by Dara Fraser
“Well done, Zara. Beta.” He turned to address the room. “Thank you all for being here. Before we begin the formalities the day sadly calls for, I would like to introduce you to my mate, Samantha. We shall have a formal mating after we deal with the matters at hand.”
Leo must have sensed her tensing up at that and squeezed her hand. She thought they were mated.
It just means wedding, love.
Least romantic proposal ever. She chuckled to herself and his arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her near.
Be nice or no ring for you.
“As you know, this is a rescue mission. We hope to help two, possibly more Aldric pack members escape, and we will welcome them in with open arms. The Aldrics will not be pleased, but being in public should help us for the time being. They would not wish to expose our kind any more than we would.”
Leo looked to Martha, who was sitting in the front row alone. “Are you ready for guests?”
“I am, Alpha. I prepared for five, just in case.”
“Five?”
She nodded.
“It looks like we need to have at least five extra places in vehicles, so I suggest we plan accordingly.” Leo took her at face value, and Samantha guessed that Martha was as gifted as Frank was.
“Dylan, please take the protectors out to the training fields and run some drills. We hope to stay in human form, so practice accordingly.”
“Tasers?” Dylan seemed way too happy about the prospect of tasers, in Samantha’s opinion.
“Do what needs to be done.” You would have thought Leo had just promised him a new car the way his face lit up at that. Boys and their toys.
“Zara, would you be so kind as to go over our plan in detail while Martha and I go tie up some loose ends?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Martha, shall we?” He held out his hand, helping the old woman up and then offering his elbow as they walked out of the commotion-filled room and into his office. He was quite the gentleman, and while Martha accepted his help graciously, she didn’t look as if she needed it. She was, if Samantha was assessing correctly, just as agile as Granny.
“Tell me, Martha, what have you seen?”
“Leo, I’m not altogether sure. There was so much darkness, but I feel like there are five.” She was now fidgeting and it felt out of place.
“Felt like five?”
“I saw three but felt five.”
“Explain.” Samantha grabbed a seat next to the older woman. She wasn’t sure what was making the woman so nervous, but having two alpha’s hovering over her couldn’t help.
“There are two women. As I said, it is very dark. Unnaturally dark. I also see a man. That is the fuzzy part. He is a mate but not. He feels off and I can’t tell if he is a danger or not.” Martha bared her neck to Leo as if she had done something wrong.
“I guess we will figure that out when the time comes.” Leo was now squatting in front of Martha. “Your sight is such a gift. Thank you for sharing it with us.” Martha smiled and her posture returned to normal.
“Martha.”
The woman turned to look at Samantha straight on.
“Could one of the women be with young?”
“She would have to be very far along because the need to be ready for five was strong. If she is with young, they will be here sooner rather than later and my preparations will be all wrong.”
Leo plopped on the ground, no longer squatting, and Samantha immediately joined him. Tension flowed off of him in waves, and he was squeezing the bridge of his nose.
“So in a nutshell, tomorrow we need to save two abused young women, a man who may or may not be a danger to us, piss off the Aldric Pack in a way that will most likely lead to a war, and defeat the Theron.” Samantha scootched behind her mate and wrapped her arms and legs around him so her front was flush with his back. She tried to pour comfort to him through their bond but had no idea if she was doing anything other than looking like a horny teenager in front of a town elder.
To her surprise, Martha joined them on the floor and sat in front of Leo with her hands on his. “Leo, if you believe nothing else that I see, believe this, I see tomorrow ending in our favor. Your doubts only show that you put others above yourself and are a true leader.”
“Thank you, Martha.”
“No, thank you, Alpha. It is humbling to see you trust me as part of your inner circle.” Samantha had been so concerned with helping her mate that she missed how vulnerable and un-alpha like her mate was allowing himself to be in front of Martha. “Your mom would have been so proud of the man you have become.”
She slapped his knee and rose. They followed.
“Now enough of this. We have people to save and wars to start.”
Samantha could taste the lie when the sentence changed to wars, and it filled her with relief. If Martha was half as powerful as Samantha suspected, that was one concern to wipe off of her list.
“And it looks like I have cribs to find.”
Leo enveloped Martha in a hug. “Thank you.”
“Nephew, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you and this clan. Now go kick some Theron butt.”
“Martha,” Samantha interjected.
“Yes, dear.”
“Should we bring a midwife with us?”
“Samantha, you are so right. Much to be done. Much to be done,” Martha muttered to herself as she left, closing the door behind her.
“Mate of mine, you take too much on your shoulders.” She stepped into his open arms.
“It is what it is, but at least war is off the plate.”
“I tasted that, too. Is she as powerful as Frank?”
“More so, I think, but she lets very few people see it. I have caught her more than once being ‘wrong’ on purpose to keep people from relying on her too much.” He squeezed her tight.
“She loves you.”
“That she does. She lost her mate before they had any cubs, and being my mom’s best friend, she spent a lot of time with us growing up. She calls me nephew but as a term of endearment.”
“I like her.” There was something about Martha that felt safe.
“And I love you.” The energy in the room changed very quickly at that one little phrase. All thoughts of Theron and Aldrics and quilts were gone, and in their place was the need to connect with her mate.
“I love you, my mate.” She lifted her head to meet his just as the door opened. Samantha snapped her head back to see Zara lean up against the wall, her mate glued to her and multiple buttons not so buttoned.
“Damn renovations,” Leo mumbled, grabbing Samantha by the hand and leading her out of the room.
Giggles erupted from Samantha as they shut the door behind them.
“They never even noticed us.”
“No, they didn’t, and it makes me question my choice of Beta.”
“Because he is too distracted by his mate.”
“No, love, because I have to see my sister like that far too often.” He waved his hand in the direction of the office.
“And if they had come two minutes later?” They walked outside and she inhaled deeply. It smelled like rain was coming and Samantha did love running in the rain.
“That would have been Zara’s problem because I would have been too busy enjoying my mate to even notice.”
“Look at you with all the sweet and romantic.” She reached up as if to kiss him but passed by his lip and stopped close to his ear. “Almost as romantic as your proposal.” She nipped his ear, knowing she was bringing out his lion. She kicked off her shoes and ran toward the tree line, shifting just as she was out of sight.
You cheated again, love. Don’t worry about your shoes. I put them in the truck with your purse and my shoes before I…
Before he what? His voice was light and teasing, and she knew she had to give a better chase than the night before because his words might not tell her his plans, but they shouted “game on” loud and clear.
At first she
made some false leads, hoping to buy herself some more time. Speed was on her side, but he knew the woods. While the human in her sort of wanted him to catch her, the unicorn refused to give less than 100 percent. She hit the river and instead of going to the house, she jumped the river and went in the opposite direction. He wanted a chase, she would give him a chase.
The wind changed and brought a new scent. It reeked of darkness and if she were correct, bear. He didn’t smell shifter, though, or paranormal for that matter. It was an odd combination and she hesitated, unsure how to proceed.
“Love? Your energy changed. Tell me you are okay.”
“I’m fine, but come find me. I’m up the river away from the house.” She looked around. The scent was not any closer, but the wind was gusting, so it was hard to tell how close it was. “Are you nearby? Remove your blocks, honey. The chase is over. I smell something weird.”
“I will be there in less than a minute. I should have caught you by now, you know. You are getting better at this.” He was trying to distract her and she was grateful for it.
“Well, you have the advantage of knowing the woods, so I had to bring my A game.” She hoped her voice didn’t give away the dread she was feeling. Something was off about this bear.
She heard her mate’s footsteps approaching. Before she turned her head, he was in her sight and transforming into a human. She took his lead.
“Effing trappers.” He stalked over to her and she could feel his rage. “That is what you are feeling, love. Someone trapped a bear. I need to go take care of it and see if I can scent who it was. Goodness help them if it is someone from town.”
“Are you sure? I could help.” Her heart sunk at the thought of a trapper. Why would anyone do that? Hunting was one thing, but setting a trap to catch your prey was being a chicken shit and not a hunter.
“I need to help the bear and you don’t want to see that.” No, no she did not. She was barely used to seeing the dead rabbits. She didn’t want to see a bear, a suffering bear at that, meet its maker. “I will be home soon and I will be very hungry.”
“Well, then I best be making some sandwiches.”
“Not what I had in mind, love.”
“Oh I know what you had in mind.” A gust of wind hit her nose. “Go deal with the bear and I will meet you at home.”
She turned and ran home. When she heard the bear cry out, sorrow filled her. It had to be done, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Samantha had barely dressed and taken out the fixings for lunch when her mate walked in the back door. He was a man on a mission and walked straight to the phone without acknowledging her. She would’ve been hurt if she couldn’t feel all the emotions pouring off of her mate.
“Alex, it’s me. I just came from the woods about a mile behind the old Smith estate.” Samantha knew she probably shouldn’t, but she shifted her ears to hear both halves of the conversation. Leo probably didn’t want to repeat this twice. “I need you to go there in an official capacity.”
“What am I looking for, sir?”
“Illegal trapping. I had to put a bear down today. It looked as if he had been trapped for at least two days.” Two days. That poor creature suffered for two whole days.
“Do we know whose trap it is, for sure?”
“Yes. It is Jones, the guy who bought the old Spencer place. The trap reeks of him and he put his initials on the darn thing.”
“What should we do with him?” The question was simple at face value, but the intonation told Samantha another story.
“He is human so throw the book at him and find a way to get him out of town…legally.”
“Consider it done, sir.”
“And, Alex, find out how many more of these he has. Maybe call Zara and have her do that computer thing she does to find any purchase records. The last thing we need is to lose one of our own because of this.” Zara. Huh.
Leo hung up the phone, went straight into the bathroom, starting the shower but not shutting the door. Seemed like an invitation to her and she waited until she heard him get in before stripping down and joining him.
“Hi.”
He didn’t turn to face her but continued to let the water pelt on his face. She picked up the soap and washcloth and systematically washed the bear’s blood off of her mate. In the kitchen, she hadn’t noticed how much blood there was. “I started to make sandwiches.”
“I saw that. Thanks.” He turned to face her, and she began to work on the blood on his chest. The water had pelted most of it away but not all. “You heard.”
“I did. Alex, he is a cop?”
“He’s the sheriff and a raccoon.”
“A raccoon?”
“We can’t all be king of the jungle, love.” His voice was slowly coming back to normal and it filled her with relief.
“Well, since he is handling it now, I best handle you.” She gave an exaggerated wink.
“I have been told I need handling.” Yes, he was back, much to her relief.
“Good thing I’m here then, isn’t it?”
“Very,” he moaned as her hands went lower and lower, skipping over where he obviously wanted it and down to his legs.
“I will say the invitation was a bit better than the proposal.” She started to wander back up his legs.
“Oh yeah, how so?” His voice held more control than his body currently did.
“At least the open door was seen by me first before you shared it at a town meeting.”
“Ahhh, I see, I missed an opportunity for wooing.” He was looking down at her, his eyes ablaze with need.
“And the man wins a prize.” Before he could respond to her teasing, she put him out of his misery, beginning with one tiny nibble.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Quilting Day
Today was the day. Samantha looked in the mirror, fingering the necklace her grandmother had given her. They had one shot at using it and if Frank was correct, that one shot was today. Her eyes met Leo’s in the mirror as he walked up behind her.
“You look fabulous, love.” He bent down and kissed her cheek, never letting his eyes leave hers. “Now quit overthinking. We have quilts to view and pie to eat.” He pulled back, smacked her on the backside playfully, and walked out of the room.
Voices from the living room reminded her they were not alone, and she went out to greet everyone and make sure their ducks were in a row.
“I brought back your truck, Leo,” Granny announced as she walked into the now-crowded living room. “I’m not sure how it keeps getting left in town.”
“Granny, you are not that old,” Zara piped in, and far too many people laughed.
Looking around the room, there were quite a few familiar faces and a couple she couldn’t quite place. Granny must have seen her confusion and went to every person, greeting them by name, as if that were the norm. It was both touching and amusing.
Zara, Dylan, Mindy, Martha, the man she now knew to be Alex, and Richard were among the group. It was cramped yet not overly so. The topic of conversation was mostly about the trapper and not the major task ahead of them.
It looked like Zara had been able to get the asshat trapper’s house repossessed as an illegal build on land that was not deeded correctly. Not too shabby for an afternoon’s worth of hacking. So now he was not only facing a huge fine for illegally setting traps on private property, but he was going to be gone from town. Alex was confident they found all the traps and the room seemed to savor the victory. They, like Samantha, were probably doing what they could to keep their minds off of the day ahead of them.
“Enough chitchat.” Leo took control of the room with those three words. The respect that his clan showed him was not based on fear but on actual respect, and it was an honor to be his mate. Even Richard was giving the respect that was due. “I’m under the assumption everyone knows what they are to do. At no point in time are we to allow ourselves or our clan mates to put themselves in danger. We are there to extract, not engage.”<
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“Yes, Alpha,” most of the room responded in unison.
“Samantha and I have our own mission for the day, so I am leaving Dylan as acting alpha.” Samantha had not known this part of the plan, but there were no surprised looks on anyone’s faces, indicating that she was most likely the only one not in the know. “Everyone go home and then wait five, ten, fifteen, and twenty minutes from when you arrive there before leaving.” Leo pointed to different people with each number. “That way we at least look to the locals like we are randomly arriving. The Aldrics will not be so easily fooled, but it is our hope that there will be very few of them there.”
Within five minutes, Leo and Samantha were on the highway. Samantha kept telling herself that everything would be fine. It had to be. She finally found a home and she wasn’t giving it up without a fight. She reached over and put her hand on Leo’s knee as she stared out the front window. They were both eerily silent.
The clouds parted and for the first time that day, she noticed it. It was one of those magical days when you could see both the sun and the moon. As a kid, she was sure it meant that they would get a double-long day. After all, the moon was going to be too tired to bring the night.
“I see it, love. You can loosen your grip.”
“Sorry.” Samantha hadn’t noticed how tense her hand had gotten. “This is a good sign, isn’t it?”
“I think so.” His fingers intertwined with hers as he brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss. “Things will work out. Frank saw it. Martha saw it. It’s in a book.”
“I believe that. I do.”
“But?” Leo pulled off into a closed weigh station and stopped the car.
Turning to give him her full attention, she met his eyes. He was as worried as she was. Weren’t they quite the pair? “But at what cost?”
“That, I don’t know.” He pushed a stray hair out of her face. “I do know this: this is what we are meant to do.”