Chapter Nineteen

I had expected to come down and assert my place beside Sterling. I had expected to see a tall female with the bearing of someone with Alpha blood. I had not expected the forlorn, tiny, young female who looked no older than eighteen standing beside her father. I hadn't expected the sheer feeling of sympathy I felt for what appeared to be a lost child. I honestly felt a bit off kilter at the feelings that were bombarding me as I looked at her, as I took her in. She looked in desperate need of a hug and my arms ached to be wrapped around her because she looked simply lost.

Sterling had been right, she wasn't classically pretty. That did not mean she wasn't. It just meant she wasn't something you would expect for a shifter. Her eyes were a bit wide-set, her nose was a bit too long and sharp looking, and her lips were a bit thin but the combination was interesting, not a standard pretty but interesting. Her main feature was her hair. All of it. I felt my eyes widen as I took it all in. A fiery halo surrounding her head and shoulders. Flashes of orange, red, scarlet and auburn were in the strands of curls that surrounded her.

Her skin was overly pale, almost like skim milk but that did not seem to be natural as her watery blue eyes looked between Sterling and I. She looked like all of her hope had been crushed, like her inner flame was being snuffed out. Her hopes and dreams had crashed down to earth. I felt a pang of self-loathing at the thought I had been upset at the idea that she would take Sterling away. All I could see was a young female desperate to escape her situation not a female wishing to find a mate.

With her unnatural paleness, I could see the hastily covered up bruises on her face. She was a shifter, I could see it within her, so I could only surmise that the bruises were not her only injury or that they were fresh. Her eyes went from me to dart up to her father and I could see her clear fear and apprehension of the male who had helped create her. I could practically smell it underneath her cloying flowery perfume that I was certain her father had sprayed on her to hide the thick and sour scent of fear that no doubt clung to her skin. It was strong enough that I could smell it and that was saying something. I saw it all and I felt an intense disgust. I didn't know who the male was, what pack he ran but the fact he had done something so heinous to his own child made me wish for my claws back so I could hear out his eyes.

"What's your name?" I kept my focus on her and my voice lowered an octave, turning to a soft cajoling. She glanced between me and Sterling before staring at her worn flats. Her hair creating a curtain between her and the world around her. Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and I could see his knuckles turning white as he gripped her tightly. The grip would be one that left bruises and I felt myself stiffen, trying to pull away from Sterling to stop it. He held me tightly, as if sensing my sudden murderous urge.

"This is Ainsley. My youngest daughter." The Alpha said it carefully and I flicked my gaze to him, letting my lip curl up in clear disgust. I refused to hide my feelings for the male, for his treatment of his daughter.

"I don't believe I was asking you." I tried to keep my tone civil but I couldn't help but grind my teeth together in agitation. "I was asking your daughter." I flicked my gaze back to the red haired young female. Her father pulled his hand away and I took in the red marks his fingers had left on her rather pale skin.

"Go on, girl." His voice was hard and I watched as she shifted on her pale legs nervously. She gave a small cough and glanced up at me before returning her gaze to the ground.

"Ainsley. My name is Ainsley." Her voice was silvery but low and quiet as she kept glancing up at her father. It was hard to see her as anything but a timid child. A scared, timid child.

"Hello, Ainsley. My name's Pisică." I said it as softly as I could. She stared at the ground as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Don't be rude, Ainsley." Her father shifted and she flinched away from him. It wasn't a large flinch but I could still see it, it was still there. From the back of my mind my wolf growled weakly, faintly, in anger. Even she did not appreciate the meaning behind the slight shying away.

"Hi." She glanced up at me again before her eyes shifted to land on her father. I could read the slight fear she held in her eyes and I tightened my grip on Sterling's hand, needing something to ground me before I attempted to kill the Alpha

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Ainsley." I glanced towards the Alpha and his eyes were narrowed at me in such a way that I knew my wolf would have had her hackles raised all the way to the tip of her tail. I locked my gaze with his, daring him to do something with his rather apparent displeasure. Sterling tightened his grip on me and I sniffled lightly. My head felt marginally better than it had before I had visited the doctor but it was still had a bit of a stuffy feeling. "Ainsley, why don't I show you around? Leave them to their... business." All the revulsion, anger, and disgust I felt for her father coat every letter of the word, letting him feel the force of it in my voice.

"Pisică." Sterling's voice was sharp and I turned to look at him he was grinding his teeth and his tone said everything he hadn't. He didn't want me leaving his sight, his protection. His fingers were digging almost unpleasantly into my side and I pulled against his hand slightly, letting him know to ease off.

"We will take Michael and you can send someone else if you like." I said it quietly and I watched him grind his teeth together. His jaw muscles ticked rapidly at the motion. "I don't want her near him." I said it under my breath and he relaxed, his fingers loosening on my side and I leaned away from him slightly.

"That sounds like a lovely idea, Pisică. Michael will come with you and I will get Sean to join you as well." He said it pleasantly and I nodded in agreement. I hadn't seen Jackass in a while. "Perhaps she would like the fresh air after the long car ride. You don't mind, do you, Alpha Marti?" It was phrased as a question but I felt a bit smug knowing that there was no question. He was not asking permission, he was informing the douche of an Alpha that it was what was going to happen.

"Ainsley would most likely like the fresh air." The Alpha tilted his head up and I stared at him intently, blatantly challenging his authority. I could almost feel Sterling's amusement with the small pettiness. The Alpha narrowed his eyes at me before looking at Sterling. "Perhaps I could send some guards with-"

"Oh no need. There will be plenty of your pack members around. I highly doubt anything will happen to her with so many of them about. Just let them know to keep an eye out for her." His shut down was so impressive I nearly wanted to clap. There was no room for argument in his words and I let his hand go and stepped towards Ainsley. She was swirling the toe of her shoe in the gravel. Sterling's hand lingered on my side for a moment longer before he let it drop. I repressed a shiver of pleasure from the action. "Michael, please keep an eye on the two lovely ladies." Instantly Michael was by my side, he was eyeing the Alpha with a rather large amount of menace as I covered the rest of the ground between Ainsley and I.

Once I reached her I held out my elbow. "Let's get away from the boring business talk." I watched as she shifted forwards a bit before she faltered, turning her head to look at her father, as if waiting for his reaction. I didn't miss the faint sneer on his mouth as he looked at her.

"Don't be rude." The Alpha's voice was a hiss and Michael growled low in his throat. I smirked at the Alpha before grabbing Ainsley's hand and looping it through my elbow, practically dragging her away.

"So this is Fortis territory. As you can see we have lots of forests, good for shifting and running and hiding from mundies." I spoke loudly as we walked further away from the group. Michael walked beside me, closer than was necessary but I figured he could sense the glare that the Alpha was sending my way. "There's a small glacial river that runs through the territory and a nice little village where most of the pack lives." I lead her down the path towards the village. I had only been there a few times but that had been with Gamgam or Mike and Ezekiel. I tended to avoid it because of the pack but also because of a certain male named Ian who didn't like taking no for an answer. The dude was really starting to bother me with that bullshit.

"They don't live in the pack house." She sounded a bit surprised at the news and I shrugged.

"Far as I can tell? Nope." I glanced over my shoulder and could see the distance we had placed between us and her father. She followed suit and I felt her stiffen before she tried to take her arm out from mine. I held hers tightly, refusing to let her go. "Who dressed you? Looks like a colour blind monkey picked it out. First off, it's way too big and secondly, red-heads shouldn't wear that shade of red." I stared at the dress and glanced at her face as it turned beat red. I winced when I realized how that sounded. Mike nipped at my pants in warning and I resisted the urge to kick him.

"I wasn't trying to take your mate. I wasn't. I just-" She said it softly, and a tad wetly as if she were going to cry. I stared at her with wide eyes. I wasn't exactly sure how to handle tears. I could barely handle my own tears let alone someone else's. I watched as she stared at the ground as we walked, trying to make herself look smaller.

"First of all, that came out way more bitchy than I wanted it too." I muttered it out and Michael nipped at my pants again and I didn't resist the urge and shot my leg out in his direction. He side stepped it easily and I glared over at him. "And secondly, I know you aren't trying to take my mate."

"It's just- wait, what?" She looked up at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Please, just look at you." I gestured and her face went nearly as red as her hair once more and I realized just how badly the words sounded. "Not like that! Not like that. I did not mean it like that." I waved my hand in a panic. That had come out completely wrong and my face flared hotly with embarrassment.

"I know what you meant." She said it softly and I covered my burning face with my hand. That was embarrassing. I hadn't meant to say it like that at all. I was positive that my cold was messing with my brain, not letting me think my words through before I said them.

"Fuck, I meant that you are way too shy and timid to try and take anyone as a mate. Not that you aren't pretty enough." I coughed suddenly and Michael whined as I leaned over, coughing into my arm. I stood up, inhaling deeply as the coughing fit ended.

"Are you okay?" She sounded concerned and I waved her off. The cough was fine. I just wished I had a bottle of water with me to soothe some of the burn the coughing caused. The meds that the doctor had given me had helped in muffling a good portion of my symptoms. Something I was grateful for, despite his attempted poisoning after the fact.

"I have a cold." I shrugged before continuing to drag her down the path. I wondered if Jack had been informed to watch us and I half wondered if he was creeping in the trees. I wouldn't have put it past him to do that.

"A cold." She said it slowly and watched as she gave me a look that told me how crazy she thought I was. She dug her feet in and I stopped to look at her.

"Yah." I nodded slowly and she looked me up and down for a moment.

"We don't get colds." She tried to tug her arm from mine again and I grabbed her wrist tightly, holding her in place. I was half afraid that if I let her go she would bolt back to her prick of a father.

"I'm basically a mundie. My wolf is kind of, pretty much, nearly dead." I watched as her face went red. Her eyes went wide and I almost wanted to smirk before I started pulling her down the path again.

"I'm sorry. I should have smelled that." Her voice sounded like it should have come from a mouse rather than a shifter and I shrugged again, unwilling to let her wrist go as she subtly tugged against my grip.

"I'm surprised you can smell anything with that fucking perfume on." It was really kind of over powering if I could partially smell it with my blocked nostrils.

"I like-"

"Don't give me that bullshit. You like that perfume like you like that dress and the make-up that is covering those bruises." I scoffed, my anger slipping into the words. It was very hard not to go back there and end her father's child making career with one well placed kick. A male like that didn't deserve children.

"I'm clumsy." Her voice was a whisper and she tugged against my grip once more.

I sneered as I yanked her forwards. The urge to go back and hurt her father was getting nearly oppressive. "When I trip I always catch myself with my face too." I spat the words out before I stopped. She stumbled slightly at the sudden stop and she looked up at me in slight shock. "When did he start hitting you?" I stared at her intently and she shook her head, letting her hair fall around her face as she looked at the ground.

"It's not li-"

"Yes it is. When?" I stared at her, holding her wrist tightly, not to the point of pain but enough to let her know I wasn't letting her go no matter how she tugged.

"After I turned sixteen." The words were a hushed whisper as if she didn't truly want to say it out loud, like she was ashamed of it. That thought even made my wolf bristle. I could feel her in her in the back of my head, weak but angry for the small shifter.

"How old are you now?" I asked it carefully, my tone softer than before. There was no use in terrifying her more than she already was.

"Nineteen." That was surprising. She barely looked seventeen, let alone adding two years to that. It was a little disconcerting having an adult standing in front of me that looked like a young teenager.

"Three fucking years of him hitting you?" I gritted my teeth and even Mike bristled at it. I wasn't sure if he was picking up on my mood or if he simply didn't like the fact the shit Alpha had abused his child for three years.

"He's never really liked me." She whispered it and my eyes went wide and my mouth dropped open. The only way that she would have known that was if the male himself had told her and I was entirely certain that he was enough of an utter douche rocket to actually tell his child that.

"Why the hell not?" I couldn't help the near snarl that escaped with the words. There was literally no reason for a parent to actively hate on their child. Absolutely none.

I watched as her face paled and she looked at the ground. "Because I killed my mother."

At her words I scoffed. There was no way she would be able to kill much of anything let alone a full grown shifter. "You don't look like you could kill anything, to be honest with you."

"She died during my birth." Her voice cracked and I grimaced in disgust. I never understood those that blamed their child for the death of their mates if the female died in childbirth. Shit could happen. I knew it did but an infant was not to blame for medical malpractice or just sheer dumb luck.

"Are you fucking kidding me? If anyone is responsible for her death it would be that shit stain you call a father. He's the one who knocked her up in the first place. However people die during childbirth all the time. It happens. No reason to slap you around because of it." That was the truth. There was absolutely no reason for her father's behaviour. The vile, disgusting male that he was.

Ainsley sniffled and wiped at her eyes, hiding behind her hair once more. "I'm not pretty." She seemed to almost choke on the words and I stared at her, taking in her form.

"Not classically."

"What does that mean?" She glanced up at me and I tilted my head as I looked her over.

I assessed her form and her face. "It means when I look at you I don't see a classic beauty. I see something interesting. Something worth looking at." I shrugged. It was true. Her face wasn't grotesque or ugly, it was interesting and it was unique. True she looked like her father but honestly the face fit her better than it did him. "It's unique and I'm pretty sure some people would prefer unique to cookie cutter pretty." A person could only take so many perfectly pretty faces before they would grow tired of it. They would view the beauty as commonplace and easy to overlook. Ainsley would find someone who found themselves feeling like that and they would cherish her because she was different.

"I've been rejected four times." She sniffled and wiped at her slightly red eyes and I gave a small sigh. I knew rejection hurt and at her age it would have been a huge blow to her ego but it was survivable.

"And I've got twenty five rejections on top of yours." I watched as her eyes bulged out and her mouth dropped open in shock before she started sputtering.

"But-but you're beautiful." She looked completely floored at the thought of someone rejecting me and I almost wanted to laugh. Life wasn't black and white, when she grew older she would learn to see more shades of grey.

"I'm weak. Most Alphas only care about power and without a full connection to my wolf, I'm not worth anything. Beauty doesn't matter. Not when it comes to power." I tilted my head and she frowned in utter confusion. I preferred confusion to her tears. I gently tugged on her arm and we started walking again.

"I don't understand." She stared at me as if I had all the answers of the universe and it was making me very uncomfortable.

"You don't have to. Given a choice between me and you, an Alpha would choose you because you are more powerful." That much was the truth. Alphas coveted power over looks a good part of the time. A stronger mate meant a stronger future generation. Most Alphas would choose the stronger future.

"Alpha Sterling chose you." She said it with an almost adorable sort of bewilderment and I sighed. Then there was Sterling. He did not abide by rules or traditions. The male did as he wanted.

"Yah, well Dickhead is a weirdo." I rolled my eyes and a small silence fell before Ainsley coughed lightly.

"You call him dickhead...?" She sounded confused and slight disturbed and I internally groaned. I had known I needed to stop blurting it out but it was habit now.

"Yah." I nodded and tried not to laugh. People either thought it was funny, were insulted, or confused and disturbed. I honestly enjoyed all the reactions I got from it. True most people found it amusing but still. It was my own little inside joke.

"Why?" She asked it hesitantly and I shrugged before slowly letting her wrist go. I was fairly certain she wasn't going to bolt on me like a startled deer.

"Cause he acts like a dickhead." It was kind of blunt but when it was true, it was true. Sterling had his moments of acting like a dickhead, like the sexual conversation that he had forced onto me the day my grandfather called. That had been a total dickhead move. "So why did he hit you?" I motioned to her face and she bowed her head, hiding behind her hair once more.

"I asked a question out of turn." Her voice was back to being soft and timid and I resisted the urge to groan at it. She was doing well but I knew that some habits were hard to break. "He's not really all that bad." At that I did groan out loud.

"Don't make excuses for him. It just makes you look pathetic." I didn't want to listen to her talk about how he was a good father, how he wasn't that bad because he was 'that bad'. There was no excusing the hastily covered up bruises and the rather poorly hidden disdain he had for his youngest daughter.

"I am pathetic." She looked so much like the word that I was hard pressed to disagree with her but she was the daughter of an Alpha. She should have had some pride, some gumption. Some initiative in not making herself look like a timid mouse instead of a fearsome wolf.

"You know what? Yes you are. You are pathetic for letting him hide your fear by dousing you in perfume and letting him slather make-up over your face so he can hide the evidence of his shame." That much I was absolutely certain of. Her father was ashamed of his actions. He was ashamed of his treatment of his abuse of Ainsley and she was shaming her very blood by letting him hide it.

"He's not ashamed by it." She stated it as firmly as her shy little voice would let her.

"Then why does he hide it, Ainsely? If he wasn't ashamed he would have let you wear them openly but instead he tries to cover it up. That's shame." I watched as she opened her mouth then closed, it looking a bit lost for words. I stopped her before letting her arm go and grabbing the hem of my shirt. "Here. Let everyone see his shame." I brought my shirt up and gently wiped at the make-up. It came off easy and I tried my hardest not to press hard on the bruises. Without the make-up I could see just how far the marred skin extended.

The bruise under her eye extended down to the top of her cheekbone and up around to the tip of her eyebrow. While the bruise on her other cheek was a wide and thick bruise that I could almost see knuckle prints in. He had punched her. That was not a mark of a slap. That was a full force punch of an Alpha Male. I bit back a snarl as I moved to the bruise on her chin. It was just as large as the others and I swallowed my rage as the bruises became a stark contrast to her rather pale skin.

Her father's hits were violent and from the colouring they were either hours old or days if she wasn't eating properly and from her size I would have guessed they never really fed her much of anything. The abuse would only escalate. If he was punching her with his full force behind it then it wouldn't be long before his hits became deadly.

"Mike, I want to keep her." As soon as the words came out I knew I would do everything in my power to make sure she never left with her father. If I hadn't stumbled into Fortis territory, I knew Sterling would have taken her in just to save her from her father and I wasn't about to stand in the way of that. I knew that if she left with her father there was a high possibility of him killing her in a demented rage. I didn't want that burden on my conscience.

"What?" She jerked away from me in surprise and I stared at her intently, taking in her the state of the bruises and how thin she looked, how small she was. With good meals and some training she would make her blood proud. My mother had trained me hard and vigorously and that was something I would do for her.

"If you think I'm going to let you go back with that-that-" I struggled for a word and Mike gave a snarling bark and I pointed at him. It wasn't a word but it summed up my feelings quite well. "Exactly. Thank you, Michael. Then you are fucking insane." I glowered at her darkly. I wasn't so much of a monster to do that to her. True she came because her father was trying to use her for his own gain, trying to set up a mating but that was him. That was not her.

"I don't-"

"Listen. He came here with the intention of fucking leaving you." I watched as she dropped her gaze to the ground, trying to hide her face again. I grasped her chin gently and lifted it so I could look into her eyes. "If it's not here, it will be somewhere far worse. I would like a companion and your father wants an alliance. He can leave you here as an Ambassador or whatever." I waved my other hand flippantly. They were minor details that Sterling and I could figure out later. The main concern was not letting Ainsley leave with him in any way shape or form.

"He would never give me that sort of power." She mumbled it and I didn't doubt that he wouldn't but there was no way I was going to let him weasel her out of my claws. He wanted to dump her off, I would make sure Fortis took her in, even if I had to pry open his cold dead hands to get her and I was all for doing it that route. Any male who struck someone child out of a demented sort of misplaced anger deserved death in my eyes.

"Sterling will convince him otherwise." Something was telling me that Sterling wasn't as weak as he seemed. I had seen how Alpha Shitstain had avoided his gaze, something about Sterling had unsettled him and I would make sure that was used to his advantage. "Besides I have already stated you will stay so everything else is minor details. Essentially you have been kidnapped." It was the closest word I could think of for the situation. She was in my possession and I was not letting her go. I frowned. Stolen might have worked a little better because kidnapped implied she could be returned and I wasn't too keen on that idea.

"Pardon?" She sounded half horrified and half shocked and I rolled my eyes. I honestly thought she would have been happy about my insistence of her not leaving with her father.

"Kidnapped or stolen. Which ever you prefer." I turned my head to look at her and she gaped at me and I was almost reminded of a fish. "I have taken you from your father with no plans of returning you." I increased my pace and she stumbled slightly before quickly matching my pace.

"You can't jus-"

"Do you want to go back?" I hissed the words out as I looked down the path. I could see the village a little further away and was glad for it.

"No!" The word practically exploded from her mouth and I smirked slightly. That was my answer. She was merely arguing semantics with me.

"Then you have been officially kidnapped or stolen, which ever word choice you prefer. I mean technically stolen is a better word because kidnapped implies there is a chance you will be returned to your father and I have no want to wish to do such a thing. So stolen kinda works better." The village was growing closer and I became aware of the sounds of loud excited shouting from behind me and Ainsley. Mike growled low in his throat before he dropped back to walk behind us. "First thing we are doing in the village is going to the nearest clothing stash and getting you a different set of clothes. I'm no fashion expert but I can't stand you in that dress." It was terrible. I was one of the first to wear baggy sweaters and pants but a dress that was numerous sizes two big and drooped in the chest area because she definitely didn't fill it out, was not something even I would wear.

"It's my sister's. She gave it to me to wear today." Ainsley looked down at the dress and I curled my lip up slightly. That explained the rather worn look the dress had. Some of the seams looked a little frayed and there were a few stains around the bottom hem. Not entirely noticeable but they were there in the right lighting.

"She doesn't like you much, does she?" It was a completely rhetorical question. It was clear that there was no love lost between her sister and her because I am fairly positive that if I cared for my sister I wouldn't have dressed her like that.

"How did you know?" She sounded surprised and I let out a small chuckle. She wasn't completely attuned to the finer points of sarcasm and rhetorical questions.

"Lucky guess." I smiled at her, her slight naive innocence was almost endearing. I turned my gaze back to the path, the village was closer. I could see a few shifters milling around the dirt road between the two rows of houses. They smiled at us as spotted us and several waved. A small female hurried over and I waved. "Hey, Sanny."

"How are you, Shey?" She smiled at me brightly, despite the slightly haggard look on her face. I could still see the grief that hung off of her.

I nodded at her, keeping a smile on my face. "I'm good."

"Who's this?" She smiled at Ainsley in a curious manner, her face going slightly hard as she spotted the bruises that marred Ainsley's pale skin and glanced at me for an answer. Ainsley sidled closer to me and I could feel her rather cloying shyness. It was obvious she wasn't actually allowed to deal with others.

"This is Ainsley. She will be staying with us for awhile." I said it as pleasantly as I could and Ainsley clung onto my arm, her fingers digging into my skin.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ainsley. Are you from Fors? I heard that they had arrived today for mate requisition." Sanny's eyebrows raised slightly. Even she had caught onto the rather abrupt arrival of the Fors pack for the mate requisition. She glanced between me and Ainsley and raised an eyebrow. The silent question obvious. Was her abuse from them? And I gave a small nod.

"Yes, ma'am." Ainsley's voice was practically tiny and Sanny rolled her eyes slightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh dear, call me Sanny. Ma'am makes me feel ancient." Sanny gave a small chirp of laughter before she looked over my shoulder. A rather devilish smirk crossing her face. "Well there they are now. A fine group of specimens, if I do say so myself." I gave her a flat look and she waved me off as she looked around me with her smirk turning into a smile. "Oh, don' give me that look. It's my right to eye up the limited edition muscled males that will be tromping down the streets." She winked at me and I couldn't help the small laugh that I gave.

I coughed heavily into my arm and Sanny gave me a slightly worried look and I waved her off. "It's just a cold. Nothing to be too concerned about." I glanced at Ainsley who was once again staring at her feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "Where is the nearest clothing stash? Ainsley needs something that fits her a bit better." I gestured to the dress and Sanny glanced at me quickly before her gaze returned to the hollering shifters that were arriving at the village.

"Oh, that would be my porch. Just right there." She pointed to a cheerful yellow house and I nodded at her before dragging Ainsley towards it. I resisted the urge to glance at the rowdy group of males. Mike growled low in his throat, he wasn't impressed with the males that had suddenly flooded the village. I started up the stairs and caught sight of the dresser on Sanny's front porch. I dropped Ainsley's arm and quickly reached the dresser, yanking the drawers open. I tried to guess her size as I yanked out the smallest pair of jeans.

I lifted them up and narrowed my eyes at them. They were skinny jeans but they looked like her size, however I knew they would most likely be too big. "Put those on. They will be a bit big but better than the dress." I tossed the jeans over my shoulder as I started to dig around the dresser for a shirt but all of them were too big. I grabbed a smallish black one that I knew would be too large on her anyway. It was a rather worn band t-shirt. "Well this is definitely too large as well but it will have to do." I whirled around and threw the shirt at her. She caught it with a small eep, her blue eyes wide. I crossed my arms over my chest and sniffled. I glanced into the dirt street, various men were wandering around, none of them were Fortis and I looked back towards Ainsley who was gripping the bottom of her dress, getting ready to pull it over her head.

"That's right, Ainsley, take it off!" At the holler and the hoots that followed my eyes snapped to a group of younger males and my lip curled slightly at them. None of them were from Fortis.