thing? Fuck, with anyone else I’d have gotten answers out of them by now. I just can’t do that with her. We’ve built trust with her. I know we have! Why is she still holding back?”
Micah sighed, “I know. I feel the same way about getting answers from her. I think she does trust us. Hell, I think she likes us, and that scares her.” I pushed that aside, “Come on. Let's get to the venue. Ashley is going to let us in for the sound check or practice, so we can get the lay of the land for tonight.”
Ashley was in a popular band called The Rebels. There was a drug leader for the Ring that was coming tonight for their concert. We were going to take him back to the Hackura realm for answers. I was honestly happy there was someone in this situation I could get answers from.
We drove to the venue in silence. Once we parked, I noticed there were several Black Path pack members around. I found that odd but shrugged it off. A few guys noticed us and watched us curiously. Micah linked me, “If they were more observant, they’d recognize me.”
I replied, “They are a sad pack.” Micah linked, “No joke. Those are the Lead Male Warrior Buck’s Warriors.” I snorted, “Ashley says they are shit.” Micah added, “They are in comparison to hers. They did protect the pack until she trained her own Warriors though.” It was a valid point.
We walked inside into a heated argument. Ashley was beating the ever loving shit out of a guy. He wasn’t even trying to fight back. I looked at Micah who was staring wide eyed until I cleared my throat. Micah told me, “That’s Buck.” I snorted, “The Lead Male Warrior of Black Path?” He nodded.
Who needs a wolf? Not Ashley. I noted there was a girl wearing Ashley’s hoodie with a black eye in the corner. I grabbed Ashley around the waist. I asked, “What happened?” Ashley screamed, “He’s a jerk! One that doesn’t make any sense! That’s what happened!”
She yelled at the man, “Are you happy now, Buck? You made Avery see an awful side of you! She is the ONLY person who defended you to me! I thought you loved her more than anything in the world!” Based on the look in his eyes that was true. He did love whoever Avery was to him.
Ashley snarked, “No wonder your mate rejected you and ran away!” I raised an eyebrow. I looked over at Micah and noted his jaw was on the floor. Rejecting someone was a big deal. I carried Ashley backstage to a private room.
I closed the door and asked her, “Out of curiosity, can you get out of my hold?” No sooner had I asked than Ashley pushed her hips back into mine and broke my hold. She was briefly on the ground before she rolled and was quickly on her feet.
I nodded, “So, you let me stop you. What happened?” Ashley explained, “I was running here. I almost didn't… gosh... what if I’d driven? I could’ve drove… well I guess I didn’t realize I was out of gas… but I wasn’t. Ya know? I’m observant…this is a thing that I am. It’s weird but whatever.” I realized I knew something Ashley didn’t.
Buck had a motorcycle and could ride it. I’d seen him riding on a dirt road but didn’t know his name until tonight.I was certain that Buck drove her motorcycle and ran it out of gas, so she’d have to run here. She was too meticulous not to notice her bike was out of gas. The question was, why he would do that?
I replied, “Avery has never been a fan of yours.”Ashley shrugged, “I am outspoken about the fact that her brother sucks…less than other people…but he’s just…ANNOYING! He knows these things are wrong but he’s all head in the sand about it.”
She waved, “Anyway Avery didn’t agree until today. I’m sure we will be friends now. Not even MY brother would sink that low.” I asked, “How low?” Ashley snorted, “He left his little sister to be gang bang raped by six of his Warriors. She’s never been trained on how to fight. That’s changing… it was… I mean…. She already asked if I’d train her.”
I raised an eyebrow, “What happened to the Warriors?” Ashley shrugged, “Half are dead. The other half are in the pack hospital. Or dying in a field… that’s a possibility. I didn’t tell anyone to come care for them… I really don’t care.”
I laughed, “You killed them?” She nodded, “I’ll get in trouble, but who cares? Not me, that's who.” I knew better than to let her keep going. I jumped in, “Surely not even your Alpha would care if you stopped a Warrior from raping another pack member.”
