Laura's Secret (The Changelings)

by Lucy Kelly

  “I tell you, Fred, it was pure luck and a waste of time to send it here. They must have made a typo and put down the Cawson clan instead of the Dawson clan. We’re small potatoes compared to them. This human they’re so anxious to save, that’s so important, would have a better shot of finding a mate with them,” Sam, the man behind the counter, said to his cronies, Herb and Fred. The three of them had been friends for nearly fifty years. They shared a lot of history together, and in some ways were closer than they were with their mates.

  “Maybe, it may be they put the name of the clan wrong. But that doesn’t explain the address being for our Alpha house does it? Marshall Connor must have sent out envelopes to every clan in North America. I just wish one of our boys had turned out to be her mate,” said Fred.

  Rodney kept his ears cocked as he slowly made his choices. Since his defeat the other night the other members of this mixed group of various shifter breeds calling themselves a clan were shunning him. He got the hint, he was leaving, but not until he had a destination in mind. He knew who Marshall Connor was, and it seemed like he needed some help.

  A human woman wouldn’t be able to tell if a shifter was her true mate or not. So he’d just hustle over there and present himself. Soon he’d be sitting really pretty; these bozos would be bowing and sucking up to him then. Having a piece of ass handy for fucking whenever he got an itch would be a nice side benefit too. Once he gathered enough information, he brought up his basket to the register. He overlooked the insult of their attitudes as he paid. They all knew if he did anything the Alpha would have him tossed in the local shifter jail.

  As he left, he snickered. They could try to blame the slashed tires on him, but he would be long gone when they came looking. He was headed to Montana. If he drove straight through he’d arrive there by Friday.

  *****

  It was late Thursday night when Alexander Marasov left his office in Lewisburg, West Virginia, to drive the forty miles to his home in Marlinton. Being the highest ranked Alpha in North America was a hard job. Sometimes he wondered why he’d even wanted it. Running his hands over his face, he waited in the hallway outside his office for the elevator.

  He thought about the human who had arrived in Montana. He was a little suspicious of the timing. Their enemies were currently winning in the war against shifters. He had reports of another shifter family being murdered only today. Was this Laura going to be their salvation or their demise? Marshall and his priestess, Mara, seemed to think she was genuinely on their side. He really hoped so, otherwise he would have to kill her. He didn’t need any more blood on his hands.

  Driving home he went over all the tasks needing to be done so he could take a few days at least, maybe up to a week away from his office. He could put in a full day tomorrow and finish up on Saturday, or he could work another really long day and finish up tomorrow night sometime. He weighed the merits of both and decided he was too tired to think about it now. He would try to be less impatient, and see what happened Friday.

  When he finally arrived home, his house was cold and dark. His housekeeper had left hours ago to go home to her family. His English Bulldog, George, got up from his bed and came over wagging his tail. Kneeling down they greeted each other, Alex giving George some scratches and rubs while George did his best to lick Alex’s face off. Job done, George went back to sleep, he was getting old and it was late. Walking through to the kitchen, he found a thawed casserole, for one, in the refrigerator. A note with heating instructions lay on top of the plastic wrap. He said a prayer of thanks for Mrs. McGillicuddy as he put the dish in the microwave and pressed the buttons.

  As the dish went round and round he stared for a moment then turned away to take off his tie. He’d loosened it, then undid the top two buttons on his shirt since most of his staff had gone home for the day. Now he wanted to be more comfortable. Even though hunger was gnawing at him, he checked the timer and decided he had time to change. He moved out of the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt on the way.

  In his room he hung up his suit, threw his shirt and underwear in the laundry hamper, and padded over to the dresser. He went to the bathroom to take a piss and after washing his hands, he took a good look at himself in the mirror. Dark stubble ran along his jaw. At least he hadn’t had to shave twice today because he hadn’t any dinner meetings. He absently noticed the need for a haircut. His dark brown hair was nearly to his shoulders again and had started flopping over into his eyes when he was working. Giving his chest an absent scratch, he decided he could skip his workout today. He was a big man at six foot six, weighing in at around two hundred thirty pounds. An inch taller and he’d have to duck his head going through doorways. Back in the bedroom, he pulled out a pair of flannel lounging pants in red and black plaid.

  When he returned to the kitchen the microwave was dinging. Having learned from singeing his fingers many times in the past, he grabbed a potholder and pulled the casserole out and set it on the counter. He carefully pulled off the plastic wrap so he wouldn’t get a face full of steam and then let it sit while he gathered utensils and a cold beer. He didn’t bother with a plate, he’d scarf down his meal directly from the serving dish.

  After drinking a couple of swigs from his beer, he grabbed a second one and put it on the kitchen table next to his fork and napkin. Using the potholder he transferred the casserole dish from the counter to the table and finally sat down and lifted his fork to dig in. He could hear his cell phone ringing, he’d left it on top of his dresser in his bedroom when he’d emptied the pockets of his suit.

  With a sigh, he left his dinner to make a run for his cell before it went to voicemail. It must be important for them to be calling this late. It was, a group of scouts, mostly wolf cubs, a couple of bear cubs, and three others: a bobcat, a cougar, and of all things, a Tasmanian devil from a family who had emigrated from New Zealand last year, were all lost in the woods.

  The scouts had been out for a week hiking through the Monongahela National Forest and were due back that afternoon. They were overdue. Shifter scouts were different than regular boy or girl scouts. When they went camping, they took turns shifting while the others carried their packs. They were less prone to getting lost because they could scent out their back trail and follow it. Unfortunately, it had rained for two days straight and they must have lost their trail.

  A search had begun. They had to be careful not to alert the human authorities, which was difficult with so many of their people heading into the woods. Luckily it was a warm spring and the searchers could pass themselves off as hikers. Alexander would need to run interference and designate search team leaders. The big cat shifters had the best night vision, and had already started looking. Normally search teams were made up of professionals. With shifters, the parents often had the best shot at a quick find, as they were the most familiar with the scent of their young.

  Sitting in his kitchen, he made calls with one hand and shoveled in a few forkfuls of food while he dialed in between calls. His main concern was an injury, young shifters had a harder time controlling their shift when they were in pain. A bear shifter could scent from nearly twenty miles away. The kids would likely be found the next day. A serious injury was the most likely cause for major concern and had to be planned for accordingly.

  When he finally went to bed, after cleaning up in the kitchen he was already rearranging his Friday schedule. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to head to Montana until Saturday night. It was past midnight when he went to bed and he fell to sleep quickly. His alarm clock would buzz at five to wake him. He would need an early start.

  *****

  Doug Donahue sat around his dining room table with all of his sons. They weren’t eating. The table was covered with maps and reports. The dining room had become their operation’s headquarters. They were determined to find Laura. All of them were worried about her. Aunt Carrie thought they were crazy, she was happy Laura had made a grab for independence. The longer
it took the men to track Laura down, the more Carrie teased them about getting beaten by a girl…in a wheelchair no less.

  “Matt wasn’t able to find any vehicles registered under Laura’s name in D.C. or any of the surrounding states,” Doug told them.

  “We know she donated her car, the charity sent the receipt for the donation here to the house,” David put in.

  “So far that’s been her only mistake, but it was a good lead. There’s only so many companies that modify vehicles for hand control. Luckily, thanks to Uncle Matt, we got that traffic cam footage of her leaving so we know she was driving a mobile home, plus the make and model. I was able to track down a vehicle matching the description but it’s registered to a corporation,” said Aaron, furrowing his brow.

  “I can pull corporate records and get a lot of information with that name, Aaron. You did a good job and found a solid lead,” said Doug.

  “How far did the traffic cams follow her?” Josh asked.

  “We know she headed west. We’re checking the tollway cameras now. But she’s smarter than that. The only reason we got her on the traffic cams is because they weren’t avoidable from the house to the highway. No, the corporation is our best lead for now. If we can get a hold of the registration we can put out a BOLO,” said Doug.

  “I gotta say, putting out a ‘Be on the Look Out’ for our sister, is pushing it, don’t you think?” said Evan. As the youngest, he was closest to Laura. Having been protected by his elder brothers for years growing up, he also had the most sympathy for her. “I mean, she’s been contacting us to let us know she’s okay and all. She did say she’d give us her address in six months. I don’t think she’s going to be too happy if she’s arrested because of us. Just sayin’, you might want to rethink that.”

  “We won’t do anything without all of us agreeing. You have my word on that. We all love her and want what’s best for her,” said Doug.

  “She’s a total innocent, Evan. However, you’re right, I don’t want her arrested. But better she get taken in by the police than robbed or worse by some low-life,” said Aaron.

  There was some more arguing, they were brothers after all. Then they got back to planning. The mission was to find Laura and none of the Donahue men had failed a mission yet.

  *****

  Thursday night in Montana was Friday morning in Germany. Frieda Schieber was nearly all packed and knew where she needed to be. She was in too big of a hurry to apply for a passport and get a visitor’s visa. In fact, she didn’t think she’d be returning to her small home. She stayed with the times, even though she lived in a cottage in the woods. She had used a computer to arrange for the shipping of the things she wanted to keep.

  After locating the changeling she’d quickly set about closing down her house. She called a local charity and they would be getting the house and all the furniture. In exchange they were quite happy to send her some helpers to pack up any personal items she wished to keep. She would be shifting and flying to Montana under her own steam.

  As she considered and rejected various animal forms to travel in the UPS men arrived to take her boxes. She had used some of her savings to send them overnight express. With the time change, they would be arriving in the U.S. on Saturday afternoon. They were all addressed to herself in care of Mara Clark. She’d kept track of all the priestesses of the lady spread throughout the Earth realm and Mara was the closest to where her location spell had put the new changeling.

  When the men were gone, she closed her door for the last time and walked away into the woods. She decided that it was better to shift into various species of birds for her journey and started with a hawk. Something told her she needed to hurry. When she reached the Atlantic Ocean, she intended to soar high and then change into a dragon. She’d have to keep a sharp eye out but she considered the risk worth it for the increase in speed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Friday morning Laura got up determined to try her experiment with the sun. The previous afternoon she hadn’t been able to with Mara hovering around. She didn’t know why she hadn’t shared her dream with Mara, probably because a small part of her hoped it might come true and she was afraid Mara would be reasonable and try to talk her out of it. Kind of like buying a lottery ticket, then not looking up the winning numbers just to hold the dreams for a little while, no matter how far-fetched they were.

  Her rational self told her she’d make herself sick going out into the sunlight. She’d end up in the hospital, her family would find her, and use it as an excuse to drag her home. However, her new-believing-in-shifters-and-magic self kept whispering for her to take the chance.

  That chance came after breakfast. Mara was running home for more clothes, leaving only Tom and Ben there. She set them both up with security clearances and then had the bright idea to have them try out her latest game. The premise was a war between wizards and vampires. The player got a choice to pick their affiliation at the beginning of play and the storyline then moved along in a direction that allowed the players the choice to be one of the good guys or one of the bad guys.

  Both sides had their darker and lighter moments, by highlighting and emphasizing, she could slant the story in one direction or the other. Each player created their avatar, then the program assigned a name, background, game objectives, and justifications for the characters behavior, both good and bad. Laura was especially proud of her character generating algorithm. It allowed for a massive web-based multiplayer game.

  She was planning to publish it soon, there were only a few bugs left to fix. Having the guys try it out would actually be quite helpful. It didn’t take long until they were both engrossed in the game room with controllers in hand. Lola rolled in a small food trolley with drinks and snacks.

  Laura stuck around for a few minutes to help them get set up and then she left them to it. JoAnne had agreed to come to the house for her first few sessions, but wasn’t due for an hour. Mara would probably arrive back soon so Laura decided that now was her opportunity to experiment with the sun.

  She went to her room and bundled up in her outdoor gear then made her way to the elevator.

  “Maggie, please close all the shutters on the top floor,” she said as she pressed the button to close the doors.

  “Yes, dear, the shutters are closing now,” said Maggie the house.

  “Maggie, keep the elevator doors closed too, until all the shutters are closed,” said Laura.

  “Affirmative, the shutters are fifty percent closed now.”

  Maggie continued to give Laura updates until the elevator doors opened. When they opened, Lola was standing in front of them holding a large black umbrella and a blanket. She had forgotten about Lola.

  “It’s not safe for you to be here, Laura,” she said.

  “I had a dream, Lola,” was all she could think to say. It turned out to be the right thing to say. For magical beings, dreams were important. She stepped aside ready to let Laura enter the sun-filled room, which was currently dark from the shutters being closed, the only light came from emergency lighting along the baseboard and over the doors. Laura removed her knit stocking mask, her face was already warm from the stuffy wool.

  “Maggie, open shutter number five ten percent,” she said.

  Maggie complied with her request and for the first time in her memory, Laura felt the warmth of the sun on her face. For most people it would seem like dappled shade, for Laura it was a picnic in the park on a bright sunny day.

  “Maggie, open all shutters to ten percent,” she said going for broke. The level of light in the room increased. She still felt fine. She even enjoyed the feeling of the sun’s warmth on her skin.

  By the time Maggie informed her that Mara had returned, she had the shutters opened to fifty percent, and had stripped down to a sleeveless shirt and was giggling. Lola had been watching closely and went to tell Mara what was going on. She was a housekeeper, this wasn’t her area of expertise, better the priestess.

  Mara, shocked at what Lola
told her, dropped her suitcase and ran up the stairs. Her duty done, Lola picked up the suitcase. She would unpack Mara’s clothes for her.

  At the top of the stairs, Mara watched as Laura rolled her wheelchair around the sun-filled room. The shutters that were there to cover the windows were all open. She was shocked and for a moment had the idea that Laura had lied to them about being unable to go into the sun. She was ashamed of still being suspicious of her new friend. Things had been changing rapidly, which was surprising, considering she’d only arrived five days ago.

  Had it only been four days? It seemed like they had known each other longer. Her musings were interrupted when Laura spun her chair around again and spotted her.

  “Mara, look! I’m in the sun!” she said in an excited voice.

  “I can see that. However, since this is your first exposure let’s take it easy okay. You’re going to get sunburn if you’re not careful,” she said. Mara was instantly sorry she said anything. Laura stopped twirling her chair and stopped smiling.

  “We can try this again this afternoon okay? Afternoon sun isn’t as harsh as morning sun,” Mara explained and Laura smiled again. The two of them headed to the elevator to go back downstairs. Mara had a few things to say to Ben and Tom, but it could wait until Laura wasn’t around to overhear.

  As the doors to the elevator closed she asked Laura, “What made you try this?”

  Not knowing what else to say, Laura said the same thing she told Lola, “I had a dream.”

  Like Lola, Mara knew the importance of dreams, especially with supernatural beings. Since Laura could see Lola, she had some supernatural blood in her body. While she had been at home, she’d called Marshall and filled him in on that aspect. Marshall had been pleased because it meant he was right to delay her death sentence. No one had wanted to kill her. He told Mara that he’d pass the word along to the other alphas and Mara asked him to wait. She felt Laura still needed the protection of a mate.