by Moira Byrne
Her snapped words broke through to the man and cougar. They looked at her fearfully.
I didn't care about them, though. I glanced over at Aly and saw she was still unconscious. I gave a worried whine before I looked back at Petunia next to me.
Petunia's eyes flickered to me, then to Aly. Her face softened slightly before she returned her attention to me. "The infant is fine. Peter is armed. While they are uninjured, I cannot say the same about you. How bad are your injuries?"
I raised my ears and waved my tail side-to-side, trying to tell her my injuries were minor.
"I see blood on your muzzle. Shift to your human form so I may assess your wounds."
My ears flattened to my head. I looked at the two prisoners in the tree branches. A low growl rumbled out of me. They still watched the older woman with terrified expressions. There was no way I would shift to my human form while they remained.
"Fine," Petunia said with a huff, "it is clear you will not be reasonable until I remove the threat."
I glanced at her and saw she was studying the man and cougar with a calculating expression. Something about it sent chills up my spine. It was the sort of look that told me she was not someone I wanted to cross.
"Listen to me, you silly men," she spoke sharply, "I am going to put you on the ground, upon which you will immediately vacate my property. If you do not, you will end up as permanent additions in my orchard."
The two men continued to watch her fearfully, but I also saw confusion in their eyes. They didn't seem to understand she was threatening to impale them on the branches and leave their corpses in the tree. Or maybe bury them in the roots. She let out a loud sigh, and I figured she must have come to the same conclusion I did.
"Go, now," she snapped.
The tree branches bent back and threw the man and cougar several feet away from us. They landed hard on the ground and shakily got to their feet before they turned to face us. The cougar lowered his ears to his head and crouched. I tensed, prepared for another fight, when a branch whipped out and smacked the cougar on the nose.
He pulled back and shook his head. Another branch lashed out and hit him in the chest. The man was getting the same treatment.
"C'mon, Robby, let's get out of here," the man said with one last angry look toward us. His expression quickly morphed to terrified when a branch pulled back, getting ready to smack him.
They turned and ran out of the orchard, with branches hitting them in the ass as they went. They cried out each time the branches connected. Once they were out of sight, I could still hear the snapping sound as the branches hit them, followed by yells of pain from the man and snarls from the cougar.
With the immediate threat gone, I shifted to my human form and bent down next to Aly, my back to Petunia.
"Why is she unconscious?" Petunia asked. "What did they do?"
"She took a hard blow to the head." I gently brushed a finger along the side of Aly's face. Her breathing was steady. As I watched, she took a deep breath and her eyes fluttered open.
She turned her head and looked at me, her expression clouded with confusion.
"Hey," I said softly, "how do you feel?"
"Like I got punched in the face," she replied in a groggy voice as she raised her arm to touch her bruised cheek.
"Bring her to my house," the older woman said. "We can administer first aid there."
I nodded and carefully picked Aly up. She was so groggy that she didn't even protest. She just put her head on my shoulder and took a deep breath.
"You smell good," she mumbled.
Her hand was warm on my bare chest. Somehow she managed to find a place to rest her hand where I hadn't been clawed. I wouldn't have moved it even if she had.
"You're going to be fine, Aly."
"You're so sweet," she replied with a faint slur. "And so, so warm. It's too bad you want to move away, huh?"
My heart clenched. The last thing I wanted was to be apart from her. I'd have to find a way to convince Aly of that.
5
Alysse
My head was tight and throbbing. What the hell happened to me? The air was heavy with the scent of cinnamon and rosemary—Petunia's healing balm. A smell that meant someone, probably me, had gotten the snot beaten out of them.
I didn't feel like it though. That was the benefit of the plant fae's balm, but the downside was that it was like a sleeping pill on steroids when it hit you. I didn't remember much from after Robby attacked me, but I felt like I had been zonked out forever. My body was stiff, like I had been in one position for too long. Questions started to meander around my mind. How long had I been out? Where was my daughter?
I blinked open my eyes. The world around me was bleary and unfocused. I saw a hazy person-shaped outline nearby and blurted the first words at the forefront of my mind.
"Where's Ana?"
"It's okay, just rest," a distinctly male voice said to me. "Ana's with me. She's safe."
The voice was soothing. I knew I could trust him completely. I closed my eyes and eased back against the couch with a faint smile.
Wait. Who was that? I opened my eyes once more, although I stayed completely still. My cat stirred within me. It pushed through and cleared the fog from my vision and mind. I blinked and saw Ben standing there holding my child. Our child.
The very man who had just put us both in mortal danger was smiling and rocking my daughter in his arms. I knew it wasn't fair of me, but I wanted to hop up and take her back. It was his involvement with my old pack that put us in danger in the first place.
"You want to tell me how you got involved with my old pack?" I snapped.
"Because I was looking for you." Ben looked up from Ana with a furrowed brow.
"Why would you go see them?"
"I just told you, Aly." He sounded exasperated, like it was all so obvious, and it made my hackles rise a little. I was the one who deserved to be exasperated. He didn't even realize that he had put us in danger.
"How am I supposed to believe you didn't lead them to me on purpose?" I bit out. As the words left my mouth, I could taste how false they were. You know he didn't, Aly.
"Seriously?" he asked, incredulous. "How about the part where I rescued you?"
"Rescued?" I snorted. "I didn't need your help. I had it under control."
Ben grinned as if I had just told a joke. What did he find so amusing?
"It didn't look that way from where I stood," he said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"No matter how tough you are, it was two against one." His voice was light at first, but it soon tightened with anger. "You were lucky I came back to help. Would it kill you to say thanks?"
"Thanks?" I scoffed. "Why would I thank you?"
"Maybe because I helped you?"
"You're the very reason I had to fight them, Ben. How the hell don't you realize that?"
"What?" His anger was diluted by confusion.
"They were talking to you, Ben! You!"
Ana stirred in Ben's arms when I shouted. I immediately wanted to reach out and grab her from him. The only things that stopped me were the tender way he held her and the look in his eyes.
"I don't know why they were acting like we were best friends. I swear to you, I vaguely remember seeing them when I went to see your old pack, and that's it. Look, I don't know why they attacked you, but—"
"Because they're the reason I'm in Fayoak. I escaped. And you expect me to believe you and them showing up at the same time is just a . . . a coincidence? Forget all that bullshit about my emails and your spam folder. Did they pay you? Is that it?"
I saw the hurt flash in Ben's eyes before it morphed into anger and I immediately regretted my words. I'm such an idiot. I swallowed deeply and looked off to the side. I had just told myself that I knew he had no idea what was going on, but I lashed out at him anyway. Because that was what I did. Lash out first, ask the real questions later. The best way to build healthy relationships.
"Really? That's what you think of me? That I'm a goddamn mercenary? So what's my story, Alysse? 'Cause you seem to have it all worked out. Go on, tell me . . . I'm all ears."
Ana stirred again and let out a little cry. Ben bounced her in his arms and looked down at her. The moment I saw Ben's expression melt as he gazed at her, I felt even worse for slinging accusations like it was my job. I just couldn't seem to stop.
I struggled to sit up on the couch. If I was going to argue with him, I wanted to be able to look him in the eyes. But my body was fighting me. It wasn't just the pain. My whole body felt sluggish from the balm. How much did she slather on me?
I almost laughed as I met Ben's gaze, but I was still too angry. He looked torn between concern and anger as he reached out one hand to help me up—like he couldn't stop himself from helping me. It was as if he wanted to reach out for me, but was so mad that he wanted to let me struggle on my own.
It didn't seem to faze him that his arms were full of Ana. His hand hovered in front of me as I had barely started to lift myself up. I snarled, daring him to touch me, when a pair of wrinkled hands push me back down to the couch. One whiff of the scent and I knew who it was.
I looked up with a sigh as all my anger seemed to drain out of me. "Do you mind, Peter?"
The old man's brows were raised and his lips pursed. "I'm under strict orders from Petunia to, and I quote, 'keep that pigheaded girl from doing something stupid.'"
I smirked at him. "Pigheaded? That one's new."
Peter shrugged. "I think she's running out of ways to call you stubborn. I know you want to fight me right now, and, from the sound of things, this young man, too, but maybe put that energy into healing, eh?"
I cursed under my breath. He was right. They both were. The Greenhavens had welcomed me as family the moment I arrived in Fayoak. Fortunately and unfortunately, this meant they knew me as well as family. Petunia wasn't wrong to think that I would do something stupid and undo all her healing as soon as I woke up. In fact, it was highly likely.
That still didn't mean I liked being told what to do. I ground my teeth together as I settled back down into the couch.
"Fine, but know that I'm very unhappy about this."
Peter moved around the couch to perch on the coffee table. "Duly noted. Now, if you two are going to continue yelling at each other, why don't you let me take this little one to some place less noisy?"
Ben's eyes turned silver, then back to his rich chocolate brown. "I'm done arguing. But maybe I should go someplace else to let Aly cool off."
"No," I said, exhaustion clawing at me. "You don't have to go. Look, I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I'm sure you didn't mean to lead them here. I just thought that I had finally put them in my past. I thought they'd given up."
I studied his face and saw his jaw clench. I wondered what was going on in his head. I looked up at the ceiling as if it held the answer. I only found more questions. What was going on in my head? How could I have ever thought someone so good and honest could do that to me?
Before that night we shared, we had really only studied together. We hadn't even been on a single date, but we had spent a lot of time together. It took a lot of study sessions to get through the material when we spent the whole time making eyes at each other.
Ben was simply a good person. Too good for someone like me. He was the sort of guy that older women would look at, nod, and say, "That boy's mother sure raised him right." If Ben gave his word, he kept it. If he said he had your back, he would run through a burning building, barefoot, to keep you safe. He looked at me with concern that I knew I didn't deserve. God, I had issues.
"Why'd you have to escape?" Ben asked quietly, a hint of tension in his voice. "Was it really that bad?"
"It was probably worse than you think. They—" I paused as Ben's cell phone started to ring. He shifted Ana to his shoulder as he dug his phone out of his pocket. I tilted my head, noting, in that motherly part of my brain, how comfortable he was with her.
Despite my sour mood and aching body, my heart warmed at the sight. I had no doubt that Ana recognized her father on some primal level. Her soft, content expression said it all. I wrinkled my nose slightly at my sickly-sweet thoughts. Having a baby had made me so sentimental.
Ben watched his phone ring.
"You going to get that?" I asked as I raised my brow.
Ben's surprised look met mine. I wondered if he forgot the rest of us were here.
"No, it's fine. My cousin will leave a message."
"You can answer it."
Ben smiled, his dimples creasing his cheeks. "Thanks, but I'll call him back later."
"Aren't you worried it's important?"
"Nah, David likes to call and check up on me. If it's urgent, his brother will text."
"They text you for emergencies? That seems, um . . . backwards?"
He shrugged as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "That sounds about right for the two of them. They're weird. They also like to talk. If I'd answered, God only knows how long I'd be on the phone with them."
"Speaking of weird family members," I murmured, "has anyone called Sophie? I'm guessing not since she hasn't barreled in here to mother all over me yet."
"Ah, yeah, Petunia said to wait until you woke up," Peter replied with a chuckle. "She said Sophie would get in her way."
"She wasn't wrong." I shifted slightly on the couch and all eyes focused on me. "Oh, c'mon, I just need to get my phone."
"Just take it easy for once, Aly," Ben said with a sigh.
"I'll take it easy when I'm dead." I harrumphed pointedly and summoned up whatever strength I had to fish my phone out of my pocket. Phone in hand—and my body screaming in pain—I gave them a triumphant grin. "See? Nailed it."
Peter didn't look convinced. Neither did Ben. Ana did me a solid and kind of opened her mouth in what could be called a smile and I smiled back at her. That's my girl.
I scrolled through my contacts and hit my sister's name. It rang, then rang some more. I furrowed my brows together. Since when did my sister not answer her phone? Just before it was about to go to voicemail, the call was suddenly answered, but I heard nothing but frantic rustling.
Finally, Sophie's breathless voice said, "Aly? Something wrong?"
I arched a brow even though she couldn't see me. Someone had obviously been very busy with a certain handsome fae. Those two couldn't keep their hands off each other.
"Hey, Soph," I drawled out.
"What's going on?"
"Always with the questions." I let out a small laugh. "Calm down, I'm alright. I'm at the Greenhavens' right now. We've got problems though."
"Problems?" Her voice was tense. She probably already knew what I was going to say.
"Some of the old pack has come to visit Fayoak and their greeting made it pretty clear why."
"Did they hurt you?"
"Yeah, but—"
The call suddenly ended and I sighed.
"Did your sister just hang up on you?" Ben asked as if he couldn't believe it.
"Yeah. All she heard was that her baby sister was hurt. Of course she wouldn't let me explain that I was okay."
"I remember you talking about how overprotective she was."
"Yep, that's Sophie for you. Weird, just like those cousins of yours."
"Only Alysse Addison would think people caring about her is weird."
I ignored his comment, but I narrowed my eyes at the truth I heard in it. He wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean I liked hearing it. I was already hurting, we didn't need to add mental anguish to my list of ailments. Thankfully, it wouldn't take Sophie long to get here. My sister had moved in with her lover-boy, Alex Greenhaven, who lived in the Greenhavens' guesthouse. I eyed the door, expecting her to burst through any minute.
Peter followed my line of sight and laughed heartily. "Sophie's on her way over, isn't she?"
"Yup."
Sure enough, as I had predicted, Sophie came barging through the front door moments lat
er, still struggling to button up her shirt. Peter's wide eyes quickly found great interest in the woodgrain of the coffee table. Ben's brows rose to his hairline, then he shot me a knowing grin and gently covered Ana's eyes.
"Way to embarrass everyone, Soph," I said with a snort.
Moments later, Alex came scrambling through the door. He quickly looked around the room. Once he saw that everyone was fine, he thrusted a hand into his blonde hair and doubled over to catch his breath.
"You only managed to get your pants on, huh?" I called out.
"Your sister is just . . . so . . . fast," Alex wheezed.
Sophie looked between us, a little guilty, then shrugged. "I had to make sure you were okay."
I huffed a little and rolled my eyes. "I told you I was fine."
"Like that time you broke your arm while out bike riding and insisted it was just a sprain? Even as tears were streaming down your cheeks?"
Ben laughed. "That sounds like Aly."
Sophie's eyes darted to him. I saw her nose twitch as she scented the air, then her eyes went wide with shock. She looked at me for confirmation. I nodded and she looked back at Ben.
"You're . . ."
"Yep," he confirmed with a grin.
Alex walked up beside Sophie, his breath finally calm and even. "Uhh, you mind clueing in the uninitiated?"
"I'm Ana's dad."
"Oh."
"What?"
"It's . . . nice to meet you."
The air in the room was suddenly stifling. I hadn't spoken much about Ben to anyone here in Fayoak, except for Charlie. On the few occasions I did talk about him, it was mostly to bitch about him being a deadbeat. Awkward.
Alex was looking off to the side. Peter was still staring intently at the coffee table. My sister, however, was giving Ben a death glare that stood a strong chance of actually killing him. Ben looked more bewildered than ever. I knew I had better say something before they came to blows.
"As it turns out," I quickly explained, "there was a reasonable explanation for his absence. So, if you could just, like, forget all those terrible things I said . . ."
Ben frowned. "What things?"
