by Ellie Pond
Naomi jumped. “Hey.”
“Oh, my god. I hope your day is going better than mine.” Her normally braided long brown hair fell around her face. Hope took her glasses off and cleaned them with a cloth from her pocket.
Naomi shut her notebook, happy for the distraction. “What’s going on?”
“He’s driving me bonkers.”
“Who?”
“Our resident hero.”
Naomi tried not to smile as goosebumps rose on her arms, under one of the few business-casual shirts she had on board. The whole not-having-a-uniform thing was new to her too. She would go shopping at next port day she had off. She wasn’t fond of clothes shopping. Especially in the islands. Clothes were always too short. “What’s he doing?” She couldn’t imagine Daniel milking the whole hero thing. He always seemed so reserved, “Playing up the hero angle, is he?”
“Nope. I mean, he would deserve that. Crew are coming over and congratulating him. No, he’s chewing.”
“Chewing?”
“On purpose.”
“That happens when you eat.”
“No, he’s developed this obsession with these natural granola bars, they’re so loud and then they disintegrate into a million pieces and spread everywhere. And it’s not one bar, it’s like one every ten minutes. There can’t be any left on board.”
“And that’s ruining your day?” Naomi wanted to laugh.
Hope rubbed her eyes. “Yes, no. I am not big on change. I guess.”
“Oh,” Naomi said, confused by what Hope was going on about. “I am sure you’ll figure it out.”
“I will. Don’t want to. But I will.” She sighed loudly and seized the displaced broom and dustpan that were precariously leaning against the door next to Eva’s office, and scampered back to the front desk. Eva’s door opened as Hope left.
Eva scanned the break room, only Naomi sat at the table. She closed her office door with a soft click.
“Naomi, I hate to ask you this. They called a last-minute manager meeting upstairs in the Panther ballroom, and Roxy is rebelling against the daycare again. My mate is busy doing some sort of drill in engineering and can’t watch Roxy, darn it, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Forget I said that part. Roxy’s asleep, can you listen out for her until I get back?”
Daniel rounded the corner.
“Oh, Daniel. I was just asking Naomi if she would listen for Roxy.” Eva pivoted to Daniel before Naomi replied.
“She’s giving the daycare a fuss again?” Daniel sat down on the chair next to Naomi.
“I’m afraid so. I am not sure why she enjoys being down here better. They have so many toys and things to crawl around on. But I need to go up and I would rather not wake her to bring her.”
“No problem, boss. Naomi and I’ve got it covered.” Daniel leaned on the table.
“Thank you both.” Eva handed Naomi a baby monitor and dashed out into the lobby.
“Does that happen often?” Naomi asked.
“Not too much. A couple of times in the last month. She’s a sweet baby. But her teeth are bothering her.” Naomi put the monitor in the middle of the table on the other side of her closed sketchbook.
“How’s your drawings coming?” Daniel pulled a granola bar out of his pocket.
Naomi moaned. “It’s not. Ming tells me one thing and then changes his mind. I’m drawing 100 sketches for every one he likes.” She patted her sketchbook. “That’s not fair. I like it. He’s a little odd. But I like it. My silly lynx even likes the tight space. Once they get some better lights in there, you’ll never see me out here.”
“That’s great. But I guess I won’t be around here much anymore.” Daniel swung his legs off of the extra chair they were propped onto.
“You’re leaving.” Naomi sat up straight.
“No. Why does everyone keep thinking I am leaving? Trying to get rid of me, Earland? It’s not that easy.” His uninhibited laugh rolled over her. “I’m changing departments. Although I’m not sure how it will work with my school.” Right, he’d been here so long she kept forgetting about the internship for his master program. Daniel only had six months left on the ship before he completed his degree and left the ship.
“Really? What department?” Naomi tapped her pencil.
“Security.” He gazed at her with his blue eyes. She stopped tapping the pencil. Her lynx hissed at her, but she swallowed it down before it came out. She didn’t like the idea. Security crewmen got hurt all the time. They went into things that no one else did.
“Oh.” She held her voice steady, she hoped. Not that it mattered.
“Like you, I’m moving departments too. Were you in your Hoard server’s uniform last night?”
“Yeah. I’m doing double duty for a while.”
Hope charged into the backroom. “Daniel, come quick. You too, Naomi. You’ll want to gawk at this more than him.”
The two of them got up and raced to the front desk. The grand lobby soared and sunbeams reflecting off of the ocean shone through the windows at dynamic angles.
A mammoth lion shifter with the darkest mane stalked across the lobby towards another guest who shifted as the lion approached. His clothes lay torn over the red carpet as his bear emerged. Other guests scrambled out of the way as a human woman screeched and fled down the hallway.
“Hope, did you call security?” Naomi was shocked that Hope was so calm.
“No,” she said.
Naomi picked up the phone on the counter. Daniel put his hand on top of hers and shook his head. “Watch.”
The two shifters stood on their hind paws and did an elaborate version of a handshake, before they shifted back to their now-naked human form.
“Oh, my god. What?”
“I’ll let First Officer Laurit know that they’re at it again.” Hope put her hand on the phone but didn’t pick it up. The two huge shifters were now laughing as they walked away. Their tight muscular bottoms strode away in unison.
“That’s my favorite part,” Hope sighed. “The first time they did it I thought I was going into cardiac arrest.”
Daniel shook his head and laughed. “You hadn’t heard about these two?”
Naomi. “No, I’ve never heard about them. We miss all the fun downstairs in the restaurants.”
“They cruise with us two to three times a year, along with their mates, who they found on board. But Laurit has told them more than once that they had to stop their little recreation of their first cruise when they fought in the lobby.”
“They’re crazy.”
“True. But look at them.” Hope sighed and leaned over the desk to see them as they rounded the hallway.
Daniel made a face. “Oh, shit. Roxy. I normally put the monitor on my belt.”
Naomi and Daniel raced back to the backroom.
The monitor was silent. “Good, she’s still asleep.” Naomi sat at her notebook and opened it.
Daniel sat on the corner of the table and ate the rest of his abandoned granola bar.
“You really like those.”
“Not so much.”
Naomi laughed. “Then why do you eat them?”
“Habit now. I started a couple weeks ago to annoy Hope. She complained that I ate too loud and then called me Dan for a week.”
“Passive aggressive much?”
“True. But I’ve become addicted to the things now. So what’s a guy to do? Plus, she reminds me a lot of my little sister. And since I won’t see her as much, I need to get as many jabs in now as I can.”
“But you’re eating back here now.”
“Yeah, well. She’s been mopey all day after I told her I was changing departments. Figured I would take it easy on her.”
“I am going to check in on Roxy.” Daniel turned the doorknob with care to not wake the little girl. “Ah, Naomi. Did Eva accidentally take Roxy with her?”
“No.”
“We’ve got a problem.”
Naomi ran over to Eva’s door. The little playpen w
as up against the wall and completely empty.
She lifted the little blanket. Empty. “Oh, my god.”
Daniel dropped to his hands and knees and searched the floor of the office. He opened the desk drawers and pushed the filing cabinet away from the wall. Roxy wasn’t in the office.
“There’s no way she got out of the office. Way out of Eva’s office. The door was shut. She’s a clever little cub. But if she got out, she wouldn’t have closed the door behind her. Plus, she’s not crawling yet. Right? Cubs that little can’t crawl. Can they?” Naomi searched the room again. The youngest of all her cousins and most of her pack, she hadn’t been around cubs much and had never done the whole babysitting thing.
“She can crawl. And she’s fast. That’s why Eva always has her in the backpack when she’s in the office. But you’re right about the door. There’s only one way in and out of here, but accounting has another door. Perhaps they saw something you check there, I’ll check with Hope.”
Naomi charged into the accounting-teller room. “Did anyone notice someone leave here with Roxy?”
“A what?” asked a male in a wrinkled uniform.
“A cub, a little one, a baby.” Naomi towered over the male’s desk.
“Nope.” His head went back to his screen.
Naomi scanned the office. The six of them sat as always with their noses in their desk. Another two were behind the teller window. One teller turned. “Oh, Roxy. She’s so cute. Haven’t seen her. She isn’t with Eva? Our supervisor is at some meeting in Panther Hall, she’s not with her?”
There wasn’t any way out of the room other than the door next to the teller.
“No one’s come through the door.”
“No, sorry. Do you want me to call someone?” Her lips pursed.
“Thanks. We will.” Naomi dashed back into the backroom.
Hope was under the breakroom table. “Not there. They haven’t seen anyone either.”
“Right. I just called security.” Hope crawled out from under the table.
“Where’s Daniel?”
“He’s checking the lobby.”
“Someone must have gotten behind us when we were watching the lion and bear. The accounting department you have to buzz in. Here, well…” Naomi glanced at the door to the lobby.
“You swipe in, but not out. Do you think we were so preoccupied we didn’t see someone behind us? Couldn’t you scent someone?”
“There was a lot of fear scent out in the lobby, and so many passengers tend to block it.”
“Oh…I’m going to check Eva’s office again.”
Naomi ducked her head into her own office on the off chance.
“Naomi,” Hope shouted.
Hope raced into the breakroom and grabbed a phone. “This is Hope from the front desk, I want to cancel my last call. We’re fine. Yup, her dad came and picked her up. We missed the note. Right. Sorry to bother you. Thanks.”
Hope thrust a crumpled note into Naomi’s hand. “Found it on the floor.”
The note said. “Captain postponed the drill. I’ll bring Roxy back after your meeting is over” with a heart and the initials J.C. below it. What great parents those two were, and what a complete snot of a babysitter she was. She should have seen Eva’s husband on either his way in or out. Naomi sat down by her sketchpad. Right, there was no way she was getting any work done for a while. Her heart was still pounding in her chest.
Hope glanced at the door to the front lobby, a devious smirk plastered over her face.
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, Daniel and the darn granola bars. I should get even.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “He doesn’t know about the note.”
“You two are the worst.”
“Why leave all the pain to your enemies when friends can have so much more fun with it?”
Naomi laughed as Hope sat down at the table.
Daniel barreled into the backroom. “There’s no sign of her out in the lobby. What did accounting say?”
“No one’s come in or out, no sign of Roxy.” Daniel scanned the room, his hands on his hips. Naomi only peeked at Daniel.
3
Daniel
Daniel scanned the room for a second time. Something was up. While he didn’t connect fully with his wolf, it stirred in him. Daniel glanced at Hope and back to Naomi. Neither made eye contact with him. Naomi, she definitely was avoiding his gaze. “What’s up? Did you find something?”
“No. Did you check for her under the main staircase?” Hope asked, but the urgency in her voice was gone. He had checked under the grand staircase. He would call housekeeping after they found Roxy. His white shorts were covered in dust. Didn’t matter, it would be one of the last days he wore this uniform.
“You called security?” Daniel turned to the internal ship phone.
“Yes, they said they’re busy but they’ll be up soon. You should keep looking.”
Right. He was not a puma. But that was a lie. A missing cub and they said they were busy. He glanced at Naomi, who still didn’t lift her head. No way. They totally knew where Roxy was. His heart slowed and he blew out a breath. And hoped he wasn’t wrong. He tested his theory. “I’ll call security and see what’s taking them so long.” He reached for the internal ship phone.
“Oh, I’ll do that. Out at the desk. Yup. I’ll do that out front.” Hope hustled out the front door.
Daniel pulled out the chair next to Naomi and sat on it backwards, facing her. He leaned into her space. Her red lips today popped against her white shirt. She didn’t turn around, but picked up a pencil and opened her sketchbook to a blank page. He didn’t ask her what she had drawn for Ming today. She already gave him the details of Ming’s indecisiveness earlier. Instead, he leaned in closer. “You going to tell me where Roxy is?”
“I don’t know.” Naomi turned, their faces close. She shrugged her shoulder. The girl couldn’t lie. At all, not well. Her heart thundered in her chest. She tucked her hair behind her ear. He wanted to lick her neck.
“Naomi,” he whispered. “Roxy’s okay, right?” He saw the corners of her lips twitch for a moment. She waited for a beat before she pulled a crumpled piece paper out from under her sketchbook and slid it across the table. In reaching for it, his arm brushed hers. Her short hair left the back of her neck exposed and visible goosebumps ran up it. He picked the note up. “Don’t tell Hope I showed you the note.” He wouldn’t tell on Naomi, but he would think of a brilliant way to prank Hope. Granola bars were a minor inconvenience to what he could come up with.
“Eva’s mate walked right behind us, retrieved Roxy and left again. Well, damn. Guess I need to up my levels of observation since I’m moving over to the security department.”
“Changing departments,” Naomi said pensively. He told her before Hope ran in and she didn’t react. Now it rolled off her. Interesting. Not touching her was torture.
Daniel strutted to the other side of the table. “Yup. It’s the last time you’ll get to see these legs in white shorts.” He put his foot on the other chair and flexed.
She laughed. “That’s not a terrible thing.”
“You went there? Really?” He laughed too. His legs were fine. They weren’t tiny human legs, or shifter legs, more like a runner’s leg. He motioned to his legs like a model showing off a product. “You’d be lucky to have these legs. A little bruised from yesterday, but healing, thank you very much.”
“Your legs are just fine, you’re worse than Colette and her hair.”
“Now your legs, can we talk about your legs?” He smirked at her.
“What’s wrong with my legs?”
“Nothing just go on for miles.” He laughed.
She glanced up at him with a serious expression. “Are you…” She paused and shook her head. “Never mind.”
He sat down next to her again. “Don’t do that. What were you going to say?”
Naomi gazed over at him, her blue eyes flashed. “It’s just are you sure you should change d
epartments? They do lots of dangerous things. You could get hurt.”
“I’m tough enough.”
“Right, I mean, sure. But your leg. It’s still healing from yesterday. The rest of that team are shifters, they have an animal to help heal them.”
He glanced down at his leg. The bruise was healing in the oddest way. But better to heal and not complain about how.
“I am a shifter, and I am not made of glass. I don’t need my wolf to do things. Didn’t yesterday show that?” A growl rumbled in his stomach. It pissed him off. More than it should have, since the same thing ran through his head. He stormed back to the front desk. He regretted yelling at her and wondered if she was so concerned about him having an animal, maybe he needed to curb his obsession.
“What did you say? Hold on. Hold on, the signal is crappy in my cabin.” Daniel moved to the doorway of the bathroom. “Mom, I can’t hear you. If you can hear me. I’ll call next week from port.” He hung up, glad that she didn’t pass the phone back to his dad. He opened the door to his cabin back up. The air flow in his and Zach’s room never was perfect. He bent down to put the doorstop in, and when he stood up Naomi was there.
“Hey.” Her blue eyes flashed. “I didn’t see you when I left to help down at the Hoard. I wanted…”
He propped himself up on the doorframe with one arm. A group of crew kicked a soccer ball past his room. They nodded greetings.
Naomi watched them go. “Can I come in?” She wore her typical off-duty outfit—a white tank top and shorts. Her long tan legs were exposed. Daniel stared into her blue eyes.
“Sure.” He motioned for Naomi to come in under his arm. He wanted to be happy to see her. She’d sought him out. But after talking to his dad. Nothing put him in a worse mood than his dad. Especially when he echoed the same thing Naomi said. His whole life his father minimized him. With each of his peers that shifted his father became more disappointed in him. Most of them shifted as young cubs, with fewer having their first shift each year, until he was the last one left. His father waited for his adulthood ceremony. It would be better if he yelled at him rather than the coddling he did. He asked if Daniel was cold or tired. His dad gave seconds at the table to his cousins and not him, because their wolves needed more food.
