Chapter 59

"You are not going to break down my door, will ya?!" Queen Vicky called from inside.



"It's you," she said after opening the door and seeing Ashley by the door.



"It is I," Ashley responded.



"You came all alone?"



"No, but I'm good alone Queen," Ashley said, even Queen Vicky noticed the undertone presence in her voice.



"Huh, come on in. I'll be ready for you in a minute," she said, shifting aside to create an entryway for her.







• • •





Tomica stalled till very late evening with his preparatory rituals. Ashley almost lost patience but she couldn't. She wanted this too much to do - losing patience should not even be on her list.



However, the time is here now. Tomica and Queen Vicky Kausha accompanied her to the forest, where they'd be carrying out the ritual. The rituals for her to become a wolf-woman. She never thought a day like this would come until recently - a day when she will willfully be ready to lose her identity as a human and become one of the numerous wolves. The respect she'd receive from Logan's people has to be her motive - the anchor driving her intent.



"CAWFAY YEQARNAY!" Tomica the witch chanted some ancestral spells.



Twisted roots clung to the rocky, wind-tortured soil, producing gnarled trunks and starved branches that struggled to sustain their sparse leaves. Equally malnourished bushes fought the trees for the meager nutrients the ground provided, and the round, silver moon bathed everything in a pale, ghostly light.



Ashley stood in the center of the barren clearing, watching his companion with a degree of professional detachment. She was swaying to and fro, solemnly chanting gibberish and scratching a large circle on the crusty earth around him with a tree branch.



Very Gothic, Ashley thought, grinning. Tomica is outdoing herself right now.



"A woman-wolf shall be born this day," Tomica sang, Queen Vicky chanted right after her, completing the ring and discarding the stick with a flourish. With equal drama, Queen Vicky slipped off her simple woolen coat, revealing a gown so obviously staged for the occasion that Ashley's grin erupted into laughter. She seriously did not know why she was amused by all the drama happening around her, but it did amuse her.



"Don't treat this lightly, Ashley," Queen Vicky said, regarding him sternly with her dark eyes.



"Put your coat back on, Vicky. You're risking hypothermia." She was filled with confidence and amusement she had no explanation for.



A chuckle still rumbled in her throat.

Then, as if to prove her point, the frosty wind picked up. She drew her coat close to her chest. "It's freezing up here."



"I am not cold." Twirling slowly, Queen Vicky gave a toss of her long white hair. Her black gauzy robe lifted and spun around her shoeless feet. "Indeed, my blood runs hot. My wolf spirit is strong."



"Do not indulge her," Tomica, the witch warned. With another twirl, she lifted her arms, reaching for the moon. "As it is the way of the wolf, darling Ashley, tonight you become Logan's lifetime mate and soar above mortal concerns. A strong, fleet of foot, invincible. The forest and the alleys will be yours. You'll share everything. Your bed, your rank, your offspring . . ." She stopped and held him firmly in her dark gaze. "The blood you spill."



Ashley's chuckle died on the wind. Not that she hadn't always been unorthodox, but tonight she almost acted possessed. She doesn't know why, but she is having a difficult time believing whatever was going on at that moment.



"Don't tell me we're going to do that old blood brother ceremony," Ashley said cynically. She was cold and hungry and getting angry. "I'm disappointed, Vicky. I thought you were going to dispel my skepticism about these night creatures. Do you think dragging me to these ugly mountains and dancing around in your dressing gown will do that? I have to say, this is rather kooky, even for you."



"There are forces at work in this world you do not understand."



For the space of an insane heartbeat, she believed. Of course, the tortured, barren plateau practically personified evil. And the dark wind whipping malevolently around his ears seemed to whisper Queen Vicky's truths.



But grotesque settings don't a werewolf make.



She was anxious. She's having anxiety breakdowns and that was her defense mechanism - doubt.

Just as was congratulating himself on so skillfully indicating her anxiety, a chorus of howls rose from the treetops of the black forest below, held as one long note, then wobbled and died.

Another chorus immediately followed and another.



"Did you hear that? Come on, we're getting out of here." She flew out of the circle, intent on returning to the little car that brought them here, which was now parked more than half a mile away.



"Ashley! No!" Queen Vicky rushed forward and shoved her toward the ring. Ashley grabbed her hands and stumbled backward. When they hit the circle's perimeter, Queen Vicky jerked away as if she'd hit a force field.

Tomica took charge.



"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!" Ashley yelled.