this stray.”
My stomach churned at the word as much as the way she said it. She acted like I was some sort of pest, but I didn’t come here. They brought me with them.
“You want me to leave?” I asked, my voice not nearly as confident as I’d hoped. “Just show me the way out and I’ll go.”
“No,” Ash said, placing a hand on my shoulder and halting my retreat. “I stand by what I said. Fallen’s just a sample of what you’ll face as a new wolf,” she explained, turning to meet my gaze. “They do this to all new wolves, once-human or otherwise. It’s a rite of passage and one you’ll see through to the end.”
She sounded so sure of herself, but according to her, I was the first human to shift in over a century.
“Go on,” she said, stepping around Fallen to get the door.
“The phone’s on my desk. I’ll be out here when you’re through.” Her words were gentle, her eyes set on Fallen. “A word, Commander?”
Fallen startled at the title, then with a nod, she stepped out of my line of sight so Ash could close the door.
Alone, and without Fallen breathing down my neck, I walked over to Ash’s desk and picked up the phone. For a brief moment, I rehearsed what I wanted to say once my sister
picked up. In the end, I put the phone down and browsed the shelves around Ash’s office instead.
A small tree sat outside Ash’s window. It was much too small to see from the other side of the yard and way too young to have been there for very long. A handful of ribbons hung from its branches, their bows loose to the point of falling off.
My heart skipped a beat as soon as I realized what the was for. It’s so they can remember her. I knew nothing about the woman Fallen mentioned outside, but if I had her heart, then she’d only been gone a handful of months.
The solitary tree with all of its ribbons and bows was proof of that.
Returning my attention to the inside of the office didn’t make me feel any better. The books lining the shelves on either side were worn, their spines completely bare. Much like back in the living room, there was very little furniture to speak of aside from Ash’s desk and a set of chairs. I wondered then if she even spent that much time in this room or if it was all for show.
Before my curiosity could get the better of me, Fallen’s raised voice caught my attention. As she spoke, an uneasiness stirred under my skin. It was almost like I wanted to run, as though I was being chased. Instead, I stood there and listened as I tried to get up the nerve to call home.
“A wise wolf once told me an Alpha is only ever as strong as her pack.”
“That wolf was delusional.” Ash’s words were muffled behind the closed doors.
“Forgive me for saying this, Alpha, but that wolf was you,”
came Fallen’s reply.
“Delusional,” Ash said again, the bitterness in her voice enough to put my teeth on edge.
“How long do you plan to do this?”
“Do what, Commander?”
“Hold us at arm’s length. We’re all in pain, but that hasn’t stopped us from doing what we must.”
“Remember your place, else I need to remind you.”
“You might have to,” Fallen scoffed. “But I’m not the only one who seems to have forgotten her place. It’s been over three mont—”
Something slammed against t
he wall outside the door, sending my mind into a full-fledged panic. Outside, all was quiet, Fallen’s protests put to an end by whatever Ash had done.
With my hands shaking and silence falling down around me, I slowly made my way back over to the desk so I could finish my call.
I never got the chance.
“You,” Ash said, her tone harder than before. “Come with me.”