Strange Brew

by Angela Colsin

  “What happened?” Troy urged impatiently.

  “To start, Annika talked to Cade, and he wants one of us to call before telling his pack what happened, just so there's no misunderstandings.”

  That was reasonable, but Troy knew it wasn't all she had to say, prompting, “And?”

  “And apparently, if I don't do something, Cindy and Lisa are gonna use my dad as leverage.”

  “Leverage?” He narrowed his brows in uncertainty. “For what?”

  “She's still trying to divine an answer over it,” Aislinn muttered. “Annika's also waiting on the curator at her school to call back with information, so maybe that'll shed some light on it.”

  Troy groaned, leaning on the dresser in thought when Aislinn mentioned, “Either way, I need to warn Derick. Could he … ,” she trailed, offering a sheepish smile, “come stay here for a while?”

  Had it been Miranda, Helen, or Annika, Troy would've agreed in a heartbeat. But the thought of inviting her father to stay with them didn't settle well. He hadn't liked the human when he'd eavesdropped on their conversation at Blue Moon, and his opinion would be hard to change.

  “I don't think that's a good idea, darlin'.”

  “Why not?”

  “It just seems strange,” he retorted. “If The Trine wants something from you, why not use your mother, or your aunt? They're closer to you.”

  “Mom's at the Atlantan Spire right now, so they can't reach her,” Aislinn pointed out. “Besides, what does it matter? He's still my dad.”

  “Yeah, the dad who abandoned you as a kid to do what the fuck ever.”

  She looked contrite in response, but also a little angry, countering, “That doesn't mean I wanna stoop to his level, Troy. Besides, Cindy and Lisa killed me, and I'm not letting them get away with anything. So asshole or not, I'm gonna help him.”

  As much as Troy disliked her father, her point was valid. He didn't want to give her attackers any advantages either, and offered an agreement at length. “Alright, I guess we'll let him stay here for a while.” With that said, he smirked, asking, “And why do I get the feeling this is just the first of several disagreements I'm gonna lose?”

  Grinning, Aislinn began dialing Derick's number while stating, “Because you have trouble focusing when I'm naked.”

  In response, Troy's eyes wandered over her body as he countered, “I have trouble doing anything when you're naked.”

  Snickering, she held the phone to her ear in wait of an answer, and Troy took a seat on the bed, deciding to call Cade himself just to kill two birds with one stone. The Alpha had a pack to keep safe after all, and Troy was going to help if possible.

  Cade sounded less than thrilled over the developments taking place as well, and offered to send some of his wolves to discreetly watch the estate for extra security. Troy thanked him, but declined, deciding that things weren't so dire that they needed it. Yet.

  Aislinn finished with her phone call only a few minutes after he hung up, and as she walked over and sat on his lap without prompting, he asked, “What did Derick say?”

  “He's staying at a hotel in town, and sounded hesitant about coming here. I think he's afraid you won't like him, but I told him he wouldn't see us for a while anyway, and to let whoever answered the door know what's going on.”

  Nodding, Troy relayed his phone call to Cade, then summarized, “Guess all that's left now is to wait for the curator's records, and hopefully, in a few days we'll have enough information to take care of business.”

  “Right,” she confirmed. “We'd have to wait anyway because of the bonding. I don't wanna risk getting separated from you and suffering for it.”

  He could easily agree, unwilling to go through that again if they could avoid it. But with his family present to keep an eye open, and Annika working on getting information, there would hopefully be plenty of time to simply focus on each other without complications.

  Following Aislinn's comment, a thoughtful silence passed between them for several moments before Troy finally shrugged. “So now what?”

  Aislinn pursed her lips in consideration, then casually suggested, “Wanna have sex?”

  “It's like you're reading my mind already,” he remarked sarcastically.

  Grinning, she leaned in for a kiss as he laid back on the bed, eagerly allowing Aislinn's attention to melt away all of their concerns until she was the only thing that existed. Though it was questionable how the next few days might shape up with so many obstacles to overcome, Troy knew at least one thing for certain.

  They were going to be memorable.

  Chapter 29

  Braddock's Estate wasn't the ideal venue for two werewolves bonding, but Troy and Aislinn made the best of their circumstances—and he never wanted it to end.

  Their time was spent in seclusion, either lazing about in the bedroom, or going for treks through the woods north of the estate. Both activities offered chances for discovery, particularly to Aislinn, who was learning of her new physical capabilities.

  She was amazed by how well she could see through an early morning fog rolling in, or how far she could run without getting winded, and one of her new favorite past times was to hide in the woods from Troy, evading his detection by using her own developing ferine senses. Relishing any type of hunt, he enjoyed the game, and put all his skill into the effort of locating his mate if only to show her what she could do.

  The first few attempts proved easy enough, though it soon became much more challenging when she started using magic to camouflage her scent, or mask her movements.

  Aside from their games, Aislinn also went on habitual scavenger hunts to gather natural supplies that would aid in her Craft. Because witches drew their power from nature, such tools were very helpful, and Troy learned that nearly anything which stood out—from a pine cone to a feather—could be useful in some way.

  He even found himself eagerly scouring the woods for more when Aislinn showed so much delight over his offerings, deciding then and there that his status as her familiar was of the utmost importance.

  They stored the items in the manor's indoor garden for one simple reason—it was Troy's birthday gift to his mate. He'd already made plans to allow her to oversee its reconstruction, thinking the bigger space to grow herbs and craft supplies for Strange Brew would help business, and Aislinn couldn't hide her excitement over the prospect.

  It sparked a conversation about their living situation, and Troy's status as Alpha. Because Aislinn had no intention of leaving the city or her shop behind, he knew for certain he'd be picking up the torch in leading any ferines who moved into the estate, and was surprised at himself. The undertaking had always seemed so questionable before, but now, he was rather content with it.

  The only reason Troy could determine why was his rediscovered freedom. Turning Savage was a gradual change, and he'd grown so accustomed to spending everyday keeping as tight a reign on his emotions as possible that he hadn't even noticed the restrictions placed upon him.

  But all it took was a single look at his experiences bonding to see how drastic it really was—he'd laughed more over the last three days than in the past ten years put together.

  All thanks to Aislinn.

  Whenever he had the thought, Troy interrupted whatever activity they were engaged in to make slow, hard love to her, and wouldn't stop until she was literally screaming his name. Overwhelming his beloved mate with pleasure was the best way to show her just how precious she was—and he praised her in both words and orgasms repeatedly.

  The reading she'd given him when they'd first met couldn't have been more accurate. Aislinn Carmichael was indeed the love of his life, their time together making him more content than he'd ever been.

  And with each passing day, Troy became more and more concerned for her.

  Not only were several issues waiting to be taken care of, but the strange mark on Aislinn's back was only getting stranger. His marked healed with no trouble, forever altering her scent to let others know
she was mated, just as his own had changed. But the place on her back didn't fade away, and instead, began forming lines inside the affected area, resembling a tattoo.

  They were barely noticeable at first, but by the time either of them felt confident enough to leave the others' side without worry of illness, the redness had faded from her skin, leaving what Aislinn called a sigil in its place. It had six wavy marks meeting at the center of a circle, and she believed it to be mystical in origin, but couldn't remember if Cindy or Lisa had done something to her before they'd departed Strange Brew after their attack.

  So she called Annika, who'd been taking care of the shop in her absence, and asked the psychic to come by that day to check it out. Annika agreed to be there as soon as Heather showed up for her shift, and promised to deliver the records from her school's library as well.

  With it all taken care of, Troy and Aislinn finally left the privacy of his bedroom to head downstairs to have a talk with Derick Rowden.

  The warlock had been staying at the manor during their bonding, and they learned from Bryant that he was a quiet man, but had gotten along with everyone well enough. Still, Aislinn must've worried that Troy would intimidate him because she made him promise to let her do the talking when they found him.

  He agreed if only because his blunt nature made the possibility of scaring the warlock away very likely, and quietly followed Aislinn into the dining room. There, Derick was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper with a mug of coffee—items he quickly set down upon their arrival.

  Standing from his seat, he greeted the couple with a simple, “Hey,” and nervously glanced between them.

  Troy's nose caught a very faint scent of fear just as Aislinn asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You seem anxious.”

  “Oh,” Derick drew out, then smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess I am. I feel like I've been a nuisance here, and I was worried about seeing you again, too.”

  Aislinn nodded in understanding, then introduced him. “Troy, this is my father, Derick Rowden. Uh, Dad, this is Troy Ashland.”

  Though Derick seemed to fear Troy in specific, he respectfully reached out a hand to shake in greeting. “It's good to meet you.”

  With a silent nod, Troy accepted the warlock's hand as Aislinn mentioned, “I've told Troy everything, and I was hoping it'd be okay if we talked while he's here. I'm still kind of volatile, and if I snap, I'll need him.”

  “That's fine,” Derick agreed. “Uh, maybe we should sit down for this?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded, going to settle across the table from her father.

  Troy joined her, pulling a chair out for Aislinn before he took his own seat, refusing a cup of coffee Derick offered with a simple wave of his hand while his mate replied, “No thanks, I'm more of a tea person.” Following her denial, she folded her arms on top of the table and got right to the point. “So tell me what you meant when you said your path was different, because that was a seriously shitty excuse.”

  Pouring cream into his mug, Derick groaned, “Yeah, I knew it'd sound bad, but it was the best short explanation I could think of. The longer version is that I'd started having odd experiences when you were about six months old, and I never even told Miranda about it.”

  “What kind of experiences?” Aislinn inquired curiously.

  With a deep breath, Derick finished stirring his coffee and stared down at it for a moment before his gaze met hers again. “Unusual dreams, and they weren't all the same, but I was always the same person in them.”

  Troy listened intently, surprised that his instincts weren't suggesting the warlock was lying. He could also admit that the dreams definitely sounded unusual, and Aislinn looked just as baffled.

  But Troy got the feeling he knew where this was going when Derick added, “At first, it seemed psychological, but when the same images began popping up during my meditations, I started to suspect they were actually memories of a past life surfacing.”

  “A past life?” Aislinn inquired. “So … you left because you were chasing it down?”

  “No, I found my answers before then, and also learned there was some unfinished business I was obligated to take care of,” he qualified. “Still, I had you and Miranda, and decided to ignore it. There was no reason to go chasing ghosts.”

  Aislinn pursed her lips as if expecting her father to throw out a but, and Troy didn't bother masking the fact that he was waiting for the exact same thing. When Derick saw their expressions, he sighed in a tired fashion, and did just that. “But as time went on, what I'd learned kept coming back to haunt me, and eventually I realized … I couldn't just let it go.”

  The more Derick spoke, the more Troy wanted to feed him a fist. Sure, it was a unique story, and though tales of past lives being discovered weren't common, they also weren't unheard of, so he didn't question the validity of Derick's claims.

  But he did question if what the warlock went to take care of was really more important than his only child.

  Still, Troy bit his tongue, keeping his promise not to interrupt unless Aislinn requested it, and wished he knew what she was thinking. Currently, her blue eyes were staring intently at the table top while she took all of this in, and finally remarked, “What kind of business was it?”

  “It was all personal, and I wish I could say more than that but—”

  “You can,” she insisted, casting a stern gaze in his direction. “I suffered because of this business, so you'd damned well better explain exactly what it involved.”

  Derick looked particularly uncomfortable now, and it seemed as if Troy was the source because he was shifting his gaze back and forth between them. But Troy made no attempts to soften his expression, especially when Aislinn took his hand beneath the table as if she were upset.

  “It's hard to explain, Aislinn,” Derick finally admitted. “The man I used to be was married to a woman who ended up cursed, and I learned she was still suffering. So I had to put an end to it.”

  At that, Aislinn canted her head. “How was she cursed?”

  “That's the part that's so hard to explain. This curse doesn't have a name, and it wasn't garden variety magic. So words would fall short of describing it without also showing you what was done. Actually, it'd sound like I was full of shit.”

  Perhaps he was right, but Troy wasn't sure the warlock didn't already sound full of it. Something about his last few statements simply rang hollow, as if he had more to hide than the explanation of the curse.

  It was also hard to tell what Aislinn thought about it. Her expression was scrutinizing at first, but then softened when she asked, “Did you help her?”

  “Yeah,” Derick confirmed, his voice soft. “I'm just sorry that it meant leaving you behind. I … ,” he trailed, and his eyes began glistening before he cleared his throat and added, “I just think anything else we say should probably be done in private—no offense, Troy. In fact, I need to thank you for saving Aislinn's life. Maybe I don't have a right to say it because I left her, but she's my daughter, and I'm in your debt.”

  Troy didn't doubt his sincerity, but still answered on a serious tone of voice, “I didn't do it for you. I did it for her.”

  “Doesn't change anything, and I won't forget your help.”

  If so, he knew something Derick could do as repayment that should be easy, particularly if he proved to be more trouble than he was worth—leave and never return. But Troy didn't say so just then, eyeing the warlock until the man became unnerved and looked away.

  Aislinn glanced between them, then seemed to take pity on Derick when she offered, “Troy's right, you don't have to worry about it. But right now, I'm still too volatile to speak alone, so we'll talk more later.”

  “That's fine,” Derick agreed. “I can wait until you're more comfortable.”

  “Good,” she nodded, placing her hands on the table as she stood. “I need to use the bathroom, anyway.”

  Her declaration sounded like c
ode language for Troy, let's talk in private, and he didn't hesitate, getting up to exit the dining room with her.

  Derick offered a smile on the way, and Troy heard him exhale a quiet sigh of relief just before they left. It made him question if the warlock actually wanted to stick around to get to know his daughter better, or just leave again, but either way, something was missing from his story, and it wasn't the information he'd purposefully omitted.

  Troy had no idea if that information would even affect them in any capacity, but one thing was certain—he wouldn't be happy until Derick could safely leave the manor.

  Chapter 30

  Aislinn wasn't sure she'd be comfortable until her father vacated the manor.

  Not that she didn't believe his story. Crazier tales of magic had been told than the one Derick shared at the dining room table, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that his explanation was true. But discovering that information painted him in a new light, one she couldn't interpret without first thinking it over, leaving her feeling awkward in his presence after spending so much of her life resenting what he'd done—not questioning whether he was right to do it.

  This was the biggest reason she'd excused herself from the dining room. Aislinn needed to consider everything at length, and also wanted to ask Troy for an opinion, mentioning to him on the way upstairs, “I don't know what to think.”

  “I think Derick's hiding something.”

  That wasn't surprising. Throughout their entire conversation, Troy had stared at Derick as if ready to feed him a fist, and Aislinn cast a questioning look in his direction. “What makes you say that?”

  “Not sure,” he admitted. “Most of his story seemed honest, but parts of it sounded strange.”

  “Maybe it's the curse,” she suggested, stepping into their bedroom. “If it was personal, it's reasonable for him to hesitate on the details with you around.”

  Going to stand by the bed, Aislinn faced Troy to see him eyeing her while shutting the door. “Are you giving him a pass? Because he doesn't deserve it.”