Free Wolf's Bane (Shifted) by Lynn Leite Page A

to bed. Get some rest.”
    “I will . Don’t stay up too late. You need rest too.”
    “I’ll be fine,” Bryce grinned . There was no way he was getting much sleep with Ashley upstairs so close to him.
    Bryce had a suite of rooms at the pack house that Drew had insisted he use when he first asked Bryce to train to take over. Now he wished he had a home to go to. Being so close, unable to take her was going to drive him crazy. He was tempted to make the announcement to the others. Even if this was neither the time, nor the place, to make such a happy declaration.
    He wanted the news to be met with the same joy he felt in his heart , not be over shadowed by plans to rid them of the Bane problem. Tomorrow, he would discuss staying with her. This would be his last night alone in his bed. If she wasn’t ready for more, he would understand, but his mate was going to sleep beside him.
    Ashley made her excuses . No one questioned her need for rest. With all the crying she had done earlier, she had to look like a mess.
    “Ashley?” Jane , Bryce’s mother, called as she started down the hallway after saying her goodnights.
    “ Yes, Mrs. Woodland?”
    “Jane , please, or better yet, Mom. I know the men don’t see it, but I do. You are a welcome addition to the family.”
    “How could you tell?”
    “ A woman knows. The men, they don’t pay attention to such things. I’ve seen the same look my son wears when he looks at you before. Lars still looks at me that way from time to time.”
    “ I’m sorry I’ve put your family in the path of danger.”
    “Now stop that. This is in no way your fault. My boys are very capable of defending themselves as well as others. Bryce would die for you.”
    “ That’s what I’m afraid of.”
    “You can’t live in fear, Ashley. Fear only cripples you. It doesn’t really solve the problem. You need to be cautious and aware, be smart about your decisions, but don’t be afraid to act. It is my understanding that Bane is coming for you whether you are here or somewhere else, whether you are my son’s mate or not.  Do you think for a second that, if you weren’t Bryce’s mate, he would act any differently… that any of my sons - who have no idea you’re Bryce’s mate – would let Bane get away with taking you back?”
    “No , I don’t suppose they would.”
    Ashl ey saw in Jane a strength that would have been doused if she had been raised Bane. This woman was strong. Her sons respected her. As they had spoken earlier, she saw that both Lars and Uncle Drew listened and valued her input. For so long, she had been trapped in a pack where woman were seen and not heard. Her home life had been the only exception to the oppression women in the pack experienced every day. Regardless of what happened to her, freeing those women, showing them there was a different way, was even more important to her now that she had met Lexi, Faith, Gwen Cheveyo, and her new mother-in-law, Jane Woodland. She knew that Bane had to go.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    12
    It was a little after midnight when the plans for the next few days were finalized. Bryce would escort Ashley to the lake house. To whoever followed them, it would look as if Bryce was her only guard?
    Bryce’s brothers would already be at the house waiting. If Bane ’s men decided to make their move on the house, Ashley would be more than protected. Maverick had been called and agreed to be on standby in case his men were needed. Bane wouldn’t expect the Cheveyo’s men; he would have only factored the Reiner troops into whatever plan he had.
    Exhaustion wa s setting in. This one day had held a lifetime of events. Bryce needed to sleep if he was going be his best while traveling. He doubted that Bane’s men would make a move while they were on the road, but it would be the time they were most vulnerable.
    Bryce blindly headed straight for the bathroom once he entered his