Moonlight Surrender

Chapter 3: The Pact Of Shadows

"I'm already at risk" she snapped "Kaida told me about the mark and about how that beast kidn*pped me. Don't you think I have the right to know what's happening?"

Asher didn't answer for a moment and his gaze raking hers as if weighing the cost of the next thing he said. At last, he exhaled a long breath and tension easing from his shoulders "Fine, but you have to be ready for what comes next."

He drew her into the cabin, heat from the blaze doing little more than dent marginally the cold present in the room. Rory sank down beside him, one hand curled about the arm-rest of her chair as he began to talk.

"The werewolf who attacked you wasn't any werewolf," Asher breathed. "He was Cormac—the other pack leader's. He's been searching for my pack's weak spots, and now you're one of them."

Rory's breath caught. "Why me? I'm just… nobody."

"You're more than you know," Asher said, the cutting edge in his voice unfamiliar. "And until we discover what Cormac has in mind to do with you, you're staying under my protection."

Rory's gaze widened "Protection? What does that have to do with anything? Do you plan to lock me up?"

Asher's gaze saddened "If that's what keeps you breathing"

The room was silent and the tension between them building like the fire. Rory's eyes narrowed at him and her mind spinning. Finally she said "I'm not a damsel in distress Asher. If you think I'm going to sit here and have you control my life then you're wrong."

Asher's lips curled into a grim, humorless smile. "You're brave. I'll give you credit for it. But bravery won't keep a werewolf from ripping you apart."

Rory stared ahead and fire blazing in her eyes "Then show me how to fight and show me what I'm fighting. Because if I'm going to live, i'm not doing it as your prisoner."

Asher gazed at her for what felt like forever and his expression unreadable. Finally, he nodded and a glimmer of something close to respect in his eyes "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. This world will alter you Rory and once you cross over into it, there is no going back."

The forest was abuzz with sound and the rustle of leaves in the wind, the distant howl of a wolf and the cadence of Asher's boots on the underbrush. Rory trailed behind him and her temper rising with each passing second. The moonlight filtered through the dense canopy casting silver shadows that capered around them.

Slow down!" she snapped, racing to catch up. Her ankle was still sore from the previous night but fury fueled her resolve "You drag me out here in the dead of night and you refuse to explain anything?"

Asher slammed on the brakes turning to face her. His silver eyes glinted like shards of ice in the light of the moon "You asked for answers and this is where you'll find them"

"Answers to what?" she insisted crossing her arms "To werewolves? To you? To why an actual monster tried to kill me last night?"

His expression closed off and for a moment, Rory believed he would walk away but instead, he stepped closer, his huge body looming but somehow protective "To everything" he said with his deep voice soothing "But once you know there's no going back."

Rory’s heart thudded in her chest “What does that even mean?”

He gestured toward a large rock formation up ahead, partially hidden by the thick foliage “Sit, this isn’t a story I’m going to rush through.”

Reluctantly, Rory complied by lowering herself onto the cold damp stone. Asher remained standing and his broad shoulders rigid as though the weight of the world rested on them.

You're right about the werewolves" he started "They do exist. The one that bit you was the leader of a rogue pack—a wolf that's lost all sense of humanness. They're unpredictable, deadly and drawn to anarchy."

"And you? Are you a rogue?" Rory's voice shook but she forced herself to meet his gaze.

Asher’s lips quirked into a humorless smile “Not quite, i’m the Alpha of the Wolfgang pack. It’s my job to protect my territory and everyone in it...including you.”

Her breath hitched “Why me? I’m just a random girl who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time”

You're not random" he said and his voice hardening "And you weren't in the wrong place you were precisely where you were meant to be."

The bewildered reaction sent a shiver down her spine. "What do you mean?"

Asher paused, running his wet hair through with a hand. "There's something about you, Rory. Something the rogues can sense. That's why they're drawn to you and that's why I..." He trailed off and the unsaid words hung in the air.

"Why you what?" she prompted and her voice trembling "Asher, please!"

"It's why I wouldn't let you die" he admitted and his voice so low it was almost a whisper "Because you're more important than you know."

Rory's head spun, attempting to wrap around what he'd just said. "Important how? I'm just a journalism student. I'm nobody.".

"You're not nobody" he snarled and his eyes blazing "You're a part of the world in ways that you do not even understand. There's a reason you've been returning to the supernatural. A reason you've always felt like you were searching for something more."

She shook her head, terror rising in her chest. "No. This. This doesn't make any sense."

"It will," Asher promised in a soft voice. He sat down in front of her and his knees on the floor "But you must trust me and let me protect you."

Rory's eyes flashed with unshed tears "Why should I trust you? You've been nothing but mysterious and controlling since the day we met."

He flinched at the words but looked at her "Because if you don't, the rogues will assault you once more and next time, I might not be there to stop them."