My Furry Valentine

by Karen Ranney

  I couldn’t even look at her. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have told you.”

  She didn’t respond, which is probably why I said what I did next.

  “Mark’s moved in.”

  A few beats later I realized that my mother didn’t know who Mark was. Oh, goody. Here I was trying to be honest and upfront, or at least as much as I could be and I had managed to step in it. Again.

  “He’s someone I’m seeing,” I said. “You’d like him.”

  I was pedaling backward as fast as I could.

  She just shook her head, which was a punch to the gut. “Torrance.”

  Yep, I had gotten that response before. Namely when I had announced, rather loudly as I remember, that I was going to take my inheritance from Sonny and use it for my education. That I was going to go and be a vet and nothing or no one could stop me.

  My mother had said my name just like that back then. Funny, all these years later and I still felt like a teenager.

  The look was even worse, though. She had a way of conveying disappointment like no one I’d ever met. You just knew that she was going to start crying the minute you were out of the room.

  “Well,” I said, standing and smoothing my hands down my skirt. I had left my purse in the car and all I had was my phone.

  I really wished it was ringing right now. I would excuse myself and say that I had to take this call, it was important. But since I didn’t have anyone who would call me with an emergency, I was stuck trying to find a way to extricate myself from the situation I had created.

  “Is there anything I can do, Mom?”

  She looked up at me and smiled slightly. It was not a humorous smile. If anything, it had almost a sardonic twist to it, as if she knew how desperate I was to leave the room.

  “Thank you, no.”

  I sidled a few steps to the left.

  “Is there anything I can get you?”

  “A vodka martini,” she said.

  Another shock. My mother normally didn’t drink. However, now seemed a good time to start.

  “One vodka martini coming up,” I said and ducked out of her room.

  The “family reunion” event was being catered by one of my mother’s favorite companies. I asked one of the servers to take the drink to her. I decided that it might be prudent for me to avoid her presence for a little while, at least until the martini had some effect.

  I had definitely erred when it came to Mark. My father had met him on more than one occasion, but she hadn't. Austin had even met him, if you could count Mark pummeling my brother and locking him in the root cellar.

  I don’t know if my mother was more upset about not knowing about Mark or the Pranic bit. I think she was probably equally insulted and angry.

  Sandy always confided in her. I was a little bit more reticent.

  Okay, maybe it was because I hadn't had a boyfriend in a while and there was the issue of not knowing exactly where I stood with Mark. All I was certain about was that he’d moved in. Everything else was in a state of flux.

  I knew I was in love. I just didn't know how Mark felt. If the truth be told, I was a little bit leery of wearing my heart on my sleeve, at least until I was certain that he felt the same.

  There were other reasons why he might’ve decided to move into Graystone, not the least of which was to protect me out of some misplaced gallantry. You, Furry. Me, male Furry.

  Sandy and my half-sister, the two concubines, my father, and a few of the catering people were in the family room. I avoided it and entered the kitchen, heading for the exit to the back garden.

  Thankfully, I hadn’t yet seen Austin. I was hoping to avoid him as long as I could. What did you say to a brother who tried to kill you?

  Maybe I should have reported him to the police, but we Furries tended to handle things our own way. Not that I had involved the Were authorities, either. I hadn't even told my father and didn't think I would. It would be hard for him to separate himself from being Austin’s father while being the clan’s alpha. One role would dictate that he needed to protect his son. The other would require that he punish him.

  In all honesty the reason I hadn't told my father anything was because of my mother. I knew that if he banished Austin it would hurt her deeply and I’d already done that.

  I slipped out the back door, made my way around the waterfall, and came face to face with my half-brothers.

  They were evidently doing the exact same thing I was thinking of doing because they were sitting on a bench behind a large agave cactus. When I looked at them, they grinned sheepishly, their expressions illuminated by the artfully placed decorative lighting.

  "Your secret is safe with me," I said, moving past them and heading toward one of the Koi ponds. "I won't tell anyone where you are.”

  "Do you want us to do the same?” Michael asked. "Keep your whereabouts secret?”

  “Just for a while," I said. “Long enough to get my breath.”

  Or mourn for my parents’ marriage, or figure out how to handle Austin. Not to mention all the other issues I had. Everything was just going to have to wait.

  The only thing I hadn’t done — and now wish I had — was grab a drink for myself before making my way to a shadowed corner in the rose garden.

  Chapter Thirty

  I had problems

  I sat there for a good fifteen minutes, grateful that none of the lighting was in this corner of the rose garden. I was, frankly, at one of the lowest ebbs of my life and I didn’t even care that I was sitting in the dark. Let Maddock come at me. That’s all I needed. But he wouldn’t. This was the home of the Celtic Clan’s alpha — a Boyd. I’ll bet that he avoided my father at all costs.

  So, I was safe from vampires. But that was the only good news.

  What was I going to do about my parents? Or Mark? Or Austin? Or the mystery of who had firebombed Graystone? Or my being part vampire? Would my family disown me for being Pranic? Would Austin keep trying to kill me?

  I had problems.

  I really do wish I had a drink. Or ten.

  Looking up I watched as two shadows walked toward me.

  “Something’s wrong,” Michael said. “Can we help?”

  I wanted to tell them about my mother, but I didn’t. They’d find out soon enough.

  They moved to sit beside me and I scooted over on the iron bench. I really hadn't expected them to join me, but I wasn't adverse to it. After all, we were related and they hadn’t tried to kill me. Yet.

  “Did you know about me?" I asked. “About us, I mean? Sandy and Austin and me?”

  "Sure," Douglas said. “Especially you. Dad was always bragging about you.”

  “He was?”

  "Dad said that you’d always known what you wanted and went after it like an arrow.”

  I didn't know what to think about first, the fact that my father had said such a thing about me, or that the twins were calling him Dad. I’d always called him Father in a formal way, but there was respect in their tone and love, as well.

  "I didn't know a thing about you," I said.

  “Why would you?" Michael asked. “You’re a member of the primary family. We aren’t.”

  That’s something else I hadn’t known. Evidently, there was an etiquette to be followed if you were the offspring of a concubine. We just had too many damn rules in the Furry community.

  "I didn't know anything about Dominique, either," I said. “I suspected I had siblings, but not who you were. I wish I'd known.”

  Neither one of them said anything. They probably didn’t want to say anything critical about dear old Dad.

  “What do you do?” I asked. “Are you attorneys?”

  "I'm a pharmacist," Michael said. “Douglas’s an architect. Neither of us had any interest in the law.”

  "You’re a vet," Douglas said.

  I nodded, then realized they probably couldn’t see me. “I’m opening my own clinic,” I said, accepting their congratulations and well wishes with gratitude. Th
ey didn't seem like elitists like Dominique. Or maybe I’d just misjudged her. I’d done a lot of that recently.

  I liked my new brothers. They seemed down-to-earth and charming, as well as funny.

  Michael was married with a pregnant wife. I hadn’t known my father was so close to being called Grandpa.

  Douglas wasn’t married yet, but he was engaged, the party announcing same to be held the week after next. Would I attend? I was so touched by the invitation that I accepted immediately and began to mentally adjust my schedule.

  “I need an architect,” I said, telling Douglas about Graystone. “I’ve always wanted someone to tell me what’s what. Plus, there’s the clinic I want to build.”

  We talked about some of the details and he offered to give me the names of some local people he knew.

  “No,” I said. “Why not keep the work in the family?”

  We must've sat and talked for at least a half-hour. For a little while I managed to forget the coming announcement my father was going to make.

  Instead, the three of us became children again, sharing stories of our father, lessons we learned growing up, and how each of us had rebelled in our individual ways. I was gratified to learn that as perfect as they appeared, the twins were anything but. Hamish had even threatened to send them to TMI, something that he’d never had to do to Austin. What a pity. It might've done him some good.

  But if they had ended up going to Texas Military Institute here in San Antonio we might have met earlier. What would my life have been like with two extra brothers? I found myself regretting that I hadn't had the opportunity to find out.

  "Torrance.”

  I looked up to see Austin standing there, the very last person I wanted to see. I didn't respond to him. I didn't stand and go to him. I just sat there. If he wanted to talk to me, he could cross the garden. I wasn't his handmaiden. Or his slave.

  I wasn't the least surprised when he turned and went back into the house.

  "What was that all about?" Michael asked.

  “Have you met Austin?”

  Douglas nodded.

  “That’s just Austin being Austin,” I said.

  Thankfully, they dropped the subject.

  A few minutes later, their mother appeared on the path, summoning us all into the family room. Evidently, that's what Austin had been sent to do, but he couldn't manage to be pleasant for more than thirty seconds at a time.

  Austin had always been the princeling, the one person who could get away with almost anything in our clan with the simple explanation of, “That's Austin." Or: “He's Austin Boyd, the only son of the alpha.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder how Austin felt now, knowing that he wasn’t the only heir. Was that the reason he hadn’t approached us? Not because he couldn’t bear to be in my company — and the feeling was mutual — but because our new brothers threatened his position of scion?

  I didn’t doubt for a minute that our father had financed their educations just like he’d paid for all of Austin’s. Now I couldn’t help but wonder if Hamish had bought into their respective companies. Probably.

  My new brothers stood and waited for me. I didn't want to go into the family room. I wanted to stay in the garden or failing that, get in my car and go home. I didn’t want to see my mother. I especially didn’t want to hear the announcement that my parents were divorcing. Or that my father was choosing one of his concubines for his new wife.

  Maybe I could amp up my hearing spell so that I couldn’t hear anything at all.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  He was strong enough to hurt me

  My mother and the two concubines were sitting in the middle of the curved blue leather sectional in the family room. My father was standing at the far wall, where a movie screen descended when he was in the mood for something with spaceships, guns, and surround sound. My father was, strangely, into aliens.

  Sandy and Dominique were seated on either end of the sectional, which left the twins and me to take up the remaining chairs.

  I still didn't know who the strange man was standing at the back of the room, but I had a feeling he would be introduced soon.

  I was glad that my father hadn't tried to populate Texas. He only had six children and that was much better than it could've been. For some reason, all these years I had thought that he had large families in both Houston and Dallas. But I guess having three women who thought of him as their sole provider, alpha male, and chief muckety-muck must have been enough of a strain. I could just imagine the situation with a dozen or more children.

  At least now he could get rid of one of the women. I thought it was a damn shame it was my mother.

  Austin finally entered the room, choosing to lean against the far wall, his arms folded. A customary Austin stance, especially with that half-sneer. He was careful, however, not to antagonize my father, the source from whom all largesse flowed.

  My father nodded, as if giving himself permission to start, looked around the room, and then focused his attention on my mother.

  "I have been given an ultimatum of sorts," he said. “Linda has asked me for a divorce. As you know, being the chosen women in my life and my children that I do not tolerate ultimatums. I am not to be dictated to by those whom I love and support.”

  To my surprise, my mother did not look away, but steadily met his gaze. Evidently, after you've already asked for divorce from an alpha, there was nothing else to fear.

  Sandy sat there with her mouth open in an O of surprise. Her eyes were wide with shock while Dominique’s expression was curiously bland. I wondered if she thought she was going to go from the status of being a concubine's daughter to being the daughter of the wife of an alpha.

  I couldn’t see Austin’s or Sandy’s or my status in the world changing. Maybe it would have if we’d still been in school and subjected to peer pressure. There was still a certain element of shock to any divorce, something that had been missing in the civilian culture for a great many years. Weres also didn't have many illegitimate births. Being an unwed mother was a cause for shame, not celebration in the Furry world.

  Let’s face it, I would always be Hamish Boyd’s firstborn. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or just a thing.

  "I have considered the matter,” he said.

  Every single person in the room was silent, waiting.

  "I could, of course, accede to her wishes."

  No wonder my father's success rate at trial was so good. He could hold a jury in the palm of his hand. He was doing the same with us now.

  “However, after many hours of thought, I realized that to divorce Linda would be to deny myself the love of the one individual I trusted completely. The one person who had always given me her loyalty and devotion. Who has loved me uncompromisingly and without reservation. I could no more lose her than I could lose my heart. For that reason, Linda, I refuse.”

  My mother looked away, but that evidently didn't bother Hamish, because he came to stand in front of the sectional, addressing her directly.

  "I wondered what it was about your life that made you unhappy. I know you like this house and that San Antonio is your home. If you had wanted to go somewhere else, I would have moved or built you another house. I asked myself if it was me you objected to. Or could it have been decisions I made in the past? I told myself that I hadn’t imagined the love you felt for me. If that was the same, if that had remained unchanged, what could I do to make you happy?”

  He surveyed the room again. “For that reason, I’ve asked all of you here tonight. I’ve made a decision that will affect all your lives.” He pointed to the man at the back of the room. "George Thompson is my accountant. He will be meeting with all of you tonight to tell you what settlement I have made on the families in Houston and Dallas.”

  He looked at the twins and then at Dominique. "You are my children and I will never sever my bond with you, but I will no longer be associated with your mothers. They will no longer be my concubines.”

  My
mother looked straight at him, tears puddling in her eyes. What my father was doing was almost unheard of. An alpha did not sever a relationship with a concubine. Evidently, Hamish didn’t have a problem with setting precedent.

  He addressed each of the women in turn.

  “I have never made a secret of my loyalty to Linda. I hope you'll understand this decision, but if you don’t, I’m sorry for that. I will not change my mind.”

  Neither woman looked pleased, but each of them was smart enough to keep their feelings to themselves. They weren't going to jeopardize their settlement by telling him how pissed they were.

  "Will you stay with me?" he asked my mother. "There will never be another woman in my life but you.”

  I was getting downright emotional. Watching my mother sitting there silently crying and my father nearly begging her to stay with him.

  Torrance.

  My ears perked up, but that was silly. What I was hearing wasn’t actually audible. Mark and I had that Pranic walkie talkie thing going on. He could call me and I could do the same to him. Neither of us had done it lately. Plus, we had to be close for it to work.

  Torrance.

  I stood and walked out of the room, not at all pleased to realize that Austin had followed me.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  I whirled and faced him. Granted, he might be a few inches taller than me, but I wasn't afraid of him. Not anymore. Besides, I was worried about the tone I’d heard in Mark’s voice. I didn't have time to deal with my brother.

  "Whatever I do, it's none of your concern," I said, turning and walking away.

  He made a bad mistake of grabbing my shoulder.

  I took a step back and jammed my elbow into the middle of his stomach. I guess I’m pretty strong. Austin doubled over in pain. Never mess with a Pranic Furry when she's in a mood.

  Torrance.

  I took a few steps toward the front door, only to have Austin tackle me. Okay, that was enough. I stood there with his arm around my neck. He was strong enough to hurt me, I'd give him that. I could easily escape, however. I didn’t.