Chapter Four – Bowie
With Ana back at school, the excitement level of our little town dropped tremendously. I remember when Annie first came to live with us. I was almost eighteen and she seemed so helpless. Those huge green eyes were filled with so much sadness. Every time she would look at me, my heart hurt. She was a lot tougher than we’d all thought, but looking back it was understandable with everything she’d been through. She had lost both of her parents and her home all within the first twelve years of her life. She hadn’t gone through her first change and her powers hadn’t developed at the time.
Brady guided her through that first shift and hunt. She was such a clumsy kid, tripping over her own feet. None of us could believe she was a graceful cat shifter. Brady told us how amazing it was to watch her in cat form. He was the first one to call her “kitten” and the rest of us just picked up on it. At the time, it had irked her to no end, but it stuck and it didn’t seem to bother her now.
Her witch powers came in fast and hard. With no one to guide her, she stirred up a lot of trouble. She was forced to learn by trial and error. When she hexed Lance Smythe, boy, did she piss off Dad! When Mama called me to tell me what had happened, I laughed. That little asshole deserved it! Nevertheless, I could see Dad’s point. He had had a hard time convincing the Council that Annie wasn’t a threat to the nest. That little stunt came close to getting her punished, dragon-style. The whole family stood up at the Council and told of the different tricks the Smythe boys had pulled on Annie throughout her time with us. That was what saved her. My being the sheriff didn’t hurt things either.
I tried to keep the peace in our little town, but with Anastasia around, my job was difficult. The older Annie got,, the more trouble she caused. She was a cute thing and the boys of Cedar River all noticed. It took all of us Golden boys to run interference. We probably shouldn’t have pushed all the boys away from our kitten, but she was ours to take care of. When she reached seventeen, I caught her down by the lake in an older Mustang with one of the boys from the puma clan. The windows were steamed up and I could see some movement in the backseat. At that moment, I realized that my feelings for our kitten may not be of the brotherly sort. I wanted to kill that kid. Especially when Connor cracked the window and I could see Annie buttoning up her jeans with her hair mussed. I pulled that little shit out of the car and put the fear of all he held holy into him. I forced Annie to get into the sheriff’s truck and took her home myself, lecturing the whole way. I can still remember the green fire that flashed in her eyes that night.
“Just because you can’t get laid, Bowie, doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t,” she’d spewed at me. Our little kitten had grown claws and she sunk them in deep, drawing blood. As far as I know that was her last date, but her rebellion didn’t end there. She took it upon herself to become the town hell-raiser, usually pulling Colin and Callum into her schemes. From painting the water tower to stealing our rival school’s mascot to “borrowing” my sheriff’s vehicle, she pulled them all. Her most infamous “crime” was dancing naked in the town fountain after a night of underage drinking on the beach. She was punished for each of her “crimes” but she still kept at them. Of course, I will admit Brady, the twins and I didn’t help there. Every time she was punished, we’d break her out. We would take her out for night flights when she wasn’t supposed to leave her room. Brady helped her and the twins paint the water tower. I paid off her debt to the mechanic when he had to pound out some of the dents she’d managed to put in my truck.
Taking her to college almost killed me. Late at night when I was sure she was in bed, I’d shift and fly over her dorm. Sometimes my brothers would go with me. We all missed her desperately when she was gone. She’d call the next day and ask if we’d gone up for a flight the night before. We’d lie to her, but she knew. Brady worried about her getting a chance to hunt enough. Mama and Dad were just as bad. I was more worried that she’d meet some random guy, fall in love, bring him home to meet the family where I’d be forced to kill him and hide the body at the bottom of Lake Superior. It hadn’t happened in the three years she’d been gone, but I was anticipating it. Okay, more like dreading it, but you get my point.
She hadn’t been back at school but a couple of months when I went into the station one morning to find my answering machine was filled with several messages from a buddy of mine up at Pine Bluff, near where Ana went to school. The last one was pretty frantic. Poachers had hit the small town with a vengeance. A family of bobcat shifters was missing, and a teenage wolf was found in pretty bad shape. I called him back and offered any resources I had to help.
“Bowie, I don’t know where to begin. They hit hard and fast. And this isn’t the first shifter town that has been hit. There’s one in Wisconsin that was torn apart about two weeks ago.” I was stunned. Nothing had come through about that. “I only just found out from one of my deputies. He was on his way home from visiting his pack in North Dakota. He drives through the town on his way home to pick up jerky and chocolate for his wife. He said the town was burned to the ground and the people were scattered all over. A few of them have come to Pine Bluff seeking refuge.”
I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “I can see if I can get together some volunteers from here to come help with the search, if you want me to.”
“I would appreciate it, Bowie. I know you have a friend who goes to school up here. You may want to let her know what’s going on before she comes back for the fall semester. These people mean business and I’d hate to have something happen to her on my territory. I’m encouraging my shifter families to visit their extended families.”
I didn’t let him know that I’d personally taken Ana back to school already. I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest. “Let me make some phone calls and I’ll call you back when I know something more.”
I didn’t even bother to set the phone down. I started dialing anyone I could think of. Dad, Brady, the twins and I were on the list. I got a few men from the McIntyre and Macintosh packs to help. The Pierce Pride was sending about fifteen men to help out. I called Pine Bluff sheriff’s department back and let him know that we had about thirty to forty men arriving tomorrow morning. We would start the search at dawn. Hopefully, we could find this family and the poachers who were terrorizing these communities. For now I had to see to my town’s needs. My deputies could handle the day to day operations of Cedar River.
Now, there were some personal issues to handle, just in case the worst happened. I opened my office safe and began going over the papers I had there. Once everything was updated, I got busy packing up the necessary things to take with us, guns, ammunition, food and water. Tonight, I would tell Ana what was happening. She was going to be pissed if I told her she had to come home. I’d take Brady with me. He could always make her see reason.
Chapter Five-Ana
My roommate, Vivian, and I were getting ready for a girl’s night out when my cell phone began playing the theme song from “Halloween”…Colin’s ringtone.
“What’s up?” I answered.
“Bowie and Brady are on their way up to take you hunting. They wanted to surprise you, but I wanted to give you a heads up just in case you’ve got a hot date tonight,” Colin joked.
“Tonight? Shit, Col, I just made plans with Viv. Fuck it! I’m going out tonight. If they wanted to visit, they should have called first.” I said, furious with those two.
Colin got very solemn, “We worry about you, Ana. You need to be safe. There are poachers invading the area and we’re scared about the things that can happen to you when you’re in the woods alone. The Council has put out a notice that no dragon flies alone. The packs and prides won’t allow the kids out without adults. They’re sending out a search party for a missing bobcat family in Pine Bluff. We’re all headed up there tomorrow to help with the search. Sheriff up there thinks the poachers have them. Bowie has his deputies working around the clock trying to find these idiots, but until th
en, please, Ana, don’t do anything stupid. Can’t you and Viv go out tomorrow night?”
My fury was still high, but knowing there were poachers out there, I could understand everyone’s fear.
“Ana, even if you don’t care about us, think of Mama and Papa.”
At the mention of them, tears filled my eyes. “Alright, Colin. You play dirty, but alright.”
I could hear the relief in Colin’s voice when he said, “Thanks, Ana.”
“I do care about you guys, too, you know? I love you, Col.”
“Love you too, kitten.”
Viv was sitting crossed legged on her bed. “Can’t go tonight?”
“No and I’m sorry. We’ll go tomorrow though, I promise. All of it will be my treat. Bowie and Brady are on their way, we have some family stuff to settle.” I was still mad.
“It’s not a problem,” Viv promised. “I’ll go study tonight instead of tomorrow.”
She hugged me tight before grabbing her book bag and heading out the door. “Oh, hi,” she said as she opened the door. Bowie was poised with his hand ready to knock on our door. Bowie flashed his “don’t you find me sexy” smile and Brady just nodded to her.
“Ana, they’re here,” she called out.
When Bowie came into the room, I threw my sneaker at him. “Hey, kitten,” he said with a grin that always aggravated me.
“Shut the fuck up, Bowie Golden,” I said before turning to Brady. “How the hell did he talk you into this, Brady?” Brady just smiled at me, ever the silent type. “Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, I had plans tonight? No, Annie doesn’t get to date, does she? I have to be available for every whim Bowie has.”
Bowie’s eyes flashed and his grin became lethal. “What plans did you cancel for me, kitten? Something really special?”
I picked up a paperweight and threw it at him. The shit caught it one-handed and set it down.
Brady pushed Bowie out into the hall and closed the door. “Do you have to piss him off every time you see him?” Brady asked me.
“I’m tired of jumping through his hoops of flame, Brady. I left home to get away from the ever watchful eye of Sheriff Golden and his posse of idiots. I’m making friends here. I have a life. Hell, I’ve even gone on a few dates without the four of you puffing fire down my neck. And do you want to know something? I like it! When I’m here, I’m just plain, old Ana. I’m no one special. I don’t stand out in a crowd.”
Brady chuckled, “I doubt that, kitten, but I do understand what you’re saying. We love you and if we hadn’t come up tonight, Mama would have been up tomorrow. We figured it would be better if we came tonight to check on you and talk about what is happening.”
I got up to hug him tightly. “I’ve missed you, Brady. How have you been?”
After a few more moments, I walked to the door and opened it. Bowie was leaning against the wall, answering e-mails. “You can come inside, but only if you can behave yourself.”
Bowie’s gaze held a little more fire than usual. “Someone named Toby stopped by to “holla” at you. I told him you were busy with us tonight.”
“God, Bowie! Why did you do that? Now, Toby will think…oh what the hell does it matter? Thanks a lot,” I said, the sarcasm dripping from the words. I’d been hoping for Toby to ask me out since I’d moved into this dorm and in a matter of a few minutes, Bowie managed to screw that up too. Toby was in my Ancient Religions class. He had the most beautiful blue eyes. His brown hair was always messed up from him running his hands through it. He was sexy in a geeky way.
Bowie was pissed, I could tell, but that made me want to push his buttons even more. “You didn’t have anything better to do on a Friday night than come up to check on me? Make sure I’m being a “good” girl? Get a life, Bowie.” I grabbed my knapsack with my change of clothes and a towel before leaving my room. I was sitting in the truck, waiting for them when they came out. I did notice that Bowie had his shotgun in the gun rack along with Brady’s rifle. Chills ran over my skin. Maybe I should be a bit more concerned than I had been. Brady climbed in beside me.
“You need to change more often. You’re a little on the cranky side. No hunting though if you don’t want to. Bowie is promising a big juicy steak as rare as you want it for dinner,” he said as he closed the door.
Bowie got in the driver’s seat and slammed his door. He was furious and I was glad. I ignored Bowie on the drive to the woods. I asked Brady about his job and about the folks, anything to exclude Bowie from the conversation. We arrived and walked deep into the heart of the forest.
The warmth of the day hung in the denseness of the pine forest. There was an underlying scent, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Both of them had their guns loaded and slung over their shoulders. Brady carried my knapsack for me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell that was familiar to me. One I had missed while I was studying.
I stepped into the shadows to strip bare and shift. For the first time in my life, I was scared. I’d always been aware of hunters, but Brady rarely carried a gun if he wasn’t out with a group of hunters. Tonight, there was a change. If they were afraid, then I’d be smart to be more aware.
Bowie held out his hand to me. My cat loved him. I butted him with my head and rubbed against his leg. I purred as he scratched behind my ears.
Bowie chuckled, “I think I like you better this way. You are a little more agreeable.” I nipped his finger.
“Ouch!” he said, and laughed.
I tasted the air and took off at a run. They were right behind me the whole way. It felt good to be wild. I’d forgotten how good it was to be a puma. The forest smelled of pine and fresh lake water. There was also the smell of the soil still warm from the sunshine that permeated through the cover of the trees. My puma just wanted to roll in the smell. I loved being free. I might not want to stand out in a crowd, but I was different. It was time I realized nothing I could do would make me like Vivian, Toby or the other students on campus. Even in the puma world, I was different. I had another half to me. I was a witch. All I’d ever wanted was to be normal, but normal wasn’t in the cards for me. My thoughts were brought up short when I caught a scent that didn’t belong in the forest. It was sharp and metallic. There is the scent of decay in the forest, but this smell was of death. I stopped and lay down on the forest floor. I couldn’t force myself to go any further. I heard the guys running towards me. Bowie reached me first.
“What is it, kitten?” He obviously noticed my hair was standing on end. He held up a hand as Brady approached. “She’s caught the scent of something and she’s scared.”
Brady sniffed the air. “Smell it, Bo? There are humans here and death is hanging in the air.”
Bowie marked the area. “Let’s get out of here. Quietly,” he whispered.
This was one time when I was ready to follow Bowie wherever he said we needed to go. We walked out the same way we came in. As I shifted back to my human form and got dressed, Bowie was on his cell phone with the local DNR and his friend at the sheriff’s department. He told them he’d found some poachers while out walking in the woods. The various people were on their way to inspect the area.
“That steak dinner may have to wait for a while,” Bowie said.
I shrugged. “Those bastards need to be caught.”
Brady pulled a ham sandwich from the glove box. “My Boy Scout, always prepared.” I teased, though I was shaking inside. I was grateful that he was always one step ahead of things. Three DNR trucks pulled in beside Bowie’s truck. There were five sheriff’s department vehicles that pulled in next. The suburban held a K-9 unit, I could smell the dogs. My cat didn’t like that at all, but if I steered clear of it, I’d be alright.
The three of us have exceptional night vision, but the humans didn’t. There wasn’t much of a moon which helped keep us under cover, but that also meant no light to guide the humans through the woods. A couple of them had night vision goggles, so Bowie let them lead the way. When we got to the spot wher
e I had scented trouble, Bowie made me hide in the shadows while they went in after whatever was there. I was wearing a black coat with a hood to keep me hidden. I heard Bowie’s friend shout first, “Police! Put down your weapons!” Bowie and the others followed him.
They arrested three men and a woman. There were carcasses all over the place. Bears that had been skinned and their paws cut off. Puma bodies stacked one on top of another. Deer with their heads removed. Fox bodies with no fur. It made me sick. I had to run into the woods to vomit. Bowie was in cop mode, but Brady followed me and held me afterward.
“You okay?” he asked, offering me a bottle of water. I nodded against his chest.
“Now, do you understand why we came for you, kitten? We would all be devastated if something happened to you. Bowie would probably die. He’s always felt it is his duty to keep you protected. He’s been busting his ass night and day trying to find any poachers. It isn’t just for you, but we know what happened to your dad. We love you and everything we do is to keep you safe. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Brady left me sitting on the fallen log. Bowie came out of the poachers’ camp and found me, shaking.
“Hey, kitten. How are you doing?”
I was so deeply saddened by what I’d seen, I didn’t think I’d ever snap out of it.
“You want to come in and say a special prayer for them? Not much else can be done, but it might help.”
I stood up on wobbly legs and took his hand. I stepped into the camp and cast a circle around it. I said a prayer over the bodies of my brothers and sisters. With a sigh of relief, I closed the circle. The sadness was still there, but it didn’t weigh as heavy on my heart. Bowie stepped into the camp.
“I’m gonna help them finish up here. Why don’t you let Brady take you into town for that dinner? I’ll meet you there as soon as we’re finished up,” he said as he pulled me against him.
I hugged him tight. He tilted my head up to look in his eyes, eyes the color of a fine whiskey. Whiskey with fire dancing in it that is. He kissed my forehead, then turned me over to Brady.
Keeper of the Golden Dragon's Heart (The Cedar River Series) Page 2
