Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
“This is a bad idea,” I say just to make sure someone says it. Aster sits next to me in the passenger seat of my car, her mouth set in a stubborn line. It’s late afternoon, and we’ve driven to the Berkshires.
“You're sure about this?”
“Yes,” she says, but shakes her head. Her body is contradicting her words, a sure sign she isn’t sure, but she opens the door and gets out. I follow quickly, feeling the need to protect her.
We’re parked right on the edge of Blackthroat land. We’re not sneaking in. No, we’re going to walk right in and wait for their guards to sound the alert and capture us.
It won’t take long.
I’ve already sent an email to Brick saying that I’m practically on his front doorstep.
“You wanted me to present myself by the end of the week? Well, here I am.” I may have sounded a bit more cocky than I needed to, but my wolf required a show of strength.
Brick might be the alpha of the biggest and most successful pack in the States, but I’m an alpha, too, and I have a mate to protect.
Beside me, Aster shivers. All her life she’s been told the Blackthroats are evil, and now, here she is, about to walk on their land and claim sanctuary.
It’s like handing your enemy an atomic bomb and asking him not to use it on your pack. Except you’re the bomb.
I can’t imagine what this is like for her. I want to toss her over my shoulder, bundle her back in the car, and drive until New York is a distant memory. Fuck these packs and their twisted hierarchies. Fuck destiny. I just want to be with her.
Maybe when this is all over, and I’ve gotten my mother and half-sister out.
“It’s all right. I won’t let them hurt you.” I wait for her to sign ok and take her hand, lending her my warmth and strength. After a moment, we both start walking. We leave the car hidden in the woods and enter the forest, tromping silently over the leaves.
The air seems to shimmer when we step on pack lands. I can smell the sentry markings. At one point, I think I see a furry head disappearing into a grove of mountain laurel, but the markings around the boundary are too strong for me to catch the wolf’s scent.
Maybe I was imagining it.
At the foot of a towering pine, a cluster of purple and yellow crocuses are in bloom. Aster stops a moment to take in the sight. I take it as a good sign.
The next moment, we’re surrounded by wolves.
They were so fucking fast, I never even scented them. Aster must not have heard them either.
There’s at least five of them, four in plain sight and one a dark shadow in the trees.
I wonder how long they’ve been watching us.
I start to raise my hands in a show of surrender, and the wolf closest to me bares long white fangs.
Sully steps out of the shadows. Noah, he signs. “We’ve been expecting you. But who is this?”
“I’m Aster Adalwulf. The Adalwulf Seeress. I claim sanctuary.”
Instantly, the rest of the wolves bristle. A hand movement from Sully I don’t catch, and behind him, a wolf I didn’t even notice before dashes off, probably to send a message.
Shit, we’re in it now.
They march us through the woods on foot. Sully leads the way, and his enforcers close ranks around us but make sure they don’t get too close. I keep my arm around Aster. She’s a bit glassy-eyed, and her steps are unsteady. Maybe she’s fighting a vision.
This whole thing sucks. I like Sully. And I have no doubt he’d slit both my throat and Aster’s if we make a wrong move. Any trust the Blackthroats had in me is gone. If I’m lucky, they won’t think I’m a traitor. I’m counting on them to be smart enough to hear us out.
Finally, the Blackthroat Mansion appears. It’s one of those Gilded Age mansions with multiple wings and a large circular driveway in front of the house. We leave the forest just as a helicopter is setting down on a helipad on the manicured lawn some distance from the house.
Two figures exit the helicopter. One is tall and broad-shouldered, hovering over the smaller figure. Brick and Madi. They’re quickly surrounded by the phalanx of enforcers waiting to escort them from the helipad to the house, but a minute later, Brick comes striding straight towards me.
I don’t need to catch his scent to see he’s spitting mad. What have you done? he signs with clumsy but forceful fingers. This time he remembers to raise his brows to ask the question. My nose twitches at the searing scent of his rage. His eyes glow amber.
I put my arm around Aster.
“This is the Adalwulf Seeress,” I say, hopefully loud enough that every wolf can hear. “She's claiming sanctuary.”
Brick looks like he’s about to blow steam from his nostrils like a dragon.
But then his head jerks to the right, as if someone’s called for him.
He half-turns, so I can only catch half of what he’s saying, but the first word is “Madi.” His hands fly out to signal her to stop. He doesn’t want her to get close.
Madi marches right up the hill to stand beside Brick, ignoring the guards crowding her.
What’s going on? she signs, looking at me. I bet Brick didn’t tell her anything about the situation. He knows Madi and I are friends.
I was hoping she’d be here, to get Brick to listen and smooth the way. For someone new to pack politics, she’s great at diplomacy and dealing with wolves.
We’re here because you’re in danger, I sign back. My statement is like a bomb threat, sending all the wolves around us into high alert. The guards around us close in.
Brick steps in front of Madi, his mouth open wide like he’s shouting. “Are you threatening my mate?”
Beside me, Aster winces but she raises her hands. No, she signs and puts a hand out like she's going to protect me. My wolf points out that she’s barely one hundred and fifteen pounds soaking wet, but she's trying to protect me. My mate is fearless.
The wolves around us are restless, ready for violence.
We’re here to help you, I appeal to Madi.
Someone's infiltrated your ranks. Someone close to your grandmother. She plans to poison you. My friend’s face goes pale, and her shoulders curl inward, her right hand going to her belly.
She lets Brick maneuver her back a step, so he’s between us and his fragile human mate. He’s snarling something I can’t catch.
He’s too upset to listen, and now Madi is in shock.
At that moment, the sun breaks from behind the clouds. A sunbeam seems to spotlight Aster, shining on her white-blonde hair and face. She looks like she’s glowing, otherworldly. I can’t take my eyes off her.
The wolves around us go still.
“She wants to kill the heir,” Aster says, her lips moving slowly and clearly enough for me to follow. Her eyes have gone white. She's in the grip of a vision, speaking straight to Madi. “Your pup is in danger.”
Aster faints into my arms.
Aster
“How are you feeling?” Noah asks, as if we’re at a party, and I just had a dizzy spell, instead of blurting out a vision in front of my pack’s sworn enemies.
I still feel a little shaky but calm. “I’m good.” I drink more of the bottled water our captors, or hosts, offered us.
After all the terrible things I heard about the Blackthroats, I’m amazed we're not in a dungeon. We're in a room with no windows, but it’s pretty luxurious. The gleaming heart pine wood built-in bookshelves lining the walls makes the room into a mini library.
Noah drums his fingers on the table. When they searched us, they took Noah’s phone.
A big wolf with dark hair opens the door. He's dominant and scary, his aura impenetrable black.
“Sully,” Noah greets him. “I can explain–”
Sully cuts him off with a sign. He doesn’t bother to speak.
“It’s not a trick or a trap. I’m sure you don’t believe us, but it’s not.”
“Save it for the alpha.”
“May I see him?”
“This is your summons.” He glances at me and jerks his head toward the door. “Both of you.”
Noah helps me up from the chair, then puts a hand protectively on my lower back as he ushers me out. My heart pounds in my chest, but I hold my head up high, trying to pull on the mantle of respected Seeress rather than she-wolf caught on enemy pack land.
Sully escorts us to an office where Brick sits behind a giant wooden desk. Madi is on his lap. She tries to get up when we come in, but he tugs her back down, stroking her thigh with his hand.
He’s in protective mate mode. His female is pregnant–of course, any threat to her would turn him ferocious.
The walls are lined with the male wolves from the photo Noah showed me. Brick’s inner circle. They are all standing at attention, ready to attack. I can barely take in their auras–there’s too much power in this room all at once. It’s hard to breathe.
I force myself to keep my shoulders back and stand up straight, but the pressure comes from all sides.
But I am the Seeress. I was trained to stand in the presence of Alphas and guide them. My pack might have tried to crush me, control me, but I’m still here, standing on my own two feet. And I’d rather stand strong and be slain by the Blackthroats, my pack’s sworn enemy, than cower before them.
In the room full of intense Alpha energy, Madi’s aura is sweet and light, but grounding. Like a good cup of cinnamon tea after a long walk through a storm. It helps to remember Noah considers her a friend.
Madi signs something to Noah. I catch what I think is a thank you–an open hand from the chin.
Noah nods gravely. He’s also in protective mate mode, keeping me tucked against his side, on edge as he faces off with the most powerful wolf in the state.
But then again, according to the Blood Heir Alpha Rites, Noah is also a powerful male. Perhaps powerful enough to take on Brick, not that I want to see that happen.
Madi points at me and spells O-K with her eyebrows raised.
Noah’s fingers fly too fast for me to decipher what he’s saying, but my intuition tells me he’s explaining the fits I get when I have powerful visions.
“I wasn’t honest with you, sir,” Noah begins.