The Trinity: The Ashland Pack Series (2 page)

Mace and
Cade met up at the Old Station Restaurant. They had been best friends since they were pups, just like their
fathers. Mace grabbed Cade from
behind and picked him up.

“Will you
stop already? Put me down, you
ass.” Cade laughed in surprise.

Mace
laughed and said, “I think you have grown taller than me.”

“I
have. I grew two more inches,” Cade
said, laughing.

“How tall
are you now?” Mace questioned,
narrowing his eyes.

“I’m six
foot five,” Cade said, puffing his chest up.

Since they
were children, Cade had been the jokester, the funny one. Whereas Mace was the one who was more
serious. They were trying to keep
things light. They hadn’t seen each
other in a while. However, things
were about to change.

“Oh, my
God, you’re a fuckin’ monster,” Mace teased and then hit his friend on the
shoulder.

“Yes, but
I will always take it easy on you, shrimp,” Cade said, standing straight.

“Let’s not
find out, jackass, because I would hate to embarrass you in front of your
Second,” Mace said and they both laughed.

Two Alphas
meeting in the open was almost unheard of anymore. It was too dangerous. However, the Alphas were confident them
and their men wouldn’t be attacked. When Cade told his Second, Declan, about the meeting, he immediately had
things arranged.

Declan had
Protectors surround the restaurant. Whether his Alpha knew it or not, he would soon be an important person
in the shifter world. Declan hated
to keep secrets from his Alpha but he had been asked specifically by the other
Second to help him. It was why,
right now, he looked in the direction of Damen, Mace’s Second, and nodded.

Declan
Lahey knew Mace and looked toward the restaurant while the Alphas greeted each
other. Damen nodded, letting him
know for the moment, he had the two Alphas in sight.

Declan
walked in the restaurant first, scenting the area, looking for any sign of
trouble. He observed Damen McDonald
coming from the back door, checking the area. Damen McDonald was Mace McDonald’s
cousin and Second in command. Damen
picked a table for the Alphas, which had an easy exit if trouble came in either
door.

Once they
were seated, both Protectors waited and watched as the two friends spoke. Both had their back to the Alphas, but
listening nonetheless, from separate tables flanking the pair.

Mace
McDonald was an extremely powerful Alpha. His wolf was very strong and he possessed magic he didn’t know he
had. He was a kind and fair Alpha
to his pack. He was also very
popular with the ladies of his and Cade’s packs. The ladies talked quite often about
Mace’s green eyes and dark brown hair, so like his sister’s features. He was a tall man at six foot-four. The members of the Ashland Pack depended
on Mace to make the best decisions for them.

The pack
had flourished since he took over after his father and mother were killed. Being the older brother of Adrianna
McDonald had its perks. One was to
find out information before anyone else. Mace knew something was going on that concerned his sister, but he
didn’t know why he felt that way. He hoped the trip to Oakland Hills Resort would give him the answers to
what plagued his sleep.

“Mace,
have you spoken with anyone about the meeting tomorrow?” Cade questioned.

“I spoke
with Adrianna, but she didn’t go into any detail about the nature of the
meeting,” Mace said and shrugged his shoulders.

“Speaking
of which, how is your little sister?” Cade asked smoothly.

“I don’t
know. We talk on the computer every
day, but I think she is lonely. I
miss her and I can’t wait to see her,” Mace replied.

“Why won’t
she come to see you in Ashland?” Cade
asked slowly, afraid he already knew the answer.

Mace
sighed and Cade regretted he’d asked. His friend had called him that night. He’d wanted to come and help, but Mace
had told him there was nothing to be done.
He
would make sure the
perpetrators paid. For a few
minutes, Cade had wondered whether his friend would kill the men who dared to
hurt his sister, but Mace had reined himself in. Cade and the rest of the Pack had been
impressed by his restraint and the fact he’d allowed the Governing Council to
deal with the bad guys.

Mace took
a deep breath. “Well, you know what
the hell happened to her. I can’t
blame her for not wanting to come home. Nobody was there to protect her.
I
wasn’t there to protect my
baby sister. She almost freakin’
died, Cade.”

“I’m
sorry, Mace. You can’t blame
yourself anymore; you were in the Army. Hell—you were in a different country when it happened. They attacked your father and mother
when most of the Protectors were in training,” Cade said sternly to his friend.

“I
know—but I remember how little she was. She had beautiful, long, brown hair and
the biggest, green eyes. She was so
innocent. They took that from her,”
Mace said angrily and hit his hand on the table.

Many of
the patrons looked over at them curiously, but Mace didn’t seem to care.

Damen
McDonald sat at the next table listening to the Alpha’s discussion about Mace’s
family. Adrianna McDonald was now
feared by all the packs. All
Protector training went through her now. Adrianna was part wolf, vampire, and witch. Only a few had this information. Not even her brother knew the
truth. However, that was about to
change.

She would
be introduced to the Alphas and Vampire Council at the meeting tomorrow. She would be introduced as the
Trinity
. She was the one about whom the prophecy
had foretold. Mace would be ticked
off when he found out. He would
also be mad at Damen for not telling him, but he had been sworn to keep this
secret ten years ago.

The Supreme
Alpha, Afton Mackenzie, and Selena instructed Damen to watch over Mace and
Cade. He was told to keep the
secret until the time was right. Mace and Cade would become very important to Adrianna.

Adrianna
was beautiful. She had all the
curves a woman needed. She was
sharp and didn’t miss anything. She
was downright scary if you angered her, a Protector with the grace of a
queen. Gone was the innocent child
and now stood a Goddess, a warrior, and the
Trinity
. She was so beautiful. There were Protectors who tried to flirt
with her, but Adrianna would never give any of them an inch.

Adrianna
had spent the last ten years at the Oakland Hills Resort training with the
Supreme Alpha and Selena McPherson. She was efficient at being a Protector; the training for new Protectors
had been turned over to her. She
had an ability to gauge the talents of new Protectors knowing what their
strengths and weakness were. Her
ability was, without a doubt, unmatched. As a wolf, vampire, and witch it gave her the capability to defeat
anyone who came against her.

Older
Protectors came back to Adrianna to learn the new tricks of the trade. The Supreme Alpha was now letting
Adrianna train the Vampires selected to guard the members of the Vampire
Council. She was the most powerful
Protector who ever lived.

Her beauty
was breathtaking. She had an allure
of pure dynamics, which drew you to her. Adrianna was a great cousin, but Mace was right—she was lonely. She needed to be with Mace and she
needed a strong Alpha mate.

As Mace’s
Second and Lead Protector, it was Damen McDonald’s responsibility to provide
security for the Ashland Pack and protect their Alpha. He became Mace’s Second ten years ago
when Mace asked him to take on the position. This was after Eli Cord, the evil
bastard, killed Mace’s parents.

Eli Cord
killed Mace and Adrianna’s parents, Cale and Olivia McDonald. Eli also almost raped Adrianna. They tried to kill her, too, but the
Supreme Alpha and Selena arrived in time to save her.

Selena had
given Adrianna her blood, which helped in healing her. It also turned Adrianna into a
hybrid—part wolf and part vampire.

Mace
didn’t know his father, Cale McDonald, was not Adrianna’s biological
father. The Supreme Alpha, Afton
Mackenzie, was her father.

Olivia
McDonald was put under a lust spell from Eli Cord’s mother, Dalley Cord. She wanted to destroy Olivia and Cale
McDonald’s life so Eli could take over as Alpha of the Ashland Pack. Olivia McDonald was very beautiful and
kind-hearted. Olivia was not only
mother to Mace and Adrianna McDonald; she was also a very powerful witch. She had powers she never used. She was a member of the Twister’s
Council, too.

Olivia was
married and mated to Cale McDonald. The story of their romance was told over and over, sitting around the
fires at night. Olivia was born in
Ashland and gained a lot of her magic from the land. Everybody spoke about Olivia and how she
could make her flowers and garden grow, and have the best tasting vegetables
and the sweetest fruit. The Elders
said Olivia was unique and could speak to the trees. Nobody knew for sure or had ever seen
her conversing with the trees, but the Elders always smiled when the story was
told of the female Alpha.

Dalley
Cord was an evil witch. She sent
the spell out to Olivia while Cale was away on business. Dalley knew Afton Mackenzie was in town
visiting his sister, Isabella. Dalley waited one night in the shadows as Olivia was serving a drink to
Afton at the bar she owned with her husband. Dalley willed the lust spell toward
them. Olivia and Afton couldn’t
control themselves. The lust spell
was too powerful to fight.

Olivia
knew the next morning, upon waking up and finding Afton in her bed, black magic
had been used against her and Afton, but the deed was done. Olivia was with Afton’s child and that
is how Adrianna was conceived. Olivia and Afton confessed to Cale what had happened and Cale forgave
them both. He knew his best friend
and wife would never betray him. It
was decided by the three of them to keep Adrianna’s real father a secret. Not even Adrianna knew the truth. She would find out this weekend, along
with Mace.

Afton met
Selena a year before the incident involving Olivia. Selena informed Afton about the vision
she had involving him and Olivia. She told him Dalley Cord was the witch who cast the spell. Afton and Selena met with the Twister’s
Council about Dalley Cord’s lust spell.

The
Twister’s Council was the elite of the witches and wizards of the Seven
Covens. The Twister’s Council
arrested Dalley Cord and placed her in a prison bound by magic. She was found guilty and sent to her
cell forever. Dalley Cord used
black magic, on an innocent, which was against their laws.