by Fay Walsh
At the mention of Chrys, Kai’s face turned a deep shade of red. Incidentally, Roan knew Kai was never nervous when he spoke about or to a woman. Kai reached his hand to his mouth and coughed into it.
“Er, we were, only talking. I hadn’t even known she was that girl’s sister.How do you know who they are?”
“Car trouble. I drove them into town, and I offered to show Harmony around until you showed up.”
Kai started laughing and his left brow raised curiously. “Wait, seriously? You know that’s how all erotic books start.”
Roan snorted and rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” Roan smiled when he said it. Why are you reading erotica anyway?”
Kai rubbed his chin and slowly nodded his head. “Hmm, touché. You make an excellent point...”
There was silence for a few moments until they reached the ranch. They whizzed by cornfields as they drove down the road.
“So, are you ready to start dating again after, you know?” Kai didn’t say her name, knowing that it was still a touchy subject for Roan.
“Nothing is going on, I’m just helping her out and showing her around town, just two grown adults, that’s all.”
Roan was reminded of the electricity that he felt that coursed through his body when he met Harmony for the first time. It was unlike anything he felt before, but he was sure that one could only be mated once. He would need to ask the Elders about this when he had the chance.
Kai’s eyebrows raised and he smirked. “Sure, Alpha, anything you say. Just don’t hold back your feelings all the way, you might miss out on something.”
Roan thought about Kai’s words as they make a left on the road that led down to the ranch.
The dusty road, after a few moments, led them to a large, white ranch home big enough to fit five families, but was used as a meeting place, or home, to some of his Herd, who didn’t have a home of their own. Roan pulled in front of the ranch and parked, he turned off the ignition and noticed a woman walking down the porch steps. Her long pepper, gray hair was parted to one side, the other side was shaved. She leaned on the bannister of the porch with her arms crossed over her chest. Roan opened the car door and stepped out.
“April, you’re looking well. How is everything here? No one was hurt, were they?”
“No. Thankfully, no one was hurt, Alpha,” April told him. “We managed to contain some of the Younglings that couldn’t shift back into their human form.”
Roan nodded. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kai looking down at the ground in disappointment. Roan went over to his friend and patted him on the back, letting him know that everything was fine.
“Where are they now, April?”
“I’ll show you, follow me.”
Roan and Kai walked around the side of the house to the back. The entire ranch house was surrounded by a thick bushel of trees, that made it perfect for shifters to run and hunt without being targeted, seen, or hunted by humans or Hunters. They made their way to the back of the house, where April stood in front of the cellar door. Roan noticed a chain around the steel handlebars.
April noticed Roan looking at the chains with curiosity in his eyes.
“For precaution, see that?” April jutted her chin to the steel door where a round dent was implanted from the inside of the door. “One of the Younglings tried to ram the door when myself and Samuel tried to shackle them.”
April dug into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys, handing it to Roan. He took them from her and bent down to pop the lock open that bound the doors together. The chains rattled as they dropped to the ground and the doors made an eerie creak as Roan opened them. The immediate sounds of wolves growling angrily echoed from the basement.
“This won’t take long, thank you, April,” Roan said and handed the keys back into her nimble fingers.
Roan walked down the steps of the cellar. He could sense anger and pain generated in the room. The cellars were mainly used for interrogation and when the full moon reached its peak and those who couldn’t control it, stayed down in the basement. It wasn’t a very special place for young Shifters to be when they first stood out.
Chained to the wall were six Younglings in their shifter form; three cub shifters to the left, and three cub shifters to the right. They were each the size of a Great Dane and they bared their teeth as saliva dripped from their fanged mouths. The young shifters growled angrily in unison as Roan stood in the middle of the dimly lit cellar.
He looked from one side to the other, seeing that their eyes were red. All Shifters’ eyes, until they reached adulthood, when their eyes would change to their human color, were always yellow. Red meant either starving, or going rogue, or berserk.
The Younglings continued to growl at him, jumping and tried to attack him but the silver chains that were clasped around their necks held them back.
Roan smirked and parted his lips. In a deep, boisterous voice he shouted, “quiet!” In the back of his throat, there was a demanding, aggressive growl. The young shifters stopped their growling and their ears laid down defensively, the six wolves whimpered in submission.
Roan’s eyes glowed brightly.
“Shift!”
An Alpha’s power level was so strong that it was able to return its pack members back to their original form. If they were even stronger than an opposing Shifter, they were even able to return an Alpha to their human form.
The young shifters flinched, and they tilted their heads back. A howl escaped their throats and an agonizing humanoid-beast cry echoed through the basement. The body hairs of the Shifters receded back to naked flesh. The process of turning into a Shifter form was painful, but to return back, especially young and inexperienced, was excruciating.
The sounds of bone cracking were mixed in with their painful cries.
He would need to check on the other Younglings and see how they fared.
Once each transformation ceased, instead of grown bear forms, there were four teenage boys and two teenage females, on the stone floor with hair that surrounded them, that had fallen from their furs. Roan had grabbed blankets from the wooden cabinet against the wall; he draped them around each of their naked bodies.
“Don’t worry, you all will be fine. The process is painful, but you’ll only need good rest and food.” Roan told each Youngling. They all thanked him immensely.
Roan went back up to the surface where he saw only Kai standing at the top, his eyes widened.
“Everything alright? It sounded like people were dying down there,” asked Kai. He still felt guilty and knew that it was his fault he put those children in so much pain.
“They’re going to be fine, Kai. They’ll need a change of clothes, food, and some pain killers before they get some rest. Where is April?”
Kai jutted his thumb at the house. “She’s inside getting some supplies.”
Roan nodded.
“Good. I’ll need to speak with the other Younglings, just to make sure they are doing well.”
Roan started to head for the front of the ranch, but Kai called him back. Roan turned around to his best friend.
“I really am sorry, Roan, for messing up this way. Everything that could have gone wrong, would have if you didn’t come when you did.” Kai’s downcast expression didn’t meet his friend's eyes. “I’m a terrible teacher and Beta. I don’t even know why you keep trusting me.”
Roan approached him and he reached out his arm to rest his hand on Kai’s shoulder. Kai looked up at his friend.
“You aren’t a terrible teacher, Kai. You messed up, like everyone, as I do. I trust you not only as my best friend but as my Beta and my trusted advisor. I chose you for a reason and I wouldn’t choose anyone else.”
Kai chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
“Aw man, you’re making me blush.”
Roan laughed and patted his back and scooped him in a sideways, brotherly hug.
“Now stop thinking that way, okay? You’re more than deserving of this role. That’s wh
y I also trust you with something else.”
Kai raised his brow curiously.
“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”
“Harmony. Her car broke down and it’s in the diner’s parking lot. I told her I’d get it fixed, and have it dropped off at the motel where she and Chrys are staying.”
Kai raised his brow and grinned at him.
“Oh, so you saying that nothing is happening? I’m starting to think there’s more than meets the eye, Alpha.”
Roan, red-faced, cleared his throat.
“Pick up the car in an hour, thanks, Kai.”
Chapter 5
Harmony and Chrys removed their bags from the back of the truck and headed down the street where Roan pointed out a motel earlier. She was grateful that he had driven them into town and paid for their food, it was like some kind of godsend with him dropping down when she needed someone.
“Yeah, can I have a room? It’ll be for a few nights,” Harmony said to the cashier, a woman in her early forties with stringy light brown hair in a loose bun, several strands of which had fallen in her dull gray eyes. The woman grinned and revealed some of her teeth.
“Would you like one single or two?”
“Please, two,” Chrys said behind Harmony. From her peripheral, she saw Chrys roll her eyes as she shifted her bag from one arm to the other.
Harmony sighed and looked to the lady. “Two singles, please. How much for two weeks?”
“That’ll be... six-hundred and thirty dollars. Will that be cash or credit?”
“Cash, please.”
Harmony took out money from her back pocket and handed it to the woman, who quickly counted it before putting it inside the register. She reached for a key behind her, where several other room keys sat on a hook.
“You’ll be on the second floor, thank you for staying with us.”
Harmony and Chrys walked to the doors of the motel and went around the back. They reached the flight of stairs and started their ascent.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be living in a motel for a few weeks,” Chrys grumbled behind her. Harmony sighed as they walked down the cemented walkway and up the stairs, with their suitcases clattering behind them. Harmony counted down the door numbers.
“It’s only temporary, Chrys. We aren’t going to live here forever.” Harmony stopped in front of their room door and unlocked it with the room key. “Let’s just make the most of this, okay?”
Chrys walked into the room. It was a medium sized with striped black and white walls. There was a flat screen television sitting across from the two beds, that was neatly made in green sheets. There was a table to the left side of the room and straight ahead was a sink with a large rectangular mirror that caught the sister’s reflection, and a bathroom was off to the right.
Chrys slapped her bag on the left side of the bed and plopped it down on the cushioned bed.
“It doesn’t matter. And what do we do now? Since this is only temporary.”
Harmony placed her bags down on her bed and began unpacking her things.
“I’d obviously get a job, Chrys, and I’m going to get you into school for the next semester.”
From Harmony’s peripheral, she saw her sister’s eyes widened and she jumped from the bed.
“Seriously? You expect me to go to school when you might just uproot me again! This isn’t fair, Harmony. Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
Harmony stopped midway removing her clothes and turned to her sister.
“Look, I’m sorry, Chrys, I’m not trying to uproot us, this is for your own—”
“Stop saying for my own good! That’s all you keep saying and you expect me to just go along with it?” Chrys’ eyes were glassy as she stared at Harmony. “Why is this for my own good? You can’t even tell me that.”
Harmony bit her lip and memories of the past flooded back to her. Images of her as a child, holding her sister in her arms, protecting her from the blistering cold as she faced eye to eye with a ferocious monster and their mother’s final words played over in Harmony’s head.
Harmony shut her eyes and sighed, gripping the clothes in her hand.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Chrys,” Harmony opened her eyes and looked at her sister, “But you have to trust me, okay? I’m only protecting you, there are just some things you don’t understand.” Things you don’t even remember, Harmony thought and remembered the night they lost everything.
Chrys frowned. “And if I don’t understand, you’re supposed to teach me, show me. That’s what being a big sister is all about!”
Chrys shook her head and headed to the bathroom. Harmony didn’t stop her, but instead said, “Just know, I love you, Chrysanthemum, what I do is for your safety.”
Chrys’ shoulders tensed, but she didn’t turn around, instead heading for the bathroom, and slamming the door behind her
***
The snow completely blanketed the forest ground and flurries of snow rained down from the night sky. A young Harmony ran through the forest with toddler Chrys, huddled into her sister’s back. Everything happened all at once, one minute Harmony and her family were playing charades and the next minute, her father told them to run, their mother pulled them along.
The last thing Harmony saw was her father leaving the cabin, holding some kind of weapon, and outside in the night were several pairs of red eyes.
“Mom, what’s going on? Why isn’t dad coming with us?” Harmony cried out. Her mother dragged her by the arm, while she held her five-year-old sister in her arm as she whimpered.
Her mother’s brown hair fell into those hazel eyes that Harmony shared. She stopped to open the door and turned to look at Harmony with a serious glare in her eyes, but she smiled as she said it:
“Don’t worry about that, Harmony. Just know, what I do is to protect you. Now take this, this will hurt them, and only use it if you have too,” her mother said and handed her a silver blade.
Harmony tucked it away.
The memory flashed and young Harmony blinked. She looked down and her hands were dripping with blood, her mother’s body laid out and her blood soaked the white snow.
Harmony’s eyes vibrated and she hitched a breath.
“M-Mom?”
In a shaky voice, her mother spoke, “Run. Protect… your sister and keep moving.”
Harmony’s eyes darted toward her little sister on the snowy ground. Chrys was crying as she tried to shake her mother awake, not understanding that she was gone from the world. Harmony steadily got on her feet and went to her sister, grabbing her, and she started to hum a lullaby that their mother used to sing to both of them. Chrys’ whimpered cries ceased as she nuzzled her chubby cheeks into Harmony’s chest.
“I’ll always protect you.”
The back of Harmony’s neck hairs stood on end before someone’s hot breath rushed down her spine. Harmony’s body went rigid for a moment, but she still managed to turn around to see, saliva dripped from the fanged mouth of a large brown bear standing at nearly five feet tall. Its bright blue eyes stared at her with a gleam that it found its prey.
Harmony’s eyes widened and her heart fell in her chest. She broke into a run, but she could hear the hurried movements from the bear gaining speed.
Harmony instinctively crisscrossed through the forest, so it was harder for the bear to follow her. She juggled Chrys in her arms and cooed to her, trying to calm down the whimpering child. She hadn’t expected a ledge, and Harmony tumbled, but securely wrapped her arms around her sister to protect her.
Harmony lay on the ground for a few moments, her head was spinning and pounding, but she heard Chrys crying loudly. She quickly sat up just as the brown bear headed for her sister, who was sitting in the snow, red-faced, and crying.
“Leave my sister alone!” Harmony called out. She removed the silver blade that her mother had given her and charged for the bear.
She managed to slash the bear across the face, it roared in pain and stood on its
hind legs towering over them like a giant.
Harmony snapped her eyes open and gasped, being wrenched from the same dream she had for a few years since her parent's unfortunate death. Even to this day, Harmony still didn’t know why a sloth of bears targeted her family, or why a grizzly bear was their leader.
Harmony sat up from her bed. It was only a quarter until eight and a dull orange lighting was coming from the window. She looked to Chrys in the next bed, her back turned to her, and she smiled. Her mother’s voice played in her head as it always did:
