Hope studied each man in front of her. What really had her head spinning was that she was attracted to all three of them. Even Mama Bear didn’t find anything suspicious about them as she examined them.
“Take me back where you found me. Show me this trick of transporting us from one place to another,” she said.
Fand moved up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He had a slightly crooked nose, and her gaze was drawn to his two large, sharp fangs.
“Hold on, Little Bear,” Fand said.
She shook her head to stop the worst case of dizziness she’d ever had. They were now in front of the entrance to her home. “Wow, that trick would really come in handy around here,” she said, stepping away from Fand and the other two as they appeared next to them. “I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this, but I promise if you or your pets touch one hair on my babies…” She bared her teeth at them.
“They are important to you, so they will be to us also,” Gourd tried to reassure her.
Hope took a deep breath and moved around the now-small four animals as they rose, watching their movements. She walked through the tunnel till they were standing in front of the boulder protecting her home. “Could you…? Oh, never mind. You could probably read my mind and find it anyway,” she grumbled, reaching up and releasing the mechanism she had designed to move the rock back and forth with ease.
She knew the men watched her as she pushed the boulder aside, and sure enough as soon as the door was open Sasha and Mandy were there. But after seeing the men behind her, they slowly backed away.
“It’s okay, girls, these gentlemen killed two of those monsters, and their pets killed one. They won’t hurt you. How is Baron doing?” she asked, lifting Sasha up into her arms and taking Mandy’s hand before walking to where Baron was now sitting up in bed watching everything. “Gourd, Fand, Jester, this is my son Baron and his sisters Sasha and Mandy. We found each other about two years ago.” She looked up as Gourd moved to her side, smiling at Sasha. “Their parents were murdered just like mine were. I couldn’t allow them to go through what I did. Plus, with the den ignoring them too I just couldn’t leave them.”
“It’s an honor to meet all of you.” Gourd turned his eyes on Baron and the boy scooted back away from them. “Easy, I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Your mom here tells me you’re sick?”
“It’s nothing,” Baron, said glancing at her.
Hope sat beside Baron on the bed as Sasha and Mandy crawled up to be next to him. “Look at me, Baron,” she said, waiting for him to calm down. Slowly Baron turned his attention on her. “You know my bear wouldn’t allow anything to happen to you, right? That she considers you hers now. We talked about this, all of us,” Hope asked.
Baron nodded. “You said your bear bonded with us, that she considered us her children,” he said, glancing at Gourd, Fand and Jester.
“Well, do you think Mama Bear would allow anyone to hurt you?” she asked.
At once all three kids shook their heads. “No, she’d hurt them,” little Sasha said.
“Well, for whatever reason, Mama Bear likes these men and trusts them. Believe me, she wouldn’t have allowed them near our home otherwise. Baron, I want you to tell Gourd how you are feeling. He says he can make you better.”
Gourd moved next to the bed and knelt.
“I promise all three of you, we will protect you and your sisters, Baron, as we will your mama bear,” Gourd said.
For a few seconds, Hope didn’t believe Baron would say anything, but he reached down and lifted the leg of his pajamas. A rash went up his leg, but this was different from any she had ever seen on Earth. The rash itself was an orangish/green, with what looked like a bite mark in the center. But it had three puncture marks instead of two.
Gourd hissed. “It has started. I’m afraid having those things here on this planet brings other pests that shouldn’t be here.” He glanced back at Jester. “We will have to notify those staying here on Earth how to deal with the Foxclore and other insects that live off them.”
“Can you help Baron?” Hope asked, her heart beating twice as fast as normal, scared out of her mind. She hadn’t thought of what these monsters would bring with them.
* * *
Gourd could hear the fear in his woman’s voice as she reached out to grab the boy child, Baron’s, hand.
“I’m sorry, Little Bear. I did not mean to put such fear into you. Of course, I can heal your son. These bugs as you call them are like your tapeworm. A little of my blood, and your son will be fine.” Gourd squeezed the boy’s arm.
Hope frowned, glancing at her son, then at him. “Would it change him to what you are?” she asked in his mind.
“No. It will make him stronger and more resistant to things like this and your illnesses here on Earth. We wouldn’t change your little ones until you and they have agreed to be part of our family, which I’m hoping will be soon,” Gourd explained.
“We aren’t even going there. Please heal him and then we can discuss why you are sticking to me like glue,” his little bear said, her chin raised as she watched him.
“Will it hurt him?” the little girl, Sasha, asked, scooting close to her brother.
The tears in her eyes made Gourd feel protective. Yes, it would seem these three little ones just got three fathers. Gourd moaned and could hear his brother laughing at him in his head.
“So you are finally a father. I’m going to have so much fun watching,” his brother, the king teased.
“May a reptile crawl into your gut,” he growled.
“Problems?” Hope asked, with a small smile.
“No, my brother’s just being a pain.” Gourd leaned down, drawing out one of his smaller knives to poke his finger, before Hope or Baron could say anything about his knife. His blood seeped into the three holes on the boy’s leg. Gourd made sure Baron got plenty of his blood, making the boy stronger. “It will only take a few minutes for this to work,” Gourd said, taking the towel Fand handed him and putting it under the boy’s leg.
“Where did you get that?” the other girl child asked, scooting closer.
“We can do many things, little one,” he said as Fand handed Sasha a drink.
“You were wishing you had this chocolate milk,” Fand said as all three glanced at the carton of milk in her hand. “Relax, you each can have one.” Fand handed Baron and Mandy one each, looking at Hope, who was shaking her head.
“Thank you, though eww,” Hope said.
“This might be a bit squeamish. I think that is the right word,” Gourd said, putting his knife away.
“You mean gross-looking?” Hope smiled and he nodded as the first orange Foxclore inched out of one of the holes in the boy’s leg with the greenish goop that attached to the wall of the skin.
“Eww, gross,” Sasha said, watching as she sipped her chocolate milk.
“It’s a pretty color, though,” Mandy said.
“Only you would think it’s pretty,” Baron grumbled and took a sip of his chocolate milk as another Foxclore slid out of the other leg. “How many did they put in me?”
“Three holes, three eggs. We were lucky they hadn’t hatched yet,” Gourd said.
“Why?” the boy asked, his gaze meeting Gourd’s.
“Because the pain would have horrible for you,” Gourd said, refusing to explain more to him. The children had seen enough horror in their lives. “There we go.” Gourd cleaned up the boy’s leg when the last larva pushed out of Baron’s flesh. He wrapped the towel up and took the bandage from Fand, who he gave the towel, knowing his partner would destroy the larva.
“Okay, you are all set,” Gourd said, covering the holes till they closed up.
“How are the others going to get rid of these things? They’re not going to have your blood,” Hope said.
“You should start to feel better here in an hour or two, then we can transport you to your new home.” Gourd stood.
“Go? New home?” Baron glanced at him, then at H
ope.
Gourd scanned all around him, impressed at what he saw here. His woman had made a comfy home for their three children. Yes, that was what they needed in their new home: her personal touch. “Why don’t we sit over there so we can speak?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.
She hesitated only for a few seconds before sighing and putting her hand in his. “Why do I have this feeling the talk is going to be more ordering than talking,” she grumbled as Gourd led her around to the main area in her den, where she curled up in a chair instead of the couch. Oh, he could tell it was her favorite place to sit; her scent was strongest on it.
“First, how did you accomplish getting all of this here, the couches, chairs and tables, without anyone seeing your den?” Gourd asked.
His little bear smiled. “I knew things were going to go crazy. Hell, oops, sorry,” she snorted, not sorry at all. “Anyway, they, my den, all thought I was crazy. So when I got my driver’s license, I started preparing this place. No one followed me or cared since my family had been killed. They didn’t even notice when I borrowed one of their trucks. Of course, the bigger things like the couch I bought, and I moved it twice without anyone seeing me. I have to admit it was hard to lift, but in my bear form, I was able to do it. Once I got it to the cave, it took me about two days to get it back here, but the other stuff was a piece of cake. Now tell me what’s going on, and what is that scent you are wearing?” she grumbled.
Jester laughed. “Finally. For a minute I thought we had the wrong female.”
“Excuse me?” Hope asked.
“We have been searching for you for a while, Little Bear. On our planet, we have what you call a mate, but we call a swoquix. Each male unit, usually between three and five warriors, will set out to find their swoquix. When we find our mate, our bodies start to make a scent only she can smell. This scent helps the female accept us and starts the change within her body.”
“Wait, back up. Are you saying I’m your mate? That this smell is changing me? How? And don’t you think I should have a choice in this?” she growled.
As if sensing her anger, Sasha came over and crawled into her lap, hugging her.
“Little Bear, we don’t even have a choice. It’s nature’s way of making sure we don’t lose our female,” Gourd said, tilting his head to the side. He snarled. “We’re running out of time,” he said to Jester.
“I’m on it,” Jester said and moved to Hope. He leaned down and kissing her cheek and rubbed the top of Sasha’s head. “See you soon,” he said before, disappearing from the room, earning a gasp from Sasha.
“Cool, where did he go?” she asked, looking at Gourd, then at Fand.
Gourd sat on the couch as Fand stood next to him. “You know about the war with the creatures, but did you know about the new world being formed for your protection? Didn’t any of your kind inform you of what was going on?”
Hope looked down at Sasha, giving her a sad smile. “No, no one liked to speak to me, or the children. We were beneath them. They thought I was crazy. Then one week most of them were just gone. Houses and dens were empty, and no one told me about anything. After that, I knew they had all left me and didn’t care. Did they go to this new world? Is it safe there?”
Gourd got up and paced. “I’m not going to lie to you, Hope. A war is coming, not only here on your Earth, but on this new world.” He turned and knelt before her. “On this new world, there are four strong women who have been hurt beyond what should be considered normal for violence. The fact they are sane is remarkable. They’ve survived their attacks, which were planned out long ago from these heliokillers. This new world started when Aurora and her mates heard the cries of these women, their relations. You see, each woman is somehow connected to them—Aurora, Comar, Leaguer, Iceman and Dormont. You, Hope, are the fifth woman who everyone has been searching for, including our enemy.”
“What?” Hope jumped up, holding on to Sasha as she moved away from him. “No! There has to be a mistake. Sure, I’ve been hurt, but not like the pictures in your head. You must be looking for another.”
Gourd could see her bear close to the surface, but something else was there too, hidden as he and Fand watched Hope pacing, growling like a caged animal, but carefully holding on to the bundle in her arms.
“So I’m supposed to be related to one of these men? Who?” Hope stopped and looked at him. “Will they really want me?” She waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter, I don’t need them. I’ve done fine here.”
“We need you, Hope. Our new home needs you. Without you the others will not survive,” Gourd informed her, hating to put all this pressure on her, but they didn’t have the time to discuss this.
“Do tell. How am I supposed to save everyone? This makes no sense.” Hope swung her arm out. “This is all I know. Oh, and how to kill those things one-on-one. I will be of no use to those who forgot about me. And wouldn’t I be taking my children into a battle?”
“The battle will be everywhere, Hope, I know this is confusing, but all we know right now is that you are needed. But know this, Little Bear.” Gourd stepped in front of her, cupping her cheek. “You are our swoquix. If it wasn’t for the fact our niece is on this planet, and that so many children would die, we would whisk you away to our world, all of you,” he said, looking at little Sasha. “But it seems our home is now on this new planet. Together, Hope, we can do this. You won’t be alone. Please.” He leaned down and placed a small kiss on her lips. Hearing a little giggle, Gourd turned toward Sasha.
“And what are you giggling about? Do I need to give you kisses too? Or…” he smiled at his pets, naperones, came over as he stepped back. They jumped on Hope and Sasha, giving them wet kisses to the point Hope dropped to her knees and sat, laughing with Sasha as the pets surrounded them.
“Okay, we’ll go, but so help me if one person tells me I’m crazy again, I’ll slit their throat,” she grumbled as Baron and Mandy joined her on the floor. “Grab what you want to take with you, little ones. We’re moving. Don’t let me down, Gourd.”
Chapter Three
Hope never backed away from a challenge, but right now all she wanted to do was push Gourd and Fand out of her den and hide, but that wasn’t going to happen. Plus, if this war was going to break out, having three men around to help protect her children was a major plus, especially as she had an idea that the three who had chosen her were not to be messed with.
She got up and went to the back of the den while the children each packed what was important to them. There was only one thing she wanted to take: her small wooden box of pictures that had belonged to her mom. Hope lifted a stone out of the wall and grabbed her box, then sat down on her bed and ran her hand over the story carved in wood that her mother used to tell her. “Momma,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes.
“You okay, Little Bear?” Fand asked, sitting down next to her.
Hope had to admit that she loved when they called her little, especially since some days she’d swear her hips and tummy were huge. “I’m good, just remembering my mom. This is the only thing I need from all this,” she said, looking over at him. Gourd did most of the talking and seemed to be the alpha of the family unit, but Fand reminded her of a sleek panther, waiting to take down anyone who would hurt what was his. He was tall, at least the same height as Gourd. He also had a nose that seemed to have been broken in the past, and wicked scars. Hope reached up and ran her finger over one such mark that started at the bottom of his eye and traveled down the side of his face to his neck.
“Knife?” she asked and he nodded, smiling.
“My brother and I couldn’t agree on who would join the royal fighters since only one of us would be allowed. I wouldn’t have found Gourd if I hadn’t won. It was meant to be, just like you are,” Fand said, lifting her braided hair. “It’s stunning, so beautiful.”
“Are we ready? Jester will meet us at our new home. I guess Leaguer is to meet us there as well.” Gourd frowned, holding Sasha, Mandy and Baron at his s
ides. Each of them held a bag of their memories.
Fand nodded, and the next thing Hope knew, they were standing in front of glass doors in a huge and beautiful tunnel. She reached up and ran her hand over the wall. “Cool, and so pretty,” she said.
“Our home is underground, as you can see. It’s safe from attack from above. This tunnel here is for us. If you follow it that way, you’ll come to what everyone calls the common room. There are shops, different foods and a place where we all meet and have gatherings and such. It will also serve as the safe room for the children and others, when things get hot above. All tunnels will be closed off to it during the battle,” Fand explained as Gourd appeared next to them with the children.
The children touched the walls turned around, staring at everything.
“This is so cool,” Baron said, looking at her with a smile. She nodded, watching to make sure he didn’t do too much with his sore leg. Hope and the children listened to Fand explain a few things about the hall they were standing in, as something—the ship-planet—seemed to connect to her. Things she didn’t know were suddenly clear to her, as if a computer had attached to her brain and was feeding her information. It was amazing.
“You didn’t tell me I wouldn’t be allowed to leave once I got here,” Hope growled at Gourd.
“You’re lucky you are here. Be grateful you weren’t killed where you stand,” someone said, appearing inches from her, but she shoved her box into Fand’s hands, bringing her favorite karambit knife she had made as a teenager after some of the local boys thought sexually harassing the crazy one would be cool. After that day, she never went out without her knife, which was now at the throat of what appeared to be a man.
Finding Hope: Book Ten of the Running in Fear Series Page 2
