Finding Hope: Book Ten of the Running in Fear Series

by Trinity Blacio

  “You should have never been washing dishes,” he grumbled. “But we’re happy you are enjoying your new gifts.” He kissed her nose.

  “Are all of you coming with us?” Hope asked as the children headed toward the door, after Jester and Burr opened it for them.

  “We’ll walk you down to the commons, then Gourd and I are going to the ship to retrieve those who are coming back for the meeting,” Fand said. “Jester will be staying with you and the children. Remember, Little Bear, you are not to be alone with Oliver roaming around.”

  Hope shivered. “Believe me, I won’t be changing until the challenge.”

  “Do I need to send someone back to Earth?” her brother asked.

  “No, we will do this the old way, or another idiot will take his place,” Gourd said. “It’s time to break the control this man has over the others in his den.”

  “Fine, but if he touches my sister, be warned, he’ll not only have me after him, but our whole family. Did you know there are seven of us boys and two girls? Well, three now,” Leaguer said, moving to her side.

  “You did that on purpose, knowing it would make me more nervous,” Hope growled, hitting his arm.

  He laughed, rubbing it. “Yep, you are part of the family. It must come from our mother’s side then, this violent streak we have,” he said just as a bucket of water was dumped on his head.

  “Tanner,” he growled as Hope laughed her butt off.

  “I’m so going to enjoy this. I wonder how they are going to react to…” Hope glanced at Gourd, who stepped in front of her with Owen.

  He turned and smiled at her. “Not to worry, I was raised with four brothers also. I have to say my oldest brother was a pain too.”

  Hope stepped back as did Valda, knowing something was about to happen. Sure enough, honey poured over Gourd’s head, apparently coming from nowhere.

  “There you go, dear sister, I sweetened him up for you. He always was a sourpuss,” Luca said, and Hope cackled when all three of her kids moved closer to Gourd, licking their lips.

  “Hope,” Gourd growled and cleaned himself off before the children got too close. “I’m not something to be eaten,” he grumbled.

  Little Sasha put her hands on her hips. “But that was honey!” she growled in frustration, which set off another set of laughter from everyone.

  “Dear brother, your time will come,” Gourd said.

  “Maybe on our visit there we can spar. I miss sparing with my brother,” Luca sighed.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “My daughter and her men will be joining you on your little world, along with three other women who have volunteered to teach. I have one warrior who has agreed to come to teach the little men, also,” Gourd’s brother informed them as they entered the common room, joining the other women.

  “A warrior to train the boys? What happened to training all the children?” Hope growled, knowing that the king and the other women had heard her.

  Gourd and the other men in the room groaned. “Hope, you know little girls shouldn’t be trained to be warriors,” he said.

  “Tell me you didn’t just say that,” she snarled. “Do I have to prove to you that I can take you?” Hope growled. “Come on, Mr. Warrior, let’s see what you have,” she said, putting them in fencing outfits.

  “Hope,” Gourd growled but got into position. “You really want to do this?”

  “If you lose they will be laughing at our family for years,” his brother said.

  Hope snarled. “You know you are my brother and that means I can challenge you too. Leave Gourd alone,” she snapped, which had Gourd, Fand and Jester laughing their butts off.

  Hope shook her head. “See what I have to put up with?” She pointed her sword at Gourd. “I swear one minute I want to choke him, and the next…”

  “I could turn him into a toad…” Jaycee offered, earning groans from Remi and Dane.

  “Jaycee, enough,” Remi snarled, patting the little one in his arms.

  “Okay, Little Bear, let’s see what you have,” Gourd said, once more taking his position.

  “It’s about time,” Hope said, waiting to surprise her man.

  “You do know that upstaging him might be a problem on their world, little sister,” a strange voiced entered her head, throwing her off her mark.

  “Damn it, hold on, someone else is in my head now,” Hope growled. “Who the hell is this?” she said, tapping her foot.

  “Your older brother, Tanner, and you really should watch that mouth. You are a lady,” he said.

  “Really?” Hope growled and pictured the coldest lake she knew in Alaska, then sent a part of it on top of her brother. “Leaguer, keep our brother out of my head so I can show my man that a woman can fight too.”

  “I’m going to spank your butt,” Tanner growled.

  “Touch my butt and you’ll be black and blue,” Hope said, countering Gourd’s moves. “Plus, I don’t believe my men are going to allow their delicate little woman to be manhandled.” Hope snickered when she jabbed Gourd, tying the score and earning shouts from the women.

  For what seemed like an hour, Hope fought with her man, but in the end his endurance won out.

  “Fine, you win, but I still think warrior training should be offered to the girls if they are interested.” Hope fell down into a chair, taking off her fencing mask and gloves as Sasha came over and crawled into her lap.

  “Can you teach me, Mama Bear? I want to learn too,” she said.

  “Ask your father, little Sasha, since he will be in charge of this so-called training,” she grumbled as Gourd sat down next to her.

  “How about we compromise here? If a girl wants to train, one of us can teach her. Or even you could teach her. You have the skills and held your own, and I am very proud to have you as my mate.”

  Hope grinned. The look in Gourd’s eyes said he wanted to pull her away from everyone, but now wasn’t—

  He stood and lifted Sasha, then placed a kiss on her cheek and handed her over to Fand. “If you will excuse us, we’ll be back in a few minutes,” Gourd told the others as he leaned down, threw her over his shoulder and disappeared from the common room.

  When they reappeared in their home, Hope was naked and Gourd placed her on their large dining-room table. Jester reached for her arms and held them above her while sucking a nipple into his mouth as he gently pushed her back onto the table. The cool wood was a godsend against her flushed skin.

  Gourd stepped between her legs. Her gaze meeting his, and Hope swore his eyes were alive as little red dots appeared in them.

  “It’s always risky to challenge a warrior, but one who isn’t yet fully bonded with his woman is dangerous,” Luca said, killing the loving mood immediately.

  “Get out of my damn head,” Hope growled, dressing herself in her comfort clothes and appearing in the common, so furious she could barely speak. Everyone including Fand turned their attention to her, looking shocked.

  “Do you know what you have done?” Fand growled, coming over to her, grasping her arms and shaking her.

  “Yes, I do.” She yanked herself away and stepped back from him, glaring and poking his chest. “I don’t make love in front of family. Ewww. It’s gross and disturbing. So all three of you can go jump in the lake we saw earlier and swim with the fishes,” Hope snapped and stomped her foot, then cringed when Fand disappeared from the room.

  “Oh crap, I’m dead meat,” she mumbled and peeked up at the lake above. Jaycee giggled and Valda smiled as Hope glanced around the room. “It’s not funny.” Hope sighed. “One slight problem with the gift: I need to watch what I say when angry,” Hope mumbled, making a mental note as her three men appeared in a circle, surrounding her.

  “Did you know that thing up there likes to play?” Jester growled.

  Hope couldn’t help it, she busted out laughing. “Well, then it’s a good thing we know this. Wouldn’t want the children being tossed, around, would we? Thank you so much for findi
ng out,” she and her new friends giggled.

  But her gaze sought out Gourd’s. He took a deep breath, changing his clothes with a thought, before cupping her cheek. “I would never allow my brother or anyone else to see what is ours, unless we decided together this would be something you would enjoy. I’m sorry he interrupted our time, and believe me, he got the message not to interfere with us again.” Gourd leaned down and kissed her softly. ‘We will have to work on your choice of words, though.” He smiled. “Maybe it was a good thing about the lake, but I’m afraid Fand and Jester don’t like to be tossed around like a ball.”

  “Really? That would be kind of fun,” Sasha said, squeezing between Hope and Gourd. She peeked around her to look up at Fand. “Do you think we can ride them and get tossed around to?” she asked, all serious, and Hope had to hide her smile.

  Fand and Jester groaned as she knelt in front of her daughter. “We’ll have to wait and see, Sasha. Remember, these are still wild animals and they don’t know if their playing would hurt us.” Hope lifted Sasha and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Now I believe everyone has waited or us long enough. Let’s go meet the other children.” Hope said, looking up at Gourd, who nodded. He took Sasha and threw her up in the air.

  “You don’t need an animal to be tossed in the air,” Gourd teased as Sasha laughed.

  Valda slid up next to her as they walked down the commons, which had to be at least two miles long. “You know what I would love to do?” Valda asked.

  “What’s that?” Hope asked as her nephews move in closer, the little one taking Valda’s hand. They were definitely making progress with the boys.

  “I’d like to visit Earth before we go so far away we can’t visit. I mean, it was our home, even if we had some stupid assholes messing with us,” Valda said.

  “I have to agree. I’d love to visit the old places I used to hang out at—that is, if they are still there,” Shelly said, joining them with Bo and their two little girls. “It would be great to see our mountain one more time,” Shelly said and nudged Bo, who nodded.

  “I wouldn’t mind seeing our old homestead one more time too,” he agreed.

  “I would love to visit my parents’ graves and apologize to them. If it wasn’t for me…” Lissa choked up, and at once Nikola and Blair were there, wrapping their arms around her.

  “It wasn’t your fault, little one,” Nikola told her as Blair placed a kiss on the side of her cheek, nodding in agreement.

  Hope glanced over at Gourd. “Do you think we’d be allowed to go back for a few hours?”

  Aurora and her men joined them. “I see no problem with you taking turns to go down to Earth for a few hours. We just can’t do it all at once,” Aurora said, moving with them as they walked toward the children’s home. “Just like you I’m tied to our home, but since we grew this place, you could say, your home we can visit anytime since we are connected also to it. But we can only visit other places once a year and then only for a short time. Hence why we arrive close to where we want to be so we can spend more time there.”

  “But is it safe for them to go back there?” Nikola asked. “Don’t forget, Earth is still dealing with some of those zombie creatures, not to mention the strays that the weapon didn’t take care of.”

  Lissa frowned at him. “You always have to be a buzz kill,” she grumbled.

  “Those creatures should have died with the heliokillers. They live on energy.” Aurora looked over at Leaguer.

  “I’m only thinking of your safety, little one, and yes, that is true, Aurora. But you forget they could also live off other humans also,” Nikola said, rubbing his head on the top of Lissa’s head.

  Lissa rubbed her arms. “Suzanne and I had dealings with a few of those things even though we didn’t know what they were at the time. Their visits became more and more frequent. They seemed to thrive on hurting us when they did come. Can fear provide enough energy for them to live off?” Lissa asked, looking at Nikola.

  Leaguer looked at Lissa. “No wonder a few survived. Lissa, you are brilliant. It’s so simple, I’m surprised we didn’t even think of it. All the fear from the battles and destruction would feed many.” Leaguer shook his head. “I’d wait till we make sure there aren’t hundreds still alive down there before the women are allowed to go. It would make sense for these creatures to use them as a last stand since they started with them.”

  “First, the word allow needs to be erased from your vocabulary.” Hope gave him a look and he smiled. “But that would also mean someone else is narrating this on Earth. Do you have any idea who?” Hope glanced over at Remi and Dane. “Because if I’m not mistaken, they should have fled when I killed my father.”

  “That, I’m afraid, your Earth people will have to deal with, because these things will drawl the other heliokillers that fled back to them if they are not found and destroyed soon,” Iceman said.

  They all stopped in front of the massive two-story house that served as the orphanage. Hope’s stomach was in knots at the thought of the monsters coming back. She took a deep breath, and studied the home. It was like one of the huge mansions she had seen in magazines back on Earth. The double doors swung open and an older couple smiled at them, right before they stepped aside, allowing what had to be over 60 children ranging from three to teens.

  “My God, I didn’t know there were so many,” Hope whispered.

  “War takes its toll on the youngest the hardest, I’m afraid,” Jaycee said, glancing down at Shelly’s two little girls, who rushed forward to join the other children playing around them.

  “That I totally agree with,” Hope said, watching as her children pulled her nephews toward the playground. The other children came up to them slowly, as if knowing they were nervous. Each child introducing themselves and showed her nephews their toys and explained how they worked. “But you know it’s also the children who will bring hope to others who are down. No pun intended.” Hope smiled at Jaycee, who snorted.

  “So, tell me these rules that the males have imposed on the females below,” Hope said, earning a groan from Dane and Remi.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gourd sat and watched as the two males from Earth greeted Dane and Remi and took their seats next to them at the large oval conference table, which had appeared as soon as others arrived for the meeting.

  For two hours the children had played, then listened to Hope as she read to them from an old history book from Earth. The war, Hope had said, was called the Civil War.

  Many of the younger children compared what she had read to what had happened to them. It was an exercise to help the children release some to the emotions they had bundled inside their tiny bodies.

  Gourd had to admit that Hope was a natural when it came to teaching children, but her gift also seemed to help them come to terms with what had happened to them. He smiled, remembering when their youngest nephew had crawled up into her lap while she had read as his brothers and her children sat close to her.

  He leaned in, smelling Hope’s hair as he held her tight in his lap. His scent was still on her from their quick lovemaking a few minutes ago. After seeing her with the children, all three of them had cornered their woman, needing to love on her.

  Hope peeked back at him, her face still a little flushed from their hard loving, her neck carrying their marks, as did her breasts and the insides of her thighs. “I can’t believe you three dragged me away like that. All the children were laughing like hyenas, even our three.”

  “I’m sure many of them remember their parents being carried away. You have to admit, you were excited.” Jester leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  “I’m always excited when you’re touching me; that’s the problem. Isn’t it too much?” she asked.

  Fand shook his head. “Never too much loving, Little Bear.”

  “Okay, everyone is here. What the hell is this about rules for females?” Jaycee’s growl broke their conversation as all eyes went to her, then to the two gentlemen next to Dane.


  Remi lifted his furious mate and placed her in his lap. “If you’re going to participate in this meeting, you will settle down now,” he growled, then bit the side of her neck, demanding her submission.

  “But they’re wrong,” Jaycee whined but gave in to Remi.

  “And we’ll discuss this with them, not attack them. Maybe they have reasons for the rules, or maybe the rules were made up. You need to calm down.”

  Hope sat up and leaned forward, tapping her fingers on the table. “So did you impose some kind of rules?” she asked the two men.

  “Hope!” Gourd growled.

  “What? I didn’t yell or snap at them, just asked. Might as well get this done so we can get on to other matters. Like how are we going to find those gross things and destroy them? Not to mention how we will find who is behind this. Because if it’s someone important, they will know what I did, and we sure don’t need them coming looking for me,” Hope said as a small tremor moved over her. “You know I really don’t need to go back to Earth. I mean, there is nothing there for me except for my parents’ graves. I can talk to them anywhere,” Hope said.

  Fand and Jester squeezed Hope’s shoulders. This was one of the first times they’d heard fear in their woman’s voice, and he never wanted to hear it again. “We will visit Earth, but not just yet. As for that the one who is organizing those on Earth, any ideas about their identity, gentlemen?” Gourd asked.

  One of the men glanced quickly at Clayton, then at Gourd. “First allow me to explain myself and these rules,” the alpha said. “Yes, Jaycee, we have no choice but to have them until things settle down and become safer. I will not risk another female.” He sighed. “Really, all I’m asking is that a male escort our females anywhere they need to go, and that a joining must be brought to the pack’s attention before it is allowed. This way we not only protect the women, but also our world. You know the stragglers will be back. They can breed with our women, and that is an attraction they won’t be able to ignore. No, the rules will stay in place,” he said, and Gourd had to agree with him.