by B. L. Dawn
Merrill’s smile grew. “I accept your alliance.”
“You honor me, alpha. I’ll come back periodically to check on your pack’s well-being. If that’s okay with you?”
“It’s more than okay with me, and please call me Merrill.”
“Thank you, Merrill. We’ll leave you now, and I’ll come to visit another day, hopefully with more gifts.”
“Be well, Tatum Roloff, the beta of Primal Ridge Pack. I’ll be waiting for your return.” Merrill led them to the door as they departed the way they had come.
The four shifters didn’t talk until they were back in the car, as was now protocol. Tatum concentrated on the lump in her throat and the heaviness of her heart. She tried to think of other things, but the unfairness of her reality made her want to scream. Her pack had to be taken care of, but she would have to sacrifice her feminine side to do it. If she fully excepted her position as beta and decided to put her pack above all other things like her needs, wants, appearance, everything would have to be about them. There would be no room for doubts about herself. She would have to be willing to sacrifice everything for them and show no signs of weakness.
Once they were behind closed doors, Luke placed his hand on her arm and gave it a squeeze. Her worries seemed to float away with his acceptance of her. Soon, they discussed how well the meeting had gone and hoped all the meetings would go as smoothly.
As the trip went on, they visited many different packs around the region. It took many days. One pack after another received their gifts of friendship. They even got new locations of unknown packs. Tatum would deal with those packs later.
They headed home, pleased with the outcome. Looking forward to different things, they couldn’t wait to get back to Foothill Farms.
Tatum wanted to tell Enoch how the outskirt packs reacted to their gifts.
Eli wanted to plan new defense and attack training while incorporating his new equipment. Oliver wanted to practice his guitar and maybe learn a song to play for the pack. Luke wanted to talk to Enoch about organizing pack members for patrols. They all had their goals in mind, and she loved seeing the males full of hope.
When they pulled in front of the farmhouse and parked, shifters came out to join them. There were a lot of questions about the other packs. The discussions went on for an hour before everyone broke away. Most of the shifters went to help start dinner. Some sat on the porch while Mason and Oliver practiced playing their guitars.
Enoch, Tatum, and Luke found a quiet area to discuss the outskirt packs and how they had been much more welcoming this time. Also, Tatum addressed the potential of discovering new packs. As planned, Luke explained perimeter patrols.
Enoch spoke of James leaving the territory, Natalie getting a job, and Eddie’s big plans for his and Cora’s new living arrangements. Eddie wouldn’t tell anyone what the arrangements were, not even Enoch. Tatum could tell it was bothering Enoch that Eddie wouldn’t tell him. But Eddie didn’t have to listen to Enoch. He wasn’t a member of the pack.
Jenny called everyone in for dinner. As they lined up, Luke found Tatum in line again. Luke put his hands on Tatum’s shoulders, giving her a massage. He leaned near her ear. “You did good out there.”
His breath was warm on her skin and traveled between her legs, begging for his warmth to be there as well.
Luke moaned. “Mmm, you smell so good.”
Tatum chuckled, shaking her head. She needed to watch herself around Luke. The need to jump his bones was already difficult to ignore. All that she wanted to say was, “Screw it, let’s be lovers,” and demand that he never find a true mate. But she wouldn’t do it, especially with them venturing out and meeting new packs. The further they explored the world, the more chances he had in finding his mate. She wanted to keep him as a close friend. Tatum would never truly lose him. His mate wouldn’t even mind their friendship because they weren’t ever going to be a sexual item. It would be a “non-issue,” as Alma would say.
When Tatum and Luke got to the countertop, multiple toppings for taco salads were available. She grabbed a bowl and filled it with lettuce, tomatoes, Fritos chips, beef, cheese, and French dressing.
They both went to the porch to sit on the steps and eat together. While Luke talked with Tatum, she took a fork full of leafy lettuce covered in French dressing and pushed it into her mouth. It left behind dressing smeared across her lips. She laughed and set the bowl down to grab a napkin. But before she had time to get up, Luke was sucking on her lips. It caused her panties to act like a sponge once more. She closed her eyes the minute their lips connected.
Tatum wanted Luke. He was the male that made her heart take flight and her brain turn to mush. And how could Tatum tell that she loved him and wasn’t just infatuated with him? Because she didn’t only want to mate with him. She imagined them together for the rest of their lives, sharing stories, exploring the new world together, and so many more things. One day he might be with another female, and it had her wanting to beg on her hands and knees to Destiny to keep Luke as her own. The feeling was so strong she wanted to cry.
Luke jerked back. He had shown her affection with other shifters around. A few of them witnessed what happened but didn’t say anything.
Enoch came outside. “After we all clean up, I want to go on a run to celebrate the return of the beta and her guards.”
There were loud hoots from the pack. Enoch walked back inside the farmhouse as many members followed behind him.
Tatum and Luke stood up to take their dishes inside, but there was a line traveling into the house.
While waiting on Jim and Pat to walk through the door, Tatum looked over her shoulder. “Hey Luke, you hear that? You’re my guard.” Tatum teased him and wiggled her eyebrows.
“I know something I want to guard.” He slapped her ass, nearly making her bowl drop to the floor.
She laughed loudly. “Ow, that hurt.”
“I’ll show you something that hurts.” He raised his hand again.
Tatum covered her rear with her free hand. “You better not!” She pushed her pelvis forward, almost knocking Pat through the door.
Luke chuckled. “Damn, Tatum, it’s making me crazy just being your friend. You know that?”
“I do. I so do.” Tatum groaned. Both of them stared at each other, their expressions becoming troubled.
There was a crowd of shifters in the kitchen. Tatum passed their dirty bowls through the crowd. “Hey, Jenny? Can I do something else to help you out?”
Jenny got on her tiptoes to look over Birdie’s head. “Um…yes, please; the laundry needs to be switched and folded.”
“No problem.”
Tatum and Luke opened the basement door.
Luke got in front of Tatum, pushing her back. “Wait, I’ll go first. I’m your guard.”
“Oh, get a life.” Tatum snorted.
He flipped the switch at the top of the stairs and walked down. Two tables had laundry baskets on and under them. Each one had a name and clothes size on it.
“I’m going to go ahead and be the first one to say it.” Luke ran his hand around the back of his neck. “This is impressive.”
“Yes, it is.”
They pulled out items from the dryer and checked the tags for sizes. They piled the clothes in the correct baskets and went back to fold them. Tatum switched the laundry and started a new load.
A part of Tatum wanted to stay in this private room longer with Luke. She wanted his mouth on hers again but knew it would lead to other things—things she knew shouldn’t happen between them. Imagining his hands on her body, rubbing her back, traveling between her legs and over her breasts made her soak her panties again. This is becoming ridiculous. Maybe Tatum and Luke needed to hang out in the bathtub instead of in public so she could continuously clean herself.
Luke sniffed the air and grinned. “You keep doing that, and we’re going to have a real issue between us.”
“I can’t help
it. My mind won’t stop thinking about you all over my body. I logically know we shouldn’t mate, but the rest of me disagrees. I’m sorry. I’ll try to control myself.”
Luke laughed. “I’m always aroused by you too.” Luke held out his hand and walked her to the stairs.
As she walked upstairs, Luke’s hand kept grazing her bottom. He swore he was just trying to make sure she didn’t fall. Yeah, right. She chuckled to herself. They walked into the hallway, and everyone else was already outside. Telling Luke to go ahead and she’d catch up, Tatum looked around the corner into the mostly clean kitchen. Jenny was washing some of the serving dishes.
“Laundry is switched and folded. Do you need help with those?” Why did everyone leave before the dishes were clean? Tatum shook her head.
Jenny looked over, leaning in Tatum’s direction. “No thanks; go ahead and go running. I just needed a little space. There were way too many shifters in here.”
“I completely understand.”
Tatum walked to the back door and went outside. The sun was setting, and it was starting to sprinkle a little bit. Well, this should be interesting. She didn’t remember ever running in the rain. When she lived in the human world, she worried about wet carpets. Did shifters often run in the rain? At least this would be a new experience.
Tatum went over to the northern storage shed, which she considered her personal shed at this point. Natalie was just coming out in wolf form.
“Hey, Nat; congrats on the job.”
Tatum walked inside the shed, undressed, and shifted. She jumped out and strode up to Natalie, shaking out her fur.
“Thanks,” Natalie said, but she sounded sad.
“Natalie, my brother loves you. You guys will be together again. I promise.”
“I know. I just miss him.”
“Me too.”
The females walked over to join the rest of the pack. Enoch took off while everyone followed. Once again, he made his way to the white log fence, taking a sharp left. The pack followed. They were heading around the territory again. Raindrops hit her eyes and nose, but her fur was repelling the wetness from her skin. The ground was wet, causing them to kick up grass and mud. They were going to be dirty after tonight’s run. Maybe they should spray each other off with a hose when they got back. But this could also be a good thing. Perhaps this would create the dirt path Tatum wanted so much around the territory. She would love it.
The pack ran, and it was nice to be with them, her family. She loved each member so much but wished they could run a little faster.
“We can all hear you, Tatum.” Luke laughed.
“Oh yeah,” she said as embarrassment ran over her.
“Beta, no one is ever going to run fast enough to keep up with you.” Dean chuckled.
“You run as fast as a bullet,” Leo chimed in.
The whole pack joined in, talking about Tatum’s speed. Except for Heather.
“We love you too, honey,” Heather said in a motherly voice. “And thank you for Mason’s guitar.”
“You’re welcome.”
The run went on for a while, but Tatum wished it would never end. The pack kept running until the white fence came into view.
Tatum and Natalie trotted to the shed as everyone else decided to wash the mud off their human forms with the water hose.
Mud spotted Tatum’s skin under her clothes, leaving her itchy.
Natalie finished getting dressed. “I’m heading inside to take a shower.”
Tatum tied her last shoe and stepped into the woods. Rain lightly fell from leaf to ground. Luke was leaning against a tall hickory across from the shed, grinning.
Tatum crossed her arms and tilted her head. “What are you doing sneaking around?”
“Thinking about your sexy ass in there naked.”
“Ha! I thought you said you were going to be good.”
“I’m always good.”
“I don’t think so.” Tatum chuckled.
Luke stood straight and stalked toward her with more than playfulness in his eyes. Tatum backed into the shed, her smile turning into a straight line as he closed the distance. Her heart drummed in her ears and moved her chest in great heaves.
Luke’s arm slid around her, and one hand pulled her to his mouth. Colorful bursts went off in her mind and traveled downward. She exploded as he kissed her hard. He pushed his erection desperately against her pants.
A whimper escaped her occupied mouth as her hands started making their way around his back.
Luke jerked back. “Fuck! You smell so fucking good. I need you, Tatum. I fucking need you.”
Her body began to tremble. She needed him too.
There was a roar of anger that rippled through the air. Their heads both jerked south, and they took off running, forgetting all about the heated passion that was rising between them. Tatum cleared the distance in a blink. She burst through the farmhouse’s back door, smelling fermented fruit mixed with vinegar.
It came from the kitchen. Tatum had smelled this once before, long ago, when she was under the small kitchen table with her Grandpa and brothers. Back then, she had never thought twice about it, but now, she knew it was the smell of fear.
Serving bowls were scattered, broken on the ground, sitting among soap bubbles and water. Images flickered in Tatum’s mind of her house at Blackwater.
She had dropped a bucket of water on the floor when a female started screaming for help out in the village. The dishwater spreading across the wooden floor as her yellow dress soaked it up. Tatum shook off the memory.
Luke ran past her, running out the front door. She followed him. Enoch was outside, giving orders to search for Jenny. Was she missing? Tatum watched as pairs of shifters darted off in different directions.
Enoch looked over to Luke and up to Tatum. “Luke, find a scent trail.”
Chapter 25
Tatum jumped down the porch stairs. Where was Jenny, and why was she scared? Tatum’s heart raced. Grandpa ushered Sissy into the house as Luke went back inside to find the beginning of the scent trail. Tatum did laps around the farmhouse. She jogged between the farmhouse and the farmhand house and smelled something similar to burned paper. Was it anger?
Rain tapped on the top of her head as she came to the carport. The rain was changing the smells around her, but her eyes knew right away that the golf cart was missing. She ran under the carport and sniffed the air. Rubber and gas were pungent under the protection of the carport. Turning around, Tatum came face to face with Luke.
His eyebrows raised. “What are you doing?”
“Someone took the golf cart. They must have put Jenny in there.”
Luke inhaled deeply. He closed his eyes, stood up, and opened them wide. He was staring at something she couldn’t see. “I’ve got it, but it’s faint. Come on. We’ll follow it.”
Luke, Enoch, and Tatum took off, their feet splashing through the muck-filled road. They ran past the log fence posts in a blur. When the fencing ran out, Luke stopped, even though the road continued. His head turned right, and they started to run again. They followed the fence that lined the front of the field. The grass was slick underfoot, and the woods were at the edge of the field, but it didn’t slow them down as they got closer.
Sprinting into the wooded area, they came across tire tracks. Luke ran faster, going deeper into the woods. It looked like the trees had been cut to make a path for something large to get through. Seeing the golf cart up ahead, they stopped when they reached it, panting heavily. Tatum put her hand on the roof to catch her breath. No one was inside it or around it. The scent of iron was in the air. Flipping her hand over, she saw red on her palm.
“Blood!”
Luke and Enoch ran around the vehicle. Luke grabbed Tatum’s hand, sniffing it. “It’s Jenny’s blood!”
Enoch roared so loudly that Tatum’s ears rang. Whoever had Jenny was going to pay a hefty price.
Luke moved his fingers along
the roofline. When his hand came back, strands of faded red hair and blood clung to his fingers. Panic seeped its way further into Tatum’s soul, but she needed to keep it together. Enoch already looked like he was on the verge of insanity.
She put her nose under the roof, trying to catch the scent. Closing her eyes while moving away from the golf cart, she tried to keep the trail, but she wasn’t picking up anything. The rain stopped her cold.
A bat flew in her face, and a yelp escaped her mouth. Swinging her hands up to rip it away her hand found only her nose, but there was no bat there. Luke sniffed the air. His eyes went higher in the air this time. Whatever he was tracking wasn’t on the ground any longer. Maybe Jenny had been carried? They moved forward. Tatum could just imagine how hard the scent trail would be to track due to the rain, which was so relentless she couldn’t see through it.
Flashes of the bat kept slamming into her eyes. Maybe she was having a nervous breakdown? There were flashes of the old wooden chair with the long back, the bat, and the entrance of the mine.
Tatum bumped into Enoch, who had stopped moving forward.
Turning to face them, Luke shook his head. “I’m sorry; I lost it. I can’t tell where it’s going.”
Tatum wiped the rain from her eyes. “It’s not your fault. You did great, more than anyone could do.” The wind picked up. “Let’s spread out and keep looking. She’s in these woods somewhere.”
Nodding, Luke shifted to cover more ground and ran straight. Enoch shifted and ran to the left. Tatum ripped off her clothes and shifted too. She looked around, not sure which exact direction to take. The left side of the woods went uphill. It would be easier to carry a body downhill. Tatum turned right and took off in a sprint.
Her dreams were plaguing her over and over again, but she ran, trying to ignore them.
