Keeper of the Golden Dragon's Heart (The Cedar River Series)

by Murray, Gemma K.

  “Hey, Lance. What are you up to?” He stuck his hands in his back pockets.

  “I’ve been waiting to see this movie. I didn’t think it would be this busy tonight.”

  Brady joined us. Lance offered his hand, “Brady. It’s good to see you.”

  “Lance. How’s the arm feeling?”

  “Pretty good, thanks to Ana here. Listen, Brady, do you mind if I steal Ana away for a few minutes?”

  “I’ll wait here.” Lance took my hand and led me to a quiet spot.

  “Ana, I wanted to tell you thank you. The doctor was afraid they would have to amputate my arm. You saved it. I also need to apologize to you. Cam, me and our buddies used to torment you way too much.” He looked down at his tennis shoes, shuffling on the carpet, “I had such a crush on you when we were kids.”

  I looked at him as if he had two heads. “A crush? Really? You treated me like I had a disease, Lance.”

  He hung his head, “I know, Ana. I wanted to apologize for all of the crap we pulled on you.”

  “We’re good, Lance. Apology accepted.”

  He raised his head to look at me. “I know the Goldens made you come home. How is it going?”

  “It’s hard being away from my friends, but it’s nice to be surrounded by family.” I glanced back at Brady who was beginning to get impatient.

  “Listen, Lance, I’ve got to go. Our movie is about to start and Brady likes to get seats way in the back.”

  “Okay, Ana. It was really good to see you. Listen, could I call you sometime? Maybe we could catch dinner or a movie?”

  I looked at him, studying his expression. My cat smelled him, looking for the smell of a lie. There was none to be found. “Sure, Lance. That would be fun.” I typed my phone number into his cell phone.

  “I’ll call you next week. Maybe we can get together over the weekend?”

  “Sounds good to me,” I called over my shoulder. Not sure what had just happened, but who was I to turn a positive into a negative? My cat liked the smell of him. I’m not sure if it was because he smelled familiar or what, but she didn’t often react this way to men.

  Brady asked me as we sat down, “Did you just give that boy your number?”

  “Yep, he wants to take me out on a date.” I replied popping a kernel of popcorn in my mouth.

  Brady stared straight ahead at the screen, “Bowie is going to be pissed, kitten. Mark my words.”

  It was Wednesday before I heard from Lance. We made plans to go out Saturday night. Dinner and a movie could be fun. Thursday night, Bowie’s ringtone sounded on my phone. I knew why he was calling, but I simply answered, “Hey, Bowie!” Before he even said “Hello” he launched into a verbal tirade.

  “Lance Smythe? What the hell would possess you to go out with him? Do you not remember what he did to you as a kid? Good gods, Annie! I can’t come to your rescue every time you get in over your head.” Finally, he paused to take a breath.

  “I’m doing well, thank you for asking. And how are you? Feeling better?” I asked, calmly though I was ready to explode.

  “Not really, Annie.”

  “First off, yes, Lance. Second of all, I’m not possessed despite what the townspeople say. Of course, I remember what they used to do to me when we were kids, but we have grown up, Bowie. People change. He made a point of apologizing to me. I figured that counted for something. I don’t remember asking you to rescue me? Besides, if you don’t trust your own deputy, what would have possessed you to make him one?”

  There was a heavy sigh at the other end of the phone. “I just worry about you, kitten. He’s grown up a lot, I’ll agree. He has what it takes to be a good lawman, but that doesn’t mean I want you dating him.”

  “Be honest, Bowie. Is there anyone I can date that will appease you? Gods, Bowie! I deserve to have some sort of a normal life, don’t I? I know I’m different, Bowie. But, by all I hold holy, I don’t need to feel different every minute of every day. There are some days I just want to be a normal twenty-one year old woman. A woman who can be carefree and date whomever she wants. I want to kiss a man and have him hold my hand when we walk down the street. I want to be told I’m beautiful and desirable. I want to be loved by a man, Bowie. Is that so hard to comprehend? The good news is that Lance knows what I am. I don’t have to explain things to him.”

  Silence met my tirade. “Bowie? Are you still there?” I asked, afraid I had dropped his call.

  “I’m here,” he said softly. “You cannot be normal, kitten. No matter how hard you try. You are special.”

  My heart softened a little, “I know, but with Lance I don’t have to hide what I am. That’s what matters to me.”

  “I know, but do you really have to kiss him?”

  I laughed. “I’ve done more than kiss boys, Bowie. You caught me one time, remember?”

  “Please don’t sleep with him,” Bowie begged.

  “No promises,” I said.

  Bowie groaned, “Good night, kitten.”

  “Good night, flyboy.”

  I wasn’t nervous about my date with Lance until Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t find a thing to wear. My hair wouldn’t style right. My hands were shaking. Colin found my nervousness funny.

  “I’ve never seen a guy fluster you like Deputy Lance. I like the way this looks on you,” he said as he leaned against my doorway, watching me get ready. I glared at him and closed the door in his face. I finally pulled on my black jeans and a heavy purple sweater. I added my low-heeled black boots and leather jacket to complete my look. My silver earrings dangled from my ears. My mom’s favorite amber necklace hung from my neck. I looked pretty good. At six o’clock on the dot, Lance knocked on the front door. Papa answered it. He invited Lance in and began the third degree. Dressed in blue jeans and a deep blue dress shirt, Lance was a tall drink of ice water. He had on his cowboy boots and a black leather jacket. From the look in his eyes, he liked what he saw, too. I grabbed my purse and told Papa that we wouldn’t be out too late. Lance took my hand and we were off on our date. We arrived at the local pub for dinner. After the waitress took our order, he turned to me, “Ana, you look amazing tonight.”

  I sipped my cola. “Thank you, Lance. You look really good, too.”

  We talked about everything. He held my hand and stroked it with his thumb. It felt good to be desired. He had a way about him that wasn’t like the boys I’d dated at college. It may just be that his shifter side knew what mine craved, but it was nice. We walked around town after dinner. Snow was beginning to fall which only added to the romance of the evening. We were going to a late movie so we had plenty of time to kill. We were walking and chatting when he took my hand without even looking down. When we reached the middle of the stone bridge, he stopped. We leaned against the rail and watched the snowflakes fall on the water.

  “I really am sorry, Ana. I was a stupid kid.”

  I looked into his eyes, “It’s all done and over with, Lance. Of course, I owe you an apology, too.” Lance gave me a confused look.

  “Neon orange polka-dots? Ring a bell?”

  He started laughing. “Gods! I’d forgotten about those. They took forever to go away. But I will admit I deserved those. I just loved watching the fire dance in your eyes when I pissed you off.”

  It was my turn to laugh, “You know it would have been easier if you would have just asked me out. We could have saved ourselves a lot of punishments.” At that point, he took me in his arms and pressed his lips to mine. He caught me by surprise, but my hands had a mind of their own as they slid up his broad shoulders. He angled his mouth a little and deepened the kiss. His hands stroked my hair. My cat liked him, but she just wasn’t feeling the same passion that the woman was.

  His cell phone began playing the theme song from “The A-Team.” He pulled away abruptly. “That son of a bitch. I’m sorry. I’ve got to take this. It’s Bowie.”

  I got a little time to catch my breath. He certainly did know how to kiss. After kissing the boys at school
who thought shoving their tongue in your mouth was sexy, I was caught off guard with this.

  After a short while, he snapped his phone closed. “I’m really sorry about that. There’s a missing pup. I’m going to have to take a rain check on the movie.”

  I found my voice, “It’s fine. We can do this again sometime. Duty calls and you have to go.”

  Lance’s eyes searched my face, “Are you sure this is okay with you?”

  I smiled sincerely, “You forget. I was raised with Bowie. There were holidays and dinners disrupted because duty calls. I know what this job entails. So, go do what you need to do. I’m back in Cedar River until the poachers are caught. We’ll get together.”

  Lance snorted, “I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll try this again, I promise.”

  Hand-in-hand, we walked back to his truck. When we got back home, he took the time to walk me to my front door. “I had a nice time tonight.”

  Lance looked deep into my eyes, “It feels nice to be normal doesn’t it?”

  I was glad to know that I wasn’t alone. “It does.” He laid his hand on my face and kissed me deeply, his tongue dancing lightly against mine. He sure could kiss, but, sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything other than friendship for him. Maybe it would develop. A girl can hope, right?

  Chapter Twelve- Bowie

  I was loading up my truck with supplies when Lance pulled up in front of the station. “It’s about time you got here.”

  Lance kept quiet and let it roll off him. I could smell Annie on his clothes. It pissed me off and I was looking for a fight. “What’s the matter cat got your tongue?”

  “In case you’d forgotten, I was on a date tonight,” was his only response.

  “Yeah, well, crimes don’t wait for your love life.”

  “Which is why I took her home and I’m here.” He began strapping on his gun and gear. “You gonna fill me in on what’s going on or you just going to hope I can read your mind?”

  Smart ass kid. “There is a missing pup from the wolf pack. They are worried that the poachers may have got her.” That was when I saw him slip into professional lawman mode.

  “Which pup is missing?”

  “Mindy Peterman, Max and Angie’s girl. She went out for a run, and when she didn’t come home her dad called me. I’m just glad he didn’t go out alone. He’s going out with us. We’re supposed to start at their house.”

  “I’ll follow you out,” was all the kid could say.

  Max was waiting for us. He and Angie were sitting at their kitchen table. Angie was in tears. I laid a hand on her shoulder, “Angie? We’re going to find her, I promise. I’m not going to give up until she is home and in her own bed.”

  “Dead or alive, I want my baby back here,” she said.

  Max kissed his wife and we went off into the night. The moon shone bright in the sky which certainly would help in the search. It was a crisp, cold night. The temperatures were in the single digits. Even a wolf could freeze in this. Snow was falling so hard, it was hiding any tracks that Mindy would have left. We walked swiftly through the woods. No one called out in case the poachers were camped in the forest. We’d been walking for a couple of hours when the smell of fear began to drift to us on the air. We all stopped and crouched down. Being shifters, our eyesight at night was excellent, but we didn’t want to walk into a trap. My ears picked up on a soft sobbing. As if someone was trying to be super quiet. I inched forward slowly. There were no signs of poachers. I motioned for the other two men to follow me. Laying in the snow, curled in a ball was Mindy. We surrounded her. Her dad put his coat on her. Her lips were blue. She had gotten caught in a steel trap.

  I pulled the stake up as her dad tried to pry open the jaws of the trap. Nothing was working. Max was whispering to his daughter. He finally lifted her up, trap and all, to carry her out of the woods. There was no blood dripping from the wound because she was so cold. It seemed to take twice as long to get out as it did to find the girl, but when the lights of the Peterman cabin came into view, I was never so glad to see a night end. Angie had been watching for us. She ran out onto the porch to greet us.

  “Get blankets, babe. We need to get her warm.” She darted back inside.

  Max settled Mindy in the house as I sent Lance out to get a crowbar. Angie came back with stacks of blankets. She began to cover her daughter, then she saw the trap. She dropped to her knees, sobbing.

  I lay my hand on her head, “Angie, she’s alive. We’re going to get this trap off her. Do you have bandages to put on her legs until she can shift and heal?”

  Angie nodded and rose to get the first aid supplies. Lance came in with the crowbar. He levered the crowbar into the trap. As he pulled the crowbar, Max and I pulled at it with our hands. The trap popped open. Max was able to remove his daughter’s leg and Angie wrapped it in soft, cotton bandages. I watched as Max pulled Mindy into his lap on the sofa. Angie covered them with blankets.

  “We’re going to head out. I’ll be by tomorrow to check on you,” I told Angie as she walked us to the door.

  She kissed each of us on the cheek before saying, “Thank you! I don’t know what it would have done to Max if you hadn’t found her. She is his whole world.”

  I hugged her tight. Lance tipped his hat and we headed out into what was left of the night. I sent Lance home before I returned to the folks’. Even though I have a house in town, tonight felt like a night where I wanted to be tucked up under the same roof as my family.

  My brothers were up playing video games when I got there. Mama and Papa were sound asleep.

  “What are you doing here?” Colin asked as he blew up Brady’s guy.

  “I was out this way and thought I’d spend the night here instead of going back to town.”

  Callum asked, “You were out this way? Tonight? What kind of problem would bring you out this far?”

  I dragged my hand through my hair as I leaned against the doorway. “A missing wolf pup. We found her, but it’s going to be touch and go for a few days until she can shift.”

  Colin paused the game, “Poachers?”

  “Until I can get back out there in the daylight, I don’t know. She had gone out for a run alone and got caught in a trap.”

  Brady nodded, “I’ve been finding more and more traps in our woods. I pull them up and get rid of them when I can, but we have a problem up here.”

  I sunk down into the couch cushions. “I know. We’re trying to get these guys, but I may have to call in the big boys on this one.” How I hated the idea of pulling in a state agency, but it may be the only option I had to save the people of my town.

  Callum moved to sit with me on the sofa, “Heard Ana had a date tonight.”

  Colin chimed in, “Yeah, with Lance Smythe.”

  Brady sat back in his chair, watching me. “Yeah, I had to call Lance in to help on the search. It didn’t really break my heart to do it.”

  “She’s going to find a man someday, Bowie,” Brady said softly.

  “I know, but Lance? That just doesn’t sound like a good match. It’s like she doesn’t remember how cruel they were to her,” I said, hurt filling my voice.

  “She remembers, but it sounds like she’s forgiven him.” Colin and Callum were now playing the game. “I just want her to be careful.” Brady and his damn knowing looks!

  “Are you sure that’s all you want? I’ve noticed you watching her. Mama has noticed, too.” I buried my head in my hands, “Yeah, well, Annie doesn’t see me like that so there isn’t anything to worry about.” Brady just nodded slowly as he watched our baby brothers destroy ancient cities and each other on screen.

  Chapter Thirteen- Ana

  I awoke the next morning bright and early. The sun was coming in through my bedroom window and smacking me in the face. I moaned a little and attempted to bury my head under my pillow. I was almost back to sleep when the door across the hall closed. Callum was back from his morning run. Even in the snowiest of conditions that boy would run. N
ot me. Nope, no way, uh uh! Maybe it is the cat in me, but I prefer to curl up in a sunshine beam and sleep.

  “C’mon, sleepy head,” he called out, pounding on my bedroom door. I pretended to be asleep, hoping he’d go away. I heard the shower come on in the bathroom so I lazily stretched and kicked the covers off. I checked my phone. There was a text message from Lance. It had come in very early this morning. It read: Hi Wolf pup found Sorry about date Dinner/movie 2morrow? It made me smile to think he thought enough of me to send me that before he went to bed. I replied: Good 2 hear No prob Set time/place. C U soon.

  I pulled on my clothes. Today was all about comfort. My most comfortable sweats and Bowie’s old college sweatshirt that I had stolen from him before I’d left for college, a pair of slouchy socks and my Uggs would get me through a day of shopping. And I had a full day ahead of me. Colin was sitting at the table when I made it downstairs.

  “Nice outfit,” he teased. “How did your date with loverboy go last night?”

  I smiled at him as I poured myself a cup of coffee. “It went very well…until Bowie called him in to work.”

  “Did he kiss you good night?” he teased.

  “Yep.”

  He eyed me, “So are you going to give me the juicy details?”

  “Nope because it’s none of your business.”

  Bowie strolled into the kitchen, his dishwater blonde hair tousled, “Thank gods for that. Just what I want to hear over my morning coffee.”

  “Geesh, Bo. Who pissed in your cornflakes?” Colin asked. I took my coffee and went back to my room. Bowie’s pissy attitude was more than I could take.