Riley carefully scooped up Constance and headed to the truck while Vahl addressed the excited photographers. “I’d like to thank you all for bringing this to our attention. We know this animal; she’s a mix breed that belongs to a resident not far from here. We’ll get her the attention she needs and return her to her owner. As thanks, you folks are welcome to have lunch or dinner, your choice, at the diner on my tab. I’ll call and let them know.” Then with a nod he followed Riley to the truck and left the photographers to their work.
“So what’s the mystery?” Riley asked once they’d driven away.
“A call came in early this morning from the felines. A wolf came into their cabin and attacked Lily. She said she wasn’t hurt but she did manage to get a piece of whoever attacked. It was dark so she couldn’t really describe who it was. I planned on talking to the patrol first thing when they came off shift so they could tell me who was scented in the area, but you called before I got a chance.”
“I didn’t realize the felines had been moved to the cabin. I thought we were going to wait on that.”
“Margaret needed the room at the B and B for the photographers so we moved them to the cabin with a few pieces of furniture we could rustle up for them. We didn’t want to inconvenience anyone by asking them to take cats into their house.”
Riley shook his head. “Connie looked like she was having a good time at The Stag last night. What happened to send her running off into the woods alone and have her attacking the felines?”
Constance whined in the back seat and Vahl grimaced. “She’s been getting on Conner’s nerves. My guess is that it had something to do with him. I’ll call him after we get Connie to Tim.” Then he changed the subject. “How’s my baby girl this morning?” He asked.
Just the thought of Tara made Riley smile. “She was sleeping when I left her. She was too excited about the transition to fall asleep until early this morning.” No way was he going to tell Tara’s dad that they had actually been too busy making love to fall asleep until early this morning.
Vahl nodded. “She did really well. I’m proud of her.”
Riley smiled. “I am too.”
When Tara woke she saw it was close to noon and she was incredibly hungry. She went downstairs and made a huge omelet with ham, cheese, onions, and peppers and consumed it in minutes. Feeling better without hunger gnawing at her belly, she thought about what Riley had said last night. She could be pregnant. Her hand went to her flat tummy and she touched it with her fingertips. The thought made her grin which surprised her. She expected news like an unplanned pregnancy would have made her feel anxious and scared, but instead she was happy.
When she was younger, she had always assumed that she would eventually meet the right man that she would fall hopelessly in love with, settle down, get married, and have children. After several years of dating and being disappointed with the offerings she had amended that thought to someday she would find an acceptable man who she would at some point settle for so that she could have children. Riley made her feel like she was that young girl again who still believed in Prince Charming and happily ever after.
Tara grinned, Riley probably resembled the Big Bad Wolf more than Prince Charming, but she loved him anyway. Even when he was surly and irritable, yelling at her and calling her a foolish woman he was all hers and she wouldn’t change a thing about him.
Thinking of wolves she was reminded of her run last night and the incredible experience. She wanted to call Matty and tell him all about Riley, the town, and her transition, but of course she couldn’t say anything about the last. She blew out a breath. That was definitely a downside; the secrecy necessary for survival.
She settled for calling Matty and telling him about Riley and the town sans secrets and then she asked him about his restaurant and how he was doing. She was pleased to discover that he had met a nice lady who he was really interested in. She hoped things went well for him. Tara had loved her mother, but Marisol hadn’t always treated Matty very well, and as soon as Tara had been done with school, she’d had no qualms about leaving Matty to go live with her daughter. Whatever they had, it wasn’t real. It felt more like Marisol had used Matty to support her and create a family environment for Tara that she had shed as soon as Tara was grown. He deserved more than that.
She was just hanging up with Matty when Riley came in through the door, his hair wet from a recent shower and wearing clean clothes. He looked exhausted. “Is everything okay?” She asked.
He nodded and sat down hard in one of her kitchen chairs. She placed a quick kiss on his lips before asking “Are you hungry? I can make you an omelet. I had one and it was really good.”
He pulled her into his lap and shook his head, “I’m fine.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” She asked.
Riley sighed and rubbed her hip. “The way I heard it was after we left The Stag last night the felines stopped by to wish Conner a happy birthday and Conner was paying a bit too much attention to the older sister Lily. Constance apparently pitched a fit and the cats decided to leave rather than cause trouble which royally pissed Conner off. He had a big blow up and told Connie that he was never going to be with her and she needed to grow up and face reality. Connie took off running.”
“Poor Constance,” Tara said, running her fingers through Riley’s damp locks. “So she never gave Conner her gift?”
Riley shrugged, “It didn’t come up, but I doubt it.”
“That’s probably for the best. But what does all this have to do with why you had to leave this morning?”
“Connie shifted and attacked the felines at the cabin early this morning.” Tara gasped but Riley continued. “They’re both fine but Lily got a swipe in on Connie and the photographers found her in shift this morning, injured and hiding in some brush.”
Tara swallowed hard. “Is she alright?”
“We took Connie to Tim, the paramedic that looked you over that night, and he cleaned the wounds and stitched them up. She’ll be sore for a while but we heal pretty fast.”
“Why wasn’t she brought to the hospital?” Tara asked, surprised.
“She had obvious claw marks and we couldn’t risk the hospital calling in the game warden about a possible mountain lion or other big cat in the area and have them come poking around.”
“Couldn’t you have just said it was a bobcat? Didn’t you say you have those in this area?”
Riley shook his head. “It wouldn’t have held up, shifters are naturally larger than their animal counterparts so these claw marks are from a really big cat. A bobcat is much smaller so the spacing between the claws would have been narrower.”
Tara shook her head. “What about the photographers?”
“They were told she was a wolf mix dog that belongs to someone in town. Vahl’s treating them to free food in thanks for finding her.”
“How does all the secrecy and subterfuge not get to you?”
Riley squeezed her closer and she settled her head on his shoulder. “I’ve lived with it all my life, so it doesn’t seem strange, but it protects this town and everyone in it, that’s why we guard the secret. Even your mother, who took off and probably felt little to no allegiance to the town kept the secret. The alternative is unthinkable.”
She nodded. “Mom had a horrible fear of hospitals. She took me to clinics to get vaccinations and such, but she always warned me never to go into hospitals unless I absolutely had no other alternatives. I always assumed she just had a phobia, but now I wonder if she was scared they would discover something wasn’t right about me.”
He nodded. “Even though she stopped the transition with that medication I’m sure if they had done blood work something would have looked off about it and raised flags. Your mother’s fear was a good thing. It kept you safe.”
A sudden thought had Tara feeling a sharp twinge of fear. “So when we have babies I won’t be able to go to a hospital will I?”
She felt Riley smile against her hair
and squeeze her tighter. “Sweetheart, when we have babies I’ll pay for Doctor Bascomb to come and spend the entire pregnancy close to you if that makes you happy. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”
She smiled. Her Big Bad Wolf was such a prince.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Riley was so happy he wanted to shout. Tara had said when we have babies – plural, rather than if we have a baby. She was thinking about their future and accepting that they were mates. He kissed her to show his appreciation and she returned it with vigor.
He was so glad he’d waited until he found her before joining his life with another. It was said that the wolf knows; that when the wolf inside finds its mate it would feel an immediate undeniable attraction that went beyond the physical – as if they were connected. He knew that many would give up waiting for it to finally happen and would settle on a mate of convenience, but he’d sworn he would never do that and now he was so grateful that he hadn’t.
He had just lifted out of the chair with Tara in his arms ready to head up the stairs to the bedroom when he heard Addie’s voice at the door. “Hello! We’re back!” He groaned, put his forehead against Tara’s and chuckled. “She has the worst timing.” He mumbled and Tara laughed.
He set her down to go open the door. Addie was grinning, wearing a green foam Statue of Liberty crown and a T-shirt that said Wicked. L.J. who had chosen to forego the tourist wardrobe was carrying a suitcase that Riley took for him and set in the living room. “Did you guys have fun?” He asked as they came through the door.
Addie gave Riley a pat on the arm and then bustled in to hug Tara. “It was wonderful! With the pups help we got things packed up in no time and then we went to see the Statue of Liberty before we went to dinner and then a show on Broadway. I even got to ride on a subway!”
Riley noticed L.J. didn’t look anywhere near as happy as Addie. “What did you think of New York, L.J.?”
“Damn over-crowded, noisy, dirty, expensive mess. I’m just glad to be home.” He grumbled and then looked at Tara. “It’s a damn good thing you decided to stay here, sweetheart, because after seeing that hell hole, I can’t say as I’d be okay with you going back there.”
Tara smiled. “While there’s no comparison of the conveniences New York offers, I do prefer it here.” She shot Riley a look that made his heart thump. “There’s a lot to love about Malsum Pass.”
L.J. gave a sharp nod. “Damn straight.”
Riley couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off his face. He cleared his throat. “Tara has some news.”
“Oh?” Both L.J.’s and Addie’s gazes were firmly fixed on her.
She gave them a huge smile. “I transitioned last night.”
The room exploded with noise as L.J. and Addie both spoke at once with “Are you okay?” and “How are you feeling?” before Tara put a hand up to quiet them both. “I’m doing really great.” She said, “It wasn’t as painful as when I was younger and it happened pretty fast. Riley, Dad, and Sherry were all here for me and we went for a run after. It was absolutely fantastic.”
“Well,” Addie said, planting her hands on her hips. “I think that calls for some celebratory pie. While we’re there, we can start planning a town run.”
Riley spoke up, “I’m all for pie, but for at least a day or so we may have to hold out on the town run. We’ve got some photographers in town.”
L.J. nodded. “I forgot about their visit. We approved it months ago.”
“Well, we can still make plans; we’ll just have to be careful what we say.” Addie said, grabbing Tara and giving her a squeeze. “I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. Plus, we still have the engagement dinner to plan, oh, so much to do!” The woman was practically bubbling over with anticipation.
Riley watched Tara carefully but her expression hadn’t changed and she didn’t protest when Addie mentioned the engagement. He owed her a real proposal, but he’d have to plan something special for his mate; something romantic. She deserved that and so much more.
When they arrived at the diner, the first thing Tara noticed was Constance sitting alone in a back booth with a huge bowl of what looked like some sort of fruit crisp with a big scoop of rapidly melting ice cream. She didn’t look like her usual self; her blonde hair was in a messy ponytail with some of the ends caught up in the elastic, and her face was devoid of make-up giving her a much more youthful appearance. Tara also noticed that no one was sitting near her.
“No photographers,” she heard Riley say, “but we should still be cautious.”
Addie chose a booth and three of them sat and then looked up at Tara who stood at the end, “You guys go ahead and catch up with Riley, I’m just going to go say hi to Constance.”
Riley nodded. “Do you want us to order for you?”
“Some coffee and blueberry pie, thanks.” She said with a smile before she turned to go to Constance.
When Tara got to her table she noticed that Constance was wearing a stained t-shirt, gray sweatpants with an ice pack pushed to her hip, and she had exchanged her usual heels for canvas sneakers. Her eyes were red-rimmed as the stared at the food she seemed more intent to play with than eat and Tara’s heart went out to her.
“May I sit down?” Tara asked.
Constance glanced up and gave her a long look, but then returned her attention to her food and shrugged. “Are you going to yell at me too?”
“No,” Tara said softly. “I just want to talk to you and make sure you’re okay.”
Constance motioned to the seat across from her and mumbled. “I’m okay. It stings, but it’ll heal pretty quickly. Then my punishment begins.”
“Punishment?” Tara asked, wondering what passed for justice in Malsum Pass. Did they have jail cells or was punishment more archaic? She had a vision of whipping posts and shuddered.
Constance shrugged one shoulder. “I risked exposing the pack. I deserve it.”
“What kind of punishment?”
Constance sighed. “They brought mom and me in front of the council as soon as I was stitched up. Apparently your dad was out last night running and picked up my scent and when he called my mom about it, she lied and said I was home. She has to pay a fine for lying and do one week of community service for aiding in my endangering the pack.”
“And you?” Tara prompted when Constance didn’t continue.
“I get six weeks of community service.”
“What kind of service will you be doing?”
Constance sighed, “I’ll start with painting some of the fences and flower boxes in town that need it, and then I’ll move on to raking up the leaves that will start falling.” A shrug, “Those type of things.”
“Six weeks seems like a lot.” Tara said sympathetically.
“I got one month for endangerment and two weeks for attacking that cat bitch without provocation.” The tears slid down her face and she wiped her nose with the back of hand. “I had provocation;” she said quietly, “Conner wants her.” Constance’s voice broke and she breathed a ragged sob. “She’s a cat, Tara, she’s not even the same species as him and she’s scarred. How could Conner choose her over me?” She was sobbing openly now, and Tara handed her a napkin. “I don’t know what more I can do. I read all of the fashion magazines; I do my hair and make-up and nails so that I look as perfect as possible. What am I doing wrong?” She pleaded.
Tara cleared her throat. “I don’t know Conner all that well despite him being my brother, but he’s known you all his life, he already knows you’re beautiful, Constance. Maybe he’s looking for something more, something on the inside. Do you and Conner even have anything in common?”
Constance shrugged her shoulder again and wiped her eyes. “Usually if we get together he tells me he doesn’t want to talk, so I keep quiet.”
Tara grimaced. Her brother, it would seem, was an asshole. “Don’t you think you deserve someone who wants to talk to you; someone who sees more than just your outside?”
“I’ve
loved him my whole life.” She sobbed.
“Well, I think you should let go of him and look around at some of the other men available. I’m sure there are plenty of men here who would love to spend time with you and actually appreciate you.” She thought of her conversation with Jacob that day by the stream and while she wasn’t going to play matchmaker and outright suggest Jacob, she could nudge Constance in that direction. With that in mind she asked, “Do you know how to fish?”
Constance shook her head. “I haven’t been, since I was little. I didn’t want to get dirty.”
Tara smiled. “I think you should ask someone other than Conner to take you to the stream and teach you how to fish. You need to find someone who likes to talk to you and spend time with you even when you’re dirty. You shouldn’t have to try so hard, Constance.”
She nodded and wiped her tears. “I’ll think about it. Thank you for being so nice to me.”
Tara stood up, “Hey, that’s what friends are for.”
Constance gave her a grateful smile and nodded and Tara hoped the girl was able to pick up the pieces and find happiness.
Tara went back to join Riley, L.J. and Addie and saw that her coffee and pie were waiting for her. “Sorry to be gone so long.” She said, tearing open a creamer and pouring it into her coffee.
“That’s fine,” her grandfather said, “Riley was just filling us in on what happened with Constance. Is she okay?”
Tara shrugged. “She’s hurt more emotionally than anything. Hopefully she’s able to heal and get on with her life.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, each with their own thoughts and then Addie broke in with, “So what shall we start with, the run or the engagement dinner?”
Malsum Pass Page 17