Chasing After Ashes

Chapter 12: Leaving for Bromsdale

The face of someone I didn’t think or least of all, expected to see any time soon was right in front of me. He glanced up from his phone, his cobalt blue eyes immediately finding me on the top of the stairs. His eyes darkened immediately before he quickly jerked his head back down to type into his phone. There was someone else in the car behind him although I couldn’t see who it was because of the dark tint of the windows.

My hands tightened on the straps of the backpack behind me as I thought, I hadn’t seen him for a while and this is how he still acts? Rastor was still being a huge i***t. He was acting as if it what happened to his pack and to the others was entirely my fault. It was as if he had forgotten I had been living a secluded life in the Alcatrozz pack before I went out into the world and helped them on the first chance I could.

It really was stupid, especially since the pain of them ignoring and acting like this toward me was still like a raw wound which refused to heal. However, it didn’t matter how worse the stinging pain from how they treated me will be, because I wouldn’t beg them to come back. If push came to shove, I will explain myself once but I wouldn’t bother making them see things my way.

Wait a minute, I thought as I started walking down the stairs heading directly to where Tate and the others were. There was a huge black and seemingly monster-truck like car behind them. Hans owned it previously and hadn’t been using it much because the car was gigantic and looked to be the destroyer of forests all over the world. However, for making sure we were safe in this trip, this car was our smartest bet.

Turning away from the monstrosity of a car, I glanced again at the person who suddenly appeared. What is he doing here? He and the other Reons pack members had no more business with Alcatrozz. Especially since they left, there was nothing which would have caused them to come back. It wasn’t even likely some of them had forgotten something and came back for it, because if that had happened, they wouldn’t have come back for it. I was sure of it.

I quickened my steps, heading directly to where Tate and Lowell were because I was more interested in what was there compared to the i***t who suddenly appeared. The woman with the flaming hair and chilling eyes were standing in between them. Her wrists were bound by thick metal shackles which extended past her hands and wrapped around her body. I glanced at it, noticing it was emitting a distinct orange aura if I squinted at it.

I glanced at Tate who noticed and immediately answered, “It’s spelled by a strong seal that would keep the person it’s shackled onto secured. It wouldn’t be able to be removed by her or anyone else except the one who made the spell.”

Eh? “Then wouldn’t it mean that she’s stuck in there until the spellcaster himself would be able to remove it?” I stepped towards her, gently touching her arm. She flinched but otherwise remained still as I stared at the shackles and looked up to her worriedly. “Does it hurt?”

Her eyes which were a lighter color than snow was trained on me, like she expected me to take advantage of this situation and harm her. Her intensity pierced through me and what would have made other people back away quickly, only brought out a wave of sadness in me. For her to be acting like this even if I had never done anything to her, well besides take her energy away. But it wasn’t like it harmed her to the point of injury.

So technically, she shouldn’t be acting this way because I hadn’t really done anything to her, right? I stopped in my train of thought, realizing that being able to do something like it was rare at best so people would be wary. However, I didn’t think whatever it was I did would be enough to make people cautious of me.

Although now when I think about it, it was more plausible for people to be wary of those with weird abilities rather than simply accept it like it was a given. I guess it had just been some time since I interacted with anyone who saw what I could do and found it weird. Slowly I pulled my hand away from hers and muttered a soft apology which those near me heard.

Tate shook his head at me when he heard me apologize but he didn’t say anything else. I already told him and the others about why I think they shouldn’t kill her immediately. They couldn’t completely understand since she was an enemy who had hurt and killed one of them, but they understood it was important to me. They couldn’t understand but they held off doing anything more besides the albeit drastic and harsh methods of interrogation they did to her.

“So how is this going to work?” I asked, gesturing at the shackles.

“The warlock who made the spell is going to be meeting us at Bromsdale so no worries,” said Lowell. He opened his mouth but with a stare from Tate, closed his mouth again. That was weird, I thought but didn’t bother asking him what was wrong. I really couldn’t care less as long as I know she will be removed from these cuffs in the future. It meant she wouldn’t live her life shackled by these chains.

“You guys are just wasting time chit-chatting,” spoke a familiar voice as a car opened. My head immediately snapped to where the sound came from and I saw it was Justin stepping out of the dark car he and Rastor drove in with. His previously bald head which used to be the center of attention especially in the sun, had about an inch of black hair growing on it.

“Let’s just get on with it,” muttered Rastor as he finished texting whoever it was he was talking to. He pocketed his phone and stared at us. “Give us the woman and we’ll be on our way.”

“Excuse me?” I snapped, crossing my arms in front of me. He did just say to hand the woman to them, didn’t he? No way they were getting her at all. They would have to go through me if they pushed through with it. “That would not be happening any time soon so do not get your hopes up. In fact, what are you even doing here?”

His normally bright as the skies eyes had darkened to the color of the darkest depths of the ocean as he glared at me. I glared right back at him. If he thought he could intimidate me with just his looks alone then he was in for a huge disappointment. Never was I going to back down from anyone who was in the wrong, especially from idiots like him who wasn’t capable of thinking properly before acting.

As I stared back at him, the promise and pep talk I had given myself before came to mind. I stand by what I said before. I wasn’t going to let him bully me around just because my family was who they were. I wasn’t my family even if their blood ran through my veins. There were more to people than just their genetics because it was the environment which will really shape someone’s personality. Not their genes.

“We’ve been called to assist the Alpha and Louve of the Alcatrozz pack in delivering their prisoner to the Alarick’s home in Bromsdale,” he said, finally speaking. But I couldn’t hear the rest of what he said after his first few words.

Alpha and Louve? Is he serious? Before I knew it, I started giggling like crazy which eventually turned into a full-blown laugh. Tears of laughter slipped down my eyes which I quickly wiped away. “Oh, that is so stupid. Looks like you guys weren’t informed at all…” I felt Tate’s eyes on me as I spoke but I ignored him, pretending he wasn’t glaring at me. I knew how he had been acting like these past few months and I knew what I was saying hurt him, but I couldn’t help it.

“There was a change of leadership here but that is all there is to it. This guy still hadn’t claimed anyone to be his Louve so whoever told you about this was wrong,” I added.

I couldn’t help but say this because whatever Rastor said wasn’t coming true any time soon because I still didn’t like Tate in that way. There was an acknowledgement and appreciation for his presence and various help, but that was all there was to it. And there were too many things I had to think about and fix with my pack before I could ever focus on sordid romantic relationships.

As I was watching Rastor, I noticed his eyes became lighter, almost to the cobalt shade it usually was. What’s up with him? I thought before continuing what I was saying, “With that said, I don’t think we would be needing your help so you can leave now.”

Tate stepped forward, his wide built successfully hiding me from view. My mouth gaped in surprise at what he was doing, knowing he just didn’t want me to butt into pack politics. I felt a spark of anger ignite in me as Tate continued to block my view of Rastor and Justin. I wasn’t even finished telling them off!

However, since it looked like Tate was on my side, I didn’t push him away and just let him do whatever he wanted to do. Except what came out of his mouth next were the total opposite of what I expected him to say.

“We appreciate your coming here but it would be best to let us handle the woman since we had been guarding her for days.” I felt like my jaw dropped to the floor as he continued, “You may follow in the car behind us. Now, let’s be off.”

He turned his back and was about to his car when Rastor suddenly said, “No.”

I raised an eyebrow at him thinking he was gutsy to be acting like this in front of an alpha, or at the very least, someone who was more dominant than him by a couple of ounces more. Curious at how Tate was going to react, I glanced at him to see him turning back around with a dark look in his eyes.

“One of us will be guarding the woman with you so either Justin or I transfer to your car or you move her and another person to our car.”

It made sense but I still didn’t see the need on why they had to be here. Something I was going to bring up again until Tate nodded his head slowly and said, “One of you go with us,” Tate said firmly before he lowered his voice so only those who were close to him could have heard him, “Make sure they do not harm the woman.”

Lowell nodded his head solemnly in understanding. I couldn’t speak, not because I was still in disbelief at the turn of events. Shock was replaced with suspicion and curiosity at how Rastor and Tate were acting. Especially since it looked like these two had an understanding even before we saw Rastor today. It was the only logical conclusion because how else would these two would have worked together properly without having agreed to an understanding beforehand?

“Tactically speaking, is that really the best move? Wouldn’t it be better if there were four people in the car to guard the woman?” Justin suddenly asked, his voice softer than usual, but loud enough that everyone with sharp hearing heard him. Which was everyone.

Rastor didn’t even look at him as he stared at me and said, “Yeah. I’m sure they have something up their sleeve to make sure the prisoner is docile. Also, a four-man team would be the best course of action, so if the prisoner gets rowdy it would be easier to handle.” He turned his head to Justin, “I’ll go with them. You follow in the car behind us.”

Silently I agreed with him that it would be safer to keep the woman with us if she decides to escape if there were four people guarding her. However, they didn’t need to be here because we could have just asked Mark and Quentin to come with us if a four people escort was needed.

My eyes narrowed then as I realized it was why Tate didn’t say anything about this when I brought it up the other day. I knew it was going to be a long drive and it would be harder with just the three of us, but I trusted him because he was doing his best as the alpha in guiding and helping everyone.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I felt Lowell moved to get into Tate’s car with the woman. “Wait,” I held up a hand to stop him. “I’m sorry for doing this again,” I muttered to her as I reached for her arm. She flinched as I did, the only indication she knew what I was going to do for the second time.

Feeling horrible at myself for having to do this, especially to her, I sucked in my breath and started pulling her energy. I consumed her power like I was sucking on her liquid strength and warmth, my body slowly becoming more energized. As soon as it felt like I was on a couple of energy drinks high, I stopped before I consumed any more of her energy. “Be sleepy,” I ordered her in a soft tone, patting her arm as her eyes fluttered close.

Gesturing to Lowell to head on to the other car, I glanced at Tate and saw he was looking at me. Knowing I couldn’t let all this energy I have sitting still in me, I touched his arm and passed half of it to him. He did need the boost since he had been pulling late nights. Also, we all needed to be alert and way for this trip. The side of his lips curved into a small smile of gratitude before we both headed to his car.

I got into the front passenger seat and he into the driver seat. Quickly belting myself in, I sat waiting for the other member of our party to join in. Rastor sat in the back, on the right side of the woman who sat in the middle. Lowell was on her left side, the ever-dutiful guard.

The car, surprisingly, purred to life and we were off. After a few days, we were finally heading to Bromsdale. It was about a 19-hour drive which would have easily been a 2-hour flight from Ashburn if we were going there by plane. However, since we were taking precautions, it was better if we drove. It would take longer but at least we can assure ourselves nobody was following us by taking various turns if needed and we moved away from the possibility of an airport ambush.

The possibility of the woman trying to escape was less than the actual chances of her people—technically, my people too—from taking her back. Although Tate and the others still didn’t rule out the possibility she was from an assassin from another pack. I would have agreed with him except I had the strong feeling she was the woman who bombarded my dreams; the same woman whose voice and words had been haunting me since I was young. It was just a feeling, but I trusted my instincts to be right on this matter.

My thoughts from earlier came back as we rode in silence. Nobody even dared to fill the silence in the first few hours we were on the road. Tate was focused on driving and in the surroundings we passed, alert for any danger which may come our way. I was sure the other two were cautious as well but I didn’t look back to confirm.

Although I felt eyes on me consistently since we left, making me shift uncomfortably in my seat a couple of times. I had the feeling it wasn’t the woman because when I glanced to the left, I saw in my peripheral view that she had dozed off to sleep. It wouldn’t be Lowell because why would he be looking, so I knew it could only be him.

Deciding to focus on other things and ignore the man behind me who had been acting like a huge jerk, I remembered my earlier thoughts about this four-person escort group. “Hey, why didn’t Mark and Quentin come?” I quietly asked Tate, knowing the others would have heard but I didn’t care.

Tate glanced at me before turning back to the road. “I left them to handle the pack.”

“Oh,” I muttered before lapsing into silence again.

About an hour later, we had decided to stop at a gas station to fill the tank and stretch for a few minutes. Rastor and Lowell stayed in the car, deeming it was safer for the woman to not be seen in public. Justin pulled his car alongside ours before getting out as well and headed toward Rastor. Tate went to the bathroom as I got out, needing to stretch my body.

My muscles felt strained, popping loudly as I raised both my hands into the air to stretch them out. Feeling refreshed as I did this for a couple seconds, I looked around us and saw the convenience store beside the bathroom. It was small and not brightly-lit. My wallet was in my pocket so I quickly headed to the store seeing it was late in the afternoon already and all of us still had a long way to go. The last thing we ate was whatever we had packed in our bags and that was during lunch.

The bell sounded as I went inside the store, heading directly to the pastries section. There were only a few choices as others had probably already bought the others since this was the first gas stop we saw for a few miles around here. We were knee-deep in a rural area, somewhere off the Rutenberg tri-state area.

Grabbing six sandwiches, because I may not like Rastor and Justin right now but I wasn’t monster enough to not get them food. I glanced at it for a few seconds longer and deciding I was done with pastries, I headed to the snacks section. The bell sounded as I got to the multitude of snacks still available. I held the sandwiches close to my chest, scrunching my brows as I stared at the snack aisle.

My body stiffened as I felt a strong arm wrap around my neck tightly, effectively preventing any air from coming into my lungs. “You’re coming with me,” a rough voice muttered into my ear.

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To reiterate for those who don't know:

Book 1 of the Rosewood Trilogy - Alpha, Do I Know You

https://www.dreame.com/novel/1964802.html

Book 2 of the Rosewood Trilogy - Chasing After Ashes

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