Yeah, her boys deserved a break.
“I would listen to the felines, big brother,” Thomas groaned. “It’s their plane getting us out of here and it’s their guys doing the work. Also, it was their girl who convinced me to help rescue all of you. Let them do what they need.”
She wanted to smile. Thomas was looking out for her guys. He was good.
“Fine!” Chris growled, getting up to go sit with the other two wolves, who were already asleep. They hadn’t even taken off yet.
Brenton sat quietly in the section across the aisle from her with Zachary, who had his legs stretched to another seat in front of him. Troy, Gabe, and Andrew sat in the section in front of her. The only person who was brave enough to claim a seat in her section was Sheriff, stretched out like Zachary was. Jamie, the human who worked with Brenton, disappeared somewhere on the plane and no one was bothering him. This was completely out of the poor human’s depth.
“Riley,” Sheriff looked to her as the plane finally began to move. “You want to talk?”
“Sheriff, if there was ever a time I wanted to call you to come get me, this was it.” She looked to him and wondered what he saw on her face. “If ever there was a time, it was this.”
“I know, kitten,” he looked at her sadly. “I would have been there if I could.”
“All of you would have been.” She gave him a small smile, Sheriff wasn’t threatening. He should have been, but her body didn’t react to him. Maybe it was those fatherly, protective feelings he had. “I know.”
“Look, I understand if you don’t want to say anything but…” Sheriff took a deep breath. “You should talk to someone. If not one of your pride, then…”
“Sheriff,” she held up a hand, wincing at the bruise she revealed. She put both her hands in her lap before continuing. “I’ll talk to someone. Just… not this exact moment. Please. Talk to me about anything other than… this. We’re not even home yet.”
“What did your dad do for a living?” Sheriff wanted to know about her dad, of course. She never talked about Keith Stern but if there was a time to corner her about it, it was now.
“Keith Stern was a Navy Seal. He retired from active duty when I was ten,” she shrugged and saw Thomas’s head snap in her direction.
“Really?” He asked from across the plane.
“Yeah.”
“That’s a hard job,” Sheriff told her. “He must not have been around a lot.”
“Oh, he probably wasn’t before my mother… did what she did.” Riley could no longer say she died, but in her life’s wild timeline, ‘Lily’ dying had been a major part of her life. “He took more of a training position, moved us so he could come home after work every day.”
“Retiring is hard for those guys if they aren’t ready for it,” Sheriff looked over to Thomas, who nodded. “I was a Green Beret for fifteen years and then worked with the US SSTF until I met my wife. Then I retired to Wild Junction and became the sheriff.”
“Sheriff, how old are you?” she narrowed her eyes on him.
“About a hundred. Or to the human eye, forty to fifty. I’ve been in Wild Junction for thirty-four years and they all just ignore my age or lack thereof. I think I could be the sheriff there for another forty before anyone started to question it.” He grinned at her. “Between me and the Kingsons, we’re the town’s secret. They keep us, and we keep them. They don’t tell anyone about the people who don’t age, and we don’t mess with them too much. None of the hunters were originally from Wild Junction. They had recruited my deputy, Jeff, and Haley earlier in the year, when the boys came back, and were trying to get more of the town involved.”
“Wow,” she chuckled. “Old man is right.”
“You wish you looked as good as me,” Sheriff laughed.
“Suuure,” Riley rolled her eyes. “So yeah, my dad. He retired, got some other job he wouldn’t tell me about. Got real weird those last two years and then he told my school that my uncle would take me in. Never saw or heard from him again. And my uncle did not pick me up. He couldn’t be reached for whatever reason. My dad didn’t really think his plan through, whatever he was doing.”
“I’m sorry,” Sheriff watched her, and she shrugged.
“It was a long time ago. Unlike my mother, my father doesn’t seem to be a wanted criminal with dozens of enemies trying to kill him. He was just a coward.”
“Why a coward?” Thomas finally walked over. Sheriff let him in, probably since they were both military, they could relate.
“He didn’t have the courage to tell me he had something important to take care of, he just left. He just told my school, and when my uncle couldn’t be found… they gave me an hour to pack as much of my stuff as I could from my house and go into a foster home. Therefore, he’s a coward, and a heartless one at that.”
“I’m sorry,” Thomas looked away and she turned in the same direction. Brenton was watching them, a small smile playing on his lips. She didn’t understand why though.
“It’s okay, I apparently have Sheriff now,” she patted the bear’s uninjured leg and he huffed and puffed, blushing a little, “and he cares and leaves me to be an adult all at the same time, which is all I really want in life from someone trying to be a parental figure, now.”
“Sheriff,” Thomas looked to the bear next to him. “Is she saying you fail in your fatherly duty of threatening her prospective love interests?”
“I’ve threatened all five of them for multiple reasons, including Riley, they don’t listen to me,” Sheriff grumbled and Thomas’ eyes went wide. She knew he was putting it together.
“Yes, Thomas. I have five… boyfriends, though the term seems a bit childish sometimes.” She looked back to Brenton and Zachary, both had real smiles now. Looking over Thomas’ shoulder, she saw the other three grinning over to her, though Gabe’s seemed off in some way. “It’s weird; and people are going to make some weird assumptions, but they’re mine. And I wasn’t letting my family die.”
“I’m not going to judge you.” Thomas grinned. “They’re lucky guys to have you, I think.”
“Damn right, we are,” Zachary growled softly from his seat. He was half asleep, and Riley finally broke into a real smile.
“Go to sleep, grumpy puss,” she told him, and he rolled to his side watching her more closely.
“You get some sleep first and I’ll think about it.”
“Fine.” she leaned back and laid the chair all the way down. Since getting on the plane and thinking about anything other than the compound, she was feeling a little better. Maybe she could get a couple of minutes of…
“Riley, we’re here,” Brenton’s voice was low. “We’ve got everyone ready to go. Come on beautiful.”
She blinked and cleared her eyes. Did she really fall asleep? She felt groggy and stood slowly. She was alone with Brenton and she tried to push back the fear of it. Alone with a lion. She couldn’t ignore the taste in her mouth and her face or scent must have told Brenton she was scared, because he stepped back a few feet.
“We’re ready when you are,” he whispered.
She blinked back tears. She didn’t want to be afraid of Brenton, she didn’t like it.
“Brenton…” she looked to him and tried to step closer to him.
He took it as a sign and was suddenly holding her. She clung to him, desperate to absorb his scent as safe again. Desperate to remember that Brenton was hers. He didn’t bother letting her go, carrying her from the plane.
“When we get back to the house, I think you might feel better staying in cheetah form around us. We can’t hurt you in that form,” he was speaking quietly, and she nodded into his chest. “And you’ll feel stronger.”
“Okay, Brenton.” She was put into another Range Rover, and she was in the front again. Brenton was driving this time. She could smell Zachary and Andrew in the car.
She fell back asleep in the car for the two-hour drive. They were going home.
TROY
The mansio
n loomed in front of them. State troopers were all over the town, all over their front yard. As they rolled up, troopers turned and saw them.
“Hey everyone,” Brenton stepped out of his vehicle and said something first. “We’re back.”
A trooper ran up to him, and they shook hands. Troy was tired, but they weren’t done yet. He drove while everyone slept ,and when he climbed out, he held a hand up to the troopers around him.
“Please, give me one minute,” he growled at them.
The only person not with them was Sheriff, who they’d left in Denver at the hospital. Jamie, of all people, had volunteered to stay with him until he was done and needed a ride home.
“We found your busted vehicles on the side of the highway, they were blocking traffic,” a trooper was telling Brenton. “We claimed all your stuff left in them, but there was no sign of any of you.”
“We were taken by hunters from out of state. They took us all the way out to Texas. We got a bag of stuff that needs to get to the US SSTF.” He waved and Gabe ran him the bag, shoving it in the hands of the trooper. “Now, tow my property here and bring our things home. I need to get everything accounted for, repaired, or replaced.”
“Ah… of course Alpha Kingson,” the trooper stepped back and began telling guys to get it done.
“Now, leave,” Brenton growled.
Through all this and all the guys getting out, Troy noticed one important thing.
Riley was still sitting in the Range Rover, staring out the front window at the chaos in front of her. He walked over, ignoring more troopers who wanted to ask where he’d been and if he needed anything. He did need something, but they couldn’t give it to him. He needed Riley to be okay. He pulled her door open and she looked at him with big amber eyes.
“You going to hide in here all day or go in and get some real food and sleep?” He leaned on the door and she tried for a smile. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame you for hiding in here all day, to be honest It’s a mad house right now. We weren’t expecting the house to be crawling with cops.”
“Sleep sounds goods…” She slowly got out of the vehicle and Troy took her elbow gently. He pulled his jacket off and threw it over her shoulders. She needed it. The cold weather was biting in the Colorado mountains today. “Yeah, I wasn’t… prepared for all of this.” She talked with her hands and Troy nodded.
“I’ll give the vet a call about having someone bring Star home today,” Troy wrapped an arm over her shoulders next and started leading her inside. “Ignore all of this if you want. If there’s any reason for one of them to talk to you or bother you, we’ll deal with it first. You need a shower, sleep, and something to eat. You can do those in whatever order you want, but I recommend eat, sleep, then shower.”
“I’ll eat while you call the vet,” she gave him a small smile and he nodded. She hadn’t reacted to him with fear yet, hadn’t pulled away yet. He needed to know what caused it, so they could avoid it.
He and Riley moved straight for the kitchen, which was overflowing with more people. Andrew was trying to make them all something to eat, with one of the wolves helping since an extra pair hands was needed.
“We need to throw the casserole in the oven now,” Andrew pointed to it and Antonio ran to grab it and slide it in the oven. “It’s already heated up, timer needs to be twenty minutes.”
Troy tapped James on the shoulder and when the wolf looked up, at the sight of Troy and Riley, he stood up and offered his seat to her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, sitting down. Troy stayed behind her, letting her lean back into him.
“I’m trying to get everyone fed,” Andrew began talking as he moved around the kitchen. “Then I’ve got to make room arrangements. We’ve only got four spare bedrooms, so a couple of our guests have to share. It’s a bit of a nightmare.”
“We’ve got time to figure it out,” Troy told him, taking a plate of food from the cougar and sliding it in front of Riley. “We’re home, Andrew. Don’t stress for a minute.”
“Yeah, us wolves can bunk up to leave the bear and fox some privacy.” Antonio grinned at Andrew. “You’re doing a great thing for us. We aren’t sure what we’re going to find at home.”
“Yeah, I heard Chris and Thomas talking about it. You think a pack member, or a rival pack gave your location away,” Zachary walked in, large and imposing to the crowd in the kitchen. “And after how long you’ve been gone, you aren’t sure you have a pack to go back to.”
“We need to see if they picked a new Alpha and who. We might be able to fight to get our pack back if they did, but it would be a mess. We’re down five from…” James sighed, leaning against a wall. “So… yeah. We really don’t know where to go from here.”
“Stay here as long as you need. Get your shit figured out. If you need help after this, let us know.” Zachary patted the smallest wolf, James, on the shoulder. “Except fight for your pack. We can’t get involved in that.”
Troy met Zachary’s eye and they both looked down to Riley, who’d been silent for the entire exchange.
Riley ate only a few bites, and Troy watched steadily. He needed her to get food in her stomach, some real energy. He grabbed the house phone and began dialing. He wanted Star home for her, today. Riley needed the friendly, unassuming companion.
Star was a strange cat, all the guys knew it, but Riley was madly in love with her. She would ignore or be mean to all the dominant males in the house, most of the time. She hissed at Brenton when he caught her in his office and yowled at Zachary in the gym. She enjoyed playing in the workshop and getting under his and Gabe’s feet, and messing with Andrew while he cooked on the counter where she was not supposed to be.
But Star did none of that when Riley was in the house. She was glued to their girl’s side like she was the only one who belonged there.
So, he would get Star home, because the cat was as much a member of the household as any of them.
“Wild Junction Animal Hospital, this is Carrie speaking.”
Riley spun in her seat at him, both Zachary and Andrew looking over as well.
“Hey, Carrie, it’s Troy Walker,” he tried to sound excited.
“Oh, Star’s family! The entire town has been wondering what happened. Is everyone alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. We just got back in and I was wondering if you could spare someone to bring Star home,” Troy swallowed the lump in his throat from the lie. They weren’t alright. They were just trying to keep moving forward until life was nearly normal again.
“I am certain I can get twenty minutes to drive her out to you sometime today. Her teeth are fine, we removed the one giving her a hard time and cleaned the rest,” Troy heard the shuffling of papers on Carrie’s end. “And everything else with her is fine!”
“Thank you, Carrie. Just show up, there will be someone around to get the door,” Troy smiled down to Riley, who was staring at him with a smile that was brighter than the sun. He hung up the call and leaned down to her and kissed her cheek. “She’s coming home too, Riley.”
“Good.” Riley nodded at him and kept eating. The smile remained, though, and that made him so fucking happy.
“You guys have a pet?” Antonio looked between them.
“Her name is Star and she’s my tripod kitty.” Riley smiled. “And she’s the best.”
“She’s a nightmare, but we all have our delusions,” Zachary growled. “She’s a little monster to anything with a dick. Avoid her.”
“She’s a sweetheart!” Riley laughed. “Don’t listen to Zachary, he just won’t pet her when she wants.”
“She’s a nightmare.” Riley tensed, and Troy caught the small bit of fear from her scent. He looked to see who spoke even though he knew the voice. Brenton was walking in with Gabe, Chris, and Thomas. Troy also saw the hurt in Brenton’s eyes at Riley’s reaction.
For fifteen million, she was going to become the new pet of a lion shifter she didn’t recognize.
That’s what Thomas had said. After e
verything, Cameron and now this… She was scared of the large Alpha they followed. She scented the lion first and forgot who it was. It had to be killing them both. Hell, it was killing him, and he just had to witness it.
Troy sighed and wrapped an arm around her, pushing her plate away since she was done.
“Want to head upstairs and get some sleep?” He asked her quietly. She nodded and waved at the rest of the guys as she slid off the stool.
As he walked with her upstairs, he heard Brenton growl at something. Whether it was himself or another of the guys, Troy didn’t know.
“Why is my door so heavy now?” Riley groaned, trying to push it open.
“Brenton and Zachary thought we should get metal doors, make it hard for people to kick them down,” Troy pushed it open for her. It was a bit heavy. They might have gone overboard.
“Oh, good!” Riley chuckled weakly. “Of course, they did.”
Once in her room, he watched her stare at the bed for a long minute, watched her swallow. He could smell the fear and pain at the sight.
“Riley?” He touched her back and felt the flinch.
“I’m fine,” she turned and smiled at him. It was forced and tight.
No, she wasn’t, but Troy wasn’t going to call her out right now. She needed to sleep and relax for a moment before they hounded her about her feelings. But he wanted to. He wanted to curl up with her and beg her to feel better, beg her to tell him how she felt about him, about all of them.
Instead, he helped her undress slowly, carefully. She trembled a little at one point, when his hand grazed over a bruise on her hip.
“Brenton said I should hang out in cheetah form for a little while,” she whispered, and Troy nodded. “I think I might just sleep in it though.”
“It’s a good idea. You’ll… feel better,” he stepped back for her to shift and once she was a cat, he saw a change. She rubbed against his legs and purred. “Pretty girl, you are so beautiful. Go lay down and get some sleep.”
He watched her trot to her couches and jump on one of them. He left the room quickly after, closing her in.
Wild Fire (The Kingson Pride Book 2) Page 23
