| |
––––––––
I WAITED FOR KYA TO get home. I had to ask her what she thought was happening. I was hoping she would be confident about her abilities. If she was confident, I would be confident. Maybe there was a chance she could tap into her senses and find him. She was his daughter, after all, and there could be a connection. I felt the connection to my father at times. When he had been killed, I’d felt it.
I heard the door open and rushed into the living room. “You’re home!”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yes, I need to talk to you,” I said and grabbed her hand. I pulled her into the kitchen and pointed at the table.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything. I need you to explain your powers. I need to know how powerful you really are.”
She looked surprised. “I swear I have not charmed any of your guys and I have absolutely not charmed Caden.”
“No, not them.”
“I haven’t charmed anyone, Azalea. I swear. I won’t do that. I want people to like me for me. If they don’t like me, then I will accept it.”
“Kya, no. I’m talking about Decker!”
“Decker?” she asked with confusion.
“Did Mom tell you about her vision?”
“No.”
“Decker kills me. Hawk and Winter saw it. They are freaked out about it, and they weren’t going to tell me, but I got it out of Hawk today.”
“Decker kills you?” she whispered. “Is this like an old vision? Maybe they are seeing what happened in the past?”
“Hawk is certain it was in the future. They are downstairs right now talking about how to get to him. Do you have any way of knowing where he is?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“When you were away from the guys, your power over them ceased. Could that be happening with Decker?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I suppose. I honestly don’t know, Azalea. This power of mine is kind of new to me. I’ve never really tried to purposely use it like this.”
It wasn’t what I was hoping to hear. “Do you feel when someone is under your power?”
She shook her head. “No.”
I sighed, blowing out a breath. “Then Decker could very well be out there waiting to attack.”
“Possibly, but why would he? You’ve proven over and over you are not going to be defeated.”
“Because he wants revenge, and he thinks he is in the right. He is never going to stop.”
“I can try and use my powers of persuasion to convince him to stay away.”
I shook my head. “It is a temporary fix. He’s going to keep coming back.”
“Maybe he is stronger because he is the perceived alpha. He might not be the true alpha, but his pack thinks he is and therefore he gets the benefit of drawing from their strength.”
I groaned, putting my hands over my face. “It is always something. I wish one of us had the power to time travel. I would erase that man from existence.”
“Then I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
I slid my hands down my face. “Oh, yeah. Well, I want you here, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to deal with him.”
“Let me talk to Mom. Maybe she can use her telepathy to reach out to him. He might listen to her.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right. I think he is beyond listening to anyone. He’s a madman. He wants only one thing.”
“What would that be?”
“Me dead.”
She paled. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have someone hate you so much that they would want to kill you.”
I shrugged. “It sucks.”
“I’ll try to use my powers on him.”
“It’s fine. It’s probably better to just get it done and over with.”
“What does that mean? You can’t just let him kill you.”
“I’m not going to let him, but I have to face off against him. I’m never going to be rid of him if I don’t. The longer this drags on, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone involved. You, our mother, my council, the entire pack is at risk because this asshole wants me dead for something that was done fifty years ago. That kind of thing doesn’t go away overnight. It’s a blood feud, and there is only one way a blood feud ends.”
“How?”
“One of the lines must die completely.”
Her mouth fell open. “Azalea! Do you hear what you are saying? Do you realize we are from those two lines you speak of? Opposite sides, I might add.”
“I don’t mean us. Me or Decker. You are safe. I will make sure of that.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I need to go out. I’ll be back later. Let the guys know I’ll be at Nia’s.”
“Should you go out alone?” she asked.
“I’m just going to Nia’s.”
I left before she could tell me to stop. I rushed down the road to Nia’s house. As I was walking, I realized I was only putting her in danger. I couldn’t go to her. I couldn’t keep putting the people I loved the most in danger. I wasn’t an idiot. I wasn’t going to try and get myself killed by going off alone. I needed to think it through.
Instead of going to Nia’s, I walked to the park. I wanted to be alone. I wanted some time to evaluate all my options without everyone jumping in and telling me what they thought I should or shouldn’t do. How did I get to him? How did I get to the man when he always seemed to outsmart me and everyone around me? He was always two steps ahead of us.
I thought back to the last conversation we’d had in the forest. In the moments before he attacked and tried to kill me, he made it clear that was all he wanted. His initial proposal to marry him was a joke. He would marry me and get the pack to accept him. Then he would kill me. He would kill me and take over both packs.
I was never going to live in a world where he existed. Unless we could come to a compromise. I would never know what he wanted unless I asked him directly. The chances of him actually accepting an invitation to meet me in town was slim to none. The chance a third party could ever convey a message that didn’t get lost in translation was just as slim.
I needed to talk to Decker. It had to be me and him with no outside interference. The council would never go for it. If they knew what I wanted to do, they would lock me in the basement. If they tagged along and Decker picked up on their presence, he would run.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Nia asked.
I nearly screamed like a little girl. “What the hell are you doing? You scared me half to death.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Kya came to the house looking for you. She told me about the vision.”
“Where is she?”
“She went back to your house to tell the guys you were fine. We both agreed it would be better if you and I talked alone before the brutes came along to save the day and dragged you back home.”
“They are protective.”
“So what’s going through that head of yours?”
“Nothing. Everything.”
“Like? Use your words and tell me what you are thinking you are going to do.”
“I’m not sure I’m going to do anything.”
“Yes, you are. What is it?”
She knew me too well. “I want to go to him.”
“I know you aren’t talking about Decker.”
“Yes, I am.”
“You remember the last time you went to talk to him? I do. You almost died. You would have died if Kya hadn’t saved your ass.”
“Decker wants me to give up. He wants me to acquiesce. If I can give him something, he might be willing to let us live in peace.”
“Your death? That’s what he wants. You don’t have to go and ask him. He’s made it very clear.”
“But if I can talk to him, maybe we can work something out.”
“No, you can’t.”
“I need to know if he’s still under Kya’s influence. There is a chance he still is. If he is, he won’t want to kill me. It means we can keep this peace we’ve had. I might be able to help Kya boost her powers. Me and our mother. If we can keep Decker under her spell, we don’t have to worry about him.”
She slowly shook her head. “I think it’s a bad idea.”
“Nia, come on. I thought you of all people would back me up on this.”
“No. I’m sorry, but you can’t put your life in jeopardy. Too many people depend on you. Don’t you get it? You are our alpha. You are who we protect at all costs.”
“The cost of our pack members is too high. I can’t let any more of them die. I just can’t do it.”
“I get it. I don’t want anyone else to die either, but you know your pack will sacrifice themselves for you. That’s what we do. That’s the way of things.”
I sighed, disappointed she wasn’t going to support me. “I would never let you or anyone sacrifice your lives for me. If I can find my way out of this, I’m going to do it.”
“You are so stubborn.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I guess that’s why you are the alpha,” she said with a laugh. “It’s probably a good thing. If you weren’t resolute in your opinions, you would waffle at every challenge. You have to be strong, and you have to be stubborn in some ways but not all. We need you to be stubborn to make sure things get done, but we can’t let you die. We can’t let you do something that will put your life at risk.”
“I get it,” I said. “I’ll find another way. I’ll talk it over with the guys tomorrow and ask their opinions. My mom might have some insight as well. She knows him better than any of us.”
“That is a very good plan. I like that.”
I smiled and nudged her shoulder. “I’m sure you do.”
“I think the dream might just be a dream. You don’t need to worry. Your guys are seriously dedicated to keeping your little body in one piece.”
I laughed and got to my feet. “I happen to like my body in one piece as well.”
“Do you want me to walk you home?” she offered.
“No thanks. I have a feeling we are going to walk out of the park and there will be at least one of them waiting for me.”
“I hope there is,” she said. “I don’t like the thought of you walking around in the dark by yourself.”
“I’ve done it a hundred times.”
“Not when Decker was intent on killing you.”
I smiled instead of arguing. As expected, Berrion was waiting for me. He was casually leaning against a light post. “Hello,” he said.
“Hi.”
“Ready to go home?”
I looked to Nia. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, you will.”
She walked away. Berrion took my hand in his. “You don’t have to run from us,” he said.
“I wasn’t running. I wanted to talk to Nia.”
“We all know you are in danger. You know our job is to protect you. That is what we are here to do. If you can’t accept that, we have a problem.”
“It isn’t a problem,” I said. “I just wanted to spend some time with Nia. I have a lot on my mind, and I wanted to talk it out with her. I’ve told you guys before I sometimes need a little girl talk.”
“Girl talk?”
“Yes.”
“Do you talk about us?”
I looked up at him and smiled. “I do.”
“About our—”
“Not the details, but she knows. That isn’t something me or you or any of us can hide from the pack. It’s pretty obvious.”
“True. I’m not ashamed. None of us are.”
“I know.”
“You know you can talk to us about anything,” he said.
“Yes, I’m sure I can, but this thing with Decker tends to dominate our lives. You guys have one sole purpose—protect me. You can’t see beyond that. I want to be able to discuss my opinions and ideas without being shut down.”
“Your ideas are dangerous,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s because you want me safe. What about the rest of the pack?”
“They are nothing if you are dead.”
That was harsh, but true. “I get it. Let’s just go home. I want to go to bed.”
“Alone?” he asked.
I leaned up on my toes and gave him a kiss. “Yes, alone.”
We walked through the front door. Al the guys jumped up from their seats. I put up a hand to stop them from asking questions. “Goodnight,” I said and headed upstairs.
