by Terra Wolf
Bianca.
The sadness crushed against her body like a waterfall and she fell to the ground. It didn't matter how loud her music was—all that she could hear was the water.
There were so many questions. So many secrets. Things that she would never know.
Bianca was dead.
And it was her fault.
Chapter Seven
Sam
Finally, the damn radiator had stopped making noise and blowing steam. Lucy was happy and the guests hadn’t noticed the issue, so everything was good. He could finally get away for a bit.
He had stopped by Olivia’s room, considering knocking and asking her to walk with him multiple times, but he decided he needed to wait for her to come to him.
He took one final look at her window as he began walking. He didn't have a car; there was really no need for it in such a small town like Grayslake. So he walked everywhere—to the store, to the park, and to the den once every few days to check in with the Itan, Ty. He hated having to report to someone, but that was the rule. While he had been traveling, he figured it was better to follow the rules then to break them. He didn't need some crazy Itan on his ass just for not checking in. It was better to fly under the radar.
He kicked a stone as he passed the lake, the fall breeze rustling the leaves of the trees above him. He would give anything to just rip his clothes off and shift, running the rest of the way as a bear, but so many people in the town didn't know that they housed a large shifter population. So instead he took a shortcut through the woods on his way to the den. Finally, he arrived at the cluster of homes, the largest one being where Ty and his mate Mia lived. The door was wide open as usual. Anyone who knew about this place was coming to see him.
Sam ascended the stairs, the boards creaking under his feet. He walked in the front door and could smell breakfast coming from the back of the house. The place was kind of dark, but it had a cozy feel to it, and there were always people milling around. Between the brothers that lived on the compound, and bears from the town, it was always busy. But it was still early morning, and that was when Sam liked to get there, before other prying eyes could arrive. If one word got back to his father about where he was, he would have a much bigger problem then moving things too fast with Olivia. It’d been two years since he'd seen him, and he liked it that way.
He ascended the stairs and went up to the office. If Ty wasn't there, he could check in with one of the brothers. Any of the clan members would tell Ty that he had checked in. But as he knocked on the door, he could feel the tense attitude on the other side of it. Even though Sam wasn’t a member of the clan, his inner bear still respected Ty as the leader. Anything he said, went.
“Come in.” He heard Ty's voice on the other side of the door.
He walked in to see Ty sitting at his desk and Mia perched on the corner.
“Sam! Lovely to see you again. How’s it been going?”
Sam liked Mia. With all of the space that Ty had built between himself and Sam, Mia closed the gap in seconds—she just had that warm way about her. She was welcoming but not too welcoming, sweet but believable.
“Busy. There's a guest at the B&B, and her pipes needed some checking.”
Mia covered her mouth as she giggled. “And how did that work out for you? I mean with her pipes.”
Sam rolled his eyes. Luckily for him, Ty backed him up. “You want to go check on the baby? I've got something I would like to discuss with Sam in private.”
She hopped down off the desk and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Sure,” she said as she passed by both of them exiting the room.
Sam didn't understand, though. Anything that could be said to Ty could be said in front of his mate. She was the Itana, after all. Practically royalty. So why was he trying to get rid of her?
“Why don’t you sit down?”
Sam shuffled his feet over to the chair and studied Ty as he sat down on it. “What's going on?”
Ty raised an eyebrow at him. “Why don’t you tell me, Sam? We’ve been doing a little bit of digging into your past.”
Shit. “A little bit of digging? And what did you find out?”
Ty crossed his arms. “Who your father is.”
Sam set his lips into a thin line. He would neither confirm nor deny his birthright. He ran away from that life, started fresh. Grayslake really felt like a place he could settle. Why was his past constantly catching up with him?
“Sam, I know you're a Hunter, and not the common name type. Which also means you know that you can't stay here.”
Sam sighed. “Why can’t I stay? I'm not joining your clan; I'm just staying as a nomad. I’m alone here. I haven’t created any problems for you.”
“But that's just it, you're not part of the clan. We support nomads here, sure. I let you go for this long because I figured at some point you’d just move on, like the rest do. Now knowing that you’re the potential next in line for another southern clan, I can't have you stay here. Even if I think your intentions are pure, the other clan members won't.”
Sam shook his head; he couldn't believe this was happening again. The last clan had found out who his father was as well and they shipped him off only a couple days later. Why couldn't he just keep his head down and have his past not follow him everywhere? Why couldn't he just live?
“So how long do I have?”
Ty shrugged. “I don't know man, a few days, maybe a week? But I won’t be able to keep your birthright quiet for very long. I'm also not the only one who knows about it.”
Great. So other members of the clan had already voiced their concerns. That meant he didn't have long at all. A week was pushing it.
“Fine. I’ll find somewhere else to go, I guess.”
“You know there's another option. You could give up your birthright and you could join the clan. Stay in Grayslake forever.”
Sam knew that Ty understood that that wasn't an option. “You know I can't just give up my birthright. If I do, my father will come and find me, and he'll probably kill me for it. But thanks for the offer.”
Ty dipped his head at him. “I like you, Sam, I don't really want to see you dead.”
Sam stood to leave but Ty stopped him. “There's one more thing. The girl at the B&B? She's one of us.”
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. “She doesn't seem like she's from around here.” Though Sam didn’t mention that she didn’t say where she was from.
“No, she's not a clan member. But I saw her arrive, and I know where she's from. She's running, like you. We’re going to let her stay a few days, escape whatever problems she's coming from, so keep an eye on her for me. I'll try to give you an extra few days in exchange.”
It may have sounded negotiable, but that was a direct order from the Itan. He had to follow it.
Sam nodded. “Sure.”
So now not only did he want to be close to Olivia, he had an excuse to be.
Chapter Eight
Sam
Sam spent the rest of the day getting his affairs in order, telling Lucy that she would have to find a new handyman, packing up some of his things, and pulling out a map to figure out where he was headed next. He had been constantly moving for two years, and Grayslake was the longest he had been anywhere. He had a real job, a stable roof over his head, hot food in his belly every night, and now, he had to give it up. Once again his birthright was hauntingly close to catching up to him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to run his part of Louisiana; he was prepared to be a clan leader. But his father wasn't giving up. And as soon as some of the clan members started mentioning that Sam should be taking over shortly, his father had snapped. He banished anyone who spoke out against him, and anyone who spoke out twice was dead. Sam's mother had convinced him to leave in the middle of the night and never turn back. Whenever the old man did finally kick the bucket he would go back and take over the territory, that is, if his father hadn’t given it to someone else by then. He was constantly starting battles with the
wolves and the mountain lions. Sam wasn’t even sure there’d be a clan to go back to in the end. But that wasn't his focus right now. As he pored over the map he picked a few places up in New England where he could go. Places where nomads were accepted. He could continue to fly under the radar of different clans, maybe find a place in the mountains to hide out for a couple months. He had saved up a little bit of cash, and it would be enough to get something rustic. And he didn't mind hunting for his food. As the sun started to set, he heard a knock on his door.
“Sam! Oh Sam, I'm so glad you're here.” Lucy looked distraught. That woman was always a little bit tightly wound, and stress got to her a little bit too easily, but this was more than usual.
“What's the matter, Lucy?”
She stood trembling in front of him. “I told the guest, what is that girl’s name?”
“Olivia?”
“Yes her, I told her where to run in the woods. She said she wanted to go on a hike, but that was so early this morning. And she's not back. She said she'd be back in time for dinner, though you haven’t come down to eat either.”
He sighed. “Just looking over some maps. I'm going to go visit family up north.”
“Oh? That's where you’re headed next?”
He nodded, attempting to confirm his lie. “I'm sure Olivia is fine.”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
“But I will go over to the hiking trail to check and make sure.”
She clapped her hands together. “Thank goodness! I'm just so worried about her. She seems like such a sweet girl, and new to the area. Those paths can get very confusing at night. And you know, there’s bears in those woods!”
Sam smiled at her; if she only knew what Olivia truly was. He half expected to find a bear wandering around the woods rather than the sweet girl she was referring to.
He grabbed his jacket off of the chair that sat in his room and walked toward the front door as she continued chattering. He barely heard what she was saying as he left.
Chapter Nine
Olivia
She had been throwing rocks into the water for hours. This was the closest she’d been to any body of water since the incident.
She heard the crunching of stones behind her, recognizing the footsteps.
“Hi Sam,” she said without turning around.
“Olivia,” he said as he sat down next to her. She looked over to him and saw that he had dark jeans on and flannel shirt. He was carrying a jacket. His hands rested on his knees as he surveyed her.
“Lucy sent you, didn't she? Thinking I was lost?”
He laughed at her. “Well, are you?”
“What?”
“Lost. I mean I assumed that you weren't, but I also don't know many people that sit by the lake after dark.”
She shuddered. “I haven't been to a lake in a long time.”
“Your bear isn’t a big swimmer? I prefer the river myself. Get to catch some live fish. Nothing is better for dinner than fish.”
She chewed on her lower lip.
“You're not a fish eater?”
A single tear slipped on her face. “It's not bad.” She felt the tears trickling at the backs of her eyes, and she knew she couldn't continue to hold the dam that was forcing them back. But Sam wouldn’t judge her. He didn't know everything that had gone on, who she was. She could just tell him the truth and he could judge for himself without any outside opinions. “My sister drowned in a lake.”
She looked over at him as the tears started streaming down her face and she saw his mouth drop open. “She drowned? When?”
Olivia was blubbering now but she couldn't help it. “Six months ago. She and my brothers and I were messing around swimming one night. She went underwater just for a moment. I didn't think anything of it. We'd been swimming for hours, and she wasn't as strong of a swimmer as the rest of us but I didn't think…”
Sam wrapped his jacket around her with concern etched into his face. “Of course you didn't. No one would think that.”
She threw her hands up, exasperated. “But everyone does! Everyone blames me. My brothers had gone back to the shore, and I was the only one out there with her. And I still don't know what happened! One minute she was there, the next minute all that I could see were air bubbles. I dove down to get her. It was too late. I swam as hard as I could and I dragged her onto the shore and nothing helped. She was just gone.”
“I'm so sorry,” Sam said solemnly.
“I thought that there would be more, you know? A struggle. Something to tell me that she was in trouble. But her death was silent. And it happened so fast. I can hardly remember the details even though I've gone over them a thousand times. With my parents, my clan, the police, and then everyone who asked questions for the past six months. I came here to escape. But I realize that I'm never going to get away from it.”
She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Sam put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. He smelled like the woods, and she inhaled deeply, pulling his scent into her.
“We all have our secrets.”
“You have a secret?” She recalled the book he hid from her.
“Doesn't everybody?”
“I guess so. Hopefully yours is not as depressing as mine.” She attempted to mask her pain with an awkward laugh.
“Kinda, daddy issues.”
She nodded. “Family can be the worst.”
“Yeah. Does your family know how you feel? Because I'm kind of getting the impression that this is the first time you’ve let all of this out.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I mean, I think they know. It's something we all struggle with, but maybe they don't realize how much I blame myself. My brothers feel guilty as well, but so much other stuff is going on that we never talk about it.”
“Then maybe you should. They can’t help you if you don't let them. You have to let people in, Olivia.”
“I think that's what I'm doing.” She looked up at him, his messy blonde hair falling into his dark brown eyes. His seductive lips pulled her into him. “Aren't I?”
He leaned forward and placed a hasty kiss on her lips. Warmth surged through her body and suddenly, she felt overly connected to the world around her. The rustle of wind through the leaves, the crisp of the air prickling the back of her neck, the water lapping onto the shore. It was like everything that was around her was suddenly inside of her. And the warmth coming off of Sam was unrivaled. In that moment, he was everything. He put his hand up onto her cheek and ran his fingers through her hair, pulling her even closer. He laid back against the rocks and she fell onto his body. He bit her lower lip playfully and her want for him only became stronger. Sam was so delicious and made her feel so free—maybe her escape from home wasn't so much of a place as it was a person.
Chapter Ten
Olivia
Olivia awoke to find herself in her bed with Sam covering her with a blanket. It was still dark outside.
“Where are you going?” They had stayed out most of the night watching the stars. She wanted to relive the experience in the hallway from earlier but she was a blubbering mess, and she appreciated that he didn’t try anything more than kisses. But now that she had slept for a few hours, her lust was back with a vengeance.
“To my room.”
“Why?”
“To sleep, we both need sleep.”
She was still groggy. “Wait, did you bring me back from the lake?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, shrugging. “I wasn’t going to sleep with rocks in my back all night.”
He put his hand on the doorknob.
“Stay,” she requested.
“What?”
“Stay. Let’s finish.”
“Finish what?”
“The hallway, my tank top. Let’s finish.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He locked the door instead and climbed onto the bed with her.
Olivia growled as she started to stroke his ar
ms. She had never wanted to be anyone’s mate. She loved the idea of being free. Olivia had spent her whole life being told what to do and she was taking the opportunity to do whatever she wanted to do in Grayslake. It was the first time that she had truly escaped from home. This was the first time in her life that she could lose control, yet wanting something and knowing what to do with it once you had it were two completely different things. But she knew she wanted Sam.
“I want you,” Sam said as he turned to face her. Moments ago, she was sleeping as he had carried her to her bed. Now, she was wide awake and wanting him in ways that she had fantasized over the last few days. She had made that apparently clear to him. She needed satisfaction and Sam was the one to do it. She moved closer toward him but fumbled around. She was trying to rip his clothes like a bear with no paws. He held on to her arms and then inhaled. “Breathe like me. Don’t let your bear take over.”
“I won’t, I can handle it.” But could she? She could feel the familiar twinge of the change descending upon her, this had never happened before. At least not in bed. Shit, he was hot, but hot enough for her bear to come out? This was new.
“Look at me!” Sam commanded, holding on to her arms. She was moving from side-to-side, growling like a wild beast, and he could have taken her. She knew it. Even in human form, he was bigger than she was as a bear. “You ruin this bed and we’ll both be in trouble.”
She laughed, relaxing, and her bear began to calm down.
His cock was telling her otherwise, but as Olivia started to listen and he moved on top of her, she continued to relax. She knew that if she didn’t she would lay on the bed alone. He wouldn’t take her, and the craving that she had burning deep inside of her, driving her insane would only get worse if she screwed this up. Calm down, bear! She didn’t lust after anyone. Only Sam.