The Trinity: The Ashland Pack Series (4 page)

Adrianna
ran to her room, not wanting anybody to see her cry. When she closed the door, she threw
herself on her bed and let the tears run down her cheeks. She replayed everything Afton had said
to her. Adrianna needed to run before
she exploded.

She pulled
her clothes off and then shifted into a beautiful, white wolf. Adrianna needed to feel the wind against
her face and the dirt under her paws. Adrianna went out and ran until she collapsed at the end of the
property. She lay in the sun until
she fell asleep. When she woke up,
the light was fading. She knew she
had to get back. The Conference
would start soon. On returning to
her room, she found a note taped to her bathroom mirror.

NEED TO
TALK, NO MATTER WHAT, I LOVE YOU, AND WE WILL HANDLE THIS TOGETHER. LOVE, BUBBA.

Adrianna
smiled, she knew Mace would stand by her through this. At the moment, she felt strange, no
emotions, no anger, either. After
taking a shower, she dressed, walked to Afton Mackenzie’s door, and
knocked.

Afton
opened the door and grabbed Adrianna, hugging her tightly.

“I’m sorry,
so, so damn sorry. Please forgive
me for not telling you the truth.”

Adrianna
let go of Afton and ducked her head in respect before speaking.

“Sir, I
don’t know what to feel about this. I have always looked up to you as a father since I arrived ten years
ago. You saved my life and taught
me things I would have never learned. I need time to process this.”

“I
understand. I love you, Adrianna;
you will always be my heart. I am
sorry for all this. I know you need
time; however, time isn’t on our side. Adrianna, I never stopped watching out for you. Your mother and father made sure to send
me photos of you growing up and sent me letters with pictures you had
drawn. I loved getting those. I still have them today. I visited as much as I could. I always said I was visiting my
sister. We couldn’t let anyone know
you were my daughter. Life would
have been so different and harder for you if anybody found out. I couldn’t risk you getting hurt because
of me. We need to talk later
tonight about Selena’s visions.”

Afton
moved away from Adrianna.

“We need
to go. The Alphas and the Vampire
Council are waiting in the dining room.”

Adrianna
opened the door and walked behind the Supreme Alpha to the dining room. Standing guard outside the door to the
dining area were six Protectors, standing at attention, awaiting the Supreme
Alpha. When Afton approached, all
six stood up straighter and bowed their heads in submission, showing their
respect for the Alpha. They then
bowed their heads to Adrianna. She
had trained them all.

Once Afton
was in the dining hall, he walked toward the Vampire Council to greet
them. Protectors and Guards
surrounded the dining hall where the Council and Alphas were seated. Adrianna walked behind Afton, sweeping
the area.

The
fifteen Alphas were seated at a large table beside the Vampire Council. All the eyes of the Council members and
Alphas looked toward Adrianna. Her
beauty was breath taking. Adrianna’s reputation preceded her. She was known as the great Protector and trainer.

Samson
Ward was a Vampire Council member. He was a good-looking man with blue eyes, dark black hair, and a body
with lots of muscles. Samson was
next in line to take over the Vampire Council. He came from a long line of Leaders in
his family.

He was
known as a Diplomatic Leader. Samson’s family sent him to human schools and then on to Harvard to
learn about business. Leadership
came easy for Samson. He was
already leading his Clan. His
leadership had already produced more money than any other clan had. He had a mind for business and
leadership.

Samson was
a dominant vampire. His looks
granted him lots of female attention and the males’ allegiance. Samson was devoted to the Vampire
Council. However, he planned to
change some of their customs. He
felt the Council had not changed with the times or advanced. He had many goals to initiate when he
became the leader. Samson had
neither the time for love or time to chase any women, but his eyes immediately
looked toward the beautiful Adrianna.

His skin
started tingling and getting warm just from her beauty. Samson had beautiful women before but
the moment he saw Adrianna, he felt this was somehow different—she was
breathtaking. First, the scent
coming to his nostrils was unbelievable. The aroma of cotton candy was in the air. Her fragrance was sweet, mixed with a
little spice. Samson had heard
stories about the mating pull. He
was feeling his mate who had just entered the dining hall. Samson looked down at his shaking hands
and then at his Mentor, Wade Sims, sitting beside him.

Wade
looked at Samson with a worried look on his face. Then he realized Samson was looking at
Adrianna. Samson whispered to
himself, “Please, not now, not now.”

Wade knew
what was going on. He remembered
the time he had met his mate. Wade
understood how hard Samson worked and knew Samson was very ambitious about
becoming the next Leader of the Vampire Council.

“It’s
alright, Samson; it’s the mating pull. The Great Protector, Adrianna, is your mate. Congratulations, my friend.”

Samson
just looked at Wade with uncertainty in his eyes.

“What’s
wrong?” Wade asked.

“I am not
ready for a damn mate. I don’t want
one now. I am this close to being
the Leader of the Vampire Council. I don’t have time for this shit. All the focus I will need to do the job correctly will have to be
devoted to her. She will demand I
tend to her and not the Council,” Samson said firmly.

Wade
looked at Adrianna and stated, “I understand, Samson, but we wait our entire
lives for the one person who completes us. You have found your mate and—look at her. She is beautiful, a goddess, and a
warrior. You will see she’ll
complete you. She will be by your
side when you take over. She is a
Protector and she will understand the time you’ll need to dedicate to your
job.”

Samson
couldn’t keep his eyes off Adrianna. The arousal he was feeling for a complete stranger was staggering to
him. He wanted to fight the urges
but couldn’t bring himself to stop looking at her. He knew he needed to get a grip on his
emotions before anyone else noticed them. He needed to speak to Adrianna in private before anybody found out she
was his mate.

Samson had
always had a big appetite for sex. The
way his emotions were jumping all over the place, he knew when he got Adrianna
alone; he would probably fuck her against the wall. He had always been a dominant lover and
expected his partners to be submissive, it was his way, or they could always
leave. Samson liked being in
control of his lovers. Samson
couldn’t believe he was even thinking this way. He needed to get out of this dining hall
before he lost control. He needed
to escape her scent.

Samson
looked at Wade. He pleaded with him
not to tell anyone about Adrianna being his mate. He asked Wade to keep it to himself
until he could speak with Adrianna.

Cade
Maxwell looked up and saw the most beautiful creature in his life. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The last time he had seen Adrianna; she
was ten years old with pigtails in her hair. She had the biggest, green eyes and
long, brown hair. Then he went into
the Military with Mace. Cade hadn’t
seen Adrianna in ten years.

His
breathing became ragged. His pulse
was racing and his skin started blazing. Cade smelled her scent when she entered the dining hall. Her fragrance was of the outdoors and
musk. It was intoxicating. Cade could feel himself getting hard
just by watching her walk. He
couldn’t believe what was happening to him. Cade knew he had a lot of lovers, but he
had never felt this particular way with any of them. He wanted to reach out and touch
her. The urge to stand up, grab
her, and fuck her was so intense he would have to sit on his hands so he
wouldn’t reach for her when she got closer.

Cade
looked over at Mace; he was shaking.

“What’s
wrong, Cade?” asked Mace.

“It’s your
sister. I think she is my mate,”
Cade whispered.

Surprised,
Mace looked up at Adrianna. Mace
thought Cade was probably joking with him—at least he hoped the hell he
was. Cade was his best friend and
he trusted him with his life, but being mated with his sister was something he
didn’t know if he could handle.

Adrianna
tilted her nose in the air and smelled two different aromas that were
incredible. One smelled like sweet
honey. The other smelled of the
outdoors and a musky flavor, combined they had her mouthwatering. Both scents called to her. She wanted to search out the person who
smelled so intoxicating.

Adrianna
had heard about the mating pull, but she never thought she would experience
it. Her eyes focused on two
different men. One she knew only
through her research.

Samson
Ward was next in line to lead the Vampire Council. He was gorgeous with short, black hair,
blue eyes, and built with a wide chest and tight muscles. He was also looking at Adrianna with
hunger in his eyes. Adrianna
immediately looked away, not quite believing what she was seeing.

Then her
eyes focused on Cade Maxwell. Adrianna had fantasized about Cade Maxwell for ten years. He was gorgeous. Cade had short, brown hair a woman could
get lost in. Adrianna wanted to run
her fingers through it. She wanted
to run her hands all over his body. He was only a fantasy. Cade
was her older brother’s best friend and as a young man, had only looked at her
as a child. She was the little
sister of his best friend. When she
looked at Cade, he also looked as if he were hungering for her. These were feelings Adrianna couldn’t
allow herself to think about. She
didn’t feel as if her life was meant to have a mate in it. However, the thought of it was
irresistible.

Focus!
Her mind started
screaming. While the Supreme Alpha
was making his welcoming speech, Adrianna smelled something. A slight smell of magic, very subtle,
not the magic Selena or even Adrianna used but something dark. Adrianna started scanning for something,
which made her skin crawl. Nothing
was visible. The Protectors were
trained to watch each other’s back, knowing they themselves might not see the
threat but to trust each other’s hunches or feelings. The Protectors against the wall watched,
knowing Adrianna was looking around for something. Adrianna’s actions made them all on edge,
looking around, trying to locate something out of place.

Adrianna
started walking around the dining area, focusing on the danger, not the
speech. Adrianna heard only the
part where the
Trinity
had been found
and the myth was a reality. There
is one who is wolf, vampire, and witch—the one who would bring the three
together. The groups gasped as if
the Supreme Alpha couldn’t be correct. He had to be wrong.

Then the
ceiling caved in at the air vent near the windows. Four men dropped to the floor and
shifted into their wolf form. Adrianna chanted the protection spell and threw her hands toward the
Vampire Council and Alphas, covering them with her spell.

Everyone
was on their feet but couldn’t escape the protection. They could only watch. The Protectors and Guards were frozen
where they stood against the walls. It appeared a fence of magic was holding them back so they couldn’t move
or help. They could only stand
there and watch. Only black magic
could do that. It wouldn’t hold
them long, but whoever was willing the magic, thought it would be long
enough. Three wolves started running
toward the Supreme Alpha.

Selena’s
visions were true; they planned to kill the Supreme Alpha. Adrianna drew her sword and jumped in
front of Afton. Adrianna’s vampire
fangs dropped down as she waited. The first wolf jumped toward Adrianna, thinking she was just a
woman. Adrianna cut the wolf’s head
off before his paws hit the floor.

The next
two wolves surrounded Adrianna, snapping their jaws at her. Adrianna just smiled as one wolf jumped
at her. Adrianna grabbed the wolf
by the throat, breaking its neck, as the other wolf jumped toward her
back.

Adrianna
was so fast, the wolf never made it to her before she turned with her sword,
cutting the wolf’s head off. Adrianna turned toward the last wolf standing at the windows. The last wolf watched Adrianna then
jumped through the window, breaking the glass and running away.