by Evans, Bryce
As the woman tried to get her license out, Larsen watched as the woman started to shake, her hands were fidgeting all over the place. He had seen this before. Many times when he pulled people over their body took over doing strange things, trying to control the stress their body was under. Once a woman farted then passed out in front of him. His senses flared up and for some unknown reason he felt sorry for this woman. She looked like she had been through the ringer as her exhausted eyes watched him. Her clothes were hanging off her, telling Larsen that she probably hadn’t eaten in a while either. Her hands were shaking as she handed him her license. He could tell it wasn’t drugs or alcohol. His wolf would sense that. She was exhausted.
Larsen took a good look at her, “Just wait here for a minute,” Larsen commanded.
River was so scared that she could only nod at the Sheriff. Placing her hands around her waist as she pleaded with her body to stop shaking, a few minutes later the Sheriff came back and handed her the license back.
“Ma’am, do you have any where else to stay at?” Larsen asked, concerned. He could see the shame on her face after he asked. Obviously she was living out of her car. River shook her head no. “Do you have family you can go stay with?”
“No, sir. I’m new in town looking for a job. I was going to go to the Meadowland Lodge in the morning, but I was so tired that I had to pull over until tomorrow. I didn’t want to have a wreck and hurt someone if I fell asleep at the wheel. I can leave the parking lot, Sheriff. I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” River said apologetic.
“Well it wasn’t that you offended anyone. You looked suspicious so someone called 911. But I can’t allow you to sleep in your car at Walmart.”
“I understand, Sheriff. I will leave now if that is all you need.” River prayed that he wasn’t going to give her a ticket for loitering. She had no money and couldn’t pay the fine. She waited as the Sheriff looked her up and down.
“Ma’am, if you will get in your car and follow me.”
River panicked. I’m going to jail. Shit…I’m going to jail. Then she laughed as she walked back to her car. Well, I’ll have a roof over my head and a meal in my belly. Unfortunately, that thought didn’t seem to sit well with her either. Shaking her head, she looked back and glared at the Sheriff as he walked back to his truck. Something was off with him. She couldn’t figure it out but she saw a wolf every time she looked at him. It was nestled in his chest area staring at her. River got in her car and followed the Sheriff out of the parking lot and down the road. At least her car wasn’t going to be impounded.
They traveled for about two miles down the main strip then he started up the mountain. There was snow was at the top of the mountain but the roads looked clear. She hoped he wasn’t crazy and going to drive her off the mountain. That way he wouldn’t even have to do a report. River’s thoughts were running wild with her. She hadn’t eaten or slept in two days so she felt delirious at the moment.
As they came around the curve, River gasped as they pulled up at the most angelic place she had ever seen. The Meadowland Lodge was spectacular. It had to be the place where the rich and famous stayed. The trees twinkled as the icicle lights abundantly flowed down the branches. This place was elegant to say the least.
River inhaled sharply as she got out of her car looking up at the Meadowland Lodge. It was made of dark colored logs making it the biggest log cabin she had ever seen. People were outside laughing as they stepped onto a winter sleigh carried by horses. Kids were running around throwing snowballs at each other. She had to look funny with her mouth hanging open, but this looked like one of the places she read about in her books. “Winter Wonderland,” she muttered to herself.
River could smell the snow as it lightly fell to the ground. It tickled her nose as she breathed in deeply. The breeze blew against her face as she closed her eyes and listened as the children laughed and played in the snow. If this was a dream, River hoped she never woke up.
Larsen came and stood by River watching as she closed her eyes smiling. Larsen hated to interrupt the moment but he needed to get her inside. The woman didn’t even have a coat on.
“My family owns the lodge and they are always hiring new people. What experience do you have?” He could tell that she had never been helped out, as she opened her eyes and looked up at the Sheriff in shock. Her eyes were wide open along with her mouth.
Sputtering, River asked,” W-why…would you do that for me?”
“Why not?” the Sheriff said as he started walking toward the front entrance leaving her standing there frozen.
River grabbed her pocketbook and ran after the Sheriff. As she passed the people getting on the sleigh ride some of them smiled and waved at her. She had to stop as she waved back at the people. “Have a good time,” River muttered to the passengers as they got on the sleigh.
Larsen turned back and watched River as she stopped at the bottom of the steps and smiled at the people getting on the sleigh. He cleared his throat then turned around and went in the lodge. This woman, whoever she was, was breaking his heart. The look on her face baffled him. Damn the woman was a walking disaster as she almost fell when she came in the door behind him.
Looking around the Lodge, River noticed a beautiful woman walking up to the Sheriff, “Hello, Sheriff. How are you tonight?” The Sheriff smiled like he had won the lottery when he looked over at the women. The woman grabbed the Sheriff passionately and planted a big, wet kiss on him. Bending her backwards kissing her, the Sheriff nuzzled his face over the woman’s neck area. The woman looked over at River and winked, “I can get away with it since he is my husband.” River shyly smiled then looked down at the floor. Embarrassed that she got caught staring at the couple, her face had to have changed colors the way it heated up. She glanced up at the woman again. She was a pretty woman who also had a tiger inside her body. Yep, I’m crazy, so crazy that I see animals inside people. A freaking tiger, too. What’s next, a polar bear?
The woman turned and looked curiously at River. “So who is your prisoner, baby?”
“Ash, this is River Channing and I caught her sleeping in the back of her car at Walmart.”
The woman got very quiet then ran over and draped her arm around River. “Oh you poor thing. Are you okay?”
River looked mortified as the woman felt sorry for her. “Oh…yes, ma’am.” River’s face turned blood red as she looked down at the floor again, not knowing what to do or say. She didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her. She could work and earn what she needed. She just needed a job.
Larsen could see how embarrassed River was. “I wanted to talk to Larken to see if they had any job openings.” His brother was the Alpha of his pack and his twin brother. Once Larken looked at this poor girl and found out she was sleeping in her car at Walmart, he would set her up. No doubt about it.
“Oh no, I’m sorry we just filled the openings we had yesterday.” Ash informed them as she hesitantly gazed up at him.
Unable to stop it, the agony of being one step behind, River felt shame of being a failure again. Again she could have had a job, but she was one day to late. She shouldn’t have stopped at the hotel. She should have kept driving. That was the story of her life. Would this never end? River thought, as her stomach started to heave. She needed to find a bathroom and quick before she threw up. Putting her hand over her mouth, River asked, “Do you have a bathroom?”
Ash instantly felt something for this woman. She pointed to the public restroom as River took off before she threw up on the floor. Running to the bathroom, she dropped to her knees and leaned over the toilet. When she tried to throw up nothing came out. She had nothing in her stomach to throw up. River dry heaved again and again until she felt her body begin to shake. Feeling the effects of hunger and not getting enough sleep made her feel like she was going to pass out. Struggling, she pushed her body up using all of her strength. River wobbled as the bathroom lights flickered above her head. She looked up at the lights as tiny lights danced in front o
f her eyes. She couldn’t stop her legs as they shook then she collapsed to the floor. Her head hit the side of the wall as her body lay across the bathroom floor stunned. Then darkness came as she passed out.
Chapter Three
Larken rocked back in his chair shaking his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you sure you want to do that, Jonas? You are giving up being Alpha. You know you’re born to do that. It’s not something people can grow into. Either you are an Alpha or you’re not.”
Sighing as he leaned back, Jonas knew this conversation was going to be hard for his best friend to accept. Hell, it was hard for him to accept, but he made a promise to his sister that if anything ever happened to her then he would take care of her kids. And that meant that his life would be rearranged or turned upside down if it meant making Kammy and Kerra happy.
Kammy and Kerra were his nieces and he had grown to love them like his own kids. Kammy was starting college and Kerra didn’t want to be away from her so the only choice he had was to move to Freedom and take over as the leader of the new unit that was being offered to him. He could stay in Freedom and work out of the Lodge. It was a win-win situation from him. His pack understood and they knew change was coming to their pack.
“Look, we have had this conversation over and over. Kammy wants to go to school here in Freedom and work here. So yeah, I have to blame you for that one, big guy, and Kerra doesn’t want to be separated from her. She has cried and cried and they are my responsibility now. I have to do what is best for them. I will be considered an Elder in the pack, plus you get to put up with me all the time, so what more do you want.” Jonas smiled as he watched the expression on Larken’s face turn to a smile. Larken and Jonas had been best friends for a long time. They helped each other out and were part of each other’s family.
Jonas wanted his best friend’s support, “Listen, Larken, this is a huge decision, I know that but…but I have put a lot of thought in this and I want to make a difference and the unit, or whatever we will be called, is going to be special and I want to be a part of it. Arden will be great at taking over the pack. He has been my Second for a long time and I trust him. I need your support on this, buddy. I really do.”
Larken could see that Jonas was serious about this and he loved his best friend, and he also knew this was the right choice for him. He felt better knowing that Jonas would be looking after Ashland when their team was activated. He wouldn’t always be able to go and he needed to know Ash was protected at all times.
“You got it,” Larken responded and Jonas smiled back at him.
“Thanks. I needed your support,” Jonas said.
“Now on another note, I hear Pelton has taken a leave from the FBI and is going to join the unit, too,” Larken teased, taking every opportunity to tease Jonas Glenn because pay back was a bitch. Larken remembered when he met Ash and Jonas had a field day with it so now a little retribution was in order.
Jonas groaned at the mention of Pelton’s name. “Yeah, he is going to move here too. You know why, too,” Jonas said loudly. Larken laughed as he leaned back in his chair, placing his feet up on his desk.
“One day when you meet your mate and you would do anything to be near her then I’m going to laugh my ass off. Kammy is his mate and even though she is young, he isn’t pushing her but he wants to be near her and still let her enjoy her younger years. Nothing wrong with that, Jonas, and you know it. Plus, you are going to be his uncle and his boss on the unit too. So you better learn to suck it up and get used to it.” Jonas rolled his eyes at Larken then sat back down in his chair, putting his feet up on Larken’s desk.
“I doubt I’ll ever have a mate. Plus, I love all the ladies of your pack and you know I love to sample all the platters here,” Jonas joked as Larken groaned and kicked Jonas’s feet off his desk.
*****
River felt warm for the first time in a long time. She knew this had to be a dream and she prayed she never woke from it. She heard someone clear their throat and tried to open her eyes but the light was too bright. Then she jerked away as the light left her eyes.
“River, can you hear me?” Reluctantly, River looked up through heavy eyelids at the beautiful woman. Ash took the penlight and put it back down on the table.
“Yes, I can.” River blinked several times trying to regain her vision. She rubbed her head feeling the small bump on the back of it. The bump was small but it hurt like she had been hit with a sledgehammer.
“What happened?” River asked, not remembering what to place. She could see she was in a bed covered up with the softest comforter. Damn, she was in a room at the Lodge. Now she was going to have to pay for the room and she didn’t have a dime to her name. Fuck, Fuck.
“Well you ran to the bathroom to throw up and you tried to get up and fell and hit your head on the wall,” Ash told her.
“Figures,” River whispered as she tried to push herself back.
“When was the last time you ate anything, River?”
River blinked back the tears, she didn’t want the woman to know she didn’t have any money to eat. She had some pride left at least. She never appreciated people who wallowed in self-pity and she wasn’t one of those people. Nothing was free in life and if it was then it came with a price. She had the skills to work and that was what she would do if she were given the opportunity.
“This morning,” River lied to the pretty woman. River’s stomach took that time to make its presence known at the mention of food.
“Now, River, my legs are long enough so stop pulling them.” River couldn’t help but smile at the woman. The woman knew she was lying and she felt the need to tell her the truth. What is the truth anymore?
“Two days ago,” River admitted, as she grabbed the comforter, pulling it closer to her chin.
“Two days ago. Lord, you poor girl. Listen, they are going to bring you some soup and bread and you better eat it all then you are going to get up and get in the shower or bathtub. Then you can get back in bed and tomorrow when you have rested we will discuss what job you will be doing,” Ash said matter-of-factly.
River glared at the woman as she finished.
“What’s wrong?” Ash asked concerned.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” River whispered. She wasn’t used to this type of affection, except from Mary.
“Why not?”
River wanted to laugh. That was the same thing the Sheriff had said to her.
“Now do you feel like taking a shower first or eating something?” asked Ash.
River didn’t even think twice. “Food then shower.”
Ash smiled then picked up the phone and placed an order for the homemade vegetable soup with bread and some drinks. “Do you mind if I eat with you too. That way we can get to know each other?”
River nodded yes. What was she going to say, ‘hell no lady get out of my room that you allowed me to stay in’.
“So, River, where are you from?” Ash asked.
“I’m sorry, I’m sure you have already told me but hitting my head I must have forgotten, but what is your name?” Maybe we can start off with that instead of the pretty woman with the tiger inside you. Nobody needed to know where she was from. If her cell phone could be tracked, River knew they could get in the DMV database. She didn’t want them to check in with the local police about her. Paddock may have someone working for him at the police department. She already had to sell her car and Mary had gotten her another one in her name so nobody would think anything about it.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Sometimes I wonder where my manners are. I’m usually in cop mode all the time. My name is Ashland Wilder and you are River Channing.” River nodded because she was screwed, this woman knew her real name now and she said cop mode. Was she a cop like her husband?
She fidgeted with her fingers as she answered Ash, “I’m from all over. We moved around a lot when I was younger. I don’t think we stayed in one place for a long time. I don’t have any family so I have been
traveling the country,” River uttered the words, trying to believe them too. She had been telling that same lie forever and it almost sounded like the truth. Even to her.
Ash was a professional at reading people and their body language always showed her they were lying. It didn’t hurt that she was a shifter and could smell a lie. She knew River was hiding something. But for some reason she felt something for this woman, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. River Channing was someone she felt like she knew but couldn’t figure out from where. All she knew was she needed to protect this woman. Her instincts told her that and Ash always followed her gut feelings. They had never let her down.
“That must have been hard on you to move all the time. No time for friends?” River was saved when someone knocked on the door. Ash got up and allowed the waiter to bring in the food. “Just sit it in there, Michael.”
“Yes, Alph…ma’am.” Ash smiled at Michael as he walked out. River caught the look the waiter gave her. For some reason when she looked at Ash all she saw was a tiger and the waiter was a wolf. River knew her body was going through changes, but her mind was going crazy. She was seeing animals inside of people’s bodies. Apparently it was all the rage here at the Lodge. Paranoid much, River? River closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, thinking she was beginning to go crazy.
Ash came up to River and put her hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay, hun? Do you need something for pain?”
River looked up and tried to smile. “No, ma’am, just tired and hungry,” River explained with a half smile.
“Then let’s eat. I think that will help your head if you get some food in you,” Ash said, as she brought the tray around and placed it on her lap. River took her bowl of soup and placed it on the table, sliding it around so she was facing Ash. “So, River, what kind of job were you looking for?”