Chapter 48

Chapter 48

He had to do this, Marc told himself as he released a shaky breath and looked over his shoulder, making sure that no one was coming after him. When he didn’t see any cars coming, he tightened his hold on the handlebars of his bike and kept going, careful of the black ice covering the road, and headed towards the long driveway that he normally avoided, but…

He couldn’t get the image of his father going into bloodlust out of his head.

Telling himself that there was no other way, Marc climbed off his bike and began walking it down the long winding driveway as he tried to figure out what he was going to say. Then again, he might not have to say anything since his family would probably kill him if they ever found out what he was doing. His brother, Chris, would definitely kill him, Marc thought as he made his way around the last bend and saw the large two-story house that the Council had built for Michael.

If it had been him, he would have taken this house in a heartbeat, Marc thought, wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to…want to…

“Oh…God…” came the weakly mumbled words when the large brown grizzly bear came around the corner.

Swallowing hard, Marc went completely still, praying that the bear didn’t see him as he moved to raise his foot to step back only to stop when the bear opened its large mouth and released a roar that had the hair on the back of Marc’s neck standing up. The next roar had Marc stumbling back and the bike falling out of his hands, hitting the hard, ice-covered pavement with a loud bang that seemed to piss the bear off more.

Marc watched in terror as the bear stood up on its back legs and released another roar as he reached inside his coat pocket with a trembling hand, searching for his cellphone only to remember that he’d left it at home so that Izzy wouldn’t be able to use Tattletale to track him and figure out what he was doing. Dropping his hand away, Marc turned his head and-

Tripped over his bike when the bear roared again and landed with a grunt as pain shot through his palms and knees and he watched in horror as the bear dropped back down on its front paws and…immediately sat back on its haunches, licking its lips hungrily as an incredibly beautiful woman carrying a large metal mixing bowl stepped outside.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, Cuddles,” she said, shaking her head with a long-suffering sigh as she scooped up a large spoonful of what Marc thought might be frosting and held it out to the bear.

“Cuddles?” Marc said, trying to make sense out of what he was seeing as he watched the large bear that really didn’t look like a “Cuddles” finish licking the spoon. That was followed by the bear leaning over and carefully stealing the metal bowl with its teeth, pausing long enough so that the woman with the warmest smile that Marc had ever seen, could pet him.

“He didn’t like Fluffy,” she said with a teasing smile for the bear before shifting her attention to him as her expression turned concerned.

“Are you okay?” she asked, tossing the mixing spoon on the porch and quickly made her way down the front steps and down the long walkway to drop down by his side.

“I’m fine,” Marc said, moving to get up only to wince when pain shot through his hands.

“I’m gonna have to have a talk with Cuddles,” she said, shaking her head in disappointment as she gently took his hand in hers only to shoot him a sympathetic wince when she saw the cuts on his hands. “I think we need to get you cleaned up,” she said as she quickly took in his ripped paints and scraped knees.

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” Marc said, moving to get to his feet only to wince in pain when his scraped knees and hands protested the move.

“No, you’re not,” she said with a kind smile as she helped him. “My name’s Ashley and you are…”

“Definitely at the wrong house,” Marc said, sighing heavily as he took in the large house that he could have sworn was Kale’s. There weren’t that many houses on this road, but…maybe he’d missed the driveway?

“Who are you looking for?” Ashley asked as he forced himself to ignore how badly his hands hurt as he reached down and grabbed his bike.

“It doesn’t matter,” Marc said, only to wince when pain shot through his hands when he grabbed the handlebars.

“How about this?” Ashley asked, gesturing back towards the house. “Why don’t you come inside and we’ll get those cuts cleaned up and call your parents to let them know that you’re safe and see if someone can pick you up so that you don’t have to ride that bike home on ice?”

He opened his mouth to refuse, but for some reason that he couldn’t explain, found himself nodding as he placed his bike off to the side and followed her back to the house, careful of the large bear devouring the bowl of frosting before stepping into a house that was incredibly inviting. It was…perfect. It was filled with warmth and love, the kind of house that he wished they had. He liked living in the mansion, but it reminded him of the compounds. He missed their old house in New Hampshire, missed his grandmother’s cooking, and he missed being normal.

“Why don’t you have a seat, boy-whose-name-I-still-don’t-know,” Ashley said with that warm smile that made it difficult to refuse.

“Marc,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table as he took in the rest of the house and nearly groaned when he smelled something mouthwatering cooking on the stove.

It had been a long time since he had a homecooked meal. He usually grabbed whatever was in the fridge or they did takeout since everyone was busy between taking care of the babies, patrolling, and-

Struggling with his sister’s death.

He really missed Jill.

“Why don’t you call your parents and after you’re done, we’ll clean you up?” Ashley said as she placed a cellphone on the table in front of him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Marc said, shaking his head as he watched her grab a first-aid kit from underneath the kitchen sink.

“Why’s that?” she asked, frowning as he took in her long, golden blonde hair, her green eyes filled with warmth and found himself wondering where he’d seen her before.

“They have enough to deal with,” Marc said, shaking his head as he held out his hands so that she could look at them.

“I don’t want them to worry about you, Marc,” Ashley said as she pulled a small bottle of saline from the kit and some gauze pads and set to work cleaning his hands.

“I doubt they even know that I’m gone,” Marc said, only to add, “My sister died a few months ago and they’re struggling,” at her questioning look.

“I’m sorry, Marc,” Ashley murmured softly as she carefully cleaned the cuts on his knees.

“I miss her,” he found himself admitting, wondering why it was so easy to talk to her.

“I bet she was an amazing sister,” Ashley said as he found himself nodding.

“She was the best,” Marc said hollowly, still having a hard time believing that she was gone.

Jill had always been there for him. He missed everything about her, but he missed her smile the most. He always knew that he would use his ability to change one person into a Pyte on her so that he would never have to lose her, but he never got the chance and now, he never would. He never even got to say goodbye to her.

“Are you hungry?” Ashley asked, giving him the distraction that he needed.

“Yeah,” Marc said, clearing his throat as he forced himself to look away before he did something stupid like cry and-

Was that bear pouting? Marc found himself wondering as he watched the large bear that had scared the hell out of him press his face against the window and…he was definitely pouting.

“What’s the story with the bear?” Marc asked, watching as she grabbed another metal mixing bowl from the fridge and headed to the front door.

“He’s spoiled,” Ashley said with a fond smile as she opened the front door and waited for the bear to steal the bowl and lumber off before she closed it and joined him back in the kitchen.

“He really seems to like frosting,” Marc noted as he watched her make quick work of washing her hands before she scooped what looked like beef stew and dumplings into a large bowl and placed it in front of him along with a loaf of homemade bread and a glass of chocolate milk.

His stomach growled as he took in the large chunks of beef and vegetables. He found himself digging in and groaning. God, this was so good, Marc thought, quickly devouring every last morsel. Before he finished the last bite, she was placing another bowl in front of him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled around a bite of beef stew as he watched her cut the bread and place several slices on a small plate for him.

“You’re very welcome,” Ashley said as she refilled his glass and he found himself wishing that he had some blood to wash this down with, only to frown when he heard the familiar voice growl, “Asshole,” making everything in him go still as he looked back in time to see Kale Quinn walk through the door.

Swallowing hard, Marc shifted his gaze from the large shifter that hated him to find Ashley smiling as Kale made his way towards her. That was followed by Marc frowning in confusion as he watched the shifter that was always glaring, smile as he cupped Ashley’s face as he leaned down and kissed her.

“God, I missed you,” Kale said, brushing his lips against Ashley’s as Marc sat there, shaking his head in disbelief because this was definitely the last thing that he expected to see today.

“Did you remember the ice cream?” Ashley asked with a teasing smile as she plucked the white grocery bag that Marc hadn’t noticed before out of Kale’s hand.

“Yes,” Kale said as he turned his attention to Marc just as his eyes flashed silver in warning.

Marc forced himself to hold that glare when all he wanted to do was run away, but he came here for a reason. Never taking his eyes off the shifter, he grabbed a large slice of bread and took a bite.

Giving Ashley one last kiss, Kale growled, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Be nice,” Ashley said with a stern look that she really couldn’t seem to pull off. She actually reminded him of Jill, except his sister could have pulled off that look. She’d been incredibly kind, but she’d never had a problem putting someone in their place when they needed it. Something about Ashley told him that she was just too freaking nice, which made him wonder what she was doing with Kale because the shifter definitely wasn’t nice.

Which was the reason why he was here, Marc reminded himself.

With a growl that didn’t seem to bother her, Kale sat down across from him, his silver eyes returning to green as they locked on him while Ashley placed a large bowl of beef stew down in front of him. “Thank you, mo ghrá.”

“You’re welcome,” Ashley said, rewarding Kale with a kiss on his cheek that had the shifter’s eyes flashing silver again.

“What are you doing here?” Kale asked, grabbing his spoon and digging in as Marc tried to figure out how to do this only to decide to get it over with.

Taking a deep breath, Marc said, “I want you to kill me.”