Daddy Next Door

by Tina Lee

  “I have one. What did one wolf say to another?” Everyone stared at me. “Howl's it goin'!”

  They chuckled at my terrible joke. Sia went next, then everyone in the circle. It lifted my spirits to see laughter on everyone’s face. As long as there was breath in me, I would not allow our spirit to be broken. We needed to stick together. We needed to remain strong.

  Chapter Seven

  Elizabeth

  Every morning I sat outside my tent with my bow and arrow and eagerly await for Dante’s call. We would go into the woods and he would teach me how to harness the full potential of the bow and arrow. His training often led down a spiritual road, which surprised me coming from him. He taught me to be one with my surroundings. The bow and arrow in an extension of me. He taught me to listen to the leaves when they spoke, and at first it seemed bit crazy, but as soon i started to become one with everything around me, I could hear them whisper. Guiding me. They told me when my target moved, where to fire, where the wind was coming and how much I should adjust.

  A week had past and I was improving at an impressive rate. So impressive that Dante couldn’t hide his approving grin anymore.

  “You can kill a deer, but can you kill three deer?”

  I killed three deer.

  “You killed three deer but can kill a swift rabbit. A blink and he’s gone.”

  I killed a swift rabbit.

  “The rabbit is swift, but the rat is swifter.”

  The rat was challenging. A very small target which meant I had to be accurate. The rat will hear the arrow and as it tears through the air and it will run. I had to judge where his run was going to be and fire there, and out of fright, the rat will run right where I aimed.

  “Okay. You killed the rat, but can you kill me?”

  He still thought I was weak. That I was afraid to take the next step. That I would never do such a thing to my superior. He was waiting for hesitation…but I gave him none.

  I drew an arrow and fired at his neck in one motion. The arrow lodged into the tree and he was gone.

  “Up here.” He stood on a branch. ‘You’re going have to quick—”

  I sent three decoy arrows at him so he would move, like the rat, to exactly where I wanted him to be. He was too quick to see so I listened to the leaves. Gentle leaves dance to the rhythm of the air around it. Its air was full of movement—Dante’s movement—so I aimed my arrow at the dancing leaves for that was where he was going to be.

  It all happened in a flash. The arrow caught him…barely. A small slit on the side of his neck, blood running down his neck. His does bleed after all.

  “I’m impressed,” he said with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from him.

  Don’t underestimate me, Dante

  “Come, my Lord. Let me clean your wound.”

  We sat under the shade and gutted our kill, something I’d grown to love doing with him. It wasn’t pretty or flowery or romantic. It was bloody and dirty and I was fine with that. I was totally comfortable being messy around him, and he too was comfortable around me, and something that was long overdue, was about to come.

  Over the course of him training me, I tried to suppress what I may have been feeling. I didn’t fully understand and I didn’t want to. But now, it was undeniably clear; I had feelings for Dante Lukas. A commoner had no place having feelings for a Lukas. We were worlds apart, and yet, we were not. And what happened next, was a result of both our worlds colliding.

  Dante’s eyes may have had powers of their own. For as I looked into his blazing Amber eyes, I felt a sudden heat spreading through my body, all the way from my twitching cheeks to my moist thighs. There was a look of intent in his eyes, and I wondered what he saw when he looked at me.

  He dropped the knife he was using on the deer and held my face with his bloody hand, painting my cheeks red. He breathed heavy, for a second I thought he was about to howl, he didn’t. He just stared at me. And I stared at his lips.

  I could feel the deer’s blood dripping down my cheeks onto my neck. His heavy breathing turned into a low grunt. Goosebumps rose from their slumber as his hot breath tickled my neck.

  I wanted to confess to him what I was feeling all this time. I managed to conjure up words. “My Lord—”

  I was silenced.

  His lips pressed against mine and our tongues clashed like we were at war. In his kiss, behind the passion, was raw hunger. Hunger for something he had been missing for too long. His rough kiss dominated my mouth, taking full control, as if my lips belonged to him.

  I welcomed him, and I showed him that I could be rough too. Drunk with the taste of his lips and his intoxicating scent, we fought with fiery desire. The awakening of a fire; a violent flame.

  We burned.

  Whatever we were before died that day. We arose from the ashes as something new.

  ****

  “There is something going on,” Sia said. Could she know? I wasn’t planning on hiding it from her forever but certainly not yet.

  “About what?” I asked.

  “So, I was fucking one of the pack last night. He had a strong manhood by the way—”

  “Tell me what you heard.”

  “Okay. Okay. I don’t have the full details. He said the pack would be joining another pack.”

  “A merger?”

  “I believe so.”

  “Which pack?” Could this be true?

  “I don’t know yet. That’s what I am going to find out. I’m going to visit one of my special buyer later on and suck some information out of him.”

  She was about to walk off, and before she did, she said. “You seem different.”

  “What do you mean?” I blushed.

  “I don’t know how to explain it…just different,” she said then walked away.

  I had duties of checking on all the wounded soldiers. Many of them were making a full recovery. Some we had amputate limbs. At least they were alive, though they would never fight in the pack again.

  I grew familiar with many of them on my daily checkups. I learned of their kid’s name and of their wives. I noticed many of these men were older than the Lukas brother, and a question I had to ask was: “How do you feel about your leader being younger than you?”

  Thomas AKA Dancing Feather responded, “no doubt he’s a strong man. The question is, though, is he a good leader? He’s softer than his father, softer than his brother. A leader has be aggressive. He’s a King, and he doesn’t even have a queen. I have my doubts of him.” He chewed the medicine I gave him. “I made an oath to the pack. That means I’ll follow his orders, no matter how foolish they are, even if it costs me my life.”

  He was right. He was a king without a Queen. Even in the commoners area there were whispers as to why. Silly rumors.

  I knew exactly why. Leo was not like the kings before him. He would not get married for the sake of having a queen. He had to love her. She had to be someone he could spend the rest of his life with.

  Leo had a long way to go before he could convince these men of his vision. I had faith that they would, in time, open their eyes and see the truth. Perhaps it was too late for these men, and it was the new generation that would carry on his belief in peace.

  Now that everyone was recovering I suspected that our time at this camp was coming to an end. The thing I missed most about home was a nice bath and properly cooked food. My mouth watered of just the thought.

  I took a peak in Leo’s tent. It was empty.

  “Looking for me?”

  I jumped and spun around.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Leo said.

  “I’m fine, Your Grace. And yes, just informing you that everyone is recovering as expected.”

  “Excellent.” His hand touch my shoulder and I tried my best to keep it together. “I’m grateful for your service.”

  I smiled. Too nervous for words. I had never thought of myself as a shy person. I was always singing and joking with other common men. It was his eyes tha
t got my tongue all tied up. I couldn’t think clearly when I looked into the blue.

  “I’m walking to the waterfalls. Care to join me?”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  We reached the waterfalls where we were before, when he mourned the death of his right hand man. I suspect that was why he was here again, to pay his respect, to say goodbye.

  The waterfall’s loud roar drowned out the sound of everything around it. What was left was many mute birds flying around the nearby trees. Pink petals floating in the air as they all made their timely fall. Winter was upon us. Colored petals cover the earth creating a beautiful pathway. They will be replaced with snow in a few months’ time.

  He sat on the same rock I found him on. “I’m sorry again for what happened,” I said.

  “He gave his life as would any of this pack would. He believed in my cause and died for it. He’s an honorable man.”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  “The thing nobody ever told me was that I would feel responsible for all their deaths.”

  “No, Your Grace! You must throw away that thought at once! This is war. Every man marched out there knowing they may never return. They believe in you.”

  “I’m afraid they don’t all believe.”

  “Then make them believe.”

  “You can’t force a man to believe.”

  “Then show him. Show them how passionate you are for your cause. Keep doing what you think is right because you believe in yourself entirely. Remove doubt from yourself and you will remove doubt from them. Then they will have no choice but to believe.”

  He looked at me, sort of how Dante looked at me before.

  “I’m being foolish.”

  “No, Your Grace. You’re not. You feel.” I brushed my finger gently on his cheek. “There is nothing to be ashamed off. It doesn’t change a thing. You are my King, and I live to serve you.”

  I bowed before him. I looked up at his towering body. I would do anything Leo asked of me. Just say the word, Leo.

  He held my hand and rose me to my feet. He wrapped his arm tightly around me. “Hold on,” he said, then he made one big jump to the top of the falls.

  It felt as if my stomach fell out. I gripped his arms for my knees were to week to stand.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it,” he said.

  I remained silent for a moment, because he was right, it was beautiful. I caught my breath. “Oh, Your Grace. I’ve never seen anything like this.” I was looking down at a colorful wonderland. Autumn had turned this land into art. Colorful trees split by a running river that illuminated a faint blue glow as the orange sun departed.

  “I’ve have grown fond you, Elizabeth.”

  I melted.

  I could feel my breath leaving me. Drowning in icy eyes. His blond hair dancing in the wind. Say something! You fool! He is waiting for your answer.

  He wasn’t.

  Before I could open my mouth he put a finger on my lips. “By our traditions, I, as king, am not allowed to have feelings for you. But one cannot deny what one feels, for if it would be a betrayal to one’s self. I don’t know what I feel for you, and I could care less as to try and reduce it to a word, because it is far more than any one word. But know this, I feel something for you, Elizabeth. Something that is consuming me completely.”

  “Your Grace—”

  “Leo. Call me Leo.”

  “Leo...” It felt so strange saying that. “Kiss me.”

  He took his time leaning in, which felt like two eternities for my eager lips.

  His soft lips pressed onto mine.

  His tongue slid between my lips, twirling, massaging my tongue. His kisses were slow. Tantalizing. My lips trembled for more.

  I rode a gentle bliss with Leo, floating down a river of euphoria.

  Calm. Like his eyes.

  His kiss left a lingering buzz inside of me. Even when it was over it didn’t feel like it was over.

  I kissed both brother in the same day. Two things that seemed surreal.

  Worlds colliding.

  Leo and Dante were nothing like. One was gentle and calm while the other wild and rough. One gave me a cool pleasure to my senses while the other got me excited with heat.

  I didn’t know which brother I preferred. It mattered little, anyways. It was only a kiss. The chances of it becoming anything more was small. For as much I liked to fantasize what we could be, the truth didn’t change. I was a human. A commoner. The Lukas bloodline would not be tainted with a commoner.

  It was only wishful thinking.

  Chapter Eight

  Elizabeth

  I woke the next day feeling horrible and disgusted with myself. What I had done before fully sank in, and I was disappointed in my actions. I knew my mother would certainly be disappointed in what I had done. It was tempting to ask Sia for advice in all this. I could really use someone to talk to, however, this was not time to complain about the drama in my fantasy life. The real world is here, where action needed to be done, and I had work to do.

  I was losing the battle between me and my thoughts. For no matter how hard I tried to push them at the back of my mind, they somehow found themselves at the front. I kept telling myself that I was just a healer, and what those two brothers do was none of my business. Their kisses ran deep, and I was afraid it had planted itself, with roots too deep to kill. Their lips, and how it felt against mine, haunted me. I worked harder to distract myself.

  I focused on the positives I was seeing in front of me. Everyone was returning to good health. Men who were too weak to talk were now blabbering, and men who were too weak to walk were now moving about. One of the funnier sights were grown men refusing bitter medicine. “Eat it.”

  One member of the pack, thick beard and dark eyes. A man you would not like to meet in the shadows. He pushed my hand away at the scent of the boiled Tanga root. I admit, the Tanga root smelled awful, and his sense of smell was way more sensitive than mine, but still, a warrior should be able to overcome a bad scent. “I don’t want it.”

  “Eat it!”

  His nose cringed. “I’m not eating that. I’d rather die.”

  “I swear if you make me ask again I’m going to shove it right down your throat!”

  He growled and grabbed the root from my hand. I tried hard to suppress the laughter as he struggled to chew and swallow. He gagged and beat his chest.

  “Swallow!” I told him.

  With great effort, he finally swallowed, sweating and squinting his eyes. “That was fucking terrible.” He frantically searched his tent for his can of water.

  He caught me smiling.

  “This is funny to you, uh?”

  “Yes. It is. Now rest up, we’re going on an evening-walk later.”

  I actually enjoyed checking on the injured every day. Behind the mean exterior, they were soft souls, fighting for whatever they loved. Patience was a must when dealing with them. This war affected all of us, and for some of us, our mind may never recover.

  At sunset, I drag everyone along for the evening-walk. We have been here for what seemed like forever and yet some part of the woods was still new to me. I made the men who were recovering to lead the walk, so we all walked at their pace. Staying in that tent all day wasn’t good for the mind, and they could surely use the exercise.

  Ben tagged along, I had no doubt he would, we were always little explorers in our own village. I wanted to ask if he remembered when we went deep into the back woods and saw that huge snake swallowing the pig whole. The good news was that we found out what was taking our pigs, and the village men killed it. Bad news was Ben mom spanking him for venturing off so far. My mother on the other hand was proud that I solved a mystery, even if she would never say it. It was better off not bringing up the memories of our destroyed village.

  “When do you think we’re going home?” Ben said.

  I wondered if he truly thought of the North as our home. I wanted to tell him that the North was not our home, but that would make me
a hypocrite. “Soon. I suppose.”

  “Leo told you anything specific?”

  Damn it, Ben. Why did you have say his name. Images of waterfall and bursting sunset flickered in my mind. His golden hair glowing in dimming sunlight and the ocean rolling in his eyes. “No. Nothing specific.”

  I hadn’t seen Leo and Dante all day. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was it, out of sight, out of mind? Or does absence makes the heart grow fonder? I was losing a battle with myself.

  “Hey, remember that time we saw the snake that was eating our pigs?” Ben asked.

  I laughed. He didn’t intend for it to be funny, and he was sort of confused by my laughter. It was funnier that it should have been but it had me smiling. I smiled at Ben, for reasons he didn’t understand. Ben reminded me that I wasn’t alone in this. That I had someone just like me to go to. We shared a village, being taken from our parents, a new home, a king, and now even similar thoughts it seemed. A reminder that I wasn’t alone gave me great comfort and strength.

  We continue on our green trail, birds singing above our heads, and the faint sunset peeking through the leaves.

  We returned to the base and our nose were greeted with the scent of stew cooking in the pots. After a long walk, Ben and I scurried to the fire to get our bowls of mouth-watering goodness.

  “Elizabeth, We need to talk.” Sia spotted us racing to the fire.

  “Not now.” I was too hungry to listen to one of Sia’s sexual encounter stories.

  “It’s important.”

  “Not more important than getting my bowl of stew.”

  “Go on. I’ll get you a bowl,” Ben said.

  Even in low light, the hickey on Sia’s neck stood out. “You ditched our evening walk for love-making.”

  “Well, it was because of that love-making that I found out why Leo and Dante are gone.”