by Shannon West
Camron looked at him and nodded uncertainly, looking like he wanted to argue. Travis turned back to his mother and took a deep breath. First of all, he’d never been so embarrassed in his life and was furious at his mother for being here. Then too, he was more than a little concerned at what his mother’s reaction would be when he told her that he had no intention of leaving until Camron did. One thing he knew for sure was that she was not going to like it and that the next few minutes were going to be very unpleasant.
“Mama, don’t be silly. Camron didn’t kidnap me, and surely you know that. He asked me to come up here with him and I came. It’s as simple as that.”
“Why, Travis? Tell me that. First, you were hanging out with that Holden MacKay and now here you are with Camron MacKay. What is it with you and these MacKays? Have they brainwashed you or something?”
He heard Camron make a snorting noise behind him. “Hell, no. Do you know how crazy that sounds? Don’t you think I have enough sense to decide where I want to go and who I want to go with? I’m not stupid, Mama, and I’m not some kid.”
“I know that you’re not stupid, but you are my baby.”
Travis groaned, summoning all the courage he could muster. He needed to make a stand right now, but he wasn’t sure that he could do it. His mother was a formidable opponent, and not even his father or brother wanted to go up against her. He glanced back at Camron and then over at his mother. He had to do this. “Mama, I’m not leaving. Just get that idea out of your head now. I should have sent you a note or something, but I thought Spencer would tell you I was fine. I’ll stay here with Camron until he’s ready to go, and I’ll come back with him.”
He waited for the explosion and couldn’t believe it when his mother just stood there with her mouth open. He had never experienced an occasion before when his mother was speechless. The three of them stood there in silence, each waiting for the other to speak, and Travis felt Camron’s hand settle on his lower back. Its warmth gave him courage. He looked back at Camron, who gave him a tight little smile, and Travis stood straighter, feeling proud of himself for having the strength to stand up to his mother for a change.
Emma frowned at both Travis and Camron as she finally found her voice. “Oh, hell, no you’re not! You’re coming home with me, young man. Now you get out there on that four-wheeler. I’m taking you home!”
“No, Mama, you’re not. I’m right where I want to be and where I belong.” He took a deep breath, deciding he might as well tell her everything. “I’m not leaving Camron, Mama, because-because he’s my mate, and we belong together. That’s all there is to it and this is the end of the discussion.”
“Y-Your mate? Another clan male? And a MacKay? Travis, have you completely lost your mind?”
Travis shook his head firmly. “No ma’am, and there’s no use discussing this further. It’s the mating urge, and you know as well as I do there’s no fighting it even if you want to—and I don’t.” His could feel his face getting hotter but he kept doggedly on. “Camron has already…claimed me. There’s no going back from this point. When I get back, I’ll be moving in with him.”
Emma staggered back a step or two and glared first at Camron and then at Travis. She sank down onto a chair at the table and nodded her head. There was a long silence and then she glared back up at Camron. “You’d better be good to him, you hear me?”
Camron nodded solemnly. “Yes ma’am. I will.”
She turned back to Travis. “And you! You got to stop all that running around now and settle down. Don’t shame the family in front of those MacKays.”
“I will…I mean, I won’t. I mean, oh hell…”
“I don’t know how I’m going to tell your father—and Spencer! He’ll be shocked.”
“Spencer already knows. Camron told him.”
Emma had grown pale as she sat at the table, but the color flew back into her cheeks now. “Spencer? Your brother, Spencer? He knew about this mate thing?”
“Yeah, Mama, he knew. Camron told him before we came up here.”
She made a sputtering sound that Travis knew didn’t bode well for his brother. “You wait until I get my hands on that boy. Both of my boys have turned on me, keeping secrets from their own mother. After all I’ve done for you both!”
Travis saw tears in her eyes, signaling her move to yet another tactic. He steeled himself against this ploy, knowing that’s what it was. He had seen Emma use tears many times when nothing else worked. He needed to get her out of there, and fast, before she got to him. He pointed toward the door. “You need to go on home, now, Mama. You’ve found out that I’m fine, and that’s all you needed to know. Go on before it gets late. Can you find your way back down, or do you need help to make sure you get on the right trail?”
Wiping her eyes, she glanced up, a calculating gleam in her eye. “You know, I’m not sure. I might need you to take me back down. I don’t see as well as I used to. I’m getting older, you know.”
Travis sighed. He knew what she was up to and wasn’t going to fall for it. “Camron would be happy to show you the way back down, won’t you, Camron?”
Camron smiled. “Of course.”
Emma glared at them. “Never mind! I found my way up here, and I can find my way back down. Don’t worry about me—I’m just the woman who brought you into the world.” She sniffed and walked to the door, turning to look back at Travis. “I hope you’re happy. You’ve broken my heart.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Oh Mama, it’s not like you’re never going to see me again. We’ll be home in a couple of days. I love you. Now be careful going back down the mountain.”
Emma sniffed again and stalked out the door without responding. In a minute he heard the four-wheeler crank up and roar away from the cabin. He went to the door and watched her flying back down the hill, dust roiling up behind her. “I hope she’ll be okay.”
“I think she’ll be fine. I’m more worried about anything she’d meet on the way down.” Camron laughed and put an arm around Travis’s waist. “Thanks for standing up to her, kit. And for telling her about us. I know it wasn’t easy. I thought you were about to try to take off with her.”
“I was mad earlier, but I did some thinking at the creek. This is where I want to be. With you, I mean.”
“Glad to hear it.” He pulled Travis into his arms and brushed his lips against his. “Because I had no intentions of letting you go, even if I had to whip both your asses.”
****
Emma was taking her time going back down the mountain. She had a lot of thinking to do and she was madder than hell. A damn MacKay as her boy’s mate! She knew what Travis said was right—there wasn’t a damn thing anybody could do about it, and that made her even madder. Then, there was the idea of Spencer making decisions about Travis behind her back. Had everybody suddenly gone crazy, or had she?
She’d probably been traveling for about fifteen or twenty minutes and was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize at first that she’d been hearing a noise like other ATVs on the trail for some time now. She pulled over to the side of the trail and listened. The hum of their engines was definitely getting closer. She moved as far off the trail as she could, partially hiding herself from view behind a large bush.
Two four-wheelers topped a little rise and she saw them. Spencer and Hawke with what looked like Hawke’s mate riding with him. She stepped out onto the trail, and they skidded to a stop a few yards in front of her.
Spencer got to her first, jumping off his vehicle and running over to her. “Mama, are you okay?”
She held up a hand to halt him and raised her nose in the air. “What do you care, Spencer Sutherland? You and your brother have both turned against me. That much is painfully clear.”
“What are you talking about, Mama? You know that’s not true.”
“Aunt Emma…”
“You hush your mouth, Hawke Sutherland,” she said, turning towards him. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.” She turned toward J
ace then. “I hope you didn’t break your mama’s heart when you threw in with this one.” She jerked a thumb toward Hawke.
“No, ma’am. My parents threw me out several years ago when I told them I was gay.”
“Well, I’m sorry for that, but at least you didn’t choose him over your own mother.” She gave Hawke an aggrieved look.
“Mama, please…just settle down and make sense.”
“Sense? Does it make sense to keep secrets from me when my youngest son has the misfortune to be the mate of a MacKay? And two clan males at that, who’ll probably just kill each other before this mess is over with. And my other son lied to me about it!” As Spencer started to protest, she held up an imperious hand. “A lie of omission is still a lie, young man.”
Spencer flushed and looked down, unable to hold her gaze.
“I went to get Travis, and he wouldn’t come with me, told me that he would come back down the mountain with Camron. Can you believe that? He chose a MacKay over his own mother.”
“Mama, I doubt that Travis meant it that way. He’s not choosing Camron over you. It’s just that if they are mates, he doesn’t have any choice about who to stay with. Isn’t that right, Hawke?”
“Oh, Lord, Spencer, please leave me out of this.”
“Very wise of you, Hawke,” Emma said. “You’ve done enough. Oh, I know you’re in this up to your eyebrows. You and Spencer are thick as thieves and always have been. Anyway, I’m sick of all of you, and I’m going home.”
“Fine. We’ll ride back down with you and make sure you get home okay.”
“I don’t need you to ride with me.”
“I know, but we’re going to anyway.”
She gave a final little glare at them and climbed back on her vehicle, cranking it back up and flying down the mountain past them. They were hard put to keep up with her as she raced back down the trail.
Chapter Eight
Travis wasn’t sure how the fight escalated so quickly. One minute he and Camron were sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee and talking, and the next minute, they were yelling at each other. It all started when Camron reminded him again that they really needed to get back home and go to work.
“Yeah, about that. Camron, I can’t let my father down. I need to keep my promise to him and work in the store in Blackwater Falls.”
Camron shook his head. “No, Travis. I need you with me.”
“But why? Your brother can help you out, can’t he? You don’t need my help.”
“Yes I do. Will is going to college, and he won’t be able to help out much longer. Besides, this is my business, and my mate needs to help me build it.”
Travis pressed his lips together and shook his head. He had to set his foot down or Camron would try to run over him at every turn. He had one thing in common with Travis’s mama whether he knew it or not—he was bull headed and wanted his own way. If he didn’t get it, he pitched a fit, and Travis had no intention of fighting him on every decision for the rest of their long lives. He’d settle this thing now, or there’d never be peace between them.
“You can hire someone to help if you need it that bad. But I’ve already made my plans to run the store.”
“Made your plans? You were lying on your ass in the house when I came to get you—don’t give me that shit! You probably think you can slack off at the store. Go in when you feel like it and take off early if you want to…hell, not even go in at all when you get the urge to tie one on with Holden and the boys!”
“Holden and the boys? How did they come into this? Hell no, I’m not thinking about all that. I’m thinking that my daddy asked me to help him out, and that’s what I need to do.”
“I happen to know your daddy has been trying to get you to work in the store for years now. I hear all the talk around town. And you haven’t felt this overpowering urge to help him out before this. Why now, all of a sudden? No, Travis, I won’t have you sliding back into your lazy ways. You’ll do as I say.”
Travis jumped to his feet and slammed a hand on the table. “You go to hell!”
“I’m already there! Damn it, I’m tired of fighting you and your whole damn family at every turn. This isn’t the kind of life I envisioned for myself either, you know! All I ever wanted was a nice little girl to settle down with and have a few kids---a nice quiet, respectable life! Instead, look at what I got—a crazy, wild-ass boy, that I don’t even like all that much!”
A silence fell down between them at the words and Camron seemed to realize what he’d said. He flushed a dark red, but his lips were in a stubborn, thin line as he stared back at Travis, and his back stayed unbending and firm.
Travis had never known words could be so hurtful before he got involved with Camron. He used them like a weapon when he wanted to, and these last words were hurled at him like little pointed barbs, sticking into his skin. They wouldn’t kill him, but they wounded, just as Camron had intended them to. Travis nodded once and walked toward the door. He grabbed his jacket and cap off the hook by the door and put them on. Putting his hand on the doorknob, he hesitated. He didn’t want to look back at Camron, though he could feel his gaze heavy on his back. If he looked back, he might not find the courage to walk out.
“I’m going home, Camron. We tried this thing and it didn’t work. I’m not what you need, and I don’t want to be some consolation prize you had to take. Like you just said, you don’t even like me very much. I know this mate thing is strong, but we can find a way to stay away from each other. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
Without turning, he waited—waited a long moment to give Camron a chance to call him back, to tell him he didn’t mean the things he’d said, and tell him not to go, but Camron never said a word. That was enough answer in itself. Feeling his shoulders slump, Travis walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. He stood for a moment on the front porch, unable to drag enough oxygen into his lungs. Then he walked slowly down the steps and started down the trail for home.
Hard to believe it was over as quickly and unexpectedly as it had begun. Was it that easy for Camron to let Travis go? Was he even now sitting at the table, weak with relief that he didn’t have to do this anymore? Because Travis was having a much harder time of things--it wasn’t nearly so easy for him.
It would be nice if he could just turn off his brain and not keep thinking and rethinking how it had all gone wrong so fast and knowing how much he was going to miss this man he hadn’t even been that aware of until a few days ago when he’d come storming into his life. He didn’t want to remember the way those hazel eyes of his crinkled at the corners when he smiled, or that slow, sexy grin, or the way he smelled, like something musky and sweet and spicy all at the same time. He didn’t want to think about his soft southern drawl that got so slow when they made love, or the way his voice seemed all velvety and soft when he called him kit.
Well, it was over now, and it was all for the best, really. A wave of tiredness washed over him, but he kept determinedly walking. It wasn’t all that far down the mountain, only about five or six miles. And like everybody kept telling him over and over, he wasn’t a kid anymore. He’d get over this thing with Camron, because he had to. He didn’t want to be with somebody who didn’t want him.
He’d been walking down the trail for about fifteen minutes when he came to the first fork. He stopped and tried to remember which way they’d come as they traveled up the mountain, but he wasn’t sure. There weren’t even any tracks in the rocky terrain that he could pick out from his mama’s recent trip down in the ATV. Sighing, he took the right fork, figuring as long as it was going down the mountain, he’d probably be okay. Maybe he’d come across another cabin up here somewhere. If he did, he’d stop and ask to use their phone. He could call Spencer to come after him. He didn’t remember passing any cabins on the way up the trail, but he’d been pretty distracted at the time and maybe hadn’t noticed.
He tried not to think any more about Camron as he walked, knowing that when he did, wh
en he allowed himself to realize it was over, it was going to be devastating. He knew, of course, that Camron had always liked women. He’d made no secret of that, but he thought he was changing his mind a little, at least about him. He knew he was a fuck-up and that he didn’t have the best reputation in town, but he never dreamed that Camron didn’t even like him much. That hurt maybe most of all.
He thought that Camron wanted to be with him, and that they’d been growing closer. How stupid was that? How stupid was it that he actually thought Camron would try to stop him from leaving? Just a couple of hours before he’d told him that he would never let him go and then they’d made love again. It had felt like making love to him anyway. Maybe Camron was just going through the motions.
Up ahead he spotted a little rise with a wisp of smoke coming over the trees in the distance-- a cabin in the hills above town, then. He quickened his pace, hurrying toward it, anxious to get off this mountain now that he’d made his choice. Not that he expected Camron to come after him, even if he had spent most of the walk down looking back over his shoulder.
He’d just come within shouting distance of the cabin, and was able to make out that it was a small place, and pretty rundown when he spotted someone on the front porch. An old, battered jeep was pulled up outside too and when he saw the man on the porch raise his arm, Travis thought at first that he was waving at him. Travis lifted his own arm to wave when a puff of dirt lifted in the trail in front of him with a little popping sound. The report of the rifle came a second later as Travis realized the man had shot at him.
Stumbling backward, he fell on his ass and rolled toward the woods on the side of the trail. Something slammed into the tree next to him, just over his head, splintering the wood and raining little bits of bark and tree sap down on his cap. He scrambled to his feet, diving for deeper cover in the woods when another bullet whizzed past so close to his head that it knocked his cap off and seared a path of fire along his cheek and by his temple.
