Rubbing the heel of my hand over my chest at the familiar pang, a breathy chuckle slips past my lips. “That’s actually incredibly sweet.”
“You say that like you’re surprised. When have I ever been anything short of absolutely obsessed with you?” Getting to his feet, he stretches out his arms, stiff from sitting so long. “Quiet and awkward at times, sure, but it was only because you intimidated the shit out of me. Didn’t mean I wasn’t a fucking goner from the moment I met you, I just didn’t know what to do about it.”
“So, watching me while I sleep isn’t only a Hawthorne kink, it’s universal. Good to know.”
The faint sound of crunching gravel has all of us immediately shutting up and tensing. Ever since we were brought to live under Ash’s roof in his fancy-ass cabin, we’ve been high-strung, jumping at every little noise. We’ve had a desperately needed reprieve for the past few hours since he ‘needed to step out for a while’, giving us a little room to breathe, but it’s almost worse expecting him to return at any moment, assuming his absence was yet another test.
I seriously took the axe that used to be hanging over my neck for granted. I’d go back to that previous illusion of freedom in a heartbeat if I could. Now, there’s an invisible noose around each of our necks, tightening more with every passing day, every saccharine smile he gives us while we’re forced to play house with the psycho.
It’s been hardest on the guys; they’re used to solving their problems with murder or money, by playing political games, but never have their hands been tied to this degree and it’s building up to explosive levels of testosterone. Me? I think it’s pretty much ingrained in a woman’s DNA on how to navigate the moods of men without being taught, a sixth sense when you’re in a dangerous situation to behave in whatever manner gives you your best shot of surviving it.
The front door opens and shuts while we hold a collective breath, the soft creaking of a floorboard making my skin prickle. Each subsequent step as he walks down the hall makes it worse until by the time I’m watching the doorknob turn, there’s no hiding the sound of my racing heartbeat despite the casual demeanor I’m trying so hard to project.
Appearing in the doorway, Ash’s chestnut hair is windswept, and there are a few faint scratches on his cheek that I hone in on immediately. His healing abilities are second to none, so if they’re still visible, they were either very recent, or he was wrestling a mountain lion that carved his cheek to the bone. Regardless, it proves the one thing that can settle my anxiety better than anything else.
It really is possible to slip past his defenses.
“I’d like to apologize for my previous behavior.” Utter excitement is barely veiled in his soulless eyes, though he keeps his enthusiasm in check, leaning against the doorframe. “I never should have rushed the issue yesterday when you weren’t ready, especially so soon after you went through such an ordeal simply because you were taking the initiative to try to help. You must understand, emotions were running high and I was terrified; not the best combination for a man that’s gone so very long since he felt anything at all. But you-” he chuckles, finally content to showcase the excitement he was already failing to conceal. “You’ve always been the most exciting thing in my life. I’d forgotten what that felt like, and reacted poorly.”
“So!” Clapping his hands together, I’m not the only one that jumps, but he ignores our reaction. “I got you a gift. It took me some time to decide on something appropriate for the occasion, but I think you’ll find it was worth the wait.”
He stares at me expectantly, and I’m at a complete and utter loss of what the right thing to say is. So I focus on my connection to Cinjin, because of all of my mates, he’s the best equipped to smile in the face of terrifying situations, to project enough confidence to choke an elephant. He’s not as good at keeping his reactions on lockdown, but fantastic at spinning them to his benefit, and that’s what I really need right now after my racing heart rate will have given away my nerves.
“My gilded cagecouldreally use something to bring the room together, so color me curious.” Holding out my hands, I wait expectantly.
Pushing off from the doorframe, he grins. “Slip your shoes on and follow me.” He catches my swift glance to the guys and back, rolling his eyes. “Yes, them too. We’re afamily,Sabrina, I wouldn’t expect them to miss out on important events you’re involved in. You don’t give me nearly enough credit; have I once taken you away from them? No, because I want to give you everything, to make you happy.” He doesn’t wait for a reply, striding out to the main room to wait for us.
Catching the balled-up pair of socks Damian tosses me, I slip them on and then my tennis shoes. Without knowing what sort of situation we’re about to wind up in, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared to run at a moment’s notice. And seeing as he slipped and admitted his gift was an ‘important event’, making sure I don’t wind up as the chick that sprains her ankle on a root two minutes into her escape attempt is about the best I can do to prepare myself.
After we’re all put together, we follow Ash out of his luxury cabin and through the woods. Wilder pack land definitely got the best of the territorial divide, everything here clinging to life harder than the rest of the mountain. Yet still, it’s clear that recent years have hit hard and as we discovered yesterday, it doesn’t take much more effort to burn than anywhere else in this place.
“Just a little further,” Ash announces.
Boden’s voice drips with sarcasm. “Until we’re left in a pit where you visit on occasion, lowering bottles of lotion in a basket and threatening to turn the hose on us?”
Unperturbed, Ash chuckles, “Close, but no cigar.”
Crossing back into my fathers’ land, we carry on in silence, our imaginations running wild. Around the next bend, I pull to an abrupt stop, Reid crashing into my back and banding a hand around my waist to save me before I catch a mouthful of dirt. And honestly? I think I’d have preferred he let me fall, if only so I could buy myself a few extra seconds before having to accept the scene in front of me.
Once, I thought that tree could become a symbol; dead inside, but still standing. It’s more ironic now that I know it was the location that the demon inside of me damned an entire race. But seeing Annika standing in front of it in the middle of a heated argument with Adrian? I don’t want anything to do with it anymore.
“Now,” Ash declares with a grin, “you can all get closure,andthe power boost you need. Win-win scenario.”
As Annika storms aways, Adrian grabs her wrist before she’s made it three steps, tugging her back and hissing something in her ear too faint for the rest of us to hear. The crunching of footsteps has my head whipping to the right, my fathers appearing through the trees.
“Anni?” Leo’s voice is a pained whisper, not able to believe that the sight before him is real.
It’s usually easy for me to stay on the outside looking in, but I’m far too close to this situation to remain impartial. Every bit of pain in his voice I take on as my own, somehow feeling guilty for something I didn’t have a part in, yet bear all of the sins for. It’s been what, twenty-seven years since they’ve seen her? All of that time spent searching to no avail, and honestly, I think it reached a point they were going through the motions because it’s what they weresupposedto do. But I’m not sure they ever actually knew what they’d do if they managed to find her, and nothing can really prepare you for getting what you’ve spent a lifetime wishing for.
Eventually, it morphs into a case of chasing down a fantasy, forgetting along the way that no matter how much you want someone to love you, you can’t convince them to. If they wanted to stay, they would have. All you’re left with when it comes to a head is the stark reality that you wasted your life loving someone that would never be able to give you what you wanted or needed.
Annika looks over Sebastian, Leo, and Merrick warily, and when one takes a step in her direction, she matches it with one back, swallowing nervously.
Cutting through the tension as if it doesn’t exist, Ash strides forward, positively beaming. “Annika, it’s been far too long. Life treating you well?”
For all of my disdain, I give her credit for her balls of steel as she flicks her gaze over his face with pure and utter loathing, clinging to the fight he presented as a way to avoid the confrontation with the men she abandoned for as long as possible. “Cut the bullshit. You haven’t let me get a day’s rest since you killed my husband, so save us all the effort and get to the damn point already. What do you want, Wilder?” With a condescending smirk, she asks, “Your puppets not dancing the way you want for your amusement these days? Such a pity.”
If I hadn't spent the last three days hyperaware of the guy’s every move, I might have missed the nearly imperceptible tic next to Ash’s eyebrow. “Maybe I missed your sparkling personality,Anni,” he teases. “If there was ever someone that could break up the monotony of this place, it was you.”
