Time Mends

by Tammy Blackwell

  Remind me why we didn’t find you one of the million places in Lake County where you would have a massive body of water on three sides? I asked as I prowled in front of where she sat on the hood of her car while Jase and Charlie ran a sweep around the perimeter.

  “Water has tourists. No one ever comes out here.”

  Only because it’s totally lame.

  “I like it back here. It’s peaceful and the trees—” She cut off, her head cocked to the side. When her eyebrows knitted together and hand tightened on the gun, I got nervous.

  “Nervous” on a wolf looks a lot like “about to eat someone”.

  “I’m not going to tell you what he said until you stop growling.” I turned it down a notch. “Jase confirms that we’re dealing with wolves. He’s got three, and Charlie thinks there is another to the north of us.”

  Movement?

  “They seem to be circling, maybe three-quarters of a mile out.”

  Central location?

  Talley pointed at the ground in front of her.

  It was a tense night. Jase, Charlie, and I alternated guarding Talley and running the perimeter. No one made a sound, and we kept our Talley to Shifter communication to reporting on what we found. Never did the wolves get any closer. Never did they alternate their pattern. Then, just as I was starting to feel the siren’s call of the sun, they left. Still, we all Changed within fifty feet of Talley’s car, which she sat in with the doors locked, gun loaded, and cell phone with 9-1-1 at the ready.

  We forewent our planned breakfast at The Farmhouse and even decided to ditch our stashed clothes as a precautionary measure. Thankfully, Talley always kept an outfit for each of us in her car since we didn’t always Change back near our original location. We hit every fast food drive-through in Lake County, ordering enough food for ten people at each stop. As we stuffed our faces, we began comparing theories.

  “Would it be too much to hope some Shifters were lost, picked up on another Pack, and got curious?” I asked, squirting some ketchup on a hashbrown patty.

  Jase leaned over the seat to swipe a sausage and egg biscuit. “I’m sure that’s what happened. Some wolves in Michigan got bored last night and hoofed it down to Kentucky in a matter of minutes.”

  I turned and snatched the breakfast sandwich back out of his hand just moments before he put it in his mouth. “That’s for being rude,” I said, taking a deliberately slow bite. “How am I supposed to know what Packs are where? I’m Always in the Dark Girl, remember? I’ve got a cape and everything.”

  “Packs live in territories where they can blend. Since there are no local natural wolves, there are no local Shifters who are wolves,” Talley said. “The closest Pack of any sort, other than the Hagans, is the Beechers over near Mammoth Cave.”

  “Definitely coyotes. Definitely too small and timid to be sniffing around Hagan Territory,” Charlie added.

  “We’re sure those were wolves, right?”

  “Smelled like wolves to me.” Charlie answered my question with a shrug. “But maybe not. Like Talley said, Shifters try not to stick out. Four wolves would eventually get noticed around here. Even if they’re nomads, this really isn’t a stopping point between two wolf friendly habitats.”

  “So, we’re left with the most logical explanation, right? That they’re here because of us?”

  No one said anything.

  “What does that mean then?” Their lack of assistance was annoying. “What wolves would come looking for us? Is the Matthews Pack tight with another Pack? Maybe distant relatives or something?”

  The silence in the car stretched on for what felt like an eternity. Just when I was about to scream, Talley answered. “It’s the Alpha Pack.”

  Chapter 21

  They were waiting for us at the house. The others seemed to have been expecting it, if the expressions on their faces were anything to go by, but I felt ambushed.

  “What do we do?” I asked, eyeing the pair of matching luxury SUVs as if they were going to go all Decepticon on me.

  Charlie snatched Talley’s keys from her hand and jumped in front of me. “You leave. Now. Just get in the car and go. Don’t stop until you have to.” All the color was wiped from his face, his eyes a pair of glowing pieces of jade.

  “What? No.” I stepped closer to Talley. “I’m not leaving her at their mercy.”

  “It’ll never work,” Jase said, laying a hand on Charlie’s arm. “It’s the Alpha Pack.” Charlie didn’t move. “Come on, man. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.” The two did that deep stare thing guys do for several seconds, then Charlie nodded his head and stepped to the side.

  We made our way up the driveway in silence, Talley and I clinging to one another’s hands, sending “It’ll be okay” vibes back and forth through our link. The men weren’t sitting in their vehicles as I suspected, their scent obviously strong there because of the time they’d spent inside, so we continued on up to the house. As we got closer, I began to hear snippets of a conversation.

  “And what does your brother and sister do on their hunting trips?” a man asked, his strong accent sounding eerily familiar.

  “They sit in the woods and shoot things with guns,” came Angel’s reply. “Don’t people go hunting wherever it is you’re from?”

  I dropped Talley’s hand and took off at a jog. No way was that creeper harassing my baby sister. The front door was unlocked, and I sped through it. “Get away from her,” I said to Stefan, who was crouched down in front of Angel in the living room. My father stood with one hand on her shoulder, his eyes boring into the other man.

  “Harper, how lovely to see you again.” The way he said it, with that accent rolling around with sincerity, was almost calming. Almost, but not quite. Instead, it reminded me of Alan Rickman playing Professor Snape, and not in a he’s-really-a-misunderstood-good-guy kind of way.

  “Get away from my sister,” I repeated through my teeth. I was exhausted from the night’s activities, but I still wanted to go over and forcefully move him away from Angel. The fact that he was close enough to touch her made my stomach roll. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone. Three other men stood in front of our couch, legs shoulder width apart and arms crossed in front of their chests. It looked as though they’d mistaken a piece of furniture for the President of the United States.

  Stefan stood up gracefully, brushing the wrinkles out of his designer suit as he went. “I was merely talking with the child, Harper. There is really no need for such dramatics.”

  “My. Name. Is. Scout.”

  “Nicknames are for children.” My math teacher had said the same thing a year ago, and it embarrassed me then. Now? Now it just pissed me off.

  My dad wasn’t impressed much either. “You will talk to my daughter with respect, or you will leave,” he said, his hand pulling Angel slightly closer to him. I knew if I was close enough, he would have reached out and brought me in for protection, too.

  “My apologies, Mr. Donovan.” He tilted his head in my direction. “I’m sorry for any offense, Scout.”

  “How is Liam?” I asked, not accepting anything he was offering. “Was he sad to pulled away from the warm Florida beaches?”

  Rasputin’s face remained calm and composed, but his eyes flashed with anger. “Unfortunately, we have yet to find your Mr. Cole.”

  Big surprise. Liam hates warm weather, which is why I pointed Stefan towards Florida in the first place. I hoped that wherever Alex’s brother was, he was far away from Stefan and the rest of the Alpha pack.

  “Is that why you’re here, Mr. Vasile? Because, honestly, I’m out of ideas. Liam and I weren’t exactly tight or anything. So if that’s all you need, can we be done here? We’ve been out camping all night, and I’m really needing to crash.”

  Stefan’s mouth curled up on the side that wasn’t marred. “The orphan’s location has been set aside for the moment. There are now more pressing matters requiring our attention.”

  “Mr. Vasile says that you guys have got
ten into some sort of trouble,” Dad said. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

  I opened my mouth, ready to throw out some sort of snarky reply, but Jase answered before I could come up with anything.

  “Talley’s situation has been resolved,” he said, stepping forward. “She left to be with me. Our mating ceremony is to take place in the spring.”

  Dad’s head jerked up in surprise, and Angel, who had been miraculously quiet up until this point, scrunched up her face. “What’s a mating ceremony?”

  Stefan smiled and it was an altogether disturbing sight. “Why, didn’t you know your brother was going to get married?”

  He was going for the weakest link in order to find out the whole mating thing was a sham. The moment Angel opened her mouth, we were done for.

  “Why didn’t you just say wedding?” She asked, as if the whole Talley and Jase getting married thing was a given. “Is mating what you call it in your country? What country are you from, anyway? You kind of sound like that guy with the pointy hat and mustache from those old Moose and Squirrel cartoons they play on Boomerang. You know, Boring and Natasha.”

  “You know,” Stefan said, clearly growing tired of pretending to be enamored by the smallest Donovan, “in Russia, my native land, children are taught to respect their elders.”

  “Oh, that’s not just in Russia,” Angel assured him. “We do that here in America, too.”

  Stefan did that whole one sided mouth curl thing again. “Clearly.” The word was meant as a dismissal for Angel, as he then turned his attentions to Jase. “There have been some questions raised as to the sincerity of your claim. I am afraid the accusation requires an audience with her highness.”

  Talley’s eyes went wide and Charlie swallowed hard enough even the non-Shifters in the room could hear it, but Jase merely dipped his head. “It would be an honor, Polemarch.”

  Polemarch? What the Hades was that?

  Whatever it was, Stefan looked pleased the title was given. “Your presence will be required fifteen days from this night. Your mate, however, must accompany me today. As is our custom, she will remain under the eye of the Strategos until her fate is determined.”

  “No.” I didn’t know what a Stratego was any more than I knew what a Polemarch was, but I knew Talley wasn’t going there. “She stays with me.”

  “Indeed she does,” Stefan said, steepling his hands in front of him to complete the evil doer image. “You will also be awaiting an audience with the queen.”

  If Charlie’s muttered curse was anything to go by, this was not a good thing.

  “And why would your queen wish to see me?”

  Stefan’s eyes skirted over my father and sister in the long pause that followed. “Charges have been made,” he finally said. “Grave charges for which you will stand trial. The date has been scheduled for the same night as the queen will hear Hoplite Donovan’s declaration.”

  “Sorry, but I’m going to need some clarification. By ‘Hoplite’ you mean Jase, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re some sort of Polemarch thing?”

  “Polemarch is my more formal title.”

  “And those guys…?” I pointed at the unflappable couch protectors.

  “The Stratego.” Stefan’s patience was waning. “The term comes from the ancient Greek. Stratego are the most elite of soldiers.”

  “And I need to stay under their elite sight until this trial?”

  “Indeed.”

  I looked at Stefan’s soldiers, who hadn’t so much as blinked an eye during our conversation. On the surface, there were very few similarities in the three. The one on the right was middle aged, like Stefan. He was African American and stood close to seven feet tall. The muscles popping off his upper arms were the size of grapefruits. If I met him on the street I would think he was a retired professional basketball player.

  The guy on the other end was younger, maybe early twenties, and equally impressive, but looked more NFL than NBA. His dishwater blond hair hung down to his very square jaw. He wasn’t quite as tall or old as our Michael Jordan doppelganger, but he was just as imposing with his wide shoulders and steel blue eyes.

  The man standing between the two was the smallest by a long shot, but not the least dangerous. He was maybe my height, and probably didn’t weight too much more, but he was wiry. His skin was a dusty color and his dark eyes slanted ever so slightly at the corners. He was standing in the exact same Secret Service pose as the others, but with him you got the impression of a coiled snake ready to strike.

  Despite their obvious differences, one thing was certain about the three of them as a whole - They were not leaving without taking Talley and me with them. It was in the set of their jaw, the flatness of their stare.

  “Where will we be going?” Alex once told me the headquarters for the Alpha Pack was in Romania. While I’ve always longed to see Europe, this wasn’t exactly the trip I envisioned.

  “You’re not going anywhere.” My father’s face sported a decidedly red tint. “I think it’s time you leave,” he said to Stefan. “I don’t know who you are, or what authority you think you have here, but you’re going to leave right now and never so much as look at my kids again or I’m going to have a Restraining Order placed on you. Understand?”

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Charlie’s stance shift ever so slightly, placing him in a better position to fight. I followed his cue.

  “Mr. Donovan, I’m sure you’ve been informed of your son’s status. It is our custom to inform the parents, and as an adopted child myself, I draw no distinction between the parents who created you and those who raise you.”

  “I know who and what my children are.”

  “Then you understand there are issues pertaining to your children outside your government’s realm.” Stefan picked a piece of imaginary lint off his suit jacket. “When it comes to those issues, I am the government. The laws of our kind are mine to enforce, and I will do all in my power to ensure they are followed to the letter.” He reached out and ran a single finger down one of Angel’s curls. Talley grabbed my wrist to keep me in place. “Such a beautiful child. It would be a tragedy if something was to happen to her. Yet, accidents do happen when the rules are not followed properly.”

  Dad’s face transitioned from red to purple. “Listen here, you son of a—”

  “I’ll go.” My heart was slamming up against my rib cage and there was an odd buzzing in my ears. “Willingly. You promise that nothing happens to my sister, and I’m yours.”

  “I’ll be damned if—”

  “No, Dad. I’m going, and you’re going to let me.” I looked at Angel, whose eyes were overflowing with fear and confusion. “This is all a misunderstanding. I’ll be back in two weeks. No big.”

  Except, it was a big. A huge. A behemoth. A freaking leviathan. I could feel it in the air that swirled around Stefan and his men. I was as good as severely punished.

  Even Angel could feel it.

  The munchkin wrenched herself out of Dad’s hold and wrapped her little arms around my thighs. “Don’t go,” she begged. “Please don’t go.”

  I knelt down to hug her properly. It put me at a major disadvantage should things go south and I needed to fight, but I didn’t think that was happening. I hadn’t lied. I was going to go with them willingly, and Talley wasn’t the type to resist. Jase and Charlie might try to step in, but they were sworn to obey their Pack Leader, and I was going to order them to stand down.

  I cheated Death in May. Now it was time to pay up.

  “I have to go,” I said, trying to memorize the smell and feel of her. “It’ll be okay. You’ll take care of the house and Mom and Dad and Jase for me while I’m gone, right?”

  I felt a splash of tears hit my collar bone. “You promised, Scout. You pinkie promised.”

  “What did I promise, Munchkin?”

  “You won’t leave me forever. You promised.”

  I blinked against the sting in my eyes.
“I’m just going away for a little while. It’ll be okay.” God, I wanted it to be okay.

  I held her until she stopped crying. I’m sure Stefan and the three stooges really enjoyed watching our little goodbye, but I wasn’t concerned about what was convenient for them. Once the sniffles subsided I stood up and faced my father.

  “I forbid you to go.”

  “Dad, I’m adult. You can’t forbid me from leaving.”

  His lips tightened to the point it appeared he had none. “You might be eighteen, but I’m still your father.”

  “Which is why I’m stubborn enough to do this no matter what.” I stepped into his embrace and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t let Angel play outside or go anywhere by herself until this is over,” I whispered in his ear. “You take care of her, and I’ll take care of me. Deal?”

  “I don’t like this,” he muttered.

  “That’s because it sucks.” He gave me a Dad look. “I said stinks. You don’t like it because it stinks.”

  I turned to say my last goodbye. “Charlie, I’m putting Jase in charge while I’m gone. I want you—”

  “I’m going too,” Jase said, meeting my eyes with fierce determination.

  “What? No, you’re staying—”

  “I’m going.”

  “Sorry to interrupt what I’m certain will be a most intelligent verbal exchange,” said Stefan, “but you are not to join us until the new moon.”

  Jase bowed his head. “With all due respect, Polemarch, I call on my right to stay with my mate.”

  Stefan looked like he wanted to smack Jase, but instead he said, “Of course. You may stay with your Seer.”

  “And I’m going with Scout,” Charlie added.

  Stefan’s eyebrows shot up just as my jaw dropped down. “I’m sorry,” Stefan said. “I did not realize you made a declaration.”

  “Not as her mate,” Charlie said, stepping forward and bowing his head, just as Jase had. “I owe her a life debt and will remain with her until it is paid as honor requires.”

  I glanced over at my father, surprised to find him looking relieved the boys were coming along for the ride. Stefan? Not so much. Actually, he looked like he was regretting being placed on teenager arrest duty.