by Shannan Rhys
Ash was movement.
“You can say your piece, Lisa.” He sat up against the headboard and scooted over so his sister could sit fully on the bed. “I won’t stop you.”
She took a deep breath, gripping her blue-jeaned legs with long fingers. “Somewhere is your home. I get that it hasn’t been easy, being my stand-in dad, but it seems…well, ever since I graduated, you’ve just been—” Lisa sniffed and wiped at her cheek, “—anywhere but here. It’s like you can’t stand being around me.
“Hey.” He reached for her and she scooted into his arms. Ash rubbed his hands up and down her back. “You know that’s not it. I love you, Lisa. You’re my only family.”
“But I’m not enough to keep you here,” she whispered.
Those words stabbed into him like little needles. He couldn’t argue with her. He didn’t like being in Somewhere. But it had nothing to do with his sister. He’d tried to get her to leave with him. So many times.
“I’m sorry if you think that. I never meant to make you think that.” He pushed a long breath through his lips and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You know it’s hard to be in this house, with everything…still…the way it is.” He almost couldn’t get the words out.
“It’s not hard for me to be here, Ash. This is my home. I love it.”
The pain inside amplified and he had to lean back again, like he was giving it some room to escape. He felt like he was always giving that pain a chance to leave him alone, and it just wouldn’t.
“Maybe if you would stay. Give things a chance… Maybe they could be better. Maybe you wouldn’t feel so…” She trailed off, but he knew the words she was about to say.
They were the same words he avoided thinking whenever he walked by that room.
Trapped.
Scared.
Alone.
That was how he felt, when he thought about his mother. About her leaving. He felt like that eighteen-year-old kid who’d come home from a basketball game to find his mother’s note. She’d said she needed a fresh start. That he was an adult now, and she’d left him the deed to the house. It was on him to make sure Lisa didn’t go into foster care.
He had that fuckin’ letter memorized.
“I don’t think that more time in this house is going to give me closure.” He squeezed her tight and then released her. “If you would move somewhere else…”
“But we own this house.”
Ash shook his head, the tension building in his chest again. There was just no way Lisa could understand how he felt about the house. The trapped feeling that descended on him every time he walked through the front door. The cloying, festering guilt. By the time their mother left, Ash had already been the man of the house for years, but he still hadn’t managed to get it right. He had been neither responsible enough nor reliable enough to keep their family together. And now he couldn’t overcome the urge to escape whenever he returned to this house—to go far, far away from this place where they’d failed to be a family.
“Don’t you have to get to work?” he asked, picking up his phone and touching the button to bring up the time. It was after 2:30 a.m. She had to be at work by three and the bakery was fifteen minutes away.
“I need to know if you’re staying, Ash.” Lisa stood, clapping her hands on her legs like she was shaking the dust off. “Because if you’re not, there’s a girl at work who might need a place to live, and I’m going to offer her your room.”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t have an answer yet. He wanted to stay, to see more of Helena, to be the man his sister needed him to be. But he didn’t know how long that would last.
“I’ll be here for at least a few weeks,” he said, shrugging. “So I don’t know what to tell you about the room. I’d like to say I’m going to stay, if only because of…”
“Helena.” Lisa crossed her arms and took a step toward the door. “Right. You’ll stay for sex. But you won’t stay for me. Got it.”
Ash swung his legs out of bed, ready to go after her, but he couldn’t find his stupid boot anywhere, and it was going to hurt a damn sight if he stepped out of the bed without it on. Might even do some real damage.
“Don’t worry about it, Ash.” She put up her hand, standing at the door with her shoulders slumped like a wounded bird.
“Lisa, that’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“You’ll stay for Helena.”
“I’ve always come back for you.” He said, gritting his teeth and continuing to look for the damn boot. “If you knew how much I hated this house, you’d understand—”
“Oh, trust me. I get it.” She slammed his door and Ash climbed around the bed to continue the search, but he couldn’t find the damn boot. Before he could even reach for his phone, the front door slammed, and his sister was gone.
Dammit.
He threw one of his pillows across the room and grabbed his stupid phone, texting Lisa like mad. I didn’t mean to say it like that. You know you’re my only family. Please don’t be mad at me.
He’d lost track of how many times he’d tried to convince his sister to leave this place and come away with him. Every single time he left, he offered to take her. Sell the house, get out from under their mother’s ghost, get away from Somewhere. Even just get her a new apartment in town if she wanted to stay so bad.
But Ash didn’t want to stay at all. Even the promise of seeing Helena regularly paled in comparison to the prospect of walking past his mom’s room every day. Of course, Helena wasn’t even from Somewhere.
Staying had never been on the table. Not really. And yet…he couldn’t stand the look on Lisa’s face whenever she talked about his trips.
He lay back down in bed, waiting for his sister to stop being mad and text him back. His battery was almost out, so he plugged it into the charger. It would beep at him if Lisa texted back. Or Helena.
Ash realized with a start that he didn’t have her number. But for some reason the thought didn’t panic him. She’d come back. The connection between them had been…well…a bond. Something told him their story was just beginning.
Chapter Eleven
“Sleepy head,” a soft voice giggled from across the cabin.
Helena forced her eyes to open and glanced over the back of the couch. She and Kate had never made it to bed. Just fallen asleep on the couch while talking about the available men attending this summit.
“Gretchen?” She peered into the lit doorway. Gretchen stood with an unfamiliar man right behind her, nuzzling her neck. Had she brought home her one-night stand? He certainly seemed right at home. Maybe she’d found another wolf at the bar—she’d be able to tell he was a wolf on sight. Figured. Gretchen always had good luck with men.
If only Ash were a wolf. His scent still enveloped her, probably because she was wearing his shirt. She lifted the neck of the T-shirt to her nose and breathed in even deeper.
Her traveler’s notebook started to slide off her lap. Helena grabbed it and then stood, slowly unfolding her curled-up body. Joints popped and she groaned. She had to put Ash behind her. It was time to find a mate. A wolf mate.
“Breakfast is in the main house. We already ate, but I figured the rest of you might be hungry,” Gretchen said, her voice still soft and full of laughter. The man necking her hadn’t stopped, in fact, one of his hands had reached up to cup one of Gretchen’s breasts.
“God, get a room. Take ours. Just get out of the fracking doorway,” Kate said, rolling her neck from side to side.
“Thanks,” Gretchen purred, grabbing the handsome dark-haired man by the hand. She pulled him across the living space and they disappeared through the first door—the room where Helena and Kate and Gretchen should have slept last night.
The second door opened and a couple of blonde Trewitt females tumbled out. “We heard there was breakfast.”
“At the VonBrandt house,” Kate said, pointing to the still-open front door. “Close it on your way out, would you?”
Helena stared at their bedroom door. “I need to change clothes,” she mumbled, looking down at the McAdams logo on her borrowed T-shirt. “Plus I need a bra.”
Kate glanced at her and shook her head. “Unless you want a face full of Gretchen and her guy, just wear what you have on. You look fine and you don’t need a bra. You’re not flat-as-a-pancake like me, but you should embrace the fact that you can go au natural. Some of us are very jealous.” Kate patted her little boobs and sighed. “These girls have never seen the inside of a bra,” she said, a giggle punctuating the end of her sentence. “Hungry?”
“A little.”
“Got your list?”
Helena smiled and held up the traveler’s notebook.
“Excellent. Let’s get to hunting.”
She climbed into the passenger seat of Kate’s car. They drove about five minutes down a dirt and gravel road before coming out into a small clearing around another cabin—this was where the single men were staying. The cabin looked quiet. No sign of any of the guys on her list so far.
They entered the forest again, the car dipping and bouncing along the potholes of the private road for at least another ten minutes before they emerged in the clearing surrounding the VonBrandt house. This place looked like it could be a boarding school. Two floors. Red brick. Dozens of windows. And clearly well maintained. It was nothing like the house where her grandfather lived.
Kate parked in an empty field in line with the dozens of other visitors’ cars. She and Helena crossed the wide lawn, headed toward the back door of the house.
Must be nice to have enough water to actually have a garden. Back home in El Paso, it was desert-scapes or nothing. Only the evergreen bushes were blooming at the moment, but she could tell from the beds that it must be truly spectacular in the spring and summer. She and Kate gasped at the same moment.
Their cousin Will was standing next to a tall, nearly nude brunette. They were pulling on clothes as quickly as if they feared they’d burn to ashes in the sunlight. Will’s reddened cheeks spoke to the fact that he’d seen them see him. She didn’t recognize the girl, but there were telltale shimmering green tattoos wrapped around both their wrists.
Kate buried her face in Helena’s shoulder. “Fracking hell, tell me when he’s decent. I did not need to see that.”
“Me neither….”
“It’s safe,” she whispered to Kate a few moments later, when Will had his pants on…at least mostly.
They resumed walking toward the house. “I get that wolves aren’t shy, but seriously. Will, get dressed in the cover of the forest next time,” Kate quipped when they reached the now-dressed pair. She glanced at the tall brunette. “No offense meant to you.”
“None taken,” the woman answered. “We didn’t plan ahead well.”
“This is Dee.” Will slipped an arm around the woman’s shoulder.
“Wow. Just like that?” Helena said, her gaze locked on the fresh tattoos.
“These are my nosy cousins, Helena and Kate.”
“We’ve met,” Kate said with a chuckle.
Helena fought to keep her mouth from hanging open in shock. Will had not been mated when they’d left El Paso yesterday. And now he was. Was that what it would be like? Just BAM and she’d want to be mated, too? Would it be one of the guys on her list? How did a person plan for such a thing?
“Yep. It was amazing. When we touched, it was like Fate struck a match.” Dee beamed at Will. “It was nice to meet you, Helena.”
“See you guys inside in a few minutes,” Will said, pulling his mate off the path toward a small pond a few yards away. “We’re gonna check out the fish out here first. I heard some of them are huge.”
“See you inside,” Helena called. A fish pond would also be an anomaly in El Paso. Nobody wasted water on decorative fish. It was the desert.
Helena slipped her arm into Kate’s and pulled her along. “This is a good omen. If Will found his Fated mate here, then maybe I have a good chance, too.”
“As long as we don’t have to strut around naked for everyone to see,” Kate snorted.
Both girls laughed as they crossed the last bit of lawn and stepped up onto the back porch. Kate pulled open the door and they stepped inside. Through the mudroom, the kitchen opened up into a massive stone and open-beam style room—easily capable of fitting dozens of people. Several wolves sat at the large wooden breakfast table. Most of the men were wearing nothing more than gym shorts and tennis shoes. Their chests were slick. By the gods, had they all gone out jogging together and decided to coordinate by showing off their rippling muscles.
“Hot damn. It’s like a breakfast buffet of manflesh,” Kate whispered. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Shhhh.”
“Morning ladies,” the tall VonBrandt alpha’s wife strolled up, hand extended. She had light skin, dark auburn hair, and her eyes were a light, silvery blue. A breathtaking combination. But it was Tonya VonBrandt’s warm smile that made Helena feel at ease, even around so many strangers. “I hope you enjoyed your first night in Somewhere.”
“It was lovely,” Kate answered immediately.
“My husband is finishing with another round of eggs and bacon. There are already pancakes and toppings on the counter. So please help yourself.”
“Tonya, can you make sure the board room is stocked, love. I’ve got to run and take a shower.” The giant VonBrandt alpha wore jeans and a white T-shirt, and his feet were bare. Apparently, his pack didn’t have the same outmoded gender roles as hers did—no one was going to call him less manly because he was barefoot in the kitchen, cooking.
“Of course,” Tonya answered. She smiled at Kate and Helena before turning away. A loud pop sounded, followed by a yelp, and Helena turned around to see Tonya holding her elbow.
Across the room, Aaron VonBrandt yowled. “Ouch!”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Tonya called, rubbing her arm. “I didn’t see that cupboard.”
“I swear, sometimes I think you bonk your elbow on purpose just to rile me up.” Even though he had a pained frown on his face, Aaron’s voice was tender, and Helena released her breath. The bond they shared made them feel each other’s physical pain. It would have been cute to watch them bonk elbows, if it hadn’t sounded quite so painful.
Tonya leaned in, whispering, “Help yourselves, girls. Don’t mind him. He’s all bluster and no burn.”
Will and Dee entered the kitchen too, blessedly clothed. Helena’s cousin looked different. Like mating had changed him somehow. Will grabbed a plate for his mate and started to fill it with food, always keeping one hand on her.
“What’s happening today?” Helena spoke up without thinking.
“Alphas-only meeting,” Aaron answered before disappearing from the kitchen.
“What are they discussing?” Helena asked Tonya, who was about to leave as well. “Do you know?”
The alpha’s wife shook her head. “Only that they need to discuss this unbonded wolf. It doesn’t sound like they got very far last night.”
“Oh,” Helena answered. An unbonded wolf. It was hard to imagine not having a link to an alpha. Hers was to her grandfather, and even though he was not the alpha she would have chosen, she couldn’t imagine going through life without being pledged to an alpha. It was such an important anchor for her wolf’s inner wildness.
Tonya VonBrandt gave a small wave and left her standing next to the island full of food. Will and Dee had left. Kate had already made a plate and was eating at the large table in the back with the others.
Helena hugged her traveler’s notebook a little tighter and scanned the room, trying to remember if she recognized any of the faces currently present. She didn’t see Adam or Allan VonBrandt, so she’d have to wait to check those names off her list. The enforcers, Miles and Lee, weren’t anywhere in sight either. Hold that thought. A shirtless man came into the kitchen via the back door she and Kate had used, followed by yet another one.
Perhaps she
and the other girls weren’t the only ones hoping to lure a mate during this summit gathering. Hell, her cousin Will had already found his. And Kate was eying the handsome dark-haired man who’d come in after Miles. Both of their perfectly toned bodies glistened and smelled of sweat and man and…she just kept picturing Ash.
“Helena, grab a plate and come eat,” Kate called out.
Helena wasn’t hungry, but she grabbed a plate, threw a couple pieces of bacon and a pancake on it, and headed for the empty chair next to Kate. She joined her cousin and picked up a piece of bacon, biting the end off the perfectly-cooked slice of pork. Have mercy. The VonBrandt alpha could cook. She devoured the other piece before allowing Kate to interrupt her bacon-induced heaven.
“Are you done yet?”
“Did you try the bacon?” Helena asked, peering over her shoulder at the platter, where more of the greasy strips were calling to her.
“No. I had pancakes.”
“Mmmm, well, stay away from the bacon. You wouldn’t like it.”
“Sure. Did you see Miles when he came in?” Kate whispered into Helena’s ear. “Was there a spark?”
Helena shook her head.
“What about the other…guy?” Kate asked again, but this time with hesitation lacing her voice. He was a beautiful man, but from her cousin’s posturing, she was interested in him. Helena’s wolf hadn’t so much as stirred since coming inside the VonBrandt house. There were hot shirtless men everywhere, and instead of being focused on a mate hunt, she kept thinking about Ash. Smelling him. Remembering how it felt to be touched by him.
She was going crazy. That had to be it.
“Nothing. And they’re not interested in me either.” She opened her traveler’s notebook, pulled the pen from its stirrup and crossed through Miles’ name. “I’ll keep looking.”
“You should. There are still a half-dozen names on that list. Eat your breakfast and get to hunting,” Kate said with a grin. Her bright blue eyes twinkled with excitement. “We’re gonna do this.”
