Then she settled down on the couch and turned on the television with the volume way down so as not to wake the babies. She really had no idea what Lynda was so exhausted from. To her the twins had been the easiest babies in the world. She was half way through one of those torrid romances that only came on after dark, when the door to the cabin suddenly burst open. And by burst, it practically splintered beneath the force of a full grown were-panther tearing into the room at full speed.
Sonya jumped up, so startled by the event that she immediately began to transform with a loud snarl. At the very same moment Lynda shifted back into her human form. Ben came barreling through the front door only seconds behind her. Lynda ignored Sonya’s growls while in puma form and then her questions once she transformed back as she stalked toward the slightly open door of the main bedroom.
Lynda threw it open expecting to hear the scared crying of two infants, rudely awakened from their slumber… instead she heard nothing. And then she slowly crept over and looked into the bassinets. She could feel the cool crisp air of the evening inside the room. Weird… it shouldn’t be that cool in here with the babies. She stood there for a second, frozen in time, giving her mind a chance to decipher what her eyes were already telling her.
There were no babies in the bassinets… There were no babies in the bassinets? There were no babies in the bassinets!!! And then she felt the stir of the breeze inside the room again. Weird… it shouldn’t be that cool in here with the babies. And then it dawned on her as she slowly looked around the room… the bedroom window was wide open!
Chapter 4
Needless to say, complete chaos erupted after that, signaled by Lynda’s heartbreaking wail as she turned into a cougar right there on the spot and jumped right through the open bedroom window. There was no sign of anyone outside. Ben followed suit and jumped out the window right behind her changing into his growling wolf form too as she tried to bolt off into the woods. She growled back, her teeth snapping as she challenged him.
Ben howled, and the pack almost instantly gathered around him, racing from their cabins, the woods, and wherever else they might have been. He transformed back into his human form, with Lynda still snarling at his side. “The babies have been taken,” he informed the others, some who were already in their wolf form, and the others who were transforming as he spoke. “We must track the scent.”
With that command they bolted off into the woods as a team in every direction possible. Only Sonya remained in the cabin, too consumed with guilt to join the search party. She kept staring at the empty bassinets unable to fathom how they had been taken right out from under her nose. She looked from them to the open window that she knew for a fact she had checked earlier, back and forth, almost as if she were in a trance.
Meanwhile, in the woods the search party tracked the scent of the babies all the way to the edge of the river, where they finally lost the scent. Lynda laid down at the river’s edge where she shifted back into human form and wept into the soil. She, better than anyone, knew that any number of dangers could be posed to her babies by this time. Whoever had taken them could have left them to drown in the river, could have already sold them off to someone else… or worse!
All manner of horrifying thoughts were filling her mind, causing her to be nearly delirious with grief. At that point Lynda saw Sonya come running through the woods to join her. Sonya simply could not stand waiting at the cabin any longer. She joined the search party, and upon seeing Lynda’s devastation, she took over for her sister. She closed her eyes and willed herself to recall the birth of the twins.
It had been mostly uneventful for herself, but when Lynda gave birth to the first child, the girl, it was quickly noted that she was not breathing. Lynda was overcome by the birth of her second child, and it was left up to Sonya to deal with the first baby. No one knew what to expect from the rare cross breeding. So Sonya did the only thing she could think of and blew air from her lips into the baby girl. Soon she was crying as loudly as her newly born brother.
Once she was breathing on her own the baby girl had looked up into Sonya’s eyes, and in that moment they had been bonded forever. So Sonya focused all her will on that moment as she attempted to use her primal senses to find the babies. She stood there quietly for a minute or so, focusing all her attention… then suddenly she knew which to direction to run in.
“This way!” she called out, and a flood of werewolves, including one scared puma mother followed right along.
Sonya burst through the branches of trees and the gnarled bushes without the slightest hesitation. She gave no thought to her own safety as she frantically bolted forward in the direction of the baby she had sensed. When she finally skidded to a stop they were at the edge of a small clearing near the edge of their territory. In the center of it was what looked like a shack. But how could that be? They all knew every hut, den, lean-to, cave, camp, cubbyhole, shed and pigpen inside the Strongheart territory.
Lynda boldly sniffed the air, as did Sonya, and they could both sense the babies now, as well as some new magic in the air. Both were unprepared for this. The pack of wolves, including Ben and Clay, quietly waited in the brush fifty feet or so behind the sisters for a command on what to do next. Lynda was ready to rush in but for once Sonya encouraged her to wait and take stock of the situation before plowing on into the unknown. But they both felt it without a doubt… that the being inside had been attempting to hide the shack from them all this time by using a spell of some sort.
So the two sisters slowly and cautiously approached the ramshackle structure unsure of what would happen next. The shack itself was, at best, a miniscule shelter. It was barely large enough to contain the two babies inside, much less any adult sized beings. But the closer they got, the more both sisters became aware of an additional unknown presence inside with the babies. A magical presence. A female presence. A witch! Yet this… this was a completely unknown scent to them both, though it reminded them of another for some reason.
As Lynda neared the shack, the twins, sensing her presence, began to wail and howl for their mother. The being inside the shack must have realized that she had been caught, because she attempted to bolt out of the shack and away from the wolves that had formed a tightening circle around the shack. With her dark cloak hanging low, disguising her features, she could have been anyone.
Lynda had already sensed that the magical presence inside was female, and more than that, she was also werewolf. All of the other members of the pack were coming to this realization too as they took in her scent. Right there in the front of the pack Ben inched forward, Clay to his right, with his snout raised in the air. Her scent… the new being… it was familiar to him for some reason. Who was she?
Lynda did not wait for permission to go to her babies. As she bolted past the cloaked figure and into the shack she immediately transformed into her human state and swept both babies up into her arms. With tears of relief, and gratitude, she cradled them close to her. Outside, Ben and the other werewolves tightened their circle around the woman even further. The closer Ben got to her the more he thought that she did not exactly smell like a witch. Strange… he could not figure out her familiar scent. Though he knew without a doubt she was a witch.
Chapter 5
Show yourself,” Ben demanded, his voice shifting from a growl to a powerful demand as he transformed into his human form right there in front of her.
The woman boldly reached up and drew back the hood of her cloak, eliciting a chorus of gasps and snarls from the wolves completely surrounding her. Only Sonya, who stood at the back of the pack, ready to pounce on this woman who had stolen the babies, did not react to the sight of her once her face was visible.
She had white blonde hair that fell forward in various clumps and braids. Her skin was ivory, nearly the same shade as her hair. But it was her eyes that gave her fully away as they raised to meet Ben’s without hesitation, they shimmered a violet hue.
“Tanis,” Ben breathed out, his eyes
wide, his desire for wrath faltering.
At that same moment Lynda stepped out of the shack, carrying the two babies that had been stolen from her. She glowered at the woman from behind. “You will pay for what you’ve done,” she warned her as she moved past her back to the safety of the pack.
Tanis was unmoved by Lynda’s words. Her eyes were still locked to Ben’s.
“Ben, do something,” Sonya hissed from just behind him. “Or I will!”
Ben blinked, as if startled out of some sort of hypnotic state. “No,” he said sharply. “Everyone… leave us!”
The wolves all around him scattered instantly beneath his command. They all moved back a few hundred yards, just out of earshot, but still close enough to return when needed. Only Lynda, still holding the twins, and Sonya remained there with him, immune to his authority at the moment.
“Tanis… we all thought that you had died years ago,” Ben said haltingly as he stared at the young woman before him. She couldn’t have been much more than a teenager.
“Obviously you all were wrong,” she replied calmly, her voice as smooth as silk.
“But now you will perish,” Lynda threatened as she handed the babies over to Sonya. “Ben, please allow me to do it myself right now.”
“No,” Ben replied quietly, but sternly.
“What do you mean no?” Lynda looked at him in shock, she had no idea what was happening, why he would deny her the right to punish this young witch for attempting to harm her children.
“Tell her,” Tanis smirked as she tilted her head slightly to the side. “Tell her who was forgotten in the woods, brother.”
Ben’s jaw clenched as he knew there was no evading the truth. He whistled shortly to call back his guards. At his command the men escorted Tanis away from the shack.
“What did she mean, Ben?” Lynda asked Ben as she took the babies back from Sonya.
“She’s my youngest sister,” Ben explained to his confused mate in a regretful tone.
Ben started explaining things before Lynda had a chance to say anything else, “Many years ago, when we were kids, we went for a run in the woods one day and I lost track of her. We searched for her for weeks,” he gasped slightly as he had carried the burden and the guilt of this story for so long. His shoulders drooped and his face was filled with sorrow.
“All of us… the entire pack searched for her… night and day.” Ben continued, obviously ready to share the tale after all these years.
“We put our best trackers on it… and we even had help from a few neighboring packs too out looking for her. Everyone looked… everywhere. But when we never found her after weeks, it was assumed that she had succumbed to the wild… and we stopped looking. My parents were never the same.”
“Oh Ben,” Lynda said quietly. She understood how he must have felt, searching so frantically for his young sister. “But she’s not that young child any more,” Lynda reminded him. “She knows what she did – she stole our babies.”
“I know,” Ben said gravely and met Lynda’s eyes with determination. “She will pay for that. Of that you can be sure.”
Chapter 6
It took a little work but Ben finally managed to have Lynda and Sonya escorted back to the cabin by Clay and a few of the others. Ben assured them he would be fine but he had to talk with her now and the sisters understood from his manner that he meant business. As soon as they were safely out of sight Ben headed for the tiny cabin where his men had already taken their newest “guest”.
He needed time to talk with Tanis for so many reasons – but mostly to answer all those long buried questions that had haunted him for the past several years ever since her disappearance. His mind was swimming with thoughts of her life over the past years. Where had she been? Who had raised her? What happened to her on that day all those years ago?
As soon as he reached the building, his men, completely surrounding the perimeter of the structure, bowed their heads and moved out of his way so that he could enter. The tiny cabin was only two rooms – a tiny bathroom with a small shower, sink and toilet, and the rest of the house was an open room basically divided into a small living area with a recliner, couch and table and a small little bedroom, equipped with a twin bed. It was clean but sparsely decorated. After all, this space was not meant as a living area – only for short stay guests.
Ben walked up the three steps to the small porch and stood there for a moment before he knocked on the front door. There was no answer even though he felt the presence inside. He knocked once more and said quietly, “Tanis? It’s Ben… can I come in?”
He waited for a response and one came a few seconds later, “Come in, Ben. After all, it’s your house.”
And with that, he opened the front door and walked on in. Tanis was sitting at the tiny table with a can of soda and an uneaten PB&J sandwich right in front of her. She watched him as he entered the room, like a cat would watch a sparrow entering its home. He fought the urge to walk around and hug her, but he could tell from her body language that she was not receptive to that.
“So I see they made you some food.” Ben smiled, then went on, “I wasn’t sure what you wanted but I asked them to get you something just in case you were hungry.”
“I’m not hungry,” Tanis replied still watching Ben carefully.
“I can have the ladies fix you anything you like,” Ben countered as he pulled back a folding chair and sat at the table directly across from her.
“That’s not necessary. Maybe later,” she said flatly as she pushed her white blonde braids back over her shoulder.
“Just let me know…” Ben said wondering how exactly to carry on this conversation. Then he leaned in and rested his arms on the small card table between him and Tanis. The food slightly jiggled as his arms rested on the flimsy surface. Tanis did not move but continued to watch him.
“So, I don’t know of any way to do this other than to just come out and ask you, Tanis, what happened to you all those years ago? I mean… we were out having a good time that day out in the forest and the next thing I know you’ve completely vanished. I looked for you… we looked for you, all of us, including the best trackers in the area at that time… for weeks… and never found anything.”
Tanis sat there and looked at Ben for a few seconds – he could tell she was thinking about her answer before she said anything. And even though she was his sister, she was also a stranger – so he waited patiently for her reply.
“I don’t know what happened that day Ben,” Tanis started. “I really have very little recollection of that day. I can remember us going to the forest… I was looking at mushrooms I think… and you were on the trail of something . I don’t know what, maybe a squirrel or something. But the last thing I really remember about that day was that I went into a patch of trees and found a whole bunch of mushrooms – I was so proud of my discovery… and I went back to get you to show them to you… but you were gone!”
“That’s not at all what happened,” Ben exclaimed, completely caught off guard by her implications of his abandoning her. “I was looking for squirrel and rabbit nests, yes, but I never just left you alone. Is that really what you think – that I just abandoned you?”
“Well, wasn’t it?” Tanis asked. “I looked for you for 3 days after that and never found you or anyone. I was all alone out there!”
“Tanis, I’m so sorry… but I didn’t leave you.” Ben said. “After you went missing we all looked for you for weeks. It was like you just disappeared from the face of the earth.”
“I wandered around for days out there… I never saw any dangerous animals thank goodness… but I lived off berries and a small stream I found. Finally I found a little cabin and a little old lady way out there. I was dirty and hungry… I think I had poison oak and my clothes were ripped… but she took me in anyway and I lived with her from then on. She was my new family.”
“Tanis, I am your family…” Ben interjected. “And there are even more family members now. Mom and Dad are
gone… and I have a wife and children now you know… and you have other in-laws too, not too mention all the pack members.”
Tanis just sat there silently no longer making eye contact as Ben talked, and it was obvious she wanted to be anywhere but there.
Ben watched her before he went on, “And we need to talk about what happened tonight too… about the babies… but I know it’s been an eventful night and we all need some rest.” He hesitated giving her time to speak but when she didn’t he went on. “So for now, I will leave you alone and we’ll talk again in the morning, alright?”
Tanis just sat there looking at the floor.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Ben said as he stood up. He pushed the folded chair back up under the table and headed for the door. He wanted to hug her but knew she wasn’t ready for that kind of contact yet.
“I’ll be back in the morning and we’ll talk some more. Until then I have several of my men posted outside to make sure you are okay. If you need anything at all you just let them know… and if you need me for some reason… any reason, then have one of them come get me and I’ll be here in just a few minutes. Okay?”
“I can do that,” was all she said.
He smiled at her, trying to make eye contact with her once again. But when that didn’t happen he simply walked over to the front door and went on out, closing it behind him. Once out on the small front porch he motioned to his nearest lieutenant to come on over. Ben walked down the stairs to meet him.
Animal Desire: A Paranormal Romance (Werewolf and Shapeshifter) (The Animal Sagas) Page 2
