by Tamara White
“All because I saved you and told Tony you were under my protection?” Isobel seems genuinely confused.
Marcus sets his cutlery down to explain. “You don’t understand how things work in my father’s mind, Iz. He thinks that to be the most powerful, you need to be near the most powerful. Friends in high places and such. So our association with you will make him see power signals. He’ll be dying to try and get back in our lives in an effort to get close to you. He will want to push us out of your life and place himself firmly at your side, because only then would he have achieved true powerful status. He’d be untouchable to everyone.”
As sad as it is, Marcus is right. His father is one of the cruelest men I’ve ever met in this life. And he’s older than most tiger Alphas, sitting close to two centuries now. Most Alphas would have moved on by now or been defeated. Hell, after one hundred and fifty years alive, they usually step down because they want to let their children take over the throne, but Austin is power hungry. Always has been. When he had children, many of us hoped it would mellow him out and prepare him to pass on his mantle, but if anything, he became more protective of it. So when the time came and he ran the boys out, Drake and I were happy to take them under our wing. To let them into our family. We tried to reason with Austin to make him understand that he couldn’t rule the Streak forever, but he simply refused our words and cut all ties.
To know that he sent someone after them after all this time pisses me off. Our deal with his Streak was that we would look after them and they would be our responsibility unless they found a new Streak to join. All he had to do was leave them alone and let them live their lives in peace.
That Isobel was there and used her position of power for them tells me how much she cares for Jesse. Since day one, it’s been clear she wants to remain hidden because she doesn’t want to face the council, but for her to use her position to protect him means she will have no choice but to step out of the shadows soon.
“Isobel, can we talk?”
The room goes silent at my presence and the girl in question turns to me with a blinding smile.
“Sure, Quinn. What did you need to talk about?” She reaches back to her plate and stuffs a strip of bacon in her mouth.
How that woman makes chewing with your mouth open sexy is a mystery. Maybe it’s a mate thing. My instinct is to find her attractive in all things or something.
“I’d prefer a little privacy,” I mutter, before adding on, “Please?”
After a moment of deliberation, she nods and gets to her feet. “Alright, boys. Looks like I’m in trouble with teach. I’ll be back soon.”
She leaves the room and waits for me. I gesture up the stairs and eventually to my room, which is soundproofed. I’m hoping for a little time with her to thank her and apologize for the treatment I’ve given her, especially when all she seems to have done for me and mine is be kind.
She walks into my room, straight past the dresser I have close by the entrance on the wall, and goes to stand directly in the middle of the room. Even if I didn’t know her that well, I’d know she was leaving herself space in case this escalates to violence. Which saddens me that I’ve let it come to this. I know though that it’s my fault because of my outward attitude toward her.
“You can relax, Isobel. I didn’t ask you up here just to hurt you.” She remains loose and waiting. I roll my eyes. “Actually, I asked you up here to apologize.”
At that, her eyes shoot up. “Wait, you’re actually apologizing to me? Why?”
“Well, because I’ve been an ass and I’ve come to realize you didn’t deserve that. I understand you have secrets, and to be honest, I have my own, so it’s unfair of me to demand you be fully upfront when I haven’t been.”
She nods slowly and I continue on.
“I heard what you did for Jesse.”
She actually seems to flush a little at the statement. She fidgets and moves to the side, refusing to meet my eyes. “You would have done the same,” she mumbles.
“Maybe. But the fact is, by revealing yourself like that in an effort to protect him, you could very well have exposed your position to the council and whoever else hunts you. For that, I’m truly grateful. However, I need to know if we are in danger from whoever hunts you. Can you promise me my family is going to be safe if they come looking for you?”
She curses and goes to stomp from the room before pausing at the door and turning back. “Look, I can’t guarantee shit, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear, Quinn? I have no fucking clue how safe your family is, all I can do is hope and pray I did the right thing by announcing myself as the Alpha. I have no idea how fast the news will spread, and I’m sure the council will be waiting for a chance to find out just where I am. So yes, you could be in danger. However, maybe by the time they come for me, I’ll have made myself known enough that they can’t do shit without suffering backlash from the community.”
She finishes her long rant, her breath coming in short pants, and it makes my wolf pissed to see her frustrated and frightened. I don’t think about my actions before I have her pressed into the dresser and my lips claiming her as my own. It takes a moment for her to respond just as passionately, and I give a growl of approval to feel her go limp in my arms.
Suddenly, she pushes me back hard, and her shoulders bump a few photos off my dresser. “Shit,” she curses, and bends to pick up the frames. She puts them back in place, freezing when she gets to the last one.
I know what it is from the mahogany frame I was gifted from Drake’s mother ages ago. It holds a picture of the first time Drake and I went camping together. I was in my twenties, Drake in his late teens. We wanted to go away for ourselves because we had felt a connection. It was the first moment we realized we wanted more from each other.
Isobel is still holding the photo, so I decide to offer a little about myself. “That’s my ex and me. We went camping and were attacked by a bear in the middle of the woods. It scared us shitless, but we survived and it became one of my fondest memories. He’s not here anymore, he’s—”
“He’s hunting me,” she whispers, rage the likes of which I’ve never felt thickly coating the air.
Isobel turns slowly, and I unintentionally take a step back at the sight before me. Before, her eyes were a beautiful, inviting blue, but now they are liquid gold. Flames burn within. What the fuck is this? She takes a step toward me, the air charged with something powerful and so suffocating it makes being near her almost impossible. The heat in the room seems to skyrocket with her rage.
Beneath her skin, she’s started to glow with a golden hue, and it makes it hard not to stare.
She throws the photo at me and I’m too shocked to stop it from hitting me in the head. Immediately, I can tell it cut my forehead, but I don’t take my eyes off Isobel to inspect the wound. She takes a menacing step forward, and for the first time in my life, I wonder whether running is an option. So much power and so much rage is not a good combination.
“You son of a mother fucking bitch. I’m going to kill you and make it fucking painful at that. How dare you lie to me? Trick me?”
“What? What the hell are you on about? When the fuck did I lie to you?”
“Drake,” she spits, gesturing at the photo. “You think I’m going to let him get his hands on me after six months? You really think you can hide me away while you wait for him to come?”
“Whoa, Isobel, calm down, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I plead, trying to calm her down. The air is growing hotter and she’s glowing brighter by the second. I can hear the distant blare of a car horn, but I ignore it all, focused on the danger in front of me right now.
She laughs maniacally. “Oh, because it’s just a coincidence that I end up making friends with Drake’s ex, who also happens to be my ex. Yeah, because life is that fucking cruel. No, I think you’ve been planning this the whole time. That’s why you’ve been so pissed. I was the girl Drake went to after you, wasn’t I? You were taking that anger out on me? I can’t b
elieve I didn’t figure this shit out sooner.” She turns to leave the room and I hurry to stop her, but the moment my hand touches her shoulder, I’m blown back by an unseen force and go crashing into the mirror across the room.
She laughs, and it’s a sound so chilling that I rush to my feet to chase after her, worried about what she’ll do to the others if she finds them before I can explain why she’s freaking out so much. I still can’t believe this shit. How the fuck could Drake manage to screw this up from afar. I swear, the next time I see him I’m going to punch him so fucking hard he’ll feel it for years to come.
“Isobel, wait,” I call, feeling lightheaded as I stumble after her through the house. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, the rest of my family is waiting with a mixture of anger and annoyance on their faces. “Where is she?”
Tristan takes a threatening step toward me. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Don’t you dare fucking blame me for this, Tris. You blame your dickhead of a brother for this mess. Now where the fuck is she?”
Tristan looks at a loss for words and points to the front door. I take off, aware the rest of my family is following me. When I get outside, Isobel is still fucking glowing and making a beeline for a car sitting in the drive that holds our resident old woman supe, Ellen.
“Isobel, please, let me explain everything. We aren’t working with him, I swear.”
Isobel spins suddenly, and a gold wave of power is thrown my way. I hit the stairs cursing, even as the angry supe makes her way back to me. “Don’t even try to defend yourself. That fucker messed with my life. After a year and a half wasted, I finally woke up to him using me. But you know what the kicker was? Fate decided to be extra cruel and I found out I was carrying his child the same day it died. So don’t you fucking dare sit there and talk to me about what a big mistake this is. I should have fucking known he would recruit more assholes to defend him and his stupid cause. I just wish I had stayed the fuck away from you all.”
She turns away before she can deliver any more damage. I watch as she makes it to the car.
Tristan, however, isn’t smart enough to leave well enough alone. “Iz, you may not believe what Quinn is saying, but you should know Drake is my brother. I’ve told you I hate him and nothing has changed that. He didn’t just betray you, Isobel. He betrayed us all.”
Wow, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard Tristan say anything so eloquently. Usually, his thoughts are a jumbled mess, but hopefully it’s enough to convince her we had no clue she was hiding from Drake and that we weren’t working for him.
She doesn’t turn back, only giving one sharp nod before climbing into the car. It immediately takes off and I curse, feeling like shit that things went this way. Marcus and Adrian bend down to help me to my feet. My whole body burns with whatever she hit me with, and before I can even comprehend what’s happening, my legs fall out from under me.
“What the fuck?” Adrian grunts, holding me up since my legs have turned to jelly.
“I don’t know,” I slur, my tongue feeling thick in my mouth. I try to say something, but all that comes out is a groan. I think I know what she is now. She’s a creature of myth, a supe thought to have never existed. People always assumed they were just dragon stories that were exaggerated, but the fire in her veins and the gold flames in her eyes tells me all I need to know.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Isobel
I’m jolted to the side and I panic, not knowing where I am for a moment before Ellen’s soothing voice brings me back to the present.
“Holy shit, girlie, you need to turn your inner lightbulb off before I crash the fucking car.”
I blink rapidly to pull myself from the sleepy haze, and sure enough, my skin is glowing gold again. I have no fucking clue how the hell it started, or why it won’t stop now. All I know is I got super fucking pissed with Quinn the moment I saw the picture of him and Drake, and it was like a monster within me awoke and was intent on raining down hell on all those who dared to hurt me.
“Shit, sorry,” I apologize, closing my eyes to try and calm myself. Using the same method Jordan taught me to help me tame the vampire hunger seemed to work when I first got in the car, but it only worked for a minute before I passed out from exhaustion. Whatever I did to Quinn must have been too much for these new powers. I’m just thankful I was in the car with Ellen when I passed out and that she didn’t take advantage of the situation, because she very much could have.
I’ve never seen a supe show the kind of powers I did back there. And the strange thing was, I don’t think it was even a drop of what I could have tapped into.
After a few minutes of concentration, I open my eyes, relieved to see my skin has gone back to normal. “Oh, thank fuck,” I sigh.
Ellen chuckles softly, reaching over to lay her hand on my knee and give it a gentle squeeze. “Sorry, hun, I tried waking you up peacefully, but you were out of it. I figured you’d want to be awake before we got there. You know, to put on a strong front.”
“No, it’s fine. How long was I out?”
“About five hours.”
What? Five fucking hours? I thought I was out for a few minutes, not that fucking long. I shouldn’t have needed that much sleep at all after the rest I got last night.
“So, you gonna tell me what went on back there?”
“It’s nothing. Just a bit of a misunderstanding is all.”
Ellen tuts, her grandmother voice coming out when she speaks. “Look, I get you have trust issues, Isobel, but this, what you’re doing keeping everything to yourself, it’s going to kill you, love. There is only so much bottling you can do before it explodes, and not in a good way.”
I look away from her, staring out at the streets passing us by. Is she right? Am I holding so much in that it’s eating me inside? I mean, now that I think about the events back at Quinn’s place, did I overreact to the discovery? I had never mentioned Drake to them, and they had never said anything about him to me, so how could they have known what he’d done to me?
I let out a breath and decide that maybe Ellen can be trusted. Her intentions have never been ones of harm and if I’m to start taking my rightful place among the supernaturals, then now is the time to start making friends. So I tell Ellen everything.
I tell her about the night I was turned, how my little brother died, as did my parents. I tell her about being taken to the council compound, learning of all that I could under the hands of Jordan and Drake. I explain the relationship between Drake and me, as well as Jordan. She listens as I dish out everything about the council’s teachings, scoffing at certain things I now know are lies. When I get to the part about seeing Drake caught in a compromising position with another female, she swerves and almost loses control of the car.
“He said you were his mate and still did that? Oh, if I ever meet that guy, me and his crown jewels are going to become very closely acquainted.”
I snort at the idea of Ellen doing anything to Drake. But I would definitely pay to see her take a shot at him. I don’t think he’d know how to handle it.
“Do you want me to continue, Ellen? Or are you still fantasizing about my ex’s balls?”
“No, sorry, carry on.”
I shake my head as she mutters under her breath, something akin to “balls would make a great trophy.”
My thoughts are thrown back to when I found out I was pregnant at the same time my unborn baby was taken from me. With tears in my eyes, I tell Ellen everything leading up to today. How I’ve stayed one step ahead of the council, fearing they will lock me up and force me to bite another. How I was finally feeling a sense of home when I discovered that the guys knew Drake all along. That they were actually his family.
When I finally stopped speaking, Ellen let out a puff of air which sounded more like an anger-filled growl. “First, I’m so sorry about what you’ve gone through. Losing one’s child is hard enough, but to lose one in such circumstances, I can’t even imagine the pain you went
through. Second, if you help my Alpha, he’ll have your back. I know it’s not much right now, but a Supreme Alpha living with a pack is automatically under protection. Not that you need protection, my dear. Something the council may have forgotten to tell you in all the time they were teaching you is that the Supreme Alpha rules all. Not the council. They are guides. You can overrule them by calling a vote among other pack leaders. If you get one-third of the Alphas to vote incompetence, then the council is automatically disbanded and a new one is created.”
I blink over at her, wanting to laugh because that sounds like the easiest way ever to be rid of those asses. Why the fuck didn’t the guys tell me any of this? Then again, it’s not like I’m making friends with any Alphas, so it would be pretty impossible to even get that vote happening yet.
“Wow, I think this is the first time in a while I’ve had hope that I can get those assholes kicked out of their seats of power.”
She grins and throws a wink my way. “Don’t worry, girlie. I’ll help you with anything you want as best as I can. I may not be all-knowing, but I do know a thing or two. I also have friends in places you wouldn’t believe who will be able to give you all the council gossip you need to destroy them. But enough of that now, we’re almost to my Panthera’s lands.”
I watch the roads as we turn down the main road and a few smaller streets before finally reaching a large gated home. The gates open automatically as Ellen slows and takes the long gravel drive.
When we reach the end of the driveway and she puts the car in park, she leans over and grabs my hand. “I’m going to warn you now. Panthers are cats, Isobel. They like to touch and be friendly. However, you are a guest and a supe of unknown species to them, so they should be kinder to you and more polite. If they cross any boundaries, you simply need to tell them to back off so they won’t pressure you. If they continue being pushy, then you’re in your right as a guest to challenge them.”
I nod, understanding what she’s saying. While this is a meeting between me and the Panthera Alpha, there are going to be some power games played because they have yet to meet me. They will want to know what I am and what I’m capable of. And whether they could possibly use me to gain themselves more power.
