by Jade Alters
“You mean you don’t like season six of Who Wants to Get Married for the Fifth Time to Someone You’ve Never Met? she asked with a deadpan expression.
“No, I do not,” I said, laughing even as I tried to answer. “If you don’t mind me asking, why is it that you don’t want to date?”
“I’ll tell you upfront, there’s not much that I will mind you asking. As long as you’re not judging me, then I’m good.”
She sighed as she found an empty picnic blanket far away from the rest of the crowd and plopped down on it. “I’m sure you guessed that I was at the event as a former military spouse. My husband Richard was killed in action, five years ago.”
It was a story that was far too common in my world. “I’m sorry.” I lowered myself to the ground. It was more of an awkward process now, but my extra shifter strength made it easier for me than it would be for a human.
“Thanks. Richard was the only guy I ever really dated. We met when I was eighteen, got married when I was twenty. We were married for ten years, and if he hadn’t been killed, we’d still be together. So it feels wrong to date, you know?”
“I can imagine.” I’d watched my aunt mourn her husband for years.
She shifted so her shoulder was close to me. “I’m sure you saw my tattoo last week. It’s my tribute to Richard.” She chewed on her lip. “It’s got our wedding date, Jacob’s birth, and Richard’s death. Some of my friends thought it was morbid, to mark myself up like that.”
She tugged on her tank top a little so that more of her tattoo was visible. “See?” She pointed to her shoulder blade. “There’s Jacob’s name.”
Her tart lemon scent swirled in the air. She had me intoxicated. Nodding was the only thing I could do. Seeing her back exposed sent a rush of arousal through my body.
I curled my hands into fists. Fuck no. I wasn’t going to get hard listening to her talk about her dead husband. What kind of freak did that?
“Does it make you feel better?” I asked. Some of the shifters in my unit had memorial tattoos to the soldiers we’d lost.
She ran her fingers over the edge of the ink. “Yeah, it does. When I see it in the mirror, I smile.”
“You chose it, so it’s good. If someone has a rude comment, they suck,” I said.
Her peal of laughter brought a smile to my face, despite the subject.
She wiped at her face. “Oh, man. It’s not funny, but I wasn’t expecting you to say that. You’re so refined compared to me.”
“I’m really not,” I said. “And I like your honesty. It’s relaxing.”
She knocked into me with her bare shoulder. The contact sent another frisson of arousal through my veins so strong that I had to look away and focus on the row of spruce trees in the distance.
“I think you are the first person on the planet to say anything about me is relaxing.”
“What do people usually say you are?
“Hmm. Bossy, blunt, talkative, and energetic.”
“Those all sound pretty good to me.”
“I didn’t say they were insults. Just that no one finds me relaxing.”
I nodded in the direction my aunt had taken Jacob. “Debra raised me. I’m sure you could tell how outrageous she is. She never cared about what we were supposed to be doing. She just did what she thought was best for us.” Sometimes that meant we avoided certain foods, sometimes it meant we avoided people altogether. None of her theories were valid, but that didn’t mean she loved me any less. “So I can deal with outrageous.”
“She seems like an amazing woman,” she said. “Speaking of, there they are.” Cassandra hopped to her feet, and I followed with a little less grace.
“Mom! We saw all kinds of bees!” Jacob beamed at us before spinning back to face my aunt. “My birthday party’s tomorrow. Do you guys want to come?”
“Uh, I’m sure they’re busy sweetie,” Cassandra said. She mouthed “sorry” in my direction.
“We’d love to,” my aunt said to Jacob. She patted Cassandra on the arm. “If it’s okay with you honey, we’ll be there. Of course, we don’t want to impose.”
“Oh.” Cassandra scrubbed her hands through her hair, making the waves stick out in at the sides. It was adorable. “No, you are welcome to come. I just didn’t want Jacob to pressure you.”
“No pressure at all, right Hunter?”
“Right,” I said. There was no way I was going to decline with the kid staring at us with his big, hopeful eyes.
“Yes!” Jacob shouted, then he did a dance where he bent his knees and shook his arms, something I’d seen some of my friends’ kids do. As soon as he’d started the dance, it was over and he grabbed his mom’s arm. “Can I go talk to Jessica?”
“Sure sweetie. Remember no swimming unless you tell me.”
“Okay mom,” he said over his shoulder, already on his way to his friend.
Cassandra let her arms slump. “I’m sorry. You all do not have to come.”
“And disappoint that young man? Nonsense. We’ll be there,” my aunt said.
My stomach sank. I liked Cassandra. A lot. For most people, that would be enough to start a relationship. But there were so many obstacles for us. First, she was a human. Debra and I didn’t belong to an organized shifter clan, mostly because she trusted groups of shifters only marginally more than she trusted humans, but every member of my military unit was a shifter. When we got serious with someone romantically, life was easier if that person was a shifter too.
Even if we could navigate that hurdle, she was obviously still grieving for her husband. Then there was me, and my issues, which were too many to consider right now.
But what I felt with her was only getting stronger, and just being friends with her didn’t seem possible.
She’d be a good mate. She has a cub too.
My bear was not always helpful. He didn’t struggle nearly as much with losing the leg, and he didn’t understand why I kept it hidden.
Lost in thought, I jumped when Cassandra put her hand on my arm. Her small hand left traces of her lemon-fresh scent on my skin. “Hunter? You okay?”
Her forehead creased as she peered up at me.
“I”m good,” I said.
“If you say so,” she said and handed me her phone. “Put your number in, and I’ll text you the address.”
Once I’d returned her phone, she held her arms out. “Up for another goodbye hug?”
She was going to kill me with the hugging. I nodded as she launched her petite body into mine. The blue sky stretched over the woods, but all I could see was Cassandra’s blonde hair.
I was so fucked.
Jacob
My mom wouldn’t let me have a real phone yet, but I had her old one that uses Wi-Fi. I had to keep it plugged in or the battery just died instantly, but it had a good alarm, which was going off right now. I set it for six a.m., and I got up by myself, which was impressive to me because I never did that for school.
The alarm was really annoying until I pressed the stop button. I crept into the hallway, afraid that my mom heard the alarm, but her door was still closed. Good. The pile of clothes I stashed under my bed last night was still there, so I got dressed. I didn’t really think I needed to brush my teeth for this. It wasn’t like I was going to see anyone.
My mom was going to be setting up for my party today, so luckily she’d be distracted. I really liked that man she met. His name was Hunter. He was in the army like my dad was, but I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing for my mom.
My mom was proud of my dad, but he got killed serving the country, so I didn’t know if she wanted to go through that again. But Charlie said getting married made parents happy. I wanted her to be happy.
My kayak was easy to use, and the water was flat this morning. I was absolutely not supposed to go this far out in the kayak alone, but I had a surprise for my mom -- I was setting up a romantic dinner for her and Hunter on an island in the lake. They were going to have to solve a puzzle to
find it. It was going to be a little like the scavenger hunt we did in science where they had to find clues.
Once I got my kayak on the bank, I dragged all the bags of supplies out. Then I heard something.
Voices. From inside the cabin. But this was our property. We owned it. No one else was supposed to be here.
From inside, I heard shouting. Shouting about guns. How to sell guns, and where to sell them. This was not good. My mom was already going to be mad that I was out here. I grabbed my kayak and shoved off the bank, paddling as hard as I could. When I was almost back to the shore, the door to the cabin busted open and two men rushed out screaming at the top of their lungs.
Oh no. I ducked low in the kayak, but they saw me.
Cassandra
“Jacob? Where are you?” It was almost time for the party to start, and Jacob was nowhere to be found. His wizard robe was still hanging on his door, which was unlike him. He usually wanted to wear it all day if we had something magical planned.
Assuming he’d come flying in any second, I left the front door propped open. He was probably out gathering berries to make potions.
A car door slammed, and Hunter and Debra appeared, both wearing robes. Hunter carried a large box, and Debra had several dishes in her hands.
“Hey, guys!” I yelled. “Come on in.”
“Where’s the birthday boy?” Debra asked.
Before I could answer, Jacob burst from the treeline. He raced toward us. He skidded to a stop and grabbed my arm. “Mom. There are men out there. With guns.”
Jacob’s eyes were wide and his little chest was heaving. His breath came in quick pants.
“What are you talking about? Where were you?”
“On the lake island.”
“Were they hunting? I’ll call the sheriff’s office.” Every now and then some jackass decided to break the law and hunt where it wasn’t permitted.
“No.” He yanked on my sleeve. “They weren’t hunters. They had big guns. They looked mean,” he said but the words tumbled out one after the other.
He was still out of breath. He was so active; it took a lot to get his this winded. “Slow down. Tell me exactly what happened.”
He kept glancing behind him. “I think they saw me. They might be coming.”
Hunter spoke up. “Cassandra, if you want to take Jacob inside, I’ll keep watch out here.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t tell me what to do, just gave me the option. Very smooth. I assumed he was trying to make Jacob feel better. He also nudged Debra forward, and she followed us inside. It also reminded me of how nice it was to have another adult around. Losing the partnership I shared with Richard had been one of the hardest adjustments.
“Okay, let’s go,” I said.
Once we were in, Jacob jumped forward and bolted the door. “What is going on? I’ve never seen you lock a door in your life, no matter how many times I’ve asked you to!”
Jacob spread his arms out wide. “One of them was…”
I put my hand on his shoulder. His stories had a tendency to get very detailed. “Start from the beginning. Just the facts.”
Before he could start talking again, Hunter pounded on the door. When I yanked it open, Hunter’s face was serious. I’d seen that look on Richard’s face two times. Once when we were about to get mugged in Chicago, and once when we were in Florida and a hurricane was coming.
“Get in the car. Now,” he said.
Debra went straight to the car and I grabbed Jacob. “Don’t dawdle,” I said.
Hunter hustled us into the backseat of his SUV and took off.
“What’s happening?” Jacob asked.
“Give him a second to concentrate on driving. He’ll tell us.” From long experience, I knew how distracting a constant stream of questions could be.
Debra turned around and patted Jacob’s knee. “Hunter is a very skilled driver. We’ll be fine.”
Jacob nodded. Scooting as close to him as I could with the seatbelt on, I wrapped mine around his shoulder. He didn’t shrug me off.
We rode for a few minutes in silence.
“Okay, I’ve hit my limit,” I said. “What happened, and where are we going?”
“Sorry. That was kind of abrupt.” Hunter glanced in the rearview mirror. “I heard something.”
“You heard something. Like what?”
“Voices.” Hunter kept both hands tight on the steering wheel. Debra turned to smile at Jacob but didn’t speak, which didn’t seem like her at all. “It wasn’t safe to wait there. I can listen, whenever he’s ready,” Hunter said.
Squeezing his shoulder, I gave my son a little nudge. “Okay, Jacob, tell us what happened.”
He turned those big brown eyes toward me. “I went to the island. I know I’m not supposed to, but I…”
“We’ll talk about that later,” I said. My fear for his safety overtook my need to give him a good mom-style lecture and ground him for a million years.
“When I got out of my kayak, I heard loud voices inside the cabin.”
“The one on the island?”
Jacob reached up to scratch his cheek. His hands shook. “Yes.”
“What were they saying?” Hunter asked, taking a second to glance back at Jacob every so often.
“It was about selling guns. They had big crates. They were stacking them up, and moving them around.”
My stomach bottomed out. Guns, on our land?
Hunter interjected. “Cassandra, if you have more guests coming, text them and let them know the party’s rescheduled.”
“What? Why?” Jacob’s voice rose.
Hunter said nothing and let me handle Jacob, which I appreciated. “If these really were bad guys, and they could be, then we don’t need your friends at our house. We’ll have a party, I promise. It might not be today, but it will be soon.”
“But we already set up all the games,” he said, voice rising.
“It’ll be fun to do it again,” I said. I made a real effort to keep my voice steady even as I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Do I need to call the police?” I asked Hunter.
“Not yet. I’m going to drop you off at my house with Debra, then I’ll go back and check it out.”
That sounded like a terrible plan, but I didn’t want to say so in front of Jacob and Debra. As I unlocked my phone, it trembled so hard I had to put it down on my leg to type.
Then Hunter asked Jacob to tell him about his kayak, and that conversation lasted for the full fifteen minutes that it took for us to arrive at Hunter’s house.
Despite my unsteady hands, I managed to send a text to all the party guests, apologizing and explaining that Jacob and I were fine, but we’d had to evacuate the house for the evening and that I’d text with an update soon.
Hunter’s house was a rustic cabin located on several acres. Once he’d parked, Hunter hustled us into the house. “Lock the doors; keep the alarm on. Debra, you know where the shotgun is.” He looked back at the three of us as he left. “Be safe.”
“Wait,” I said, chasing him onto the front porch. “Why are you going back?”
“To find out what’s going on.”
“What if they’re dangerous?”
He took a step back. It was obvious his mind was whirring, already focused on the task. “I’ll be fine,” he said.
“Wait,” I said again. “Why don’t you want me to call the sheriff?”
“They could be involved.”
My head nearly exploded. “No, they couldn’t. I’ve known Sheriff Daly for ten years. There’s no way.”
“It doesn’t have to be him. It could be any of his deputies. It could be an administrative assistant. Hell, it could be a prosecutor.”
His porch railing was hard under my hands, but even so, I sank my short nails into the wood. “My best friend is the prosecutor! She was supposed to be at the party tonight. Why would you think that about her?”
He fixed me with a hard look. “Experience.” He shook his head. “Look
, I am not accusing anyone of anything. I’m basing this on dozens of past events. Ones that I’ve seen up close.”
“Okay.” Taking a deep breath, I tried to center myself. “Okay,” I said again. “You haven’t told me how to diagnose a patient. I won’t tell you how to evaluate a suspect.”
“Thanks.” He stepped forward and touched my fingers, unwinding them from his porch. “You’re going to pull your nails out,” he said softly. “I’m sure no one you know is involved. It’s just a precaution. I’ll be back when I can. Stay inside. Don’t let Debra leave,” he said, and then he was gone.
I wandered back into the house and bolted the door while Debra activated the alarm. “Jacob’s in the office. I told him I had all of Hunter’s Legos in there, and off he went.”
“Thank you,” I said. “He loves Legos.” This was pretty odd, to be locked in someone’s home that I barely knew, after such a dramatic entrance. Immediately I was drawn to the photos of Hunter on the wall. Hunter at age one with a cake, Hunter standing on a ski slope as a teen, and young adult Hunter, smiling with pride in a crisp new Army dress uniform.
“Honey, would you like a drink?” Debra waved a bottle of red wine in front of me. “That was quite the whirlwind. I imagine your nerves are as prickly as mine right now.”
“I’d love one.” Debra handed me a large wine glass, and I sucked half of it down in just a few gulps. “Wow. That was crazy.” I rubbed my forehead. “I hope this turns out to be nothing. Because if it’s not, then that means Jacob was really close to something scary, and now Hunter’s in possible danger.”
Debra motioned to the table. “Sit.”
Once I was seated, she pressed her hand over mine. “Hunter will be fine, so don’t worry about him. But if he reacted like that, well. It was probably something.”
“So he doesn’t overreact.”
“No. Never.”
“Richard did, sometimes,” I said. “That was my husband. He’d been deployed twice, and sometimes he was jumpy. He would herd us around like that like he was our bodyguard, but it was usually nothing. But one time it was something. He stopped us from being mugged.”
