She turned from the window and shook her head. It wasn't her place to judge. The best she could do was to help him in any way she was able, as he was helping her.
Satia dressed and walked downstairs to the rooms on the left side of the house. Armed with a box of trash bags and a small old radio for company she began sifting through the piles of mail, magazines, receipts, trash, and even clothing. She separated everything into piles. Things he needed to look at. Things he should have looked at a long time ago. Things to decide if he was keeping. And junk. The junk went straight into the trash bags.
One hour turned into two, and soon she heard a knock on the door. She stared that direction for a moment.
Satia got to her feet and turned down the radio. She walked through the other two rooms toward the front door. As she reached it the bell rang. She peeked through the hole in the door to find Stix laden with bags.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to open the door."
"No problem." He pushed past her to the kitchen and set all the bags on the table and smiled. "Man. I don't remember the last time I bought this much food, but I wasn't sure what you'd like so I got everything."
"It was strange the first time I went to a grocery store. Boxes and boxes of brightly colored foods I'd never heard of. Like Chef Boyardee and mac and cheese. Not to mention the cereal aisle. Bright leprechauns and crazy rabbits."
"Did you try them?"
She shook her head. "I prefer my food in colors that look like they came from nature. And I also prefer to be able to pronounce what is in my food as well."
Stix chuckled. "Well, then I might need to make another trip to the store. Unfortunately, I am so busy I usually grab something to go from a restaurant."
Satia searched through the bags and pulled items out, setting them on the table. There was very little in the bags that she found even remotely appealing. Everything was either boxed, canned or bagged.
"I can go to the store later if you tell me where it is."
Silence fell between them as she removed all the items from the bags.
"Have you always lived in Wolf River?"
Stix helped put the groceries away as she handed items to him.
"I was born in Montana. When I was nine my last grandparent died my parents wanted a fresh start, so they decided to move back. My mom grew up here and has been best friends with Mary Reed since grade school, so Jeremiah let us have this house."
"A fresh start? Did something happen?"
"Not really. They weren't very high in the pecking order of our clan in Montana, and they wanted to go somewhere that I might have a better chance in life. A better school. Better friends. A place where I would be able to have my choice of mate and job and schooling."
"So they came here for you. Is that why you still live in their house and work at their bar? Do you think you owe it to them?"
Stix stopped for a moment. "I never thought of it before, but I guess in a way that's true."
"Is it what you want to do?"
He shrugged and put a jug of milk in the refrigerator. "I've not given it a ton of thought."
"I only ask because if it isn't, doesn't that negate the reason your parents came back? If they came so you could be free to choose your path, and then you don't..." She stopped and shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's not my place."
He turned. "No, you're right. You're right." The wheels turned in his mind as they put the rest of the groceries away.
"I finished what I was able to in the other room if you'd like to go through the stuff I can make some food."
"You aren't my servant, Satia. You don't have to make me food."
She shrugged. "I'm going to make something for myself, it's not hard to make enough for two."
Stix folded his arms. "Okay. How about we set up a few rules."
Her heartbeat quickened. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"
He held up his hand to stop her. "No. I want to be clear."
Satia swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around herself. "Okay."
"So, I pay you to help me. Barry opens the bar around eleven to prep. We get a few old-timers in around one. I go to work about six. We close down at one during the week, and two on the weekends. I will pay you for eight hours of work a day. If you want those hours to be here helping me at the house, great. If you want them to be at the bar, I need help there too. But I don't want you working twelve or fourteen hours a day. I don't want you feeling like you need to wait on me hand and foot. I don't want you feeling you owe me for room and board. So you decide how you want to break up your time, but I don't expect you to work around the clock and I don't expect you to cook for me or do my laundry or anything like that. You're my assistant, not my unpaid servant."
Satia thought about his words for a moment. "But what if I don't mind doing those things for you? What if I want to work more? I mean if I don't work what am I supposed to do?"
"Anything you want. You can go to some of the bigger cities. They're only a couple hours away. Explore. Go to museums. Go shopping. Binge watch television. Read books. If you want to start classes at the community college, you can do that too. You wanted to move here to start a life, and I want you to do that. Like you told me I need to do."
Go to college? She'd never even considered the possibility. She'd been given a decent education alongside Affina, but she'd never thought of doing more than that.
"Maybe we can do it together."
He smiled. "Maybe we can."
His smile made her smile. It was comfortable with Stix. He was easy. For the immensity of his size he was neither overbearing, nor did he have his cousin's bravado. He was kind and gentle and had a relaxed air about him that made her feel... safe. Satia chastised herself for having bad thoughts about him and fears that he might take advantage of her. Anyone who met Stix could tell he was not that kind of man.
"Okay," she finally said. "So why don't you go through your piles in the other room and I will choose to make food for myself, and maybe you if I decide I want to."
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. After I clean the stuff up I'm going to head to the gym. I do boxing training for fun."
"Boxing?"
"It's where you're in a ring and hit someone else, and they hit you."
"I know what boxing is. I'm just surprised. You do it for fun?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much."
Boxing sounded like an interesting prospect. "Would you mind if I came along?"
He shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you want."
She nodded. "It is."
"Okay then, it's a date."
Satia smiled. A date. She'd never been on a date before.
Chapter Six
Stix and Satia hopped in her car and drove toward the outskirts of Wolf River.
"I think the biggest thing I don't understand is the language here. It's like every part of this country has different slang or a different way of pronouncing things, even though you all speak the same language. Is it potato or potato? New Orleans or New Orleans? Why can no one agree?"
"It's like anything in life. Everyone thinks they're right."
She nodded. "It's when they use those thoughts to hurt others that I will never understand."
Stix's gut clenched. Something in her words struck a strange chord inside him. He got the distinct feeling that she'd been hurt in the past. And not a little heartbreak either. The thought made his ursa grumble.
They pulled up to the gym and Stix held the front door open for her, like his mama had taught him. She wrinkled her nose as she stepped inside.
"I don't think I've ever been somewhere that smelled so much like... wolves."
Stix chuckled. "That's a nice way of putting it."
Around the room a dozen men sparred in various rings. In the corner, a beginner class was going over training basics. Stix glanced around for a space to practice.
"Well look who showed up." Deacon walked toward Stix banging his gloved fists together.
; "What are you doing here?" asked Stix. "It's been months since you've come to train.
"Yeah well, now that I've kicked Maria to the curb for good I figured I better get myself into shape so I can find myself a real mate." Deacon showed Satia his biceps and winked.
Stix held back the growl and urge to punch Deacon in the gut for looking at Satia.
"If I'd known you were going to be here I'd have waited to warm up," Deacon said to Satia.
Without missing a beat Satia turned to Stix. "I came to watch Stix workout. I'm not interested in anyone else."
A broad grin spread across Deacon's face. "Well then, come on bro, let's give the little lady something to watch."
Stix grumbled. He'd come to workout not show off. But that was precisely what they were about to get with Deacon in the ring.
"Why don't you go sit over there," he said. "I'm going to put my stuff down and wrap my hands."
"Wrap?"
"Yeah, we wrap the hands and wrists with cotton to keep from getting injured."
"Oh." She nodded with concern in her eyes.
He squeezed her arm. "This isn't real fighting, it's practice. It'll be fine." He pointed to the bench by the far ring. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "Tell me if Deacon bothers you. It will give me an excuse to really kick his butt."
Satia grinned. "I think I might like to see that."
She tucked her hair behind her ear and headed toward the bench as Stix glanced around the gym. Several of the guys stopped as Satia walked by. He fought the urge to shift and rip them all apart. That would be a bad move though. He may have grown up in Wolf River, but that didn't mean that everyone accepted him.
Man, his ursa was being ridiculous. How was he supposed to expect her to live her life if all he wanted to do was keep her locked up at home and safe? Especially when she wasn't even his.
* * *
Satia sat on the creaky bench and scanned the gym. All over males of various sizes and shapes fought, or punched bags, or jumped a rope or hit at a man wearing gloves. She wondered why they all did it. Stix had said it was for exercise, but she was pretty sure at least a few of the men were not doing it to keep fit. She remembered the men of her clan training for hours on end, but it had been to keep alert in case of attack.
"So, Stix dragged you down here to watch, huh?" Deacon approached her and straddled the bench.
She rolled her eyes. "He didn't drag me, I asked to come."
"Really?"
She looked back at him. She supposed he was a handsome ursa. Short hair, lighter eyes, and skin than Stix. His body, what she could see of it, sported many, many tattoos. All in all, he was attractive, but not her type.
"Why did you say that?"
"You don't seem like the kind of girl who would want to watch two guys beat the crap out of each other."
He was not the kind of mate she would ever want. The one obsessed with himself. The one always trying to show everyone else up. The one who thought women were his private gifts from the gods. No, she found very little about Deacon appealing to tell the truth. What she wanted was a real Blood Born. Not a wannabe playboy.
Satia leaned in close to him. "And what does a girl who wants to watch two men beat each other look like?"
She stared at him intently for a moment, and suddenly his face changed from a cocky grin into something else entirely. Not fear exactly, but for a fraction of a second, all bravado wiped from his face.
He coughed and leaned away from her. "I don't know. A little rougher around the edges. More bubbly."
"Bubbly?"
"Yeah, like, bouncy, talks fast, smiles a lot."
"Do I not smile enough?" She'd never had anyone mention that before.
"I don't know. I haven't spent enough time with you."
A question gnawed at her. "Does Stix prefer bubbly girls?" The moment she asked, she wished she hadn't. Deacon threw her such a strange expression that she had no idea what he was thinking.
"You ready?" Stix approached them banging his hands together with oversized red mittens on them.
She stood at the sight of him shirtless in nothing but shorts. His chest was enormous with a smattering of dark circles in the middle. They trailed down the dip in the middle of his belly. She'd seen many of the men in her clan with their shirts off but none with muscles as big as his before. His arms sported a tribal tattoo that she didn't recognize.
She broke into a broad smile. "Good luck." She tried to make her voice as cheerful as possible.
Stix looked at her strangely and then climbed into the ring.
Deacon snickered and stood. "To answer your question. No. He's never been into the bubbly types."
Satia's smile fell. Nice. Now she looked like an idiot.
For fifteen minutes Deacon and Stix danced around the ring throwing punches and practicing different moves.
"Why don't we make this interesting?" said Deacon.
"What do you have in mind?"
Deacon winked at her. "How about we bet on who will win today."
"I always win. I'm stronger than you. You're only half Blood Born."
"Well, then this wager will give me a good reason to try harder."
"All right."
Deacon grinned at her, making Satia fidget in her seat. "Whoever wins today gets to take Satia out to dinner. The other has to man the restaurant."
Stix shook his head. "Satia isn't a prize to be won. You seriously need to get your views straight when it comes to women, bro."
"What do you think Satia?" Deacon called. "Want to go to dinner with the winner?"
Stix's gaze traveled to her, his face a mask. She appreciated him standing up for her and saying she wasn't a prize. It was one more thing that endeared her to him. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. She didn't mind going out with Stix, but if she had to go out with Deacon... She wasn't sure how her saber would react. She was pretty sure not well. Which on top of her own trepidation could lead to a disaster. However, that wasn't such a bad prospect. Maybe if she went out with Deacon and it was a disaster he'd stop looking at her the way he did. But how would Stix react? Would he even care?
"I'll go," she said.
Deacon smiled and spun in a circle. "Up to you coz. You in or you want to forfeit and call me the winner?"
Stix scowled. "You're on. And don't expect me to go easy on you."
The men put pieces of plastic back in their mouths and then circled each other in the ring. Stix was a good head taller than Deacon and at least six inches wider at the shoulders.
Deacon threw a punch and Stix shoved it out of the way. Around and around they went and the longer the fight dragged out the more anxious Satia's saber became. Stix threw a punch at Deacon's face and connected with his nose. Deacon's head whipped back and then snapped forward again. Satia clasped her hands in front of her trying to keep in her seat. He could do this.
Deacon threw a punch to Stix's stomach, sending a ripple through Stix. Satia gasped, but Stix took it in stride.
"No more of this pussy-footing around." Stix ran at Deacon, but Deacon stepped out of the way. He whipped around and ran at Deacon again, this time with his fist ready. He connected with the side of Deacon's head, making Deacon stumble, but quick enough Deacon punched Stix under the chin causing Stix to rock back on his heels. Deacon hopped up and took the advantage. Deacon hit him in the gut once, twice, three times.
Satia's heart pounded. A lick of sweat trickled down her spine as emotions bubbled to the surface.
"Stop!" Satia shouted. "Stop, Deacon."
Stix's eyes went completely black, and he swung at Deacon, hitting him in the side.
Memories bombarded her. Mandrake punching Incus, over and over.
Deacon spun around, and Stix punched him in the kidneys. Deacon countered by slamming his fist into Stix's ear. Stix fell to his knee and Deacon hit him again. Another memory. Boramus on his knees being whipped for sport by Mandrake's men.
Blood
sprayed across the mat and without thinking Satia jumped into the ring and grabbed Deacon by the arm. She wrenched it behind him and spun him around. Wrapping her legs around his waist she brought him to the mat. Arm outstretched, she dug the heel of her shoe into his back.
"Holy hell, I give," said Deacon. "Uncle. Uncle!"
Stix crawled over. "Satia. Let him go. It's okay."
Satia scanned the gym. All the fighting had stopped. The men in other rings stared at her where she had Deacon pinned to the ground.
Stix's face loomed above her. "Hey. Let him go. It's okay."
Satia let go of Deacon, and he rolled over and cradled his arm. "Sheesh man. Are you sure she's your assistant and not your bodyguard?"
Deacon rolled his shoulder and stretched his arm.
"I'm.... I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to do that."
Stix helped her to her feet and embarrassment heated her cheeks. "Are you okay?"
Blood trickled from the corner of his eye.
She reached up and touched it. "You're bleeding."
"It's nothing. Fights between Deacon and I have been known to get much more competitive than that."
She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to explain. To let him know that she didn't think him weak or think that he couldn't protect himself. She had merely been confused.
How could she let that happen? She'd embarrassed herself and Stix.
"I'm... I'm sorry," she repeated, walking to the edge of the ring and sliding out.
She dropped onto the bench and stared at her shoes. She'd thought starting a new life would keep her from the nightmares. From the memories. But she was wrong.
"So," said Deacon after a long minute of silence. "Who won? Who does she go out with?"
"I'd say she won. So who she goes out with is up to her."
Unleashed With The Moon (Wolf River, ID. Book 5) Page 4