by Bella Falls
“It’s fine,” I groused, unhappy with my entire morning. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I monitored every breath and body twitch.
After a couple more minutes, the first wave of nausea rose in me. “Okay, I’m feeling something.”
“Yeah, me, too,” he admitted. “And since there’s nothing wrong with my aunt’s cooking, then I’m betting that’s our connection. Do you feel up to testing to see how far out we can stretch it until it becomes unbearable?”
I bounded off the bed. “Absolutely not!” I screeched into his ear.
“Ow,” he complained. “Fine, I’m turning around. Didn’t even make it to the exit to the highway.”
“I’ll see you when you get here.” Hanging up the phone, I called him a few choice words under my breath and tossed the device on the bed in irritation.
While I understood the reasons behind Dash’s experiment, it didn’t sit right with me that he would want to test how much pain I could endure. Drawing in a resigned breath, I picked up my spell phone and called Mason.
“Hey, Charli, how’s everything going so far?” he asked.
His voice made me long for one of his amazing hugs. I told him about the dinner the night before and how I was staying in a nice cabin on a Christmas tree farm. I tried to prep him a bit about how things ran a little differently in packs than I expected.
“Thanks to things being slow here, Big Willie let me have some time to make some calls to some of my friends up north to find out more about pack laws and such.” He paused, and I overheard the creak of his office door and the click of it shutting. “I think you’ll need to be more careful than either of us anticipated. Especially with Dash being the alpha.”
“About that.” I swallowed hard and confessed to him the plan that the two women had endorsed this morning.
“That’s…okay, I’m going to first speak from a warden’s perspective who just found out a little about how packs work.” He cleared his throat and kept an even tone while he spoke. “By giving you an official role that connects you to him, Dash is actually giving you a level of protection that you probably need.”
“That’s what Elodie and Etta told me this morning,” I confirmed.
“It will also give you some coverage if the two of you need to stick close by each other to mitigate the physical effects of your binding,” Mason continued. “So, from a more objective point of view, I can understand why it should be considered.”
I traced the pattern on the top quilt with my fingertip. “You think I should go along with it?”
He let out a long, concerned sigh. “In my professional opinion, probably. Now, let me take on the role of your loving boyfriend. I absolutely hate the idea.”
I collapsed onto the edge of the bed, relief flooding me. “Oh, good. So, I’m not alone in thinking this is bad.”
“No, I can’t stand the idea that he’d be effectively calling you his fiancée. If you’re going to hold that status, I’d much prefer it to be real.”
I held my breath, thoughts of whether or not we were in the right place to make that reality come to fruition at this very moment running through my head. My fingertips touched the moonstone-and-sapphire pendant he’d given me, and I found myself missing him even though I’d barely been gone that long.
Mason groaned on the other end. “The problem is, I can’t be there to watch out for you. And if Dash needs to provide his pack with the status to make things work, then I don’t see how you can say no.”
A car with a noisy idle pulled up outside and parked. I heard the engine cut off and headed to the door. “He just got here. We’re getting ready to go out and investigate what happened to the young man.”
“Let me talk to him,” my boyfriend demanded.
I whipped the door open just as Dash had his hand up to pound on it. Thrusting the phone into his face, I told him to take the call.
The shifter frowned as he obeyed my silent demand. “Hello?” His expression changed from confused to alert. “Yeah, I understand the ramifications…No, I get that it’s in name only…Listen, I completely respect your relationship with Charli. The whole reason I suggested it at all is to give her a status that the pack will respect as well.”
Mason drilled the alpha for another minute while Dash mm-hmmed in agreement. When he finished, he passed me back my spell phone.
“What’s the verdict, Detective?” I asked, my nerves buzzing to hear his answer.
“I still don’t like the whole premise. But for the reasons we discussed, I think you should do it. I trust Dash not to abuse the situation,” he said. “And I think the more you can help him, the quicker you’ll get things done and you can come home.”
I walked away from the doorway and headed into the bathroom for a little privacy. Closing the door, I spoke low into the phone. “I know it hasn’t been that long, but I miss you.”
“Miss you, too, Charli.” Mason’s voice soothed me even from so far away. “I’m gonna ask Big Willie if he can spot me some vacation days so I can come up there.”
“Don’t push it.” I paced the tiled floor as I spoke. “I’m not sure your presence would be appreciated after what I’ve been told about the pack’s take on witches. And I don’t think you should come without clearing it with Dash. Pack rules and expectations are completely different than anything I’ve ever experienced.”
“Listen, if you need me, you call me,” Mason responded. “I don’t care if it steps on Dash’s alpha toes. He’ll get over it.”
Hearing my boyfriend’s impassioned statement bolstered me a little. “I gotta go, but I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Love you, Charli,” he said.
“I love you, too.” With a little regret, I ended the call and exited the bathroom.
Dash leaned against the counter in the small kitchen. “Next time, just ask me for a little privacy rather than hiding in the bathroom.”
“I wasn’t hiding,” I countered.
His grim expression clued me in to the normal bad mood I was used to finding him in. “Let’s go. I don’t want to waste any more time.” He exited the cabin without waiting for me.
I grabbed my purse and followed. The second I stepped outside into the cool sunny day, I gasped. Since we’d come here at night, I hadn’t fully appreciated the scenery. But the beauty of the rows of deep green Christmas trees sloping down the hill in the foreground mixing with the peaks of the mountains around us that were framed in bright blue sky took my breath away.
“This place is truly amazing,” I admitted, not really wanting to leave.
“If you’d done a little more exploring, you would have found a porch off the back of your cabin that looks out over the other side of the property down into the valley.” Talking about the scenery lessened his soured frame of mind. “Aunt Ellie and I chose the positions of the cabins with great care.”
After I finished gawking at the beautiful piece of the world surrounding us, my eyes fell on the vehicular gem waiting for us. “Frosted fairy wings, that car is…wow.”
Dash patted the top of the vintage vehicle. “This is my baby. I keep her here in a garage for when I’m not riding my bike around. She’s a ’67 Chevy Impala. Belonged to my dad. Probably the only good thing I ever inherited from him.”
“Isn’t there a show on television where the two main stars drive something like this around?” I asked, walking around the front grill and drooling over the condition of the car.
“You mean the one where they hunt down the supernatural? I think that show is incredibly speciest, considering the characters would most likely see us shifters as the villains and try to kill us,” he said, coming over to the passenger side and opening the door for me. “But yes, technically it’s the same car. Except I like how mine’s flaming red instead of that dull flat black they have.”
Once I was settled in the seat, he slammed the door shut and hustled to his side. I waited for him to turn the key and hear the roar of the engine. The whole car rumbled to life, and
I couldn’t help the big grin spreading on my face.
“You ready to ride?” Dash asked, shooting me a sideways grin.
I pulled out a pair of sunglasses from my purse and slid them on. “Let’s go.”
He gunned the gas and let the gravel spin under the tires as he fishtailed his way down the long driveway. “Aunt Ellie will have my hide for that, but I’ll fix it later.”
The second we left the property, he gunned it, and the car growled its way through the two-lane road, gaining speed along with the noise. I whooped more than once as Dash took a few curves a little fast, throwing me around just enough to feel dangerous but not out of control. He slowed down the closer he came to town.
The second we drove through the main drag of Rockville, I began noticing how many people stopped and acknowledged the car’s presence.
“They must really admire your Impala,” I said.
“No, they’re showing their alpha respect,” Dash corrected.
Watching more closely, I noticed that they didn’t pay any attention to the vehicle itself. Instead, many nodded in our direction as we passed, their eyes focused on the passengers inside. The more I saw the proof of his words, the more it made me squirm in my seat.
“Are you in charge of the whole town?” I asked.
He sped up as the speed limit changed and the streets became filled with more houses than businesses. “Most of our pack lives and works in Rockville. But our territory stretches farther than that. And as alpha, it is my job to make sure everyone is taken care of. Max acts as my second.”
“I remember him saying something about how he runs things when you’re away.” It didn’t escape my memory that his friend hadn’t been happy when he made the statement either.
Dash downshifted the car as he waited to take a left. “His job is to assist me in whatever capacity I need. He shouldn’t have voiced his complaint in front of you, but I guess I did order him to in a roundabout way.”
He drove with great care through an established neighborhood. We passed signs that conveyed kids might be playing in the streets. Every house looked well cared for, and I wondered if that had anything to do with Dash being an outstanding alpha.
“I guess you must trust Max a lot,” I said, watching a few kids in the yards stop playing and point out the car to each other.
Dash saluted with two fingers at a group of little boys waving at him. He grinned. “I’ve known Max Fletcher since I was a little older than those boys. He grew up under my father’s rule, but he was more rational and definitely fairer. Max was probably the only reason the pack limped along when my father started failing them so badly.”
I mulled over the information and remembered who Dash had called to the morning meeting. “What about Cameron?”
“Cam’s been more like family to me all my life. Even though I call her mother my aunt, I consider us even closer than that. More like a little sister.” He grinned at some memory floating around in his head. “She’s tough as nails just like her mama, and I almost put her at second.”
“Why didn’t you?” Instead of a pang of jealousy like I’d experienced last night, I felt a modicum of affection for the girl who clearly could hold her own.
The car rolled to a stop at the sign. Dash turned down a road marked with a dead end sign. “I had to make some very quick strategic decisions after we defeated Kash. There was talk from some of the older generation of the pack that they wanted to put Max in charge. Plus, he’s a solid second.”
“And from the conversation last night at dinner, there might have been some who wouldn’t have supported a female second?” I asked.
“Especially one who has a girlfriend,” he added. “We’re here. And it looks like my trusted second arrived before us.”
He pointed at a house at the end of the cul-de-sac. The second we pulled into the driveway and parked behind Max’s black work truck, the air around us crackled with tension. The zing of energy I was becoming all too familiar with reared its ugly head, and I closed my eyes.
“Not to alarm you, but I’m starting to get that warning feeling,” I managed.
“That’s probably because this is Zach’s family home,” Dash dismissed. “What comes next isn’t going to be pretty.”
Drawing in a few deep breaths, I did my best to tamp down the signals of something coming. “Do you want me to stay in the car?”
His response surprised me. “No. I want you to use your skills at getting your nose into everything and see what you can observe or find.” Dash unbuckled his seat belt but paused before opening his door. “Before we go in there, I have to make sure that you’re okay with the whole idea of naming you as my intended. Once it’s out there, it’ll spread pretty quickly.”
A thin thread of guilt wrapped itself around my heart. Even though Mason and I had discussed it and he had approved of the reasons why, it still felt risky. But if there was no other way for me to be around Dash without the ruse, I didn’t see a way out.
“Yes, I accept the terms of why we have to lie.” I swallowed hard, still fighting off the alarm bells jangling inside me.
“Good.” Dash climbed out of his side of the car and made it around to mine. After opening up my door, he held out his hand to assist me. “Show time.” His eyes flitted to the house.
I turned and found a man and a woman standing on the small landing in front of the door. With red-rimmed eyes and a sallow complexion, the grieving lady must have been Zach’s mother. She hugged her arms around her as if trying to hold in her grief while her husband held her up with his arm around her shoulders.
Dash placed his hand at the small of my back and escorted me up the walkway toward the saddened couple. “James. Lucille. I hope you’ll accept my deepest condolences and be assured that, as your alpha, I will do everything in my power to find out what happened. You have my full support.”
Zach’s father nodded his head but kept his lips pressed tightly together. He shuffled behind his wife, who stared daggers at me for a brief moment before turning her glare onto Dash.
The mother’s eyes flashed a bright yellow. “I believed you once that you would do anything to save my son. And what came of those promises? Zach’s dead, and you were nowhere to be found. Yet you dare to come onto my property parading around with this outsider and think I will bow to your authority?”
“Lucille,” her husband warned, hugging her closer to him.
She shrugged off his touch. “No, James. It’s too much.” She turned to go back inside but paused. Looking over her shoulder, she spoke again. “I won’t stop you from coming inside. Can’t since you’re technically our alpha. But the only one with authority I’ll be listening to is Max. If you can abide by that, then come inside.”
Dash’s whole body tensed up, and no amount of effort to block his emotions kept them from battering me. I balled up my fists to steady myself.
“James,” he said, addressing the distressed father. “I’m not here to make trouble. But I do want to help find out what happened to Zach, and I can’t do that without talking to both of you.”
The man’s shoulders slumped. “I know. I’m sorry about what she said, but it’s been tough on both of us.”
“I know.” Dash’s tone sounded full of both authority and compassion. “May we come inside?”
James nodded once but glanced at me with worry. “Is she new to the pack?”
My heart rate sped up, and I waited for Dash’s response with tense anticipation.
“This is Charli Goodwin. She is not new to me.” He stood a little straighter, looking down at me. “She is my intended.”
The father’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. Moving out of the way, he gestured for us to go past him. “Then you are both welcome inside, Alpha.”
Dash leaned his head down so he could whisper in my ear, “It would be best for you to let me do most of the talking.”
His sudden demand rubbed me the wrong way. But with Zach’s father wat
ching us, I didn’t want the grieving man to witness my irritation with his alpha prior to barely allowing me in his house at all.
“That’s not exactly my strong suit,” I hissed back at Dash.
“Just do as I ask,” he snapped in my ear. “It’s important.”
I clamped my mouth shut to keep from sassing back again as we approached the entrance to the house. Now was definitely not the time to establish boundaries. I added regret to the list of emotions roiling inside of me. But I didn’t need the Gray sisters’ gift of premonition to know that the situation I found myself in was something to be forewarned about.
Chapter Nine
We entered together and followed Zach’s father into the living room. He made a beeline for his wife and pulled her to the side, whispering in her ear.
“She’s what?” Lucille exclaimed, her eyes darting to me. She crossed the room to talk to Max and spoke in a low voice to him.
Dash’s second glared at the two of us from his seated position. “That’s…interesting information. But not relevant to why we’re here today.” He cleared his throat. “As you both know, we’ve delayed reporting Zachary’s passing to the authorities until we’ve had a chance to dig deeper into what happened.”
“Death. Zachary’s dead. He didn’t pass on. This wasn’t something peaceful. My son died because somebody provided him with that poison you two swore you were getting rid of,” the mother barked.
Max stood and attempted to calm her down on one side while her husband offered comfort on the other. Dash remained where he stood, a little distant from the emotional scene but still a witness to it.
In a calm tone, he tried to reach her again. “Lucille, there is nothing I can say that will bring Zachary back. If you think my heart is made of stone and that I cared nothing for him, then you would be wrong. You and James know the lengths I went to in order to try and get him help to begin with. The fact that he got involved in drugs again breaks my heart.”
For a moment, I wished they could feel the waves of compassion and pain emanating from him and crashing over me. If they had that ability, they wouldn’t question their leader’s sincerity for a microsecond.
