by Dara Fraser
“That’d be my guess.”
The scenery was beautiful and with the blaring noise of the open windows, Samantha found their conversation all but gone, and she used the opportunity to take in the countryside. They were no longer in the mountains, but there were plenty of trees on both sides of the road with sporadic pull-offs for hikers. When Leo pulled into one of those turnoffs, Samantha’s first thought was he needed to stretch his legs, but the turnoff was more of a side road. It couldn’t even really be called a road once they got one hundred feet in. It was more like ruts in the grass.
“Granny likes privacy?” The noise in the car was less overwhelming at this very slow speed.
“Partly that and partly she wanted her cabin on this side of her property, and they didn’t grant a curb cut into the state lands we have to go through to get there. She’s not one for compliance.” He smiled fondly at that statement. “There’s an actual road going up the other side, but it is miles longer, and she prefers to break the law and ride through the hiking turnoff to her house.”
Just as he finished, they hit the clearing. Granny’s cabin was cute and had a sunroom off of the back that looked like it could easily function as a greenhouse.
“Is that sunroom why she said the flowers shine brightest?”
“Where the Flowers are Brightest is a painting she made of this land before my granddad built the cabin. She actually made enough from it to buy all the supplies for the cabin. Not that it made Grandpa happy.”
“Because he wanted to provide?”
“Yeah, he was the beta under Frank and thought it looked like he couldn’t provide.” They pulled to a stop. There were no other cars and she feared they got the message wrong.
“Ah, there she is.” Leo got out of the truck, stripped naked, and bounded into the woods, shifting as he did.
Samantha copied his actions for fear something was amiss. He sounded jovial as he got out of the car, but she had learned the hard way that things could easily change in a minute. As she ran into the woods, she heard Leo and Sybil laughing. She met them partway in and they were rolling around like a couple of puppies. She wondered if it was a lion thing to be so agile, or if she was just spry for her age.
“Good to see you.” It was going to take a while to get used to hearing lions talk. Wait, why was she hearing Sybil? She was not a mate to Sybil and Sybil wasn’t an alpha. Was she?
“Does she always think so much, Leo?” Granny licked the top of his head. She was dark but nowhere near as dark as Leo. In the sunlight, there was almost a bluish tinge to his mane.
“Yeah, pretty much. She is probably guessing all the reasons why she might be able to hear you.”
Samantha bobbed her unicorn head. It was nice to not have to hide as a horse.
“Samantha, my grandson seems to have neglected to tell you about me or possibly about lions.” Sybil approached Samantha with caution. Samantha wondered if it was because Sybil was scared of her or if she thought Samantha was scared of the lion. “When Frank and I left the clan we didn’t join another. We became our own clan by default. So technically, I am an alpha, even though that is ridiculous since I am a pride of one.”
“Come back with us.”
Leo looked at Samantha, surprised. She knew it was what he wanted. It was probably what Sybil wanted, too. Samantha had forgotten that thinking it made it so they all heard, however, and was embarrassed by her demand. “I mean, if you want to.” And now she sounded like a teenager. Fabulous.
“We shall discuss all things inside. Shall we run first?”
“You ran all the way here?” Leo asked, but from his tone he knew the answer.
“I did.”
“Then let’s talk first and run after.”
“Fine, but let me run ahead and get the house opened up. I haven’t been here for a few weeks so it’s probably musty.” Granny ran without waiting for a response. No wonder Zara was such a spitfire.
“When should we head back?” It was still work “talking” as her unicorn, but she was getting a bit more comfortable with it.
“I say we give her five minutes. My guess is she wants to get dressed and whip up a pot of tea and something that resembles a snack.” Leo crept closer. The predator in him was close to the surface in this form, and she could tell by the glint in his eyes that he wanted her to run. It took all she had to stay exactly where she was. While running would be fun, they were there for a reason.
Leo sighed. “She probably thought she would be here before us to take care of it all, and she is old-fashioned when it comes to visitors.”
“Well, let’s wander back and get dressed. We will be able to hear when she is ready for us.”
“I have a smart mate.” He roared and ran in the direction of the truck. He was getting in his run one way or another. Silly Alpha. Not that she was any better because the second he ran, she was following behind. Samantha was sure she would’ve caught up completely if the distance had been just a wee bit longer.
He was standing there buck-ass naked as she broke the clearing. She slowed to a trot and took in the view. Might as well. After all, it was fate. He winked at her as he slowly pulled on his clothes and then it hit her that he was planning turnabout being fair game. She raced to her pile of clothes and had them on in a minute flat, all to the bellow of his laughter.
Just then it hit her. A wave of nausea that could only mean one thing: the Theron were near.
“Fuck!” Samantha screamed. “Get Sybil! Now!”
Leo didn’t question her. He walked out with a dressed, but barefoot granny in less than half a minute.
“Truck. Now. Go.” She knew she was acting like the crazy one, but the last time she had this feeling around someone she cared about, he died, and she was not about to let that happen twice.
They were squeezed in the truck, engine started but not moving. Granny had yet to say a word, but she grew up with Frank, so she was probably used to the crazy. Samantha looked at Leo, wondering why the truck was standing still.
“Samantha, sweetheart.” His voice was firm but calm and it wrapped around her, giving her comfort and pulling her from her terror. “Which way do I drive? The way we came or the other side of the property?”
She rolled down the window and stuck her hand outside. She hoped she could focus enough to feel the direction they were coming from. She felt a subtle difference and grabbed onto it as if it were a lifeline.
“The way we came.”
With that they were off. The trip was faster and a lot bumpier, but they were on the road quickly. Instead of going home, he went in the same direction they had been going before turning off to the cabin. They were only a few miles from a major highway exit. He got on the highway and was barreling down the road before any of them spoke again.
“I don’t feel them anymore,” Samantha offered. “You alright, Sybil? I can move over a bit.”
Sybil took in a deep breath. “Your darn Uncle told me to always keep my shoes near. I thought it was because he hated being barefoot unless he was in his lion form. Turns out, he just was warning me about yet another thing.” Sybil turned her head. “You are fine where you are, dear, now reassure your mate because he’s all alpha right now, and that is not the best emotional state to be in at these speeds.”
“Granny, I’m fine.” His voice was anything but. Tension oozed off of him and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. How had she missed that? Some mate she was turning out to be.
“Leo, I’m fine. I sense the Theron from a pretty good distance. It’s how I stayed alive so long. They are probably barely at the cabin now.”
“Are you sure you’re fine?” The tension was less but not gone.
“I’m sure. For the first time, I knew that even if they were to find us, I would be alright because you were there and you wouldn’t let anything harm me.” That seemed to settle his lion down, and now the steering wheel had a chance of not being destroyed.
“Leo, let’s turn down the next exit
and take it back to my old place. We can regroup, find me some damn shoes, and possibly call a meeting of the elders.” The humor Sybil showed while saying shoes made Samantha smile. Frank was still a part of all of their lives, even in his death. “I can call it if you don’t wanna ruffle any feathers. You know, as a visiting alpha.”
“You know the old-school elders wouldn’t see you as such, Granny. They would want to force me to… Oh yeah, why don’t you do that.” His voice was somewhat jovial by the end, and Samantha was sure she missed something.
“You got all my brains, I see,” Sybil joked. “So on to headier topics. Why did Frank have me meet you there only to run away?”
They were now in a residential area. It was a cute little town.
“I know this place,” Samantha said, mostly to herself.
“I’m sure you do, dear. Your grandparents lived here for many years.”
Samantha had no memory of being here with them but put seeking the memory on her dream to-do list. At this rate, she would need to take power naps ten times a day to get it all done.
“Granny.” Leo’s voice was all business. “What exactly did Frank tell you?” Samantha had forgotten Sybil’s original question when the town popped into view.
“He told me to wait until I saw his ad in the paper and to go to the cabin to meet you.”
“His ad?” Samantha asked. My goodness, he had been a busy man.
“Yeah, an ad for a sale on flowers.”
Samantha thought about the store he owned. He’d never sold any flowers. “He told me when I saw it to leave a message on my answering machine for you to meet me at the cabin. I wrote that script myself.” Sybil sounded proud of herself. Samantha wasn’t going to tell her how incredibly non-secret her secret message sounded.
“Nothing else, Granny?”
“No. He said you needed me and I was to meet you there.” The cabin of the truck was silent for almost a full minute. “Wait, he did say to go as a lion and not with my car.”
“Well that sounds more like he wanted us to pick you up without alerting the Theron to the fact we picked you up,” he pondered. That seemed a bit too easy, but why would Frank make it hard if he was trying to help save the world and all?
“Who else uses the cabin?” Maybe he was right and it was nothing but a pickup spot, but Samantha had a nagging feeling it was more.
“I have used it as an artist retreat in my younger days. Recently, though, I have only rented it out a few times. Shifters who wanted a safe place to hunt mostly.” Sybil scootched back. She was clearly uncomfortable sharing the seat built for one, the shift stick pressed against her knee. “I can get the names if that would help. They are from the local clan so I trust them, but you never know when you might have inadvertently misplaced your trust.”
“No, I think they are fine,” Leo said. “The flowers, because he never sold any?”
“My guess.”
“What kind of flowers?”
“It was a buy one get one on their ‘Famous Rose and Daisy Bouquet’ and was good one day only.”
“Fuck.” Leo sped up. They were going much too fast for this neighborhood. “What day?”
“Thursday.”
“Thursday as in three days Thursday or as in next week?” His voice was almost too calm. Whatever was going on was not good.
“Three days.”
“Samantha, love, I need you to grab my phone, find Zara in the contact info, and call her. Tell her I need her to invite Mindy over for iced tea tonight and to make two batches and only one of them with that syrup crap.”
Samantha grabbed for his phone and found the number. “What do I say when she asks why?”
“I’m hoping that saying she can have that syrup she calls tea will distract her from that question. I have no idea. Granny?”
“Tell her he is going to call a meeting with the elders and he wanted you to have some girl time.”
She doubted that would work, but maybe she would be lucky. The phone rang only once before Zara answered.
“Where are you?” Samantha heard fear in Zara’s voice.
“Hi, Zara. This is Samantha.” She pushed as much happy into her voice as she could.
“Is my brother okay?”
“Oh yeah. He said I could use his phone until I get a new one.” There was an exhale on the other end of the line. In their mad rush to meet Granny, they had caused undue worry. Well, undue wasn’t really accurate, but it was never necessary to worry a pregnant lion.
“You drove out of here like you were on fire.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. We had to investigate something.” A quick change of topic was needed if she was going to do all Leo had asked of her. “Anyways, I was calling for a favor.”
“A favor?” That peaked her new friend’s attention.
“Yeah, Leo has this elder meeting thing he is calling tonight and I wanted to know if maybe you and Mindy from the diner could come over for tea”. Samantha knew she would say no, but it opened the door to this being more Zara’s idea than hers, and that could avoid questions.
“How about you come over here.” Mission accomplished. “That is a sorry excuse for tea my brother makes. Don’t worry, I will make you a batch of the nasty stuff you like.” Zara was so wrong about what was and was not nasty.
“So I don’t really know Mindy that well, but I was thinking I would like to. She seems nice and I really don’t know anyone in town yet”. She hoped the bait didn’t sound too pathetic.
“’Nuff said. I’ll call her for a girl’s night. Mindy will like that. She can be on the shy side.” Samantha could already hear Zara getting the pitcher out. That girl did love her tea.
“Does seven work for you?” Samantha looked to Leo. They hadn’t set a time so she hoped that fit in his plans. He gave her a nod.
“Perfect. See you then, and it’s probably best if you don’t mention that I am making the yummy tea”. If only Zara knew it was her brother’s idea. Siblings.
“Truth. See you tonight.”
They hung up and she passed the phone back to Leo.
“Damn, woman, you are going to be a kick-butt alpha female. Fate must really like me.” He said it in jest, but awe filled his voice.
“It usually takes the alpha female longer to grow into her role,” Granny began, and all Samantha could think was how sexist it was. “Because, Miss I Think Too Much, alphas know they are potential alphas from the time they are born, but women find out when they are mated. Unlike the men who get the position mostly by birth, alpha females are chosen by fate.”
Fair enough. She might have jumped to some conclusions.
“Leo, why did I just ask her to make a pitcher of syrup?”
They were still going way too fast so Samantha looked to her feet. The last thing she needed was to inadvertently become a backseat driver, like she almost had a few times already.
“Because Mindy’s real name is Lily, and her sisters are Rose and Daisy.”
Fuck was right.
Chapter Thirteen
Girl’s night in…sort of
The rest of the ride home, Samantha basically listened to Leo give Sybil the rundown on the pack that Mindy had escaped from. Escape was an accurate word from what Samantha could piece together. Much of the conversation was about positions in the pack and birthrights. It sounded like wolves were more structured, and in this case more archaic, than the clan she was mating into.
Mindy hadn’t found her true mate as her twenty-fifth birthday approached. Not that Mindy had had a chance of finding her mate. She was basically a slave for the alpha, and the only people she met were the other slaves. Her alpha had decided from the time she was sixteen that she was to be one of his mates, but after much begging, and from the sound of it, great sacrifice, her mother convinced him to wait until she was twenty-five. Yes, the slimy bastard kept mates, plural, and not one of them was by choice.
One of Leo’s clan found her in the woods when they were on a trip to the mountains. S
he was half starved and near death. They immediately called Leo, who had them bring her in. He claimed her as clan, gave her a new name, and the older women of the town nursed her back to health. It had been three years, and no one really knew how she escaped or how bad things really were for her. The only reason they even knew about Rose and Daisy was because she used to call out their names at night.
How this all tied into the Theron they couldn’t gather, and maybe it didn’t. Maybe Frank was just trying to save two women, and the Theron coincidentally caught up with her then.
No, that was too much coincidence. They had to be tied together.
It felt like forever until seven rolled around. Zara seemed over the moon happy to see her. Samantha felt bad for the deception, but if even half the horrors she’d heard on the ride back to town were true, Mindy would flee if she had any indication things were not peachy keen. Mindy was already there, drinking tea and smiling.
Leo followed Samantha in, and Dylan entered from one of the side rooms. Mindy immediately tensed up.
“Hi, Alpha. Hi, Beta.” Mindy’s head was lowered and her neck bared. Even after three years, she was just as much of an injured wolf as she was said to be when she came. Emotionally anyways.
“Hi, Mindy,” Samantha said, and when she saw Mindy stiffen even more, she wanted to take it back.
“Mindy, you remember my mate, Samantha?” Mindy nodded, still baring her neck. “You can say hi and relax, Mindy. We are all friends here.”
“So are you guys leaving now?” Zara was none too subtle.
“Go ahead and drink your damn tea, baby. It’s not like you’re going to avoid it when I leave.”
“Language. We have cubs coming.”
“Point given. We have cubs coming, maybe drinking syrup is not the best plan.” Their banter led Samantha to believe that poor Dylan was as clueless as Zara as to what the evening was about.
“Let’s go to the living room for a bit before we need to go.” Leo’s voice held a slight command and when Mindy nodded and scurried into the living room, Samantha guessed he used his alpha-ness to make things easier for Mindy to decide.