Wolf's Bane (Shifted) (11 page)

“
Now Bryce,” Ashley croaked, knowing he would hesitate in biting her. Instead of fearing the bite, she actually craved it. She needed the completion.  Bryce bent pressing his lips to his mate’s throat. She wanted this, but he didn’t want to hurt her. The image of her throat practically torn off filled his mind. The skin was healed smooth and unmarked. It was Ashley’s inner scars he worried about.

Ashl
ey recognized her mate’s hesitation. Again, he was thinking of her first. The emotions overwhelmed her. She needed his bite. She needed to be fully mated with this man that the universe had picked just for her. 

Not
hing was going to stand in her way at this point.  So she did the only thing she could think of to drive him to act purely on instinct. She bit him first.

That did it
. The slight scraping of his teeth changed as he clamped down on her shoulder just as they both hit their climax. The bite didn’t hurt. It was just the opposite. A warm liquid feeling filled her. This was the bond; the last thread pulled tightly, making them one.

Bryce fell to the side so that he didn’t
crush her. He was scrambling to look at her face “Ashley?” His gaze wore a thousand questions.

“
I’m fine, Bryce,” she said in response while kissing him to tell him what words could not. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

“I
wouldn’t have it any other way,” Bryce breathed. He was finally able to relax. His mate was fine, she was there with him, and he wasn’t leaving her side for the foreseeable future. ‘Despite the problems still to come he was in heaven right now,’ he thought as Ashley slowly drifted off to sleep. He soon followed.

13

Shouting was not a normal occurrence in the pack house.
The sound jarred Bryce from a deep sleep. His arms instinctively went to Ashley. Until his arms wrapped around her, he hadn’t been sure if the night before was a dream. It had been no dream. His mate had come to him and was still there waking alongside him. The emotions he felt were powerful as he looked down at her half-awake face.

“
Is that yelling?” she moaned trying to pull the blankets over her head.

“I don’t know what it is. S
tay here. I’ll check it out.”

“Bryce
,” Ashley exclaimed sitting abruptly. “What if it’s Bane’s men?”

“
Then they have some really big balls breaking into the pack house.”

“
Don’t go!”

“
I thought we weren’t hiding?” Bryce smiled at his mate. He doubted that anyone had gotten past the guards, and, even if they had, they wouldn’t be yelling about it.

There was a pounding on the door as Ashley scrambled to throw the clothes she had worn the night before on.

“Bryce, wake up! She’s gone!” Drew’s voice boomed.

“Who’s
gone?” Ashley asked freezing as she tossed the shirt over her head. “Oh, he means me. Doesn’t he?”

“I’ll take care of
it,” Bryce said swinging the door open.

Drew stood in the hall looking panicked as
Bryce slipped out of the room.

“Relax
, Drew. If you mean Ashley, she’s fine.”

“What
? Where is she then? Her room is empty. I went to wake her and…”

“
Calm down. She’s fine. She’s with me.”

“
With you?”

“
Yes.” Bryce waited a minute for Drew to catch up.

“You
mean she’s in your room?”

“Yes
, we should have told you last night. Drew, your niece, she’s my mate.”

“
Your mate?” Bryce had never seen the Alpha so confused.

“Yes
, she slept here last night.”

“Ashley?
” he called to the slightly open doorway.

“I’m
here Uncle Drew. Sorry to worry you.” Ashley came out to stand beside Bryce.

“I thought… good god
. I have the guards looking all over the house.”

“
I’m fine, better than fine.”

“
So you are… I mean, you and Bryce?”

“Yes
,” Ashley smiled.

“I
don’t know whether to be thrilled or mad as hell. Why didn’t you say anything? When did this happen?”

“We
figured it out when he took me to the clinic. I didn’t know the mate fever was actually real until he touched me. It’s been kind of overwhelming. We should have said something last night.”

“I
should have listened to Julie. She said, ‘check with Bryce before you call out the guard’.”

“She
did?” Ashley said wondering if her aunt had noticed the same as Bryce’s mother had.

“
She did. No wonder you insisted on taking her to the lake house, Bryce. I guess I should have seen it.”

“The
bottom line is she’s fine, Drew. I think we can call off the guards. Ash, you should pack. We are still going right?” Bryce looked at Drew. Who knew what had changed in the last few hours? The house could have come down around them and Bryce wouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off his mate.

“Yes,
your brothers were supposed to leave at eight this morning.” 

Drew called off the guards. He was feeling a bit foolish for not listening to Julie and checking with Bryce before panicking. He was never going to live that one down. The big bad Alpha had been reduced to a quivering mess when he thought Ashley had somehow been taken by Bane’s men. It wasn’t just the thought that he had failed his niece and his sister; it was that another Alpha breaking into his pack house would have shown weakness to the pack.

Ashley was safe for now. He was having second thoughts about sending her out to the lake house in order to lure the men after her into a trap. He was putting her at risk
, a risk she was determined to take.

“Bryce
won’t let anything happen to her,” Julie said from the doorway. He hadn’t even noticed she was there until she spoke.

“
Okay, go ahead. Say it.”

“Say
what, dear?”

“I
told you so.”

“I wouldn’t think of
it. I could have been wrong about them.”

“
But you weren’t. How did I not see it?”

“
Men don’t look for the signs.”

“
Signs?”

“Drew
, the girl barely spoke a word to us. She was hiding, pulling in on herself. Then Bryce a stranger who was also male and Alpha walks in to meet her. I expected her to curl in a ball and cry. She didn’t. In fact, she spoke more to him than she had to the both of us combined. Then, when they started to argue and Bryce offered to go kill Bane, it was pretty clear that it was just a matter of time before they figured it out.”

“You
are right. I didn’t see the signs,” Drew groaned “I suppose I should call my sister.”

“Yes
,” Julie laughed as she hugged her still bewildered mate. “She might want to know her daughter is mated to your heir.”

Bryce was unusually quiet as he drove toward the lake house.  He couldn’t be sure, but he had seen a car that seemed to be following them. That had been the plan, to openly transfer Ashley to the lake house and draw the Bane men sent to find her out of hiding. The tension rolled off him in waves. The trip to the house was the most dangerous part of the plan. They were out in the open with what he had to assume were at least two men following behind. If they decided to make a move Bryce would have to protect her from two men. One he could handle with ease. Two would be a bit more difficult

“
Are you mad?” Ashley asked breaking the silence.

“What
? No. Why would I be mad?”

“
You seem like your about to crawl out of your skin. I know you didn’t like this plan.”

“I
didn’t like it, but, if we are going to end this I suppose it makes sense. I just don’t like the idea of you being in danger.”

“I
don’t love the idea either, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”

“
I’ll just feel better when we get to the lake house. If something happens on the way I’ll never forgive myself. There is a car that has been following us for the last half hour. If they decide to make a move, I want you to shift and run North. The lake house is on the North side of Reiner Mountain. My brothers are there already.”

“
I’m not leaving you.”

“Ashley
, I can take two weres on. I just can’t do it if I’m worried about your safety. Please, promise me you’ll run.”

“
Just drive and we won’t have to worry about it.  I’ll run if I have to Bryce.”

“
Thank you.”

Ashley
smiled. Bryce was thanking her for agreeing with him. This really was a different world from the one she grew up in.

Bryce breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled up to the lake house. The car that had been following them passed as they hit the long driveway that led to the home, but he had no doubt that these were the weres Ashley’s friend Yasmin had said were sent to get her. Hopefully, the ruse would work. If they thought Ashley was guarded only by him, they wouldn’t hesitate to make a move.

Bryce held Ashley’s hand tightly as they headed for the door. He was torn with emotion. He didn’t like the idea of his mate being used as bait. Every instinct he had told him to take her away, to keep her safe. What kind of life would that be for her and for him for that matter? His future was tied to the Reiner pack. He had to make sure his mate was by his side and safe. This was the only way he knew to have both. Even if he didn’t like it, he had to let her make the decision. She needed closure. He wasn’t delusional enough to think that meeting him had driven away all her demons.

Ashley’s
breath caught in her throat as she entered the lake house. She had imagined a quaint cottage. This was nothing like that. The house rivaled the pack house in size. The row of windows at the back of the house let light in and opened out to a deck that led down to the lake.

“This
is beautiful,” she said in a hush as she kept turning to take it all in.

“I always loved this house. We spent a lot of time here in the summers growing up.”

“Your Dad and Uncle Drew are close. I can see that.”

“Drew
is like a second father to all of us.”