AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The wolves ducked back into the trees as his mate approached us, slow but confident in his stride. When the moon finally hit him, I was caught off guard by how beautiful he was; he had long, dark hair tied back in a braid and even darker eyes, which met mine with a wink.
It was disarming, and for a second, I went speechless.
“They’re going to shift and join us,” the man explained. “We didn’t bring the entire pack, just enough.”
Enough to fight their way back out if they’d been attacked in the trees. In a twisted way, it made sense—no reason to risk your entire pack on a potential suicide mission.
A voice barked out from the treeline. “Ashe!”
Our mystery speaker stopped a few feet from us with a huff and roll of his eyes.
“Then hurry up!” he responded, hands on his hips as we waited for the rest of whoever had come with him to join us. The name “Ashe” suited him, I thought—he was tanned and dark, with even the thick lashes circling his eyes giving the impression of smoke.
It didn’t take long. When I saw Elias Olskin stalking down from the trees toward us, body as thick and massive as I remembered, I couldn’t help the bolt of fear that shot through me.
Sariel was suddenly right beside me, hand curling around mine and yanking me close.
“We’re looking for Tyler Bastille,” Elias announced, his booming voice reaching us despite the distance. “One of mine tracked his location to these woods.”
“Why do you need him?” Auren asked, sounding as unbothered as usual.
I wondered if he was serious about feeling the mate bond. Everyone was insistent that Sariel and I were unusual, but he didn’t appear to be jumping out of his skin to get to Ashe. Likewise, the lanky shifter also didn’t seem interested in him—in fact, they hadn't even met eyes yet, as far as I could tell.
“I’m building a case against Azazel to have him removed from his Council seat,” Elias answered.
Sariel scoffed, but didn’t interrupt the exchange.
“Well, Tyler Bastille is useless, if you were hoping to question his involvement with that man,” Auren explained. “He’s gone feral.”
Elias let out a rumble as Ashe pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Thatisunfortunate,” the latter grumbled, long fingers carding through his messy hair. He winced when they tangled in the loose braid he’d had it tied in, like he wasn’t accustomed to wearing it back, and silently undid the hairstyle and stared off into the distance. He then turned on his heel and headed back to the woods without another word.
Auren’s body visibly leaned after him for a moment. I couldn’t help but smile secretly.
If it really was another mate bond, I couldn’t think of someone who needed that connection more. Auren was an island on a good day—with us, but also separate, somehow. Someone finally being able to connect with him on a deeper level and build a bond would be a blessing for the youngest Ambrose.
“Do you have a witch on hand who could pull his memories?” Elias asked after an uncomfortable pause.
There was another such pause after that, as if neither man was capable of holding a normal conversation. I would have laughed if they weren't both so clearly trying to be perceived as composed and in control.
“We do, but you know as well as I do that they’d just say we tampered with them,” Auren answered easily.
Seeing the Resistance leader having a casual conversation with a member of the Upper Council was surreal. They acted like it was no big deal, obviously willing to ignore their differences in the interest of removing Azazel from power. They’d been mortal enemies for years, but a plot to get that man out of their way was enough to put them on the same team for now.
“Not ifIdid it,” a new voice chimed in, and then the remainder of Elias’s posse followed after him, Ashe included.
Luckily, the rest of our circle had seemingly heard the commotion and joined up as well, leaving the two groups pretty even in terms of warm bodies if things got messy. It didn’t seem to be heading that way, thankfully.
I furrowed my brow at Neo as he slid in on my left, ignoring Sariel’s grumbling when he leaned in and whispered, “That’s Jack Loris.”
He chuckled, giving me a pointed look. After a moment of thought, I nearly gasped when it all clicked together.
Jack turned at the sound of his name, giving Neo a tight smile. His blond hair was curling at his ears, making him look boyish, but those eyes were old—almostsharp, with how they cut through us dismissively before returning to Auren.
I started, “As in, the man from the rumors—”
Neo shushed me and nodded, smirking when I gave him my best scandalized look.
