He needed to talk to Col. He needed the alpha’s oath that Tara would be protected. No matter what. And he needed more time. At least to eliminate the wolves.
“It’s not bad, but I have to have moments alone, okay. Like now.” She wriggled away from him, climbed from beneath the blankets, and stood up from the floor, baring every beautiful naked inch of herself to his hungry gaze. He licked his lips remembering her taste. His hand went to her ankle, holding her still. He wanted another taste. She shouldn’t leave…not yet.
She chuckled. The sound was melodic and beautiful, free of worry and stress. He wanted to spend his entire life listening to her be happy. “I will let you take me to the store, but first I’m going to whip us up some breakfast.”
Food. He could definitely eat, but was food a better choice than tasting his sweet mate again before she left this room and put clothes back on. She likely wouldn’t cook naked. He shook his head and released her ankle. Had he lost his mind? He knew he’d lost his heart.
She smiled again, walked to the corner of her room and yanked a big green oversized sweatshirt over her head. It fell to mid-thigh, covering all the important bits, but leaving him a nice view of her long muscular legs. He could live with that for now.
“Bathroom’s down the hall if you need it. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Tara left the bedroom as reluctantly as Owen had released her foot, but the shrill cry of the phone on the kitchen wall dismissed all her playful thoughts. She grabbed the receiver and held it to her ear.
“Tara?” Her mother’s voice was shaky and thin, tired from the weeklong visit to the hospital in Anchorage.
“Mom? How’s dad? How are you?”
“He’s really weak, sweetheart. The doctors…they…”
“Mom?” Tara’s stomach tightened and threatened to crawl up her throat. Her dad had been responding positively to the treatments lately, but they’d weakened him so much.
“He’s got a virus or infection. They are running more tests.” Tara could hear the unshed tears in her mother’s voice. She was barely hanging on. Her parents had been together thirty years. They’d been in Mystery the whole time. Owned the store together the whole time. If mom lost dad, Tara wasn’t sure what would be left of her mother. “I really wish—”
“I’ll be there by this afternoon.” She didn’t say it, but she knew they were both worried that this might be one of those moments she couldn’t get back. Dad could pull through. Of course he could. He was a tough-as-nails-Alaskan, but there was always that chance that she might miss him. Might not get to give him another hug. Tell him she loved him.
Tara felt Owen behind her before she heard him, almost like there was an invisible tether between them. She’d tugged on his heart and he’d…appeared.
“I don’t really want you making that drive alone in that old car.”
“She won’t be alone,” Owen growled over her shoulder at the phone.
“Tara, who is that? Who’s with you?”
“Owen is here.”
“Thank the Lord, that man finally decided to make a move. I thought he was going to skulk around the store keeping an eye on you forever.”
“Mo—om!”
“Have you fed him breakfast yet? You both need to eat before you head out. And be sure the store is locked up.”
Tara started to say something about the store, but Owen’s hands slid around her hips, distracting her from the disturbing thoughts about the mess at the store. About the wolves and where they were and if they were coming back. About the tribe that didn’t want her and Owen together. Right. Cause that really worked. They were so together that Owen had bitten her. Marked her like an animal. It’d freaked her out a little at first, but then it’d just felt right. Like she was now a part of his world. They were in this together. No matter what happened.
“I will, mom. I’ll see you this afternoon, okay. Tell dad I’m on my way.”
“I will, sweetie. He’ll be so glad to see you. It’s been such a long week.” Her mom sounded a little better, probably because she now knew that Tara wasn’t alone. That Owen had finally made his move.
Tara released a small sigh. She was more than a little glad that Owen had finally made his move too, even though it’d taken crazy ass wolf shifters to make it happen. Maybe she could be a little grateful for their interference…not much…but maybe just a smidge.
“Col!” Naomi called from the kitchen where she was cooking breakfast for the tribe of heathens, she and Penny now called family. Lovable heathens, but still barbarians who needed a good talking to and they weren’t about to get a damn scrap from the kitchen until she’d given her mate a piece of her mind. She rubbed her slightly-rounding belly and smiled at the tickle of one of her little ones from the inside. She’d just started being able to feel the babies move. Their little dragon babies had upped her personal thermostat by at least another ten or fifteen degrees. She wasn’t uncomfortable, but Penny teased that she couldn’t sit near Naomi for fear of being roasted alive.
Penny stacked up the finished bacon on a platter next to the bowl of honey and fresh out-of-the-oven biscuits. The guys loved biscuits.
“Shuarra?” Col appeared inside the cabin promptly, his large frame taking up most of the kitchen now. He sniffed the air and smiled down at them both. “Should I call the others?”
“Yes. Penny and I have some things we’d like to discuss with the whole tribe.”
He reached around her for a pancake from the plate on the counter next to the griddle and she growled a warning. The dragon inside her might be Reylean, but the beast understood Naomi’s intentions and was most assuredly on her side for the coming argument.
Col raised one of his eyebrows and considered her silently. He kissed her forehead and took a deep breath through her curls, no doubt checking her pheromones trying to suss out what was going on. Good luck with that one, pal. He backed up a few steps, turned, and left the kitchen without another word.
“That was interesting,” Penny said, her voice laced with amusement.
“He doesn’t like surprises.” Naomi grabbed the plate of pancakes and walked them across the kitchen to the dining table.
Penny snorted out a laugh. “And yet, Fate gave him you for a mate.”
Naomi chuckled right along with the other woman who’d fit into the tight-knit group like she’d always been there. Naomi had been with Col since January, right after the Reyleans had arrived through the portal to earth, landing in the Denali park right outside of Mystery. Kann had found Penny not too long afterward—February—and had quickly convinced the dynamic woman to be his mate and move permanently to Mystery.
“Yes, he says my spontaneity gives him nightmares on occasion, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Of course not, he adores you,” Penny said. She placed the tray of biscuits, bacon, and honey on the table next to the pancakes.
Naomi gave a heavy sigh and stared at the table full of food. Eggs, pancakes, biscuits, bacon, sausages. She’d even sliced some apples as a special treat. Fruit was easier to get in May. Less snow and ice. More deliveries came into the town from the coast.
Which was good, because these guys ate like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, they also took time every few nights to hunt. The cabin freezer never hurt for meat because they always brought home extra. If they didn’t, there’d be no way to keep up with the stomachs of a dragon, two lions, and a tiger. Her dragon wasn’t an exception either. But due to the pregnancy, Col wouldn’t let her hunt. He did bring her fresh kills regularly and monitored the area closely when she shifted to eat. Something she was surprised she was able to do while pregnant, but Col had assured her it was perfectly safe. As had her dragon.
It was disgusting at first…eating a whole animal, bones, skin. All of it. But the dragon in her liked it so much. And her morning sickness was always soothed after eating a good meal in dragon form. So…she had persevered until she surprised herself one day by actually looking forward to the fr
esh kill Col brought her.
The front door swung open and Col stepped through first. Her massive mate had to duck his head to fit through the door. The other guys weren’t quite as tall, but they were close. Penny’s Kann sauntered around the table and pulled his smiling mate into his arms for a screen-worthy kiss.
“Dude! Not at the table. Please.” Tor said, coughing through an awkward laugh. “Seriously, Saul and I are feeling left out.”
“Speak for yourself, cub,” Saul shot at the redheaded tiger shifter. “It is a wonderful thing to have a warm home, good food, and females to care for even if they aren’t our mates. Fate will show herself when the time is right.”
Naomi smiled. Saul wasn’t that much older than Kann and Tor, maybe five or six years, but he was a much more seasoned warrior according to Col. The tattoos that wrapped each Reylean man’s shoulders and biceps spoke to their accomplishments and rank as a warrior.
Col slipped an arm around Naomi’s waist and pulled her tight to his side. “What troubles you, shuarra? Will you speak now that everyone is here?”
Tor grabbed a seat at the table next to Saul. He reached for one of the warm biscuits, but a snarl from Naomi’s lips halted his hand mid-air. Saul leaned back in his chair and met her gaze with his intense blue eyes. Kann murmured something into Penny’s ear and she nodded. Then both of them respectfully turned their attention to Naomi. Tor pulled his hand back from the food and waited for her to speak.
It was still a bit strange for her to have so much clout within the Tribe…within her family. Back home she was the baby sister. No one listened to her, much less heard anything she had to say over the clamor of all her brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles. Being here in Alaska with Col had been so strange at first, but so freeing.
Helping Tara and Owen become part of this family was her next goal. Penny was onboard with the plan as was Owen’s sister Ava, who’d already told Naomi she wouldn’t join until Owen was welcomed freely with his mate and the outcast status forgiven and forgotten.
Here goes nothing.
“I want Owen, Tara, and Ava to be welcomed into the tribe.” Naomi braced herself for Col’s outburst. She wasn’t disappointed. The heat from her mate’s body rocketed to bonfire level and he snarled, stepping away from her side.
“He claimed her, didn’t he? He went against my authority after I expressly forbid it.” He growled and his eyes flashed with flame.
Naomi ground her teeth and stared down her husband—her mate.
“He is aonkan. It cannot be forgiven. This is his punishment. I told him.”
“And you are alpha, which means you can forgive it. You can make this go away.”
“He is marked. It will never go away. Any Reylean in this world would kill him for taking a mate. It is against all our laws. All our traditions.”
Naomi’s dragon hummed angrily inside her chest. “What if the mark were gone?” she asked, an idea flitting through her mind. What if the knowledge of him being an outcast never left this tribe?”
Col glowered at her and took a step closer. “He is not worthy. He failed his Tribe.”
“He isn’t on Reylea anymore and Fate herself gifted him with a mate. You believe in her above everything else, right? Soulmate and glowing magick and all that shit. You can’t dismiss that Tara was matched with Owen by the very same power that matched us. You respect and honor the magick of your world.”
Col’s mouth opened to shout something at her. She heard him take the breath. Watched the frustration mount in the muscles of his face. Saw his eyes narrow. His lips tighten.
Everything rested on her mate’s shoulders. It was a huge responsibility, but he had to see that keeping Owen and Tara apart was fundamentally against everything they valued about their world. Against how they valued soul mates and magick and love and honor. He had to see it was the right thing to do.
“No.” The word resonated through the cabin with a finality that even Naomi knew wouldn’t be altered. Tears rolled down her cheeks. How could he do this? How could her mate be so cruel?
It wasn’t fair.
15
Tara pressed the button next to the ICU door and waited to be buzzed in by the nurse at the desk. She rubbed her arms and tried to regain control of her rapid shallow breathing. The cold grip of fear receded only when Owen slipped an arm around her waist and leaned down to place a kiss on her neck. His lips trailed over the place he’d marked her, sending a calming jolt straight to her core. She sighed, leaning against his warm body. Her heartrate slowed. Her breathing regulated. Everything was better because he was there. She wasn’t sure how she would’ve made the trip without him.
The door made a hissing sound and slid open. She and Owen walked through, him with a hand on the small of her back. The sound of beeping machines and indistinct chatter started to put her nerves on end again. They grey walls were bare and clean and chilling to the soul.
“I’m here to see Charlie Jenkins, I’m his daughter.”
The nurse nodded but didn’t look up from her task at the computer. Her fingers were flying across the keyboard.
Tara waited. She was used to it. In the ICU you waited until they had time for you. That was just how it worked. An alarm went off and nurses and people rushed down a hallway toward the blaring noise, but the woman at the desk didn’t even react. At least thirty seconds passed before the typing ceased and the very calm nurse looked up to meet Tara’s gaze.
“Only one of you can go in. Only two in the room at a time.” She wheeled her chair around to the counter behind her and picked up a name tag. Then wheeled back around and handed Tara the tag. “Put this on. Room five.” She pointed back at the sliding doorway. “Your friend will have to wait his turn.”
Owen nodded. “I’ll wait for you. It’s fine. Go see your parents.”
Tara took a deep breath. “You’re not going to leave?”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Absolutely not.” Then he gave her a quick kiss and retreated to the waiting area they’d passed just before entering the ICU. Tara watched him through the glass walls. He found a seat on a chair in the corner and settled down. His enormous body barely fitting into the small waiting room seat.
Tara turned away and took another deep breath. It was time. She marched down the stark white hallway, passing window after window. Door after door. Most of the rooms seemed occupied. When she got to number five she heard her mother talking to her father, telling him that Tara was coming—that she was on her way.
“Mom?” She stepped into the room and tried not to panic. Her father was hooked up to so many wires. So many machines. Tubes were coming out of his arms. His nose. The tower of IV medicines were beeping and dripping and it was all so overwhelming. She’d been to the hospital when he’d had treatments before, but this was different. She rushed to the side of the bed. “Dad? Mom? What’s going on?”
Tears burned down her cheeks.
“Oh, Tara, sweetie,” her mom said, pulling her into a tight hug. “You made it. You didn’t drive alone did you?”
“Owen’s here. They wouldn’t let him in.” She touched the name tag affixed to her shirt. “Two at a time.”
“Right, of course.” Her mother shook her head.
“What’s going on?” Tara reached for her dad’s hand, lacing her fingers with his. He smiled at her and squeezed gently.
“Just caught an infection or something, baby, I’m going to be fine.” His voice was thin and tired, like a winter breeze lingering before summer blew it away. His face was gaunt, thinner than she’d ever seen it before. His normally sparkling blue eyes were sunken in and dull. His lips were pulled tight in pain. He was hurting. A lot.
Tara leaned over the bed and kissed his cheek. He smiled again and Tara could tell he was fighting to keep his eyes open. He was so tired, so worn down, he couldn’t even stay awake. Of course he was in the ICU instead of a regular room. This was so different than all the other times he’d come for his treatment. She hadn’t been
for all of them, but she’d been to enough to know this was severely different.
Her mom tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. “Hon, why don’t we let your father get a few minutes of sleep. We can go out to the waiting room and talk. I want to see Owen too and then you don’t have to say everything twice.”
“Should we leave, Dad?”
He chuckled and then coughed. “I’m not going anywhere.” He turned his head and opened his eyes. “Go. Let your mom take a break. If you don’t, I won’t get any juicy gossip later about you and Owen.” He gave her a wry grin and then shut his eyes again.
Tara breathed a little deeper at that wise-crack. He might be sick and weak and so tired that he looked like he’d never get out of that bed, but he was still her dad. Still the man that always found a way to break a mood with a hint of humor.
Her mom gave her father a kiss on the lips and brushed a bit of his curly hair to the side. “I won’t be long, dear.”
“You take as long as you need. Get something to eat. I’ll be here.”
“I love you.” Her mother’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Love you more,” her dad said, opening his eyes and giving her mother the smile, she’d grown up her whole life seeing between them. How much they loved each other. How much they cared and respected each other. Everything about their whole relationship was wrapped up for her in that smile. Except there was one difference today…it felt too much like a goodbye in case they didn’t see each other again.
She didn’t like that. Not one bit. Her heart clenched in her chest again and she wished Owen was standing beside her. His presence alone would’ve been able to give her a small amount of peace even though she was pretty sure her father was dying.
Bearly Hanging On: Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 3 Page 13