"My mother has been brainwashed. She barely remembers she has a son."
"Ashe, come home with us now. We’ll put you up in the beach house soon and you won't have to deal with Marcus."
"Why did he believe that? Why did he set Sali to spy on me?" Ashe gazed levelly into Winkler's nearly black eyes.
"Ashe, you know Marcus was in the military. He dealt with terrorists. He didn't trust anyone from certain tribes or races. I think that has tainted his views on this. I’m not making excuses for him; I’m just explaining things as I see them. He should never have involved Sali in this. I’m sorry that your friendships have soured with Sali and Marco. I think Marco still likes you—very much. You’ll just have to play it by ear with him. And with Sali, too, if that's what you want."
"Mr. Winkler, I don't really know what I want anymore. I want my dad back, but that's not gonna happen."
"Son, I can't do anything about that," Winkler sighed. "I wish I could. Come on, I’ll buy your book and we’ll go to a restaurant down the street for dinner."
"Yeah. I didn't get my burger earlier."
"I heard. Let's go."
* * *
"Did you mean to do this, Dad?" Ashe left another message for his father. "Mom barely recognizes me. I might as well be a distant relative. Thanks for fighting for us." Ashe hung up angrily. When Winkler had gone with him to help explain why he'd been missing, Adele dismissed it lightly, as if nothing had happened and her son hadn't been away from everyone for hours. Winkler asked Adele if he could put Ashe up at his house again. Adele agreed readily, as if that were perfectly normal and acceptable. "I’ll have breakfast ready for you and the others tomorrow morning," she promised as Ashe walked out of the house with Winkler, Trace and Trajan.
Ignoring the upheaval in his life, Ashe spent the rest of the evening doing laundry and reading his new book. He barely glanced at the GED study guides in his makeshift office and bedroom. All his new clothes were clean and hung inside the small closet when he went to bed.
* * *
Nathan was patrolling the community with Edmond when his cell vibrated. Aedan's number appeared on the screen. "Aedan?" Nathan's question was in his father's name.
"Child, I may have made a mistake," Aedan said quietly. "Are you alone?"
"No, father."
"This conversation needs to be held in private."
"Sorry, Edmond," Nathan walked away from the other vampire. "Father, I am near the ocean and am away from the others, now. What mistake?"
"I placed compulsion on Adele before she left, as you likely know. Ashe left a message earlier, saying she barely recognized him. I was too zealous in my instructions, I think."
"What did you tell her?"
"To forget me and what we had together."
"And that includes Ashe."
"Yes. I see that now."
"Father, I cannot undo your compulsion. And layering more compulsion over yours may cause damage."
"I know that, Nathan. I know not what to do. My boy is suffering as a result of my stupidity and haste to do the deed."
"There was a problem earlier," Nathan ventured to say. "Marcus has Sali spying on Ashe because he distrusts the boy. His worries are baseless, but he now suspects anyone with ties to the Elemaiya. He thinks of Ashe as one of them and set his own son to spy on Ashe and bring any new information to him. I hear there was quite a meeting between Marcus, Winkler and the Grand Master, who was teleconferencing. And all this while Ashe was missing for hours."
Aedan cursed. "Did they find him?"
"Eventually, yes. When Winkler went with him to explain why he'd gone missing, Adele treated the whole thing lightly. Casimir was listening from outside and heard what was said. He says it wasn't the way any normal mother would act when her son was lost or missing. She then blithely allowed Ashe to go home with Winkler to stay."
"Casimir is there?"
"Yes, father. Casimir is here."
"Wlodek is determined to take my son."
"It looks that way."
"Nathan?"
"Yes, father?"
"You will give no information to any other vampire concerning my son. I command it."
"Yes, father."
* * *
Ashe didn't speak to Sali or Marco when they came to the exercise room to work out Saturday morning. Cori, Dori and Wynn came, too. The girls worked out with Ace, who was quite patient with them. Ashe caught the white werewolf smiling now and then as he instructed Wynn. Trajan watched over Ashe; Trace worked with Marco and Sali.
* * *
Ashe ran ahead of the others on the beach later so he wouldn't be forced to acknowledge the DeLuca brothers. Cori ignored Marco as well. Ashe found a perverse sort of satisfaction from that. Marco cornered Ashe later in his office and Ashe didn't think he could just throw Marco out without getting into a huge fight. Marco settled on Ashe's guest chair with a sigh.
"Ashe, hear me out first and then decide whether you hate me or not," Marco said. "First off, I’m sorry. I know it's a betrayal of sorts, and that's what bothers me so much. I owe you. Just like Sali and Winkler and the others owe you. At least I remember that I owe you. Most of the others don't, so you have to overlook that. I'd give anything to go back to the place where this hadn't happened yet. Things might have been different, Ashe, if I'd known Dad was involved. We're not speaking right now, Dad and I. That doesn't make me feel good because I care about my parents. Like I know you care about yours. All I can do is apologize and tell you not to let anything slip. Ever again. Cori says she won't come back to me until I make things right with you. But that's not the only reason I’m here. I want things to be right between us, Ashe. I think of you as a friend. A good friend."
"People have a funny way of showing friendship around here," Ashe muttered, tapping on his computer. He was taking a practice exam online for the GED.
"They call it the Fraternity of the Wolf," Marco admitted. "The blood of the race binding one werewolf to another. It's the ritual all young werewolves go through when we run with the Pack the first time and swear the oaths to our Packmaster."
"I guess Obediah and Zeke Tanner forgot those parts," Ashe observed dryly.
"Ashe, you know that every race has its outlaws. The Tanners were werewolf outlaws. Well, Zeke is still out there, so he can cause more trouble after he recovers from the loss of most of his wolves."