Redeemed Read Online Free Page A

Friday night. She agreed to attend Josh’s dinner party, but it didn’t change the fact that nerves ate her from the inside out. She didn’t want to become a recluse, but it took great courage to go out, especially at night, while Damon was still on the loose.
    Granted, he might never be found, and there was always the chance he wasn’t interested in Ashley anymore. After all, she hadn’t been the perfect mate to him. She’d been less than docile and hadn’t managed to bear him any offspring. If she was lucky, he’d moved on and given up on her.
    But, if she wasn’t lucky…
    She wiped her palms on her skirt as she handed Samantha her coat. The house smelled of Italian food. Simmering meat sauce filled her senses and made her stomach growl.
    She smiled at her newest friend, Samantha, as the woman hugged her. Bless the woman for all she’d done to befriend Ashley in the last six months.
    “I’m so glad you came,” Samantha said. She set a hand on top of one of Ashley’s and squeezed. “Relax and enjoy. No one is going to get into this house without our knowledge.” She glanced behind Ashley toward the front door. “Did your parents drop you off?”
    “Yes.” Fundamentally, Ashley knew she was safe here. But anxiety had a way of overruling one’s common sense. Dr. Parman had been more than willing to prescribe something for the anxiety, but after taking such strange mind-altering drugs for four years, Ashley couldn’t bear to put something foreign into her system, even if her sanity was at stake.
    No one quite knew what Damon had given her. It seemed to have completely left her body given time and there didn’t appear to have been any long-term repercussions, but the substance remained a mystery. A vial of her blood was being studied at a lab run by shifters in Boston, but so far any inquiry about the drug had turned up nothing. No other pack around the United States had heard of anything like it.
    Ashley smiled at Samantha. She appreciated the woman more than words could express, but she couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat.
    “Come on. Let me introduce you to everyone. They’re all milling around in the kitchen, hoping to grab a bite before it’s even fully cooked.” Samantha took Ashley’s hand and tugged, luring her into the noisy gathering of shifters.
    At the door, Samantha cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone, this is Ashley, Josh’s sister.”
    The bright kitchen was filled with laughter and light. The appliances shown with their steel surfaces and the granite counter reflected the lighting to make the room inviting and warm.
    Samantha pointed toward the first person on the right as she began her introductions. “Ashley, that’s my brother Gabriel and his mate, Kathleen. Next to Kathleen is her sister, McKenzie, and her mate, Drake. The four of them are here on vacation for the week. They’ve never been to St. Louis and we haven’t all been together since everyone mated. So, it’s wild and crazy. Don’t let their volume scare you.” Samantha smiled warmly again and squeezed Ashley’s arm.
    “Nice to meet you all.” Ashley looked around the room at the perfectly normal shifters. She envied them their carefree lives, but she needed to get past the sensation that she’d missed out on four years and make the most of the rest of her life.
    The men bustled from the room when Josh bellowed something from the living room about football. Samantha excused herself for a moment, and Ashley was left with the two new women, Kathleen and McKenzie.
    “Please, call me Kenzie.” The woman on the left lifted her hand to greet Ashley.
    Ashley smiled as she shook her hand and then Kathleen’s. “Where do you live? Did you travel far?”
    Kathleen spoke next. “Gabriel and I live in Houston. He’s a doctor there.” She thumbed toward Kenzie. “Kenzie and Drake live on a ranch in northwest Texas. We haven’t seen each other since we both mated at The Gathering