Chapter Fourteen:
Ashton

 

Ashton couldn’t resist letting his eyes flick across the screen of Reese’s phone as it lit up. The werewolf had been increasingly secretive, and it had put so much tension between them that Ashton was wondering if snooping might resolve some things…

Then again, he knew what had happened the last time he’d snooped, when he’d found Daniel’s ring and found himself right back on his way to the slums.

This time, it was already worse, because the message was marked as coming from Mays. It was a simple one, consisting of only a few words: “It’s done.”

Scrambling to look away from Reese’s phone, Ashton couldn’t help but look back almost immediately. The text was gone, leaving the screen dark, but it had been burned into his memory.

It wasn’t really anything. It was a simple text, but it was ominous in its simplicity. He wanted to know why Mays would be texting Reese, but to find out, he’d have to admit to the werewolf that he’d peeked.

He reminded himself that Mays was a member of Reese’s pack — a fact that still made him shudder when he thought about the owner of Bound and his friends — and the two of them would have business. Just as much, he wondered how Reese could stand to look at the man after what had happened.

It was selfish, he knew, but at the same time… Reese had killed three werewolves for raping Ashton. Now two of the worst ones were still out there, and one of them was texting Reese.

“Ash?”

Ashton jumped guiltily, surreptitiously scooting away from where the phone lay on the side of the couch. “Yeah?”

Reese frowned at him. “What’s the matter?”

Everything. Every-fucking-thing.

Reese had told him once that he wasn’t nearly as perfect as Ashton thought he was, and he’d reluctantly had to start coming to terms with that fact. More than that, Reese was reticent to the point of making it impossible to talk to him about anything. He shut down, not wanting to have anything to do with adult things like conversations about what was wrong.

Maybe some people could handle that, but in this sort of world, secrets killed — and he didn’t want secrets. Ashton knew everything about his best friend Leo, and he couldn’t imagine it being any other way. It was hard to go to bed with someone when he realized there was so little he knew. He didn’t even know how Reese’s former lover had died. It was a huge thing not to know, and he knew Reese was still traumatized by it…

Ashton couldn’t help but wonder if he could be a part of Reese’s future if he was completely locked out of his past.

“Why is Mays texting you?” Ashton blurted out without meaning to say a goddamn word. In for a penny… “What’s done?”

Reese froze, his eyes flicking to the phone then back at Ashton. His voice dropped to a low, ominous growl as he asked, “Why the fuck were you looking at my phone?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Ashton asked, unable to keep the hurt from his voice.

“Yes. You shouldn’t be snooping, Ashton.” There was something dangerous, feral, to Reese’s voice, so foreign… “I thought you knew better. I thought you trusted me.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Ashton muttered. And how was he supposed to trust someone who kept so many secrets from him?

Reese snorted, crossing his arms across his broad chest.

Ashton couldn’t read his expression, and he went on slowly, quietly, “It buzzed, and I just glanced over. Yeah, when I saw Mays’ name, I looked at what the message said. I’m only human.”

Don’t you know that so well?

He wanted to ask Reese that so badly it ached. The werewolf so often relegated him to the role of a mere human that he was starting to develop a fucking complex over it. He’d even gone to Desideria to try to become something more, and that had been a failure.

He was only human. Nothing more.

Why did it matter, when he wouldn’t have minded once? When had it become so important for him to be more?

When Reese had started treating him like he was a child because he wasn’t a supe.

After the attack.

Once he’d been marked.

His eyes flicked to the mark on the inside of his wrist, the very thing tying him to Reese whether he wanted to be or not. He’d seen it as the loss of his freedom, had mourned it, but both Reese and Leo had assured him it hadn’t meant anything.

He hadn’t believed them then, and he didn’t believe them now. It was so much more than just a witch ink-etched tattoo.

It told the world he belonged to Reese, a man who was more defensive about being caught talking to one of his rapists than he was contrite.

“It’s pack business,” Reese said, but he wouldn’t meet Ashton’s eyes when he said it.

“Yeah. Okay,” Ashton said flatly. Was he overreacting? Wasn’t Reese entitled to his own secrets? He was a pack leader, and he did have things to take care of.

But he couldn’t help but remember Reese coming home from his meeting with Elias with the order to bring him Noah if he wouldn’t share Ashton… Secrets that had to do with the pack were also secrets that had to do with the witch Elder.

He hadn’t heard a peep out of his lover about how things were going now that Elias Ivers had risen in power, and that was more concerning than anything else.

Especially now.

“I can’t tell you about pack business,” Reese said, his voice edged.

“You can’t tell me about anything, apparently,” Ashton muttered.

Reese flinched. “It’s… None of it’s worth the time,” he said defensively. “It’s not important.”

“Then your entire life isn’t important, apparently,” Ashton retorted, finally over being pushed back and aside, of being told that he was valued by someone he didn’t know at all.

“Ash, please don’t do this right now…”

“And when’s a good time to do this? Should I schedule it? Call Mays and get it on your agenda?”

Reese recoiled from his words, breath catching in that broad chest.

Ashton regretted his words, but he wasn’t going to take them back. They’d gone too long without talking, and he couldn’t get a damn thing out of Reese except for “it’s fine” and “I don’t want to talk about it.” How could they have a relationship — even a friendship — when it was built on such a fragile foundation?

“What’s going on?” Leo asked from the bottom of the stairs.

Ashton jumped.

Leo was like a damn cat, almost every bit as graceful as a werewolf and with a tendency to show up… well, when he was needed. Right now, Ashton just wanted to bury his face in Leo’s chest and cry.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Ashton said, forcing bravado into his voice. “Mays is apparently doing favors for Reese.”

“Mays?” Leo, who usually took Reese’s side by default, narrowed his eyes.

It was nice to have his best friend on his side for once.

“You don’t understand,” Reese growled, grabbing his phone and shoving it into his pocket.

“And what, we don’t need to understand? Because we’re just humans?” Ashton asked, bolstered by Leo’s presence.

“Yes!” Reese snapped. “Is that what you want to hear? You don’t need to understand. You aren’t supes, you aren’t in my pack, and you aren’t the ones getting pushed around by Elias Ivers!”

Silence abruptly fell over the room, and all three of them stared at one another. Leo left the foot of the stairs and moved to stand behind Ashton, making his opinion on the matter truly clear.

Thank fuck.

Tears welled up in Ashton’s eyes. He was so grateful to have his friend’s support, to not feel insane for being angry that Reese was doing secret things with a slaver and rapist like Mays.

“I keep telling you to talk to me,” Ashton said quietly, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Help me understand, Reese. Please. The last time you had to deal with Ivers, you wanted to go find the rebels with Noah. This time…”

He couldn’t even say the words.

Reese silently shook his head.

“Don’t give us that bullshit,” Leo said, his voice surprisingly cold. He’d always been so quick to defend Reese before, saying that his protection was key in this world. He’d done everything he could to…

To preserve peace.

Ashton realized too late that that was what had been happening, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

“I can’t tell you about the pack,” Reese said stubbornly.

“You can tell us what Mays is doing for you,” Leo said.

Ashton wanted to hug his friend for saying the things he kept choking on, the words he knew mattered so much more than he could ever say.

“I. Can’t.”

“You mean you won’t,” Ashton stated, and the tears started to slowly trickle down his cheeks. “Were you always like this, and I was just too stupid to see it?”

“Ashton!” Reese was downright exasperated, which wasn’t a new look on him. “You just have to trust me. That’s all I’m saying.”

“How can I trust you when you don’t give me reasons to trust you?”

“Haven’t I given you a place to stay? Food? Everything you want?” Reese countered, but it sounded more like a laundry list than a plea.

“Didn’t you mark both of us? You’re sort of responsible for taking care of your pets, right down to cleaning out the litter box,” Ashton snapped.

“You said you wouldn’t treat us like we were just humans,” Leo said from behind Ashton, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“This isn’t—” Reese threw his hands up in the air. “You don’t understand.”

“So help us understand,” Leo challenged. “Just tell us what’s going on.”

“Daniel’s killers might be dead,” Reese finally snapped at them, baring his teeth and gnashing them.

Ashton went still. What?

“Ivers wanted a few witches dead. I have reasons to believe they were responsible for Daniel’s death,” Reese said through clenched teeth. “There. Are you fucking happy?”

“Wait, did you find this out from Elias Ivers? You’re believing that snake about who killed your ex?” Ashton asked, stunned. “He’s just playing you, Reese. There’s no—”

“He knows things, Ashton,” Reese interrupted. “That’s what he does. He finds things out, and he hoards information until he needs it.”

“You mean like he’s going to hoard information about how you sent Mays after some witches?” Leo asked, his hand tightening on Ashton’s shoulder. “I’m with Ash on this. From everything you’ve said, Ivers is one manipulative son of a bitch.”

“Well, it’s done,” Reese said tersely. “Are the two of you going to let it go, or are we going to harp on this all night?”

Ashton stared at him in disbelief. Was this the man he’d met so long ago, who had smiled at him and laughed and made him feel…

Like a human in need of rescuing.

His heart hurt, like someone was grasping it in their fist and squeezing, and he suddenly couldn’t catch a breath. “You think this is something we can just let go of?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you,” Reese said, his voice rising in volume again. “This, right here, is what I knew would happen. You don’t understand. You can’t—”

“I can’t understand?” Ashton asked him when Reese cut himself off. “And why’s that?”

“You’re not a werewolf. You haven’t lost someone you love.”

Ashton leapt to his feet, incredulous as if Reese had just slapped him across the face.

Reese seemed to realize too late what he’d said, and he took a step toward Ashton. “Ash, I—”

“Stay away from me,” Ashton snarled, fury overwhelming the misery. “You think you’re the only one who’s ever experienced anything. You just sit around in your little bubble and feel sorry for yourself and make stupid decisions because you won’t talk to people.” He shook his head. “I’m not staying here.”

“You’re not leaving,” Reese said instantly. “It’s too dangerous out there.”

“And what are you going to do?” Leo asked, his voice even yet steely. “Stop us if we try?”

Reese looked between them, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists at his sides. “It’s too dangerous,” he repeated.

“The mark is there to protect us,” Leo said, coming around the couch to stand beside Ashton, lending him more strength. “Or are you going to forfeit responsibility for us if we leave? Weren’t the marks supposed to be for our sake, not yours?”

“Yes, but—”

“But nothing,” Leo interrupted him. “Fuck this. I thought you were someone different, or I never would’ve let you near my best friend.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Reese snapped.

“No, I didn’t,” Leo replied, grabbing Ashton’s hand. “The hospital chose for me, but I always choose to stay wherever Ashton is. He’s my best friend. I thought…” He shook his head. “I thought you were on his side, on our side. But I guess you aren’t, are you? You’re on your own side.”

“Leo, stop and think about this,” Reese said, starting to cross the room.

“I am thinking about this. That’s the problem. I’m finally thinking.” Leo let out a hollow laugh. “I should’ve listened to Ashton.”

“Those aren’t words I ever thought I’d hear,” Ashton couldn’t help but mutter, but his friend didn’t smile. Neither did he, though. None of them were in the mood to smile.

“We’re leaving,” Leo said firmly.

“And where are you going to go?” Reese demanded, standing in front of them, wide and large and intimidating.

“You don’t need to know that,” Ashton said, and it was only partially because he didn’t know. He’d call Noah and figure out a place to go. There had to be somewhere for two displaced marked humans. If anyone would know… “Just get out of the way, Reese.”

For a moment, he was afraid Reese wasn’t going to step out of the way.

Then finally, the werewolf huffed out a breath and stalked off, leaving them alone in the living room.

Ashton turned to face Leo, trying to pretend he wasn’t crying, or he’d start really blubbering like an idiot. “I… I’ll call Noah.”

Leo nodded, glancing at Reese’s retreating back. “And Ash?”

“Yeah?” Ashton sniffled as he started going through his phone’s contact list.

“I’m sorry for not listening to you sooner.”

Ashton shrugged. “We can’t change that now. We just…” He looked after Reese, too, who could probably hear all of their conversation. “Let’s just find somewhere else to go.”