by Sara Summers
Since I hadn’t grown up having much fun or being allowed to run wild, being with Lyssie was the most childish I’d ever felt. Ironically, it also made me feel free.
That afternoon was the calm before the storm, and one of the happiest days of my life simply because I had finally stopped running to or from anything.
I was finally living, and I never wanted to go back.
Chapter 20
“Goodnight, Lyssie.” I kissed the little girl on her cute little forehead.
“Night.” She waved at me and Jordie, then settled into her bed. We were in a little 2-bed hotel room, planning on leaving for the airport early in the morning.
I headed toward the bathroom, and Jordie followed me.
“I feel like I haven’t kissed you in ages.” He murmured, wrapping his arms around my waist and taking my chin in his hand. His lips met mine, a soft, exciting sensation.
“Mmm.” I smiled against his mouth, kissing him again. “I’ve missed you so much.” I murmured. “Sleeping alone is the worst.”
“Believe me, you’ll never sleep alone again.” Jordie trailed kisses up the side of my neck, his lips tickling the sensitive spot behind my ear.
“I’ve waited so long to hear that.” I murmured, smiling again as he pressed his lips to mine once more, this time opening his mouth to let me in further.
He lifted me to the counter next to the sink and I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him closer.
“Savanna?” I heard a woman call out in the hallway outside our room. I pulled away from Jordie, my eyes and mouth opening wide. “Savanna, I know you’re in there.”
“Who is it?” Jordie whispered.
“Oh eff.” I put a hand to my chest. My heart was suddenly racing, my pulse beating faster by the minute.
“Savanna, open this door before I open it myself.” The woman ordered.
My face was white as a sheet, but I slid off the counter.
“Who is it? What are you doing?” Jordie asked, growing more and more worried by the second.
I tried to steady myself, to regain control and find my hard, mafia cold-ness. I’d let myself go too far though; that side of me was gone.
I took a deep breath and opened the door.
There, I found my mom and dad. They stood in the hallway, my mother with a gun (it had a muffler on it of course) trained on the doorknob. Dad stood beside her, ready to kill anyone who happened to stumble by at precisely the worst moment.
“What do you want?” I folded an arm over my stomach, holding the door open with my other hand.
“Our granddaughter.” Mom didn’t lower her gun. “I already lost one child, I will not lose another.” She warned.
“Then lower your gun.” I glared at her.
“You lost your right to call yourself my daughter when you abandoned and betrayed us. Steven’s baby is all the family we have left.” Mom glared right back at me. She had never liked little kids, so I had no idea why she wanted Lyssie.
“She’s safer with me than she’ll ever be with you.” I held my ground, though it took quite a lot of effort.
My mom lowered her gun.
“Let us inside before we have to kill anyone for seeing us out here.” Dad barked. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and pushed the door open.
I stepped back beside Jordie, standing in the way so they couldn’t get to Lyssie.
“Dad, you said when I left that it was okay for me to want a different life than the one you had.” I reminded him.
“And you promised me that you would make a difference if I let you go.” Dad folded his arms.
My mind flashed back to that day, the day I’d finally gotten free of my family, or so I’d thought. The memories were a bit hazy since I got blown up just a few hours afterward, but I remembered nonetheless.
“Panthers are not leaders, Savanna. We’re predators. We do not rule the forest, but we do not bow down to anyone else, either. We’re meant to make a difference, like our family is doing right now.”
“I know, you’ve told me that a million times.” I lifted my head to the sky. “But the thing is, I don’t believe in what we’re doing. I believe in making the world a happier place in honest ways. I hate the lying and the stealing, and you know I’ll never kill someone despite all the times you’ve tried to force me to.”
“That’s what it takes to make the streets safer.” Dad shrugged. “We only kill people when they would do worse things to others.”
“Or if they make you mad.” I pointed out. His eyes narrowed a little. “Look, I’m not saying you’re the bad guys. I just don’t agree with what you’re doing. Panthers aren’t leaders, but we don’t bow down to anyone else, like you just said. You’re acting like the king of my forest.
“Shouldn’t I have the freedom and the power to be who I want to be?”
“I can see the point you’re trying to make, and I will give you that much. But panthers are meant to make a difference, and this is the only way to do so.” He said, repeating the words he’d been telling me for as long as I could remember.
Panthers don’t sit back and watch things happen. Panthers make things happen, we do what we think is right no matter what anyone else says or thinks. We change things.
He’d said these words to me over and over again, drilling them into my mind even though I didn’t really agree with them.
“What if I promise to make a difference some other way?” I pleaded. “I swear, I’ll do something to make the world better or safer—I’ll make a difference, I promise, if you’ll let me leave. I can’t stay here anymore. I’m tired of worrying about what might happen tomorrow and reminding Steven that I don’t believe in murder.”
My dad contemplated the situation for a moment and then slowly nodded his head.
“Alright. If you give your word to be true to your panther by making a difference, then I’ll let you do it however and wherever you want.” He decided.
“Thank you.” My heart lifted, and I gave my dad a small smile. “I won’t let you down.”
“You’ve let me down, Savanna.” My dad gave me a frown filled with disapproval. “You swore that you would change the world, yet here we are, and everything is exactly the same as it was two years ago.
“I have a blog with millions of readers. I’ve opened all of their minds to shifters and the way we work and that we’re just like everyone else. People understand us better because of my blog.” I urged.
“You’ve told them stories. You’ve done nothing to change the way we’re being treated. In three different states in our own country, yesterday there was a rebellion against shifters. Do you know how many shifters died?” he glared at me. “Two of our kind and 40 others. You have done nothing.” He growled.
“You are unfit to raise this child, so I will do it for Steven.” My mother hissed.
“No, I’m not. I grew up seeing you guys kill people almost every week. If you think your life is better for her or safer, you’re dead wrong.”
Looking back, that was a pretty good pun. Dead wrong? Because they killed people?
Mafia humor, never mind.
I was too busy to recognize my own cleverness in the moment. I was focused on trying to convince them to leave me alive and with Lyssie, though my convincing wasn’t working very well.
“You do have a point.” Dad nodded. “And though it pains me to admit it, she would be better off with you and your fresh new mate.” His voice was cold. “However, you’ve lied to us and betrayed us, so we are taking her away.” He and mom stepped forward.
“Wait.” I held out a hand, stopping them. “Give me three months, and I swear this time I’ll make a difference that will reach everyone throughout the whole U.S. It’ll change our world.” I threw the idea out there, praying that they would accept it.
My dad thought about it.
“No.” my mom said, her voice flat and emotionless. She lifted her gun back to my chest, but my dad pushed her hand and the weapon back down to her side.
“As you wish.” My dad nodded. “We will hold onto the child until your three months is up. You meet us at the old warehouse when the time is up, and if you’ve done as you promise, we’ll trust you to raise her and you’ll never see us again.
“If you don’t, we’ll kill you.” My dad finished.
“She needs someone to protect her. I’ve seen your world, remember? I almost died hundreds of times, and I’m not leaving her alone with you.” I folded my arms.
“I’ll go.” Jordie offered, his voice quiet.
I turned to look at him. My parents’ world was a dangerous place, and he had never experienced life like that before. Their way of living was cruel and unyielding, and I was worried Jordie wasn’t ready to face it. I’d lived it almost eighteen years of my life, and I wasn’t even ready to face it.
“I’ll take care of Lyssie and keep her safe.” He said. He placed a hand on the small of my back, trying to comfort me without words.
“Is that what you’re calling her?” My mom lifted her eyebrows. “Well, it’s better than Heaven.” She tossed her hair.
“Fine, you can come.” Dad agreed. “Get the girl, we need to be going. We’ve already been here too long.”
Jordie walked back into the room and picked up the sleeping little girl gently. Carrying her over to me, he pressed a gentle kiss on my lips.
“I’ll see you soon.” He promised, then brushed his finger down the side of my cheek and closed his eyes. “I love you, Sav. You can do this.” He kissed my forehead, then followed my parents out the door.
It shut behind them and left me completely alone in the dark room.
I sat on the very edge of the bed, my head spinning. Mine and Jordie’s phones were plugged in beside each other, sitting on the hotel nightstand. That meant I had no way to contact my mate. We had traded places, except this time, he was the one in jail.
I slowly reached over to grab my phone, my fingers shaking as I clicked on Leah’s contact picture.
It was only 9:30, so I figured it would be okay.
“SAV!” Leah exclaimed when she answered the phone. I was too numb to respond. “I was just about to call you. Guess what? I’m pregnant!” she shrieked.
“That’s… that’s really great, Lee.” I could feel my stomach churning, the nausea working its way through me.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?” My best friend immediately knew something was up.
“My parents just stopped by.” I bit my lip and willed the tears that were creeping up on me to go away.
“What did they want?” Leah’s voice was cautious.
“They took Lyssie and Jordie.” My own voice wobbled. “They said that if I don’t do something to change the world, they’ll kill me.” I forced the words out.
“Oh eff, Sav. I’m sorry.” Leah sighed. “Come stay with me, okay? We’ll figure something out. Pretty much everyone in the country has seen our YouTube channel, so it’ll be easier than you think.”
“Really?” I couldn’t stop my voice from cracking.
“It’s going to be okay. Just grab your backpack and go to the airport. I’ll pick you up.” She assured me.
“Alright.” I whispered. “Bye.”
I hung up before she could say she loved me.
Having just sent Jordie and the little girl I’d taken responsibility for into the belly of the beast, I didn’t feel worthy of even the tiniest sliver of love.
I caught a ride to the airport, then bought a ticket and waited for an hour. My mind was unfocused and unclear. Honestly, I felt like a ghost from the story I’d been writing.
The plane ride wasn’t long. I didn’t bother trying to sleep, just staring at the seat in front of me.
My heart hurt too much to do anything other than hope that they would both be okay. If they weren’t, I knew I’d never forgive myself.
Though I didn’t choose my family, it felt like my fault that I’d been stuck with people like them. I wanted to escape both them and those feelings. It was no use, though, and I forced myself to keep hoping.
But the hope hurt more than anything else.
Chapter 21
Leah took one look at me when I got in the car and didn’t bother trying to say anything through the drive to her house.
When we walked in, however, she sat me down on the couch and insisted I talk to her.
“Alright, I know you don’t want to think about what happened, so let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do about it.” She grabbed my hands, shaking them until she had my attention.
“I don’t know.” I whispered. “There is nothing I can do that will affect all of America.”
“I know.” Leah’s eyes lit up. “There are a bunch of talk shows that have been begging to have some of us Shifty Chicks on one night. If we come up with something good, we can announce it to them. Between all those shows, we’ll have to hit a large enough number of people that your dad would agree you’d made a difference.”
“But what are we going to tell them?” I know I sounded completely and utterly hopeless. Luckily, Leah was a good enough friend/sister not to judge me for it.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Let’s sleep on it, and we’ll talk again tomorrow.” She decided.
I don’t think I even nodded.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the guest room.
“Here, everything’s ready for you. Get some sleep.” She gave me a hug. “And I’m sorry.”
“We’ll figure it out.” I said softly, closing my eyes. Leah grabbed the doorknob, ready to close the door behind her. “Hey, congrats on the baby. You’ll be a great mom.” I gave her a small smile, and her face lit up.
“Thanks. So will you.” She promised, and then closed my door.
I sat on the edge of the bed for ten minutes or so, my brain foggy and my motivation to move at completely zero.
Then, this thought crossed my mind:
You and your friends always wanted to make a difference, Sav. He’s just forcing you to do something you’ve always dreamed about.
I don’t know why, but the thought kicked me into gear.
I grabbed my computer, googling articles and tips on how to change the world. All I could find was little things like, “plant a garden,” and “do random acts of kindness,” and “donate to charity”. Those things were fine and dandy, but they wouldn’t help me get Jordie and Lyssie back.
I needed something bigger.
“Come on, Sav.” I muttered. ‘Think!”
The only way I knew to impact the world would have to be something involving shifters. That’s how I would get the media onto it, and that’s how I would get support. Shifters usually kept to themselves, so people would be excited to hear about whatever I had to say.
If I could come up with anything.
I thought of proposing some sort of shifter museum. But, if my dad was right, some states still weren’t completely comfortable with shifters. If humans weren’t comfortable with us, we wouldn’t be comfortable putting our treasures and artifacts in a building where any human could see and/or take them.
So a museum was out of the question.
I grabbed my notebook and flipped to a blank page. A shifter museum was actually a pretty good idea, I thought, at least for some point in the future. If we were really equal with humans, we deserved to have the same thing they did. Museums, sporting events, fashion…
I wrote a list of the things that made up human culture. It looked something like this:
HUMANS HAVE:
Culture
Fashion
Hair styles
Museums
Sports/sporting events
Leadership
Schools
Specific type of food
Music and dancing
Art
The list could’ve gone on, but I figured that was good.
We had a lot of the same things they did—we had our own culture, our own
fashion, and popular hairstyles, and leadership. We even had our own specific type of food: Anything that had more protein than a human would eat.
What we didn’t have was:
Museums
Schools
Sporting events
Art/music/dancing
The thing on the list that stuck out to me the most was schools. Humans and shifters alike went to school and studied American history. They learned about their forefathers and the Native Americans and the rest of the world. But never, in any classes, had anyone ever taught us about shifters or shifter history.
My friends and I had been assigned to teach the shifter class for an hour every Friday in school (that’s how we met), but it’s not liked we really had to teach much. How much can you really learn in an hour every week?
The gears in my mind started spinning.
What if it didn’t have to be that way? What if people could go to a school—preferably a university, so we could take in more people—and study shifters? How many more humans would be able to answer questions about my race?
It felt like a lightbulb had just blown up in my mind, and suddenly, my heart started to race.
This was it—this was how I would change the world. I had tons of money and nothing to do with it; I could pay for part of the school. Sure, we’d need plenty of donations, but people had been curious about shifters ever since they found out we were real.
It would take a lot more than three months to get the university up and running, staffed, and filled with students. Still, I could do what Leah said, I could announce the university on a bunch of talk shows. The news and internet would carry it to anyone that didn’t watch those talk shows.
I slid off the bed and hurried out to the kitchen. Ty was scooping ice cream while Leah was chatting talking to him, sitting on the counter. They both turned when I came in.
“I figured it out.” I breathed, my eyes bright and my heart pounding. “I’m going to build a shifter university.”
Leah and Ty both raised their eyebrows.