15. Ash
Ash
The Stormcrest Alpha pours himself a whiskey from the minibar.
“I think we could all use a drink,” Blade says suggestively.
When the Alpha doesn’t acknowledge him, Soren pours us three drinks. Whiskey burns down my throat and settles in my empty belly. I purged every last bit of energy.
I’m hungry.
And oddly unbothered, even though a female betrayed and humiliated me by choosing a human man over me. Since I’m a believer in the way the Moon guides our lives, fixing things we break and presenting them to us whether we like it or not, I accept my fate.
Perhaps there’s a reason for the way it played out with Maren. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to reassess how I feel about her sister. I wonder if I could take advantage of this situation, treat it as a way to gain what I really want. Which is Runa Stormcrest.
Blade steps into my line of sight. “Moon to wolf? Are you with us?”
I finish my whiskey and place the glass on the side table. “No, my thoughts were elsewhere.”
“Where have you been?” the Stormcrest Alpha asks.
His demanding tone rubs me the wrong way, but I indulge him. “I visited the caves.”
“You were gone for a long time,” he says.
“I purged.”
The Alpha raises a skeptical eyebrow. “For that long?”
I don’t know what else he thinks I was doing.
It’s not like his territory is scenic. The earth is frozen and covered by snow.
Gray skies, thunderstorms, and otherwise unpleasant living conditions aren’t exactly calling my inner wolf to an adventure in the greater outdoors.
At home, my keep overlooks the forested mountains on one side and the sunny beach on the other.
Soren takes a seat. “We purge when the meds don’t work. Did Sven’s meds not work?”
“They’re adequate. I had to purge because the meds alone can’t contain my element.”
“Is this something new, or is this how you’ve always been?” the Alpha asks.
They’re probing me to see if the fire is unstable.
“I know where you’re going with this, and I would like to remind you that my element chose me when I was a toddler, and neither you nor Soren, nor Blade, for that matter, received your elements until later in life.
I’m fine. This isn’t the first time the fire needed a purge, nor will it be the last.”
The Alpha scoffs. “Maybe you need a different Regulator. Sven’s experience with a water element may not be the best choice for fire, seeing as how fire can’t burn within water.”
That last bit wasn’t necessary. “Your Regulator is the best, isn’t he?” I’m within my rights to play this card the Moon gave me any damn way I see fit. Maren and her Regulator are coming home with me. For several reasons, but mainly because I get the feeling Runa wouldn’t leave Maren behind.
Once her father, and probably her brother too, figures out that a human is depositing seed in the womb of a Stormcrest princess who’s been bred from some of the finest werewolf bloodlines, they’ll kill him and imprison her.
In fact, taking the couple with me is the only way I foresee Runa agreeing to come with us.
The problem is, I don’t have a lot of time to mend fences with her before the storm. If she refuses to travel with me to Fireborn territory, I’ll have to kidnap her.
Fuck. Just thinking about snatching her from under their noses makes me hard. They smell my arousal.
Blade wiggles his nose.
I smirk. Who would’ve thought I would end up getting rejected by the elder of the two Stormcrest sisters? That practically hands me the sister I want without me having to break the treaty or kill anyone who stands in the way. Maybe my luck is turning.
Blade shakes his head. “Do you mind?”
My mating scent. I can’t help it. Thinking about Runa makes me want to chase her through the forest and fuck her in the dirt until we’re both exhausted and sated. She’s that kind of girl. She would match my feral energy. I just know it. Thank the Moon. “I blame the fire moon,” I explain.
The Alpha pours another glass of whiskey for himself. “Speaking of the fire moon, Maren would prefer to nest in her home rather than in some roadside bed-and-breakfast. I hope you planned for her comfort.”
I chuckle. He and I agreed to a deal, and the Stormcrest pack must honor it. What better way to forgive Stormcrest’s trespasses and reinforce the treaty than to take their youngest omega for my bride?