Barely Winging It

by Tigertalez

  “Yes, why?”

  The older officer interjected, “Mister Webber, can you confirm to that?”

  “Yes, she’s kept her mother and me up all night pacing.”

  Bronya didn’t show her shock at hearing she had kept her parents up. Oops.

  Turning to the two officers, Bronya felt compelled to ask, “Do you believe it was arson?”

  The younger officer answered, “Why would you ask that?”

  “You mean besides asking me where I was at the time of the fire?”

  Her father cleared his throat, silently telling her she needed to tone down the snarky sarcasm. This was a common thing for him to do as she had a bad habit that she just couldn’t care to change.

  Her dad turned an apologetic look towards to two uniformed men. “Officers, would you like to come in? I’ll get a pot of coffee brewing.” He stepped aside, and the officers entered nodding their gratitude. He led them to the living room where everyone took a seat. Her mother had watched from around the corner of the entryway, so while they made their way to the living room, she made her way to the kitchen to brew the coffee. Her mom and dad worked brilliantly as a team.

  “My daughter has been having problems with a man who won’t stay away. In fact, he had called for her several times at our office.”

  With a look from her father, Bronya told the officers about the only person she had in her life that she would suspect for anything malicious. The officers asked questions and took down notes. After giving her their cards, they thanked them for the hospitality and promised to keep in touch before they finished the last gulp of the coffee and headed out the door.

  After they left, Bronya felt fatigue plague her, but instead of going to bed, she called her insurance company and reported the fire. Hours later, she curled up on the couch in her father’s office, covered herself with the throw from the back, and closed her eyes for a little nap. She wasn’t one to get scared, but being alone right now felt sickly to her. But here in her dad’s office, with people all around, she relaxed enough to give herself some rest. She’d deal with everything else after that.

  Chapter Four

  Thursday after sundown

  “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Havana, happy birthday to you.” The slightly off pitch chorus sang around her. Once the lyrics were completed, closing her eyes, Havana leaned over her full sheet birthday cake and blew out the eighteen candles adorning it. Opening her eyes, she smiled at the curls of smoke that rose from the extinguished sticks of wax. She was pleased with herself for being able to blow all of them out. That was a lot of candles.

  Everyone around her cheered and clapped.

  “All right, cake time!” Reese rubbed his hands together and grinned. Havana had to laugh at him. He had convinced one of the others to take him to town to get several bags of M&Ms to replace hers that he had eaten, all to win back rights to a piece of her cake today. How could I not be won over by that?

  It was after sunset, so they could have the gargoyles join the celebration. Havana thought it was one of the longest days in her life. She found keeping herself busy was a real challenge since everyone thought not to give her chores on her birthday. That would have been great if she wasn’t so desperate for something to kill time. Luckily Kace allowed her to help on the construction on Betty’s little cabin. She had a pretty fun time hanging with the team and helping out. It was the only thing that made this wait bearable.

  A plate of white frosted cake coupled with chocolate ice cream scooped on the side was placed in front of her. Havana ate her treat slowly as she watched her mate, who was still across the room. She tried not letting it get to her that he was still keeping his distance, but the weight of worry was slowly starting to creep into her chest. Shaking her mind out of its stupor, she smiled at everyone around her as they teased and laughed.

  “Havana, Gale says you plan on taking your college courses online. Is that true?”

  Havana nodded to Connie as she tried to swallow her bite of cake. Once her mouth was cake free, she made a more complete response. “Yes. My work load will be a bit heavy since I’m taking graphic design, marketing, and business management.”

  “Wow, why so much?”

  “Because the graphic design path I want to take is web development, and learning the other two will be beneficial in a big way to my work.” Havana had no doubts she could pull it off since she always worked hard in school to successfully attain the best grades.

  They were interrupted by a sticky faced duo each holding a small wrapped box with sticky fingers. Havana chuckled at the twins and leaned down to peck a kiss on their heads. “Is this for me?”

  Both heads of brown hair bobbed up and down. “Open,” they said in unison.

  With their excited and eager faces glowing up at her, she couldn’t refuse. Grabbing the boxes, she opened Abby’s first. She revealed a small red leather diary with etched flowers covering the front and back. Havana ran her fingers over the texture of them and smiled. Behind the tots, Connie snickered, “She even wrote in it for you.”

  Sure enough, on the first page were several swirly lines. Reaching out, she pulled the tot in for a hug. “Thank you, Abby.”

  “Mine, mine,” Danny begged earnestly.

  Laughing, Havana let go of Abby. “Ok. Yours is next.” Tearing off the wrapper and opening the narrow box, she revealed a very nice pen. “Perfect to go with my diary. Thank you, Danny.” Havana received a hug back when she wrapped her arm around him.

  After the tots were led away, other gifts were piled in front of her. She laughed and delighted in every single one of them. She reached for the last gift from the pile and read who it was from. “To our dearest dau…” Her breath caught as her lungs froze and her throat swelled with emotions. She struggled to read the rest through the tears that instantly welled in her eyes and poured down her cheeks. Havana wasn’t used to being weepy, but her emotions overtook her, and no matter how hard she held her hands over her mouth, she couldn’t stop the sobs.

  Alphy and Reese were by her side giving her support. She even scented her mate behind her. He rested his hand on her shoulder. Alphy took the note and read it. “To our dearest daughter, you make us so proud.”

  A Kleenex box was placed in front of her. Grateful for something to clean herself up with, she grabbed several sheets and used them. The warm hand of her mate disappeared before she could truly enjoy it. Her shoulder where he had placed his hand, now felt colder than the rest of her body, and she missed his warmth.

  Taking a few deep breaths, she was finally in control of her emotions again, or at least until she opened her present. Whatever it was, it would probably make her cry again. That would totally suck if it was something silly like a teddy bear. Not wanting to make a mess of the wrapping—no doubt her mother had done it before she died—Havana pulled at the shiny gold ribbon and carefully unwrapped the white wrapping paper. The box was small and extremely light, so she wondered if there was anything really in it. She also wondered how she didn’t know about this gift as she was pretty active with helping to go through all of their parents’ things and pack them up.

  Lifting the lid off the box, she looked inside and saw tissue paper. Moving the paper aside, she saw a manila envelope. Inside, she revealed tickets and reservation information on hotels, and car rentals for a trip to Italy. Ok, so not a gift to be ashamed of crying over. She saw, in the back, was another letter. Again, Alphy had to read it.

  “Havana, now that you are officially an adult, we wanted to send you out into the world to create some memories that you could carry with you for your entire life, and perhaps also find your mate to give us grandcubs. With love, Mom and Dad.” The room gave a subdued laugh at the last part of the sentence.

  The last part of that sentence sent a wet and loaded snort out into her tissue she held over her face. Leave it to Mom, while dragging Dad along, to remind her that she wanted grandcubs.

  The room emptied out, leav
ing just her brothers, and her mate, who was still standing behind her. Reese was more subdued than she normally saw him. He was reading some of the information. “So there’s an extra ticket to take someone along with you. Can I go?”

  “No,” she said as she wiped her face with more tissue.

  “Wow, you didn’t even think about it. It’s not like you have a boyfriend to take you, and Alphy has already seen the world, and has a mate already.”

  Her brother’s voice sounded almost whiny, and she could tell he really wanted to go. However, she wanted to get something settled right now, whether Dultyn wanted it or not. “For your information, I do have a boyfriend. In fact, I have a mate, and I’m going to use this vacation as a mating present.”

  Alphy straightened up when he heard her. He looked behind her at Dultyn, then back to her again. He was silent for a while, just staring at her. She was starting to feel uncomfortable and was going to say something when Alphy spoke. “Wow, didn’t see that comin’.” He looked behind her to Dultyn. “Since I never scented you on her, I take it you two have kept separate because of her age.”

  Havana couldn’t see behind her, but she figured he nodded because Reese totally deflated. “Aww, man! And there is no way I’m begging you to smuggle me in your luggage since I don’t want to get stuck there waiting for you two lovebirds to remember me.” Reese stood up and stalked into the living room with a sullen look.

  “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you claiming my little sister in the bedroom that is right next to mine, and we can’t have you two stay out in the barn. Give me a few minutes to work out an arrangement for you both,” Alphy said.

  Before Havana could reply, Dultyn responded. “I do not plan to claim her yet. She is still too young.”

  Ok, weepy mood gone. Now Havana was angry. Pushing herself off the chair, she whipped around and faced her mate, speaking to him for the first time ... while he was conscious. In the back of her mind, she briefly regretted her first words to him would be in anger. “Too young? I’m only too young if you treat me like I am by not discussing things about us with me and making decisions about us without me. I’m not too young. No matter how long you think you will need to take, it will never be long enough with that attitude. I don’t want to die of heartache because you can’t see me as your mate.” Havana didn’t take any of her gifts as she stormed out of the room. She would get them later. Right now she was too upset. She was going to go spend some time in her fur.

  Shifters didn’t have much modesty since they had to strip down to shift, so Havana walked out onto the porch and immediately began to strip. She loosely folded her clothes and plopped them on a bench seat. Right before she reached for her bear, she looked back through the window and saw Dultyn staring at her through the glass. He looked angry, and knowing how possessive paranormals were when it came to their mates, she guessed it was because she was naked for all the world to see, but she just didn’t seem to have it in her to care. Looking back at the tree line, Havana initiated her shift and took off into the dark and wet woods, angrily lacerating the soft muddy earthen ground with her extended claws.

  ****

  Dultyn almost tore outside to shield her naked body from the others, but the look she gave him when she turned to look at him through the glass had him stopping cold in his tracks. As he watched his mate tear off into the trees, he was left with no doubt she was angry. He had had to make difficult decisions before so he knew they were never easy, but he couldn’t stop the feeling he was in the wrong. He was struggling to convince himself it was just the trick of his mind. He had to be right. He was trying to protect her. She was so full of life and spirit, and he … well, wasn’t. His life had been filled with painful and difficult challenges, and he would only be holding her back. She would come to resent him for it.

  Alphy stood next to him and grunted. “Keep a couple things in mind, Dultyn. Whatever your reasons are, they’re wrong if you don’t include her in those choices. The more you push her away without her going willingly, the more pain you cause her. Is that what you really want? To hurt her? Fate said now is the time, so be very careful with what you decide, because it isn’t just about you.” Alphy turned and left Dultyn with his internal battles.

  Chapter Five

  Friday

  Nix and Enzo excited their new pack vehicle and darted quickly through the rain. This was the third pack car they had had to purchase. The first one was in the shop still getting repairs from an attack on Katie less than a week ago, and the last one was totaled just two days before with the attack on Slate, Matteo, Dex, and Pierce. Good thing their pack came with a generous bank account.

  They stepped under the eave to their intended building.

  “I sure hope she’s here, man. She is turning out to be one hell of a challenge to find, just like a woman,” Enzo jokingly griped, but Nix didn’t feel humored. He shot Enzo a lethal look.

  “Don’t talk about her like that! How would you feel if you found your mate and I said that about him?”

  Nix didn’t usually snap at Enzo or Alphy even. They were higher ranked, and in the shifter world, that was a far bigger deal than in the human world. However, he’d had very little sleep the past two nights because his mind wouldn’t shut off. All he could think about was her, the look of her, the smell of her, the way she moved, her profession, and the one that kept his dick hard, the way she looked at him. Though it wasn’t sexual because he was in his animal form, she still had much to say in those eyes. It fed his obsession. It turned him on like nothing else, and with the added urgency to find her, he was left temperamentally fragile.

  Fortunately, being someone Nix grew up with, Enzo didn’t let it get to him. He gave an amused grunt. “Snippy, snippy. All right, I get it, she’s worth it. Just note that if she wasn’t a mate, this would totally not be worth it. You have to admit it feels like we’ve been sent on a merry wild goose chase. I seriously hope we find her here because this is the third stop. And I might add, none of these stops have been anywhere near each other.”

  Nix swung the glass door opened and walked inside. “You are such a gripe. We didn’t even drive to the first place. We just called.”

  “Yeah, but he was a bastard over the phone. That stress factor validates the qualifications for being out of the way.”

  They neared the front desk as the engine of a small plane, outside, sounded overhead on its takeoff. The receptionist looked up as they approached. If Nix had to describe him, he would say he was a twink. The young blond had short, well-groomed spiked hair, and lip gloss sparkled on his lips. To add further validation, Enzo perked up next to him, and he was nearly strutting as they neared. No doubt his gaydar was tripped. Leave it to Enzo to not miss out on any opportunity to get laid. Nix could already see the young man’s interest focus on Enzo. Nix didn’t want to lose track of why they were here, and knowing his buddy, the little twink wouldn’t remember his own name if Enzo had any chance to work his charm on him, so Nix quickly got down to business.

  “This is Enzo Boyce, and I’m Phoenix Savage. We’re here for an appointment with Mister Richard Webber.”

  In response, the young man reached up and pressed a button on the phone receiver. “Mrs. Webber, Misters Boyce and Savage are here.” He paused for a response then nodded, “Uh huh, yes, I will.” He pressed the button and looked up at them with a cheerful smile. “You can go back. Just down the hall, there’s a set of stairs on the left. Missus Webber will meet you at the top.” Before either of them could say anything more, the young man accepted an incoming call, “Webber Air.”

  The two made their way down the hall as instructed. Nix had shifter senses, but his scent wasn’t as good as his sight, as otherwise, he might have smelt his mate in the lobby. But as they reached the top of the second floor, the scent of a dew-covered forest tickled his nose. Nix closed his eyes and took in another breath as his dick began to fill. His falcon twittered excitedly in his head and pushed for him to seek her out.

 
Enzo’s hushed voice pricked his ears just loud enough for his shifter hearing to make out, but not loud enough that anyone else who wasn’t plastered against them would hear. “Nix. Snap out of it. Come on, man.”

  Nix opened his eyes and looked around. A woman who resembled his mate stood before him with a questioning look on her face. Beside him, Enzo was giving him a look that was a mix of victory and caution.

  “I get it, she’s here. Keep a hold of yourself. We can pump these guys for info about her, but we have to be discreet. Remember we’re here to look into buying a jet for the pack.”

  Nix nodded his understanding, but inside his falcon wanted to claw at Enzo. He shushed his inner beast as introductions and pleasantries began the dance of business. The woman, introduced as Della Webber, the wife to the owner of the private air strip they were at, led them into a small conference room.

  “My husband will be here shortly. He’s speaking to some police officers who stopped in slightly unexpectedly. Would you care for some coffee?”

  Enzo beat him to the question. “Unexpectedly? I hope nothing serious.”

  “It’s a personal matter. My daughter’s apartment burnt down night before last, and they suspect it to be arson.”

  Nix’s breath caught in his throat as he felt fear punch him in the gut. “Is she all right?”

  “Oh yes. She’s slightly freaked out I think, but she was staying the night at our house, so she’ll be fine. She’s a strong one, just like her father. She has very impressive control over her fears. Thank you for asking.”

  Just as Nix began to relax with relief to know his mate was all right, something the mother said stuck out. “You said she was staying the night with you?”

  “Oh, well, yes.” Nix could scent the woman’s sudden change in moods. She was suddenly nervous. He was about to try to calm her, but she shocked him by continuing. “I wouldn’t normally tell people all our personal issues, but my husband and I are strong believers in our instincts, and mine, about the two of you, make me feel like I should trust you.” Nix nearly laughed when he scented Enzo’s shock along with his own. But both stayed quiet as she continued. “Our daughter has an unwanted admirer. He calls and visits, trying to convince her to go out with him, but she has continued to refuse his advances. The police just learned the fire started with her apartment, so this man is now a suspect.”