Simon

by Catherine Lievens

  The sound of the front door opening made Malik tense, but he relaxed when Merle came in, followed by Nootaw, who was holding their son.

  Simon got up and hurried toward Merle, who looked like something bad had happened. “What’s wrong?”

  “Have you seen Nepi?”

  Simon frowned. “No, why? Why should I have seen her?”

  “We can’t find her.”

  Simon reached for Aranck and Nootaw let Simon take him without protesting. He looked tense, but then the mother of his child was apparently gone.

  Simon sat next to Malik. “What happened?”

  Merle slumped into his chair. “We haven’t seen her in a few days. In the beginning, we didn’t think anything of it, because she still lives in the forest and everything, but she was supposed to take Aranck this afternoon, and she didn’t come.”

  “Maybe she had something else to do,” Quincy said, eyeing Aranck as if the kid might lung and try to bite him. It wasn’t actually so out of the possibilities since Aranck did have the habit of gnawing on whatever he found, but he looked sleepy more than anything.

  “Like what? She lives in the forest and she doesn’t have friends? Besides, she’s never missed a day with Aranck, not even when I stayed with them.”

  “What do you think happened?” Simon asked.

  Nootaw shrugged. “I think she decided to go back to the tribe, or at least to try to.”

  “No,” Merle protested. “She wouldn’t leave Aranck.”

  “You know she never liked the fact that you and me are together,” Nootaw said in a soft voice.

  “I know, but I also know she wouldn’t leave her son. She left the tribe to give him a better life. Why would she leave him now?”

  “You know she never really tried to blend in here.”

  “It doesn’t mean she’d leave.”

  “Do you know where she lived in the forest?” Malik asked. “Did she have a usual spot?”

  “Yeah,” Merle answered. “We gave her a small tent so she wouldn’t have to sleep under the rain and stuff. I tried to convince her to move into Kam’s house, but she didn’t want to.”

  Simon patted his hand. “We know you’ve done what you could for her.”

  Malik looked at Quincy and they both got up. Everyone looked at them, and Quincy gestured at Nootaw. “Can you show us where the tent is?”

  Nootaw got up. “Of course.”

  Merle nodded. “Me and Aranck are staying here for a while.”

  Malik kissed the top of Simon’s head and moved to the side to avoid Aranck’s small hand. “We’ll be back soon.”

  They walked out of the house and walked in silence until Quincy asked, “You really think she went back to the tribe?”

  Nootaw shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d like to think she didn’t, but she’s been here for months and she still lives alone in the forest. It’s obvious she wasn’t able to get used to living with the pack, and she never liked me and Merle being together. I think she accepted leaving the tribe because she thought I’d take her back, but when she got here and she found out about Merle, well. She wasn’t happy.”

  “You think she’s jealous?”

  “Not jealous in the sense you think. My tribe doesn’t accept same-sex relationships, and we don’t have mates. She doesn’t understand the concept of it, and since she gave me a son, she probably thinks she’s entitled to something more from me than just an uncomfortable friendship.”

  “So you wouldn’t be surprised if she’d left.”

  Nootaw thought about it before answering, “I would, because she loves Aranck. I’m just not sure she loves him enough to stay with him. No matter what Merle says, he’s never lived with the tribe. Children, well, not every mother cares for them. I’ve seen mothers abandon their children because they didn’t have the right father, or because they had medical problems. Living in a wendigo tribe is hard, and only the strongest survive.”

  “But Aranck is a strong baby,” Malik pointed out.

  “Yes, and she probably felt he didn’t need her. He has me and Merle.”

  Malik knew that much was true. He’d been told how wendigoes lived, but it was hard to accept.

  “There. The tent was under that tree,” Nootaw said as the stepped into a small clearing. Malik took one look at the small tent and took his phone out.

  * * * *

  “What do you think happened to her?” Simon asked as he tickled Aranck. The kid laughed loudly and made a grab for Simon’s hair, but Simon managed to avoid the little hand.

  Merle sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “Are things still as bad?” Simon hadn’t paid much attention to anything or anyone who didn’t live in the house with him, and it made him feel guilty. Merle was his friend, even though they weren’t as close as Simon and Mal, or Elliott. Still, Simon should have talked to him, but he’d been so focused on Malik, then on his parents, that it had been easy to forget about everything else.

  “She still won’t talk to me,” Merle answered. “And I know she still thinks Nootaw would be better off with her.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. She really doesn’t get the mating thing, even though Nootaw explained it to her more than once. I guess she just wasn’t raised to believe in love.”

  “Nootaw wasn’t either.”

  “No, but he was more accepting and ready to learn things, on being open. He left his tribe when his brother gave him a chance to. Nepi left only to protect herself and Aranck.”

  Simon found hard it to believe that she’d done something like that only to give up her son to Nootaw and Merle. Not that Simon thought there was anything wrong with that. It was good thing, actually. Merle was a great dad, and Aranck would have had to live in the forest if he’d stayed with his mother. Simon didn’t like the idea of taking a baby away from his mother, but it wasn’t like Nootaw and Merle hadn’t given Nepi the opportunity to live with them in Kam’s house. He still thought it was weird that she’s given Aranck away, no matter how much Merle and Nootaw let her see Aranck.

  He didn’t tell Merle that, though. He knew Merle wanted—needed—to believe Nepi loved Aranck, especially after what had happened with his own mother. She was still keeping a lot of distance between herself and Merle, and it hurt him, no matter how he tried to hide it.

  Besides, it wasn’t like Simon knew for sure what Nepi thought. He’d seen her only a few times, and only once up close. She made him nervous, and he wasn’t ashamed of saying he usually avoided her. She was what she was, after all, even though it didn’t mean she’d hurt anyone. Simon thought she looked a little wild, a lot more than Nootaw had ever looked.

  “What about you?” Merle asked, distracting Simon from his thoughts.

  “What about me?”

  “I had to learn about your mating from Kam.”

  Simon bit on his lower lip. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to not say anything, but—”

  Merle chuckled. “It’s fine. I remember how the days right after mating were. I was just teasing you. Besides, I’m pretty busy too.”

  “Certainly more than me.”

  “So you bagged an alpha.”

  “And a council member, yeah.”

  “How does being the alpha mate feel?”

  Simon shrugged. “I don’t feel any different. It’s not like Malik’s going to be alpha for much longer anyway.”

  Merle straightened. “Yeah? So he’s moving here? I thought you’d be the one to move.”

  “I told him I was ready to, but he said he’d been thinking about stepping down anyway, that he wanted to focus more on the council.”

  “It can’t be easy to be both, especially with the distance. How’s he going to move, though? Isn’t he a shark shifter?”

  “Yeah. He said he was going to build a pool on pack territory.”

  “Cool. That’ll come in handy in the summer. I don’t know why no one ever thought about it.”

  Ar
anck slapped Simon and Simon blinked at him. Aranck laughed and tried to slap Simon again, but this time Simon was expecting it and caught his hand before he could. “Hey, that hurts, little guy. No slapping.”

  Aranck just laughed, and Merle wiggled his fingers to get him back. Simon didn’t even have to pass Aranck along. He went on his own, throwing himself into Merle’s arms, making Simon smile. “He really loves you, huh?”

  “I think so.”

  “It’s obvious.”

  “Well, I’m his main caretaker, so I guess it’s normal.”

  Simon shook his head. For some reason, Merle was reluctant to admit that he was a second father figure for Aranck.

  The front door opened and Simon looked toward the living room door. Malik appeared, but he was alone, and Simon frowned. “Where are Nootaw and Quinn?”

  “They’re over at Nepi’s tent.”

  “What happened?” Merle asked.

  “We don’t know. The tent was fine, but she was nowhere to be found, and, well, it looks like she left the tent in a hurry.”

  “How do you know?”

  “There was a half-ready meal, but someone threw water onto it and left the rest where it was. There wasn’t much of it left because the animals ate everything, but it was enough to know something happened.”

  ““Did someone take her?” Simon asked.

  “We don’t know. It could be, but it doesn’t look like it. Besides, it would have been close to impossible for anyone to get this close to the alpha’s house, not with the amped up security.”

  “Unless this happened some time ago,” Merle pointed out. “Mal’s ex-boyfriend got through. Maybe he wasn’t the only one.”

  “Have you seen Nepi since then?”

  “It’s been what—a month?”

  Merle and Malik both looked at Simon. Simon counted the days, then nodded. “About, yeah. A little less, actually.”

  “I think the last time I saw Nepi was a few weeks ago.”

  “Wouldn’t she have seen Aranck last week?” Simon asked, curious.

  “She was angry at me, so I didn’t worry when she didn’t come by last week. It wasn’t the first time it happened, but it had never happened two weeks in a row.”

  Simon looked at Malik. “What do we do?”

  “I left before Kameron could arrive, but I don’t think there’s much to do. Even if someone manages to find a trail, and I highly doubt so, it probably wouldn’t lead to anything, not after two weeks.”

  “So what? We just do nothing?”

  “I’m sure Kameron will alert his connection in the police department and that he’ll try to look for her, but apart from that, there’s really nothing much we can do.” He looked at Merle. “I’m sorry.”

  “‘S okay. It’s not like it’s your fault or anything, and Nepi isn’t my friend. She’s just Aranck’s mother. I feel sorry for him because I think he needs her and that it’s not fair for him to grow up without her, but they didn’t really have much contact anyway.”

  Simon patted Merle’s thigh. “It wasn’t your fault. You tried.”

  “Still.”

  Malik cleared his throat. “I don’t know how long Nootaw will be out there, but it might be a while. Would you like me to walk you back to Kameron’s house?” he asked Merle.

  Merle nodded. “Please. Aranck is going to get sleepy soon, and I’d rather be at home when that happens.”

  Simon got up. “I’m coming with you.”

  Simon expected Malik to tell him to stay home because it was too dangerous, but Malik just nodded. Simon waited until they were in front of Kam’s house and Merle had disappeared inside to turn to Malik and ask, “Isn’t it too dangerous to walk around?”

  Malik arched a brow at him. “What would you have said if I’d told you to stay home?”

  “Heck no.”

  Malik smiled. “Exactly. You’re an adult, and I know you’re not stupid. You can make your own decisions.”

  Simon swallowed. No one had ever said something like that to him. He knew Mal and Elliott thought the same thing, but they hadn’t needed to tell him, and Simon’s parents, well, it was obvious they thought Simon shouldn’t be allowed to do what he wanted. That Malik could see it made Simon want to cry in a good way.

  He nodded. “That’s good. So, do you want to go in? We can wait for the others to come back and find out what happened and if they have news.”

  Malik nodded and offered Simon his hand. “Let’s go.”

  * * * *

  Simon was asleep, cuddled against Malik’s side. Merle had disappeared with Aranck about an hour before, saying he’d put the kid to bed, and he hadn’t come back. Not that Malik blamed him—it was already eleven P.M., and they didn’t have any news yet.

  Malik didn’t want to call, because he didn’t know what was happening, and the last thing he wanted was to put someone I danger by having their phone ringing right when it shouldn’t.

  He couldn’t decide whether the fact that no one had come back or called was a good thing or not. He knew they’d gone look for Nepi, and that they probably hadn’t found her, so what was taking them so much time?

  A squeaking noise distracted Malik from his thoughts and he tensed. He knew nothing bad could happen in Kameron’s house in theory, but with Tom on the warpath, he’d rather be prepared.

  The sound of small feet trotting toward the living room made Malik turn to look at the door. He waited, arching a brow at the small sand-colored fox that appeared. “Hello,” he said, wondering who the fox was.

  He tried to remember if he knew anyone who was a fox shifter. He didn’t know what kind of fox the shifter was, but it wasn’t a red one. It didn’t seem menacing, though, so he was pretty sure it was either a pack member or a friend. Besides, it was so small that Malik probably could break it in two with his bare human hands.

  The fox cocked his head.

  Malik tilted his chin toward Simon. “I’m Malik, Simon’s mate.”

  The fox huffed and trotted closer. Simon shifted position against Malik and reached down, and the fox butted his head against Simon’s hand.

  “Hi there,” Simon said in sleep-rough voice. “What are you doing here?” The fox yipped and Simon chuckled. “I’m afraid I don’t understand your fox language.” The fox huffed again and Simon shuffled closer to the back of the couch. “Want to jump up?” he asked.

  The fox cocked his head and looked from Simon to Malik. Malik wasn’t sure whether he was asking for permission, but if he had been, he certainly didn’t wait for an answer. He jumped onto the couch and settled against Simon’s side, although not so close that they touched.

  Malik arched a brow at him, but Simon didn’t see him, so he asked, “One of your friends?”

  “Kinda. Kir’s been solitary since he got here, but he’s getting better.”

  “Kir.”

  “Yup. Kir. He’s a fennec fox.”

  “I can see that.”

  Simon swatted Malik’s thigh. “You’re not funny. Any news yet?”

  “No.”

  Simon groaned. “What’s taking them so long?”

  “Do you want to go home? I can leave Quincy a message and tell him to call me when he comes back.”

  “Nah. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep anyway. I’m anxious. I hope everyone’s fine.”

  Malik kissed the top of his head. “I’m sure they are.”

  Even though Simon had said he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again, he was softly snoring fifteen minutes later. Kir was still next to him, his jaw on his paws, but he wasn’t sleeping. He was looking at Malik, and it made Malik a bit uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but wonder why Kir wasn’t shifting, why he seemed content to stay next to Simon in his fox form.

  He wasn’t the first shifter Malik met who was more comfortable in his animal form. Malik didn’t know Kir’s story, but Simon had said he’d been solitary until recently. Most of the pack members had bad past
s, and since Kir wasn’t a wolf, he had to have arrived after Kameron became alpha.

  Malik slowly reached for Kir’s head. Kir raised it and cocked it, but he didn’t move, and Malik scratched him between his ears. They were big and soft-looking, and when Kir closed his eyes in pleasure, Malik ran his fingers onto them.

  Not all shifters enjoyed being petted in their animal forms, and most reserved it to their mates, but Malik had seen how Simon, Mal, and Elliott made a puppy pile sometimes. Simon and Elliott were usually in their wolf form, while Mal obviously was human, and they both let him pet them.

  Malik didn’t understand it, or rather, he hadn’t until Simon had petted him in the pool. As a shark shifter, he didn’t feel the need to cuddle or to be petted. He was mostly solitary, and his being alpha didn’t help. He stayed easy-going as much as he could, but his school members still looked at him like a leader rather than just another school member. Well, except for Lesedi, but then she was more like a sister than his beta, and she treated everyone the same way.

  The front door open and Malik looked toward the hallway. He didn’t want to wake Simon yet, not until he found out if everyone was fine, and moving would have woken him, so he stayed still.

  Whoever was coming in kept their voices low, probably in regard of the people who lived in the house. Malik wasn’t surprised to see Kameron pass by the living room door. He paused and leaned inside. “We haven’t found her. We haven’t found anything, really. Everyone is fine, and we’ll try to look some more tomorrow, but I don’t think we’ll find anything. It looks like she left on her own, unless whoever took her managed to slip under pack security.” He raked a hand in his hair. “Which wouldn’t surprise me. The area is too big to manage to keep it all under control, no matter how hard we try. Damn.”

  Malik nodded. “Quincy and I are here to help with that, so stop worrying and go to bed. We can talk tomorrow.”

  Kameron waved and disappeared. Quincy came next, and he came in. He looked tired, albeit not as much as Kameron did. He also looked like he was fine, so Malik didn’t rush him.