A Bleacke Christmas (Bleacke Shifters 5)

by Lesli Richardson

  It was easy to imagine himself alone in this wilderness after he lost sight of them. Then, a few minutes later, he paused as he heard a long, mournful howl gently swirl through the trees and over the river, joined moments later by a louder, deeper, stronger howl he instinctively knew was Duncan.

  Ken listened, the pain deeply embedded in their keening cries knifing through his own soul.

  I miss you, Mom.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t miss his father, but he’d died when Ken was only four. Ken had plenty of years to come to grips with that. His mom had been murdered the day after Ken’s high school graduation, when she’d told Ken’s step-father she was leaving him.

  It’d be ten years that coming May, and it still hurt nearly as much as the day she died.

  He still carried the guilt that it wasn’t until after her murder that he realized how much physical abuse she’d suffered at the bastard’s hands. That she’d told people she was waiting for Ken to graduate to leave the fucker.

  Because she’d loved Ken and worried she couldn’t support him on her own.

  What if he’d encountered Dewi earlier? Hell, she was two years younger than him. Still in high school when it happened. What if they’d met back then?

  Dewi had already killed people by then. Made her first kill at twelve.

  Except that wasn’t what happened, and it did no good engaging in those kinds of thoughts.

  Maybe an hour after setting out from the SUV, Ken stopped to take a break. He brushed the snow off a fallen tree and sat, unshouldering his backpack and setting it on an exposed rock nearby so it wouldn’t get wet from the snow.

  He closed his eyes and tipped his head back to the skies as he breathed in the icy, piney air. He held it in his lungs for a moment before slowly exhaling, then repeated that several times.

  Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance ahead of him, the two shifters continued their mournful howls.

  Opening his eyes, Ken took in the expanse of clear blue sky overhead. Cloudless this morning. Tomorrow was supposed to be another beautiful day.

  Christmas Day.

  Before Dewi entered his life, he usually spent Christmas alone in his apartment and grousing that nothing was usually open that day, except for the movie theater. Which he never felt like going to, because it depressed the hell out of him.

  This Christmas, however, he was looking forward to opening his eyes. He had everything to give thanks for.

  I’m going to be a dad.

  It felt like there was still so much to do, too. They needed to put together a nursery. They needed to help Carl and Mateo find a house that would accommodate them and Brianna and Da’von, and Tamsin and her baby.

  Because while Tamsin’s father was still on the loose—something that Dewi was feeling increasingly growly about—Tamsin had to stay with them in the States.

  Admittedly, assigning Carl and Mateo to guarding Tamsin was a perfect solution for everyone involved.

  Ken sat there for a few more minutes before finally standing, putting the backpack on again, and heading off along the shifters’ trail. It sounded like they were moving, running, perhaps, from the sound of their howls. He didn’t worry about Duncan keeping Tamsin safe, because Duncan was literally the most dangerous thing in those woods at that moment, natural or otherwise, with Ken a close damn second because of the gun he carried.

  But he felt badly for the young woman. This should be the most joyful time of her life, and the most joyful time of year.

  Instead, she was singing a mournful dirge in a strange land with people who were practically strangers to her.

  * * * *

  Ken walked for another hour, following tracks and hearing the shifters’ periodic howls, but without seeing either of them. If he didn’t know how close they were to the pack’s compound, he would think he was practically on another planet.

  He wasn’t sure he’d ever catch up to them, and was contemplating turning around and starting back when he heard a noise that startled him. Out of the woods above him on the slope, a large wolf appeared.

  “Where’s Tamsin?” Ken asked, knowing it was Duncan but more than a little concerned to see him alone.

  Duncan trotted down the slope and pressed his nose to Ken’s hand to talk to him.

  “Resting for a few minutes. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be. There are no predators close by. You’re safe if you decide to return the way we came.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Duncan hesitated. “That’s difficult to say. This is cathartic for her, and she needed it. I think it’s a first step.”

  Then Duncan turned and dashed back up the slope. It wasn’t long before Ken heard the howls start again, this time mostly just Tamsin.

  After checking the time, Ken opted to turn and head back toward their starting point. Some of Tamsin’s more recent howls sounded even more heartbreaking, grief-stricken, and it touched dark spots within Ken’s own soul.

  He needed a little distance of his own right now.

  In some ways, he envied the shifters, that they could shed their trappings of humanity and lose themselves in the wild without additional worries burdening them. Like when Dewi returned from a shifted run, how she always seemed invigorated, energized.

  Ken didn’t really have an activity like that for himself. Working out, whether it was running or biking, was more a way to keep in shape, not recharge his soul.

  I need a hobby.

  Before now, other than reading, or watching movies on Netflix, his budget really hadn’t allowed for him to have much in the way of hobbies.

  After a few minutes, Ken couldn’t hear the shifters any longer. He didn’t know if that was because they’d moved out of range or because they’d stopped howling. He’d been walking for maybe twenty minutes when he thought he heard Duncan howl again, but sounding far closer this time.

  Ken paused, holding his breath as he looked around. After a minute or so of not hearing the wolf, a stupid thought hit him and he decided to go with it. Throwing back his head, he cupped his hands around his mouth and howled into the air, much the way he’d seen some of the other shifters do while in human form.

  Although he didn’t think his howl sounded much like a howl. Something like a cross between Tarzan and a yodeler, but he suspected Duncan would recognize it was him.

  Duncan howled in reply, definitely sounding closer. Ken found a nearby rock to sit on and wait. Sure enough, a few minutes later, he spotted Duncan in the distance, approaching at a full run.

  Ken stood, on alert, unzipping his jacket so he had ready access to his gun.

  Duncan was still running when he shifted into human form a few yards away. “I need my clothes.”

  On full alert now, Ken unslung the backpack and started digging them out. “What happened? Where’s Tamsin?”

  The old shifter looked grim. “She’s unharmed.”

  “That’s not exactly an answer, Da.” Ken handed over the man’s clothes, and Duncan started dressing.

  “She’s…” Duncan sighed. “She’s refusing to shift back. She says she wants to remain shifted and not leave the woods. She’s refusing to move. I’m going to have to carry her out.”

  “What?”

  “What part of that didn’t you understand, son?”

  “Can’t you Prime her?”

  “I can,” Duncan said, “but I would prefer not to. That doesn’t help her. Healing grief is something that can’t be forced. Right now, this is what she feels she needs.”

  “Terrific,” Ken muttered. “Where is she?”

  “Not far. Follow me.”

  Ken barely managed to keep up with Duncan, even on two feet. But twenty minutes later, they’d returned to where Duncan had left Tamsin tightly snuggled in the hollow of a tree stump, tucked nose-to-tail.

  “Tamsin,” Duncan said, “please shift back.”

  She made a sad little noise but remain shifted.

  Duncan sadly sighed. “Come on, little one. We need to go back now. It
’s getting late.” He gently reached in and collected her, holding her cradled against his body.

  “Now what?” Ken asked.

  “We return to Peyton’s,” Duncan said as he adjusted his grip on her in his arms. “I’m going to need Badger’s help.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Once they returned to the SUV, Duncan gently laid Tamsin on the back seat and climbed in after her to sit next to her while Ken drove them back to the compound.

  Ken hated that there wasn’t much he could do for her. He didn’t have any pithy words to offer her that didn’t sound like total bullshit, or weren’t something she’d heard a thousand times already from everyone else.

  Losing a mate wasn’t the same as losing a parent, and even Ken knew that. Maybe Badger, whose mate, Tahlia, had been killed over a hundred years ago, could help Duncan pull her back from the emotional edge.

  They rode in silence to Peyton’s house. It was a little after one when Ken parked in the driveway and shut the engine off. A couple of the other rented SUVs were gone.

  “Please go see if Badger’s around,” he asked Ken. Then Duncan opened the door. “Ask him to meet us in his cottage. I’d rather not do this in the main house with everyone around.” He got out, turned, and collected Tamsin in his arms. “And I’ll need her clothes.”

  Instead of wasting time looking for the other man, Ken dug out his phone and called Badger. Fortunately, he was only over at Trent’s, and he hurried back to meet them at the cottage.

  “What happened, then?” Badger asked before he even had the door closed behind him. “Is she a’right?”

  Duncan sat on the couch with her lying half in his lap while Ken removed her clothes from the backpack.

  “She’s physically unharmed,” Duncan said, “but she’s definitely not all right.”

  “Ah.” Badger’s heavy sigh made Ken turn. The sorrow he read in Badger’s remaining blue eye nearly drove Ken to tears. “I’m so sorry, lass.” Badger crossed the small living room to sit on the couch, flanking her. Then he looked at Ken. “Please tell Peyton we won’t be joining the family for dinner tonight. And ask for no interruptions. But if someone could please bring us—”

  “I’ll do it,” Ken quietly said. “I’ll bring you guys food. When do you want it?”

  “Thank ye, Ken. A couple o’ hours will be fine.” Badger gently stroked Tamsin’s head. She’d started whining again. Ken suspected if she was in human form that it’d be soft, gentle weeping.

  Ken quietly let himself out and sought Peyton to update him about Tamsin’s condition. Peyton was in his home office and talking with Martin, Joaquin, and Aaron, an Enforcer usually based out of Charleston, South Carolina.

  “How is she?” Peyton asked without waiting for Ken to speak.

  Ken quickly caught him up and Peyton sadly shook his head. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her to Idaho. I thought Gillian and Asia would be good for her. Maybe I should’ve left her there with Dewi in Florida the whole time. Badger and Duncan have both survived losing mates. Barely.”

  “Kind of a moot point now,” Ken said. “I’m going to grab some food and go take a shower. Any idea where Dewi and them are?”

  “They’re all in Spokane.” Peyton wore a wry smile. “Including Carl and Mateo. Nami declared a mandatory shopping trip for baby stuff and what wedding prep she could accomplish today for Brianna and Da’von. Beck went, too. Gillian’s at Asia’s, and they have Bebe for the afternoon. Badger was trying to see if he could figure out how wolfish she is. I can’t tell for sure, and neither can Duncan. I’m hoping she doesn’t suddenly start shifting on them when they get her back to Florida.”

  Ken looked at Joaquin. “How’d you get so lucky as to escape that? A shopping trip?” Especially considering Nami was his sister-in-law.

  Joaquin snorted. “Because Malyah isn’t expecting a baby or getting married. My presence wasn’t deemed necessary. Thank the Goddess,” he added in a mutter.

  “Did Dewi go willingly, or did Beck twist her arm because misery loves company?” Ken asked.

  No, he wasn’t kidding.

  Peyton laughed. “I think she actually went willingly, because she got to drive and take a gun.”

  “Ah. In work mode, then.” Which made total sense, because then Dewi wouldn’t care what the activity was, just that she was helping protect everyone else.

  “Yeah,” Peyton said. “At least, that’s the excuse Nami used on her when they were talking after breakfast.”

  Ken left the office and headed for the kitchen to fix himself something to eat. Gillian, now well-versed in what to feed the family’s one-off grazer, had stocked plenty of things Ken liked to eat that weren’t meat.

  In a way, that proved to Ken they really had accepted him.

  It feels good to belong.

  * * * *

  Dewi’s only consolation was that absolutely nothing regarding today’s shopping trip was about her. She stood back and kept an eye out, even though she knew there was practically no chance of any danger for them, and enjoyed watching Da’von’s misery as Nami basically planned the whole wedding within a couple of hours.

  Right now, they were in a formal store, which the store employees had been unfortunate enough to not close quickly enough that day. Da’von was on his fifth tux, and Nami still wasn’t happy with it. Brianna was still in another dressing room, with Malyah and Lu’ana helping her get into dress number five. Carl and Mateo sat next to Nami and were waiting for Brianna to emerge in her next option. The two men had already tried on tuxes and Nami had signed off on their selections.

  Da’von, however…

  “No,” Nami told Da’von. “Absolutely not. Try the next one.”

  “Come on, Sis,” he groaned. “What’s wrong with this one?” He pointed at the clerks. “These poor people want to go home. And so do I. Back to Peyton’s, I mean. It’s Christmas Eve.”

  Nami looked over at Beck and smiled. “Love you.”

  He sighed, pulled out his wallet, and walked over to the two clerks, handing them each a hundred-dollar bill and making them smile as they pocketed the money.

  “There,” Nami said. “Merry Christmas.” She snapped her fingers at Da’von and pointed at the doorway to the dressing room he’d emerged from. “Next!”

  He groaned and returned to the dressing room.

  Beck softly chuffed in amusement and walked over to Dewi. “Giving you flashbacks?” he softly muttered.

  She snorted. “You said it.”

  They exchanged a fist bump.

  “How’d Ken get out of this?” Beck asked.

  “Helping Da with Tamsin. And Nami still has his measurements from our wedding, so she knows what size he needs.”

  “Damn. Lucky bastard. How’d Gillian and Asia manage to get out of this?” he asked.

  “Prepping food for tomorrow. At least, that was their excuse.”

  “I should’ve thought of that,” Beck muttered.

  “I heard that, mister,” Nami said, glancing back at him.

  “I love you, baby,” he said.

  She smiled. “Love you, too.”

  Dewi fought the urge to laugh at Beck. He really did love Nami, and he wanted to be here even if he was playfully grousing about it.

  Maybe this wouldn’t be as funny to Dewi if she didn’t have a mate of her own and was on the outside looking in. But Nami was perfect for Beck, keeping him on his toes and in line, all at the same time.

  It was a little after two when they finally left the formal shop with not only a dress, but a tux for Da’von, too, as well as one for Beck and Ken, and Mateo and Carl.

  Nami consulted her notebook. “Probably won’t find a florist or bakery open right now, will we?”

  “On Christmas Eve?” Da’von asked. “Nah, Sis. I’m sure they all want to be at work. Come on, let’s go back. Please?”

  “Actually,” Dewi said, “I wouldn’t mind grabbing a bite to eat first. That’s a two-hour drive. I’m kind of hungry.”

&nbs
p; “Me, too,” Beck said. “Once we’re off the interstate, there won’t be anything open, until we get back to Peyton’s.”

  They found a pizza place operated by one of the Bleacke cousins, which was not only still open, but happy to pull tables together in a corner for them. Once they had food, Dewi sighed with contentment. “I do miss Frank’s pizza.”

  “Right?” Beck said as he licked sauce off his fingers. “If he ever wanted to move to Florida, I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

  Dewi caught the way Da’von and Brianna looked at each other on the other side of the table. “What?” Dewi asked.

  Nami was instantly on alert. “What?”

  Da’von rolled his eyes. “Nothing bad, Sis. Why you always got to think it’s something bad?”

  Nami arched an eyebrow at him. “Uh, have you met this family lately?”

  “Now, don’t freak out,” Da’von said.

  “Uh-oh,” Beck said. “That’s guaranteed to freak her out. Have you learned nothing about your sister in nearly twenty years?”

  Nami gently backhanded Beck’s shoulder. “Shush. Don’t freak out about what?”

  “When I graduate from college, Peyton said I can move out here and work with Gillian from…here.”

  Dewi fought the urge to scoot her chair back and away from the blast zone. She also noticed Brianna was staying quiet and watching this play out.

  “Here?” Nami quietly asked. “As in, here, Idaho?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Making good money, too. After I graduate,” he repeated. “So not right now.”

  Dewi carefully watched Nami. She looked like she was…digesting that information.

  Everyone tensed and went quiet as they watched her and…waited.

  Finally, she sighed. “Is this what you really want, baby boy?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I do.” He held Brianna’s hand. “She likes it out here, too.”

  Nami looked at Mateo. “You okay with this? Them moving back here?”

  He shrugged. “I’m just glad she’s safe and loved. She’s spent the last several years away at college, so we’ve gotten more used to the distance.” He kindly smiled. “You will, too. I know it’s hard to let go, but we have to.”