With the hand I wasn’t clutching like a vice, Hunting Wolf pointed toward a merchant who was selling avocados. The two of them led me away, hiding Sam and Holden from my view. Nervously, I said over my shoulder, “Pooh Bear, if you start kicking his ass, please don’t knock him into the avocados. I’d prefer for Duke to be the one to mash them.”
“Shit,” Holden said, but we were already walking away.
Colby asked, “Why doesn’t Duke get his produce from Four Bears?”
Catching up to us, Sam said, “Oh, he does. We share, trade, and then sell the surplus. He uses a lot of provisions in his restaurant.”
After purchasing the supplies Duke had wanted, we went off in search of our Christmas tree. We walked out to the lot where they were being sold, and I was hard-pressed to hide my disappointment. A few of them were small but otherwise decent. However, most of them were scraggly, pathetic little things, and there weren’t many from which to choose.
The tree farmer approached and asked, “Can I help you, folks?” He exchanged nods with my husbands. “I’m selling what I managed to save at a discount, or you can make me an offer. Between the aphids and the hard freezes, I was hit hard this year. It wasn’t just me, though. Hasn’t been this bad since right after the war.”
Hunting Wolf and Sam exchanged loaded glances as if they were suspicious of something more nefarious than natural disasters. I suspected that Sophia’s spells and the Chenoo had adversely affected farmers’ crops. It was probably what they were thinking.
Colby said, “I’m sure the little lady will find something she likes.”
“Feel free to look. I’ll throw in a free tree stand if you find one that suits you.”
Colby and I wandered off into the trees while Hunting Wolf and Sam struck up a conversation with the farmer. “What do you think of this one?” he asked.
“It’s pretty but kind of stuck-up.”
“Stuck-up? A tree?” An incredulous look covered his gorgeous face.
“Well, look at it. It has thin, snooty branches. I like the full, poufy trees.”
He snorted and shook his head at me.
I wandered off in search of a different type. Finding one more in keeping with my dream tree, I touched its branches and inhaled. Then, I noticed beady little eyes staring at me from within the camouflage of the branches seconds before it leapt out of the tree for my face. With a yelp, I jumped back and thudded into a heavily muscled male chest. Darting behind the wall of flesh, I hid my face against his back.
“Get it away! Shit!” I yelled while covering my head with my arms.
Colby’s laughter rolled out of him, deep and loud. Hunting Wolf and Sam came running.
“What happened?” Hunting Wolf asked.
“A chipmunk just about scared the piss out of Rosie.” Reaching around to his back, Colby pulled me protectively into his arms and kissed the top of my head.
The little monster chittered at us from where it had taken up residence in another tree.
“I don’t want that tree anymore,” I mumbled.
Eventually, we found an uninhabited tree. While the men secured it in the bed of the truck, I found Shana and Abigail, another female pack member with whom I had made friends, where they were buying cabbages. The produce was kind of puny, but I had assumed it was due to the season. Shana and Abigail, being far older than they looked and quite a bit wiser than me, didn’t think that was the case.
Abigail whispered, “Bad crops are sometimes caused by witches.” She stopped talking when Holden strode up to us.
He was carrying three small flower pots. Smiling, he said, “Ladies, I took the liberty of getting each of you a little present. Think of them as housewarming gifts since we seem to be taking root in Silver Springs.” He handed a pot to each of us.
Examining the contents, I saw a green stalk with a tightly closed bud poking up out of the soil of the pot I held.
“Thank you, Holden. That’s mighty considerate of you,” Abigail said.
“Yes, thank you. What is it?” I asked.
“They’re tulips. How about placing your two lips right here?” He tapped his cheek, but he wasn’t leering. There was more of a broken longing hidden within his eyes.
Raising an eyebrow at him, I primly stated, “It wouldn’t be appropriate. I am Mrs. Stillwater-Reeves, now.”
“Did my invitation to the wedding get lost?” Shana asked.
“Oh, Shana, I’m sorry. Truly, I am. They surprised me with it. I thought we were going out to dinner, but they took me out to the Reeves’ ranch. Oh, I wish you could have seen it. It was beautiful. Let’s have lunch, my treat, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Shana, Abigail, and I made plans to get together. Meanwhile, Sam, Hunting Wolf, and Colby walked up. Although they eyed each other like the predators they were, the men behaved themselves.
“Thanks again for the flower, Holden. Bye.” I waved to my friends as the four of us turned for the parking lot.
“Here, Rosie. Sit in the front.” Sam helped me up into the seat and then took my former seat in the back beside Hunting Wolf.
Once Colby was inside, he covered my thigh with his hand and pulled me across the seat to sit close beside him. He winked and then kissed my lips.
After we were on the road, Sam asked, “What did you think of those crops?”
Hunting Wolf said, “The people who depend on those farmers for survival will have a difficult winter. Thanks to Rozene, we know who was responsible for the ice storms.”
“Is Sophia’s dark magic still at work?” Sam asked.
“Such evil can have long-lasting repercussions. The aftermath of the witch’s magic threatens many innocent lives.”
I sought out Colby’s eyes with mine. He looked as worried as I felt. Silently, we listened to the discussion occurring in the backseat during the drive home. After dropping off Duke’s produce, we went home, and the men got our tree in its stand and level. When it was centered in front of the living room windows, I got down on my hands and knees and filled the green and red metal base with water. Puck and Macduff decided to drink it. My Catahoula leopard dogs had minds of their own.
“No,” I said in a stern voice.
Puck licked my nose and wagged his tail. I ran my hands along his gray and black spots and kissed him between his blue eyes. Being cross with him was impossible. Macduff, distinguishable from his brother by his tan patches and more serious demeanor, cocked his head at me. I scratched behind his ears. Then, I found an old towel and secured it around the base with clothespins to keep them out of the water.
“We’ll be back. There’s something we need to take care of,” Sam said. He kissed me, and I listened to his boots as he walked out onto the porch.
Hunting Wolf kissed me goodbye and followed him out.
“They’re going to Four Bears, aren’t they?” I asked as I watched them get inside of Sam’s truck.
“I think so. It sounds like Sophia needs to be stopped, but Holden isn’t going to like it,” Colby said.
I frowned down at the tulip bud growing from its pot on the coffee table. Colby’s words filled me with a sense of foreboding.
Chapter Two
A few hours later, we learned that Colby’s suspicions had been correct. We followed Sam and Hunting Wolf into the kitchen where they took beers from the refrigerator and guzzled them. Sam asked, “How do the two of you feel about a honeymoon in the mountains?”
Getting to the point, I asked, “What did the tribal elders have to say?”
Sam leaned against the counter, his long black hair was sleek with a thin braid at each temple and adorned with leather cords, feathers dangling at their ends. He said, “Cecil, our medicine man, will accompany us. If we can get him to Sophia, he will attempt to put an end to her evil.”
Colby and I looked between the two of them, waiting for them to further elaborate on what they had learned. Our wait was futile. Finally, running a hand through his short blond hair, Colby asked, “How does
he plan to do that? Is he gonna kill her?”
Quietly, Hunting Wolf said, “It is a possibility, but the goal is to drive the evil spirit from whom she gets her powers from within her. The stronger she becomes, the greater hold the dark one has in this realm. He is a threat to us all, one we cannot ignore.”
Taking a beer for himself, Colby asked, “When do we leave?”
“If we are all in agreement that we must do this thing, we leave before dawn,” Hunting Wolf answered.
I went to the living room and sat on the beautiful leather couch that Colby had bought for us and stared at our undecorated tree. I just wanted our lives to return to normal. I wanted the chapter on Sophia and the Chenoo to end. However, what Sophia and Bill had unleashed upon Holden and the rest of us had almost cost us our lives. One of the ice giants had come close to taking Sam from me. For my family to be safe, Sophia had to be neutralized.
“I should write a note to Mrs. Delaney to let her know that I need a few days off. Can we drop it off on our way out of town? I can slide it into the book drop slot.”
Sam nodded. He and the others had been watching me, waiting for what I would say. Turning his head toward Colby, he asked, “Are your gas tanks full?”
“They can be. Are we taking it?”
“Yours and mine. Pack for anything. I’ll see you all early. Be ready.” Sam kissed me and left.
Avonaco, one of our Wendigoag brothers and the Sheriff of Silver Springs, had entered through the kitchen and had heard everything, not that he couldn’t have listened in from his house a few yards away.
I asked him, “Do you mind staying here and taking care of Puck and Macduff while we are away?”
Avonaco said, “Stretching out in that big bed won’t be an imposition for me, but you had better be careful.”
Hunting Wolf said to his brother, “We will be vigilant.”
“You should leave her here. We will keep her safe,” Avonaco said of me.
Hunting Wolf shook his head. “We discussed it. With Rozene along under the pretense of confronting Sophia, Holden will not be able to take offense.”
Bristling, even though I knew their intention was to prevent another war between the bears and werewolves, I said, “I’m not his mate. I’m Mrs. Rozene Stillwater-Reeves.”
“Yes, but he considers your Wendigo form to be his mate, baby. We, the pack, can feel his power in your magic and through your touch. It’s like a zap of electricity, marking you as off limits. If we tell Holden that we went along to protect you, and blame the entire mission on you, he can’t retaliate against Four Bears. It will be a fight between two females over him which will stroke his ego. The only thing he’ll be able to do since he’s claimed you as his mate is to take offense over you not telling him what you planned to do,” Colby explained.
“What about the werewolf pack in your way?” Avonaco asked.
“With Rozene’s help, I can handle them,” Hunting Wolf stated with confidence. “Should they interfere, I will have no qualms with absorbing any who threaten us. The wolves will only make us stronger, and unmaking a few of them will serve us as a show of strength.”
Leaning his shoulder against the wall, Avonaco asked, “What if you’re wrong?”
“Sam is bringing a CB radio along in the event of an emergency, and you and our brothers will know where we are going.” Hunting Wolf handed him a piece of paper upon which a map and coordinates had been drawn.
Reconciled to the idea that we were making a mistake, Avonaco said, “Alright. I’ll help you pack.”
All of us got to work. Colby drove out to his family ranch for fuel and supplies. Aside from food, water, and clothing, we were bringing tents, blankets, and pillows. We would be camping along the way.
“How far away are the Magdalena Mountains?” I asked. I’d been collecting things to pack for over an hour and had made neat piles on the beds and kitchen table while mentally checking things off my list.
Hunting Wolf said, “Oh, they are about 450 miles from Silver Springs. Back when the roads were good, it would have taken us seven or eight hours to get there, but there might be stretches where there aren’t any roads or where former towns are nothing more than craters or rubble. We’ll head out on US Route 380 West to New Mexico, but we might need to try US-84 West and US-60 West. It depends on how badly the roads are damaged and if they are blocked with miles of abandoned vehicles.”
“Well, Holden and his pack have been able to get out there, and Pascal and his pack were, too. So, there must be a way,” I said.
Colby, having returned from the ranch and bending down to kiss my forehead, said, “The roads are easier to traverse on bikes. A bike can get around stranded 18-wheelers and cars.”
“When Shana, Abigail, Henrietta, and I were planning to go out there ourselves to confront Sophia, Abigail dangled her car keys as our means of making the trip. Therefore, I am of the belief that there is a passable route. I have no desire to travel via motorcycle.” I nibbled at a fingernail. I’d made lunch plans with the girls. How was I supposed to cancel them without alerting Holden to our secret mission?
Colby and Hunting Wolf looked at each other and grinned.
“She’s so cute when she’s serious,” Colby said.
With a sigh, I left to continue packing.
Early the next morning, Sam and Cecil arrived at the house, and the five of us drove into town where I quickly slid my letter to Mrs. Delaney into the book return slot. I’d included a note to Shana so she wouldn’t worry. The library was the first place she’d look for me. The metal tapped closed, and I turned away from the library and toward the parking lot. It was still dark as I did so. The truck lights had illuminated my errand. A cold wind was blowing, and I hurried back to Colby and his warm truck. The two of us were riding together for which I was grateful.
Cecil, the shaman of the Four Bears tribe, gave me the creeps. He was old without appearing aged. Perhaps, it was the bear shifter in him, or perhaps it was something else entirely. His black hair, streaked with copious amounts of gray, was long and reached his butt. Throughout its length, beads and feathers had been affixed to tiny braids. He had a still, quiet demeanor as though he could see into my mind and heart. It was his eyes that were the most disturbing thing about him. They weren’t the brown I had been expecting. Instead, they were a blue so light as to almost be white, ringed along the outer edges with a darker blue. I kept feeling as though he was judging me and finding me lacking.
Once I was seated, Colby pulled out of the parking lot, following behind Sam’s truck. Yawning, I picked up my thermal mug of coffee and took a sip.
“Baby, lay your head on my lap and take a nap. You didn’t sleep much last night.”
“I was too worried. I kept thinking about this trip. What do we really know about Sophia? What if she turns us all into frogs or something?”
Chuckling quietly, Colby patted his thigh, so I got comfortable with my head on his leg, but a growing bulge threatened to knock me from Colby’s lap and onto the floorboard.
“Colby?”
“Yes, baby?”
“What’s with that?” I pushed against the hard, offending member through his jeans.
Reaching down, Colby popped open his buttons, freeing it. Sheepishly, he asked, “Do you mind, baby?”
“Um, mind what?” I asked of the huge dick filling my vision. I was trapped between it and the steering wheel.
Innocently, Colby looked down at me with blue eyes. “Will you give me some loving?”
“We’re driving. What are you going to do, pull over?”
“Well, no. You could just slide your mouth over me, and I’ll keep driving. I’ll return the favor later and with interest.”
“Colby!” I was shocked.
“Come on, baby. Please? We’re married. Everybody does it, and it’s still dark out. No one will see.”
Against my better judgement, I humored him.
“Oh, fuck yeah.” Bringing one hand down to the back of my head fr
om the wheel, he caressed my hair while I moved my mouth up and down on his long, thick, hard shaft. I heard him setting the cruise control which I wasn’t sure was a good idea, the roads being what they were. He thrust himself upward into my throat. Choking slightly, I sucked harder. It seemed to take him forever to find his release, but when he did, the truck swerved, and we almost went off the road. “Damn, baby! That was good. Whew!”
Realizing I had been duped by the whole nap thing, I sat up and took several gulps of coffee.
The CB radio that Avonaco had insisted on putting in Colby’s truck before we had left started to crackle. “Sam to Colby, over.”
Picking up the microphone and depressing the talk button, he answered, “Colby here.”
“Shame on you.”
Chuckling, Colby returned the microphone to its holder.
“You said no one would know.” My scowl made his grin widen.
The sun had finally started rising, so I put on a pair of sunglasses. In a fabulous mood, Colby sang old country songs to me to pass the time, and we played a few games. Each time we approached former cities and towns, it was the same thing. The roads became treacherous, and we were forced to slow down. Over the last few years, efforts had been made to clear the roads enough to make them passable. However, most of them in populated areas were choked with abandoned vehicles, having run out of gas or having broken down during the panicked mass evacuations. I could imagine the desperate drivers with their cars filled with their families and house pets, locked in place as traffic came to a standstill, hoping with each passing hour that it would move, but it never did. Now, many of those vehicles had been bulldozed to the sides of the roads and were for the most part out of the way, roadkill. Sam and Colby kept their speeds at around 30-mph, carefully avoiding the metal mountains to the sides of the road that seemed to stretch into the distance for an infinity.
The CB crackled, and Sam said, “We can see why the traffic came to a stop. There’s a blockade because the overpass got blown up. Let’s stop and scout a way around. Over.” Sam’s taillights lit up as he braked and parked.
Wendigo Conjuring Page 2