Forged in Ash Read Online Free PDF

shock. She’d known that last assignment had gone south. Two of Aiden’s teammates had flown home in body bags. It hadn’t occurred to her that Wolf had prevented Aiden from the same fate.
    “I don’t know why I’m surprised he’s on some kind of covert team. He told us he had enemies who would use us against him. That’s why he wanted to keep our relationship secret. What team was it?”
    “Not any branch I’ve seen. They were Arapaho. Or at least they were speaking Arapaho.” He paused, the silence just hanging there. “Like I said, he’s piped in.”
    So Wolf was serving his country. It didn’t surprise her. Wolf was their father’s son, just as Aiden was. It made sense he’d have the same sense of duty, honor, and warrior capabilities as the rest of the men in her life.
    Sadness swept through her. If only Wolf had reached out earlier, before their father’s death. It hurt to think of how much her father had lost by cutting himself off from his heritage. He’d lost the chance to connect with his eldest son, a son he would have loved as much as he’d loved her and Aiden.
    She shook the regret aside. “Who do you think he works for?”
    Tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear, she opened the freezer and grabbed the tub of ice cream. She pried off the top and peered inside. Not much consolation in there.
    “No idea. But he called the shots and, damn, his team kicked ass.”
    His Arapaho team.
    Kait’s gaze narrowed in thought. Before the Northern Arapaho had been forced onto the Wind River reservation, they’d been a high plains tribe with a strong warrior society. Many of the modern Arapaho people still possessed those warrior inclinations.
    Like her father and brothers.
    “I’m thinking of visiting Wind River,” Kait said tentatively. She already knew how her brother would react. He’d picked up their father’s bias years ago.
    “The reservation?” Aiden’s voice rose in surprise. “Why the hell would you want to go there?”
    “Because they’re our people. Because it’s our Arapaho blood that carries our gifts. We have relatives there. Aren’t you even curious?”
    She’d been curious for years, particularly after her healing ability had manifested itself. But her father had reacted with such anger when she’d asked about his family or the reservation, she’d pushed the questions aside. And then his death had numbed her. It had taken Wolf’s arrival to stir the curiosity again.
    “They aren’t our people. Dad didn’t want anything to do with the res. The teams were his family—not a bunch of child abusers who drowned their gifts beneath drugs and booze.” Aiden’s voice flattened.
    “Wolf’s not a drunk, or a drug user,” Kait said quietly.
    “Yeah, and Wolf doesn’t live on the reservation either. He bugged out early, just like Dad. We’re better off sticking with the teams.” There was dismissal in her brother’s voice.
    Well, the teams might be his family, just as they’d been their father’s, but while the SEAL community was supportive, she’d never felt as entrenched in the culture as her father and brother. And then there was Wolf—she’d learned more from Wolf in the past year about her Arapaho healing abilities than she’d ever learned from her dad.
    Maybe her grandfather and grandmother had been monsters, but regardless of her father’s warped childhood perspective, not all Arapaho were drunken, drug-dealing sociopaths. What if she could find answers on the reservation, learn how to boost her healing?
    “Anyway,” Aiden’s voice turned brisk. “Don’t be surprised if Cos calls. Things look pretty grim for him.”
    After a final round of stay-safes, Aiden broke the connection.
    Kait tossed the ice cream’s lid onto the kitchen counter, grabbed a spoon from the dish drain, and dropped it inside the carton. Phone in one hand, solace in the other, she padded back to the living room and settled cross-legged on the couch.
    She didn’t have a