Alpha Ascendant: A Fantastical Werewolf Adventure (Wolf Rampant Book 3)

by Aimee Easterling

  Chapter 9

  With only twenty-four hours left before my engagement with the Tribunal, another path abruptly opened up. Which is why two wolves, a teenager, a pair of human-form shifters, and I were all crammed into one of the pack vehicles as we bounced our way up a mountainside in the werewolf equivalent of an overnight camping trip.

  Unfortunately, I had a feeling this excursion would be a lot less fun than the human version.

  "I still don't understand why David didn't mention he knew exactly where Blaze was located sooner," my brother groused, and I understood the teenager's irritation. After all, Ethan was crammed into the backseat with the huge wolf who had once been our father sprawled across his and Fen's laps. Meanwhile, Ember thought the various pieces of human and wolf anatomy made for a glorious playground, so she'd spent the last hour running non-stop from one end of the car to the other. I was just glad I'd taken advantage of my alpha privileges in order to call the front seat, and I was impressed that my brother hadn't snapped the wolfling into line before this.

  Whether or not Ember and my father were the current cause of Ethan's annoyance, my cousin bore the brunt of the latter's ire unflinchingly. "Because I don't know exactly where he is," David replied in his usual calm manner. The shifter was intent upon not driving off the rutted road, so he didn't turn his head around, but his words were clearly aimed at the surly teenager in the backseat. "It's just a guess. Blaze and I talked about what we'd do if we ever found the right girl and went on a claiming moon...."

  David's eyes slid to the rear-view mirror and I could tell he was hoping for a reaction from Fen. But the young woman in question continued gazing intently out the opposite window and ignoring us all, so it was impossible to tell what she thought of the topic.

  "And since Sarah is missing too," my cousin continued, "I figured that was too much of a coincidence to ignore."

  "Okay, whatever," Ethan said. "So, why exactly am I here? The way I understand it, you're going to be tracking the newlyweds as wolves. And, in case you haven't noticed, I don't have a beast inside me."

  Yes, my brother lacked an inner wolf...but he certainly had been acting wolf-like lately. Although Ethan continued to be kind to his niece, he'd been snapping at innocent bystanders, had looked like he hadn't slept even though Fen reported he was locked in his room by ten PM, and had generally managed to worry both myself and his mother to death. So I didn't see why my brother was so surprised that I'd hauled him along rather than leaving him back in Haven to get into trouble in my absence.

  The real question was whether my plan of putting Ethan and the Chief in charge of Ember at base camp would result in a boy who spilled his guts to his father and came out recharged...or whether I'd be lucky to return to three living bodies.

  Try again, my wolf prompted, and I sighed but obeyed. I'd already attempted to feel Ethan out about what was bothering him previously, but we were almost at the end of the road—literally. So I might as well try my hand at therapy one more time.

  "You're here because I'm worried about you," I told Ethan honestly. "Well, that and because, with Wolfie gone, you're one of the few people Ember actually listens to."

  The pup in question yipped in protest at my words. And my brother responded by tucking her under one arm, where she immediately settled in to worry the fraying hem of his shirt. Point proven.

  "You don't have to worry about me," Ethan said gruffly, refusing to meet my gaze even though I'd craned around in my seat for the sake of our conversation. Yet another bump in the road sent me flying up to hit my head on the ceiling, so my eyes were closed in pain as my brother finished. "I'm fine."

  "Sure you are," Fen said under her breath, and I barely withheld a smile. Of all the people in the car, Fen had the most reason to be annoyed with our current endeavor. After all, whatever was going on between her and David seemed to be in an off-again phase despite my cousin's mention of the claiming moon. Meanwhile, the young woman had been dealing with my troubled brother for days on end and she was currently stuck holding the Chief's rump in her lap.

  My father's weight wasn't an easy burden to bear, literally or figuratively. The wolf in question hadn't been able to shift out of lupine form for five months now, his last appearance on two legs having occurred when he suggested the name "Ember" for his adopted granddaughter at Wade's funeral. In the interim, Cricket had been feeding her spouse as often as he'd let her, but the Chief had mostly spent that time in the woods chasing wild game and doing the things wolves do. So his matted hair likely stunk of damp dog, and nobody was entirely sure that the deposed alpha wouldn't turn around and bite off someone's arm at the mildest provocation.

  Actually, come to think of it, maybe Ethan had the worst end of that stick...or rather, wolf.

  "Fine or not, I figured it was high time you and Dad patched things up," I rebutted, turning back around so I didn't have to see the wounded expression I was sure was plastered across Ethan's face.

  Okay, so my words were a bit of a low blow since the Chief had been the one to send his son packing as soon as he discovered the teenager's inability to turn wolf. As best I understood it, our shared father hadn't even taken the time to check on that absent son during the year he'd spent at boarding school, and I'd be the first to admit that the alpha who spawned us had always treated his offspring like chess pieces rather than like children. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd never used the word "Dad" in reference to our shared father before in my life.

  That said, the Chief seemed to have mellowed out after his wolf took control of their body. So while Wolfie would have been my first choice for teasing whatever was wrong out of my troubled brother, in my mate's absence, I had a feeling the Chief would do the trick.

  Plus, I hadn't wanted to leave Ember behind in Haven just in case Justin decided not to wait for our Tribunal session to take his daughter back. And there was no one I trusted to protect the wolf pup as much as my father....

  ...As long as Ethan was present as a mitigating influence to prevent the Chief from snapping the little bloodling in half the next time she tweaked his tail, that was.

  No need to explain, my wolf said shortly. We're alpha.

  Well, she had a good point. So I ignored Ethan's sullen silence, took a deep breath, and started planning what I'd say to Sarah if we actually managed to track her down.

  ***

  It was dark by the time the three of us stumbled across the mated pair's trail. Hours ago, half of our party remained behind at base camp while David, Fen, and I spread out in lupine form, sniffing across the seemingly endless forest floor for a hint of the couple's scent. My cousin was the one who finally sent up a howl to alert us to his find, and we converged on the latter's location after a few shared yips. Then the true hunt began.

  We shouldn't have to chase down members of our own pack, my wolf complained. But the truth was that she and I were both enjoying this opportunity to stretch our legs and work the kinks out of stress-tightened muscles. It had been far too long since we'd had a chance to simply run in lupine form, our claws tearing up clumps of leaf mold as we galloped full-out toward our pack mate. Whatever we found tonight, I was glad we'd come into the woods rather than sitting at home and worrying about what Justin would do on the morrow.

  Which might be why I failed to bark out an alpha command to stop Blaze in his tracks once I felt us come within earshot of the couple. The scent trail we followed was still a bit faint at that point, indicating that the pair was at least a couple of miles ahead of us, and it was possible that our missing yahoo might have been able to overcome my compulsion from this distance. But the real reason I'd held back my bark was because I wasn't ready to stop running yet either.

  Instead, I simply inhaled the scents of happily mated pairs rising all around me as I loped through the dark woods. By my side, David's and Fen's wolf forms seemed to have resolved whatever issues had plagued their human counterparts because they now frolicked like puppies, bumping shoulders and capering as they ran. And Blaze
and Sarah's scent trail showed that the other couple had been similarly enjoying their mad dash over rocks and between trees. Following their trail, we leapt across a spot where the couple had paused to roll exuberantly in a patch of bare dirt, and I later noticed that an earthen bank was still wet from a stream crossed far more exuberantly than necessary.

  A deep yearning took up residence in my belly, and my wolf grabbed the opportunity to worry at our current bone of contention. We could have this too, she reminded me, displaying her typical lack of human tact. If you'd just accept the claiming moon.

  And I had to admit that my lupine half had a point. Wolfie's request felt real in an entirely different manner tonight as I chased after the honeymooners who were so in love that the other's simple presence was equivalent to being pampered in a five-star resort. As we came closer, in fact, I could feel the joy rising so strongly from Blaze's wolf that the feeling broadcast through the air and straight into my alpha senses. Usually, my pack mates were able to keep their emotions to themselves, but I'd noticed before that strong fear or pain made my wolf sit up and take notice. Apparently, the purest form of love had the same effect.

  You know there are reasons for me and Wolfie not to culminate our mating bond, I told my wolf. Although, at this very moment, I couldn't think of any barriers remaining in our path.

  Trust. That was the real stumbling block, I guessed. Did I trust Wolfie not to turn into the overbearing shifter my father had been for as long as I knew him? Did I trust my mate to continue holding my own best interests close to his heart rather than giving in to the inherent alpha tendency to dominate those smaller and weaker than himself?

  Because I would always be smaller and weaker than Wolfie. Sure, I was growing into my own alpha powers, but I couldn't imagine my strengths ever holding a candle to those of my mate. No, if he told me to sit in that particular tone of voice, I'd always fall down on my butt without question. And if I ever tried to struggle against my mate's compulsion, I'd inevitably fail.

  The daunting truth was that Wolfie was the superman of the werewolf world. The bloodling was able to partner with his wolf so well that the duo doubled their physical and mental fortitude both in wolf and in human form, and I'd yet to meet another shifter who was able to counter Wolfie's commands. It all came down to the fact that there was never an "I" and "he" between my mate and his lupine half, only a "we."

  Unfortunately, I'd seen what a similar partnership did to my father. The Chief was so powerful that his grasp on humanity had been dubious from the start, even before he wound up stuck in lupine form. The mere idea of being married to someone who resembled my childhood pack leader made me shiver.

  If you can't trust him, then trust me, my wolf whispered in my ear. I know Wolfie inside and out. He loves us. He'd never hurt us. He's not our father.

  I sighed, wishing I was able to accept that the world was as simple as my wolf made it out to be. But I still wasn't quite willing to be fully claimed by my mate. So, rather than arguing the point further, I added a short burst of speed to our shared legs and howled an alert to Blaze as our arrival became imminent.

  Because I didn't particularly want to walk in on the happy couple mid coitus. Not when my own mate was miles away and when our claiming moon looked like it might never rise.

  Chapter 10

  "Boss!"

  Blaze's wolf wagged his tail in welcome, then the shifter transformed back to two feet to greet us with human pleasure in his voice. His mate, though, appeared far less excited by our presence.

  I was disappointed but not surprised by Sarah's standoffishness. After all, half a year earlier, the same woman had led me to believe that she and I were forging a bond of friendship. At the time, I'd done everything I could to protect Sarah from Wolfie's brother, even though those efforts threatened my own pack-leader status. I'd integrated her into Haven's clan, had hauled her out of All-Pack so Dale could assist at her birth, and had defended her when her husband came to call.

  In exchange, Sarah had repaid me by siding with Ember's father when the latter attacked Dale's clinic with a pack of werewolves at his back. In the scrimmage, our oldest yahoo—Wade—had been killed. Then, without an apology, Sarah had fled the scene with Justin, making us all believe that she and her husband had planned the entire foray together from the start.

  So I knew I should be furious with the girl now, especially since she greeted us four-legged with fangs bared and with the hint of a growl rumbling deep within her lupine chest. But it was hard to hate a teenager who was clearly terrified of losing the man by her side. Proving my analysis of the situation was on point, the pack princess forced her way between the two human bodies when Fen attempted to embrace her friend, thrusting the other woman aside. Yep, someone had territorial issues she needed to work out.

  "Sarah, it's okay," Blaze said, doing his best to mollify the wolf at his feet. I could see that our youngest yahoo was fully bonded to the pack princess, but it was harder to tell whether Sarah had transferred her loyalties to him in return. In the absence of more data, I figured the best option was to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt...and to keep treating her like a potentially rabid dog.

  Exactly what we should have done in the first place, my wolf griped.

  "We're not here to force anyone to go anywhere they don't want to go," I promised, ignoring my wolf and looking directly into Sarah's eyes as I spoke. I hadn't meant to add an alpha compulsion into my voice, but apparently my lupine half felt differently. So I wasn't surprised to see Sarah's muscles relax for a split second before she curled her lip back into a snarl and stiffened her spine in a defensive stance once again. It appeared that the pack princess wouldn't be won over so easily.

  Before I could decide which tack to attempt next, Fen entered the conversation. "I was worried sick about you," she told Blaze, thumping her friend on the shoulder in lieu of the hug his mate had refused on his behalf. "You should've called us, dude."

  "Yeah, I know." Blaze's eyes were on the ground as he waited for the expected reprimand from his alpha, which gave Fen and me an opportunity to exchange a quick glance. My shoulder shrugging up while her mouth quirked in reply, proving we were of a single mind on the issue. Yeah, Blaze had been a stupid teenager...but that's why we called the younger members of our pack yahoos. We were all here together now, so Blaze's past actions were water over the dam.

  "Don't worry about it," I absolved the prodigal yahoo. And at my words, his inner wolf immediately perked up in response. If only my own problems could be solved so simply.

  Speaking of problems, I figured it was high time to get to the point before Sarah bit someone. So I laid out our current conundrum as succinctly as possible.

  As I spoke, most members of our group relaxed onto the ground in human form, but I was sad to see that Sarah resolutely remained wolf. I knew she had to be taking in the story that so deeply affected her offspring, but the pack princess didn't so much as twitch an ear as I explained why we'd taken the time to track her down. Instead, she continued peering resolutely away from us into the darkened woods.

  "So that's where we stand," I finished. Soft-hearted Blaze was swayed by my plea, I could tell. But rather than speaking up, the yahoo turned to look at his mate, accepting the reality that Sarah's decision was the only one that really mattered. After all, she was Ember's mother, the only shifter who could legally pry the bloodling out of Justin's clutching hands.

  If the pack princess was willing to make the effort, that is.

  I wasted a moment wishing that I'd brought the wolfling in question along on our nighttime hunt. Surely our lovable pup could have swayed even the skittish and uptight pack princess over to our point of view.

  Unfortunately, my own powers of persuasion appeared to be much more lackluster because Sarah had made her decision. She nudged her new mate once with her nose then started walking away toward the nearest tree line.

  "Ah, come on, Sarah," Blaze begged, following after the pack princess and running his hands
through her smooth fur to halt her escape. Despite Sarah's blood tie to our wolfling, the yahoo had spent much more time around the pup than his mate had and he clearly felt more responsibility toward the little bloodling. "Ember's a sweetheart," he continued. "You don't want Justin to get his hands on her, do you?"

  For a moment, I thought the female might cave. The pack princess whined so quietly that I almost missed the sound from three yards away, then she surged upward onto human feet. Her feelings were apparently too complex to relay in lupine form.

  "Don't you understand that Justin would love nothing more than to find an excuse to tear us both into bloody little pieces?" the pack princess rebutted. The moon had come out, and its light shone off Sarah's bare shoulders, adding a luster to her pale hair that made her even more beautiful than usual. So I couldn't blame Blaze for taking her hand even as she dashed our hopes.

  "We have to stay off Justin's radar if we want to endure," Sarah continued, standing toe to toe with her new mate as she gazed up into his eyes. "It isn't a question of wanting, Blaze. It's a question of survival."

  I could tell that Fen had been biting her tongue for several minutes now, and apparently this final refusal was the last straw. "So you plan to just roll over and let Justin tear your daughter apart?" the female yahoo demanded. Like the rest of us, Fen had spent so much time living by Wolfie's ethics that she was outraged at Sarah's refusal to do the right thing.

  But Sarah, in turn, was outraged by our request for her to willingly walk into danger. "My daughter?" the pack princess sneered. "You mean the wolf pup that almost killed me as it was born? That thing isn't my child and I don't owe it one more instant of my attention."

  David placed a restraining hand on Fen's shoulder as the latter surged forward, but he couldn't prevent her from hurling incendiary words at Ember's mother. "So you really are just a pack princess," Fen said, her tone making the words an insult.