赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Corrine and Ashleigh had a friendly chat, talking about nothing, just spending time together.

It was refreshing.

Ashleigh looked at her mother, her Luna.

“Mom?”

“Yes, dear?”

“How do you know what your people need?”

Corrine blinked at Ashleigh in surprise.

“Sorry,” Ashleigh laughed, realizing how strange it was to suddenly ask. “I just… Fiona said that as a Luna, you need to think about what your people need. So I wondered, how you do that?”

“Ah,” Corrine smiled. “Well, let me ask you a question first.”

“Ok.”

“What do you need to be a Luna?”

Ashleigh stared at her mother.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“It’s a simple question. Do you think you are ready to be a Luna to Summer?”

“No,” Ashleigh replied immediately.

“Why not?”

“Well, they hate me, for starters.”

“Then what do you need to be their Luna?”

“For them to like me?”

“Close,” Corrine smiled. “Rather than like you, they should respect you and trust you.”_.

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Ashleigh sighed,

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a Winter wolf, Alpha Wyatt’s daughter.”

“Is that all you are?” Corrine asked

“No…?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

Ashleigh laughed.

“No, I’m not just a Winter wolf or Alpha Wyatt’s daughter.”

“So, how do you get the respect and trust of the Summer wolves?”

Ashleigh thought about it.

“Prove myself as more than just a Winter wolf….”

She knew what she needed to do.

“Thanks, Mom!”

Ashleigh jumped up from her place on the sofa and ran out the door.

Corrine watched her leave with a smile that fell once the door had closed behind her.

“It’s time now, Wyatt, whether you are ready or not.”

***

Wyatt fell back into his chair, taking in a deep breath and trying to push past everything piling up in his heart.

Caleb’s return to Winter after all these years had been more than Wyatt had bargained for.

Seeing him at Ashleigh’s birthday was strange. At the Blood Moon and other gatherings, they avoided each other, each only there because they had to be.

But Ashleigh’s birthday was a choice, one that Caleb made.

And for a moment it made Wyatt hopeful.

He sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh.

The first attack by the rogues took eleven lives and almost took Ashleigh. She was saved only because Bell had gotten to her first.

Without Bell, Ashleigh wouldn’t have survived.

Wyatt got up from his chair and poured himself a drink.

When the idea of the exchange came up, Wyatt saw an opportunity. He thought there was a chance to bridge the gap between their packs through Caleb working with Ashleigh.

But when Granger had told him about Bell and Ashleigh showing interest in the men of Summer… he couldn’t let that happen. Ashleigh had Granger, but Bell…

Wyatt sighed once more.

When Ashleigh confronted him about the upgrades Caleb had offered, he could hardly face her.

Things only got worse from there.

Galen attacked Granger, Galen’s interest in Bell.

Even knowing he was doing what was best for her, asking Bell to abandon Galen wasn’t easy. Not after seeing the smile on her face.

Wyatt sipped his drink.

Trying to force Caleb away from Ashleigh had been pointless, and arguing with him had only left Wyatt drowning in his demons.

Caleb had shown a strength of conviction and honor; it was humbling and devastating. He expected no less from Cain’s son.

But when Corrine told him that Caleb could be Ashleigh’s mate… his world crumbled around him. The Goddess herself was punishing him.

A punishment he deserved, no doubt, but one that he was not willing to share the burden of.

Wyatt held so tightly to the hope that there was a mistake that he ignored what was right in front of him. He didn’t see how Granger clung to Ashleigh or how Corrine’s view of him had suddenly changed.

Wyatt poured another.

He saw them together. The way that Caleb could look at Ashleigh and her entire mood would change. He could calm her.

Axel had told him what Bell said. Their bond was natural, and he knew it was true. Just watching them in the same room together, while everyone else argued, they spoke quietly to each other without any actual words.

Even he and Corrine still needed words.

Wyatt was shocked more than anyone else when Ashleigh said Granger’s name. Even more than Caleb.

But he was relieved. He stood there and smiled as his daughter pledged herself to a monster.

Wyatt swallowed down the contents of his glass in one gulp. The burn felt necessary.

He had watched Caleb through the window that night. He saw him struggle with the loss, watched as Galen held him in his arms, and comforted him. Wyatt felt like he had betrayed him all over again.

He had selfishly hoped that things could go back to before Ashleigh and Caleb met.

And then Renee died.

When Wyatt had heard, he had run to Ashleigh’s room, but when he reached for the doorknob, he heard her ask Caleb to stay with her.

As much as he had tried to deny it, he knew at that moment that Caleb was her mate, not Granger, and worse, she knew it.

Wyatt poured himself a new drink and then fell back into his chair.

After Axel left with Granger, Wyatt felt uneasy. Then he was late checking in. Wyatt had called to the outpost they were supposed to have gone to, but no one answered. So he was on his way to go there himself when Galen arrived with Caleb’s gifts.

He didn’t react well.

Wyatt laid his head back.

Only Corrine knew how hard these months had been for Wyatt.

He couldn’t understand when she suddenly changed her mind, but it left him angry and hurt. They never got a chance to talk about it before the attack.

Wyatt would never deny that the gifts Caleb sent were practical and saved the lives of so many. But then the problem never was the usefulness of the items.

When the wolves from Summer joined the battlefield, Wyatt forgot for a time. His mind was full of battle, and he recognized his fellow warriors like he would have recognized Cain.

It was glorious.

Wyatt placed his drink on the desk.

When the battle was over, the fog of war cleared and left behind only fear and panic.

Axel was in surgery, Ashleigh and Caleb were unconscious, and the death count kept going higher and higher.

Granger had betrayed them. Tried to force himself on Ashleigh, killed Renee, and tried to kill Axel. Summer had saved them all. Caleb was likely paralyzed. The fae were back.

Wyatt suddenly felt as overwhelmed as he had been that night. His heart was pounding violently against his chest, and the pressure in his throat was suffocating him.

He reached to his throat, grabbing the chain and gripping it tightly.

Clenching his jaw, he begged himself to breathe. He picked up his glass and brought it to his lips shakily.

‘You and your damn oaths! Haven’t they cost us enough?’

Corrine’s voice echoed in his mind; it was too much.

He roared as he threw the glass at the wall, shattering it and spilling its contents everywhere.

Wyatt sat silently, trying to catch his breath for a long time. When he finally took a deep, cleansing breath, there was a knock at the door.

“Dad?” Ashleigh called.

Wyatt looked up. He didn’t want her to see him like this.

“It’s not a good time, Ashleigh.”

Ashleigh hesitated. She considered leaving, but she needed to remain firm.

“I need to speak with you,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door.

“I said it’s not a good time,” he sighed.

“I know, but I really need to talk to you,” she said. She cleared her throat. “I need you to tell me the truth about Alpha Cain.”

Wyatt looked up at her with a mixed expression of shock and anger.

“What?”

Ashleigh swallowed. Hesitating once again.

“I… need to understand why there is such animosity between our packs,” she said.

He didn’t want to talk about this. He didn’t want her to know this.

“No,” he said plainly.

“Please,” she said, taking a step towards him. “I know you don’t approve of Caleb and me, but he is my mate, and I will be a part of Summer. I need to know the truth.”

How could he tell her? She would never forgive him. Knowing the truth would only lead to a choice he didn’t want to force her into. One way or the other, she would abandon one of them. Either her mate or her father.

But maybe it was the only way she could be free of his burden.

Wyatt took a breath, straightened up, and swallowed down his fear.

“You will join Summer?” he asked. “Your selfish desire to be with him will lead to a war between all of us. Is that what you want?”

He saw it in her eyes, the hurt, the confusion.

“No, I just–”

“It has become clear that you don’t share the values of our pack,” he said. “So why not just go now.”

“What?”

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered in his heart. ‘I don’t know how else to protect you both.’

“Abandon Winter. Cut your ties and join Summer,” he said.

Like so many times before, Ashleigh was left feeling small, like a petty child in her father’s eyes.