by Ivy Sinclair
“Fanatics like him don’t leave,” I said. I felt it in my bones. Joshua was still here, and he was up to no good. “In fact, my guess is he’s just getting started.”
CHAPTER TWO – Maren
I didn’t even hear Lukas come to bed. After the confrontation with the council members and Reddon, I fell into bed and was asleep before my head even hit the pillow. I had intended to ask Lukas what he and Billy talked about, but all those thoughts scattered from my mind as I slipped off into dreamland.
I woke up feeling better than I could remember in recent history. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I stretched as it all filtered through my mind. Lukas declared me his mate in front of the council. He had brought our relationship out into the light of day. It made me quiver inside to remember the intensity of his words. I knew that I would never forget the look on his face when he stared into my eyes and said that it had always been meant to be. I knew exactly what he meant because I felt the same way.
Then as I reached over to his side of the bed, I felt it was empty. I sat quickly. That was the wrong move. Immediately, my head began to throb, and I groaned as I put my hand against my temple. I hissed even as my fingers explored the tender flesh there.
A glass of water appeared in front of me with several aspirin in the palm of a large hand.
“Oh, you are my savior,” I said as I swiped the pills out of Lukas’s hand. As I downed them, I chanced a peek at him. He sat down on the edge of the bed smiling at me. He was dressed in a charcoal blue suit. The powder blue shirt beneath it brought out the color of his eyes perfectly. He looked absolutely delectable, which almost made me ignore my headache and jump his bones.
“I wish I had time to explore exactly what’s going on in that mind of yours,” Lukas said with a grin.
“I wish that too,” I replied. “I hope you were able to get some sleep. I take it you are off to the Summit?”
“I got enough. We’re delaying until this afternoon. I have a few errands to run before then,” Lukas said.
“Is apologizing for dissing Reddon’s daughter on your list?” My voice sounded hoarse, and as I moved under the covers, I realized that I could feel every ache and bruise everywhere. The encounter with my kidnappers had taken a bigger toll on my body than I expected. I let myself fall back against the headboard.
“Doc Walton is a much better ass kisser than I am.” Lukas winked. He reached over to stroke my injured cheek. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a truck,” I answered honestly.
“I’m not going to lie. You kind of look like it too.” He laughed at my frown and frantic pawing at my hair trying to tame my curls. “You just need some more rest,” Lukas said. He looked at his watch. “I have a guard downstairs at both the front and back doors to keep an eye on you. You don’t have to be anywhere or do anything today, right? I’d like you to rest and regain your strength.”
“I was planning to cover the Summit today,” I said with a small pout as I crossed my arms. I knew he was right. My thoughts swam a little bit every time I glanced away from him. I was in rougher shape than I expected.
“I know, and you are welcome to do that in a day or two.”
“They’ll practically be over by then!” I exclaimed. “You can’t expect me to sit here all day and do nothing.”
“I’ll try to stop back by around lunchtime to check on you,” Lukas said. “We’ll assess the situation then, okay?”
“Fine,” I said. Sleep actually sounded like a much better option anyway.
Lukas leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Be a good girl while I’m gone.”
“Pot, kettle, black,” I muttered. “I’ll stay out of trouble if you do.”
Lukas chuckled, and then he stood up. He moved out of the room with barely a sound. I envied his lithe movements. I was pretty sure it came from being part bear. I let myself relax down into the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. That was when I realized that I still didn’t have anything to wear if I wanted to get dressed.
“For Pete’s sake,” I said. I knew what I was going to have to do, and I didn’t enjoy the thought of it at all. I turned my head with a wince and saw my cellphone sitting on the side table. There was no way Lukas was going to let me go home, but I needed clothes. That left me only one option.
I grabbed the cellphone and dialed the number I had memorized years ago. I shut my eyes as I tried to ignore my throbbing head, and I secretly said a wish to get voicemail.
“Maren? Where the hell are you?” My dad’s gruff voice barked as he picked up the other end.
I didn’t even know where to begin. “Dad, I need you to do me a favor.” I decided to try to skirt the issue for the time being.
“A favor? There is something going down here at the Summit, and nobody’s talking to the media. It was supposed to start an hour ago, but apparently it was delayed, and they won’t say why. I am waiting here just like everyone else. I don’t have time for favors. It would be better if you were here with me. We could cover more ground that way.”
“Dad, I need you to be my dad for a couple minutes here and not a reporter,” I said. It was kind of sad that I needed to make that distinction. “Everything I tell you is off the record.” It was even sadder that I had to say those words too.
There was a long pause. “Are you okay?” For a moment, I wondered if he had gone soft. “If that jackass alpha has done something to you, I’m going to kill him.”
I thought about hanging up and asking Marilee Wilson to borrow some clothes. But that would open up a whole other can of awkward conversations that I wasn’t ready to deal with quite yet.
“Please, Dad, just listen. Can you go by my house and pack me some clothes? Bring them to White Oaks, and I’ll make sure you can get in the gate.”
“What do you need clothes for? Why can’t you go home?” My father’s entire career had been built on asking questions. I didn’t really expect him to stop now, but I had to be patient with him. He was my dad after all.
“I will answer all your questions when you get here,” I said smoothly. “Enough clothes for at least a couple of days, and throw in something a little nicer too. I’m probably going to be out in front of people.”
“Maren, you’re scaring me,” Dad said quietly.
“Just text me when you’re at the gate, okay? I appreciate it. Thank you.” Then I hit the ‘End’ button and turned off the phone. I deliberately didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. I knew the curiosity would get him in the end, and he’d do exactly what I asked. If nothing else, it was his chance to finally get inside the White Oak walls.
I swung my legs to the ground and stood up with a grimace of pain. I wanted to get cleaned up before my dad got there. I padded into the bathroom and forced myself to ignore the roll of my stomach. Beneath the nausea was something else though. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten, and I realized the nausea was likely the result of that and not the attack.
As I got cleaned up, I thought about how odd it might seem to other people that I would give my dad the task of packing an overnight bag for me.
The reason that I trusted my father to find everything that I needed for at least a couple days was because my father had taken care of my mother while she was ill. That wasn't something that we ever spoke about after she passed away. It was clear that talking about my mother at all made him uncomfortable, probably because it exposed a vulnerability that my dad didn’t want anyone to think was there inside of him. I never pushed the issue though because I didn't like talking about that time or losing her either.
My mother had been in the prime of her life when cancer struck her down. It took her away from me and my dad so quickly that we barely even had a chance to absorb what was happening. What I remembered were long days traveling to the hospital to see her as she wasted away before my eyes. Near the end, my dad would often leave me with Lukas’s Aunt Bea instead because my mother didn’t want to frighten me.
It didn't bother me to think about him going through my things; there wasn't anything that I had to hide from him; at least, not until recently. I showered and took a few more aspirin, hoping it would help the pain in my head go away faster. I didn’t want to be trapped inside Lukas’s house all day. I wanted to be at his side at the Summit.
As I stared at my bruised face in the mirror, I could only imagine what my father was going to say when he finally saw me. I knew it was time for us to have a heart-to-heart that was a long time coming. I wasn't ready for it in the slightest, but in the end I had to rip the band aid off. There was no time like the present. He was my dad, and I needed to tell him what was going on. I put Lukas’s oversize shirt on again since I didn’t have anything else to wear and wandered downstairs. I could see the shadow of a man standing on the porch just as Lukas had promised.
I opened the door and was surprised to see Billy Miller standing there. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
Billy smiled, but it didn't hold a lot of warmth. "Lukas wanted me here. Seems he thinks that he can’t trust anyone else to watch over you if he can’t be here. Isn’t that the damn rub of the whole thing?"
I felt guilty. Just a couple days ago, I had been close to calling Billy my boyfriend. Now, I was Lukas's mate. Everything happened so quickly my head was still spinning. I could only imagine how Billy felt. I knew that Billy and I should probably sit down and have a talk at some point, but what was there really to say? Things were different now. Lukas had come home to me.
"My dad should be arriving at the front gate in a few minutes," I said, dropping my eyes. "Can you please let the guard at the front gate know to let him in?"
"You know that non-residents aren't allowed inside White Oaks. Especially now, Maren. After everything that has happened, security is tighter than ever," he said.
"He's my father. You've known him forever. And I need clothes unless you and Lukas intend for me to go prancing around White Oaks in his shirts. I'm going to need something else to wear to the Summit later on this afternoon too," I said.
Billy's eyebrows rose almost into his hairline. "There's no way that Lukas is going to let you go to the Summit this afternoon, Maren."
My chin jutted up. I was done with people telling me what I was and wasn't going to do. I may be Lukas's mate, but that didn’t mean I was going to be a pushover. It was about time these boys learned what it meant to work with Maren Lene. “Please radio down to the front gate, Billy. I'm not asking."
He gave me a long look. The pause seemed to go on forever, but where neither one of us spoke, he reached to his belt and pulled off his radio. He flipped the switch to turn it on. "Marshall, come back."
"Marshall here," said the rough voice on the other end of the radio.
"Mr. Lene is going to be arriving in a few minutes. Will you please give him directions so that he knows how to get to Lukas's house?"
There was a short pause. I knew what the man on the other end of the radio was thinking. Just as Billy had said, non-residents, especially human ones, weren't allowed to traipse around inside the walls of White Oaks. But times were changing. If anything, Lukas seemed to be making sure of that.
After that, I sat nervously in the front room waiting for my dad’s arrival. After the exchange with Billy, there hadn’t been much else for us to say. So I waited and paced. It didn't take long before I heard the engine of my dad’s ‘67 Chevy arrive outside.
It was the first car that he and my mother had purchased with their own money. It was years ago, but I knew the car made my father nostalgic for the old times with my mother. The one good thing for me, when I was a teenager living at home, was that I always heard when my father arrived home long before he walked in the front door. That had come in handy on the times that Lukas needed to sneak out my bedroom window.
I glanced out the curtain and saw my father emerge from the car. He had a satchel in his hand, which gave me a small measure of relief. He had done as I asked. A minute later, I heard the knock at the door and went to answer it. As I opened it, my father pushed himself inside. He studied Billy over his shoulder. "I should've fucking known. That makes a lot of sense."
I had forgotten that no one outside the walls of White Oaks knew that Billy was a shifter. He had been on the Greyelf police force for the last five years. I hadn't known he was a shifter either until I discovered it on my first visit to White Oaks with Lukas. My life was full of surprises lately.
My father caught his first look at my face. "Damn, Maren! What happened to your face?"
"It's okay, Dad. It looks worse than it is." I gently touched my cheek, which was swollen and bruised. There was a much bigger story behind it, which I knew I was going to have to tell him. There were so many things that I had to tell him.
"I think you have some explaining to do, young lady," my dad said. "I know that something is going on that you're not telling me about Maren. I've known ever since that boy came back into town. He's trouble with a T. I've always known it. You just never took the blinders off to see what everyone else in town could see."
I put my hands up. I wasn't about to listen to another tirade about Lukas. It was time to let my father know that ship had sailed. "Dad, there are some things I have to tell you. You're probably not going to like them. But it’s time that we cleared the air between us." I motioned toward the couch in the living room. "You're probably going to want to take a seat for this. We’re going to be here awhile."
CHAPTER THREE – Lukas
The last thing that I wanted to do was leave Maren’s side. I had no idea what was happening outside the walls of White Oaks, but I knew danger had arrived in my small town. There was the feeling in my bones. I couldn't have described the feeling in my gut if someone had asked me to, but I knew that we were in trouble. We were all in trouble. Not just the Greyelf Grizzly clan, but shifters everywhere. We had had eighteen years of a relatively peaceful co-existence with the humans in the world. We had found ways to compromise with them, and full integration seemed possible now. But the members of extremist groups RAC were not going to let that stand without a fight.
I had convinced Billy to put out the security alert despite his misgivings. That bought me some time. The Summit would not start until the afternoon, so I still had several hours to try to sniff out what I needed to know. It all started with Sheriff Monroe because my gut told me it all started with Markus’s death.
I didn’t tell Maren or Billy that I was going to see the sheriff. Maren would have wanted to come with, and Billy would no doubt have tried to stop me. I felt better having Billy watching over Maren anyways. It was the damndest thing about that. I hated the guy’s guts for the fact that he ever touched her, but when it came down to it, I knew that he would do anything to protect her. I trusted her implicitly after what we had shared, so it seemed like the best course of action to keep them both out of my hair.
I pulled my truck into the parking lot of the hospital. I sauntered in and put on my best smile when I saw the nurse behind the desk.
"I'm here to see Sheriff Monroe," I said.
The nurse looked up from the chart in front of her and frowned. She didn't seem impressed by my charismatic smile. "Friend or family?"
That was an interesting question when I thought about it. He definitely wasn't my friend. I kicked the guy’s ass because he tried to take away something that belonged to me. But, at the end of the day, he was an influential man inside the clan. My brother had trusted him with his life. So I had to make amends if I wanted to be smart about the new political dynamics within my clan. I had played too many things in my past not so smart.
I knew that Markus was probably turning over in his grave because of what happened between me and the sheriff. They had been best friends for years. Markus wouldn’t have wanted that kind of confrontation betwe
en us. But really, I didn’t start it, so I wasn’t going to feel bad about it. However, I needed the sheriff on my side. He didn't have to like me, but I wanted him to respect me.
"Family," I said finally. That wasn’t far off from the truth. Being part of the clan and therefore bound to me did technically make him my family. Everyone in the Greyelf Grizzly clan was my family.
It was that train of thought from the nurse’s simple question that brought me back to the conundrum that sat in front of me. I wanted Maren at my side more than I wanted anything in my life. So I had taken her and made her mine. But, in doing so, I had put my family at risk. It was a decision that I made consciously but not lightly, and I would make the same decision over and over again. Yet I had not thought too much about the long-term consequences of my actions.
By taking Maren as my mate, I potentially put everyone in the clan in the line of fire. There were peace treaty agreements that were on the table for discussion and hopefully agreement at the Summit. Not only between the Greyelf Grizzly clan and the Loper clan but between other clans as well.
It was the agreement between the Grizzlies and the Lopers that had encouraged so many of the other shifter leaders to consider putting aside old differences and presenting a united front to the world. After the peace treaties were signed at the Summit, there was to be discussion around a planned strategy to move forward with a full integration with the humans. It was Markus's ultimate vision and dream finally being realized.
So it was Markus's legacy that I had also put at risk with my decision. The animosities between the clans were not going to go away just because I wanted them to. I was going to have to be smarter. I was going to have to think of a way to get Reddon to talk to me.
I stepped away from the desk as the nurse looked up the sheriff's room number. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed a number. I grimaced even as I heard the voice answer on the other end of the line.