by Meg Ripley
Lucas had fallen asleep on the walk home, his eyelashes resting angelically on his chubby little cheeks. Emersyn’s heart burst with love for him, as it did so many times each day. It was impossible not to be absolutely crazy about him. She laid him down gently in the playpen in the living room. “Yeah, you could say that. This is Lucas.”
“So tell me everything. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, and we have a lot to catch up on.” Leona parked herself on the couch, as comfortable as if she’d been coming over every Tuesday night for the last six months.
Emersyn caressed Lucas’s forehead with her fingertips, watching him sleep. She had a feeling there was something more to this visit than a mere social call, but she knew Leona well. She was a forthright woman, one who didn’t take shit from anybody. She also didn’t beat around the bush unless she thought it was really necessary. The best bet was to be patient for the moment. “I thought I was in love,” she finally said, straightening. “We got a new guy in our unit. He was hot, of course, and always ready to step into whatever action was going on. I thought I knew everything, and when I felt the click between us, I just knew it was meant to be. That pull was so strong, and I thought for sure we were mates.” She crinkled her brows as the memory came up before her, still so clear. He’d been like a dream, a real-life action hero who’d swooped in. He was brave and incredibly capable, and yet he had just enough humility to keep him from being cocky. He’d been so perfect.
“I see,” Leona replied, smiling. “And so now it’s happily ever after?” She looked around as though she expected him to pop out from one of the other rooms.
“Not exactly. He had bigger plans and transferred to another unit. I haven’t seen him since then.” She crossed the room and sat next to her old comrade.
Leona was staring at her, openly shocked. “You mean he doesn’t come around to see Lucas? Tell me he at least sends child support.”
“No. He doesn’t even know Lucas exists.” Emersyn sighed. “Don’t look at me like that. I know how you are. If you were in the situation, you’d march right up to whomever you’d been involved with and lay it right out for them. But I don’t think that would work well for us. He had ambitions for his career. I knew that, and I’m not going to kid myself into thinking he would just automatically step up to be a good father. I didn’t even know I was pregnant when he left, and I was stuck making plenty of decisions on my own from the very beginning.”
It hadn’t been easy. From the moment she suspected her pregnancy, Emersyn had been forced to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She’d wanted nothing more than to stay in the service. That had always been her life’s dream. But an infant shifter was a mighty dangerous thing among humans. The government would separate her unless she could prove that she could take care of the child even when she was on duty. That only made sense, of course, but it wasn’t as though Emersyn could leave her child with any typical daycare. What would happen when he shifted and a human saw? She’d been lucky enough to have a commanding officer who was a shifter, one who was able to push the right paperwork through and get her discharged without too much hassle.
Emersyn shook her head. “Trust me, it’s easier to just do this on my own.” That was what she’d told herself a hundred times, anyway. All those late nights and early mornings, all the laundry, the teething. It was so tough, and she often envied other mothers who had someone at their side. On the other side of that token, she knew that simply having a mate didn’t mean he’d be willing to help.
“Wow.” Leona let out a low whistle. “That’s got to be really hard on you. I had no idea. And you’re working full-time, too?”
“Of course.” Emersyn smiled, thinking about Mr. Bridges and how grateful he’d been when she told him she’d gotten him into a shelter for the night. “It’s tough, but it’s not like I can just quit and stay home all day.”
Leona swiped a hand across her forehead. “And I assume between Lucas and your job you’re not dating anyone?” she asked with a smile.
Emersyn laughed. “Not by a long shot. I think I’m still messed up over thinking I’d found the one, then having the rug pulled out from under me. I just can’t imagine what it’d be like to get involved with someone, and have Lucas get attached to him, only to have him up and leave again.”
“You don’t know that it would work like that,” Leona countered gently. “Wow. There’s so much that has happened. I’m not even sure what to say.”
“How about telling me why you’re actually here?” Emersyn challenged. She rose and went to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of pinot grigio and poured a glass for each of them. She certainly needed it after that long day at work, and she rarely got a chance to just sit and relax with an old friend. “Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing you, and I’m so glad you’re here, but I don’t think you’d come all this way just to say hello. Where are you living these days, anyway?” It seemed that anyone who was used to the military life of moving from one place to another often ended up doing the same thing once they left the service.
“I’m in the D.C. area. My family is near there, and now my job is, too.” Leona accepted the glass of wine, a slight smile curving her lips.
“What?” The smile was contagious, and even though Emersyn only had one sip of wine, she was already feeling a slight buzz. “If you’ve got something to tell me, then just do it.”
“Okay. Have you heard of the SOS Force?”
Emersyn shook her head. “I don’t think so. Is that a new show on Netflix or something?”
Leona laughed. “No, but sometimes it feels like one. It’s a group of former special forces shifters who work to help settle issues for conclaves and clans. Obviously, people like us have problems that the human organizations can’t help us with. That’s when the Force steps in.”
“And that’s what you do?” Emersyn rested her glass on her knee.
“Yeah. The Force is supposed to be kept confidential to protect both us and other shifters, but of course, word starts to spread after a while. We started getting enough calls that we even had to start up a second unit in Dallas just because we weren’t able to get out to everyone who needed us. It cut down on some of our travel expenses, too.” She spoke casually, as though she was working with a small retailer that had managed to open a second shop on the other side of town.
“Leona, that’s so impressive! I mean, I’m not surprised. You were always one of the best soldiers I ever worked with. But it’s certainly exciting. You must love it!” Emersyn could easily see her old friend fitting into that role. Leona was fierce and fearless.
“And you really haven’t heard of us?” the lioness questioned.
Emersyn shook her head. “I’ve been pretty involved between Lucas and work. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m constantly waiting to see what animal he might shift into, I don’t even know that I’d remember I’m a shifter.” As she thought about it, she reached inside for her panther. It was quiet and restful, certainly there, but not so prevalent as to be a force she had to battle with.
Savoring her wine, Leona gave her friend a meaningful glance. “How would you like to get back in touch with that side of yourself?”
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
Leona set her glass on the coffee table and turned fully toward Emersyn. “The Force is starting up a third unit right here in Los Angeles. We’ve taken note of a lot of issues going on around here. Some of them are between different clans and conclaves, which is pretty normal, but now we’ve gotten word about some biker gangs of shifters, too. It could be a really big deal. Sure, we could just swoop in and try to fix it quickly, but we have our doubts as to how well that would actually keep the situation quelled. The best decision is to have a permanent group in this area to serve the massive shifter population here.”
Now Emersyn was starting to understand. “I see. So you’ve been chosen to come out here and get it all set up. I want you to know you’re more than welcome to stay h
ere. I know something like the Force probably has enough money to put you up in some nice hotel, and the only thing I’ve really got is a couch, but it’s all yours if you want it.”
Leona shook her head. “I’m not about to put you out. And you’re not wrong. I’m here to help get the L.A. unit going, but I’m also here to recruit you.”
“What?” The smile faded from Emersyn’s face, replaced by shock. “Me? Why the hell would you want me?”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Leona countered with a laugh. “You’re one of the best doctors I know, and we definitely need a med sergeant on this team. You know as well as I do that shifters just aren’t the same inside as humans. If something happens to one of the team members, we need a trained medic to get them taken care of. The Dallas unit is lucky enough to have an entire shifter hospital at their disposal, but we need to make sure our team members are taken care of, no matter what happens.”
“A shifter hospital?” This was all so overwhelming. “I really must be out of touch. I had no idea.”
“So, what do you say?” Leona pressed.
Emersyn let out a breath through pursed lips and stood up. She paced across the room to the sliding glass doors that led onto a small patio, the tiny bit of outdoor space they were afforded at this apartment. She stared through the glass over the city. “This is big, Leona. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Just say yes,” Leona urged. “You’d be great, which is exactly why I’m recruiting you for it. I was asked if I had any personal recommendations for the L.A. unit, and you were the first person who came to mind. You’d have all the adventure you could possibly want, and you’d get plenty of opportunities to remember who you really are.”
Who I really am. The phrase rattled around in Emersyn’s head. She wasn’t even sure what that meant anymore. “I’m flattered, and it’s certainly tempting. But I don’t know if I can just up and leave my job. There are so many people who need me at the clinic. I’m not some rich doctor who sits back and collects insurance payments. I’m serving people who really need me, who have little or no coverage, who are afraid to go to the big hospitals because they don’t want to be turned down or treated differently. It’s not glamorous, but I don’t think I can bear to just turn away from it.”
“You don’t have to.” Leona joined her at the glass door, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “The Force can take up a lot of time. You might get sent out on a mission that takes a week or so, and in that case, you’d certainly need someone else who can work at the clinic in your place. But there are several of us who’ve kept our day jobs. We’ve got a rancher, a construction company owner, a VA doctor, you name it.”
“Sounds like the shifter version of The Village People,” Emersyn joked. Her eyes burned, tears threatening, and she blinked quickly. There was no need to get so emotional over this, but she felt her panther perking up and taking note. She was stirring inside, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
“Yes,” Leona laughed. “We’ve even got the head of a major tech corporation.”
“Yeah? Who’s that?”
“Hudson Taylor. My mate.”
“What?” Emersyn turned to her friend, gripping her shoulders as her grin expanded. “Are you shitting me? Your mate is Hudson Taylor? The Hudson Taylor?”
“Yes, and he still spends just as much time tinkering around with all his geeky devices as he did before he joined the Force. He’s in town right now, actually, because he’s helping to set up the new headquarters building. You’ll get to meet him, whether you decide to join or not.”
Emersyn sighed. She looked over her shoulder at Lucas, still sleeping peacefully in his playpen. “I’d love the chance, Leona. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you thinking of me. You’re right; I could make the clinic still work out. But the one thing I don’t think I can manage is Lucas. I couldn’t stay in the Army because of my pregnancy. I’m only able to work at the clinic because I have a good friend who works from home who watches him for me. I couldn’t possibly ask her to watch him while I go frolicking off on missions, too. It wouldn’t be fair.”
Leona tapped her chin, the gleam in her eyes showing she was thinking. “Where does this friend of yours live?”
“In an apartment building just down the street. Why?”
“And you say she works from home? What does she do?”
“Melody’s a bookkeeper. She’s contracted with several companies.”
“Uh huh. I see. So she’s paying rent, and then you have to go back and forth to drop Lucas off and pick him up at the end of the day.”
“Of course.” Emersyn put a hand on her hip, finally getting impatient. “Let me in on what you’re thinking. You’re driving me nuts.”
Leona turned, resting her back against the wall next to the door and tipping her head back. “Garrison—you’ll meet him soon enough—set up the Dallas headquarters to include enough apartments for all the members. Some still choose to live in their current homes, but it’s certainly convenient to have your work right down the hall. I’ll have to check with him to see how big of a space he’s found, but it seems to me like a built-in daycare service could be a really good thing for the Force.”
Emersyn was already reeling from finding out about the Force and the fact that Leona wanted her for it, but now her head felt like it was going to explode. “You want to move Melody into the headquarters building? I don’t know that she’d want to. I mean, she loves Lucas, but she still loves her bookkeeping, too. That’s a big ask.”
Leona shook her hand in the air. “That’s just it. I’m not saying she’d have to quit what she’s doing right now. I’m just saying she could do it in a different place. She can watch Lucas and do her work, but everything would be centralized. Melody would certainly have some incentive in that she wouldn’t have to pay rent, and I know that’s not cheap around here.”
Leona let out a deep breath. This was all too good to be true. “All right, I’ll talk to her. And I’ll think about it myself.”
The two women talked for a while longer, turning the conversation to catching up on old times. When Leona finally left, the apartment felt incredibly quiet and empty. Emersyn scooped a sleeping Lucas out of his playpen, smoothing down his hair and taking him into his room to change him into his pajamas. She was lucky that he’d always been such a good sleeper, and he only stirred mildly as she got him ready for bed.
Instead of laying him down in his crib, Emersyn stood in the middle of the room and just held him. There was something so comforting and sweet about his warmth and his weight. Moonlight invaded the room, casting a blue light over the nursery that she’d built so carefully for him there. “It’s not easy being a mommy,” she murmured. “Did you know that? I’ve always had to worry about whether or not I’m making the right decisions for you. From not saying anything to your father, to leaving the service, to taking the job at the clinic. It’s already not fair to constantly have to make the choice between being here with you and the wellbeing of others. Now I have to choose again. Do I take up this opportunity of a lifetime, knowing you’ll have a chance to grow up among other shifters and see just what your mother is capable of? Or do I stay here and try to raise you with the most normal life possible so that you can blend in with the humans more easily? I really don’t know.”
Regretfully, she laid him down in his crib, smoothing the sheets around him and planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. “I’ll talk to Aunt Melody tomorrow,” she whispered. “That’ll help me figure all this out. I hope.” She left the room, softly closing the door.
After a quick shower, she lay awake in bed. Emersyn felt as though she’d lived through several different lifetimes. Each stage of her life had been so different and separate from the last that sometimes it was hard to tie them all together and claim them as her own. Now, she was considering stepping into a whole new life, one she didn’t know if she could handle.
3
Gabe sighed as he stepped out of the hotel shower, making
a mental note to ask Garrison about the shower heads at the new headquarters. This was a very nice hotel, but someone had still gone cheap on the plumbing. He wanted to feel like he was washing up in a wild stream under a waterfall in the middle of nowhere, not standing under a leaky roof. Drying off and wrapping the towel around his hips, he stepped out of the bathroom to get dressed.
His phone rang irritably from the bedside, and Gabe glanced at the caller ID and answered. “Hey, Mom.”
“Well, hey to you, too! I haven’t heard anything from you in days. Are you all right?”
Gabe pulled a face. He’d seen the missed calls, and he’d genuinely meant to return them. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve just been really busy.”
“Busy or not, the least you could do is send me a text to let me know you’re alive. I thought now that you were out of the service I wouldn’t have to worry about that, but I think you’re worse than ever.”
He sat down on the side of the bed and ran a hand through his damp hair. “I’m still getting used to the routine of civilian life. Is everything okay, though?” As busy as Gabe was, he always worried about his family. His mom and sisters were everything to him. They were the reasons for almost all of his decisions in life, and his mother’s urgency at not being able to get a hold of him made him worry a little more.
“Oh, yes. We’re fine. Nothing’s really changed since you saw us last month. The only real difference is that Hope says she might let her rental agreement run out and move in with Rob. You know I’d much prefer they just get married, but she insists that’s how people do things these days.”
Gabe had to smile. Hope was his youngest sister, but she was the fiercest of the family. She was strong and independent, and there was no ‘might’ about her moving in with Rob. Their mother just didn’t want to admit it. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Mom.”
