by Pandora Pine
CABIN FEVER
By
Pandora Pine
Cabin Fever
Copyright © Pandora Pine 2021
All Rights Reserved
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
First Digital Edition: January 2021
To Sammi:
Thank you for always believing in me!
Contents
PROLOGUE 5
1 12
2 16
3 20
4 24
5 28
6 33
7 36
8 40
9 44
10 48
EPILOGUE 51
PROLOGUE
Kodi
Alaska 2016…
I’d been an outcast from my first breath. A Kodiak cub born into a family of Grizzlies. It was a once in a lifetime kind of thing, according to my father, Bart, head of the Sitka Clan. Bears with Kodiak lineage were said to have descended from Nanuk, Inuit deity and Master of Bears. My bloodline was an honor, again, according to my father. Something to be proud of and cherished.
With no disrespect to my pops, most days, my bloodline felt like a curse.
My father treated me better than his other cubs, which never sat well with the rest of the clan. To be honest, it never sat well with me either. My life was hard enough, being different from everyone else, without having the favorite son bullseye on my back.
It never ceased to amaze me how often my family told tales of Kodiaks past, and with these stories came a litany of brave deeds. One generation’s Kodiak outdoing the next, as it were. Cousins’ and aunts’ voices would ring with pride when telling tales of past glories, but they all hated me. Said I was a bastard cub and accused my mother of shaking her tail at any alpha male who’d give her the time of day.
None of this was true. If it had been, my father would have banished me and my mother from clan lands. The rest of the family knew this but continued to question my legitimacy. I knew one day I’d come into my own and prove to them all that I was worthy of being loved from day one. No one believed me. They called me a bastard on the best of days, and a stain on the Sitka bloodline on the worst.
Life went on. I went to school. Made friends of the non-shifter kind. Did my best to stay off the radar of my Uncle Cedric, and the rest of the clan elders, who also happened to be family members of one form or another. As my father’s first-born son, I’d be head of the clan one day.
When I wasn’t in school or doing homework, I was learning at my father’s knee. Listening and watching as he dealt with clan business great and small. Through his example, I learned the value of listening, of offering kind words, of great deeds being done out of the sight of others.
After high school, I took online classes in business management from the University of Alaska. I knew I’d be following in my father’s footsteps when he passed, and I wanted to be prepared for anything that came my way.
Unfortunately, the University of Alaska had no way of preparing me for what actually did come my way. There were no classes on clan uprisings, or how to deal with family who’d rather see you dead than installed as leader.
To be honest, I couldn’t care less about being the leader of the Sitka clan. My father was in the best shape of his life. It would be decades before I would even get a sniff at his job. I was hoping to use that valuable time to show my family I was more than just my questioned pedigree.
I supposed I knew a little of what Prince William must be going through. Not that I was royalty, but in order to ascend to my rightful place in the family, my father had to die. The same went for William. To become king, his father and grandmother had to pass on to their otherworldly reward. I shivered. Thinking about my responsibilities always set off my nerves.
Winter in Alaska can be brutal. Only averaging about eight hours of daylight, making hay while the sun shines isn’t always possible. Working grueling ten-hour shifts in a fish packing plant, I didn’t get to see any of those dwindling hours of sun. However, being the only member of my family working at the plant gave me a welcome respite from the constant bickering.
“Yo, Grimes!” Paul Minor, my boss, shouted. “Manager’s office!” He waved his right hand toward the office, likely in case I couldn’t hear him over the roar of the machines.
This couldn’t be good. A meeting in the manager’s office only an hour into my shift meant trouble. No one was ever promoted at nine a.m. Oh well, whatever was going to happen was destined. Dragging my feet up the stairs to the big man’s office was only prolonging the inevitable. I was more a rip the Band-Aid off kind of guy.
I knocked on the door’s square window. Griff Paterson, district manager, motioned me into the room.
“Ah, Grimes. Have a seat.” He motioned to a metal chair in front of his desk.
The chair shrieked when I sat down. As a bulky guy, I was constantly worried if chairs would hold me. Being six-five and weighing in at two hundred fifty pounds was my best feature. Based on the look in Griff’s eyes, me breaking a flimsy chair was the least of my worries. My gut churned. He wasn’t meeting my eyes. “You wanted to see me?” I tried to keep my voice level, but it broke at the end.
Griff nodded. His pen tapped several quick beats before his eyes bounced up to meet mine. “Dalton’s gonna take you to the hospital.”
Hospital? Christ, was this about a piss test? In my twenty-five years, I’d never done drugs or smoked. I only drank on rare occasions because I knew members of my family were looking for dirt on me. Pics of me drunk and humping some hot dude in a club would play right into their hands. I wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction. Which also meant I wasn’t getting much satisfaction either. The gay community in Sitka wasn’t exactly bustling. “I don’t understand. Am I being drug tested? Because I can assure you-”
“No,” Griff’s dark eyes met mine and held.
I knew in an instant this had nothing to do with a drug test or with my employment. “What happened?”
“There’s been an accident. I don’t know much more than that. You need to get to Sitka Medical Center now.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” I didn’t need a crystal ball to know there was more to this.
“It’s your father.” Griff was on his feet and coming around his dented metal desk. He took my elbow. “You need to go now.”
With a gentle hand, he led me down the stairs to the production floor. A quick glance at my coworkers told me they’d already heard the news. Their looks were filled with pity.
Christ, this really wasn’t good. When Griff opened the shop door leading to the parking lot, the sun’s rays blinded me, while a gust of icy wind stole my breath. I always joked that I felt like a vampire, going to and from work in the dark. I wasn’t used to seeing the sun. I was half surprised I didn’t burst into flames.
As promised, Dalton Hughes was sitting in a company SUV, his gloved hands gripping the wheel.
Nodding to Griff, I hopped into the SUV, which was warmed up. “Thanks, Dalton.” It was all I could think to say. Did he know more than what Griff told me or was he the proverbial messenger?
“Sure thing, Kodi.” He wore a sad smile.
In another time and place, Dalton and I had a brief flirtation. He wasn’t out, and I got the feeling he might never be. Not that it mattered now. “Do you know what’s going on?”
Dalton shot me another sad smile. “All I know is that there’s been an accident. Lots of black-ice when I was coming in this morning.” As if to
prove his point, the large SUV fishtailed. Dalton steered into the skid and brought the SUV to a safe stop.
“Who else was in the truck with my father?” My dad was famous for his hulking black Ford F-350 with dual rear wheels. That truck was a tank. It almost seemed indestructible.
“I don’t know. I was in Griff’s office when he got the call. He sent me to start the Yukon and wait for you. I’m sorry, I-” Dalton reached out a hand, briefly setting it on mine before pulling back like he’d been burned.
His gesture only served to upset me more. I wasn’t used to being coddled. My family weren’t huggers or big on public displays of affection.
As we turned into the emergency entrance of the medical center, I stiffened my spine. When I walked into the hospital, I needed to be stalwart, not showing a speck of emotion. My family needed to know I was a leader they could trust, not some whiney bitch. There would be time to cry later; when I was alone.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” Dalton asked, looking scared.
“No, I’ll be okay.” No one outside our family knew we were a clan of bear shifters, even so, outsiders knew enough to steer clear of us.
Relief washed over Dalton’s handsome face. “I’m here if you need anything.”
I nodded at the young man and shut the door. I didn’t look back, instead looking forward to the automatic doors. I caught a glimpse of my reflection as I walked past, worn jeans, black tee, dirty boots, the overpowering odor of fish. Not exactly the outfit of a man capable of taking over in a crisis.
Be that as it may, I headed inside. When I gave the receptionist my name, her face fell. Just one more indication that my father was in trouble. She led me down a hall where several members of my family and the clan elders stood. Some leaned against the wall silently, while others paced.
“What are you doing here?” My Uncle Cedric asked, maneuvering his large body in front of the hospital room door.
In that moment, I felt all of my precious control slip away. “Enough of the bullshit, Cedric. I’ve taken your abuse for the last time. Get out of my way, or I’ll move you myself.”
Growls rose up around me. Two elders stood by Cedric’s side along with two other uncles. Several of my younger brothers stood behind me, with uncertain looks on their faces. I was done with family dynamics, done with being politically correct, and done trying to be the man no one else bothered to see.
Shoving my uncle out of the way, I entered the room. What I saw left me speechless. My father was unrecognizable. His head was swathed in bloodstained bandages and a ventilator breathed for him while his heartbeat blipped on a screen. “Oh, Daddy.”
“You must be Mr. Grimes,” a voice said from behind me. “I’m Doctor Cosgrove.”
I startled. Spinning around, I saw a young woman in a white lab coat. I’d been so focused on my father, I hadn’t noticed the doctor in the room. I managed to nod before my eyes went back to my father. “What happened? Is he going to be okay?”
“From what we were told by the medics on the scene, your father was proceeding through a green traffic signal when a dump truck ran the red light and hit your father’s vehicle.”
“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath. Only a vehicle larger than Dad’s truck could have done this much damage.
“As to your other question, I’m sorry to tell you that your father won’t survive this accident.”
My blood ran cold at those words. “Won’t survive? What are you saying?” I knew what she was saying. The evidence was staring me in the face.
“Your father suffered a catastrophic brain injury. The respirator is breathing for him since there is no brain function.”
“Brain dead.” I looked up at the doctor with tears stinging my eyes. “Are you saying he’s brain dead?”
“I am, Mr. Grimes. We’ve been provided with your father’s healthcare directive instructing that no extraordinary means be used to keep him alive. We’ve been waiting for you to arrive.”
To pull the plug, my mind supplied. I sat down hard in the chair next to my father’s bed. “I understand.” I did. My father had gone over his final wishes with me. I never imagined a time would come when I’d be forced to put his directive into motion.
“Do you want the family here?” she asked gently.
I nodded, not having the strength to say the word. My full attention turned back to my father. He was the one man who’d always accepted me just as I was. What the hell was I going to do without him and his steady influence over my life?
“Well?” Uncle Cedric asked from behind me. “Are you going to shut off the machine or sit there and cry?”
Anger mixed with sadness in my gut. The last thing I needed right now was to let my anger win. I didn’t think I could live with myself, knowing I was the one who ended my father’s life. I made eye contact with the doctor.
“Family members are not allowed to turn off the machines, Mr. Grimes,” Doctor Cosgrove said.
I watched in numbed silence as she pressed buttons on the machine displaying my father’s vitals. She turned off the ventilator and began the process of removing the breathing tube.
With my own shaking hand, I reached out for my father’s. It was warm and heavy. “It’s okay, Daddy. We’re all here and we love you. It’s okay to go.” My emotions threatened to come spilling out, but I reached deep for my last shred of self-control. I was not going to break down in front of my uncle and the clan elders.
One long breath escaped my father’s lips. Seconds later, his heart rate flatlined on the screen. I was expecting the wail of an alarm, but none came. The doctor must have shut that function off. She checked his vital signs one last time. “He’s gone. I’m so sorry for your loss. Please take as much time as you need with him.” She set a hand on my shoulder before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
In the silence of those moments, I said a prayer for my father’s soul. I hoped he was at peace and promised to see him again someday. Tears slipped down my face to splash against my dirty work shirt.
“As the leader of Clan Sitka, I hereby banish you from clan lands,” Uncle Cedric said.
My eyes flying open, I gasped at Cedric. A million thoughts spun through my brain in a millisecond. Cedric wasn’t the clan leader. I was. As my father’s oldest son, the job fell to me. “You’re not the head of this clan, Cedric. I am.”
“We voted,” my younger brother, Liam, said. He was my father’s second-born son. “Since I’m too young to take my rightful place as my father’s heir, Uncle Cedric will take over.”
“Your rightful place?” I was stunned. In the span of five minutes, I’d lost my father and my birthright. “What do you mean you voted? I am our father’s oldest son.”
“Your father allowed you to labor under the misapprehension that you were his child. It is obvious to the clan and the elders that this is not true. I am clan leader.” Cedric’s eyes glittered with venomous glee. “Get out. Now. Never show your face again on our ancestral lands.”
Looking around the room, I could see my brothers and sisters nodding in agreement. The elders stood in solidarity with my uncle. “DNA. Test us both, and you’ll see I am my father’s son.”
Cedric’s smile deepened. “We did that years ago, foolish boy. You are not my brother’s child. Now get out of here before I call security.”
Liam took a step toward me. He grabbed my hand away from our father and yanked me out of my seat. Our brother, Caleb, opened the door and they pushed me out into the hall before shutting the door in my face.
What was I going to do now? Word of my banishment would quickly reach every member of the Sitka Clan. I knew if I didn’t obey my uncle’s edict, he’d send his goons after me. Bear shifters didn’t often associate with other shifters, but I’d heard rumors about my uncle working with rogue wolves who’d been thrown out of their packs.
More tears cascaded down my face. I swiped angrily at them, vowing to show no more weakness. I took a deep breath and stood tall. My uncl
e may have banished me from my birthright, and the only home I’d ever known, but I’d be damned if I was going to let his malicious coup be the end of me.
There was only one thing I could do now.
I would survive.
1
Tanner
January, Present Day…
After five hours on the road, for what should have been a two-hour ride, tops, I arrived at the hotel. Snuggled at the base of Mount Washington, New Hampshire’s tallest peak, was the Presidential Hotel. Completed at the turn of the last century, the hotel had been in continuous operation for one hundred eighteen years. Neither world wars nor blizzards had closed the mighty hotel, named for the mountain range which served as its backdrop.
As I turned right off Route 302, and down the winding drive to the Presidential, my mouth dropped open. The hotel was more than impressive, it looked imposing. I supposed that was why it had been Stephen King’s original inspiration for the famous Overlook Hotel featured in The Shining.
The Presidential was a soaring, four-story building, complete with large turrets topped with stunning, peaked red roofs. I thought it looked like a castle, but I was admittedly as prone to whimsy as I was to being late.
A porter met me at the door, insisting on taking my small rolling suitcase, which only contained a weekend’s worth of clothes and sample-sized toiletries. I traveled light. Pierre assured me my bag would be waiting for me in my room.
I’m just a regular guy. A regular guy who designs spaceships for a living. How kick ass is that? Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been in love with the stars, and the brave men and women who reach out to touch them. I knew from the time I was twelve years old that I was going to work in the space industry. The question was, how?
Fourteen years and a master’s degree in electrical engineering later, I was living the dream. Literally.
The fifth annual reunion of Pi Kappa Phi was officially underway. If I could locate my frat brothers, which shouldn’t be too hard. All I needed to do was find the closest bar, and my friends would be there.