by Louisa Bacio
The crunching of leaves alerted her to Jana’s return. She held out a wooden mug filled with water. Silver took a sip, and sighed at the freshness.
“That’s wonderful,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome,” Jana said, taking the seat next to Silver. “So, where are you from? Tell me, is it very far from here?”
“New Orleans,” Silver explained. “It’s a few hours away by roadway or train, but I walked in the rest of the way.”
“New Orleans. I’ve heard of it,” she said a bit wistfully. The wind picked up, blowing her hair into her face. She pushed it back, tucking it behind an ear. “And you got here in a car? I’ve never been in one of those.”
Although she tried to hide it, Silver knew she appeared shocked. Never been in a car? Good Lord. Where had this woman been all her life? Silver took another look around the clearing at the obvious answer. Right here.
“I heard you wanted to see me.”
The deep voice sent tremors through Silver’s body. It came from behind her, and despite embarking upon this journey, and all the pent-up wishes of her twenty-one years on Earth, she was afraid of what stood behind her. Of who stood behind her. She flashed to her sister-in-law Lily and her recent unfortunate experience. It didn’t have to be that way—she hoped.
Chapter Four
Impressive. Regal. Those first thoughts came into Silver’s head when she saw her father. His commanding presence indicated his position within the Pack. Without them saying anything, she picked up on the subtle body language of the other members around them. Jana stepped back and bowed her head ever so slightly, and Viktor stood behind her father, alert, as if protecting him from an unseen foe. Immediately, something within her knew this was the man she’d been searching for most of her life. Like that moment, she met Trevor, her blood resonated with family.
“You look so much like her,” he said, stepping forward and holding out his hand, as if to touch her face.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
The words, “I think you’re my father” played through Silver’s mind, but she didn’t need to say them. Like her, he knew.
“I’ve always wanted to meet you,” she explained. “I hope it’s all right I came here.”
If he said no at this moment, what would she do? Behind him, she met the gaze of Viktor. He looked away, as if embarrassed to bear witness to their reunion.
“I’m glad you came, Silver. I know the trip must have been a hard one for you to make, especially with the history I have with your brother. You are welcome to my Pack.”
His voice lifted up at the end; his statement resonating over the eating area as if making some sort of decree. He extended his arms, gesturing toward the encampment. “We would be happy to have you here, for as long as you’d like to stay.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I’d like that.”
“Now, let me introduce you to the rest of the family. This here is Dominick.”
A tall man stepped forward—light brown hair, blond in areas, with eyes the color of the forest greenery. He stood at least a foot taller than Silver. In fact, all the men of the Pack were large. Must be in the genes, she thought.
She reached out to shake his hand, and he enveloped her in an oversized wolf hug.
“Good to meet you,” Dominick said. “There have been rumors for years, but never thought we’d meet another one of Dad’s kids.”
“Dad?” she said, pulling back and looking over the man holding her.
“Officially, he’s my stepfather, so we’re not related by blood,” he said, releasing her with a wink. “But since he was around since I was a toddler, he pretty much feels like Dad to me.”
Nathaniel nodded at Dominick’s assessment. A warmth of emotion glinted in his eyes as he looked at the man. Silver would estimate he was a few years older than her. Maybe the same age as Trevor, or thereabouts.
“And this here is Pearl.”
The woman who came forward was simply stunning, with jet black hair that hung in waves down her back. Her black eyes constantly shifted, on the lookout for something. And her darker skin made Silver question where Pearl got her coloring.
“Nice to meet you,” Silver said. “Are you a stepsister, too?”
“No, I’m adopted. My parents were killed when I was younger and Nathaniel and Sheba took me in to shelter me.”
Her answer surprised Silver. For supposedly not wanting Nathaniel’s kids to come live with the Pack, Sheba sure seemed awfully generous. Nathaniel took in her children; why couldn’t she have done the same thing?
“And this is my wife, Sheba,” Nathaniel indicated.
The stern-looking woman stood with her arms crossed, staring at Silver as if she was an invader. “Hello,” she said. Her frosted white hair was pulled back tight away from her face, and frown lines etched across her face.
“You have another stepbrother, Nate,” Nathaniel said, “but he’s been gone for a few years now, and hasn’t made it back.”
“So you two don’t have any children together?” Silver asked. Yes, she was asking the obvious, but her father wanted her to join the Pack, it felt like something she needed to know.
Sheba turned her back to Silver and walked toward a house, while Dominick took a sudden interest in checking out the consistency of the dirt beneath his feet.
“No, unfortunately, that’s been a difficult matter between Sheba and me. Of course we both were able to have children. Before meeting me, she had Dominick, and I had you and your brother Trevor. But our union together has not been blessed with children. At least, not yet.”
“And what happened to your father?” Silver asked Dominick.
A shocked look came upon his face. “No one ever talks about that.”
“I’m sorry. My mom died in childbirth, and my father ran out on the family,” she said, glancing at Nathaniel and wondering if he was going to contradict her at all. Nope. “I was adopted like Pearl, and none of my history was ever hidden from me. It simply was part of who I was, and we discussed it.”
“My mom doesn’t like to talk about the past, and only live in the present with an eye to the future, especially if it somehow benefits her,” Dominick said.
“But,” Silver tried to argue, “sometimes you need to reflect upon the past in order to figure out the future.”
“Silver, my daughter, we all hold different beliefs,” Nathaniel said. “Right now, you’re going to need allow Dominick and his mother Sheba to hold theirs. Sometimes the events of the past are too painful to explore, and sometimes there’s a time when we need to face the truth.”
He laid his palm on Dominick’s shoulder, offering a physical reassurance. “Now, Dom and Pearl, I’d like you both to keep an eye out for Silver here. She’s not used to a rowdy bunch like us.”
What would it have been like to have grown up with that type of love and support? Silver wondered. No, she definitely didn’t have the power to change the past, but she could help carve out her own future.
A pained expression flashed on her father’s face. “While you’re here, you’ll need to be careful. We’re not the only Pack in the area, and we have some enemies. As my daughter, and … being of mating age, you’ll require some extra security.”
What he was saying didn’t really make sense. Was she really going from an adopted waif whom no one wanted, to some sort of werewolf princess who was fodder for kidnappers?
“I don’t have free rein to go wherever I want? Isn’t this a big forest?” She paced, feeling confined already. “Here I go from a big city rife with crime but plenty of freedom, to a quaint secluded encampment, and suddenly you’re worried about my safety?”
“I just think it would be for the best at the moment. If you’re with Viktor, you should be fine. Otherwise, I’m going to arrange for a few others to shadow you.”
“Shadow? You mean lurk around and follow me everywhere I go?”
“They’ll be very discreet.”
“Let me ask you something, while we’re on the subject. Where were you and your security detail the first twenty years of my life? It didn’t seem all that important then.”
Her caustic words caused him to wince. “I’ve already apologized for my absence. I thought it would be the best for you, and keep you safe. I may have been wrong there, but would you have rather grown up a relatively normal life like you had, or under constant watch? It’s something we have to deal with.”
The conversation of the Pack’s enemies made her think of another natural enemy. “What about vampires?”
“What of them?”
“Does the Pack ever have any run-ins with vampires? Any bad blood that runs deep?”
“Like all Others in the paranormal realm, we’ve come across a few vampires. But not many live out this way in the woods because of the food source.” He smiled. “There’s less to eat here, and it’s not like we would allow a vamp to feed off our tribe.”
Again, the disconnection from the fictional world and this reality. Trevor had told her a story, though, about being out with Lawrence and hunted by a pack. “My brother-in-law is a vampire, and Trev’s wife Lily is a witch.”
The information didn’t seem to surprise her father. “I’m glad he’s found happiness, and has settled down. That boy—man—had a hard life, and he deserves some grounding. How I wish things could have been different between him and me.”
“Trev mentioned running into some members of our Pack in the city, a few years back. They attacked him and Lawrence. Acting territorial about Trev being in their park, and going after Lawrence with hatred—”
“Listen, there’s no love lost between vampires and werewolves. We co-exist on the same planet, and there are some major differences between us. For one, they are ‘undead,’ not living creatures. At our base, we’re human, with a few genetic modifications. They don’t have a soul.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“What?”
“The soul part. They most definitely have a soul. Lawrence and … the others I’ve known have a conscience. They feel and live and love just the way we do.”
“Well, maybe I will have to get to know one a bit better in order to discover that for myself. But back to our subject at hand. Just be careful. I would be happy if you considered staying with us long term. Know, too, that you’re going to be much in demand, attention-wise. We don’t get a lot of new female ‘blood’ in the Pack, and being new you’re going to be a novelty.”
His words gave her an ewww moment, and maybe it was the look on her face, but he continued on. “I’m your father, and I may be getting old—”
“How old are you exactly?” she asked. Since finding out she was a werewolf, she was curious about her own lifespan.
“Old enough to know better,” he said. “But I still remember what it was like to be young. When I met your mother.”
He gazed off into the fire, lost in his own memories. “She was so full of life, and energy. It didn’t help that she was gorgeous. A petite thing. She didn’t have the height or strength of you. My Gracie.”
Silver held her breath, willing her father to go on. She’d never heard too much about her mother, and hearing this story about his love for her, made memories of her earlier life somewhat easier.
“How did you meet her? Were you living in the city?”
He brushed off her comment with a flick of his hand. “No. Me in the big city? I’m not sure I could handle it. No, I had gone in to meet with some major suppliers. My own father had died a few months before.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. Your grandfather was a hard man. But here, I was thrust into this position as Pack leader because of his death. It’s something I always knew I would inherit, but no one expected him to die for at least another hundred years. Little did we know.”
He explained how her mother worked in a breakfast restaurant that he frequented during his stay. Each morning, she greeted him with a pot of fresh coffee, sustenance, and a smile. On the third day, he asked her out, and she agreed.
“She was quite the lady. Her family came from one of those rich neighborhoods, but they also believed in letting someone earn their own way. So her dad had basically kicked her out. She went from going to prep high schools to waiting tables in a café. When she died, her family lived twenty minutes away at the most, but they had no clue about her life.”
“Are you saying I might have more family alive? Her mom and dad, my grandparents?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like they took you and Trev in after she died. I don’t even know when they were informed, or if they even knew about you two.”
How sad, and how could Silver or Trevor not have thought of that possibility? Or, maybe it was something Trevor had tracked down, and chosen not to get her involved. She’d have to ask him. Here she thought she’d be getting answers to some of the questions in her life, and instead she was left with more questions.
From out of the corner of her eye, Silver saw her father’s mate approaching them. She carried a platter of raw meat, blood dripping over the sides and running down her arm.
“Nathaniel, can you do the honors of cooking for us this evening?” she asked, placing the plate on a nearby table.
He seemed a bit taken aback at the request of the domestic duty.
“We want to celebrate your daughter’s arrival to the Pack with a special meal,” she explained.
“Good idea, Sheba. Just leave it there, and I’ll start in a few minutes. I’m just finishing up with Silver here.”
The woman glared at her, hatred evident in her eyes. Sheba stood behind her father, so he couldn’t quite see her motions. In almost slow motion, she licked the fresh blood off her arm, keeping eye contact with Silver the entire time. When she finished, she ran her tongue over her lips and bared her teeth in a macabre grin.
“No problem, master,” she said. “I’ll be getting the greens ready for dinner.”
When she was gone, Silver let out a held-in breath. “Why does she hate me so?”
“Sheba? Oh, she doesn’t. It’s just her way. She’s not easy to get to know, and you have to remember how hard it must be for her to suddenly have you—evidence of my relationship with another woman—here.”
Yeah, right. If Silver’s instincts rang true, she definitely had to watch her back. Maybe those bodyguards weren’t such a bad idea after all.
She couldn’t have asked for a better reunion. When she imagined meeting her dad, especially after the fiasco with Lily’s father, Silver worried about making a huge mistake. Some things were left better unopened, and in the past. This relationship, she couldn’t let go. Deep within her, she craved the connection, and her destiny lay here with the Wolfe Pack.
“About that relationship with Trevor—we’re going to have to work on that,” Silver said.
“Seeing you makes me feel the same way,” Nathaniel said. “I’ve left him alone to live his life for too long. You, too. But somehow I thought it would be easier for both of you. Now, well, we can talk about it another night, when we’re both not as fresh with emotion.”
She turned toward him then, wanting a physical reaffirmation, but still afraid to cross the boundaries.
“Come here, and give your father a hug,” he said, holding his arms out.
Without a second thought, Silver stepped into the comfort and safety of her father’s embrace for the first time. She sniffled, holding back the tears threatening to fall.
“I never thought I’d find you,” she said. “I thought it would be too late.”
“If you would have waited for my old ass to seek you out, it probably would have been.” He released her, and looked her over. “B
ut you’ve grown up beautiful, and have done me proud. That, I can be thankful for. Now let’s get you settled.”
He called Jana over. “Would it be within your heart to share your dwelling with my daughter?” Nathaniel asked. “I know you have an extra bedroom, and you would be a good guide for her in the coming days, or however long she blesses us with her presence.”
“You don’t even need to ask. I’d be happy to.” The woman’s demure smile morphed bright when she met Silver’s gaze. “It will be wonderful to have a housemate again. I’ve been lonely since my last one left. Do you need help with your bags?”
“I only have the one backpack,” Silver said, shouldering her load. “I’ve learned to travel lightly.”
“Sleep well, Silver, I’ll see you in the morning,” her father said.
She held her hand up in goodbye, and followed Jana down the trail to the sleeping quarters.
“How many people live here?” she asked.
“Kind of like our people themselves, the numbers are ever shifting. A core group remains throughout the year, but some others like to migrate and join other Packs,” Jana explained without giving any specifics.
The answer made Silver think about Trevor living on the streets all those years, unable to settle down more than simply not having a place to live. Would he have flourished in an environment such as this one when he was younger? They’d never know.
Cozy wooden cabins lined the path. Most of the homes lay tucked within the tree lines, camouflaged with the natural setting. For being in the government-run natural reserve, Silver was surprised to see the organization.
“How do you stay hidden from society?”
“It would be nice to tell you we have protection wards up that make us invisible to humans,” Jana laughed. “But those only seem to be real in the movies and books. You found us pretty easily, right?”