But she couldn’t go on like this. Being near Morgan, wanting to touch him, wanting him to look at her the way he had when they were out in the woods together… She felt as if he were a million miles away from her now. It hurt her heart. Being close to him felt lonelier than being alone.
“But…no. That’s not what I need you to do for me.” Morgan shook his head in confusion.
“It’s what I need to do for me,” Valerie said angrily, and she turned around and quickly walked out the front door, slamming it shut behind her.
She heard Morgan coming out the door behind her, but didn’t look back.
“Valerie?” he called. She ignored him and walked faster.
Honoria rushed outside as Valerie and Morgan walked to their cars separately. “Valerie, can I speak to you?” she called.
Morgan and Valerie both turned around. “Not you, just Valerie,” Honoria said to Morgan with annoyance. “You’re an idiot. Alpha. You should just leave. And buy Valerie some flowers while you’re at it.”
“All right then, crazy younger sibling who is perilously close to being assigned toilet-scrubbing duty,” Morgan said, giving her a bemused look, and he got into his car. Honoria and Valerie stood there in the snow, watching him drive off.
Then Honoria grabbed Valerie by the arm and pulled her back inside, into the great hall.
“Here are the two reasons you need to stick this out,” she said to Valerie. “I like you, and I love my brother. And since my brother needs you, you should ignore the fact that he’s being an ass right now.”
“Honoria, it’s kind of you to say so, but he wouldn’t even notice if I left. He’s barely even speaking to me,” Valerie pointed out.
“That’s not personal,” Honoria said. “It’s not just him who’s in a mood. It’s all of us. We’re always like this at this time of year.”
Valerie tried to remember if Morgan had been noticeably crabbier the last few holiday seasons she’d worked with him. Honestly, he was always such a grump that it was hard to tell.
“What is it about this time of year?” she asked.
Honoria stared down at the ground, hands shoved in her pockets. “It’s not something we generally talk about. I’m just telling you so you’ll understand why Morgan’s being weird right now. Our father died on December 20th.”
Valerie sucked in a sharp breath. To lose one’s parent, and so close to Christmas, the time of year that was all about family and togetherness – how terrible that must have been.
“I’m so sorry. How did he die?” she asked gently. “Morgan never talks about it.”
“Elmira’s husband was a power-hungry buttwipe, and he death-challenged him. Camden Senior,” Honoria said, with a look of disgust on her pretty face. “Our dad actually had the upper hand, but he didn’t want to kill him, because of Camden’s cubs. He let the doucheface get back up – and Camden caught him by surprise and killed him.”
“What?” Valerie asked, in utter shock.
“Morgan was only seventeen, but he death-challenged Camden Senior on the spot, they fought the next day, and he ripped his guts out with his teeth.” She looked around, then spoke in a lowered voice. “Mom just collapsed after that, for a few years. She drank a lot; that’s why she never touches alcohol now. Morgan had to take care of Homer and me, and run the pack and run the business. Finally he put his foot down and forced her to quit, under threat of being expelled from the pack. Mom went to a fancy rehab for two months and came back stone-cold sober. Don’t tell her I said that – she’d be mortified.”
“I would never.” Valerie felt the sharp sting of sympathy deep in her chest. “How can Nelda even stand to look at Elmira and her family?”
Honoria shrugged unhappily. “They mostly avoid each other, but it’s a pack thing. Death challenges happen. That goes along with being Alpha. It’s not a cause to throw them out of the pack.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“Morgan can’t stand to talk about it. He doesn’t even have pictures of Dad up on the wall – I’m sure you’ve noticed that. We all kind of tiptoe around it, because it’s so painful. But if you could just wait until after the Christmas season...I think you’ll see him come around.” Honoria looked at her with a hopeful expression.
“I’ll think about it. I appreciate you telling me,” Valerie said, nodding.
She headed out to her car, trudging slowly through the snow. Was Honoria right? Was that the reason Morgan was suddenly treating her like a stranger, or was he just plain sick of her? Because he wasn’t being rude or angry, he was just doing everything he could to avoid contact and conversation with her. How could she talk to him, how could they work through this, when he’d erected a giant wall of stone between them?
The front door opened and Nelda stuck her head out. “Valerie!” she yelled in tones of impatience.
Valerie kept walking. She felt sorry for what Nelda had been through years ago, but she wasn’t in the mood to be sniped at.
“Valerie!” Nelda yelled again, and this time there was something in her voice that made Valerie stop and turn around. Fear. There was fear in Nelda’s voice.
“What is it?” she called out to her.
“Do you have any idea where Teddy is?”
“No, why would I? What do you mean?” She hurried back toward the steps.
“Her aunt just called. Nobody knows where she is. She’s missing,” Nelda said, standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with alarm.
* * * * *
“Well, Camden and Festus, of course, are the best trackers. So they’ll be the ones to find her.” Elmira stood by the parked cars on the roundabout in front of Morgan’s house, trying to talk over everyone else. She looked at her sons with a smug expression. “It will be excellent publicity for the Rosemont pack when we find her.”
“I’m not riding with him,” Festus said sullenly, glowering at Camden. The two of them had traded punches the day before, and Morgan had sent them both outside to run a hundred laps around the house and threatened to send them back to California if they didn’t stop acting like cubs.
“Ride with someone else, then,” Elmira said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Fine, come with me,” Valerie said, exasperated. “It makes more sense to split up, anyway, so we can cover more ground.”
“Hud is by far the most superior tracker in the pack,” CoraBelle said haughtily as they climbed into their SUV. “We’ll take the south part of town.” They screeched off, wheels churning up a spray of snow.
Valerie had already called Morgan and told him to meet her at the shanty town as fast as he could safely drive there. The last place anyone had seen Teddy was at the rec center, where she’d gone to get breakfast. Everybody was going to start out from there and fan out.
The Juniper Police department was out looking for her too, but shifters would have a better chance of finding her, since they could scent her trail.
“At least it’s not snowing,” Valerie said, as Arthur came hurrying up to them.
“Are you kidding? It’s freezing.” Nelda was actually in tears. “You humans are ridiculously puny. She’ll get frostbite, and it’s very hard to find attractive gloves when you have no fingers.”
She looked at Arthur, blinking hard. “We’ll find her, won’t we?”
He seized her hand, and she looked at him in surprise – but didn’t pull her hand away. “We won’t stop looking until we find her,” he assured her.
He let go of her hand and climbed into the driver’s side of her car. She got in the passenger side, and they roared off.
Valerie climbed into the front seat of the Mercedes SUV that Morgan had insisted she drive once they’d agreed on the mating deception, and Festus climbed into the passenger side, glowering. As she pulled out, she saw Honoria and Homer running out the front door, waving at her.
“Don’t stop for them. They’re no good at scenting anyway,” Festus said, his tone sullen.
Valerie stopped her car to wait for
them and looked at him in exasperation. “Does your whole life have to be a fight?” she said irritably.
“Mother said that’s what keeps you strong.”
“You know what else keeps you strong? Thinking for yourself. And not being a grown man who quotes his mother all the time,” she said, as Honoria and Homer scrambled into the back. Festus let out a growl of anger and looked out the window.
“Hurry up,” he said as she pulled out of the driveway. “I don’t want Camden to find her first.”
“Yes, because that’s what’s important right now.” She seriously wanted to bitch-slap him upside his furry head, but she didn’t have time at the moment. She was concentrating on negotiating the snow-slick roads and trying not to picture what could be happening to Teddy. How long could that skinny little girl last outside in the snow?
“Do you think she’s all right?” Honoria asked anxiously as they drove.
“Maybe she just went to somebody’s house,” Homer suggested.
As Valerie rounded a curve, she tapped on the brake.
Nothing happened. It was like stepping on a sponge. She was speeding up, not slowing down.
“Hold on!” she cried out with alarm. “The brakes aren’t working!”
They were careening down the road. If they went any further, there would be a steep drop-off to the right, and they’d be at risk of plunging a hundred feet into a rocky valley.
“Brace yourselves!” she yelled. She gripped the wheel, her knuckles white, and steered straight into a snowbank.
The car slammed into it hard, and she heard Honoria and Homer cry out from the back seat. The airbag exploded in her face with startling force, and she was stunned for a moment, sitting there with the car wheels spinning. She quickly reached over and, with shaking fingers, turned the ignition off.
“Is everyone all right?” she called out, ears ringing.
“We’re fine,” Honoria said from the back seat.
“Festus? You okay?”
“Of course I’m all right,” Festus said angrily. “What do you think I am, some kind of weakling?” He quickly climbed out of the car and stomped off.
Valerie, Honoria and Homer climbed out too. Honoria called Morgan, then stuffed her phone back into her purse. “He’ll be right here,” Honoria said. She peered closely at Valerie. “Are you all right? Your lip is bleeding.”
“I’m fine. Just shaken up,” Valerie said, hugging herself. Her hearing was staring to go back to normal. “You sure you kids are okay?”
“We’re good. You know how we shifters are – we can take quite a beating,” Honoria assured her.
While they waited, Festus paced unhappily and muttered, glancing at his watch. Obviously worried that somebody might rescue Teddy before he had a chance to. Whiney little jerk.
Morgan arrived minutes later, a tow truck right behind him.
He leaped out of his car and rushed over to them, frantically looking from one person to the next, searching their faces.
“No broken bones? Do we need an ambulance?” he demanded, his voice harsh with worry.
“I’m fine, although I’m so traumatized that I think a shopping spree is in order,” Honoria said cheerfully. “I mean a post-Christmas shopping spree. I’m thinking Paris.”
“Japan has cooler tech stuff,” her brother suggested.
“You two are hilarious,” Morgan said with annoyance. He hurried over to Valerie, looking into her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked her as she stood there rubbing her shoulder where the seatbelt had cut into her. He reached over and rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. First time he’d touched her in days.
She shrugged his hand off and took a step back, and he gave her a look of puzzlement. She turned away, biting her lip; she didn’t want his pity.
“Been better. Been worse,” she said coolly. “Have they found Teddy yet?”
He shook his head, frown lines creasing his forehead. “Not as of a few minutes ago.”
“Son of a bitch.” Valerie felt cold fear descend on her. “Take us to Juniper, right now.”
“You should probably go to the hospital for a quick—” He saw the look on her face. “Nope. Okay. Let’s go, then.”
They all piled in his SUV and headed toward Juniper.
“What exactly happened with the car? Roads too slick?” he asked as they drove.
“No, I lost the brakes. The car was fine when I left the house, but the brakes went out when I went around a curve.”
He scowled. “I see,” he said, his tone ominous.
They drove in silence. Valerie knew the wheels in his head were turning, and hers were too. It seemed too much of a coincidence that the cabin had caught fire and then Morgan’s car’s brakes had gone out.
Everybody knew that she was the only one who drove that car.
Nelda was still the one most likely to want to get rid of Valerie alone. And she wouldn’t have known that her son and daughter were going to grab a ride with Valerie.
Elmira had seen Festus climb into Valerie’s car and hadn’t said a word, so it couldn’t be her. Hud and CoraBelle were also possible suspects, although it would make more sense for them to sabotage Morgan’s car than Valerie’s.
They arrived in Juniper ten minutes later.
As they pulled up to the rec center, they saw Arthur dash up, carrying a shivering Teddy in his arms.
“Oh, thank God.” Valerie heaved a sigh of relief as Morgan parked the car.
Arthur ran inside the building, and Valerie, Morgan and the others quickly followed.
For once Teddy wasn’t talking a mile a minute. Her lips were blue and her teeth chattered. They stuck her in front of a radiator and fed her hot chocolate as her shivering slowly subsided and a paramedic who’d been waiting on scene checked her out. There were no signs of frostbite, fortunately.
CoraBelle and Hud walked in, looking put-upon. They’d shifted to go search for her, but now everybody was coming back in.
“Oh. You found her,” CoraBelle said, her voice flat.
“All that work for nothing,” Hud said in annoyance. “Come along, dear – I think the shops in Silver Peak are still open.”
As they left, Nelda pushed past them and rushed in.
“Where did you go? What did you do, you foolish child?” Nelda said to Teddy, blinking back tears.
“I was walking into Juniper, but I got turned around. I went to get you a Christmas present. Since you got me one,” Teddy said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“Oh.” Nelda cleared her throat and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “My allergies are acting up. Must be all the dirty people here.” She blinked hard at Arthur. “Aren’t these the dirtiest people you’ve ever seen, Arthur?”
He nodded. “I expect so, ma’am.” He put his arm around her shoulders, and again she looked surprised but didn’t move away. She stood there for a while, dabbing at her eyes and composing herself. Then she threw her arms around him and gave him a long, hard hug. Valerie exchanged a look of shock with Morgan. She had never pictured Nelda as a hugger.
“Thank you for finding her, Arthur,” Nelda murmured.
“Any time, ma’am.”
“You can just call me Nelda,” she said, not meeting his gaze.
Then she scowled down at Teddy. “Young lady, trying to go to town by yourself was just silly. You must never do that again. In fact, you’re coming back to our house, where I can keep an eye on you. And furthermore, I am giving you a very long, hot bath. And new clothes.”
Teddy looked down at her overcoat, the hem of which was sodden and blackened from dragging in the dirt and snow. “What’s wrong with these clothes?”
“Don’t get me started. Let’s go,” Nelda said. She glanced at a Juniper police officer who’d been standing by with the paramedic.
“And if her mother wants her back, she can come speak to me. And my lawyers. I will need proof that she’s actually functional again before I am willing to return her.”
The officer shrugged. “Fine with me,” he said. The town of Juniper didn’t pay a lot of attention to shanty town residents, and the Rosemonts were very well known.
“I can help you make her a present,” Honoria said to Teddy, taking her grubby hand. “I know what she likes.”
“You do? What does she like? Are you her daughter? Who’s that boy? Is he her son? Are you going to read me a story? What are we making her?” Teddy was clearly starting to feel better again.
Arthur cleared his throat. He said to Nelda, “Before any of you drive anywhere, I’m going to check over all of your cars.”
Chapter Fourteen
“We need to talk,” Morgan said to Valerie as she sank down on his bed.
Teddy was downstairs with Nelda, soaking in a giant hot bath full of bubbles. Once she’d thawed out, she hadn’t stopped talking the whole way back, according to Honoria, who’d ridden with her mother on the drive back to Morgan’s house.
“Don’t you need to get to work? You just spent your whole morning dealing with the Teddy crisis,” she said, flopping back against the pillows.
“Screw work,” he said.
Valerie turned to look at him in shock.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” She pressed her hand against her forehead. “I think I have a concussion. I could have sworn that I heard you say ‘screw work’.”
“Screw. Work. Work can go fuck itself. You are my sole concern.”
“Actually, I think it’s you who has the concussion. Can shifters get concussions?”
He looked her in the eye. “Valerie, I know I’ve been a total dick since we got back from our time in the woods.”
She nodded. “No argument there.”
“You could argue a little,” he suggested.
She shook her head. “Nope. Carry on. Would you like to insult yourself some more, or shall I help you?”
He sat down next to her on the bed. “Honoria called me to tell me you guys had been in an accident, but she didn’t tell me whether you’d been hurt, and then she hung up and wouldn’t answer my phone calls when I was driving. I suspect she did that on purpose. That was the longest ten minutes of my life. It was ten minutes that lasted decades, ten minutes when I thought I’d lost you and you’d never know how I feel about you.”
Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas Page 9
