River Run Wolf

by Harmony Raines

  Joined in the intensity of the moment, they moved as one, skin against skin, lips against lips, fingers entwined as they connected in the deepest possible way.

  When at last they were sated, he pulled her down onto his chest and they lay together, breath heaving as the heat left their bodies.

  The small tent with its flimsy fabric was all that stood between them and the elements. But Patrick swore there in the small tent that he would protect his woman no matter what came their way. Whether a physical threat or the curveballs life liked to throw at people, he would always be there at her side. Her staunchest supporter. For they were one now.

  The bond between true mates was forged. And it was unbreakable.

  Chapter Nine – Sage

  “You know, you might be a keeper,” Sage told Patrick as he crawled back into the ridiculously small tent with a hot cup of coffee the next morning.

  “Oh, you get to keep me whether you like it or not,” Patrick informed her as he sat in the doorway nursing his own cup of coffee. “You should come and see the morning.”

  Sage held the sleeping bag around her to secure her modesty and shuffled forward, trying not to spill her coffee. “Wow. It’s an incredible morning.”

  The sun was rising on the other side of the mountain, the first tendrils of sunlight crept over a distant peak, while a low mist hung on the lower slopes that were still in shadow.

  “It’s hard to imagine needing to get away from such a beautiful place.” Sage sipped her coffee and listened to the distant call of an eagle.

  “It just shows that looks aren’t everything.” Patrick pointed to the high peaks. “Imagine sitting around a fire in the early morning light when suddenly a large dragon uncoils its tail from a distant peak and flies toward you to breathe deadly fire on you and your loved ones.”

  Sage shuddered, and Patrick put his arm around her naked shoulders. “It must have been terrible.”

  “Yes. They would have grabbed what they could and run for the cave.” He glanced sideways at her. “Ready to go back in and see what clues they left us?”

  “Yes, after breakfast in bed.” She giggled. “I’m joking, I’ll get dressed and we can make breakfast together.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind making breakfast if it means you stay naked.” He leaned across and kissed her lips. “I hope you slept well, it’s going to be a long day.”

  “I slept okay, but something kept poking me.” She looked at him, all innocence. “It was hard and long…”

  He laughed and scooted out of the tent. “I can’t imagine what that could have been.”

  “I bet you can’t.” She watched him as he stoked the fire, getting the embers nice and hot before he set a pan to warm. In no time the mountain morning filled with the smell of bacon and eggs sizzling in a pan.

  By the time he’d finished cooking, Sage had pulled on her clothes and her boots and had rolled up the sleeping bag and packed it away before collecting more firewood, which she’d stacked nearby in case they needed it later.

  “Here, sit down and eat before we go back into the caves.” Patrick passed her a plateful of bacon and eggs along with a piece of toast, made from Hetty’s fresh bread.

  “There’s nothing like a meal in the open air.” Sage settled down to eat, accepting a fresh cup of coffee from Patrick. “You are spoiling me.”

  “You deserve it. And I don’t mean because of last night,” he told her.

  “Then why?” Sage asked.

  “For wanting to help the village, for being open to moving to River Wolf.” He scooped up a forkful of egg onto his toast and ate it with relish. “You’re right, it does taste good in the open air.”

  “I want us to be happy, Patrick. Whatever that means. We have to be willing to work through the obstacles life puts in our way. The thought of leaving Bear Creek and my family scares me. But I also think this is important, for you, for us and the people in town. And it’s not as if I’ll never see my family again. I’m expecting a lot of crossover between the two businesses. Perhaps we can help out at Chance Heights when they need extra hands and Luke and Marcus can come to River Wolf when we need them.”

  “Once your brothers get used to the idea of having a wolf in the family.” Patrick grinned at her, and Sage’s heart beat rapidly. He was more beautiful than any view, more magnificent than any sunrise.

  “I’m sure as long as you make me happy, they’ll forgive you,” she teased.

  “I hope so. I want to be part of your family. Just as I want you to be part of mine.” He finished his food and stood up. Reaching his hands over his head, he stretched. “I’ll wash the dishes in the stream. Do you want to fill up the water bottles?”

  “Sure.” Sage jumped to her feet and followed him down to the stream, where he washed the dishes further downstream, while she filled all their water bottles. As she stood up and turned back toward the camp, she looked up at the mountains. “Do you think Thorn and Emilia are okay?”

  “She’s a dragon shifter and he’s a bear shifter. I think they can look after themselves.” Patrick came to stand next to Sage.

  “Not all trouble comes in a form we can fight with teeth and claws,” Sage told him.

  “True. But they have each other. Mates can face anything together.” He turned to look at Sage. “I mean that, Sage. Anything.”

  “I like the positive attitude.” She adjusted the water bottles and then walked toward the camp. “And for what it’s worth, I believe you are right.”

  “Good. I like being right.” He shook the water off the plates as he walked. “Listen, let’s go in the cave and take a good look. We’ll record what we can on our phones, so we can look at the images back in the village. If Emilia has found any indication her father lived in the caves up there, or even visited them, there’s a good chance there could be a link with this area.”

  “Do you think so?” Sage asked.

  “No one ever told you about the drawing of Emilia and Magnus’s mother?”

  “No.” Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know it’s her?”

  “It’s a drawing of a woman with two small dragons. We came to the conclusion that the two dragons were Emilia and Magnus. They were sent away to Bear Creek.” Patrick stowed the plates and other utensils in his pack.

  “Sent away?” Sage wasn’t sure what he meant. “You mean hounded out of the Stone Claw Village? They lived here?”

  “Yes. Come on, I’ll show you.” He picked up his pack and Sage did the same, carrying it inside the cave where they both switched on their flashlights and headed toward the large open cavern. There they placed their packs in one corner and Patrick walked around the cave until he found the drawing he was looking for. “Here.”

  He shone his flashlight at the cave wall, where there was a drawing of a woman with two small dragons at her feet. Bears surrounded her, while a man with the same mark as the tattoo on Sage’s arm pointed toward distant mountains with a face full of sorrow.

  “Unbelievable. This is like a documentation of the history of the clan.” She took a photograph of the drawing, before examining all those around it. “Is this one depicting the death of a dragon?”

  It was smudged and worn, but when she looked closely, Sage was sure it showed a crumpled reptilian-like creature that could be a dragon. She took another picture, and more. Then she went back to the entrance leading into the cavern, and with Patrick shining the flashlight on the cave wall, she videoed every inch of rock that had a drawing on it.

  Afterward, she went back to certain drawings that had stood out as perhaps important and took several photos, including the drawing of the Stone Claws leaving the mountains.

  “Ready to get out of here?” Patrick asked.

  Sage nodded, and they collected their packs and made their way back outside. “Those drawings are incredible.” She shielded her eyes as they exited out into the bright sunlight. They had been inside for a couple of hours, and the sun had risen high in the sky, warming the side of the mountain.

/>   “They are. When I looked at them years ago, I never realized how important they were. We’ve never told anyone they are there, it would raise too many questions.” He walked back to the dying fire and brought it back to life, then put the kettle on to boil.

  “Yes, they would lose all authenticity if anyone saw the dragon drawings. But if the drawings could somehow be dated for age, they would raise a whole mess of questions no one wants answered. Particularly the dragons.” She sat down on the ground and swiped through the images on her phone. “I still can’t believe it myself.”

  “Well, I can assure you, I didn’t paint them.” He sat down next to her and looked over her shoulder as she studied the photograph of the dragon children with their mother. “Do you think they threw the family out after a dragon attack?”

  “I don’t know. They might have done it for their own good. If Emilia’s father died, the dragon who was attacking the Stone Claws might have wanted to kill the children because they were defenseless.”

  “To stop them from becoming a threat.” Patrick nodded. “It makes sense.”

  Sage preferred to think of her ancestors sending the dragon children away for their own safety rather than for any other reason. Although it still made her sad. When her parents died, the safety and security of being in the home she’d always known helped.

  “Can you imagine what it must have been like?” Sage stared at the images on her phone. “Living in fear for your life. Not knowing when the next attack would come. And being so far from home.”

  “You can see why a person would make a huge sacrifice to ensure their safety and get his people back to where they belonged.” Patrick breathed in the cool mountain air. “I hope we are never faced with those kinds of decisions.”

  “Me, too.” She put her phone on standby. “Let’s pack up camp and make our way back down the mountain. I’d like to walk some of the way on foot and take more photos. It all passed by in such a blur yesterday.”

  “Agreed.” Patrick shivered. “This place always gave me the creeps as a kid, as if the dead were watching.”

  “Maybe if we can solve the mystery of what happened to Emilia and Magnus, and the remainder of the Stone Claw Clan, we could put those ghosts to rest.” It was a suggestion that had been on her mind for some time. She thought that coming up here would help her put all this behind her. But it didn’t. All the visit to the cave had done was raise more questions, questions she needed answers to.

  “You want to find them?” Patrick already knew the answer. “It might take some time.”

  “We have time.” Sage kissed his cheek and then stood up, brushing the dirt off her pants. “We have all of our lives. I’m not obsessed with it or anything,” she said to ease his worries. “But I’d like to find them. To see what they made of their lives when they returned home.”

  “To see if Chin Shan’s sacrifice was worth it.” Patrick’s mouth was set firm as he pushed himself up from the ground. “And if it’s not?”

  “Then I live with it either way. It doesn’t affect my life, or our lives together. What’s done is done, it’s too long ago for recriminations. Emilia and Magnus don’t blame me or my brothers. In fact, I think it’s like salve on a wound that we are friends and we trust each other and respect each other.”

  “They are good people. And you and your family are good people. That’s the only way to judge a person. By looking into their heart.”

  Sage half turned to face him and placed her hand over his heart. “I see what is in your heart,” she told him. “You and your grandparents are good people, too.”

  Patrick sighed and reached up to thread a tendril of her hair through his fingers. “You hold my heart, Sage. I want you to know how much this trip has meant to me.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. “I am falling so very deeply in love with you, I think I might drown in my own happiness.”

  She smiled and a small giggle erupted from inside her. “You are the sweetest man, Patrick.” Then her face grew serious. “It seems strange to use the word love since we’ve only known each other a short time. But this is love, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It is.” He looked sideways toward the tent. “Do you think we could delay our trip back down the mountain by a short time? I think we need to inspect the inside of the tent.”

  “I think you might be right.” Sage threaded her fingers with his and they crawled back inside the tent and zipped the door closed, shutting out the world.

  Chapter Ten – Patrick

  An hour later they were back on the trail, this time going down the mountain, back home. He had a smile on his face ten feet wide and there was nothing he could do to stop it from spreading across his face. Patrick felt like the cat who got the cream and had poured it on his cake and ate it all!

  Even the clouds above their heads didn’t seem out of reach to him. Sage had that effect on him. And he couldn’t get enough. She was smart, funny and intelligent, while also being empathetic.

  Which was why she kept looking at him and rolling her eyes.

  “You’d think you were the first wolf shifter to ever find his mate and fall in love.” She linked her arm with his as they reached a wide section of the trail. “It makes me happy to see you so happy.”

  “I’m glad because all I ever want to do is make you happy.” He kissed her cheek.

  “So what you’re saying is it is my duty to keep you happy so that I’m happy.” She frowned and he laughed.

  “Are you purposefully trying to twist my words?” he asked in mock shock.

  “Maybe.” She breathed in deeply. “I love it up here, it's so peaceful and quiet.”

  “We can explore together. When you come and live here.” He glanced up at her to read her expression.

  “Don’t worry, I haven’t changed my mind. Although I do like the idea of us splitting our time between the two bases.” Sage might not have changed her mind, but the thought of leaving home was playing on her mind. It was Patrick’s turn to be empathetic.

  “We’ll make it work. The two centers could be sister sites, we could both offer slightly different activities. It would be great if you and your brothers could help manage the sites since you have the experience. Which means as much as we would swap working between both sites, your brothers could come to River Wolf, too.” He stopped and turned to face her. “My heart is your heart. My family is your family.”

  “My heart is your heart, and my family is your family,” Sage repeated. Her mouth tugged up at the corners.

  “You know you get the short straw?” Patrick asked, wanting to see that smile broaden.

  “Why?”

  “I get your sensible brothers, and you get Lupe. He is one old man who likes to find mischief in all that he does. At least he used to…if the stories his buddies tell are to be believed.”

  “I like Lupe. His heart is in the right place.”

  “Even if his brain isn’t.” Patrick laughed. “Sorry, I’ve heard my grandma tell him so many times that his brain is in his stomach.”

  “I can tell there’s a story behind that phrase.” Sage turned away from him and they began their descent down the mountain once more.

  “When he was a child, he got brought home by the local police for stealing potatoes from one of the farms in the next village.”

  “Potatoes?” Sage’s forehead creased. “Potatoes.”

  “Yes.” Patrick chuckled at the thought. “He’d also stolen a couple of leeks from another farm. He planned on adding them to the mushrooms he’d collected from the woods. He used to wild forage a lot in his younger days.”

  “I hope he had a recipe in mind.” Sage shook her head, half in amusement, half in shock at Lupe’s actions, as innocent as they were.

  “His grandma, my great-great-grandma, used to make these wonderful pies. He planned to take them to her house and ask her to make them. But he got caught.” Patrick remembered the day Hetty told him the tale, it was while he was a young boy helping to make the very same pie
s. “When he met Hetty, he gave her the recipe and asked her to make them. Lupe is romantic like that.”

  Sage burst out laughing. “It’s a good thing they are fated mates.”

  “Lupe knows that and lives in gratitude every day of his life.” Patrick watched Sage as she strode on down the trail. “I can understand why.”

  She cast a look over her shoulder, her jet-black hair swishing over her shoulders. “Did you also inherit his talent for stealing?”

  “No. My dad would have killed me for bringing shame on the family.” His eyes widened as he spoke.

  “When I hear stories like that, I often picture how my own mom and dad would have reacted.” Her face cracked with sorrow. “I don’t have a clue. I didn’t know them at all.”

  “Hey, come here.” He folded her into his strong arms and held her against his broad chest, wanting to protect her from anything bad. But they both knew life didn’t work that way.

  “I was lucky. We had Nana.” Sage took a shuddering breath. “But I still miss them so much. I still wonder what they would have been like. Whether they would be proud of what we’ve achieved. That’s why it’s so hard to leave Chance Heights. It ties me to them. It’s a reminder of what they set out to achieve.”

  “Then we’ll stay there.” He wanted to make her happy, to take away her pain, because her pain was his pain. But she pulled back and shook her head as she looked up at him with teary eyes.

  “No.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve. “It’s not healthy to be tied to ghosts of the past. I want to move to River Wolf with you. It’s my decision, a decision from the heart.”

  “You are the bravest, strongest woman I’ve ever met, Sage.” He wiped away her tears as they continued to fall.

  “No, I’m not. And if I am, that comes from Nana. Not my parents.” She sniffed deeply, and her body shuddered. “I think it’s worse right now, because I wish they’d met you. I wish they were here to see us get married. My mom would have helped me choose my dress and my dad would have walked me down the aisle.”