Bound by Lies & Fate

Chapter 10: Ashton

I gather my thoughts as I walk back to bat slowly. I can think clearly now about the next course of action – telling Eden about us has lifted weight off my shoulders and I need to be able to start making sure that the land we have isn't taken from us.

That wasn't the way I wanted to tell her. I wanted to take her out into packland and show her. But my wolf lost it knowing that the her in my dreams for years is her, Eden. All the pain I felt, all the moments I wanted to be with her, to comfort her, to make her scream my name, and now she is here, right in front of me. But now she knows, I can focus on other things. There are still plenty of things to tell her, but there are also plenty of things to do now that I know she is here.

Drake will stop at nothing to get to her, to make her take his side. I need to convince her that our side is the right one—not the better one, but the one of her choice. Malcolm is eager to get her trust. It all seems a little bit too much of a coincidence that she is here, to not plan our next moves.

I know Tobias's land is secure, we made sure that it was foolproof. Should any of us die, the land will always remain ours. But Vivian's land has always been in question – and we were working on a game plan when we saw Drake in town. When Vivian left, we didn't know where she was or what was happening, so we took care of the land knowing that one day she might return. Then about 15 years ago we did the house up and I moved into it to watch and make sure that Drake's pack didn't go on the land when he felt like it. Drake got the picture: when we noticed his spies around the house we pushed them back onto Malcolm's land – we haven't seen any spies since. They sometimes come into the bar, hang around town making, pissing on our territory. Even Jax has a had a run in with one of them.

If Drake takes Vivian's land it would mean Drake would own all the businesses that we have built over the years and most of our income would be gone in an instant. Drake has been trying for years to find ways to take it. But Beatrice was thorough with her divides and made sure that everything was foolproof until the day Vivian left town. Now I have learned that she's dead. It guts me, and seeing the pain on Eden's face shows that she was the saint, even to her. Now I have to convince her daughter to trust us, hoping that her choice will be the same.

I wish Tobias was here to give me the advice I needed, but the reality is, if Tobias were here, I wouldn't need to convince her. He always had a way to show people the vision, the way of life that is acceptable. He was the perfect gentleman to everyone and the perfect mentor to me.

I pull out my phone, and ring our lawyer, Simon. "Hi, Ashton", he answers in a tone that means business. He knows me too well. I am not the warm and fuzzy type. I just want to know what is happening with the land and the rezoning that we have been trying to secure.

"Any news for me?"

He laughs. "Always nice to hear from you. Yeah, we might have some headway on it, being that most of the businesses are owned by you. It means that the rezoning can happen. We just need to make sure with some more paperwork and clauses, and we will send this to the council for approval. The council will be the only problem. We need to ensure that you have them all on your side."

"The council won't be a problem". We have already been working with a few council members and getting the buy in that we need.

"Great. You mentioned that the owner is in town."  He continues.

A pang of guilt surges through my body and my wolf is not happy. "Yeah, looks like the previous owner passed away, but her daughter now owns the land." I feel sick saying all this.

"Oh, great! Then ensure that she is on your side as well and then this will hold up. If we can get her to sign over the rights of the land, it might be best we cover all bases in case the council rejects it". I haven't told anyone about my plans with this, only Spencer, and even he is worried that it is risky, but I need to do something.

"Yeah, I might be able to talk to her."

"Great, keep me in the loop."

"Bye." I hang up as soon as I walk into my office. Spencer follows me

I don't bother asking him why he is here. I just tell him straight, "Close the door, that was Simon, they are just going over the rezoning application and he said he could submit it to the council in a few weeks".

Spencer looks at me confused "Boss, look I get why you are doing this, but Eden is in town. Surely you can talk to her and tell her what is happening. She is one of us". I pang of jealous hits me. Not sure why I am worried about Spencer, he would never go there if he knows I want her.

I start to feel the guilt brew inside of me, "Eden..." I can't think about her right now and only the pack, or the guilt takes over, "Eden isn't part of the pack. We need to protect our own."

His face is full of frustration. He knows I am right, but always likes the last word and voice his opinion. He would never do it in front of anyone, but he would make sure that he adds his two cents in when I didn't want to hear it.

"Right, that is why you have Jax watch her all the time. Or maybe it's because you lost it in here. I know she doesn't have much of a wolf smell, but it's faint. She is one of us. She is Tobias's daughter."

I look at him, worried. I don't know Eden's feelings for me, and I don't know if she would turn on us. I want nothing more than for Eden to be part of the pack, to be mine. My wolf demands it, his protectivness echoing in my thoughts. Yet, I can't let my desire for her cloud my judgment when it comes to the pack's well-being. The pack must always come first; Eden will be second to this.

I don't like this, my wolf growls in response. She is my first. She is mine.

"I need to do this; we need to do this. Without Eden's help." I can tell Spencer isn't happy. He wants to say something more, but he refrains.

I call Jax ."Yep?" he answers.

Jax is my protector; he is also an Alpha and would make a great Alpha one day. He, of course, is not interested in taking more responsibility than he has to, which is why he never did it. If I ever wanted something done, Jax is my go-to. Spencer is my reasoning; Jax is my strength. It's what makes us a good threesome, and the respect I have for them will never change.

"Can you call your cop contact in New York and ask him to do a check on Eden for me, last name Beecroft? I want to make sure that I have every detail on her."

I hear him sigh on the phone. "Sure." I can tell he isn't happy about this either, but he knows it is necessary.

I keep telling myself, 'I need to protect the pack. This is for the pack.' But if this is true, why do I feel so sick about it? Every decision I make should be for the good of the pack, yet this gnawing doubt won't leave me. My wolf senses the unease, questioning the path we're on.

The weight of leadership is heavy, and the stakes are higher than ever. I must stay strong, but the cost of every choice haunts me. Knowing I can hurt the one person I've been longing to meet—now that she is here. She might be the person I hurt the most.