A New Path

by Xander Jade

  I answered still a little caught off guard, "What are you thanking me for? Cassie cooked the meal."

  She nodded to Cassie and responded with, "I know it was your plan to save me. I’m sorry for the way I reacted at that time, I was angry at myself for getting captured a second time. If it wasn’t for your group, I would be on my way back to Lord Damian." She shuddered thinking about being back at his castle.

  I smiled, "It was no big deal. We would have done it for anyone. Reap and Herc did all the heavy lifting anyway."

  "You have a siba and a kodiak protecting you, it amazes me that they follow your commands. Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you mind controlling them?" Valencia questioned and Cassie put her two cents in.

  "No, they are bonded to him," Valencia’s eye’s widened and Cassie kept speaking proudly, "He also has magic running through him and one of the most intelligent minds I’ve ever seen."

  Valencia didn’t know how to proceed after her statements, so I asked her a question. "How come you’re just now talking in a language I can understand?"

  She smile sadly, "I didn’t want to talk to a man at that time. I heard you talking to Cassie and at the time, wanted to keep to myself," I nodded, but she kept going, "Over the past couple of days I have gotten to know the man you are and have never known a man like you. I can see you will protect what’s yours and the people around you. You have a harsh demeanor when it comes to protecting or fighting, but has a gentle side to people who are in trouble. I also noticed the weapons you carry, the bow and sword I’m guessing aren’t for show." I shook my head and she nodded. "You could have also kept me as a prisoner, but let me follow you. I am grateful for your generosity and will try to make up for it and would like to stay with you at the cabin if it’s okay."

  Looking at Cassie for her opinion, she slowly nodded. "Yes, you can come with us, but it won’t be all grins and giggles. My upcoming plans may change your mind. I wanted to talk to you two about going after the slavers and finding some of their hideouts." The ladies glanced at each other before they both replied.

  "I would love to. Some of my people were still held captive in cages," Valencia said.

  "Wherever you go, I follow. I would love to get some revenge if I can, while freeing other people," Cassie answered.

  "Okay, we need to start planning, but first we need to get to the cabin and rest. I also want to unload our herbs and spices to get the garden started. We will need some healing ointments," I advised them and they agreed. When the discussion was over we went to our bed rolls to sleep. I evidently needed my rest, when my head hit the bed roll I was out.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next morning we got an early start on the day, eager to get to our dwelling. The trip back was uneventful, but I guess if you’re traveling with a siba, kodiak, mage, and a lioness, people tend to stay out of your way. On our journey I took it upon myself to test their skills with the blades and bow. Even though they are dangerous in their own right, I wanted them deadly with any weapon I trained them in. Cassie took to the bow better, and Valencia the daggers. Each day we took some time out for some training and they got better as the days went by. I even had some time for Cassie to instruct me with magic, for some reason my magic was still blocked, and was frustrated to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I will stick you with a blade or an arrow any time I want, but the idea of having long range magic of any kind would be a significant help in the trials to come. My mind grumbled just thinking of the many things I wanted to accomplish, but would have to just take it a day at a time.

  On our travels our group inevitably grew closer, we would laugh and pull pranks on each other trying to pass the long days of travel. Our conversations were everything from our previous lives to our hopes and goals. It was great getting to know these ladies better and felt we could accomplish anything. The journey finally came to an end when my woods came into sight and smiled knowing just a few miles we would be home. I suggested Reap and Herc go out to run and hunt, the predators went off in the distance and disappeared while we headed up to the cabin.

  "Ladies, I know it’s not luxury, but with some hard work, we can have a life here. How does that sound? I want you to know that at any time you want to leave, just let me know. I will be sad, of course, since over our journey I have come to know you better."

  Cassie answered, "Max, growing up in my village was hard, I didn’t have many friends or people that I was close to. What you are offering is a place where I don’t have to hide in fear of who I am. I am very grateful for this opportunity and you won’t have to worry about that with me, I’m not going anywhere without you."

  Valencia nodded her agreement, "It is gratifying to know that I have found someone that doesn’t care what others think. You see me as a person and not a play thing or some kind of animal. You don’t care that I am not human, I am in your debt, and will never be able to pay that back. Just know that I will never betray you."

  I nodded and felt pride at their statements, making me want to protect them more. We went into the house and they set down their items while I gathered the plants and herbs to put them in rows on the rickety table, hoping that it wouldn’t break apart. Satisfied with my work, I asked them to decide who would go hunting with me while the other could start the cook fire. Cassie stayed in the house and Valencia went with me. She demonstrated to me her expertise of stealth, and I showed her my techniques. We learned from each other working as a team, our excursion in the woods finally showed us some deer in the distance. They were by a stream, so we slowly came to stop on a hill about a hundred yards away as I carefully took my bow and handed it to her for a kill shot. She was tense, so I encouraged her.

  "Alright, don’t be nervous, you’ve got this. Even if you miss there are others down the stream we can get. Take your time and relax." She pulled back, took a breath, and released. It flew straight and hit the deer in the chest, the animal took a step and then collapsed. "Good job Valencia! I knew you could do it." She nodded and blushed, and for some reason I thought it was cute. She looked at me strangely, like she wanted to say something, but kept it to herself. We picked up our dinner and went back to the cabin, Val was quiet on the way back, so I just shrugged it off as being tired; we were exhausted after the trip. Back at the cabin, Cassie had the fire going, I strung up our kill and started cleaning it, demonstrating the how to process with Val. She took it upon herself to finish and cut up portions of the deer in a short amount of time then put it on the spit to cook. Cassie had put a pot with some veggies on the fire as well, guess she wanted some stew. After the meat was cooked, I sliced it in little pieces, then added it to the stew pot. When the stew was done, she passed the meal out with some of the bread that was left over. The table and chairs weren’t in good shape, so we sat on the floor. As we were eating, I scanned the house figuring out what was needed.

  Since my brain just wanted to hunt and kill, it knew the home needed a certain touch and since he wasn’t the person to know what all was required, "Ladies, I need to get this cabin suitable for us to live in. What are your thoughts besides the obvious, food and water?"

  Valencia was first to speak, "Tools to make our own furniture. The nearest town is a half day away, so we would need to do it ourselves. We have enough lumber in these woods, it wouldn’t take all that long." I nodded and looked to Cassie.

  She stated, "Yes, we need bed and kitchen supplies as well. I know the house is going to take some time to fix, but would like that welcome feeling when we come home, to be able to look upon something like this would be a dream come true." I smiled at her and she blushed. They were both doing that a lot lately.

  "Okay, tomorrow we go into town, pick up supplies for the cabin and the forge in the back. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I don’t think it will be that difficult to get running. The money Will gave us should be plenty for the stuff we need." I yawned while saying this.

  They agreed as I got up to walk to the forge before it got completely dark. It hadn�
�t been used in years, some of the tools were in okay shape for me to get started though. The anvil was in good shape, but the hammer, tongs, and bellows would have to be replaced. I got my list together and went back into the cabin as the ladies were getting ready for bed and noticed out of the three bedrooms, only one was being used at the moment, and the bedrolls were close together. I didn’t know what was going on, so just shrugged it off and went to my bedroll to lay down. Cassie stoked the fire before she and Valencia came over to sleep, I closed my eyes and had a dreamless sleep.

  My mind roused me right before dawn, but found I couldn’t move, my limbs were pinned down by legs and bodies. Still groggy, my head finally decided to wake up and assess the situation. My eyes widened when figuring out that both women were on top of me, holding me like I would leave in the middle of the night. Not sure what to think of the situation, I was having a hard time concentrating due to the fact that my soldier was standing at attention. He didn’t care about who was nearby or the fact that these ladies were way out of my league. I had to figure out something quick, maybe concentrate on something horrendous to get him to calm down before embarrassing myself. I thought about gore on the battlefield, hunting with Reap and Herc, and some naked old people walking around. Finally after a few minutes my soldier calmed down, I didn’t want the ladies thinking I was some pervert, but to my defense, they were on me. I tried to go back to sleep, but the situation didn’t let me. My body laid there figuring out our next steps in my head, thinking what could be the reason for the recent outbreak in slavery.

  While in strategy mode, the ladies started groaning and moving their bodies against mine. Damn it! Hopefully junior will behave himself. The ladies yawned and glanced at each other, then looked at me. My brow rose up waiting for an explanation, but all I got from them was a shy smile and a kiss on the cheek. Giving them my best look that said ‘what’s going on’, but all they did was giggle and got up for the day, leaving me dumbstruck in my bedroll. Sighing loudly, knowing I will never figure women out. I was thinking about it for a minute before letting myself just go with the flow, not caring if these beautiful creatures slept on me. Getting out of bed, I got dressed to head toward the woods to take a leak to find Reap and Herc in the woods still laying down, but were alert to their surroundings. I scratched behind their ears and petted them, laughing at the purring and groaning that could be heard through the woods.

  After taking care of my business, I was walking back to the cabin when something caught my eye, it was a hand pump for water, and assumed it went to an underwater spring or well, so I walked over and stopped to check the mechanism. It looked a little rusty, it would need some lubricant or grease to loosen. I scanned the property thinking if we located any in the cabin, but ended up finding a barn behind me. Wondering what was in there, my brain told me to investigate.

  Coming up next to the building the hairs on my neck and arms tingled; the air was thick for some reason as I stopped by the double door. Reaching for the handle I felt a sensation on my hand for a moment that felt like an insect sting, but it stopped when stepping through the doors. Walking into the building, I carefully looked around the shed to see if it had any kind of lubricant. What I found was a building full of tools. Holy shit! I hit the mother lode. My feet took me around checking all the shelves and looking at the assortment of tools: saws, hammers, drills, tongs, axes, and hatchets. It also had boxes that held an assortment of steel and iron. Damn, I wonder why no one has taken any of this. My eyes caught on the floor a trap door off to the left, I would need to bring a lantern to check it out and reminded myself I needed to stay on task.

  Continuing on my scavenger hunt looking for some grease or oil to help loosen the hand pump, my search found flint, arrow heads, fletching’s, and string. Man, grandpa was a badass, I never knew this was here. One of the shelves had some grease in a jar, so I snatched it off the shelf and checked inside to see if it was usable. It looked somehow well preserved and not dried out, so grabbed a mallet then left the building at a jog. I stopped at the pump, took some grease out and spread it on the pump. Waiting a few minutes, I tapped the pump with the mallet to loosen the rust, and tried to pull the handle up. It was still a little difficult at first, but pushed it back down, then moved it up and down trying to siphon some water out of the underground cavern. Finally, after exhausting myself, spurts of brown water came out. Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. I kept pumping the handle coaxing the water out, and was in a groove when was a voice startled me. "Hey handsome, what cha doing?" I was disturbed by the fact I didn’t hear someone behind me, though in my defense, I was in the zone. Stopping, I looked over my shoulder to see Cass and Val smiling at me.

  "Hello ladies, I fixed our water problem. I found this and got it to start pumping out water."

  Their eyes widened, but didn’t say anything for a couple of moments. Then both of them started jumping up and down, clapping. I stared at them, gawking at their fantastic bodies. The performance wasn’t anything sensual, but they needed to stop that shit. They knew what I was thinking by the broad smiles on their faces. Damn women, what the hell are they doing? I grumbled out words they couldn’t understand. They were actually giggling at my expense, so I ignored them, and kept pumping water out until it was clear.

  "That’s awesome, we won’t have to get it all from the stream," Cassie giggled out.

  Valencia wasn’t any better, she couldn’t contain her snickering either, "Max, thank you for thinking of us. We just like giving you a hard time," she indicated while looking at my junk, which brought out another session of chortling.

  I clicked my tongue staring at them, thinking of the best way to handle this spectacle, and ended up turning to leave them behind, still giggling. They called out to me, but ignored them while walking toward my cabin to get something to eat. I didn’t have time to deal with this shit, so my feet carried me into the kitchen to find some left over stew to eat. I sat down as they walked in, and began filling my throat with food. It was a little cool, but wasn’t going to worry about it. I’m assuming they already ate, so got up to get more. They sat there with concerned faces, but I ate in silence. I didn’t really care about the incident or their behavior over the last twenty four hours, just didn’t like a tease. I wasn’t going to bring it up until they did, so I took a moment to think about what needed to be done today. We don’t have to get any tools since I found the ones in the shed, but needed to get to work on some knives and daggers. We’ll need to pick up some scabbards while we are out too. Hmm….my mind made a mental list of what was needed to pick up. While I was in my own thoughts, the girls were getting worried by my demeanor, so they spoke out while my thoughts were still focused on my list and didn’t catch the first voice speaking out.

  "…..okay?"

  "We didn’t mean to make you mad, it was intended to be for fun. Please forgive us."

  I turned my attention on them and grunted out, "Hmm? What?"

  "We didn’t plan to make you angry. It was meant to be playful," Valencia softly casting her head down.

  "I’m not mad, what makes you think that?"

  The glanced at each other with confused looks and Cass responded, "You took off without saying anything, and when we called out to you, we didn’t get an answer."

  Valencia nodded and took over, "We have been sitting here waiting for you to blow up in anger. I can’t take the silent treatment, I need for you to tell me how to fix this." Cassie nodded at her retort.

  I took my bowl and cleaned it at the counter, thinking of how to reply. Turning to them, "I’m not mad, I was just making sure you were finished with whatever you were doing. I didn’t know what was so funny, so didn’t answer. Since coming in here, I have been thinking about the supplies that are needed," replying while taking a sip of water. They looked at me to make certain I wasn’t mad and smiled at them, noticing their relief. They got up and nervously came over to me. Each one hugged me, and gave me a tender kiss on the lips. I stammered out, "What’s going o
n with you two? I have no idea how to handle this, but will let you know I don’t like to be teased." They told me they weren’t teasing me and both gave me their explanations.

  "Max, ever since we met, I have had this feeling in my chest. I didn’t know what it was from the beginning, but do now. The man that stands before me is what I want. I’m not sure how to say this, but I need you in my life," she hesitated, took a deep breath, and continued, "not just living in the same house, but with you, in your room." I didn’t know what to say to that, so Valencia told me her reason.

  "Max, I have had distrust in men all my life. My pack was always on me to behave and submit to the alpha. I didn’t like that idea and knew he wasn’t for me. My parents were always on me to pick a mate, so that I would settle down, and have a family. At that time it wasn’t for me, so I rebelled, and the pack life I had was depressing, knowing someone was out there for me. When you rescued me from that scoundrel Lord Damian, I knew you were for me, but not wanting to admit to it. That’s why I gave you shit from the beginning. I am strong willed, but know you can tame me, my lioness and I can feel it," as she said this her eyes changed to a golden color. Her lioness was on the edge of showing herself. "I don’t know about your feelings, or how you are going to respond when I change, but she is dying for you touch her. As a lioness we look for the most lethal, powerful, and loyal person to submit to. Usually, it’s a lion, but in my case it’s you. We recognize you as our leader, so I am letting you know we submit to you and will be loyal to your pride. We are aware that Cass and I won’t be the only weres in your pride, and will consist of all different races. She and I have discussed the predicament that we find ourselves in. I know you don’t want to hear about the visions or prophecies, so I will stop by letting you know we will do everything to protect you." My brain was stunned by the situation I found myself in. These two beautiful creatures are letting me know their feelings, but didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but had to know for sure what their intentions were.