Return to Kadenburg

by T. E. Ridener

  “I told you, dear. We haven’t seen him in days. He left on the night you got hurt and he hasn’t been back. I’m certain it has something to do with his father.”

  Dimitri frowned, his eyes moving to Presley briefly before he focused his attention on Mrs. Bamey’s back again.

  “Did he say anything?” He questioned, tapping his fingertips against the rim of his cup.

  “No….I don’t remember much from that night,” Mrs. Bamey glanced at him over her shoulder. “It was a very overwhelming night for all of us, Dimitri. I’m sure that he had a good reason.”

  Before he had the chance to ask anything else, she was gone from the kitchen again. He pursed his lips together, frowning.

  “You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?” Presley asked after a few moments.

  Dimitri lifted his eyes to meet her emerald gaze. He nodded.

  “I’ve not heard anything,” She frowned. “But if you want….maybe I can ask Lorcan.”

  He tilted his head to the side, studying her. She seemed to be genuine in her statement, and he figured it was his best shot in solving the mystery.

  “You would do that for me?” He asked.

  “Well you did save my life,” The blond female smiled again, shrugging her shoulders as she gripped her own cup of tea between both hands. “I owe you.”

  Twenty Two

  She’d made a promise and she intended to keep it. Things had calmed down in Kadenburg for the time being, but there was no guarantee of how long it would last. Presley knew that Breslin would be back, and they had to prepare as much as possible for his return.

  Lorcan was right when he said she was different from other ursithropes. She was able to detect everyone’s emotions. She could feel what they felt, and that wasn’t always a pleasant thing. Her uncle was still avoiding her aunt like the plague, and they both put off feelings that made Presley depressed or angry. She didn’t like feeling either of those when right now was supposed to be the happiest time of her life.

  Well, as happy as it could be given that a crazed werewolf wanted to breed with her to create monster hybrids and then kill her off once he’d done so.

  So twisted, she thought with a roll of her eyes. She had other things to think about anyway. She promised Dimitri she would try to get some information out of Lorcan about Rutley’s sudden absence, and she knew that it would potentially involve probing his mind; even if he didn’t want her to.

  She had noticed the tension between the Bameys as well. Mrs. Bamey had thrust herself into housework and Mr. Bamey wasn’t being very social anymore. Well, not that he was very social to begin with, but he was being especially quiet these days. Lorcan, on the other hand, had become surprisingly more involved with welcoming the ursithropes back to Kadenburg and helping them get settled in.

  She didn’t really mind that Uncle Arnold was allowing a few families to stay at their place, but she did miss home. Everyone kept telling her it was safer for her to stay with Lorcan-and truth be told she couldn’t imagine being away from him for very long-but she did miss her bedroom and the hot water heater that never ran out when she took showers. Ugh. What she would give for an hour long bath!

  Rubbing her hand against her stomach, Presley made her way outside to search for Lorcan. She knew he was nearby; she could feel him. He was completely focused on whatever he was doing, and that could’ve ranged from working on his car to teaching the younger ursithropes the best way to kill a werewolf.

  There were several small cubs in the area now, and they only made her that much more excited about welcoming her own into the world. Lorcan still didn’t know about the baby…..

  Soon, she reminded herself. I’ll tell him very soon and then we can celebrate.

  It was hard to think about doing such a simple, Urseth-given right when they were trying to prepare for battle. She’d met so many new ursithropes from all over the world. When Mrs. Bamey said she’d sent out the call, she wasn’t kidding. They were literally from everywhere; Russia, Canada, Alaska, China, Wyoming, India, Asia, the Andes, and many more places that she couldn’t even pronounce.

  Some were nicer than others, but it worked the same way with humans, didn’t it? They couldn’t all be pleasant to be around, but at least they had a mutual interest. Werewolves were the enemy and Breslin Connor was number one on their list. Apparently, no one was fond of the idea of Breslin taking over Kadenburg. It didn’t matter if half of them had never left their home countries before now; they all had great respect for Kadenburg and regarded it as sacred ground. No one would take away what was rightfully Ursithrope territory.

  Presley did take comfort in it. She was glad their numbers had grown so significantly in such little time, yet she was still bothered by the small stuff and she had a great desire to fix what she could on her own.

  Being an empathetic ursithrope meant that she could sense his sadness whether he wanted her to or not. He missed the hunter. She missed him, too, actually. Rutley was always a nice guy to her during their school days, and he provided comedic relief at the most opportune times. Whatever had happened on the night Dimitri got shot….everyone needed to get over it, and fast. She didn’t like feeling the wolf’s anguish on top of everything else.

  She found herself in the garage before long, and all she could see protruding from beneath the midnight blue Chevelle was Lorcan’s legs. She could hear metal clinking against metal and he grunted. He was lost in concentration.

  She cleared her throat.

  With one good push, Lorcan zoomed out from beneath his car, lifting his eyes to meet hers with a smile.

  “Hey, Darlin’,” He said as he sat up quickly, wiping his oily hands off on an old rag. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I noticed,” She laughed gently, hugging her arms around herself as she stepped closer. The smell of gasoline and grease hit her nostrils, causing her to make a small face as she glanced around. “Are you very busy right now?”

  “I’m never ‘very busy’ when it comes to you,” Lorcan stated, pushing himself up from the ground. He towered over her, giving another small smile as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with one of his forearms. “Is everything okay?”

  “Kind of,” She replied honestly, tilting her head back slightly so she could peer at him. “I was hoping we could talk about something.”

  Lorcan quirked a brow, and even though he was covered in grease and sweat, he was still the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen in her life. Her heart fluttered and her pulse quickened as he rested his hands against her shoulders.

  “I don’t like the way you said that,” He admitted in a softer voice. “Is it something bad?”

  Presley lifted her small hands to rest against his rock hard chest, taking delight in feeling the muscles twitch beneath his t-shirt. She shook her head slowly.

  “It’s not that bad,” She promised. “I mean….I suppose it depends on how you look at it.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “No uh oh,” She laughed. “I just needed to find something out for a friend. Is that so terrible?”

  Lorcan’s hands traced down her arms before he gripped her hips, pulling her against himself as his head dipped down for a kiss. He pulled away after a moment, studying her.

  “It depends on the friend and what you need to find out.”

  “Well…..”

  “You can talk to me, Pretz. I’ll do my best.”

  “Okay, fine,” She sighed, wondering why on earth it felt so wrong to invade his mind for the information she wanted. She thought it would be easy, but her inner bear disagreed with her antics; that stubborn beast. “I want to know what happened on the night Rutley left.”

  “Rutley?” Lorcan’s eyebrows shot upwards on his forehead as he stared at her. “Since when do you care about things like that?”

  She huffed, immediately tugging her lower lip between her teeth.

  “Since Dimitri’s feelings started soaking into my body like water in a sponge,” She frowned. “I
feel everything from everyone. If I could just figure out how to make him semi-content, it would take a great deal of weight off my shoulders.”

  She gave her very best pouty face, batting her lashes as Lorcan’s jawline tensed and relaxed. She could get through to him-she just knew it.

  “I’m not really supposed to talk about it….” Lorcan started hesitantly.

  “Pleaaaaase?”

  He sighed.

  She smiled.

  Gotcha, she thought with a sense of pride.

  “All I really know is that my mom walked in on Dimitri and Rutley in a questionable position,” He finally said. He kept his voice low, as if he were afraid of someone else hearing. Truth be told; anyone could’ve been listening in. Freaking ursithropes and their super bear hearing.

  “Oh?” Presley’s eyes widened as she stared up at him in disbelief. Rutley and Dimitri in a questionable position…..it could’ve meant a number of things, really. Mrs. Bamey was just as old fashioned as anyone else in Kadenburg. For all she knew, the woman could’ve walked in on them holding hands or hugging. Still, Presley knew that Liam had only been gone for a little over a month and she could understand why Mrs. Bamey would be upset about it.

  “They weren’t doing anything bad,” Lorcan added rather quickly. “I mean…she didn’t tell me what they were doing exactly, but I know it wasn’t that,” He put emphasis on the word ‘that’, as if saying ‘sex’ was a bad thing.

  “So Rutley just left?” Presley asked, trying to piece the puzzle together. “I mean, something else must’ve happened for him to just go. He’s just as involved with this mess as we are….it doesn’t seem like him to just disappear.”

  “I know,” Lorcan sighed. “But he’s gone and I’ve not heard anything from him. I’m not sure how to approach the situation because my mom is really touchy about it. Whatever happened that night, it’s affecting her more than she’s letting on.”

  “So much drama,” Presley shook her head, leaning in to rest her ear against his chest. She listened to the strong pounding of his heart, allowing it to calm her mind. She could feel his love for her and it was soothing. “I won’t know how to act when things are just…..normal again.”

  Lorcan laughed, and the deep rumble vibrated against her ear as he squeezed his arms around her. “Do you really think things will ever be ‘normal’ again?” He asked curiously. “I mean, now that you know the truth about what we are, doesn’t your definition of the word change a little?”

  “Of course it does,” Presley replied, lifting her head to gaze at him again. “But it’ll be nice to just focus on us.”

  “Oh, really?” Lorcan smirked, seemingly amused with the thought. “And what will we focus on, exactly?”

  “I don’t know,” She shrugged, pulling away from him. “Maybe getting a place together?”

  He gazed at her thoughtfully, cocking his head the opposite way as his brown eyes sparkled. Yes, that was the Lorcan she knew and loved. The one with the boyish grin and the heated gaze that made her heart want to stop. She bit her bottom lip as he approached her again, his hands falling to her hips and tugging her against himself roughly.

  “So you want to move in together?”

  She nodded slowly. “If you do, I mean. It’s not something that has to happen.”

  “Are you kidding me?” He scoffed. “I’m not exactly liking the idea of being apart from you, you know,” He cupped her cheek, and she didn’t care if his hand was dirty. She missed his touch when they weren’t close. She knew that she wouldn’t fair well if they were ever separated. Being coupled with him was a very serious deal for her. “Of course I want to move in together,” He whispered, pressing a kiss against her forehead. “I want to do a lot of things with you.”

  Her eyes slid closed as she felt the warmth of his lips tracing over her forehead. He kissed her temple, burying his nose into her hair.

  “I was thinking we could look at that old house down the road. You know, the one with the pretty yellow shutters on the windows?”

  “That place?” Lorcan wrinkled his nose. “But it’s hideous.”

  “It’s beautiful!” She argued with a smile. “Besides, it’s got, like, four bedrooms and a big backyard. We could get a puppy,” She teased.

  Lorcan rolled his eyes. “I may consider a cat but we’re not getting a dog, Pretz,” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And why do we need such a big place to start off with? Jim Proffitt has a one bedroom house for rent a few miles down,” He found her lips, kissing her sweetly. “We can start off small, and then if we ever decide to have kids….”

  Presley’s heart dropped into her stomach. An icy chill crawled up her spine as she pulled away from his lips, staring up at him in uncertainty. If we ever decide to have kids…..

  “What’s wrong?” Lorcan asked, his brows drawing together as he rested his hand against the back of her neck. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Presley blinked, swallowing her tears back into place. She was not going to cry right now, and most certainly not over that.

  Stupid pregnancy hormones! Her mind screamed as she blinked rapidly. And here she’d been worried about how to tell him, without taking into consideration that he may not have wanted a baby right now at all. Oh Urseth.

  “Presley?”

  She hadn’t realized it until he spoke her name again, but she was clutching his shirt so tightly between her fingers that her knuckles were turning white. She released her grip on him, gulping down air as she stepped back once more.

  “I-I’m sorry,” She whispered, shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now.”

  “Something’s bothering you,” Lorcan frowned. “I can feel it. What’s wrong?” He didn’t let her get too far. His arms wrapped around her again as he pulled her in, bending his knees enough to be at eye level with her as he tried to catch her gaze. “Talk to me, Baby. What’s wrong? What did I say?”

  Tears blurred her vision as her knees began to tremble. Everything was about to be a total mess and it would be her fault. Ha! She’d come here to fix things and only made them worse. Typical Presley Goult. She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the thick lump of emotions as she blinked.

  “There’s something you need to know,” Her voice was cracking with fear and sadness as invisible hands gripped her lungs. She felt sick. She was going to throw up. She was going to pass out. She was going to do a million things at once because she wasn’t sure she could handle his reaction. It was so different when she assumed he wanted to have this baby as much as she did. But how could he want it if he didn’t know about it? She was so stupid sometimes.

  And that was it. Lorcan was reading her thoughts and she hadn’t even stopped to think about that; ironic.

  His mouth fell open as he stared at her, not even blinking as he took a step back. “You’re pregnant?” He asked softly.

  A tear slid down her cheek as she hugged her arms around herself, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Oh, this was going to be a disaster.

  “I’m so sorry,” She finally managed to say after a few seconds of contemplation. “I…I should’ve told you sooner,” She nodded. “I should’ve been on birth control, but things have been so crazy and so much has happened. I didn’t know how to tell you or when the right time would be to say it. Your mom said I should tell you, but I didn’t know how to tell you and I’m sorry!” She threw her hands up in the air, turning away from him as she smacked her palm against her forehead rather loudly. “And now you don’t even want it and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  When he didn’t say anything, Presley’s nerves only got the better of her. She stepped towards the entrance of the garage, gazing out at the bright sunlight. Oh, how cruel the world was to shine so beautifully when her heart was clouding over with a storm of pain. Fresh tears were building up, ready to fall as she sniffled.

  “I am so sorry,” She sobbed. “I was just so happy that it could actually happen…and that
it’s okay. It’s a baby that will survive in my body and I just…wanted this to be perfect and I’m stupid, and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  She buried her face into her hands, trying to prepare herself for whatever he had to say.

  She was surprised to feel herself being whirled around. Strong hands pried hers away from her face and she didn’t have it in her to hide the tears that were falling so freely.

  “My mom knows?” Lorcan whispered.

  Oh great. Just another reason for him to be mad at her. She sobbed and sputtered, nodding her head quickly. “Yes. Yes, she does. I’m so sorry. She found out at the same time Louisa did and I-”

  “Louisa knows?!” He asked.

  “Yes!” She wailed, burying her face against his chest. “And Natalie knows, too, because female ursithropes pick up on it faster and if it wasn’t for her detecting the heartbeat at the hospital, we’d still be Breslin’s prisoners. She saved us because of our baby, and I’m an awful person and I’m sorry!”

  That was it. She broke and there wasn’t any turning back. She wasn’t just crying over the baby. She was crying over everything. The dam she’d worked so hard on keeping up self-destructed and she was left as a sobbing mess against his chest. She really was sorry; for not telling him; for keeping those thoughts from him; for pushing him into something he wasn’t ready for. Urseth, she was a terrible ursithrope. Who let somebody like her be an empath?!

  “Presley, look at me,” Lorcan demanded gently as he framed her face between his hands. “Please. Open your eyes and look at me.”

  Once she’d gotten a decent grip on her emotions -which wasn’t very decent at all-she lifted her eyes to gaze at him. She was gasping for air, hiccupping and trembling as she forced herself to look him directly in the eyes.

  He didn’t seem mad, but then again, she wasn’t sure what emotions were coming from him at the moment. Hers were too strong, too erratic to decipher.

  “I love you,” Lorcan stated firmly, moving his thumbs beneath her eyes to catch the tears. “You are my mate, Pretz. Do you understand what that means?”