Danny didn’t move for a few minutes. “I can’t just let her leave like that,” he finally said. “What if she doesn’t come back.”
Sophie smiled at him. “Don’t worry; she’ll be back and when she comes home, she’s going to be starving. Jessie always eats like a horse after he shifts.”
Danny let her lead him back to the cabin, but he couldn’t help looking back over his shoulder as they walked. He wasn’t sure what had just happened to Kara. First she’d saved them, but then she’d tried to hurt him. It was all so confusing, and just when he’d thought that he’d figured it all out.
***Kara***
Kara followed Jessie and the white wolf through the woods, her brain on fire with anger and hatred. She’d felt this way before, but that had been long ago when she’d first started shifting, when she was just a kid and unable to control herself.
Then it hit her; she’d shifted, and it wasn’t a full moon. Confusion shot through her, quickly followed by fear, but Jessie turned and gave a few little yips into the air, and she felt herself calm down.
When they reached the sheltering branches of a huge tree, the three of them sat down, Kara still trying to understand what had happened to her. But as she sat there, and the anger began to fade, she heard a voice inside her head.
“It’s okay, little sister; what happened to you is a good thing. Your love for Danny is so strong, it overpowered our curse,” she heard.
Then she heard Jessie’s voice in her head. “I know it’s confusing; you’ve learned to live one way and now all that has changed, but I think you’ll come to see that it’s a blessing. The moon will still be your mistress, but you’ll no longer be tied to her; you’ve gained your freedom.”
Kara felt herself beginning to relax, felt the shift beginning to fade, and was relieved. When she’d imagined this moment, it hadn’t looked anything like what was happening now. But then she looked at her brothers and thought, “I’m no longer alone.”
“No, you’re not,” came the answer from them both.
She felt the air shimmer around her and then she was back in her human form, sitting on the ground under the tree with a huge white wolf and an equally large black one. Then Jessie shifted back to his human form and smiled at her. “Welcome back. Are you okay?”
Kara looked from Jessie to the white wolf and back again. “I think so,” she said, getting to her feet. “I want to see Danny; I tried to bite him, I think.”
Jessie looked at his brother. “We’ll talk later,” he said, his words echoing through three heads instead of one.
“I’ll be close if you need me,” he said, then ran off into the forest.
Kara followed Jessie a few feet, then stopped, everything suddenly overwhelming her. She was shocked and embarrassed by the way she’d behaved towards Danny, afraid that it meant that she really didn’t love him.
“Jessie,” she said when he’d gotten a few feet in front of her. “What happened to me, I couldn’t control myself, I almost hurt Danny. How can I love him but still try to hurt him?”
Jessie stopped walking and turned to her. “I wish I could explain it to you, but I don’t know myself. This thing we do, I’ve never heard of any other werewolves that can do it. Maybe Sebastian was right and we’re mutations, but whatever the case, you’ll see it won’t happen again.”
Kara wanted to believe him, but she was still scared, still unsure about this new manifestation of her gift. “But what if it does? I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt Danny,” she said, and then all the events of the night came crashing down on her, her head began to swim, and the world went black.
***Danny***
Danny was pacing nervously in front of the cabin door, waiting for Kara and Jessie to get back. He didn’t care that she’d almost hurt him, he didn’t care that she could easily if she wanted to; all he cared about was making sure that she was okay.
When he saw Jessie coming across the garden, Kara in his arms clearly unconscious, his heart stopped. He rushed over to them and took her out of Jessie’s arms. “What’s wrong with her? Is she hurt?”
“I think she’s just exhausted,” Jessie said. “This had been a pretty long day. Let’s get her back to the cabin and tucked into bed; she’ll wake up in a few minutes. But Danny, you have to know that she’s upset that she almost hurt you.”
“I don’t care about that; I only want to know that she’s going to be okay,” he said, kicking open the cabin door.
When Sophie saw them, she rushed over. “Is she hurt?”
Jessie shook his head. “No, just tired; we need to get her to bed.”
Sophie led the way back to their bedroom and gestured for Danny to lay Kara down on the bed. When he laid her down, her eyes fluttered open for a second; when she saw Danny, she sighed. “I’m glad I didn’t hurt you,” she said, before her eyes fluttered closed again.
“Both of you get out of here. I’ll get her settled, and then you can come back in,” Sophie said, pushing them both out the door.
“But I can take care of her,” Danny said, just as the bedroom door slammed shut in his face.
Jessie patted him on the back. “You should know better than to argue with Sophie; don’t worry, she’ll let you back in soon.”
Danny spent the next fifteen minutes pacing the floor, worried that there was something wrong with Kara. But finally, the bedroom door opened, and Sophie came out. “I’m going to get her something to eat; you can visit for a few minutes but then she needs her rest.”
Danny pushed open the door, not sure what he would find on the other side. Kara was propped up in bed; her face was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes, but when she saw him, she smiled.
“Are you okay?” he asked, rushing over to her side. “Are you hurt?”
Kara shook her head, then looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry Danny, I almost hurt you. I don’t know what got into me. I knew you weren’t going to hurt me, but I couldn’t stop myself.”
Danny gathered her into his arms, “I don’t think you really would have hurt me, Kara.”
She looked up at him, “Are you sure?”
Danny nodded. “I love you Kara, and I know that you’d never hurt me. It will be different next time, I promise. Jessie’s done it lots of times, and he’s never tried to hurt anyone; it was Sebastian, the threat of him hurting us.”
She nodded her head. “I hope you’re right,” she said, then let herself relax in his arms. “I love you, Danny.”
Chapter Twenty
***Kara***
When Kara woke the next morning, she wondered if she’d dreamed the whole thing, but then she realized that she was still in Sophie and Jessie’s bed and knew that it had all happened. Danny was sleeping in a chair next to the bed, but as soon as she pulled herself into a sitting position, he opened his eyes.
“You’re awake,” he said, smiling at her. “How did you sleep? Do you feel better?”
She smiled at him. “One question at a time, but first I’d like a kiss.”
“I’d be more than happy to grant that wish,” he said, sitting down next to her in the bed and pulling her into his arms.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Sophie said, bustling into the room with a breakfast tray and setting it in her lap.
Danny laughed and got up from the bed. “Where’s mine?” he asked, kissing Sophie on the cheek.
“Out in the kitchen where big strong men should eat their breakfast,” Sophie said, slapping him on the arm. “Now out you go, give us girls a few minutes together.”
Danny reluctantly left the room, but not before he kissed Kara again. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
Kara watched him leave, her heart feeling like it was going to burst. Once he was gone, Sophie sat down in the chair next to the bed. “Are you ready to talk about what happened last night?” she asked.
Kara nodded her head. “Why did I turn on Danny like that? I love him, Sophie; it doesn’t make any sense.”
&nbs
p; Sophie smiled at her. “It does if your maternal instincts took over,” she said, sitting back in the chair.
“What?” Kara asked, then said, “That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” Sophie asked, the grin still on her face. “It’s the only thing that makes sense and not that hard to diagnose.”
Kara stared at her in shock. “But we only… I mean... Oh.”
Sophie handed her a pregnancy test, then pointed to the bathroom. “I’ll wait right here.”
When Kara came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, Sophie was sitting in the chair reading a book. “How did you know?” Kara asked, getting back into bed, still in shock but with a smile on her face that wouldn’t go away.
Sophie shrugged her shoulders. “It’s the only thing that made sense to me; you shifted because you love Danny but even after Sebastian disappeared, you were still in protection mode.”
“I have to tell Danny. I hope he’s not upset. I mean we never talked about anything like that,” Kara said, suddenly afraid that things were moving too fast.
Sophie got up. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about; that man loves you more than anything in the world and he’s going to be over the moon about a baby.”
Kara soon discovered that Sophie was right; the second the words were out of her mouth, Danny grabbed her and kissed her. “A baby, that’s why you tried to attack me? We’re going to have a baby,” he said, over and over.
“You’re not mad?” she asked, not sure she could be so lucky.
“Are you kidding? I love you, Kara, and I’m going to love our child just as much. We have to tell everyone, let the whole world know,” he said, jumping to his feet and pulling open the door.
Later, after they’d all toasted to Kara and the baby’s good health, Jessie chased everyone from the room. When they were all gone, he sat down next to the bed and looked at Kara. “I wish you would have told me sooner that you’re my sister.”
“I was afraid that you’d turn away from me, that you’d be mad that mom kept me and not the two of you. She really did regret that decision all of her life, Jessie, and I think if she’d have it to do over again, she would have done things differently.”
Jessie nodded, “I think I understand, but I do still have a question that I’d like to have answered if you can.”
Kara nodded, pretty sure she knew what he was going to ask. “You want to know who your father was.”
Jessie nodded. “I’ve always wondered who it was that she left with, who the man was that got her pregnant and then abandoned her.”
Kara shook her head. “She wouldn’t tell me; she said that you and I had the same father, a man she would always love but wanted nothing to do with her. She wouldn’t tell me because he’s from here, Jessie; she didn’t want either of us to know.”
Jessie let that sink in, and she could tell he was thinking about all the possibilities. “Did she give you any clues?”
“She never really told me anything about him, but when she was dying, she called out to someone named Hank. I don’t remember her knowing anyone named Hank, so I think that was his name.”
Jessie thought about that for a minute, then his eyes got big. “There’s only one person in Gypsum Creek that ever went by that name: George.”
Kara stared at him in shock. “You mean George who hates you so much? That can’t be right, but I was born after she came back to check on you when you were just a kid.”
Jessie jumped to his feet. “I’m going to kill him,” he said, before throwing open the door and stalking out into the living room, calling Sophie’s name.
***Danny***
Danny jumped to his feet when Jessie came barreling through the bedroom door. “What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Kara?” he asked, rushing over to the door.
Kara was getting out of bed, so he went to her side. “You need to rest,” he said, but she shook her head and reached for her clothes. “We’ve got to stop Jessie before he does something stupid. Where’s Sophie?”
“I think she’d outside hanging clothes on the line,” Danny said, then grabbed her and made her look at him. “What’s going on, Kara?”
“Jessie just figured out that George is our father, and he’s going to town to confront him. I’m afraid of what he’s going to do,” Kara said, pulling away from him so she could get dressed.
Danny stared at her in shock. “George? George is your father?”
Kara nodded. “I mean I don’t have a DNA test or anything, but my mother said he was from here and when she was really sick at the end, she talked to someone named Hank.”
Danny knew then that they were in trouble. “Jessie’s going to kill him,” he said. “I’ll meet you outside. I have to try and stop him.”
By the time he got outside, Sophie and Jessie were already marching across the clearing towards the trail to town. “Jessie, wait,” he called, but Jessie just turned and looked at him over his shoulder.
“Sophie, can’t you stop him?” Danny called to her.
“He’s got his mind made up, Danny; all I can do is go with him and hope nothing terrible happens,” she said, then ran to catch up to Jessie.
Kara had come out of the cabin by then; she grabbed Danny’s hand and said, “We have to go too. I’d like to hear what George has to say too.”
Danny didn’t have a good feeling about might happen if Jessie found George but couldn’t see any way to stop him. “Okay, let’s go.”
It wasn’t easy to keep up with Jessie, but they managed to get to the store just as he burst through the door. George was sitting on a stool behind the counter, and when he saw Jessie, he jumped to his feet and reached for his gun.
“I wouldn’t do that unless you’re planning on shooting all of us,” Sophie said, standing next to Jessie.
“What do you want, Jessie? Why are you in my store?” George asked, easing his gun out of the holster.
Danny, not liking what he was seeing, stepped behind the counter and took the gun from George’s hand. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea. Jessie’s here to ask you a few questions, and I’d like to hear the answers myself.”
George sat back down on the stool. “I don’t have to talk to you, any of you. Get out of my store.”
Jessie grinned at him, a grin that was so full of malice, it could be felt in the air. “Well, that’s too bad. I thought you might want to meet my sister, Kara. But I forgot, you two have already met; I think you told her a bunch of lies about me.”
George’s eyes got big. “Your sister?” he stammered. “You don’t have a sister.”
“Oh, but I do, and she’s been telling me all kinds of stories about our mother, and a few about our father. Apparently, he went by the name Hank and lived here in Gypsum Creek. Does that make you think of anyone?”
“There are lots of men here that go by that name,” George stammered.
“Name one,” Jessie demanded, his voice full of anger.
When George didn’t answer, he pulled out a stool and sat down. “Why don’t you tell me about my mother, George? I think you knew her better than you’ve been letting on all these years.”
George looked from one face to the next, and seeing no way out, he seemed to deflate. “It wasn’t my fault; it was never supposed to happen, but we got carried away. When your mother told me she was pregnant, I sent her away, promised that I’d join her as soon as I could, but I never did. I stopped answering her phone calls, cut her out of my life. Then one day you showed up here, a baby, just the right age to be mine. It scared me, so I pretended you didn’t exist.”
“You just ignored me, your own son?” Jessie asked, shocked.
“It wasn’t that hard; I was a busy man in those days,” George said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just put you out of my mind, told myself there was no way I was your father.”
“But you knew, didn’t you?” Jessie prompted when George fell silent.
George nodded. “Your mother came back to town to ch
eck on you; she called me and threatened to tell everyone if I didn’t see her.”
Kara stepped forward. “You slept with her when she was here; that’s how I was born.”
George nodded. “I never could resist your mother; she was so beautiful. But I wasn’t cut out to be a father or a husband; I had the store and everything, I was an important man, the scandal would have taken me down. I’m an important person here. I wasn’t willing to give that up, and then you became a werewolf, Jessie, and things got worse.”
“You would have let those men kill me that day, your own son,” he said, then he got to his feet. “You know, I used to wonder about my father, hope that somewhere he was looking for me, but now that I know the truth, I’m glad I never had a father. I thought about killing you the entire way down here, but I don’t think you’re worth the effort.”
George watched him in silence, his face suddenly slack and old. “I only did what I thought was best for me,” he said.
“And now I’m going to do what’s best for me, no, for us,” Jessie said, pulling Sophie into his arms. “I’m going to take my wife and my sister home. I don’t ever want to hear you saying a bad word about any of us again; in fact, I think it might be time for you to retire and hang up your badge.”
Danny and Kara followed Jessie out of the store and back up to the cabin. When they got back inside, he turned to Kara. “I’m sorry about everything you’ve been through, but I think it’s over now. I hope you’ll stay here with us; we can talk more about it in the morning. Right now, I’d like to go to bed with my wife and lose myself in her for a while.”
Danny and Kara stared at the bedroom door for a few minutes, letting Jessie’s words sink in, then they turned off the lights and slipped out of the cabin. They walked toward the barn, but before they got there, Danny stopped and pulled Kara into his arms.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” he said.
Triumph (Wolves 0f Gypsum Creek Book 2) Page 12