38.

Ashia was quick to return, and with clothes in her arms no doubt an order from Jason. Lola turned her head just enough to see the way Ashia’s eyes darted around, looking to see if there was any other danger she needed to be aware of. Lola checked one last time to ensure that the brown furred wolf continued to remain passive under Jason’s paws before she returned control to Farryn who was slow to rise to her feet. Bruises had already begun to form from her broken ribs but the tear in her ear had already healed as she reached for the clothes held out to her.

“What happened?” Ashia asked, her curious eyes honing in on the wolf being pinned down. Farryn hesitated with her bra about to be clasped.

“On second thought, Ashia, hold these for just one more moment.” Farryn returned the clothes back to the young female as everyone turned to her in confusion as she shifted back to Lola. The large wolf shook out her fur, her shoulder still burning slightly from the fur that was ripped out. Once she was comfortable Farryn turned her attention to Namia. Surprisingly, the wolf was much harder to find while Lola was in control but once she had been found Farryn attempted to coax her out. Trying to shift from one wolf to the other. No one in the pack knew about Namia but to test a theory, Farryn was willing to reveal her secret to a few.

The mental strain of trying to shift wolves was harder than Farryn had expected, it wasn’t that Namia refused to come out, or that Lola refused to relinquish control, but that the two wolves weren’t connected. They intersected through Farryn and could interact with each other when she was in her own body but when it was Lola it was as if there was a divide separating the two creatures. This realization only brought on more questions about Tristan. How had his wolf changed?

Farryn returned to her body once more and finally took the clothes, getting dressed quickly before stretching her neck. The brown wolf had not taken his eyes off of her once but he never looked aggressively. After pursing her lips Farryn motioned for Jason’s wolf to move off of him, the wolf hesitated, growling his protest. Farryn’s green eyes quickly lifted to his.

“Get off of him.” She ordered, her gaze just as sharp as her tone. The wolf didn’t hesitate a second time as he lowered his head and removed his weight from the wolf he held down. Golden eyes looked between those around him before he slowly gathered his legs under himself to bring himself to his paws. His size was slightly smaller to Namia’s, confirming to Farryn at least that these wolves really were all separate beings.

“Once Tristan is back, will you please speak with me? We need answers, help us.” Farryn spoke softly to the wolf. His ears flicked back to his head in obvious dislike for what she wanted but nodded nonetheless. He couldn’t refuse an Alpha it seemed. The shift back to Tristan seemed to take longer than when the black wolf took over. He rose to his full height with his forehead in his palm, a pained expression on his face as his eyes opened.

“Tristan how are you feeling?” Ashia extended the clothes too Tristan slowly, worried that he might suddenly lash out at her. The male released his head to take the offered clothes. He ran his thumb along the thread of the shirt before pulling the work-out shorts on.

“My head is spinning, I feel nauseous. Why was I on the ground? Did I shift?” Farryn pressed her lips together tightly in concern. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him in this moment. Instead of answering his questions Farryn swallowed hard.

“I need to speak with the wolf Tristan, you might not approve of these methods but I need to speak to the golden wolf.” Farryn resisted the urge to turn away from him as she spoke. It felt like some sort of betrayal to withhold information from him when it was his body going through these changes. His head tilted to the side slightly as his brows twitched together before his face faded into an emotionless expression as gold took over his gaze.

“Will you please tell us who you are? I know that you aren’t Tristan’s wolf.” Farryn observed the way his gaze seemed to jump around, he seemed skittish, afraid to speak for a moment as Tristan’s shoulders slumped down somewhat.

“My name is Carthel, we… well we’re all Tristan’s wolf actually.” Jason had shifted back to his human form and dressed while the male answered Farryn’s questions.

“Who do you mean by saying we? A person can only have one wolf. This is blasphemy, Farryn the Moon Goddess would not be okay with someone like him being in our pack.” Jason’s words were harsh enough to cause the male using Tristan’s body to flinch and quickly lower his gaze in shame. His hands fidgeted at his side while Farryn lifted her hand to silence her Beta to give Carthel time to speak.

“There are three of us, Rorus is the wolf you all know, including Tristan. The other is Deacon. Alpha you know us, you are the same yet different but you understand.” Jason’s body heat suddenly vanished from Farryn’s side as he took steps away from her in alarm.

“You’re the same as him?” He snapped. Farryn didn’t miss the flash of hurt in his eyes at the thought of her keeping a secret from him. Carthel seemed to realize he had made a mistake and quickly lowered his head in apology.

“Please forgive me Alpha I didn’t mean to upset anyone.” Farryn sighed deeply but reached her hand out to place it on Tristan’s shoulder to give it a comforting squeeze.

“Relax, it’s alright. Carthel, can you tell me how this came to be?” Carthel shot a quick look in the direction of Jason, measuring the male’s anger before looking too Ashia who had remained silent the whole time.

“Her blood knows, they were the ones who did this to us.” Carthel spoke softly, without any hint of anger but instead spoke with sadness. Ashia blinked a few times as she seemed to process his words.

“I do not know what you are speaking of.” She responded sharply in defense of herself. Carthel shook his head slowly.

“You’re young, you might not have been told the story. Ask your father, it was his bloodline that made us who we are.” While Carthel responded he withheld a wince. Farryn could see he was beginning to struggle with the wolf Deacon as the dark brown attempted to take over. His golden eyes found hers as he quickly reached out to grasp her arms.

“I’m not strong enough to hold Deacon off for long but Rorus can. You can trust him, I will try and persuade Rorus to allow Tristan to retain his memories. Keep us in the jail, don’t let Deacon kill anyone else.” Jason lashed out quickly as the male begged the Alpha. Her Beta freed her arms from his grip as his body slumped, Jason catching him just in time.

“What the hell… Farryn you have a lot to explain.” He spoke with a slight growl. She had barely heard him however. Carthel had all but confirmed her suspicions from the very beginning that Amelia was killed by one of her pack mates. He hadn’t mentioned the female specifically by name, or Darius, but if Deacon had been responsible for their deaths shouldn’t she hold Tristan accountable as well? Jason huffed as he shifted the dead weight in his arms.

“I don’t think he’s going to be waking up any time soon.”

“Take him back to the jail then, I will speak with you once you are done.” Farryn instructed before turning to the younger female who was staring at the ground.

“Ashia, who is your dad? If he has any information about Tristan’s condition then as his Alpha I need to know.” She reached her hand out as she spoke but Ashia quickly stepped out of reach, her eyes flashing in alarm.

“He is dead. Has been dead since I was a baby.” She bit out the words as if they were poison on her tongue. Did she feel betrayed? Or did she suspect Carthel of lying? Ashia’s chest swelled as she took in a deep breath.

“I will reach out to my mother. I will… I will get answers.” Ashia squared her shoulders, putting on her best attempt at a brave face before heading back in the direction of Farryn’s home. Once she was alone Farryn searched the sky until she found the outline of the moon in the distance.

“Haven’t I dealt with enough? Are you not satisfied yet with my suffering?” She hissed as a gentle breeze swept over the training grounds, lifting her hair from her shoulders. With the breeze came a familiar scent. She turned to find two familiar blonde haired figures approaching.

“Well, I was beginning to think you would never return.” Farryn teased as Skylar grinned, the females clasped each others arms in greeting while Asher resigned to giving the Alpha nothing more than a nod.

“We couldn’t stay away for too long, not when things are starting to get interesting around here.” Skylar chirped, her silver gaze drifting around the area around them. Her sharp eyes spotting the drops of blood littering the grass.

“I see we missed some fun?” She looked back to Farryn expecting an explanation.

“You’ve missed a lot, but did you find what I asked you to look for?” Farryn looked between the siblings and didn’t stop the sigh of relief that passed her lips as they both nodded their heads. Skylar looped her arm around Farryn’s and began to pull the Alpha back towards her home.

“Why don’t we swap stories? It’ll be nice talking to someone other than my brother for a change.” Asher grumbled in disagreement as he followed the females inside the building.