赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“I’m glad you’re finally going home,” Ashleigh smiled at Axel as he finished packing away the items Corrine had brought to his room.

“Me too,” he replied, “it should have happened days ago.”

Axel huffed.

“Oh, don’t get annoyed with mom,” Ashleigh said, “she wanted to make sure you were ok. She was pretty scared through this.”

“I get it,” Axel sighed.

Ashleigh could see that he had already been guilt-tripped by their mother.

“She wasn’t the only one,” Ashleigh smiled at him.

Axel stopped. He turned just slightly towards her and nodded.

“I know,” he said quietly. “I heard you threatened to give Bell my Snickers.”

Ashleigh laughed.

“I was trying to get a reaction out of you.”

“Mmhmm…” Axel eyed her suspiciously.

“I also threatened to tell her about your crush on her,” Ashleigh grinned.

Axel rolled his eyes and returned to packing.

“I don’t have a crush on her. I’ve told you that already.”

“Right…” Ashleigh smiled.

“I really don’t, Ash,” he laughed. “I just…want to protect her.”

Ashleigh smiled and walked over to him, placing her arm across his shoulders._.

“You’re such a good guy, Axel,” she smiled at him.

He looked up and nodded knowingly.

“With such a big crush!”

“Go away!” he said as he playfully pushed her off him.

Ashleigh laughed again and then moved to the other side of the bed. Grabbing a book from the table and handing it to him.

“Hey Axel,” she said, “can I ask you something?”

“Does it involve Bell and romantic feelings?” he sighed dramatically.

“No,” she smiled, grabbing a shirt from the bed and beginning to fold it. “It’s about our parents.”

“Sure,” he replied, adjusting the book in his bag.

Ashleigh fiddled with the shirt.

“Do you know anything about dad taking an oath?”

Axel looked up at Ashleigh with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m sure the first word he ever said was ‘duty’, but ‘oath’ is a close second.”

Axel took the shirt from her and folded it.

“Right,” she smiled, “but I mean, do you know of any that he specifically swore? Like one that might influence our family?”

Axel looked up at her, honestly considering what she asked this time.

“What exactly are you asking, Ashleigh?”

She bit her lip apprehensively.

“Ashleigh?” he asked.

She sighed and then told him about the argument she had heard between their parents the night Caleb left.

When she was done, Axel was quiet. He grabbed the last shirt and shoved it in the bag before replying.

“You shouldn’t be listening in on conversations you’re not a part of.”

“Well, I didn’t mean to, but they were shouting in the public space….” Ashleigh defended herself.

Axel picked up the bag to move past her.

“It’s just that mom told me that dad has some reasons he doesn’t want Caleb and me together,” she said quickly as he passed her. “She wouldn’t tell me what they were. I thought you might know.”

Axel stopped walking. He turned and looked at her carefully.

“Ashleigh…” he began, “are you planning to pursue a relationship with Alpha Caleb?”

“I thought you knew already,” Ashleigh replied.

“You can’t!” he shouted.

“Why not?” Ashleigh asked.

She knew he had been against Caleb before, but she had assumed it was because of his friendship with Granger.

“You just can’t,” he huffed before turning to leave the room.

Ashleigh felt irritated. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Tell me why I can’t be with the person that the Goddess herself has picked for me to be with.”

“I thought you said that was Granger…” Axel said.

Ashleigh took a step back. She felt hurt at his words, it was cruel and very unlike him.

“No, that’s not going to work,” she said angrily. “You’re trying to piss me off, so I will let this go.”

Axel sighed.

“Please, Ashleigh, just let it go.”

“No!” she shouted.

“I don’t understand why you are in a rush to start a relationship after what happened with Granger,” he said.

He refused to look at her. She moved around him, trying to make him look at her, but he avoided her eyes.

“What does that mean, Axel?”

He finally turned back to her.

“We knew Granger for years. He was one of ours,” Axel said. “But look how he turned out.”

He clenched his jaw.

“I didn’t protect you from him. I didn’t even know I needed to… what mom said…” Axel growled. “I didn’t pay enough attention, I forgot for a moment…”

“Axel…”

Ashleigh reached out to him, but he pulled away.

“Just because the Goddess chose him doesn’t mean he’s any good,” he said firmly.

Ashleigh fought back the feelings of guilt and shame associated with Granger.

“Axel, Caleb isn’t Granger,” she began.

“No, he’s someone we don’t know,” he replied. “Someone who hates our father.”

“It’s not that simple,” Ashleigh said.

“It is,” Axel said. “Our father has his reasons, for everything he’s done.”

Ashleigh’s brow crumpled at his words.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What has he done?”

Axel looked past her.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, “what matters is that I will always protect you, just like I promised.”

Ashleigh looked carefully at him; he wasn’t looking at her. She turned behind her, but she saw nothing. When she looked back at Axel, he sniffled and wiped away a tear.

“Axel…”

He looked at her now, holding her gaze.

“You don’t need to understand everything, Ashleigh,” he said, “sometimes it’s better if you don’t.”

Axel moved past her, ignoring her attempts to get his attention again. She was left alone in his room with more questions than she had come in with.

***

When Wyatt returned from meeting with the other Alphas, almost three weeks after the attack, the Winter pack was finally ready to bid farewell to those they had lost.

They had waited for the severely injured to heal enough to be able to leave the hospital. The pyre for the fifty-seven wolves who died was held at the full moon. It was a night filled with grief and mourning.

The morning after, Wyatt called his family to discuss what the Alphas had talked about.

No other packs had reported any sighting of creatures, fae or otherwise. And with the bodies having dissolved, if Caleb had not witnessed the attacks and offered himself as a witness, Spring and Autumn might not have believed the reports.

There were heated debates on what, if anything, should be done.

The decision was made that the only thing they could do was what they had always done. Each pack would monitor its own borders and report on any common threat.

Caleb had tried to argue that the rogue wolves were still an unaccounted-for threat. Still, Tomas pointed out that the last attack on Summer was likely a final push, given how low their numbers would be.

“If nothing was resolved or even offered, why did this session take so long?” Axel asked.

Wyatt glanced at Ashleigh and then looked away.

“It couldn’t be helped. Some circumstances required we take multiple long breaks between meetings.”

“What kind of circumstances?” Axel asked.

Wyatt growled. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

Ashleigh looked closely at her father; he avoided her gaze.

“I just don’t see why it would take almost two full weeks to literally come up with nothing…” Axel sighed, “I mean, how long were those breaks? Full days?”

Wyatt growled again before standing to pour himself a drink; this time, Axel seemed to realize the growl was directed at him.

Corrine observed as Wyatt walked away. Finally, she moved over to the couch and sat beside Ashleigh.

“In a closed session, none of the Alphas can leave until everything has been decided,” Corrine spoke quietly.

Ashleigh looked at her mother with confusion written plainly on her face.

“Meaning,” Corrine continued. “That if one of the Alphas were to get sick, or need medical attention… The others would need to remain until it was taken care of, and they could continue their talks.”

Ashleigh felt the cold prickle along her spine and the drop of her heart into her stomach.

She was out the door and running down the road before her father even shouted her name.

Within the hour, Ashleigh was driving at full speed toward Summer.