Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (66 page)

Toran was going to get his head ripped off if Mum got a hold of him.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“After meeting with the Lightfoots
on her birthday
, he left
without uttering a single word to me. I am sure he was afraid that I would stab him
,
again. I will admit, the idea
is
getting more and more acceptable by the moment.”

I was in complete agreement with her.

“Why were they trying to kill her?” I asked the obvious.
“Never had I sensed such hatred coming from a creature…it was more than the actions of her brother, was it not?”

Mum shook her head. “Honestly, Son? I do not know. Your father is the king of keeping secrets, obviously, so I cannot even begin to speculate as to why they were after your young companion. However, my gut tells me that they are the same bastards
who
killed her mother
and father
.”

I knew I was going to regret asking, but I needed to know.

“What happened?”

Mum
sighed
and looked at Jay Dee. “From what I was able to find out, a sect of werewolf purists called the
Aslak
had been targeting the
Varulv
and other species of wer
ewolves whom possess
unique abilities. However, the Varulv were targeted for a different reason, one that I
am
not privy
to, but I promise you, I will find out.
Until then, I suggest that you keep this between
you and I,
and act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. It would not be helpful if the young girl was worrying for no reason. Without having all of the details, it could prove to cause more of a hindrance than anything else.
”

I nodded my agreement.

At that moment, I was regretting not having stood by Toran’s side for all those years whil
e he dealt with werewolf issues. If I had,
I
would have been properly
prepared for them in order to protect the woman I had waited my entire life to love.

“
That is an agreeable suggestion.
Thank you, Mum
.”

She smiled and looked up at me. “
It is the least I could do, you are, after all, my favorite.”

“With good reason to be,” I agreed.

She chuckled.
“I have never seen you happier, my precious one. There truly is nothing that I would not do to see you happy. It warms my heart
to see you smiling…not at the moment, but since welcoming that beautiful young woman into your heart, you have been the man that I always knew you could be but was too
scared to share with the world. You have my most heartfelt blessing,” she whispered before disappearing in a wisping of smoke.

Not entirely sure what that meant at the moment, I closed my eyes and struggled to
organize my thoughts
. I needed a clear head in order to process everything that’s happened and why
, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I needed more details.

After two hours, I had nothing figured out and more questions than answered, so
I fished my mobile
from my pant pocket and dialed.

“Young Master Ashton, this is a surprise,” Rayland greeted after two rings.

“Master Rayland,” I said. “I need your guidance.”

“What has transpired?” he whispered, in the background I could hear the opening and closing of doors as he hurried through the estate to
his quarterage in the basement
so he could have privacy.

“Werewolf issue
,” I admitted and looked at Jay Dee.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked with a snort. “Young Master Ashton has never cared
for
werewolf issues before, despite his coven sharing an allegiance with them for centuries, and now you call at such a late hour to ask
of werewolves?”

I sighed. “My apologies, Rayland. An exchanging
of
pleasantries would have been appropriate, however, I have not the time to exchange such-”

“Stop,” he interrupted. “I am assuming you are asking me because Master Toran is unavailable.”

“To say the least,” I mumbled. “Rayland, you know nearly as much about werewolves as Toran since you were married to one. But at the moment, Toran is keeping things from me, from Mum, which could hurt the only person I have ever truly loved.”

“Love?” he whispered. “Oh my, did you fall for a werewolf?” he asked in disbelief.

I sighed. “Yes, I have been marked.”

He gasped.

“You must tell me everything,” he whispered
with the unmistakable sound of a smile in his voice
.

I chuckled. “That was what I was going to request of you,” I admitted.

Rayland was like an uncle and advisor to me. He was one of the few in our coven who could completely
understand
Toran and his dedication to werewolves, because he, himself, was married to a werewolf centuries before the treaty was signed. It cost his bride her life at the hands of the vampires, and he was next to be executed, but Toran was quicker and broke him out of the bastille before he was basked in sunlight.

“Have you heard of the Aslak and Varulv?” I reluctantly asked.

There was silence on the other line; that was never a good sign.

“Tanis,” Rayland whispered—it had
been centuries since he
simply
called me
Tanis—“did you fall in love with the last Shadow Wolf, the crowned queen of the Varulv
,
and now you have a sect of werewolf purist after you because they are in fear of the two of you creating a new species of immortal?”

My eyes widened.
“
I beg your pardon
?” I stammered.

“Tact has never been my strong point,”
he admitted.

“You do not say,” I whispered, struggling to find my voice and to swallow the lump in my throat.

“
Tanis, t
here was a foretelling by a Seer that spoke of a Shadow Wolf marking a vampire who was more human than most
,
and through their union, a new
species
of immortal would enter the world. The Aslak, as you may or may not know, are a purist sect of werewolves who have spent countless centuries trying to purge the werewolf world of those with
unique abilities,
much
like the
Varulv
. When the foretelling was whispered upon the wind, the Aslak went to arms in order to prevent a blending of the species, something which
was
well overdue.
”

I shook my head. “That…me Duckie is not the queen of the Varulv, she is simply an eighteen year old girl with exceptional taste in older men.”

Rayland chuckled. “
Modest,” he commented and I made a face. “Look on the inside of her left wrist.”

Carefully, so not to disturb her, I pulled Jay Dee’s hand fr
om under her chin and rolled
it
over
into the light
.

“There
is
nothing there,” I said with a sigh of relief.

“When did she turn eighteen?” Rayland asked. “
Correction
, when did you consummate your union?”

That was not a conversation I wanted to have with him, but I knew that it was important otherwise he wouldn’t have asked.

“On her eighteenth birthday,” I mumbled.
“
A few weeks ago
.”

“Ah, yes. Give it time,” he said.

“Give what time?” I reluctantly asked.

“For the crown to
present itself
,” he said
as if it was obvious
. “I am assuming you were attacked by the Aslak and that is why Toran is suddenly missing.”

Bloody Hell. Talking to Rayland is as hard and confusing as talking to Jarvis when he’s all to pot. The broken
Ouija board Duckie compared
her infantile brother
to fits Rayland as well.

“I do not know,
” I admitted. “Though
it would coincide
with
the attack on her birthday to Toran’s disappearance.
She has been having vivid dreams
as well
,” I said, still reeling over what Jay Dee had told me as she dozed in and out of consciousness.

“Dreams or memories?” he countered.

I sighed. “Memories,” I admitted
; it was only a working hypothesis without proof
, but it was all I had at that point
. “Toran was in them, though
Miss Jay Dee
doesn’t realize that they are memories and not simply vivid dreams.
”

Rayland hissed out a breath. “Tanis, it will not end well when she realizes that they memories. Keeping the truth from her will only invoke her wrath.”

I had already been on the end of such wrath and I never wanted to be there again, but at the same time, I was terrified of what would happen if I told her
everything we were assuming
without having proof to support
it. If
we
were wrong
,
and the situation wasn’t what I had told her
it was
, and needlessly terrified her, that cou
ld cause many problems. But if
we were
right and she
didn’t
fully realize how bad the situation
truly was
, and she
was
hurt or worst, killed, I could never live with myself.

“What do I do?” I asked, ignoring the stinging in my eyes.

“Allow me to look into this more and see if there is something we can perhaps do in order to protect her. I am assuming Sabirella is in the know.”

“Of course.”

“
I suppose she is grateful that it was you and not the other one.
One i
s
more than
enough of that mouthy pikey, another would be one too many
in
the world.”

“Huh?
What does Declan have to do with this?
”
I asked.

“
It is not of concern
, obviously
.
I will be in touch,” Rayland said. “Keep her close because you, Nephew, hold the last hope for her people within your heart.”

I swallowed hard when the line went dead. “No pressure,” I mumbled, tossing the phone on the table.

“
You know this isn’t due for an oil change fo
r another five
-
thousand miles
, right?
D
id you miss me?” Jay Dee
teased
and closed
the hood of my
car
.

“I like to watch me woman work,” I
offered with a
shrug
, but we both knew I was lying.

“Damn liar,” she
mumbled as she washed
up in the sink.
“You hate the fact that I work, and that I refuse your money, and that I’m a dirty
girl...
in the literal sense
,
not the sexual sense.
Doesn’t life get boring when all you do is
throw
money at problems and hope they go away?
”
she asked, looking genuinely curious.

Sad
ly, all the money in the world w
ouldn’t save her from what was coming.

After talking to Rayland, I debated for days over telling Jay Dee the truth or not. Every time I got lost in my head while I struggled to weigh the pros and cons,
she would ask what was troubling me, and I nearly told her
every time
. But the love and concern in her large, onyx eyes prompted me to lie. I couldn’t fathom seeing those eyes flooded with fear and
possible
needless concern
. Jay Dee
wa
sn’t daft by any means, and she
knew
that something
was
going on, especially since her parents requested that she stay with the vampires for a few days until they could resolve the issue regarding the missing Spottedhorses.