Melinda held the steering wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. “Believe me, if we could have nailed his ass to the wall a long time ago, we would have. Unfortunately bigotry isn’t grounds for dismissal.”
Sharon rolled her head against the back of the seat, trying to work out the kinks. “Apparently throwing rocks through my brother’s mate’s window and threatening them isn’t, either. Or hey, how about attempted murder. He was most likely involved in the gas leak in my condo when Zach, Corbin, and Laurie were living there.”
Melinda sighed. “I hear you. I wish someone could have proven he was present for any of those things.”
Sharon didn’t have the energy to focus on Pete Sandhouse. She had a mate too close to the seismic activity, another mate insisting on remaining in the thick of things in town, and a sweet old woman with a stroke to concentrate on.
When they arrived at the hospital, Joyce met them in the hallway outside Mimi’s room. “Oh good, you’re here.” She smiled at Melinda and then Sharon.
“What’s happening?” Melinda asked.
“We’re going to take Mimi home.”
“What? Why? I thought we had decided the benefits of the stroke medication outweighed the unknown effects of shifting.”
Joyce nodded. “That was before she started getting more lucid. She’s got limited control of her left side, and her voice is slurred, but she’s alert and understands what’s happening around her. We’ve made the decision to move her to her own home and see if she can make bigger strides in her personal surroundings.”
Melinda nodded. “Makes sense. The doctor thinks this is a good idea?”
“He’s hedging, of course, but yes.”
Sharon felt for these woman. They loved Mimi more than life. And she couldn’t blame them. Even though the woman was not her own grandmother, she’d met her many times, and she was delightful. She was also the strongest shaman alive. Her insight surpassed anyone’s, even Melinda’s.
Melinda’s shoulders fell.
Sharon watched her closely, wondering why she was so opposed to moving Mimi home. Lots of regular humans would even benefit from their own environments. Why not Mimi, who could in all likelihood shift and rest for hours at home?
It wasn’t until they were back in the car following Joyce and Laurie, who had Mimi stretched out in the backseat, that Sharon asked Melinda the hard question. “What’s the matter?”
Melinda shrugged. “My gut tells me this is a bad idea.”
“Because?”
A long silence ensued before Melinda spoke again. “Because every single sensitivity I’ve ever had seems to have doubled in the last twenty-four hours.”
“You’re under a lot of stress. You spent the night running all over the mountainside saving lives. That’s understandable.”
Melinda shook her head. “No. Not that. It’s more. It’s like ever since she had the stroke, my abilities increased.”
“Oh.” Ohhh.
“Yeah, oh. It’s like she’s already gone, and the baton has passed to me.”
“Why not your mother? Do you suppose she’s experiencing the same thing?”
Melinda shook her head. “No. She was gone for twenty-seven years. That does something to a person. And before that she spent three years dealing with a rape that Miles and I were the byproducts of. That gets under the skin and changes a person no matter how much they love their kids.”
Sharon reached across the console and touched Melinda’s shoulder. The woman was stiff and almost cold. “I’m sorry. I’m sure this is very stressful for you.”
“Yeah. Putting it mildly. Mimi raised me.” Her voice choked up, and she wiped her eyes with the back of one hand, trying to keep her gaze on the road. “She’s like a mother. Much more than a mother. And I’m scared.”
“Maybe shifting will help.”
“Maybe.” Melinda’s voice was weak.
Sharon knew her words weren’t penetrating. Her friend was scared. And rightfully so. She was also tired. When they got to the house, she needed to nap no matter what. If they could get Mimi to shift, she would need hours of resting in wolf form. The perfect time for Melinda to sleep also.
»»•««
Two hours later, Sharon sat in a chair in Mimi’s bedroom staring across the room at the spirit that had taken up residence.
Mimi had managed to shift with very little difficulty and rested peacefully now. Laurie and Joyce had been up all night with Mimi. Melinda had been up all night saving biologists and hikers. All three women needed rest, and Sharon had insisted she would keep watch over Mimi while they did so in the guest room and on the living room couch.
For over an hour, Sharon had sat vigil on this chair. Not once had she felt too tired to keep her eyes open because not for a second had the aura gone away. It presented itself the second the rest of the family had gone to sleep, and it hadn’t moved more than to shimmer in place since then.
To the best of Sharon’s knowledge, no spirit had hung around this long. Unless Cooper was staring at the same scene up on the mountain, which was also likely.
What did it want? Was it here to protect Mimi? Or perhaps to take her to the other side?
A shiver shook Sharon’s frame for the millionth time.
And still she didn’t move. She knew instinctively she wasn’t meant to awaken the others. Though the aura had no distinct features—no face, no eyes, no mouth—it did have a presence that insinuated it was more than an apparition.
It calmed her. The longer she sat in its presence, the more she relaxed. She prayed for Melinda’s sake this black cloud of smoke was feeding life into Mimi. Sharon wasn’t altogether sure Melinda could handle the pressure of her grandmother dying on top of everything else.
“You okay, babe?” Cooper communicated.
“Yeah. I’m with Mimi. Melinda and her family are napping.”
“Good. It will keep your mind occupied.”
“Hey. Are there any spirits hanging around you?”
“Yep. Several. They’ve been here all night. Some are lighter than others. Odd looking. And they give off a totally different vibe.” He chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the black ones are wolf spirits, and the brown ones are those of another species.”
“That could be. Like Wyatt and Isaiah perhaps?”
“Hadn’t thought of that. You’re probably right. Did Melinda say anything about them?”
“Not yet. She’s preoccupied. I’ll ask her when the time is right. She did say she had tales to tell from last night, but nothing else yet.”
“Why don’t you get some rest, baby?”
“I slept some this morning at the sheriff’s office. What about you? Aren’t you a walking zombie by now?”
“Nah. Too much adrenaline. I’ll be fine.”
“For how long? You said yourself just because there are fissures in the Earth’s surface doesn’t mean there will definitively be a volcano any time soon, or even ever.”
“Yeah, but for now this is where I belong. I can’t explain it. I just know I’m needed here. I can’t leave.”
“Okay. But be careful. I’ve grown rather fond of you.” She giggled into his head.
“And I you, Sharon. Believe me.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Sharon jumped to her feet when Mimi moved on the bed. The older woman hadn’t shown a sign of life besides the rise and fall of her chest for hours. It was good for Sharon. It gave her a task. She needed this. Something to keep her occupied while Cooper risked his life in the mountains.
The wolf that was Mimi lifted her head and slowly sat up until she was on her haunches. She glanced at Sharon but then turned her attention to the spirit still hovering nearby.
Sharon watched, mesmerized, as Mimi cocked her head to one side and the spirit floated closer. If wolves could smile, Mimi did so. And if black auras could caress someone, this spirit did so.
Sharon shivered. It was as if Mimi knew the spirit. Could it be someone who’d already p
assed? Perhaps Mimi’s mate?
A gasp behind Sharon alerted her that she was no longer alone. She turned her head to find Melinda in the doorway. “Mimi. You’re awake.” She entered the room and headed directly to the bed.
When Melinda lowered her frame onto the mattress and stroked a hand through Mimi’s fur, Sharon got the distinct impression Melinda hadn’t seen the spirit. In fact, Sharon glanced around the room. The aura was gone.
Weird.
Why would it show itself all afternoon to Sharon and disappear the moment someone else entered? Especially someone as powerful as Melinda.
Joyce and Laurie came in next. They both headed to Mimi’s side.
Melinda spoke first. “Can you shift back, Mimi?”
The wolf appeared tired as Mimi lay back on the bed and stretched out. It took her longer than the average shift, but half a minute later she had resumed her human form, and Joyce rushed to pull a robe around her tiny frame.
The woman had always been petite, but she looked frailer than usual today. Not surprising. She’d had a stroke.
“How do you feel?” Joyce asked.
Melinda handed Mimi a glass of water and helped her get a sip.
Mimi struggled to sit upright. “I’m fine.” She batted her daughter’s and granddaughters’ hands away. “Stop fussing.” Her words were slower than usual and slightly slurred, but understandable.
“Grandma, you had a stroke.” Laurie rolled her eyes.
Mimi sighed. “Just a little setback is all. Now scoot back, all of you. You’re crowding me.”
The moment they each gave her an inch of space, Mimi’s gaze landed on Sharon. “You should be with your mates, child.”
Sharon nodded. “They’re otherwise occupied.”
The woman frowned. “You’ve only finished the claiming days ago. It’s too soon for either of them to allow anything to get between you.”
Melinda spoke. “Mimi, Cooper’s a seismologist. He’s working in the mountains monitoring the earthquakes and the likelihood of a volcano. His work is important. Don’t give Sharon a hard time. I’m sure she feels bad enough as it is.”
Mimi narrowed her gaze. “Volcano?” She glanced around at everyone and then returned to stare at Sharon.
Sharon took a deep breath. It had been easier to pretend it was all a dream while she’d sat next to Mimi for the last few hours. But reality was back with a vengeance. “Several holes opened up in the Earth’s surface near the epicenter of the quakes. They’re spewing gases right now. But Cooper and his team are monitoring them carefully for further activity.”
Mimi nodded. “I see.” And then she grinned and seemed to intentionally change the subject to something lighter. “That’ll teach me to go into a comatose state for an entire day. Did the pope get married while I was sleeping too?”
Her daughters chuckled. Sharon joined them. Less than a minute after coming out of a long stupor, the woman was on fire.
“I’m not sure about that,” Melinda muttered, “but I can tell you we aren’t the only shifters on the planet.”
A room full of gasps ensued, including Sharon’s. She hadn’t had a chance to get the scoop from Melinda. Perhaps that was for the best. Now her friend only had to tell the story once.
Mimi smiled slowly. “Of course we aren’t, child,” she stated as though the mere concept that wolf shifters were alone in the supernatural world was preposterous. She even stroked the side of Melinda’s face. “We never have been. We aren’t even the first shifters.”
Melinda’s eyes widened. “Why did you never tell me this?”
Mimi smiled almost condescendingly. “Some things need to be learned on their own timeframe. Some things need to be lived, experienced if you may, before they can be real. If I had told you there were other shifters, would you have believed me? Would you have spent your entire life looking around wondering who among us wasn’t strictly human?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then I did what I thought was best.” Mimi looked far more alert than she should have for a woman just coming out of what amounted to a coma.
“Mom…” Joyce’s voice was low and steady. “That’s an enormous secret. Tell us what you know?”
Mimi shrugged. “Could I at least put some clothes on and maybe get some soup before you all give me the third degree?”
All three women jumped from their perches on the bed and scurried around the room. Minutes later, Mimi wore a nightgown, her robe, and slippers. She scooted to the edge of the bed and prepared to stand.
Laurie and Melinda each took an arm.
“Easy,” Melinda said. “You’ll be weak.”
The woman tsked. “I’m fine, child.”
“Humor me, then,” Melinda added as she helped Mimi to her feet and then across the room.
Sharon followed the family of three generations of women to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. The room was homey. Inviting. It begged a person to sit, unwind, relax. Just as Mimi herself did.
No one said much as Laurie and Melinda dashed around the kitchen and prepared something for Mimi to eat. They returned with a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup and a glass of apple juice. They didn’t bother her while she ate either, although Sharon watched each of the women fidgeting in their seat while they waited impatiently for answers.
Finally, Mimi shoved the bowl away and finished off the juice. She looked much better now that she’d at least gotten fluids.
“How do you feel, Mom?” Joyce asked.
“Right as rain.” Mimi’s smile spread wide, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She wasn’t being completely honest.
“Tell us about the bears, Mimi,” Melinda requested.
Sharon gasped alongside Joyce and Laurie. “Bears?” She had known she was in for a shock but wasn’t expecting Melinda to declare she had met bear shifters. The Arthur brothers?
Melinda nodded, keeping her gaze on Mimi.
Mimi closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she opened them again, they sparkled. “I assume you met some of them?”
“Two. Wyatt and Isaiah Arthur.”
“Ahh, the Arthurs. I knew their father years ago. Huge man. Even bigger personality. I’m surprised they still live in the area. It’s not safe for grizzlies this far south. Humans get too interested when a local species is endangered. There are only about fifteen hundred grizzly bears left in the continental United States, over half of them in this area, western Montana.
“It’s difficult for shifters to live in an area where they’re a spectacle. Risky. Dangerous. Do they still live in Tolecula, north of here?”
Melinda nodded. “That’s what they claimed.”
“And why did they come this far south? And why did they reveal themselves?”
“I suspect for the same reason we’ve been snooping around, seismic activity.”
Mimi chuckled. “They would do that. They’re sharper than us, more evolved. They can take their clothes when they shift and sense things out of our range.”
“Some of the spirits are theirs,” Melinda added.
Mimi smiled again. “You figured that out, did you?”
“No. They told me. Now I can see the difference. Why do you think the bear spirits are hanging around with the wolf spirits?”
“For the same reason the bears are hanging around with the wolves. Warning of impending danger.”
Melinda nodded. “Did you know Wyatt and Isaiah?”
Mimi shook her head. “No. I haven’t seen their father in half a century. He too is a powerful leader of his people. We met seemingly by chance one day high in the mountains.” She stared up and to the right as if recalling the day vividly. “There was great unrest that year.”
Mimi glanced at Joyce. “You were just a toddler. I left you with your father for several days, feeling an intense urge to spend time with nature, closer to the sun.”
“And you met Wyatt and Isaiah’s father on the mountain?” Joyce asked.
Mimi continued as if no one had spo
ken. She seemed to be in her own world, traveling back in time. “He was so gigantic. At first I was shocked and frightened.”
Sharon leaned closer, putting her elbows on Mimi’s kitchen table. If the two men’s father was anywhere near their size, he would have been daunting to Mimi.
She smiled. “For about a second. And then I felt a sense of peace. We stared at each other for a while in our animal form, both knowing the other was a shifter. After stepping around each other in a sort of dance, we paused, nodded, and shifted.
“I was shocked when Bernard shifted fully clothed. I had to drop my pack first and tug a sweatshirt over my head.”
Laurie reached for her grandmother’s hand and held it. “What happened?”
Mimi lowered her gaze and smiled at each of them. “Nothing. We sat in companionable silence for a while and then shared a few details of our species. Or rather Bernard shared. Surprisingly, he knew nearly everything about wolf shifters.”
“And you never told anyone?” Melinda asked.
Mimi shook her head. “Not until today. Not even my mate.”
Sharon was dumbfounded. All she could do was listen. She glanced around the room and decided she needed to leave these four women alone. She was intruding on a family event. These women were powerful shaman and Native Americans. This was not her place. “I should get back to Cambridge.” She stood from the table and smiled at everyone. “You all have a lot to discuss, and I’ve been gone too long.”
Joyce stood and gave her a hug. “Thank you so much for coming today and letting us all rest.”
Laurie hugged her next. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
Melinda dangled a set of keys from her fingers. “I drove you here. Take my car. I’ll pick it up later or have one of the guys from the sheriff’s office bring it back.”
“Right. I forgot I didn’t drive here.” She took the keys. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Melinda waved her off. “Of course not. Be careful. That roadblock is a real bitch,” she teased.
Sharon rolled her eyes. If that asshole Sandhouse stopped her again, there was a good chance she would get out of the car and read him the riot act.
Sharon's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 10) Page 22
