“Hello, Octavia,” Matthew said nervously. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened. Not that it’s an excuse, but I thought since you worked at NightCrawlers, well, that you were with the vampires. I didn’t know you were innocent. It was wrong of me and I’m sorry.”
My jaw fell open. There were a million things I wanted to say about that lame apology. By his logic, if I really was with the vampires, not unlike I was now, it would be okay to target me. I was still human. What about the other girls at the club? They were innocent too, even if they knew about the vampires and willingly provided their snacks.
“Octavia?” Killian interrupted my thoughts and I shook my head.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” I gave Matthew a tight smile. “Water under the bridge.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and looked to his Alpha as if seeking confirmation that he’d done what he was ordered to do. “Thank you, Octavia. I really appreciate your forgiveness.”
I nodded and watched him walk away quickly, then I turned to Killian and snorted. “That apology was shit.” Killian threw his head back and barked out a laugh.
More people gathered around the bonfire, some sitting, others standing, and I realized a crowd was starting to form.
I looked to Killian and he nodded. “The stories are about to begin,” he whispered and cleared his throat. “Welcome, pack members!” he shouted into the night, a chill running through me at the forcefulness of his voice. I snuggled deeper into my coat and gazed at the different people surrounding us. “For our first night, I’d like to suggest the story of the phoenix and the wolf,” he proposed casually. My eyes widened and I snapped my attention to him.
The others murmured and nodded their approval.
“I’ll tell it,” a woman offered as she broke out from the crowd, the onlookers parting to allow her entrance near the center, closest to the fire. “It would be my pleasure, Alpha.” She bowed to him respectfully and he nodded once in acknowledgment.
The woman who stood before us was tall, Amazonian-like, with sleek, dirty blonde hair that was in a ponytail but still reached just above her bottom. Her skin was burnished bronze against the fire light and her dark eyes were slanted and intense. In short, she was stunning.
Her face was stone cold as she walked around the fire and met each pack member’s gaze. “The spirit of the phoenix has traveled with shifter packs for many centuries,” she intoned, her voice seductive and low. “Their lives are interwoven with ours, which is why we consider them kin. And no story is more well-known than that of the wolf.”
Some of the pack members started to stomp their feet on the ground, the sound roaring in the otherwise still night. I assumed the thudding feet belonged to wolves.
“The wolf was cursed to live as an animal for all eternity, wandering the lands alone and with no pack. For decades, one particular wolf had not walked on two feet, and the moment came when they couldn’t take it any longer,” she said with a cadence that was mesmerizing. “The wolf was ready to take its own life when far in the distance, it saw a raging fire. The dizzying heat could be felt from miles away. The wolf, assuming it was a wildfire, thought that was a good way to die.”
The Amazonian shifter came to stand before me, her attention completely focused on my face. “When a naked woman emerged from the fire with a large bird tattooed on her back and asked the wolf, ‘Do you wish to be free?’, he could not answer, so all he did was whine. She smiled down at him, like the goddess she was, and placed a burning hand on top of his head, searing his coat. He thrashed in her grip and whined in pain. She burnt every last piece of him … until all that was left was a man.”
“She broke the curse?” I whispered in awe.
The shifter nodded. “The wolf thought death was his freedom, but she knew what he truly wanted. He needed to be reborn—like a phoenix.”
“Who placed the curse on him?” I asked as if we were having our own private conversation and the whole pack wasn’t listening in.
She smirked and bared her teeth. “A very nasty witch, and one who does not take kindly to those who meddle.”
“Enough, Jude,” Killian said, waving a hand. Tension blanketed the air, and it wasn’t because of the story. The shifter named Jude still stared intently at me, and I had no doubt that jab at the end was intended for me.
The only problem was that I didn’t know exactly what I was meddling in.
Jude spun on her heel and the others clapped as her story ended, but I didn’t hear it. My attention was focused elsewhere.
Who was that chick, and why am I on her bad side already?
Story time continued with different shifters taking turns weaving tales about their history and traditions, but I kept mulling over the story Jude told. Killian obviously wanted me to hear it.
Apparently, shifters and phoenixes had history. A good one, unlike the one with the vampires, was the underlining tone. Killian was laying it on thick.
Now, the only question was, was he changing my mind?
16
Storytime ended around midnight, and then I was surrounded by a bustling crowd of drunk and rowdy shifters. Challenges were tossed and fights broke out, but Killian steered me safely out of harm’s way. Underneath the canopy of trees, the night sky was clear. I could see the stars brighter than I ever could in the city.
I saw Kai and Gideon with another male shifter in the fray and they looked like they were having a good time. The Jude chick disappeared after her story, and I hadn’t seen her since. I was mainly keeping an eye out for Mikaela, hoping she was okay after our game of Man Hunt, but I didn’t see her. She did say she kept a low profile.
“So, what do you think?” Killian asked as we walked through the woods, the inky darkness broken by a scattering of flickering torches that lit the meandering paths.
“What do I think about what?”
“About the pack and everything you’ve seen so far.” He waved his hand around as if to encompass everything in sight.
I smiled. “Was this your way of wooing me?”
Killian put his hands in his coat pockets and shrugged. “I don’t know, is it working?”
“If you woo women by making them take self-defense classes, I don’t know how you ever get a date,” I laughed.
“I’m a man of many charms, Ms. Cruz,” he chuckled and nudged me with his shoulder.
I side eyed him. “Yeah, okay. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten my near disembowelment.”
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“Nope!” I popped the p. “But I can learn to forgive,” I said softly. “Your people seem … nice.”
He barked a laugh. “Oh, boy. That didn’t sound very sincere, Octavia. What did Kai and Gideon do?”
“Nothing!” I said quickly. Except work me to the bone. But I digress. “What’s with Jude, though?” I asked instead.
“Ah.” He nodded. “Jude is my Beta. She can be a little … intense. Don’t mind her.”
“She’s not going to slit my throat in my sleep, is she?” I grimaced.
Killian snorted. “No. But it’s not like she can kill you anyway.”
I glared at him. “Not an excuse. It still hurts like a bitch to die.”
We continued walking through the woods until we reached the lake and sat on the same dock where Mikaela and I sat earlier in the day, letting our legs dangle over the edge.
“So, you have died?” he asked.
I wanted to smack my forehead. I literally just told on myself. Biting my lower lip, I contemplated whether to tell him or not. I could skirt the truth. “Once.”
“I’m assuming you’re not going to tell me about it?”
“You assume right.” I smiled sweetly and he chuckled. “You told me you’d tell me about my history.”
“Ah, right, I did say that, didn’t I?” He grinned as he kicked his legs back and forth. “Well, what is it that you want to know?”
I blew out a breath
. “I don’t even know what to ask. What is there to know?”
Killian leaned back on his hands and looked up at the night sky, then down at the moonlight reflecting on the lake. “Well, I’ll be honest, you’re the first phoenix I’ve ever met.” He nudged me with his shoulder. “But legends of the great phoenix have been passed down through the packs and families for many generations. Your species is sacred to our people. Your people helped us in many times of need. The story you heard tonight is just one representation of when the phoenix has helped a shifter.”
“Then why didn’t the shifters help them when they were being hunted down by vampires?” I asked, the words coming out more accusatory than I intended. Perhaps if they had, there might be a phoenix around to guide me. There probably was, but it’d be a miracle to find one. It was a miracle they found me.
“We helped as much as we could, but you weren’t the only ones being hunted. Many shifters during that time went into hiding, transitioning into animal form semi-permanently and hiding in the wild. It wasn’t safe for any of us.”
I supposed I couldn’t be mad at him for something his ancestors did. I was just fed up and frustrated. I ran my hands through my hair, nearly pulling out strands in my frustration, and closed my eyes.
“If they had known what the outcome would be, they would have done things differently,” Killian added. “Many of them were never given the opportunity to extend their family lines and their legacy ended with them. Some did, and the phoenix continued through many generations, but they were few. With no one to guide them, it was chaos,” Killian said. “But …”
He trailed off and I opened my eyes to look at him. He was looking out at the lake, contemplating the right words to say.
“But what, Killian?” I urged.
“The legends say there was a survivor … and he might be alive today.”
“He?” I quirked a brow. “I thought phoenixes were only female.”
Killian snorted. “Is that what Tristan told you?” I shook my head. That was my own assumption. He rolled his eyes. “Most of them are females, true. It’s very rare when a male inherits the phoenix, but it happens.”
“And you think one survived from that time period?” I inquired.
“That’s what the legends say.” He shrugged. “We can find him if you want. Together.”
And there was the catch. I chuckled. “But let me guess – I’d have to join your pack, right?”
Killian glanced at me. “You really think that low of me, huh?”
“I know nothing in this world is free. Everything comes with a price.” I watched the Alpha carefully, narrowing my eyes. “You want something in return.”
“What happened to make you so cynical?” He said it as more of a statement than a question. I wished I could answer, I died, that’s what. Instead, I bit my tongue. “Maybe I just want to help you, Octavia. To our people, the phoenix is sacred. It’s our duty to help you. That’s all.”
Did I believe him? Maybe. It seemed like his intentions were sincere, but I wasn’t going to get bamboozled by rushing into this without thinking through all the angles.
Killian and I spent the rest of the evening talking, and I slowly found myself becoming comfortable in his presence. Even if he was a hulking, shapeshifting lion that could eat me in seconds. No sweat, right? Insert awkward laugh here.
Oddly enough, instead of it being weird or uncomfortable, Killian opened up. He spoke about himself, but not in a narcissistic way, rather in a getting-to-know-you sort of way. He told me he was born in Seattle and moved to Los Angeles at the age of twelve. Both his parents were feline shifters, but they were still surprised when he turned out to be a lion. He became Alpha only seven years ago and had to kill the previous Alpha for the position. It sounded very brutal. Never in a million years would I have an inkling this was going on in our world. It was so trippy.
There was a part of me, however small, that wanted to judge Killian—to call him a murderer for what he’d done. But there was another part of me, the non-human part, that understood this wasn’t a conventional life. They weren’t dealing with human laws. This was an entirely different world that was governed by their own rules. Who was I to judge them when I now had blood on my hands? My feelings vacillated from one extreme to the other and I didn’t know how to process them.
Tristan, Killian — all of them — were the monster in this narrative, but with that rationale, so was I.
“We should head inside and get some sleep,” Killian offered, and I nodded. The whole time he spoke, he provided subtle openings for me to tell him about myself, but I never did, and he respected that.
I wanted to trust the shifter. I really did. But the fewer people who knew my secrets, the better.
The following days went by in a blur. I woke up, ate breakfast with the guys, hung out with Mikaela, then trained with Kai and Gideon until dinner time, when I was bruised, battered, and starving. By then, the bonfire would already be raging and the shifters were tipsy, telling wild stories that ranged from lyrical histories to brutal war stories. And I always ended the night with Killian, sitting on the pier.
I had to admit, the shifters weren’t as bad as I originally thought. I definitely had a better impression of them now than when they barged into NightCrawlers and almost killed me.
It was the last day and most of the shifters had already left, piling in their vehicles and heading back down the gravel road. Only a few lingered around Big Bear, loading up their cars leisurely before heading back to the city. Killian had already placed my bag in a car we’d be driving back in, instead of taking the bike.
Thank God.
“Hey, firecracker,” Kai greeted as he jogged across the front yard, coming to a stop in front of where I was perched on the front steps of the log cabin. “You almost out of here?”
“Yup!” Even though I enjoyed myself these last few days, I was ready to go back to Tristan, Echo, and Maverick. I sorta missed them.
“Damn, I thought we would have convinced you to stay,” he said, looking genuinely upset.
I shifted on my feet, unsure what to say. Kai and Gideon were friends I hadn’t expected to make. I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “This won’t be the last time you see me. There’s a lot you still have to teach me.”
He brightened. “Good. Although it would be nice to have you around. You’re funny.” He ruffled my hair.
“Hey!” I ducked out of his reach and adjusted my hair. “Not cool, asshole.”
“See? Your colorful language will be missed. Who will berate me now?” Kai pouted.
“Leave that to me,” Gideon said as he came up from behind me and placed an arm around my neck. “We’ll get Octavia back; I have no doubt.”
I snorted. “Oh, yeah? You’re that confident?”
Gideon nodded. “The vampires will mess up. It’s in their nature. They have a tortured history with your kind, so it’s bound to end badly. And we’ll be there when it does.”
I punched him in the gut and he groaned, caving in on himself. “Jerk,” I mumbled as I walked away from him.
“Now that was a punch,” Kai chuckled. “We taught her well.” He nodded proudly.
Leaving Beavis and Butt-head, I walked over to the car where Killian was packing and leaned against the passenger-side panel while he put everything away. He had been so good to me these last few days, and I sincerely wanted to believe he was one of the good guys. I wanted to trust him like I was growing to trust Tristan, but I still wasn’t sure. Anytime I wanted to open up, I thought about Nick and how he turned on me in the end. Any one of them could do that to me and I wouldn’t know until the knife was embedded in my back. It was too risky.
“I think we’re ready,” Killian said, cutting into my thoughts. “You set?”
I gave him a tight smile, trying to erase the tension from my face. “Yeah. I already said bye to everyone.”
He nodded, stepped over to the passenger door of the car, and opened it for me. I slid
inside and he shut the door for me. Always the gentleman.
When he slid into the driver’s seat, he didn’t automatically start the car. He sat there for a moment before turning to me. “I know I’m taking you back to Tristan, but know that if you ever need me — for anything, no matter what, at whatever time — I’m only a call away.”
My face softened. It was moments like this where I wanted to tell him the truth.
“Thank you, Killian,” I said as I reached for his arm. “That means a lot.”
When we pulled up to the curb in front of Tristan’s penthouse, I was practically vibrating with energy, excited to see them. I texted him to let him know I was on my way, and he replied that everyone was there waiting for me.
“Remember what I said, Octavia,” Killian said as he put the car in park. He scratched at his beard, hesitant to let me go.
“I know.” I smiled sweetly. “I promise this won’t be the last time you see me, Killian. I’ll stay in touch. Why don’t we set something up for next week?” I suggested awkwardly, then winced. I didn’t want to come across like I was asking him out on a date—because I totally wasn’t!
His eyes widened. “Sure!” he answered excitedly. “I’ll text you and we can do lunch or something.”
I took that as my cue to go. Nodding, I felt the heat on my neck rise to my cheeks. “Thanks for the mini-vacation. I had fun.” I reached for the door handle. “See you next week!” I exited the car and hurried toward the building with my bag before he could stop me and say anything else.
I jumped onto the sidewalk and darted to the entrance of the building, where I made a quick beeline to the penthouse elevator. Once I made it to the top level, I paused before the door, took a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell.
In seconds, the door swung open and Maverick stood in the threshold. “Octavia!” he yelled, flinging his arms wide as I stepped inside. Maverick wrapped his cold arms around me and lifted me off the ground, twirling me around. “I thought they’d never bring you back,” he muttered.
Phoenix Burn (From the Ashes Trilogy Book 1) Page 17
