by Moxie North
“Thank you. I’ve heard good things about them. They say they can tear a throat out in a blink.”
“I won’t deny that. But they’re very happy around the mates. I’d trust them over a lot of shiften.”
Zane nodded. “I’d appreciate it. I need to be near her but I don’t want to scare her or overwhelm her.”
“I’m no expert, but so far it seems that you may think that she’s unaware, but she’s not. She’s been looking for you too. Accept that and you will both be happier.”
“She did let me kiss her. That’s good, right?”
Wade smiled at him. He was an older man with silver in his hair and a relaxed attitude. He was one of the few shiften who hadn’t lost his mate in the tragedy. That might explain the lack of wrinkles. Yet Wade carried a heavy load on his shoulders being in charge of the KSRT that were hunting Khain. “As a mated wolfen, I’d say that’s a very good thing.”
Zane grunted. Yes, kissing was good.
“Conri found me a house closer to Poppy’s. I’m going to take my things over there.”
“I’ll arrange for some items to be delivered. Furniture and such to get you started. We have an overwhelming supply of hands right now. Might as well put them to good use.”
“I’d appreciate that. Can you make sure the detail stays back? I don’t want them to scare her.”
Wade nodded. “We can, but the sooner she knows she could be in danger the less likely it will be that she’ll take chances.”
“Understood.”
Zane shook Wade’s hand and thanked him for his support. He’d prefer if he was in Poppy’s home with her, but for now, closer was at least better than nothing.
Poppy was singing, well humming anyway. She didn’t have much of a voice, but that didn’t stop her. She was happy, euphoric even. She wanted to tell someone about Zane. Wanted to tell them why she liked him, what it was that made her desire his company. She could tell her mother, and she probably would when she got home. But she’d never had any close girlfriends to share with. Poppy had often asked her mother for a sister when she was younger. Someone to giggle with under the covers and pinkie promise to keep their secrets. Her mother had always said it wasn’t possible. That their futures had been planned and there was no altering them. Her mom was always full of vaguely cryptic answers, but she didn’t push for more.
There was no chance of telling her coworkers. They would frown on the breach of protocol. True, there could be a bit of a gray area but she didn’t want to overshare with them anyway. After Zane had left, she’d twirled around the kitchen while making herself a cup of tea. The smell of it reminded her of Zane and their first meeting.
After she was done she headed back out to the shed to change the bedding and tidy up. Not that the space needed much, but she wanted it fresh and clean for every client. As she was making her way to the backyard, she noticed a good-looking man walking down the opposite side of the street with two massive black dogs, each with a white patch on their shoulders. But they didn’t look like any kind of dogs she’d seen before.
The shock of seeing such massive beasts didn’t distract her from seeing that neither of them were on leashes. Even stranger, they seemed to be staring at her while they walked. The dogs were looking at her like she might be their next meal. It was silly to think that since they were obviously well trained. The man wasn’t looking her direction so she took some solace in that.
Although, with that thought it made her think of her shadow man. When Zane was there, those creeping, stomach-churning thoughts had disappeared. She wasn’t worried when Zane was there. Now that he was gone she felt vulnerable again. Poppy shook it off. “It’s just a dream silly!” she reminded herself. She turned her back on the man and the dogs and went into her shed.
Once inside, she stripped the futon and pulled clean sheets from the chest in the corner. She had almost finished the job when the door to the shed swung closed as though the wind had pushed it with a great gust. Unconcerned, she turned back to the bed but out of the corner of her eye she saw the flicker of a dark figure passing by the shed window. It wasn’t a person, but it had the shape of a person. It was like a shadow had passed over the window, just like in her dreams.
Poppy felt her heart start to pound. “It was just a dream, get a hold of yourself,” she hissed into the empty shed.
She wasn’t prone to hallucinations, at last not that she knew of. She’d never seen the vision from her dreams in real life. Just a fluttering behind her that could be easily explained by her eyes playing tricks on her. This time it wasn’t from the corner of her eye. She had been looking directly out the window and the shadowy figure had turned his head like it was looking right at her. If it had eyes that was.
Not needing to keep overreacting she went to the shed door and gave it a shove that should have sent it flying open.
It didn’t move. She tried again, pushing her whole palm against it and nothing. Starting to panic, she added her foot giving it a kick as she put her weight behind it. The door was closed, locked tight.
How? It wasn’t a self-latching door. It had a pin lock on the outside that took someone pushing the rod through and turning it.
“Don’t panic, Mom should be home soon.” Reaching for her phone in her back pocket, she dialed her mom and listened to it ring.
“This is Shelly, leave a message… how do I turn this thing off?”
She waited for the beep and left her mom a message. “Mom, I’m locked in the shed. Can you come let me out? I don’t want to spend the night in here. Thanks.”
Such a stupid message but better than going into full blown panic mode. It wasn’t like it was uncomfortable in there. She could use the time to contemplate life or the vagaries of the universe. This last thought was interrupted by a noise at the back of the shed. It was a crack followed by another louder crack.
Then the crack turned into a crackle.
It was the unmistakable sound of a fire catching. Wood starting to char and flames seeking fuel. She smelled smoke.
“Shit! What the hell?” Full panic mode was now more than necessary. She could try to bust out the window knowing there was no way she was getting that door open.
Looking around, she grabbed the small stool that held a vase of flowers knocking the flowers to the ground, the vase shattering at her feet. She swung it by the legs towards the window as hard as she could.
She shouldn’t have been surprised that it practically bounced off, causing the vibration to rattle through her hands.
There was smoke pouring through the holes in the eaves now, hot and coarse, filling the space of her beautiful sanctuary.
She couldn’t wait, she had seconds before things started to go bad, and so she swung the table again with all her might. The window didn’t budge.
Tears poured down her face as she coughed and went back to the door to beat on it with her hands.
“Help! Please somebody. Help me!” she yelled with every ounce of strength she had until she gasped and started coughing at the smoke. Pulling her shirt up over her face she continued to kick and punch at the door. The fire was getting hotter now and she turned to see a shimmering start over the paint on the back wall showing that the fire was just on the other side and about to break through.
The air was so thin now she was feeling woozy. She didn’t want to die in her happy place. That was too much. She wanted to die of old age, surrounded by grandchildren and commenting on teenagers and the strange way they dressed.
Chapter Fifteen
Leaning her head against the door, she let the tears fall as she started to accept her fate.
Suddenly the wood under her disappeared as if by magic. She fell forward with an oof and took in a great gasp of air.
Her arms were grabbed and someone pulled her up, and then she was being moved very quickly towards the front yard.
She looked up to see the man that had been walking his dogs.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said cough
ing between breaths.
“I’m Tex. I’m with the Serenity police department. Fire is on the way, you just sit here and take some deep breaths. This is Troy and Trent, they won’t hurt you,” he said gesturing towards the large dogs.
Poppy nodded and the man stepped back and went for her garden hose. Her bliss shed was fully engulfed. When she thought she had seconds left she’d been right. A few more moments and her mother wouldn’t have had to worry about cremating her body.
As she coughed again, one of the big dogs came closer and licked her cheek. The other one had lain over her legs as though he was making sure that she wouldn’t get up.
“You’re nice boys aren’t you?” she said wheezing. That earned her another lick from the first dog.
Letting herself relax against their weight, Poppy kept her eyes on her happy place that was trying very hard to light the trees in the yard on fire too.
The sound of distant sirens could be heard and she turned to see a police vehicle show up, then another, then the fire trucks and aid cars.
A group of firefighters moved into action quickly, pulling a giant hose with them. It was obvious that Tex’s efforts with the garden hose were no help against a blaze of this size. The paramedics dropped to their knees in front of her and started asking a ton of questions. The two dogs took a few steps back but stood guard behind her. She liked having them nearby.
Poppy answered their questions as best she could while they put an oxygen mask over her face. She could see a lot of police milling around. It was a small fire, and the fire crew already had it contained, but there must be a dozen police vehicles on her quiet street. Did someone call it in wrong?
Even with all the noise and flashing lights, she heard the sound of a car racing down the street and coming to a screeching halt. She watched as Zane left the car in the middle of the street and came running towards her. The paramedics that were helping her backed away when they saw him coming. He was down on his knees and pulling her into his lap in one move.
“Fuck. Fuck! Are you all right? Are you hurt? What happened?” he asked in a rush. His hands were moving over her body like he was checking for broken bones.
“Just some slight smoke inhalation and her hands are going to end up bruised from beating on the door would be my guess,” the man next to her said.
“Thank you, guys, really. Does she need the hospital?”
“I’d say no, but I’m guessing you aren’t going to listen to us on that. We wouldn’t lie to you, Zane, we know. She’s going to be fine,” the man assured him.
She could feel Zane nodding and she let her head just rest against his chest. His big hand was cupping her entire head and keeping her next to his frantically beating heart.
“Zane, is it?”
Poppy peeked up to see another large man walking towards them wearing a police uniform.
“Yes,” he answered.
“I’m Harlan, filling in for Trevor while he’s busy at home. Wade filled me in on the situation. She yours?”
“Yes,” he growled back. Poppy could feel the rumble all through his body.
“Got it. I sent Tex over but it seems I should have sent the KSRT,” Harlan said angrily.
“Are you shitting me?” Zane shouted.
“No, we didn’t get any advance warning. Let’s just say this was different than we’re used to. Can I ask her some questions?”
She felt that growl come out of Zane again, and if it didn’t fit him so well she would have considered it weird.
Pulling down the mask she decided to speak up for herself. “I can answer your questions,” she said, her voice scratchy and rough.
“Thank you, Ms…”
“Woodall, Poppy Woodall.”
“Can I call you Poppy?” he asked.
“Sure.” She felt another rumble from Zane and slapped at his chest without thinking. She saw Harlan smirk but recover himself.
“What were you doing in the shed?”
“It’s my happy place,” she immediately answered, then blushed. “I mean, I use it for work. It’s for therapy. I’m a massage therapist. It was more of a clubhouse really. I was just tidying it up when the door closed and locked on its own.”
“You didn’t see anyone?” Harlan asked.
“I…” she hesitated and didn’t know how to answer. “I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure?”
“No, I mean I saw something, but you’ll think I’m crazy,” she admitted.
“I doubt that,” Harlan said confidently.
“It’s okay, Pop, tell him what you saw,” Zane encouraged her.
Not looking at Harlan, but leaning back to look at Zane, she couldn’t stop the tears from swimming in her eyes. “It was him. It was the shadow man. I saw him. Not in my dreams, Zane, he was there, through the window. I think I’m going crazy.” She let her head drop back against his chest. She felt miserable.
She missed the heated look between Zane and Harlan that had Harlan nodding and walking away. She couldn’t know yet that all of the people in her yard for the seemingly small fire were really there to hunt a demon.
“Is your mom coming back?” Zane asked her quietly.
“I left her a message so she should be. I told her I was locked in. I didn’t think I was that close to being turned into a cupcake in an Easy Bake Oven!” she said, bursting into tears.
“I’ve got you. I’m not letting you out of my sight. We can handle this okay? I think we need to have a talk.”
“Can you take me inside?”
“No.”
“No?”
“You’re going to the hospital to get checked out.”
“The paramedics said I was fine,” she protested.
“And I believe they’re probably right. But I’m also a firefighter and I know that smoke inhalation can and does get worse. I want a full x-ray done and then I’ll bring you home. But, I’m staying the night.”
Poppy couldn’t even think of a good reason to deny him. Sure, the obvious reasons came to mind, but they were all going against how she was feeling. The minute she saw him, she felt safe again. He wrapped her in his arms and she could practically feel herself healing in both body and mind.
“That sounds okay by me.”
He held her tighter and she let him. She’d almost died. It wasn’t by accident and it wasn’t by anything she did. It was something else. Something that didn’t seem to surprise Zane and she wanted answers.
Chapter Sixteen
Poppy had to endure being check and doubled-checked while Zane stood watch. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight again if he could help it.
He wanted to roar when he heard the call come through his scanner. He recognized the address before they even finished it. When he arrived, he knew that it was more than a simple fire. When Harlan and the rest of the Khain Special Response Team had shown up, he knew that Poppy’s shadow man wasn’t a figment from her childhood nightmares. It was real. He was real. And he most definitely knew about Poppy.
Zane could see the questions in her eyes as more than one police officer stopped by. They would speak quietly to him in the hallway, but he kept her in his sights. Conri also showed up to check in on her. He told Zane he understood if he needed time off to deal with the matters at hand. He appreciated that and took the chief up on his offer.
When Poppy was finally cleared, he bundled her back to her home where he was able to meet her mother. She took one look at Zane and smiled. “We’ve been waiting for you,” she said with a wink.
Zane realized that Shelley Woodall wasn’t as unaware of the situation as poor Poppy was.
Settling her into the sofa in the front room, he covered her in a blanket and asked Shelley to make her some tea.
“I’m not an invalid, Zane. I got a little smoke in my lungs is all.”
“You’ll rest as long as you need to. You could have died,” he said, his voice harsher than he wanted.
“And I didn’t! Tex rescued me. And ho
w do you think there was a police officer across the street from my house at just the right moment?”
“He was there because I arranged it.”
She frowned at him, her lips pursing and her brow furrowing.
“I wanted you safe.”
“And?”
“And what? Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
“No, Zane. It’s not, we just met. Why would you care?”
“Because I’ve been looking for you, Poppy. I mean, not looking, I never thought I would have one. But when I found you I realized I had been searching for you.”
“One what? What are you talking about?”
“My mate.”
“Your what now?”
“My mate. My One True Mate.”
She shook her head at him. “I’m sorry I just don’t understand.”
Her mother interrupted with the tea at that moment. She handed it to Zane then walked over to her daughter. She brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her on the forehead.
“I should have given this to you a long time ago. I was waiting for the right moment,” her mother said, holding out a necklace on a pretty silver chain.
Zane watched Poppy lift it up and bring the pendant closer to her. He knew what it was. It was her Shiftsegen. Wade had mentioned that last time he talked to him that the One True Mates had a necklace that was presented to their mothers by the Angel. It would have an angel on one side with their shiften on the back. Hers would be a bear, a bear with eyes that matched his own.
“Mom?” Poppy said confused.
“Honey, when I told you your father was an angel, I meant it. He told me that you would be born, that you would find your True Mate, and you together, with many others, would bring about a new future. This man knows you. I can see it. He’s yours just like you are his. Listen to him. If he was sent by your father then this was meant to be.”