by Tasha Black
Ainsley watched in wonder as her mother lifted her hand. She caressed Ainsley’s cheek with such gentleness Ainsley could barely feel it.
She forgot her pain.
Shaking, Ainsley rose to her feet.
Her parents faded away.
The world came back into focus.
Clive was turning to her.
“Jesus Christ, you don’t even have the sense to know when you’re beaten! You should have stayed down. You know you can’t win. You’re weak.”
He melted into his golden wolf form and charged.
“No!” Ainsley heard herself say.
She could feel her skin begin to glow with electricity.
“I am. Ainsley. Fucking. Connor!” she screamed.
Blue light blasted out of her fingertips.
The golden wolf flew backward and shifted into a human again.
Clive lay on the ground, stunned for a moment. Then he tried to get up. His legs went out from under him and he fell back.
“You bitch!” he roared. “You can’t beat me like this! You cheated! You didn’t fight fair!”
“Did you fight fair when you killed Brian Swinton?” Ainsley asked calmly, and blasted him with another dose of blue light.
“How about when you ran my parents off the road? Or when you lit the car on fire to finish them off? Was that fighting fair?” She hit him again.
The crowd buzzed at the revelation. Ainsley could feel the green pinpoints of support bolstering her up.
Clive reeled, his mouth open. Then he rallied.
“I did what I had to do to keep this pack strong, to keep it pure. Your parents were ignoring the old ways. And your whore mother was wrong to ever try to bring magic into the pack. You’re just like her. No one would have followed them into their brave new world bullshit, and no one is going to follow you. Especially now that they know what you really are.”
He looked back at the crowd for support. No one spoke.
Justin let go of Erik and moved to Clive.
Erik broke loose from Will and ran for Ainsley immediately. His face was a mask of relief.
In spite of the dirt and the dust and the sweat in his too long hair, Ainsley’s heart skipped a beat.
She held up her hand to stop him. The confrontation was not over yet.
She turned to Clive. Justin had helped him to his feet.
“Clive Warren, as the alpha of the wolves of Tarker’s Mills, I revoke your membership to the pack. You are banished. Forever. If any member of this pack sees you on our lands after the next sunrise, you will be torn to pieces.”
There was silence.
Finally, Clive lowered his head. He turned and walked to his truck with Justin trailing behind.
Someone had thoughtfully placed his clothes on the hood of the truck. He began to dress.
Ainsley slowly lowered the hand that was holding Erik back.
Erik ran to her, swept her in his arms and spun her around. By the time he had set her down, other wolves had joined them.
Carol Lotus patted Ainsley’s arm with a smile that said she was holding back tears.
“Well done, Ainsley,” Mr. MacGregor said.
Will stood miserably behind the rest of the group. He was obviously sorry he had been on the wrong side of the fight.
Ainsley nodded at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know about your parents. I would never…”
She tilted her chin up to acknowledge his apology.
Cressida bounded up, still in wolf form, and head butted Ainsley so hard in the chest that she would have been knocked over if Erik hadn’t grabbed her.
From near and far, warm green rays of submission washed over Ainsley. She felt peace like she had never known as the joyous buzz of her pack enveloped her.
Their wait was over. The wolves of Tarker’s Mills had an undisputed alpha once again.
CHAPTER 14
C live could barely walk, but his wolf was still snarling and snapping inside him.
It just wasn’t fair.
Clive was the biggest and the strongest, plus everyone said he was a natural leader. He had sacrificed everything to stay in this town.
That bitch Ainsley Connor had run off to the city to get rich. And she had only come home to sell her parents’ fancy house and leave again.
She wasn’t even a real wolf. She was half witch.
No, based on her behavior today, she was all witch.
Now she was the alpha and he was an outcast.
His big body felt broken. Clive eased himself into the driver’s seat of his truck and grabbed his gun belt off the passenger side seat to put it on, like always, when he remembered the old Smith & Wesson.
He’d worn it to honor his dad. Clive knew he would have been proud to see his son become the alpha.
Now that was all ruined, but there was still one thing he could do to to even the score. Clive flipped open the cylinder. The silver bullet glinted in the car’s dome light.
His heart leapt with joy as he imagined how they would all howl when he shot that bitch dead.
He exited the car, squared his stance and aimed the revolver carefully at Ainsley’s forehead. No way he would miss at this range.
Clive didn’t normally let a lot of thinking get in the way of taking action. But something stopped him from pulling the trigger.
It wasn’t fair. She would be dead and it would be over for her. He would still be outcast from his pack forever.
With a little snort of glee, he adjusted his aim.
He’d taken her parents. Now he would take her boyfriend.
Let her live with that.
Clive aimed for Erik’s heart. He didn’t have to be completely accurate – if he got the Erik in the chest, the silver would do the rest. But he was careful anyway.
He pulled back the hammer and fired.
CHAPTER 15
A insley wanted to collapse in Erik’s arms. The initial burst of energy from her victory was dissipating. Now she was exhausted, broken, hungry, and longing for her mate’s soothing touch.
But she needed to be strong in front of her pack.
And they were certainly paying attention to her.
Everyone was talking at once.
Will couldn’t seem to hold back the flood of regret about her parents and he repeated himself endlessly, assuring her that he hadn’t known.
MacGregor was trying to tell her that he would let the Federation know that she was firmly in charge now and that the pack leadership was secured.
Sadie Epstein-Walker, who was almost unrecognizable without her floppy garden hat, was holding a small, yipping dog and asking Ainsley something very important about rhododendrons.
Ainsley was about to ask MacGregor if she ought to make that phone call to the Federation herself when her wolf perked up its ears at an ominous click from just outside the site.
Ainsley snapped her head around to see Clive standing by his car with a weapon drawn.
Pointed at Erik.
No!
Ainsley gave Erik a terrific shove and somehow managed to get him out of the way as the gunshot rang out.
The bullet entered her left shoulder. Searing pain followed it, unlike anything she had suffered during the brutal fight. Her arm was on fire, burning from the inside out.
Erik had told her that shifting would help her heal. She tried desperately, but the bullet held her like an anchor, trapping her in her frail, human form.
A tidal wave of nausea swept over her.
She dropped to one knee and locked eyes with Clive.
His blue eyes crackled with fury and he dropped his head back and roared. The sound reverberated the chain link fence around the site.
His howl of triumph was cut short by three loud cracks.
Blood blossomed on the front of Clive’s shirt. He fell to the ground, a look of surprise frozen on his face.
Grace Kwan-Cortez stood behind him, feet wide, gripping her gun in both hands.
&
nbsp; For a moment, Grace’s small form was frozen in place.
Then she holstered her weapon and ran for Ainsley.
Ainsley smiled dreamily at her friend. Grace was always so brave.
The world faded away before Grace could reach her.
CHAPTER 16
Erik fell to his knees in the dirt.
Ainsley was bleeding out quickly - her skin had already gone a deathly pale.
No, no, no…
He was sure there was some sort of first aid he should remember but his brain wasn’t cooperating.
Instead, he found himself brushing the hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ears. As if that would help her.
A commotion roused him and he saw Grace Kwan-Cortez slamming her small body through the crowd and skidding to the ground next to Ainsley.
“She’s not healing.” Grace’s clear voice cut through the din of the gathered crowd. “ It must be silver. Give me your knife.”
He stared at her in confusion.
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a knife, Erik Jensen! Someone give me a knife!”
In a second his mind bounced back and he grabbed the multi-tool from his pocket and handed it to her.
Immediately, she began probing inside Ainsley’s shoulder.
“What do you have here that I can use to pull this thing out?”
“Needle nose pliers. Josh!” Erik called.
One of his workers shouted back.
“I’m here! You want your tool bag?”
“Yes.”
“I found it.” Grace said, she held her finger inside Ainsley so as not to lose the bullet’s location.
Josh ran back and the crowd parted for him. He was carrying Erik’s familiar brown tool bag.
Erik grabbed it and rifled through. He handed the pliers to Grace.
“Hold her still. If she wakes up we still need to get it out,” Grace said.
Erik wasn’t sure it would be possible for Ainsley to wake up with the bullet still in her. Or wake up at all, if she lost any more blood.
No, no, no…
He suspected Grace was giving him something to do to keep him busy. He wasn’t scared of the blood, but he was grateful to have some role in helping.
He rested his hands against Ainsley’s lifeless torso, ready to hold her down hard if he had to.
Grace was already easing the pliers into the hole in Ainsley’s shoulder.
Thoughts of a life without Ainsley flashed through his mind and he tried to block them out. He could wake up without her tomorrow. Right now she was still warm under his hands. He’d better savor each heartbeat.
Grace pulled and slipped. She pulled and slipped again.
She cursed under her breath.
“Erik, push her shoulder away from her back. I need it opened up.”
Erik drew in a breath and was glad Ainsley wasn’t awake for this. Then he leaned his weight against her shoulder with one hand and her back with the other.
The wound gaped open a little and Grace tried a third time to catch the bullet in the pliers. This time he could tell she had locked onto it.
Grace pulled slowly. Her face was set in an expression of fierce concentration. Her hands began to shake.
Suddenly something gave way. The bullet slipped the rest of the way out of the wound with a wet and sinister sound.
Grace fell back on her heels, holding the clotted pliers in front of her. In them, the silver bullet was dotted in blood and bone – but the exposed bits glittered in the moonlight.
Erik ripped his shirt off and used it to apply pressure to Ainsley’s shoulder.
“When will we know if she’s going to…?”
“I don’t know,” Grace said. “It was in there too long. Some of it is bound to have gotten into her blood. And if I didn’t get the whole thing out…”
Erik felt the blood drain from his face.
“If you’re not a praying man, Erik, this might be a good time to start.”
CHAPTER 17
A insley awoke from a deep sleep.
Her body ached and she was too warm. Something important had happened. But she couldn’t think what.
She opened her eyes.
She was in Erik’s bed. Erik was wrapped around her tightly, one muscular arm across her chest, one leg thrown possessively over her hip.
She moved to slip out of his embrace and turn to him.
He clenched around her with a piteous moan.
“Erik?”
She could hear his breath let out. His limbs loosened and she turned to face him.
His molten brown eyes were filled with love and pain.
“Ainsley.”
In that one word Ainsley heard all she needed to know. He loved her. Erik loved her and she was the luckiest woman in the world.
She reached up to caress his face softly.
It reminded her of something.
Her mother.
The memory of the whole night descended on her at once. Ainsley gasped and reached for her shoulder.
“Easy,” Erik said.
She pulled her hand back.
“Want to risk a trip to the bathroom?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded gratefully.
He eased himself out of bed and lifted her in his strong arms. When they reached the bathroom he kissed the top of her head and set her down.
“I’ll give you a minute,” he told her.
Ainsley stared into the mirror. She was naked and dirty in stark contrast to the clean white bandage that curled over her shoulder. But her ribs felt completely healed. She was sure she would be feeling that for a while.
Odd if she’d only been asleep a few hours. Maybe it was a wolf thing?
Though she wanted to see what was underneath the bandage, she decided to wait for Erik’s help.
After she had enjoyed a few minutes of privacy and was stepping into a steaming bath, there was a gentle knock.
“Come in!”
She was surprised at how glad she was for him to be near. All the colors in the room seemed brighter.
Erik’s smile told her that he felt the same.
“Sorry, I guess after not knowing what was going to happen to you, I’ve got a little separation anxiety. Are you okay with me in here?”
Ainsley laughed.
“I think I have it too. Don’t go.”
He sat on the fluffy rug next to the tub.
“Do you think we can take the bandage off?” she asked.
He frowned, but nodded.
“Would you please do it?” she said.
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
She held her breath as he eased a tickly finger under the edge of the tape. He peeled it off slowly, leaving her skin prickling. First one one side, then slowly the other. Then the bottom was peeling away and the bandage was off. She felt the cool air on her skin.
“Wow,” he said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just a little scar. You’ve healed already.”
“Is that normal for a wolf?”
“Nothing about you is normal, Ainsley Connor.”
She laughed and sloshed a little water on him.
“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you everything!”
“That’s better!”
“Yes, wolves heal fast. Faster if they shift. But that’s not just a gunshot wound. It was a silver bullet.”
“Like in the tv shows?”
“Yes,” he said, wincing, “like that. That’s probably why it left a scar. Silver is very toxic to a wolf.”
“So I should have died?”
“Well, it hit your shoulder. Your friend Grace was there. She dug it out of your bone after you passed out.”
“She saved my life.”
“Yes. But the silver made it into your bloodstream. Your skin was so pale…”
Ainsley looked up at him. He was holding her hand, tracing the lines on her palm.
“Ainsley, I thought I was losing you.”
His voice was husky.
She squeezed his hand in her own.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. You were fantastic!”
She grinned.
He looked back at her with serious eyes.
“Did you know all this time about your parents? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“It’s a long story, but no, I only found out tonight.”
Erik looked confused. Then he shook his head.
“Last night, Ainsley. You’ve been asleep for over twenty-four hours.”
Oh. Wow.
“Want to know what you missed?”
She nodded.
“Once Grace got the bullet out we took you to Thad Volker’s house.”
“Isn’t he a vet?”
“Well, we couldn’t exactly take you to the emergency room. How would we explain that there was silver in your bloodstream? Thad’s our go-to in wolf medical. He’s very good.”
“Clearly,” Ainsley said, indicating herself.
Erik smiled and went on.
“MacGregor informed the Federation that we had an undisputed alpha via both kinship and blood rite. They agreed to send a liaison soon.”
“They weren’t worried that I was practically dead?”
“MacGregor may have left that part out.”
“I see.”
“There’s been no sign of Clive, though we sent trackers immediately.”
“Wait! What do you mean? I saw him take three bullets to the chest!”
“Grace’s gun wasn’t loaded with silver bullets. In the commotion trying to save you, he slipped away.”
Ainsley fought the panic that was closing in on her.
“He wouldn’t dare show his face here again, Ainsley. He’d be killed on sight.”
“Erik, he hates me so much.”
“You have a pack to protect you now.”
Erik stroked her hair.
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
He sighed.
“Why did you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Why did you push me out of the way?”
Because I love you. She couldn’t say it first. That wasn’t very alpha-like. Instead, she looked down in silence.
“You have a pack to lead. You can’t do anything so foolish again,” he said.
“I have no interest in leading this pack if you’re not in it, Erik,” she said, meeting his eye.
