by Kallie Frost
“Remind me to thank your sister a thousand more times for this amazing chair,” he said, as he tucked Wane against his chest.
We both scoffed privately at the fancy chair from Tessa, but the first time that Brooks used it to nurse Wane, his tune changed. He propped his feet up on the matching foot rest, and with a little bend of his knees he sent both the chair and the foot rest rocking. Wane made a small mewling sound as he latched on.
“Goodness, you are hungry,” Brooks commented with a smile. He looked up at me and his expression turned to one of worry. “What's going to happen with the Parliament?”
I considered playing dumb and saying something about how they'd send a birth certificate for Wane, but we would both know what I was doing. “I don't know,” I confessed. “I know they’re waiting to send someone until after the wardens have cleared the island of the hunter, but I honestly don't know what they're going to say.”
“I was dying,” he pointed out. Even now, safe and sound, words like a knife to my heart. I couldn't bear the thought of it. “And now I’ve been with you for three months and we have a baby. That has to count for something.”
I nodded, taking a moment to gather my voice. “You have a point. And I think there are usually concessions for those factors. But I know the parliament doesn't like when we take matters into our own hands.”
“Well, screw them. Let them try and punish you.” His words were punctuated by snarled and I smiled at my fierce omega.
He nursed Wane silently for a while.
“So, why are there only two?” he asked.
“Two what?” I asked.
“Dragons. You told me there are only two.”
“Oh.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I had honestly forgotten that conversation and was sitting here stressing about how to tell him about dragons. “I forgot,” I admitted. “I guess, hunting mainly.” I explained to him the rather embarrassing chapter of shifter history in which fear had driven us to hunt our own kind. With the help of some human trophy hunters, when the dust settled the dragons were nearly extinct and we realized, too late, that their telepathic abilities were one of the few things standing between us and being discovered by humans.
“So, why not make more dragons now? If we need them to help protect us, shouldn’t we have more than two? There must be ways to hide them from humans.”
I shook my head. “The only two left are incapable of breeding. We're lucky any dragons survived at all.” I chuckled darkly. “And, I suppose, we’re lucky that we've been forgiven enough that they're willing to even help us. I guess the Parliament protects them in exchange for their help.”
“How are they incapable of breeding? Aren't we forever young, with perfect health and everything?”
“I should clarify, they can breed, they just can't make more dragons.” I elaborated before he could ask for clarification. “A shifter is born as whatever type of animal the sire is. In order to have more dragons you need an alpha. The last two are a male omega and a female beta. Since they both are the ones who carry the child, neither one of them can give birth to a dragon.”
“Not even with each other?”
“The male omega can't impregnate anyone.” I winced, realizing I may not have mentioned that when I was explaining what would happen to him if he was turned. Brooks's eyes narrowed as he considered it, but he didn't seem upset.
“Seems like a pretty delicate balance, having only two dragons standing between us and humans finding out. I guess that’s why they aren’t risking coming around with the hunter at large. But, I tell you, I don't like all this hanging around, waiting for some asshole to come to pass judgment on my mate.” He raised his voice in anger as he spoke, and Wane began to fuss. “It's okay, baby, it's okay. Hush-hush.” He started rocking the infant gently and cooing. Wane was having none of it and was winding up for some pretty good wailing.
My mate’s exhaustion was obvious, so I quickly extended my arms to him. “I'll take the little banshee, why don't you try to rest a bit?”
Brooks gratefully passed Wane to me, and I lifted him up over my shoulder, patting his back. I excused myself from the room and headed down to the kitchen, where we had some bottles in the fridge. I bounced as I walked, patting Wane on the back in time to my steps. By the time we reached the kitchen he was sucking on my shoulder and making precious little cooing sounds.
I grabbed his bottle and settled in on the couch in front of the TV. The infant fit perfectly in the crook of my arm and his presence nearly lulled me to sleep. With each breath his scent filled my nostrils and I could just barely hear the sound of his heart beating. All I needed was my mate tucked under my other arm and it would be pure bliss. Of course, being in my own house and not in my parents’ living room would be the icing on the cake. Wane drained the bottle and it was only after he started fussing I remembered that Brooks liked to burp him halfway through. Oh well, it couldn’t make that much of a difference. I picked him back up over my shoulder and set about patting his back, waiting for a nice burp. When I finally heard one, I felt it too. I was just in time to hear the sound of Dell laughing behind me.
“He spit up all over me, didn't he?” I asked dryly, even though my brother’s laughter was enough of an answer.
“Ah, the joys of fatherhood,” Dell intoned. The door closed and I turned, to see if he was coming or going. Going, of course. Before I could even ask him for a towel. I snorted in annoyance and got up in search of something to clean myself off with. Mindful to keep patting Wane, just in case there was more in there, I use one hand to dampen a dishtowel and tried to contort myself to reach the spit-up. On my way back to the couch I noticed that there was a significant spot on the cushion as well. I cleaned it up and by the time I was done Wane was peacefully sleeping. I stood still for a moment, wondering whether I wanted to try and go upstairs and risk disturbing Brooks and his much-needed nap, or if I should just sit on the couch and watch some TV. There was no telling with Wane whether this would be a twenty-minute nap or a three-hour affair.
Before I could make up my mind, Cambry came in. He looked off somehow. Nervous?
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey… glad I caught you…” He didn’t sound all that glad, in my opinion. I spotted a backpack over his shoulder and my stomach twisted. Without meeting my eyes, he grabbed some snacks from the cupboard and stuffed them into his backpack.
“You’re leaving,” I said flatly.
“It’s time.”
“I just had a kid!”
“And there are exactly thirteen full moons before his first birthday. If I leave now, I’ll be able to come back in time.”
“Is that really why you’re leaving now? Would you even have said goodbye if I wasn’t down here?” I demanded.
Cambry sighed. “I wasn’t… I mean…”
“What’s going on with you, Cam?” I asked. I gently transferred Wane to my other shoulder and crossed the room to my cousin and best friend.
“I dunno,” he muttered. “I just…” He shook his head. “I need a change of scene. I need a… I don’t even know.”
“Are you okay?”
He looked at me and I could see the sadness, and the confusion, in his eyes. “I don’t really know that either.”
“Don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t,” I pleaded. “Do your year away here. We haven’t been to Half Moon in three months. Nine more and our year is over.”
“I’m not staying here for another nine months in isolation.”
“Your family is here; it’s hardly isolation.”
Cambry snorted. “Right. You’re not going stir-crazy here?”
I averted my eyes. There was a reason we called it a year away. Nobody wanted to spend an entire year on a tiny island.
He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a weak smile. “I’ll be fine. And hey, like you said, we haven’t been to Half Moon in three months. It has been three fulls too, hasn’t it? Maybe I’ll just go f
or the next ten and be back before Thanksgiving.” His light tone sounded as forced as his smile looked. But I knew there was no arguing.
“Take care of yourself,” I said softly.
My cousin hugged me, then kissed the back of Wane’s head.
I spent the rest of the night on the couch, but I didn’t sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Brooks
I switched from skating forward to skating backward, gliding effortlessly across the ice. I switched back with a rough jolt that usually sent my knee throbbing. I felt nothing. I did a couple more quick direction changes, followed by a few stops and starts, and then a hard lap around the entire rink as fast as I could go. It was glorious. I hadn't skated like this in… probably twenty years. Well before my injury. I was halfway through another wonderfully pain-free lap when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t have enough time to dodge as Carrick body-slammed me hard into the boards. It hurt, but no more than getting checked at full speed usually did. I stood, laughing it off, and beamed at my mate.
“How is it?” Carrick asked with a smile.
“It's amazing,” I told him. “I can't believe how great my knee feels. Hell, everything feels great. I never thought I'd be able to skate like this again.”
“I'm sorry we can't do it more,” he said. “Even coming here today is a little stupid, but I wanted to give you a chance to get on the ice and I figured…” He looked a little wistful I took his hand in mine.
His team had won the regional playoffs and was off somewhere else for the state competition. It made it the perfect day to come and skate, without fear of being recognized. Carrick assured me that the shifter magic had already wiped their minds of us, but it had to be thirteen full moons to be effective permanently. If anyone did see us here today, there was little chance that they would be one of Carrick's teammates, but we still didn't want to be recognized. It was a risk, and an incredibly touching gesture, that he brought me here. Especially since I knew he was wishing that he was at the playoffs with his team.
“Thank you for bringing me,” I told him. “I'll make it up to you later tonight, I promise.” I gave his ass a little smack and skated away. As I hoped, he followed me. I led him on a fast-paced, merry chase around the ice. I realized he wasn’t behind me anymore, just in time to see that he had circled the other way and was on a collision course. He hit me once again, but this time I stayed up and grabbed for him. We swung each other around by the shirts, laughing breathlessly. I pulled him close, even as we were still gliding a little, and kissed him soundly on the lips. “I love you, Carrick,” I told him.
“I love you too, Brooks.”
I looked up and could swear I spotted Kessel in the stands, but when I turned to get a better look, he was gone.
We changed back into our shoes and headed outside. Sure enough, I saw Kessel’s familiar car parked a few spaces down from ours. Carrick walked over and boldly rapped on the window with a knuckle. The window rolled down and Kessel smiled in amusement at us.
“Can I help you?” he joked.
“Are you following us around?” Carrick demanded. “It's been six months since we saw the hunter. I'd have to say he's long gone.”
I looked around the parking lot, still able to find the exact street light the hunter had stepped under before shooting Carrick. Six months or not, the evening was still fresh in my mind.
“Where is Wane?” Kessel asked pointedly.
Carrick and I exchanged a look. The easy answer was that three-month-old had no business on the ice. But the true answer was we had left him safely in the care of Carrick’s mother, for precisely the reason Kessel was implying we had: the hunter.
“We can't keep hiding on my parents’ island forever,” Carrick said.
“I don't expect you to,” Kessel said. “But until we know where this hunter is, you're going to have a warden on your tail. Just be glad I’m not Larkin,” Kessel teased.
“I don't know, I rather miss his sunny disposition. You're always so serious,” I replied.
The owl laughed and I drew a chuckle from my mate as well. Some days when the hunter was far from my mind, and we were all in a good mood, hanging out with Kessel seemed more like I was with a friend than a bodyguard. It was only Larkin's solemn presence that reminded me the hunter was still a threat.
“You'll be pleased to know that Larkin’s busy with a case.”
“What sort of case?” I asked. While I was getting quite comfortable as a shifter, I still had a lot to learn. Aside from guarding us from hunters, I wasn't entirely sure what else wardens had to do.
“People have been seeing a bear lurking around, so Larkin is out trying to track it down.”
“I thought bears wander out this way once in a while after hibernating,” Carrick said.
“From time to time, yeah. But some of the rumors say that this one is turning into a human.” Kessel's eyes narrowed. “He's also attacking people, or trying to. We also have reports of a couple of hikers who have gone missing, so… if it's just a bear it's best that he go up against a bear shifter. If he is a shifter, then the hope is that he'll be a bit less leery of a fellow bear. More so than say, if he caught an owl watching him. Anyway, that's not your concern. Are you heading back to Half Moon now?” He shot us a sly, meaningful look. “I could use a cup of coffee…”
I laughed, and Carrick followed after a beat. Kessel winced and quickly masked it with a smile, as we both caught the hesitation from Carrick. There had been little communication with Cambry since he left. I knew Carrick was still upset about it. The coffee shop was still open and busily moving as the tourist season began. But we hadn't been there because the fact Cambry wasn't was difficult for Carrick.
“We were going to swing by my store,” Carrick said. “I figure I should probably check up on it since I haven’t been there in a while.”
“Won’t that screw with your year away plans? Not that this hasn’t,” Kessel gestured to the ice rink.
“I didn’t see anyone here I know, and I won’t be playing hockey for a few years,” Carrick said reluctantly. “And based on my staff schedule, everyone working today was hired last fall, I’ve never met them face-to-face. I doubt they’ll work there for the next decade or so, which means it’s okay to meet them now.”
“Fair enough,” Kessel said agreeably. “I guess you have it worked out.”
We bid him goodbye and got into our car. Not surprisingly, I spotted him behind us on the road as we headed to skate shop.
“I'm sorry if kept you away from your store,” I said.
Carrick shook his head. “Not at all. Like I said, I haven’t even met half of the employees. I always try to roll the staff over for my year away.”
The Silvanus Skate Shack looked as dead as it had been the last time we were there. There was nothing but a bored-looking employee behind the counter. She looked a little excited to see us, until Carrick explained he was the owner, then she just looked alarmed. He assured her he was there to check inventory and I followed him into the stockroom.
“I really need to better manage my store,” Carrick said. “I never cared much before, but I do have a family to support now.”
I wrinkled my nose at the reminder I was out of a job. “I can provide too,” I said, almost petulantly. I wasn't sad to leave my IT job behind, but I was frustrated that I wasn't sure where to go from here or how to make money for the family, but I’d be damned if I was going to let Carrick support us alone, whether or not he came from money.
“I know you can,” he said. “And whenever you're ready we’ll try to find you another job.”
We reached the stockroom and he started looking around at his inventory, muttering under his breath.
“Don't you have this all electronically?” I asked, as I realized he was using a clipboard to take inventory.
“Yeah, we've got a system, but it's pretty clunky and not very user-friendly. I've been doing this for so long is kind of habit by now.”
“Let me guess you’ve got a Geocities website too?” I joked.
The reference the old web host went over his head. “No,” he said absently. “We don't have a website.”
“In this day and age?” I demanded. “You don't have a website? Carrick! If nothing else you could draw in skaters who are on vacation and don't know there's a skate shop here! How are people finding you if you don’t have a website!?”
“Isn’t that what Yell or whatever is for?”
“Not exactly,” I groaned. “And you’ll have a hard time getting Yelp reviews if nobody comes here,” I added, enunciating the p. “You could even sell stuff from the website, if you wanted to really build this up and do something.” I straightened and looked around, possibilities swirling in my head. I was already mentally designing a website and monetizing it. “Hey, I could do one for you!”
“Yeah, you have expressed an interest in web design, haven’t you?” Carrick whirled and grinned at me. “Oh! There you go! That's the job you've been wanting. Web design!”
“It’s not quite that easy,” I said. “It’s tough to break into it well enough to make decent money. You need references and a good portfolio… I don’t have any of that.
“Hello?” He raised his arms and gestured to the room around us. “I'm your first client. Do my website and start of your portfolio. And hey, I can find you more clients.”
“That sounds good,” I told him. I was being half-honest, but also placating him a little bit. While I didn't doubt his commitment to helping me, I didn't think he'd be able to find me much of a client base that I could build a portfolio with. But, I couldn't deny it pleased me that he wanted to try. I was all for it, it was always what I wanted to do and there was no time try like now, when I did have someone to fall back on financially, as much as I didn't want to.
“Is there a bathroom?” I asked. “I feel like my bladder shrank during the pregnancy.”
“Yeah, you have to go outside and around to the right, down the deck.”