I gaped at him for several moments. I shouted, “Her brother BLAMES her because at fourteen she was pissed at her parents for grounding her?” Phil nodded, “It seems that way yeah. Then there’s the other rumor.” I groaned, “I don’t like how that started at all.”
Phil sighed, “The Rumor going around is that when she didn’t shift at sixteen that confirmed for the pack the wolf dad, wasn’t her biological dad. That the Hunter who killed her family is her biological dad.”
I snorted, “Bullfuckingshit. I don’t know why she doesn't have a wolf, but Hunters are not half as skilled at fighting as Ashley is.” Phil hummed, “Which is what Walker told his mate. His Blair got VERY interested in that opinion and peppered him with questions.” Why wouldn’t another wolf know that?
He continued, “Then she called her friends, and they talked for hours. She kept asking him how he knew that. He told her it was common knowledge. He also added he’d met Hunters and has met Ashley so he knew she didn’t have any Hunter blood. His mate was confused about that as well.” What?
Phil tapped his chin, “I myself ask why it’s not common knowledge in Black Path that Hunters hunt. Hand to handcombat is not their thing. Tranquilizers, shooting, throwing weapons sure. Hand to hand like Ashley? Nah. She can beat an Alpha werewolf. A shitty Alpha, but an Alpha, nonetheless. That woman is a wolf. Why don’t Black Path members know they can tell the blood of other Supernaturals if they’ve met them? I don’t know. It seems weird not to teach pups that, but they are weird.”
He took a breath, “Then I ponder about Ashley herself. I ask why she doesn’t have a wolf? I find myself more curious with each passing day.” I frowned reasoning, “Some people just don’t get them.” Phil shrugged, “I think her old pack just wanted the excuse to kick her out and her not shifting gave them the reason to cut ties.”
We both sat in silence for a moment. He clapped saying, “Maybe she’s half Hackura. That rings far more accurate than her being fucking Hunter. I’d have gone with that lie instead of Hunter to be honest. Their Beta is truly atrocious. Ashley is a lot like us other Hackura hybrids minus not having a wolf.” Holy shit. Was that why she trusted Cayden and Micah? She was half Hackura?
No, because then surely Cayden would take her home. Oden agreed, “He would.” My wolf was right, I knew he would. Maybe she had some Hackura blood in her though. It was a thought. Oden snorted, “A thought that fits, but it doesn’t.” He was right. I stretched my fingers and got ready to type my email to Ashley. She’d said we’d meet some day. I wanted it to be someday soon.
My Stand
Melanie is Nineteen Years Old
Melanie and her friends were sitting in Mason and Hendrick’s diner. The Ring was planning something big. I’d tapped into the computers of the Hunters we’d been sent to work with from day one when we were fourteen.
I had a little wand device I’d built. It helped that Nate was actually working with us. He still hadn’t agreed to go see Princess Luna Haley yet, but I did help him with what I could power wise. He’d met other Fairies who were trying to bring him into Princess Luna Haley’s orbit, but he hadn’t quite got there.
I wasn’t pushing because I understood his goals. I’d sent plenty of partial Fairies the Conners way and encouraged all I met to go train at Black Mountains partial Fairy Practices. Nate did practice his magic with the partials he’d met though. He learned how to charm the Hunter tattoo on his wrist.
I couldn’t fault him for not wanting to stop since he wanted revenge. He’d been abandoned as a child, and a pack took him in. When he went away to college, he’d returned from a break to find the pack was in ruins.
The family who’d raised him was dead. He’s been working through the ranks trying to get to Slade Carter ever since. He wanted to find his sisters that had been kidnapped. Working with him, we’d managed to save a lot of people.
Thinking of Slade brought my memories back to my home pack, which made me internally cringe. A man I considered a second dad banished me when I didn’t shift. I couldn't think about that though. I just couldn't. I needed to focus on where I was: King’s Diner with friends.
Blair gasping pulled me out of those thoughts. Paige whispered, “Oh no.” I asked, “What?” Then I heard a man growl, “MINE!” Blair stood and ran to the man. He wasn’t from our pack and based on looks I was certain I knew who he was.
This was good. Blair could get out of Black Path. That was my hope for everyone here. Addison looked at me worriedly. She whispered, “You’re fighting tonight.” I shrugged saying, “I’ll be fine.” I would be. I’d have to fight Blair’s father first before my Underground fight. It would be a quick and easy one. He wasn’t a good fighter.
In the wonderfulness that was Black Path, anyone who wanted to leave and be with their fated had to fight to be with them if they weren’t in the pack. Non mated pack members were typically sold off as chosen mates before I showed up. I say that loosely because…. the women especially, had no choice. I'd fought countless times since I came here to stop that.
Especially after I became the Female Lead Warrior. Any Warrior under me was a given. I didn’t have to argue they deserved me to fight in their place. Sierra nudged me whispering, “Blair is panicking.” I told them, “Someone text Olivia…. I’m not going to make it to see her today.” Addison immediately took out her phone.
I was monitoring everything I could for the allies and Olivia was working to develop more things to help. We had planned to work on them today. Sometimes, we were suspects for the things we did but despite knowing Paige and Valentina were my friends we weren’t suspected that much. For how smart The Ring could be they were also somehow… very dumb.
I guess they had to be though. The Conners and their allies had driven them into the dark. Which made things easier for my group, The Resistance. It was somewhat of a joke with our group that Cayden and Micah wanted a meeting with The Resistance leader.
When you think about the fact the leader is me…. and I meet with them ALL the dang time… it was kind of funny. Addison grunted. I asked, “Is Olivia upset?” She replied, “No, my dad texted telling me to quit the band again.” I knew she wouldn’t, so I wasn’t worried.
The Rebels had become pretty popular. It pissed off Sierra and Addison’s dad’s that we had the band… which both my friends loved. So, every time they texted them saying they had to quit it just cemented they weren’t going to. Heck, Sierra would probably find a venue to play nearby just to spite Edward and Jean.
I stood and walked over to Blair. Her mate was confused. I assured her, “It’s fine Blair. Introduce us to your mate.” Blair looked at me with wide eyes. She linked me, “You have a fight tonight.” I replied, “Now I have two. I won’t have you being unhappy. You belong with your mate.”
Blair’s eyes filled with tears when she replied, “So do you Mel.” I wanted to wince as pain filled my heart. My Xander. We emailed now even though I knew I shouldn’t answer him. He was going to hate me when he found out it’s really me.
One day he’d find out that Ashley Griffen and Melanie McAlister were the same person. At this point, I’d memorized the letter Jason sent me after I didn’t shift. He’d told Xander that I thought he was my mate. The thing was, I didn't think he was my mate; I knew he was.
Now, my mate didn’t want me. I blinked and replied to Blair, “He doesn't want me.” Blair insisted, “He likes you as Ashley. It comes across in his emails. He’s willing to kill for you. He never has to know your real name.” They’d all read that second email he’d sent when I passed out and Cayden left.
I snorted, “He’d find out when he introduced me to Red Run.” Blair argued, “You could find a way around that. Always be goneor something. It worked when you were a pup.” I couldn’t do that to Xander. He needed a Luna that was able to do her job.
I explained, “He’s an Alpha Enforcer. Of course he’d kill for someone. That’s not a high bar… when you think about it.” Blair shot me a look. She said, “He didn’t say it as an enforcer. There was entirely too much passion behind his words, even in email form.”
