But Ashley admitted before she could figure it out on her own, “The most important reason is that Nicole directed me to come to you because you'd have a foolproof way of … determining if I'm pregnant.”
Immediately, Aislinn grinned in excitement, exclaiming, “Of course! But,” she added curiously, “already?”
When Ashley first arrived in the city, her pack's Alpha, Cade Hodgins, was the one who'd helped her get back on her feet. During the process, they'd bonded, and he'd marked her, which was the only way a lupine could conceive a child.
Ashley smirked. “Well, we had a slip up with protection, and I've been sick every morning for the past three days now. My instincts are goin' pretty hard about it too, but I wanna be completely sure before saying anything.”
Aislinn nodded, mentioning, “I have a test in the back, let me go get it.”
“Thanks,” Ashley returned, and as Aislinn headed through the curtain to grab what she needed, the lupine called, “How much is it, anyway?”
Taking a small vial from a shelf, Aislinn walked back to the counter and set it down, replying, “Five bucks, it's simple to make.”
The lupine tugged the money out of her jeans' pocket and handed it over, then lifted the bottle, asking, “How do I use it? Drink it?”
“Yep, but there's some guidelines,” Aislinn started, closing the register before continuing. “Take this, and give it an hour to kick in. Then, if you use the bathroom and the toilet water turns blue, you're pregnant, if there's no change, you're not. Oh, and don't freak out if the color's green.”
“Why? What does green mean?”
“Twins,” Aislinn grinned.
Ashley looked stunned. “It can tell that?”
“Yep. Purple is triplets or more.”
“Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves,” she interjected as if overwhelmed. But when her gaze settled on the bottle, a sentimental smile lifted her lips.
Watching, Aislinn asked, “You won't be disappointed if you are pregnant, will you?”
“No, Cade and I wanted to wait a while, but it's not a bad thing. It's just unplanned, and I know he'll be excited regardless of the circumstances.”
“Cade's a good man,” Aislinn replied. “Oh, and did you ever set a date for your wedding ceremony?”
“Invitations are in the mail,” Ashley answered. “It's next month.”
Though lupines already considered themselves married once marked, they often had weddings to make the union official in a human community, and Aislinn was looking forward to the event if only for the party they'd throw at the reception.
As if reading her thoughts, Ashley mentioned, “We've booked this banquet hall on Arkin Lake for the ceremony, and the view is pretty awesome. Oh, and before I forget, I thought you'd like to hear about this. Remember Rachel? The waitress at Blue Moon I sent to you?”
Blue Moon was a bar in town owned by Cade, and Aislinn worked a second job as a hostess there on the weekends. So she didn't have to think about the question, recalling the petite blonde waitress—and her black eye—with ease.
“Yeah, she had an abusive scumbag of a boyfriend named Russell. Why?”
Ashley grinned. “She took your advice and left him, left town altogether actually. Russell came to Blue Moon yesterday trying to find her, and Cade threw him out.”
The news was very satisfying to hear. When Rachel first walked into Strange Brew two weeks ago and timidly asked for help, Aislinn couldn't refuse her. The poor girl was being abused, and had no idea how to get away from her boyfriend without risking her life when he'd threatened to do some serious damage if she tried.
A psychic reading determined that her best bet was to go back to her mother in Ohio without telling anyone where she was heading. Aislinn only wished she'd actually been at Blue Moon to witness Russell's expulsion because when Ashley said Cade had thrown the man out, she'd meant it literally.
“I'm glad to hear it. I just hope the next guy she ends up with has a little more respect.”
“Definitely,” Ashley returned with a shake of her head. “Anyway, before I go, Cade asked me to pass a message along to you.”
“What's that?”
“You know how everyone's talking about the people who bought Braddock's Estate?”
“Yeah,” Aislinn nodded. Rumor had it the owners were supernaturals, but no one had confirmed it yet. “Why?”
“We found out they're actually werewolves. Some of our pack picked up their scent passing by the estate last week.”
The news was unexpected, and having only been recently introduced to the supernatural, Ashley sounded more inquisitive than she did wary or hateful of the notoriously dangerous creatures she'd named as the estate's new owners. But aside from having a reputation for causing trouble, werewolves were pretty rare, so Aislinn couldn't entirely blame the lupine for her curiosity.
“I wonder why they moved into that place.”
“Couldn't say,” Ashley shrugged. “Cade hasn't spoken with any of them, so there's no telling.”
“Well, whatever the reason,” Aislinn mused, “they've got a hell of a fixer-upper on their hands. Braddock's Estate is a dump.”
“I'll say. The outside of that place alone looks … kinda creepy, actually.”
“You should see it inside,” Aislinn spoke from experience.
When she was fifteen, she'd sneaked off to break into the mansion and see if she couldn't conjure any spirits of past residents to try solving a local mystery about the disappearance of the previous owner, Abraham Braddock. But she didn't get very far before Helen caught her.
Her aunt was livid as well, and not because Aislinn had sneaked out late at night to go to a potentially dangerous place. Instead, Helen had argued You don't conjure the dead without aid! That's like giving a cat a bath by yourself. Some spirits are friendly enough to let you, but most are just gonna get pissed and try to hurt you.
Though that night had been a bust in solving mysteries, Aislinn had sensed an odd energy imprint at the estate. It wasn't a malevolent force, but it was definitely supernatural in nature, and to this day, she'd never been able to figure out what it was.
“I can imagine,” Ashley mentioned, grabbing her tonic from the counter. “But I need to get going. Sara's taking me out to a bridal boutique for a dress.”
“Good luck with that,” Aislinn grinned, watching the lupine as she exited while wondering if she'd ever get to go shopping for the same thing. It would be nice, but who knew when Mr. Right would come along. Probably never if I don't stop pushing people away.
Sighing, she ignored the thought in favor of getting back to work just as the phone sitting next to the register rang. Normally, Aislinn would've answered immediately, but she paused the moment the sound hit her ears with intuition suggesting someone with an important message was on the other end—and there was a strange sense of foreboding coming in along with it.
Still, she lifted the receiver and answered, “Strange Brew New Age Shop, this is Aislinn.”
“Hello, this is Estelle Abbott, High Priestess of The Trine. I hope I'm not calling at a bad time.”
“Oh, no,” Aislinn started, realizing why her intuition had gone off. “I was actually wondering when I'd hear from you.”
“In that case, I'll get to the point,” Estelle started. “We've decided to issue you an initiation trial. I'm sure you've heard of these before.”
“I have,” Aislinn confirmed. Several covens liked to know what potential members were capable of by issuing tests of skill. So while she wasn't sure what to expect when the trials differed from coven to coven, she wasn't surprised to hear that The Trine employed the practice, asking, “What's the test involve?”
Estelle didn't leave her guessing. “You're to capture a supernatural being for a night, and hold it until morning. It can be anything, from a fairy to a minotaur, if you have the ability. Failure to keep it contained until the sun rises means failure to be accepted.”
Aislinn stared ahead blankly
. The test sounded a little difficult, but not impossible to accomplish. It would simply be tricky to set up, and already, she was formulating ideas for how to capture something to hold for a night.
“Okay, so when would you want me to do this?”
Estelle's next answer was a little more unfathomable. “Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Aislinn repeated. “Why so soon?”
“It's all part of the trial. I'll send two of my witches, Cindy and Lisa Palmer, to accompany you in setting up your trap so they'll know where to find you in the morning.”
“Okay,” Aislinn drew out. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
“No, there are no loopholes or obscure rules to follow,” Estelle returned plainly. “Simply capture something, and in the morning, you'll be initiated, or denied entry depending on your success.”
Something about Estelle's tone rubbed Aislinn the wrong way, as if her statement was only a roundabout truth despite her claim to the contrary. But it wasn't enough to change her intuition that something good was going to come out of attempting this trial, so at length, Aislinn accepted.
“Okay, sign me up and I'll see your gals tonight.”
“Good. I wish you luck.”
Once the line was dead, Aislinn set her phone down, half wondering what she'd gotten herself into. Then she groaned in dejection, having completely forgotten that tonight was the night of the full moon, meaning lupines would be out on their monthly pack hunt. She'd have to warn them if she didn't want to end up accidentally imprisoning one—not that she wanted to imprison anything.
But it was only a night, so the stipulation could've been worse.
Lifting the phone, she put in a call to Cade to make sure his wolves knew what was going on, and wondered about Estelle in the meantime. Maybe the priestess was just a little eccentric, or maybe her values were simply different.
Whatever the case, Aislinn had agreed to her test, and she'd pull through—hopefully for better instead of worse.
Chapter 4
Wolves howled in the distance, directing the sound at the full moon illuminating the trees below it. The lupine's monthly pack hunt was underway, but they weren't the only supernatural beings combing the woods in search of prey that night.
Troy came to a stop in a clearing, shirtless and fully ferine, tracking a deer he'd scented not long ago. Though most of his time that evening was spent hunting with nothing more significant going on, it was enjoyable. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone running with no one about to monitor his actions, and because it could potentially be the last time he ever did so, he wanted to get what satisfaction he could out of it.
Still, the closer dawn came, the harder it was for him to control his savage tendencies when he'd yet to discover any traces of his potential mate. It was simply fortunate for Tanda that she wasn't around, because he could've gutted her. This was supposed to be the night!
Hunting worked well enough as a distraction from his anger, but the prospect of hunting animals was getting extremely boring. Troy's desire to make blood spill was potent, and not the blood of some hapless creature roaming the woods. Instead, he wanted to kill something stronger that could fight back, something worthy of the intensity of his instinct.
But that was his beast talking, and he tried to ignore it in favor of tracking the deer's scent. Troy stayed close to the brush, quietly rounding a few tree trunks until he caught sight of the buck standing fifteen feet away near a small stream of water. The male's antlers stood tall and proud, but the animal was still, as if it'd gotten the sense that danger lurked nearby, ears flickering back and obsidian eyes carefully scanning the surroundings.
Troy stayed deathly silent, commending himself for his patience when he was an orange eyed werewolf closing in on his two hundredth, and waited for his prey to relax before making any moves. Soon enough, the buck lowered its head back to the stream and began to drink, giving Troy his chance.
Claws flared, he emerged from the bushes quickly, immediately sending the buck into a sprint. But the animal wasn't fast enough to escape—or at least, he wouldn't have if another scent hadn't hit Troy's nose, causing the ferine to come to an abrupt stop as the buck charged off.
He quickly turned his head to face the direction from which the new scent was traveling. Whatever it was, it could only be described as sublime, and made his entire body go tense with awareness, leaving only one question in Troy's mind. Could it be her?
A ferine had to get a good look at their intended before knowing for certain, but a mate's scent was usually the trigger that drove them to find out—and this one was beckoning with a strength he couldn't ignore.
His prey forgotten in the face of this possibility, he turned and took off at top speed, following the scent for about half a mile before stopping when it grew stronger near a grove of trees. Taking cover in the brush, he scanned the area ahead with glowing orange eyes, searching for potential threats.
But there was no one around, and he heard even less.
No birds, no crickets, nothing.
The silence spelled trouble.
Now, Troy hesitated, thinking whatever scent he'd caught likely belonged to something with malevolent intent. But all the same, there was a driving need to investigate, and with his mate possibly being the source, he had no intentions of letting it go.
Moving silently into the grove where there was a rocky incline on the far side, he analyzed the area, realizing two things. Firstly, the lack of natural sound was probably due to his own presence when he himself was dangerous. Secondly, the area was actually very beautiful, almost ethereal to look upon, and the scent he'd been following was emanating from within it, just up ahead at the rock face.
Troy moved in, investigating things more closely.
In the middle of a soft bed of grass near the wall, and beneath an overhang of branches, lay a sachet of indeterminable origin. Troy stopped to reach for it, careful not to slash it with his claws as he raised it to his nose, immediately realizing it was the source of the heavenly aroma he'd detected.
But what was it, precisely? Lowering his hand, he would've pondered the question longer, but it seemed as if touching the bag had broken some kind of illusion when, as he looked up, reality shifted.
The once ethereal area grew more stark, matching the rest of the woods he'd hunted in that night. He also wasn't standing on an open bed of grass below a few tree branches any longer. Instead, he was under an overhang of rock, like a half-formed cave—and the entryway into the small niche was barred by some kind of magical barrier.
Someone had set a trap.
Dropping the sachet, Troy turned and threw his fist into the barrier with an enraged bellow, but the magic held firm. So he slashed his claws at it without result, and each failed attempt fed his fury.
Was this why he'd been sent out alone? To be captured by some being with magical abilities for gods only knew what reason? With another furious roar, he turned to the rock wall, deciding he'd dig his way out if necessary.
Troy had no idea why this trap had been set, but he did know he'd make whoever was responsible pay.
~*~*~*~
Aislinn couldn't decide if she was truly cunning, or a damned fool.
Having spent the day preparing for her coming test, she'd been as meticulous as possible over the details. In order to capture something supernatural, she'd need at least three things; a lure, and two disguises, one for the trap, and one for herself.
The lure and her personal disguise were easy enough to come across. Aislinn found a recipe for a sachet in one of her spell books that was supposed to have an irresistible scent, and was made of a simple herbal mixture—the perfect bait for drawing something into her trap.
Once she'd finished putting it together, she found a cloak she'd made a few years ago to use as her disguise. The garment was blessed with the power to hide her from sight in nature as long as she remained stationary, and would come in very handy for this endeavor.
The last
part of constructing her trap was the hardest. When she'd called Cade, he'd told her where his pack was running that night so she could avoid accidentally trapping any of his wolves. Taking his advice, Aislinn drove to the woods northwest of the city limits to get started.
The witches from The Trine, Cindy and Lisa Palmer, arrived at Strange Brew just before sundown to join her, and they seemed normal enough for a pair of born witches in their twenties. Cindy was shorter with hair dyed a bright purple while her sister, Lisa, had long, crimson-streaked blonde. Both wore punk goth clothing and possessed various piercings and tattoos.
They'd been instructed not to speak with Aislinn or interfere with her efforts when they were only tagging along in order to know where to find her in the morning. This being the case, the ride out of the city was filled with their talk about things such as which actor has the best ass and who would you rather cast a love spell on?
Aislinn couldn't wait to set her trap and get rid of them.
After parking her car on the side of a dirt road and out of sight, she began scouting for a good place to set up, and finally found a grove of trees with a rocky overhang that looked like a half-formed cave—the perfect spot.
There, she laid her sachet down in the center of the niche, then cast a barrier around the opening which could be entered, but not exited. She even disguised the grove to make it look more inviting, and with everything set up, Cindy and Lisa announced their departure and promised to return at first light.
Glad for the solitude, Aislinn hid in the brush nearby, sitting on the ground where she pulled her cloak more tightly around herself for camouflage from prying eyes, and waited.
Then waited even longer.
Nothing.
Aislinn had planned to focus on her trap, so she hadn't brought her mp3 player or anything to read, and now regretted it. After nearly seven hours of waiting—and dozing off periodically—she just wanted the night to be over.
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