Gigi bowed up as though Samson had stabbed her with the truth. “There’s only one who can come against Opal. In the meantime, you keep all the girls here. In their homes, if possible. They need someone with them at all times. Opal will want them isolated. She’s smart and powerful, but she’s not one for confrontation. She hides in the shadows and waits in the wings.”
“Who is this one who can defeat her?” Samson demanded, looming over my grandmother.
“One who hasn’t realized who she is yet. She’s blinded by her own troubles. And don’t use that tone with me, you little shit.”
Chapter Nineteen
My grandmother was amazing. And she took nonsense from nobody. As she said to me on the drive home after the pack meeting, “I’ve been alive several times as long as that newbie alpha, and he can bite me if he thinks he’s going to make me roll over and expose my belly.”
“Gigi, are you a member of the pack? I’ve been assuming you were a guest because you didn’t live nearby, maybe belonged to a different one or something?”
“I’m a member.” She bit out the words with little joy. “But I left when Samson’s father, that ass of an alpha, ’ took the office. He was not someone I could follow in good conscience, so I took my family and moved.”
Her family. My dad… “So, when I moved here and asked to join?”
“You’re a legacy. I never gave up my membership and neither did my children, so you were already a member.” Children. Sometimes I forgot about my aunt. She had never been in our lives, and, honestly, I wasn’t sure if she was dead or just living somewhere in another country. But this wasn’t the time, I didn’t think, to get into it. First we had to save Virginia and make sure there were no more kidnappings.
“Tell me more about the Crystal Lake pack. And this Opal?”
“A piece of work, that one.” She steered violently around a bag of animal feed someone had lost in the road before overcorrecting and nearly putting us into a ditch. “What the hell is wrong with people? Can’t they tie down their loads?”
I clung to the dashboard. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive? I-I know the roads better, especially if we’re going to be running into obstacles.”
“Obstacles?” She gave a brisk shake of her head. “If you want to call them that. Back when I was your age, we had a lot worse to deal with. The roads weren’t even paved and—”
My phone chimed, and I picked it up, intending to glance and maybe ask my grandmother just how old she was, anyway. Was it rude? I didn’t care. But the text ended the line of dialogue or any other but one. “Virginia is home. Turn around. We need to get back to the alpha house.”
Gigi’s U-turn slammed me into the door and had the rear tired skidding before the car shot off in the direction from which we’d just come. “What next?”
If I didn’t know better, I’d have said she was unhappy about the good news, but when we arrived and followed Samson into Virginia’s parents’ home, I no longer considered it 100 percent good. The girl lay in a near coma on the sofa, while Wendi argued she needed to come to the infirmary where she could care for her.
Virginia was dirty and scratched up, her face was bruised, with two black eyes and a bloody swollen lip. Her clothes were ripped, and her feet were bare and pretty ripped up.
Her mother stood over her, arms spread wide as if she could protect her from anything that might happen to harm her again. “No. I’ve just gotten her home, and she’s not leaving again. What if someone takes her again? I couldn’t bear it. She is not leaving my sight.” Her wild eyes and a drop of spittle decorating her lip showed just how close she was to the edge. Not that I could blame the poor woman.
“Clara, it’s not—” Wendi tried again, but the mama’s flailing arms caught her on the cheek, and she stumbled back.
A snarl brought my attention to the corner to see Escher there, reacting to the violence to his mate. If someone didn’t act soon, I didn’t know what would happen. Escher wouldn’t likely get physical with the female, but Virginia’s dad was right here, too, and I could see it getting ugly. Also, if our alpha had to get involved, nobody would be happy in the end. He’d have to punish them all.
Before I could act, my intrepid, overall-wearing grandmother stepped between Wendi and Virginia’s mother. “We can argue all day, or we can do what we need to to help Virginia. She’s drugged out of her mind, her breathing is suppressed, and I think we need to get one of these big, strong men to carry her to the infirmary. Escher? Can you help?” She waved him over. “Now, we don’t want a big crowd, but we want her to feel comfortable when she wakes up, so I think Clara should stay there, too. All right, Wendi?”
Wendi still had a hand to her face, but at the cue, she let it drop and offered a weak smile. “Perfect. Let’s get this show on the road.”
“And my granddaughter.” Gigi pointed to me. “I’ll take the car and go home and bring her some things for overnight or a day or two. That would be best.”
“And when you get back…” Samson’s “alpha voice” carried over the rest of the mutterings going on. “When you get back, I would like to talk to you about the Crystal Lake pack.”
“I haven’t had dealings with them or with Opal in decades,” she protested. “I don’t know how much more help I can offer.”
“Let me be the judge.
It took some time before Virginia woke up. Wendi had her installed in a nice room on the second floor of Moss’ old place, now the pack infirmary. There were twin beds there, so her mom could stay with her all the time, which was enough to mollify Clara. She didn’t want any visitors, an understandable request, but Wendi deputized us in a way, making me her assistant and ensuring I’d already missed three days of school, calling in sick…but if I didn’t show up soon, I’d have to drop my classes and lose all that work.
And I’d do it if I had to, but it would sting. Not as much as it would hurt Clara and the others in her family if Virginia wasn’t better soon. On the afternoon of the third day, her eyes fluttered as I sat at her bedside while her mom went downstairs for something to eat. I bent close and patted her arm. “Hi there. You’ve had a long nap.” One assisted by the drugs she’d been administered, including, according to the blood Wendi analyzed, the same suppressant that had kept our healer unable to walk for years—and unable to shift. It seemed every evildoer had a line to an endless supply of the stuff. One more thing for our alpha to try to track down. Or the council, which he’d been sending reports to at every step. They weren’t interfering, but at some point, they’d have to step up. This was not just one of those little arguments between packs.
“I-I…where am I?” Her voice was hoarse, and her bruises at the blue/black/yellow stage so garish it looked like clown makeup. “Mom?”
“Shh. She’s getting a sandwich down in the kitchen, and she’ll be here in a minute. You’re in the pack infirmary, and you’re going to be just fine.”
She was groggy, and I didn’t want to push her, but as soon as her mother appeared in the doorway with her lunch and realized what was going on, that her baby was awake, she screamed, sent her plat flying, and her cries brought in not only Wendi, but our alpha who had been on the first floor and who immediately wanted to ask her questions.
Luckily, our healer was able to settle everyone down and remind them Virginia had been through a lot, and patience would be a better way to learn whatever she knew.
Which, as it turned out, was virtually nothing.
She did mention one section of the woods, and Samson left to go arrange a search party. Wendi and I stayed to keep Virginia and her mom and her dad—who someone had called on their phone company in hopes she’d remember more—calm.
Chapter Twenty
Samson organized another search. We needed to find this Opal before she took anyone else. Right now, everyone was living in lockdown, something we’d started to do on a regular basis and something wolves were not crazy about. The young females were, of course, the most watched over, but e
veryone was concerned. Just because a pattern was set didn’t mean it wouldn’t be changed. The only reason I was still going to school etc. was because of my reputation as a warrior. And even then, Samson was rumbling about wanting me to stay at his house or at least Wendi’s, but I told him no.
The library scare did make me think, but I needed room to breathe and moving onto pack lands would leave Tris behind, not something I was willing to do. Samson seemed to understand, since he didn’t push the issue, much. Tris hovered a little, but he also acknowledged my abilities.
So when it came time to search the woods, I was, as had become usual, the only female along for the ride. Or the walk, the run. It was getting pretty chilly in the woods right now, and an icy rain was not only jabbing the back of my neck, making me wish I’d worn the jacket with the hood, but also washing away any possible footprints. A few of the younger males were in wolf form, but they hadn’t hit on a trail at all yet.
This section of woods was largely wild and so dense hardly anyone went there. It wasn’t pack lands, and I wasn’t really sure who owned it but whoever it was had neglected their management duties big time and I had heard Samson mention he wanted to track them down and report them or something. Fire starting in the underbrush could easily spread to our lands. Not that we got out there and raked up the leaves, but we did clear away a lot of dry underbrush and stuff. We downed dead trees and collected a lot of the wood, leaving some for habitat of course.
Samson was a genius with natural things. He actually had a college degree related in some way, his father apparently approving of school over the Navy. I wondered whether it truly was the Navy or if he was angry his attempts at fostering rivalry between his sons came to an end when Tris stepped out of contention for the alpha spot. Could an adult, one in charge of a whole pack, really behave so childishly?
Honestly, it sounded more like pure evil than childish. Something deep-rooted and very troubling. I stumbled over a root, and Samson steadied me. “Easy, there. It’s dangerous around here. Doesn’t look like there is any kind of pathway at all, like nobody has been here in decades.”
Decades. Pulled back into the moment, I forgot the past and stopped, making him stop with me. “I think you’re right. We have everyone pretty spread out. Have any of them found anything? Like broken branches, footprints, trash? Any sign of human or shifters coming through?”
“Let’s find out.” He closed his eyes, something I’d seen him do before when putting out a call to his betas and, sure enough, a few minutes later, a dozen or more wolves came loping in to form a circle around us. They must have shifted to return more quickly, which made perfect sense. “Report.”
One by one, they answered, telling us what I more or less expected. No signs of anything besides regular animals going about their lives. Not so much as a discarded water bottle or sneaker. Weird, but somehow, people tended to leave single shoes in the woods. And shifters left a lot more. Samson reminded them constantly to return for any clothes they’d left behind when the urge to shift came upon them, but I’d seen too many people wandering in from the woods naked and not carrying any clothes, found too many heaps of weathered jeans and tees, to think they obeyed.
No, nobody had seen anything.
Undisturbed woodlands. Squirrels, foxes, a stream loaded with fish. But not so much as a scrap of cloth to indicate a kidnapping victim might have been dragged through. So…
“Do you think Virginia made a mistake?” I murmured to Samson. “Because this isn’t looking good.”
“Who knows?” He shrugged. “She was really drugged, a situation that could confuse anyone. But we had to try.”
“Yes, we did.”
At his order, we all shifted and ran toward home. With no better ideas than we’d had before Virginia got back.
Chapter Twenty-One
I flipped through my calendar, putting down due dates for assignments. With the pack business and searches and school, this calendar was my lifeline. It tracked everything.
Damn it, I hadn’t made time to see my friend Dean in so long with everything going on in the pack. I needed to remedy that.
But wait…
So, when I saw a red dot on it from a few weeks ago, my knees went weak, and I nearly fell down right here in the kitchen.
“What is it?” Tris came in from the living room. “Your heart stopped.”
“Do you know what this is?” I pointed to the red dot on the calendar.
“No. What is it?” He hugged me from behind, and, in my fear, I nearly pushed him away. This was what had gotten us into this in the first place.
“That’s when I was supposed to start my cycle.”
“Well, that was three weeks ago….oh…” He let go of me and stepped back. “Do you think you are…? I mean, what do we do?”
“We don’t do anything. I need to go get a pregnancy test.”
“I can go,” Tris offered. “This is a thing mates do, right? I want to do it.”
I mentally chastised myself the entire time he was gone. I should’ve been more careful. No, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but also, it wasn’t planned, and I was in school, not to mention the chaos with the pack. It simply wasn’t a good time.
And I couldn’t help but think this would all be more welcome if Samson had been in the picture. Without us mated, there would be no question as to who the baby belonged to, and inevitably cause some strife between my mates. But if Samson and I had been mated as well, there would be no knowing who the baby belonged to, especially since Samson and Tris were nearly identical.
I paced the room and cursed the calendar until Tris returned. He’d bought ten different kinds. “I didn’t know which one to get, so I got one of each.”
“Okay.” I picked out the one advertising the most rapid results and brought it to the bathroom. After peeing on the stick, I went into the kitchen to talk to a very pale Tris. “What are you thinking?” I laid my head on his shoulder.
“I’m torn, to be honest. On the one hand, there is nothing more I want in the world than to start a family with you. But, on the other, I think it could be a better time. Is that horrible? Am I selfish?”
“Tris, it’s not selfish. You’re right, and I feel the same way. Everything feels so unbalanced right now. When we have children, and we will, I want our home and our lives to be stable. Don’t you think?”
He nodded. “But what if you are pregnant right now?”
I blew out a breath but had no answer for him. I held back some tears, and Tris pulled me into his arms. “Hey, if you are, it’s going to be okay. I rock at changing diapers, and maybe Gigi can babysit while you’re at school. I can change my work schedule. We will make it work. I swear everything will be fine, Christie.”
I searched his face for anything other than what he’d expressed and finding nothing else. Just love and a little concern. “I love you, Tris. Some days, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He smiled, the kind that lit up his eyes. “I love you more than anything. I can’t wait to have a sassy little Christie running around here. Whatever happens, whatever the results are, we will be okay.”
The timer on my phone went off, interrupting our sweetness.
“Hold that thought.” I rushed to the bathroom and picked up the stick.
One blue line. Not pregnant.
While I was over-the-top relieved it was negative, I had to admit, I had been a little excited to start our family. But again, it simply didn’t seem right without Samson.
“Well?” Tris leaned against the frame of the door, his arms crossed over his chest.
“It’s negative.”
“But you’re late,” he countered.
“It must just be the stress and stuff. That can throw off my cycle. It certainly has before.”
He blew out a long breath, and I paused to take this moment in. It was important. My mate wore nothing but a pair of low-slung shorts and no shirt. He had never looked more enticing to me.
“When you look at me like that, it makes my wolf howl inside me. Can you hear it?”
I shook my head.
“How about we do something about this stress level of yours?”
“What do you suggest?” My mind immediately went to sex. That always worked.
“A long, hot bath with your mate. And yeah, we can make love, too.”
I scoffed and tossed the pregnancy test into the trash can. “How do you know I want to have sex with you?”
He picked me up and kissed me deeply. “Because I can scent you, female. You smell so damned sweet when you’re horny.”
I slapped at his chest. “Just draw the bath. That’s the best idea you’ve had yet.”
He moved around me and poured in a capful of my lavender bubble bath before turning to me. “No, Christie, the best idea I ever had was loving you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
After my scare, I got a call from Brandon asking me to come over and keep Wendi company and help out a little. Virginia was not handling men being around, even her father, very well, but she couldn’t tell anyone why. We were looking for Opal as a kidnapper, but Samson suspected there was at least one henchman still in the mix.
Brandon had no idea, of course, what I’d just been through, because Tris and I hadn’t told anyone, not even Gigi, about our pregnancy test. Sometimes, other people didn’t need to know what was between mates. Of course, had I been pregnant, we’d have told everyone. As it stood, we had nothing to tell.
But when Brandon phoned in the wee small hours, I was out of bed and on my way so fast, I barely slowed enough to tell Tris where I was going. Right as I was running for the front door, he shouted after me he’d come along. Sometimes, I got tired of being followed around, and his arriving on pack lands would first, be problematic with his brother, and second, would mean he’d dropped me off, leaving me with no vehicle should I want or need to go somewhere else. Not gonna fly. I’d been independent a long time. I scribbled a note for Gigi and left it taped to her door so she wouldn’t worry.
Tether: A Shifter of Consequence Tale (Shifters of Consequence Book 6) Page 7