Ashwood Falls Volume Two (Books 3, 3.5, and 4)

by Lia Davis

  He shook his head and started to pace. “I can’t, Addy. Not now.” Coming to a stop in front of her, he cursed himself when he saw the disappointment in her face. He reached for her and was relieved when she didn’t pull away from him. He took her hand and brought it to place over his heart. “I’ll tell you someday soon.”

  She lifted her violet gaze to his and nodded. “I trust you.”

  He smiled but whispered, “I’m not so sure I trust myself, especially when comes to being alone with you.”

  Then he released her hand and turned to head outside to find Tanner.

  Chapter 5

  Addyson let out a breath and sat down on the sofa. Her whole body trembled, but not from fear. She was on the verge of sensory overload. Sure, she didn’t suffer pain or have crippling visions at his touch, but it’d been far too long since she’d been able to rely on a Pack mate for the comfort of skin-to-skin contact.

  Her leopard was touch-starved to the extreme, and the more Keegan offered, the more she fought for control over her cat.

  Shifters needed the simple touches from Pack members just as much as they needed the air they breathed. The only way she was able to keep from going completing insane was Keegan. He was the only one she could have minimal contact with.

  And he knew it.

  He’d also been trying to drive her over the edge in the last couple of weeks. That was why she needed to learn to build her shields and strengthen her resistance toward the male.

  A smile lifted her lips, and she leaned back on the couch. Pride filled her chest. She’d built the first layer of her mental shield by using Tanner’s aura. However, it was a very weak layer.

  She didn’t need to think too hard on why Keegan could break through her shields. It had nothing to do with his telepathic abilities. He’d confirmed that when he admitted he couldn’t read her and she was a haven of sorts for him.

  No, Keegan Andrews was her mate.

  She’d known this from the first time she’d met him, but his heart still belonged to a ghost.

  With a groan, Addyson pushed herself to a stand and went to the kitchen to start dinner. She really needed to get a grip and shove her schoolgirl fantasy of Keegan and mating out of her mind, no matter how much it hurt.

  She reached the kitchen just as the stone door slid open and Keegan walked in with his youngest son, Alec, and Luna’s middle son, Dane, following behind. She smiled and nodded at the enforcers. “Are you two staying for dinner?”

  Alec gave her a crooked grin. “Sure. I’d never turn down a meal.”

  Keegan growled low in his throat. “Addyson is working on building her shields, so she won’t be wearing her gloves. As long as you are careful you may stay.”

  Addyson ignored Keegan’s grumpy tone and asked, “Any special request?”

  Dane, carrying a black case, stepped forward to stand even with Alec. “Anything for me is good.” He turned to Keegan and asked, “Where do you want this set up?”

  Keegan pointed to a desk along the far wall. “Over there.”

  The wolf Beta nodded and proceeded to the desk, set the case on it, and opened it to reveal a laptop and other equipment Addyson didn’t recognize.

  “What is that?” she asked as she watched Dane pull out cables and a small black box.

  “It’s our security system and a secure way to communicate with the Pack,” Keegan replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

  Addyson pursed her lips and started pulling things out of the fridge. She really didn’t know what the sudden shift in Keegan’s mood was all about, but as soon as they were alone, she’d find out.

  Will climbed up on a stool on the other side of the counter. She offered him a smile then studied him for a few moments. A thought came to mind, and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked him before. “Are there others? Scribes, I mean. What about your family?”

  Will looked away from her to watch Alec and Dane work on the security system while they talked to Keegan. “I’m not sure. I’ve never heard anyone mention it inside Onyx. As for my family, my whole den was destroyed.”

  Addyson’s heart broke for the boy. She reached over the counter and covered his hand and squeezed. “Oh, hun, I’m so sorry.”

  He shrugged. “They live in my heart. When I’m stronger, I’m going to ask Blaine if I can join the next round of soldier training. I’m going to fight in the war.”

  Keegan walked over then and sat on the stool next to Will. “I think you’ll make a good soldier.”

  Will sat a little straighter and smiled. “I want to help bring Onyx down.”

  Addyson met Keegan’s gaze for a moment before bending to put the roast in the oven. She heard the pride in Keegan’s voice as he said, “You’ll get your chance one day. We’ll all get our chance.”

  ****

  Keegan stepped out of the cave and found Alec, in leopard form, stretched out on a large branch in the nearby oak tree. Keegan knew his son wasn’t sleeping. The male was too calculating and lethal to let his guard down. Alec might be the leopard Beta until Blaine announced otherwise, but Keegan’s youngest son held the power of an alpha.

  Alec flicked his tail in a sign that he knew Keegan was there. Keegan sent his son a thought. “I’m meeting Kieran. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

  “She’ll be fine. Dane is running a perimeter check.”

  Keegan nodded and started off toward the west to a neutral part of the mountain that had been left unclaimed by the Packs in the Smoky Mountain/Blue Ridge Mountain region. There were only a handful of neutral areas now thanks to Onyx and their bastard mutants.

  He stopped at a small stream about a half-mile from the cave where he’d left Addyson sleeping, peered into the water as it rushed by, and waited. Kieran was never on time. Not that Keegan blamed him. The male was a spy after all.

  The crunching of leaves under heavy footfalls made Keegan glance over his shoulder. Kieran leaned against a tree several feet away, his large arms folded over his chest. Keegan turned and sat on a boulder. “You look well.”

  One of Kieran’s shoulders raised in a half-hearted shrug. “I manage.”

  Kieran had once been the Marshal of Ashwood before Blaine came of age to claim the title and the Pack had almost been completely destroyed by the rogues. By all rights, Kieran should be serving on the Council of the Elders, but that too was gone. Very few elders existed, and those who had survived lived in hiding. Many were hidden away by their Packs because they were the Pack’s only link to the past and the history that was passed down from generation to generation.

  So Kieran had mentored Blaine into his role of Marshal and then taken a seat as a senior enforcer until the day he left and the Pack believed he had gone rogue. Keegan didn’t do anything to discredit the rumor. No, he let the rumor circulate and reach their enemy’s ears. Besides, it made it easier for Kieran to find a place inside the Onyx den.

  Keegan narrowed his eyes and demanded, “Show me the proof.”

  Kieran casually reached inside his jacket pocket, pulled out something, and tossed it over to Keegan. He caught it in midair. When he opened his palm, his heart stopped. “Where the fuck did you get this?”

  Fury built up inside him as he stared down at the rose-shaped locket he’d given Cate on their first date. She had said she lost it while on a run. She’d cried for hours over the damn thing.

  This had to be some kind of a sick joke, Onyx’s attempt of hurting him from the grave.

  “From Ana.”

  Keegan snapped his head up and met the other male’s gaze. “Who?”

  Kieran nodded to the locket. “Open it.”

  Keegan opened the locket. At first his brain refused to recognize what he was seeing. After a few moments he saw the woman who looked too much like Cate to be anyone but her daughter. “Her name is Ana?”

  “Zorana, but she likes to be called Ana.”

  Zorana. That was the name Cate had picked out, saying it was exotic and beautiful, just like their little girl would be.r />
  Keegan didn’t miss the subtle note of compassion in Kieran’s tone. Keegan studied the male before saying, “She’s your mate.”

  Kieran took a deep breath and unfolded his arms. “I haven’t claimed her. I can’t. Felix has raised her as his daughter and forbids anyone from mating her or touching her.” A tic formed in Kieran’s temples as if the idea pissed him off as much as it did Keegan. “Felix would kill her and drop her off at your doorstep, if he knew you even suspected she was alive.”

  Keegan rolled his fingers around the locket and stood to pace. “Why are you telling me now?”

  Kieran ran a hand through his dark hair. “Because I need to get her out of the den. I think Felix has caught on to the fact that I’m a spy, or at least he’s starting to believe I might be. His new Marshal is a nosy son of a bitch and has a big mouth. I’m not sure how much either of them knows. There is also a small group in the Pack that plans to break away and join a small shifter rebel group.”

  Rebels? Fuck. What’s next?

  Keegan started to pace again. “Okay, we need a plan. You have to stay in and rebut the rumors. Do what you must to keep Felix from finding out the truth for a little while longer.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not sure.” Keegan turned away to head back to the cave but stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Tell Felix that Ashwood Falls has a new leopard Alpha.”

  Kieran lips twitched. “You’re hoping he goes after you directly now?”

  Keegan didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Kieran knew him too well, and he also knew the laws. Alphas couldn’t directly attack one another.

  Even though the Onyx Pack had broken just about every peace law set in place, Felix hadn’t broken the Alpha rule and come after Keegan. It seemed the rogue leader had learned his lesson from before.

  Felix hadn’t gone after only Keegan; he’d gone after Luna as well. Hitting both Pack Alphas had made the two Packs band together as one Pack and fight to bring down Onyx once and for all.

  Now that Keegan wasn’t Alpha, he was free to track the rogue Alpha down.

  Just like Felix was able to hunt him.

  Chapter 6

  Addyson dried her hands and laid the kitchen towel on the counter. She was itching for something to do. Her cat paced under her skin wanting out, but she couldn’t run like she wanted and needed. She was in unfamiliar territory where rogues could track her down.

  No. They couldn’t track her anymore.

  She lifted her hand to the base of her neck, feeling the small scar. Beneath it had once been a GPS tracking device Felix had order to be implanted soon after she was abducted. She’d woken in Ashwood’s medical center scared that she’d endangered the Pack until Danica, the leopard Healer, told her that the tracking device had been removed and destroyed.

  She froze as she thought about the GPS and went in search of Will. She found him in the room he’d chosen, stretched out on the bed reading on the e-reader that Keegan had given him. Will looked up and met her eyes.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, concern etched into his face.

  Addyson walked farther into the room and whispered, “Do you have a tracker in your skin?”

  He smiled as though he’d been caught stealing milk from a kitten and turned to show her the back of his neck. She sat down on the bed beside him and reached out to trace the small scar. “When did you remove it?”

  He turned to face her and shrugged. “The night I ran from Onyx.”

  “But they tracked you to the den.”

  “Because I was too slow,” he said, disgust in his tone. “Someone opened my cell door. I hesitated. I guess I thought it was a trick.”

  Addyson frowned. “Someone let you go?”

  Will nodded. “Yes. They wore gloves, so I couldn’t get any feedback from the lock.”

  They fell silent for a moment. Addyson remembered hearing Keegan talk about Graham’s kidnapping and how someone had unlocked his cell as well. She studied Will again. “I don’t understand.”

  Will turned off his e-reader and set it on the bed beside him. “Some Onyx members are planning to break from the Pack.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Keegan’s voice made them both jump. Addyson scrambled off the bed to stand in front of Will, blocking him from the Alpha. Keegan raised a brow. “I’m not going to hurt him, Addy.”

  Her heart quickened at the nickname he’d given her, the one he used to calm her when she was afraid and started to freak out.

  She folded her arms over her chest and glared. “I take it you already knew about the rebel rogues.”

  Keegan’s lips twitched. “I just found out. Will, answer the question.”

  Will got off the bed to stand next to Addyson. “I picked up small objects when they let me out of my cell. A few of them held memories and conversations about breaking away from the Pack.”

  Keegan’s stern look softened, and he nodded. “You don’t happen to have the names of these rebels, do you?”

  Will smiled back at the Alpha and said, “Only one. Sable. She’s leading the group.”

  Keegan’s brows dipped. “Are you sure?”

  Will nodded, and Addyson shook her head at the same time. “She’s Felix’s daughter and the Beta of the Pack. Why would she go against him?”

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s out of the good of her heart.” Keegan growled. Addyson couldn’t have agreed more. She’d witnessed Sable’s ruthless leadership.

  After a short silence, Keegan said, “You need a run.”

  She snapped her gaze to his at the command in his tone. Her very short fuse just got shorter. “Is that an order?”

  One corner of his sensual mouth lifted, and damn it if she didn’t melt a little. He held his hand out to her and softened his expression. “Come running with me.”

  She shook her head, trying like hell to not be effected by the male in front of her. “I’m fine,” she lied and moved to walk around him. She needed some air, without Keegan around. She needed to be alone to think.

  The truth was that she didn’t know how to handle the male. He was too much and everywhere she turned.

  “Addyson.”

  Her name on his lips gave her pause. He spoke it on a purr as he followed her to the living room, and damn if she didn’t want to kiss those lips. But what would that do to her? Would it finally break her to have so much skin contact with the male who ignited the flame within her?

  Oh, God. He was too much male right now.

  She turned toward the door and slid the stone slab aside. She bolted through the opening, not paying attention to what, or who, might be in front of her and ran right into a solid mass. Instinctually she reached out and made skin-to-skin contact with Blaine, Keegan’s eldest son and the new leopard Alpha of Ashwood Falls.

  Images slammed into her mind’s eye, taking her to the place Blaine had been in this particular vision. He was running through the forest, panic raging through his veins. Every breath, every step, and every thought he had at the time was now hers. It always happened like that. Without her shields, her mind was open to everything the person felt, saw, smelt, and tasted.

  She jerked back from Blaine, only to have her knees give out. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she crumbled to the ground. The vision didn’t stop because she broke the contact with Blaine. No it played on like a horror movie she was unable to turn off.

  She barely heard Keegan’s feral growl, warning everyone to stay away from her.

  Her head ached, and she tried desperately to control the speed of the vision and push away the harsh, painful emotions that felt too real to not be hers.

  The vision was a mess of images, and she couldn’t make sense of it. Flashes of Keegan’s face, marred with anger and horror, then a glimpse of a brunette woman with tears in her eyes and a gun raised to her temple.

  She felt arms come around her and lift her then the scent of oak and spice filled her senses. Keegan. She inhaled
deeply. The pain eased as she felt him move with her cradled to his chest.

  The images slowed, finally. Before the flood shut off, she realized that the woman was Keegan’s mate. Oh, God, Blaine had watched his mother kill herself.

  She wasn’t sure how long Keegan held her in silence, but she allowed herself to drink up the masculine heat of him. It soothed her and her cat in a way nothing had ever done.

  And she knew why. She’d always known.

  Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Keegan was her mate. Her own protectiveness rose to the surface as the vision replayed in her mind, this time without the heavy, heart-crushing emotions.

  The visions were always like that. The initial impact slammed into her with so much force it left her a quaking mess on the floor. She hated that anyone had to see her like that, hated that her mind was broken.

  Before she was captured by Onyx and forced to use her powers until she wasn’t able to shield from them any longer, she’d had a mental wall in place that blocked out the psychic impressions from others. The constant use of that power overloaded her senses.

  Felix Darwin got off on her pain as he thirsted for more information on Ashwood and their allies. Never allowing her the much-needed rest between visions, he forced her to touch objects over and over until she was no longer able to block anything or anyone from her powers.

  If she refused, which she did often, Felix found creative ways to punish her.

  She shuddered and let out a soft whimper. Her cat curled up in a ball and shook inside her. Keegan’s arms tightened around her, bringing her back to the present.

  As much as she wanted to wrap her arms around this male and relish the peace he seemed to give her, she wasn’t naïve enough to believe he was offering anything more than an Alpha would for any one of his submissives when they needed him. She pulled back, only to have him draw her closer into his body.

  Her leopard whined.

  Keegan dipped his fingers into her hair and massaged her scalp. She groaned at the intimate caress and gave into the need to be cared for by this male, even if it meant she was sending her heart false hope.