“Stop!” Amy said, tears brimming in her eyes, “Don’t come anywhere near me. We, wolves, are leaving. You two can go back to your kind,” Amy said, pursing her lips.
“Amy, you’re ill, and not fit to travel,” Nona protested.
“Um, I don’t think we have a choice,” Paul said, looking at a wave. A tsunami of bears and wolves about a mile away raced for the camp.
Nona’s face went ghost-white. The wolves howled in their direction, and Nona brushed her gray hair away from her ear, leaning her head in to listen.
“Oh, no,” Nona said, “Corion is—they say to run. Grab the pups. Run, everyone, quick!”
“There are caves. We can get there undetected if we move now,” Paul said, collapsing on all fours. Paul grabbed children two by two and tossed them on his back. The children held on tight, grasping at his thick black coat. Andy followed his lead and threw Amy over his neck along with five young wolf pups. The other women transformed following close behind.
“It’s okay, Amy. I’m so sorry,” Andy growled. Paul heard him so Amy must have too. He had taught her bearspeak, but she didn’t reply. Maybe she was just too weak.
They ran, and ran for miles uphill, and then across a lake to lose the scent, and then down the hill to a row of caves.
Paul squatted low so the pups could climb off, and transformed back, feeling the weight of his wounds.
“You’re hurt,” Nona said, rising to her human form.
Paul nodded, leaning on his knees.
Nona walked outside of the cave and returned with berries and leaves in her hands.
“This will sting, but it will keep out infection,” Nona said. She spit on the leaves, and mashed everything into a paste in her small, frail hands.
“Ow!” Paul said as the purple and green paste touched the bloody gashes on his chest.
“Pain only lasts a moment,” Nona said, “Thank you for saving us.”
“It was the right thing to do,” Paul said with a terse nod.
“What now?” said, Amy walking over with Andy.
Nona looked to Paul, as did everyone else.
“Why are the kids looking at me?” asked Paul.
Nona smiled, “Because the pups think you are alpha.”
“Alpha? No, no, I’m—not a leader,” Paul stammered.
“I don’t know, bro. You sure as hell like bossing me around. Might as well make that alpha status official,” Andy said with a slight smile.
Paul looked to Amy, and she nodded her thanks. Good, they were good. Andy smiled, and Amy reached for his hand, smiling at him. It looked like their feelings were real, and Paul felt a peace about it that he couldn’t explain.
“I can’t promise that I will be a good leader,” Paul said, looking to the wolves, to his brother, “But my brother was right about the forest being our home. So if the forest can be home to an architect, then wolves can be his brothers and sisters. We will have to keep moving, but I will protect you to the best of my ability.”
Paul rose, standing up straight through the pain, and he growled loudly to the sky. The wolves howled loudly in reply, and Paul smiled that his family was once again complete. He would not be a king of the woods, but its guardian.
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 10 of 24
LOVE AROUND THE PIT
Suzie Kitchener stepped up to the panoramic window of the VIP booth and inhaled deeply, relishing the heady scent of tire smoke, engine fumes, and the acrid tang of brake dust. She couldn’t help the smile that twitched her lips. It was as if she’d come home. It was true, she was no longer a nine-year-old kid on her father’s shoulders. She felt out of place in her business suit, heels, and blouse, although the other VIPs were just as smartly-dressed. But she’d still have felt more comfortable in scruffy coveralls, blond hair tucked beneath a baseball cap.
Below her, on a cement area randomly striped with black rubber, six men in lime green coveralls celebrated as their driver blasted back into the thick of the pack. The windows vibrated madly as the V-eight screamed. A cloud of tire smoke and track dust obscured her view until the hot winds cleared the air.
Suzie leaned over, her face almost touching the vibrating glass, trying to keep the lime green Nascar in view as it roared away to join the track, which ran parallel to the VIP booth. She watched as the car squeezed between two competitors, snuck out to pass the car ahead, and then it was gone, lost around the steeply curving oval track.
“Yes…” she hissed. Neptune Racing was already back up to twelfth place, despite the stop. The day was going well.
She’d arrived late—the result of a difficult board meeting—and missed the chaotic start that had cost four teams their cars. But with two hours of the race still to run, there would be plenty to see, including their new driver.
‘Tick’ Garfield was a recent acquisition for Neptune Racing, a deal recommended by Suzie herself. He was a good racer, with a solid record of high-place finishes. Nevertheless, Suzie knew her reputation within Neptune was in Tick’s hands. Her decision to retire Neptune’s previous driver had been difficult, but Harrison hadn’t gained a top ten place in the past two seasons. The other teams’ drivers were either younger, keener, or both.
Naturally, the pit lane scuttlebutt had decided Suzie was more interested in the new driver’s ‘stick’ than his track record, and his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer hadn’t helped matters. But the fact remained, he was a good driver, and one who got the job done. His extra-curricular activities were irrelevant to Suzie, as long as Team Neptune benefited.
“So how’s your boy?” a man asked. She turned, to see Alec McNamara leaning dangerously close to her ear. The owner of Team Dysart, McNamara had also shown interest in Tick, but Suzie had been quick enough to snatch him from under McNamara’s nose. An old-school dinosaur, he believed himself and his money to be irresistible, and Suzie’s slick move had caught him by surprise.
“He’s doing well, Alec.” She folded her arms across her chest, aware of McNamara’s lechery.
“These new drivers always do,” he replied quietly. “Until they settle in, and then they get comfortable, sloppy, even.”
Suzie feigned surprise. “I’m sorry to hear that, Alec. Does this mean you’ll be letting Chester go after this race?” Grinning, she rubbed her hands together.
“Chester? What? No, I meant…” he stalled, flustered. McNamara fell silent, her comment about his newest driver burning his ears. Suzie smiled and turned to watch the cars thunder past. Their insane speed squeezed the roar of the V-eights into an approaching whine, then stretched them into an earth-shattering growl as they passed her.
“Neeeownggg…” she muttered quietly, as if she was ten years old again. The sound took her back to her childhood. Back then, she’d no inkling of the boardroom politics, the money-wrangling or the arguments between pit crew, driver and owner. She’d simply loved the sound, smell, and sight of scores of machines screaming past her.
Neeeownggg. Neeeownggg, Neeeownggg… Nowadays, it was all too horribly complicated for such innocent enjoyment. Her concerns over the new driver, and how to wring the best out of him plus the apparently-frustrated pit crew were high on her list of worries. And if Team Neptune didn’t perform, the boardroom would demand answers.
As a child, being a team owner had been a far-distant dream. As an adult, it was bordering on a walking nightmare. But there had been no way to resist the allure of Nascar, even knowing what it would cost her in lost sleep. The upside, of course, was total immersion in her childhood love of racing.
A lime green blur whined, then roared past the window, pursued by a pack of slower-moving blurs. She glanced up. Tick was still down in twelfth place, but only by a quarter second. She expected him to take eleventh before he came around again.
“The new radiator’s making a difference,” McNamara murmured into her ear. She cringed away from him, trying to hide her shock. No-one was supposed to kn
ow about Neptune’s improvements to the cooling system. The whole project had taken eight months of hard work, cloaked in secrecy, and had finally been fitted prior to qualifying. Who’d blabbed?
“The car’s performing well,” Suzie replied, neither confirming nor denying McNamara’s suspicions.
“Enjoy the advantage while it lasts. This time next week, everyone will have the same system and then…” He snapped his fingers. “We’ll be back on a level field.”
“See you on the track, Alec,” Suzie returned her attention to the race. She wanted to stomp away, but then Alec would know he’d rattled her. She maintained her calm posture, creating a mental list of people who could’ve given Neptune’s secrets to their rivals. None of the pit crew, except for the crew chief, knew anything about the new system. Even Tick was unaware of the change, aside from an extra eight degrees of oil and water cooling, which allowed the engine to perform better. No one in the boardroom had been told of the expensive replacement to the standard Nascar-approved radiator. Suzie had ensured the costs had been carefully disguised as consumable parts; tires, engines and transmissions all wore out at a frightening rate and needed frequent replacement.
No, the only people with the necessary knowledge were the engineers at the company who’d developed the clever trick of hiding a core within a core, of adding extra cooling vanes inside the existing radiator body, so the coolant circulated twice instead of only once. The first working ‘Hot Core’ radiator offered an eighteen percent improvement on the standard rad, and was a bargain at only forty thousand dollars, plus five thousand for all subsequent units.
And now the secret was out—already.
Heads were going to roll, but later.
The pack roared past, led by Tick in eleventh place. Suzie grinned and curled her hand into a fist. Nearby, McNamara cursed quietly. Suzie was cheered by the gain. Tick was now pulling clear of the pack, gaining precious feet with every turn, but he had a long way to go before he caught the tenth place guy—Rob Chester of Team Dysart.
Unexpectedly, a camera zoomed in on Neptune’s car. Tick’s eyes, narrowed in concentration, filled the center of the screen. Suzie couldn’t hear the commentary, but watching those eyes took her back to the day she’d first seen the handsome driver.
*****
Tick had reportedly had a huge bust-up with Team Redworth, for whom he’d all but won the Sprint Cup. The word had gone out that he was considering an offer from McNamara, so Suzie had hurried to his trailer, where she caught up with him smoking an electronic cigarette. He pushed it into a pocket, but not before Suzie had spotted it.
“Not good for your bad boy image, Tick,” she chided, then glanced around. “But I won’t tell.”
“You’re a funny lady.”
“Why thank you, sir.” Grinning, she’d dropped into a small curtsey.
“What can I do for you, Ms…”
“Kitchener. Suzie Kitchener.” She extended a hand, which he frowned at.
“And did you come here to blackmail me? Are you going to tell the world I’m less than a man? Because I drink real whiskey, you know.”
“I don’t doubt that. No, I came to make you a proposal.”
“I ain’t interested in marrying you, lady.”
“You’re a real funny guy, Tick.” When he shrugged, she wondered if he’d be acting this way if a smartly-dressed guy was talking to him, instead of a smartly-dressed woman. Of course he’d take a guy more seriously. After all, this was very much a man’s sport. Neptune Inc. had cautioned her before she interviewed for the position of race manager. She got the job with little trouble, effectively becoming the team’s owner. She had complete control of the finances, with the power to hire and fire as she saw fit—unless the board overruled her. So her first priority was to restart the stalled ‘Hot Core’ project. Her second priority was a fresh driver to replace old dog Harrison, who elected to stay on as a test driver, although at a lower rate of pay.
“So what do you propose?” Tick grinned his trademark ‘Burt Reynolds,’ and waited for her to regain her composure. Most women lost their train of thought when he hit them with his grin. More often than not, they ended up in his trailer and then his bed.
But Suzie was quick to recover. “A drive with Team Neptune.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I already got an offer from McNamara.”
“He can’t afford you.”
“He what?”
“I know the guy who does his books. They’ll promise you everything. At first, it’ll be rosy, but then it’ll start to slip. The pay will be delayed for some reason or another, and you’ll fall behind. You’ll dine out on I.O.U.s for a while, before he finally admits he can’t afford your pay, and would you take a cut—for the good of the team.”
Tick’s hands curled into fists. “That son of a b—”
“Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it…”
“No,” Tick muttered. “I knew there was something off about that guy. He was so damned evasive.”
“Whereas our accounts are available for scrutiny.”
“Neptune’s a big company,” he admitted.
“With a vested interest in motor sports.”
“Yeah. You guys make seats and wheels, yeah?”
“Among other things.”
“So you’re offering me a drive?”
“As the newly-appointed team owner, I’m empowered to offer you five percent more than McNamara offered, plus we can guarantee you’ll actually receive it.”
“Ten percent,” Tick replied without hesitation.
Suzie raised an eyebrow and inclined her head. “You’d prefer to take a chance with McNamara’s creditors?”
“Eight percent?”
“Six.”
“Seven.”
“Fine.” Suzie feigned exasperation. In truth, she’d budgeted for fifteen percent. Tick had been too easy to win over. She offered her hand and a huge paw enveloped it. His skin was warm, and surprisingly soft too, considering his profession. His brown eyes studied her as they shook on the deal. But when she tried to withdraw her hand, he trapped it between both of his.
“I will need this in writing, you understand.”
“Of… of course.” It took Suzie a moment to recover. She’d been prepared for his pantie-dropping grin, but the touch of his warm skin sent uncontrollable tingles along her arms. He held her hand tightly, but not painfully, as her thoughts crashed and collided like seashore breakers. Suzie turned her gaze away from Tick’s mesmerizing grin, knowing her self-control was close to its limit. She squeezed her eyes closed, cursing herself for being a weak-minded feminine fool. What was it about him that mesmerized women? He wasn’t anything special to look at. Sure, he was tall, dark-haired and muscular with a strong jaw, a winning smile and soft brown eyes. But apart from that…
Of course, most women would be swayed by his success, his determination to win and the fact he was always in the media spotlight. Plus, he was comfortably wealthy, easy on the eyes and sickeningly healthy. The success of his career depended on him staying as fit as an athlete.
Suzie was far too worldly-wise to fall for any of those shallow features. She valued other attributes in man, such as intelligence, and a sense of humor. Okay, Tick had them both, but that wasn’t why she was trembling like a teenager—was it?
“Can I have my hand back please?” she asked in a tight voice.
“Why? What do you plan to do with it?”
“Spend the rest of my life with it—if I ever get it back.” She tugged, and Tick released her. The blood roared in her ears; her balance was momentarily off… or was it the stiletto heels?
“So now you got me,” Tick said with a wide grin. “What are you going to do with me?”
Suzie took a couple of steadying breaths before she replied. “Come over to my trailer later.”
“Your trailer? Should I bring wine?”
“I meant the Neptune trailer,” she corrected. “The team’s trailer. I have no ide
a why I called it mine. I’ve never even been to bed—I mean, slept there.” Her stupid heart was hammering against her ribs. What in the hell was wrong with her?
“I’ll be there,” he said, then lowered his voice. “And I can still bring wine if you’d like.”
“Just bring a pen.”
*****
The rest of the race had gone well. Tick caught up with the next pack of racers and taken tenth place from Team Dysart, then gone on to slice his way up to fifth. It wasn’t a podium finish, but it was ten places higher than Harrison had managed in his final year.
“Not a bad effort—for a rookie,” Suzie teased.
“Hah!” Tick retorted. “I got more years on the track than you, lady.” His disarming grin turned the insult into a well-meant quip.
“Still your first day on the job,” she reminded him. “I haven’t seen enough balls-out driving to make me want to keep you.” Her wink softened the jibe into a joke. But when Tick unzipped his coveralls and reached for his crotch, Suzie stared.
“If it’s balls-out you want; I can soon fix that.”
Suzie squealed and turned her back. “Tell me he didn’t!” she wailed. Her stiff hands formed blinkers around her eyes. When the gathered pit crew laughed, she knew she’d been had. Suzie turned cautiously to see Tick zipping up his coveralls again. His other hand formed a pistol, which he aimed at her. She scowled at him, then shook her head.
“You had a lucky escape,” the chief mechanic whispered to her. “I hear he has really big balls.”
Suzie raised an eyebrow. “Well, fifth place wasn’t bad for a first attempt. Maybe those balls can get him even higher in the next race.” She raised her voice. “Maybe we all can. Right, boys?” The crew cheered loudly, spilling their drinks on the carpet. They grinned at her, happy for their contribution to be acknowledged. All too often, the glamor of the race landed in the driver’s lap. Suzie was determined to promote the pit crew—the guys who worked so hard—as part of a massive team effort. Maybe she could give them the recognition they deserved, instead of living in the driver’s shadow.
Alien Romance: Interview with an Alien (Football Paranormal Invasion Abduction Alpha Sci-fi Romance) (Fantasy First New Adult Contact Science Fiction Mystery Sports Alien Short Stories) Page 32