Willow

by Donna Lynn Hope

  “There is to me,” I said definitively. “I have to know.”

  My fingers reached out and I slowly began pulling back the purple and black comforter and then I saw her. She was lying with her head turned in my direction. Someone had closed her eyes so I was spared from looking into what was no longer there. I didn’t pull the comforter all the way down because I had seen enough. I knew who she was. I was staring at Lacey’s lifeless form. I had never really known her but I felt a shudder deep within me.

  “What happened?” I asked to no one in particular. I pulled the comforter over Lacey’s head and stared down at what was left of her. I didn’t even think I could stand. I crawled a few paces and felt a tremor as I had one more body to look at. I lifted the blanket and saw red curls. I didn’t need to touch the body to know that how she looked in death was completely unnatural, so was the smell emitting from her gray wax-life form. In life she had been the captivating red-head at the bonfire, and also the one who had been with Haven when I had run into them in town. My thoughts had little time to process what I was seeing, and worse, what I was imagining.

  It was then that Reece spoke for the first time since we had arrived. His voice was hoarse and he sounded more troubled than I had ever heard him before. I didn’t turn to look at him.

  “When I got here,” Reece began. “Amber and I helped her mom clean up and then we went on a walk. We weren’t gone that long. Maybe 40 minutes. When we got back her mom wasn’t around; Amber said she had probably gone to her room for the night so Amber and I went into the kitchen, raided the fridge and ate some leftovers. We talked some more, played with our phones and then I had to leave. We hugged goodbye and I left. I was not far when I thought about seeing you. I realized I had left my phone at her house so I turned around and drove back. When I arrived I noticed the porch light was off and all the lights in the house were off. But the car Amber and her mom share was still in the driveway. I didn’t think she would have gone to bed so soon so instead of knocking on the front door I went around and knocked on her window. That’s when I heard Amber yelling for me.”

  Reece was interrupted by Pandora who was whining in the doorway. We all looked at her. She paced for a moment and then went into the hallway where she sat on her haunches. She whined again, as if in mourning.

  “Amber’s mom...” Reece announced quietly.

  “She’s gone,” Jericho informed us. “She is in the other room.”

  I stood immediately and went to Pandora. I looked up at Jericho and then to Anne. “She is telling us not to forget Amber’s mom,” I said.

  “I don’t want to see anymore,” Anne cried softly.

  “I’ll go with you,” Jericho said as he stepped in front of me. I followed him into the hallway. Across from Amber’s room was her mom’s room. Pandora went in first.

  “I already covered her,” Jericho spoke.

  “I never even met her,” I murmured.

  “Stacey. I knew her...”

  Amber’s mom lay covered in a blanket taken from her bed. She was lying on the floor but it was not my place to go over and look at her and I didn’t want to. I didn’t even step in the room. I watched as Pandora approached her and stood guard over her body. I felt a swirl of emotions as Pandora honored a woman neither of us had ever even met. I only knew what Amber’s mom looked like from photos. She was a large woman, and didn’t like to leave her home. Amber spoke highly of her and was protective of her. I knew they had been close. Amber’s dad lived in Canon City and drove trucks for a living so she was only able to see him once a month, if that. She had no brothers or sisters. And now she was in the same select group that Reece and I belonged to...those that have lost a parent way too soon.

  We went back in the room with Reece and Amber. Anne and Jericho were discussing what to do. Anne wanted to call the police and take Amber to Gunnison Valley Hospital but Jericho was against it. I sat on the bed in front of Reece and Amber. I saw that her eyes were open but she was staring without seeing. She was hurt but I knew that look. It was the self-induced, detached look of someone who knew that their loved one was dead.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” I whispered.

  “That woman attacked her,” Reece said in disgust, tilting his head towards the body of the red-head. “Amber told me she tried to take her away. You don’t know this but Amber had been asking questions trying to find out why you were a target and word reached this woman and for whatever reason she had, she came after Amber for it. She had a man with her and that man killed Amber’s mom. Amber tried to help her and that’s when the woman changed. Amber ran and locked herself in her room when I pulled up. She said she heard the man leave out the back door as I ran in the front. When I came in that woman, who is not really a woman, was trying to get into Amber’s room. Her eyes were ablaze and her fur was the color of crimson. You know that knife I carry on me? I got her in the throat but I thought I was a dead man. I would have been if Amber had not come out of her room, which distracted the wolf. Amber had thrown something at her when the wolf turned on her. I didn’t have time to react because another wolf came charging in. This one fought for and protected Amber.”

  As he spoke the smell in the room was becoming rancid and I stood up and backed away from the bodies while Reece kept talking.

  “There are no words to describe seeing something so violent just a few feet away from you. I pulled Amber towards me hoping we could make it out of the house. I saw the red wolf bite into Lacey’s neck. She ripped a chunk out and Lacey stumbled and started her death throes. The red wolf was injured and even though my hands were shaking, I gripped the blade of my knife so tight I cut myself and could feel the blood dripping down my fingers but I steadied myself and walked over to her. She was staring up at me with those crazed eyes of hers; it was the scariest thing I had ever seen because we both knew those were her final seconds. I looked from her eyes to her chest and I plunged my knife into her until she stopped moving. Damn,” he cursed. “There is no way to describe what that’s like!” He shook his head and his eyes sought my own, imploring me to see the magnitude of what he felt. “Then I vomited out the window.”

  We stared at each other for a few seconds with our emotions reaching a horror of understanding.

  “Amber?” I asked.

  Reece looked down at her and she was still staring ahead, but listening as we spoke.

  “I picked her up and examined her for wounds. She cried and told me to check on her mom. After I saw that Stacey was gone,” Reece lowered his voice as if Amber wouldn’t hear him, but we all knew she could hear everything. “I went and grabbed my phone from the couch and called my dad. Then I went back to Amber and -”

  We heard Anne scream and then there was a gunshot. My heart surged and I jerked as I looked towards the door. Pandora could be heard growling and barking and a commotion was taking place in the living room. Reece jumped off the bed while Amber started to cry and when I looked back at her I saw her curled up near the headboard. Reece swept her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing and motioned for me to open the door to Amber’s walk-in closet. He placed her in there carefully, pulled out his knife, and ran to the doorway. I followed him and he hissed, “Stay here!”

  I shook my head and he gave me one final piercing glare before he turned and peered around the doorway. Then he stepped into the unknown.

  Chapter 42

  I heard voices through the haze. It felt as though I were coming out of a drug induced state. My breathing was constricted, like I had been very nearly crushed.

  “She’s almost out of it,” I heard a male voice say.

  “Just keep her still,” another spoke. I could identify that one. It belonged to Jericho.

  My eyesight was blurry but little by little I could make out my surroundings. Way down below there was a fire in the distance.

  As if my thoughts were being read I heard someone say, “Heather’s body will disintegrate with no trace left behind. I can’t say the same for the ot
her one.”

  “Stacey needs to be found,” Jeircho said. “Otherwise we are all in danger. And her daughter needs to have her remains.”

  My eyesight was attempting to focus and I found myself staring straight ahead at Reece who was staring back at me as he sat with his back against a tree. He looked disheveled and disturbed. Pandora’s head was resting in his lap and she too was watching me. Right next to Reece stood Haven. Like the others, he was looking right at me. I couldn’t read his expression. He seemed as emotionless as Reece. I tried lifting my head but a hand pressed down on me. “If you weren’t a dormant little girl, you would be dead.”

  I wanted to speak but I couldn’t find the means to. I saw the profile of the man who was sitting next to me. His hand was on me and I knew from the shock of blonde hair that it was Tristan. I couldn’t see everyone though; just those in front of me. I knew Jericho was there but where was Anne? What about Amber? I started to struggle in my new-found fear for their safety.

  “Easy Willow...” Tristan cooed. “The more you fight the longer it will take.”

  Longer what will take!

  He stroked my hair and as soon as he did registration showed on his face. “They are fine. We took care of Amber, cleaned her up and the rest of us gathered evidence and then we set the house on fire. Anne called 911 with a story that was well rehearsed and the rest of us came up here with you. The last we heard from Anne is that she had taken Amber back to her house.”

  What’s happened to me?

  Tristan looked down at me until I felt the bond.

  When Lacey was dying the rest of us felt it but we didn’t arrive in time to help her. Haven arrived around the same time that I did. Levi and Philip had come, too. We all felt it.

  Felt what? I asked.

  When one of us manifests we can feel the sensation run through us like a current. Her sensation was erratic and strong, which indicates a first time manifestation or a last one.

  What’s wrong with me? I wondered. And how did she know Amber was in trouble?

  You jumped into the thick of the fight and sustained quite the injury. If you were anything but what you are, you would be dead. You were knocked unconscious and you are regenerating. As for Lacey, she had marked Amber some time ago and felt her distress. Our kind will die to protect the ones we love. We often do.

  Still caught in a silent conversation, I inquired further. Why did it happen?

  Heather’s companion had initially gone after your Aunt but Jericho shot at him with his 9mm and he charged Reece instead. Every strong emotion you felt in that moment brought out your wolf, even if you weren’t able to manifest.

  Tristan looked over at the others.

  You have quite the canine protector, did you know that? After you had been thrown, your dog fought him. He ran off and that’s when Levi caught him and finished him, as he should have.

  Where are Levi and Philip now? I asked.

  They retrieved Lacey and took her somewhere private.

  I could see the vision Tristan passed to me and I could feel his grief.

  They won’t be back for a long time.

  I looked over at Haven. He should be with them but he stayed. So did Tristan. I arched my head back as I felt a new wave of pain. No, it wasn’t pain. It was more like the sensitivity you get when your foot falls asleep and it washed over my entire body. I had no control over my extremities and felt myself burning up. How long was it going to take? Minutes, an hour, forever? I felt a sudden coolness as if a fan had been turned on. I opened my eyes again and could see farther than before.

  “You’re back,” Tristan confirmed. “Good as new. You’re messy too.”

  I sat up and looked at my surroundings again. Jericho was looking towards the fire, Reece was looking down at the ground and Haven was as before, his eyes fixated on me. Pandora got up and sauntered towards me cautiously. She licked my face and nuzzled up next to me.

  I was weak, sore, dizzy and sick to my stomach but I felt like myself again.

  “Another shifter came too,” Haven announced. “But he retreated when he saw us.”

  “Another?” I asked.

  “Oh yea,” Tristan laughed. “That was awesome. He watched from a perimeter before retreating like Omegas usually do.”

  “He must have been scared. I know I was,” Reece sighed.

  “Not him,” Haven said. “Don’t underestimate him. He escaped before, the night of the bonfire. My guess is that he was gathering intel and is reporting back what he saw. Where he’s concerned, it’s not over and the game has changed.”

  “Everything has changed,” Reece stressed and silence followed. He stood up and walked over to me. He offered his hand and helped me up while Tristan took a step back. My legs were shaking so Reece swept me up in his arms. I put my arm around his neck for support. Jericho opened the passenger side door.

  “Let’s take her home. We can talk more there and she needs rest.”

  I had already found it. Relief had been found in the arms of the one who carried me.

  Chapter 43

  In the month that followed, previously guarded secrets had bound many of us together, as did our shared loss and common knowledge of all that had transpired. Anne had confessed that she knew what my mother was and that my father had told Anne it was safer if she didn’t live nearby. Close connections could be exploited and were also a liability he had explained.

  Despite my desire for normality, turmoil always seemed to occur around me. Was I the catalyst or did I have the hope of coincidence? I had not manifested and I did not think I ever could although recent events had awakened my wolf. I was a half-breed; a dormant. I would never be the same as the others but I could feel the stirring of my wolf deep within.

  Although I had seen little of Amber, more had been explained from that awful night and why Lacey was even there. Lacey had loved Amber because her purity separated her from most and her innate goodness and lack of malice was something Lacey was drawn to. Lacey had marked her at one point and as most shifters do, felt a protective bond over the one they attached themselves to.

  Tristan, a lone wolf in his own right, visited me and Anne and told us he was going home and that he had obligations to attend to. I knew that meant he was going to scout the omega and to challenge the hierarchy in his family. He had shown himself to be Alpha bound more than anyone else. What would come in the next few years was anyone’s guess. This was unfamiliar territory and a necessary changing of the guard, and while I didn’t feel like I was in immediate danger, we all knew that this was the quiet before the inevitable storm.

  Haven had come by and said he was leaving Crested Butte temporarily and asked for a time when we could be alone and talk. We arranged a date and it just so happened to be on an afternoon in which Reece was driving down to Canon City to spend time with Amber and her dad. Amber didn’t want to leave but with her mother gone, and the house they shared rendered into something that couldn’t be salvaged, she had no other choice.

  She wept as she held me close, but when the time came for her to say goodbye to Reece, her tears stopped as soon as she fell into his arms. She had closed her eyes tight and I knew that what she felt for him was past tears. While she clung to him and he held her in a solid embrace, he reassured her that they would see each other often and that there would not be an end to what they had together. She said in return, “We’ve been through too much and we’ve known each other too long. I know I’m only going to be a few hours away but this is it. This is when things change.”

  “But it’s not the end,” Reece assured her.

  I remained silent. I still felt like an intruder that had invaded their close relationship. I also knew that love couldn’t be forced, or chosen, and that it was felt without logic or reason. Whatever would happen between all of us had to be given freely, and it had to be true. And so it was that Amber left her hometown, just as I had several months before, and she was embarking on a new life in a new place but with familiarity just an afterno
on’s drive away. And that was a drive Reece was taking with her now.

  I didn’t have to travel long to get to my destination. I parked Anne’s car in the exact same spot I had used a few months before. I stepped out of the car and smiled. The air was warm, the breeze an embrace, and the fields surrounding me were decorated in assortments of sunflowers, mountain dandelion’s, butterfly weeds and pearly everlastings. And then I saw him. Haven was standing on the hill in front of me. His hands were in his pockets, and he was wearing a dark blue t-shirt. I raised my hand and waved at him. He acknowledged me in return. I reached inside the car and picked up the picnic basket. We met each other halfway and he took my hand and with the other he reached for the basket. He led me to a dirt trail. It was narrow so I let go of his hand and walked ahead of him. A gust of wind blew my hair into my face. Beaming, I brushed it back, looked over my shoulder and caught his eye. His expression was tender...and it was also sad. We walked for a few minutes and he reached for my hand, pulling me to a stop. He put the basket on the ground and turned me around. He lifted his hand to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers carefully moved across the outline of my cheek. His gaze upon me was thoughtful. He leaned toward me, exhaled and drew me in for a hug. I did not resist but the feeling meant something different for each of us.

  Quietly he broke the silence, “It was enough to go through the movements in life without really feeling. Then I saw her beauty and happiness and I was changed. You came after her and the way you wore your grief drew me to you.”

  I couldn’t summon the words to express how I felt but my silence didn’t seem to trouble him. I knew that it was more than what he had confessed. I also knew I reminded him of my mother but whatever he had felt for her was something he kept to himself, and was one of many areas in his thoughts where I was not allowed to explore.