Surrender (The Deadwood Hunter Series Book 4), page 5
“I should have never come here,” Alice whispered, laying back on the bed with a groan.
“Don’t be stupid, Alice,” Miles countered.
“I’d never forgive myself if something happened.”
“Those first five shots were from Marcus, and he never misses, so they’re facing five men. Human men. Lexia’s faced more than that alone, and she has a pack behind her now.”
“She’s not that person anymore though.”
Miles’s hand rested on her ankle, and he squeezed. “Listen to me, Alice, we’ve all changed. We’re all far more than what we once were, but that doesn’t mean we’ve suddenly become weak. War doesn’t leave you, Alice. You know that as well as I do.”
Mustering a small smile, Alice broke eye contact and let her head fall back. In the seconds before her eyelids slid shut, Jared’s gaze met hers. He was filled with questions, and there was a longing there to know her. She didn’t understand it. Jared knew nothing about her really, and she’d not been particularly nice to him, yet it was there, etched in the depths of his green stare. He liked her, he wanted to know her, and it was a feeling she planned to stomp out of him.
It was over in minutes, though it seemed like an eternity. The last gunshot rang, and silence followed, no growls could be heard or howls from an angered wolf. Just silence. Alice had heard the silence before. She’d come to learn that the silence of death was the same no matter the situation or body count. It was eerie, final.
Moments after the last gunshot, the deep call of a cat thundered through the trees.
“Is that Linc?” Alice asked.
“Yeah. It’s over,” Miles confirmed.
Several of the children had already jumped to their feet. Alice guessed they understood the calls of their alpha far better than she did.
“The threat’s gone, but I want all of you to stay within the grounds of this house. Keep an adult within eyesight at all times, okay?”
A chorus of agreements followed and then the shuffle of feet and bubble of excitement.
Alice smiled. “Trust shifter kids to find this exciting.”
Lola went running off too, shouting to a boy named Lucas as she went.
“Kids are resilient. Shifter kids more so,” Miles said. “I’ll catch you later, Alice, Jared.”
He left with a nod, shifting from friend to soldier seamlessly, pausing only briefly at the door to murmur something to the only other person in the room. Alice didn’t recognize him. He was young, probably sixteen but most definitely a shifter of some kind. At that moment, Alice didn’t really care what he was, nor did she have the energy to try and focus her senses to figure it out. With each beat of her heart, the wound in her gut pulsed angrily, reminding her that at that moment she might not be quite human, but she sure felt it.
“They don’t trust me,” Jared whispered to her as he turned his back on the young man at the door.
“They don’t know you,” Alice murmured back.
“I saved your life.” He crossed his arms, irritated.
“I’m sure I’d have survived just fine on my own.”
“If you say so.”
“You’re probably right,” she whispered, closing her eyes as her vision blurred. “Thanks for that.”
“Alice?” His hand gently touched her forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“Now you mention it, I do feel a bit hot,” she mumbled.
“Hey, you,” Jared snapped. “Go get that doctor.”
Alice opened her mouth to say she’d be fine, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Alice? Alice?” Opening her eyes, she gazed up at the blurry image of Caden hovering over her. “Alice, talk to me, how do you feel?”
“H-Hum… an,” she managed to get out before succumbing to the numbness that had been beckoning her.
Chapter 11
Jared
“What’s the matter with her?” Jared demanded.
The doctor studied him for a moment, a frown on his forehead, before deciding to answer, “She’s developed an infection.”
“I thought she healed better than us?”
“Hunters heal faster than shifters, but Alice isn’t a hunter…. Alice is an enigma. I can only treat her as the situation changes. A course of antibiotics and some rest should see her back on track again.”
The calmness of his voice irritated Jared; in fact, Caden just touching Alice irritated him. Having two males in the room with her set his blood boiling.
Get a grip, Jared. What the hell is the matter with you?
“May I suggest you get some rest yourself?”
Jared looked at the doctor, then back at Alice. The lion inside of him snarled, but the rational human half of him noted how tired he actually was, and how out of character he was acting.
It’s because you are around other shifters. Yup, that’s all it is, tiredness and being around my own kind.
“Actually, yes, that would be good, but I never actually got shown to that cabin before all hell broke loose.”
“Ah right… Isaac here can show you where to go.”
∞∞∞
A shower did him good. Towel around his waist, Jared padded around the small but sufficient cabin and paused at the window. Pulling the drape aside slightly, he looked out. The main house could just be seen, and a few children played outside with a football. They were watched over by more adults than he suspected would be normal, but no one seemed overly alert or distressed. He guessed they trusted their alpha. Pack dynamics weren’t something Jared was all that familiar with since he’d been raised by humans.
Just as he was about to let the drape fall back into place, Jared spotted Miles leaning against a tree not too far from him. His stance was casual, his body language relaxed, but his gaze was assessing, constantly roaming the grounds. Their eyes met. Jared didn’t look away. A part of him wanted to bare his teeth. Miles half smiled, tipping his head forward in greeting. It looked friendly enough, but Jared couldn’t help wondering if he’d chosen a tree near the cabin he happened to be in for a reason.
Nodding back in return, Jared let the curtain fall closed and stepped away. Running a hand through his hair, he eyed the bed. “Sleep. I need sleep. Then maybe I might be able to think straight.”
Letting his towel drop, Jared dragged on the jeans he’d left discarded on the floor and lay on the bed. He wasn’t expecting sleep to come all that easily, but within minutes, he was out. Only it didn’t help clear his mind of Alice. She followed him into his dreams, except dream Alice was far less angry, and far more welcoming.
Sleep had been a good idea. Jared didn’t want to wake up.
Chapter 12
Lexia
“Is there a reason you’re standing guard?” Lexia asked Miles as she took up position, leaning against the tree beside him.
“Just doing my job, making sure all are safe,” he replied nonchalantly
“So it has nothing to do with Jared sleeping in that cabin right there?” Lexia said, waving a hand in the direction of the cabin.
“Like I said, making sure all are safe.”
“You don’t trust him then?”
“Do you?” Miles asked, pushing off the tree and turning to face her. “He’s a stranger. We don’t know if he can be trusted.”
“He saved Alice.”
“I know, I know. It’s just…” Miles ran his hand through his hair, frustration on the lines of his face. “The way he is with her, it’s….”
“Possessive?” Lexia finished for him.
“Yeah, that’s exactly it. Alice didn’t act like they were close or anything, so why is a man she hardly knows acting all….”
“Shiftery?”
Miles laughed. “Yeah like a damned, bloody, possessive shifter.”
“He is a shifter, Miles.” Lexia shrugged. “But I get what you mean. I picked up on something, but I don’t think he’s a threat.”
“Do you think Alice likes him?” Miles asked, turning to look at the cabin.
“He’s not her type, but then I might not know her type anymore. You got a thing for her, Miles?”
Miles swung around, eyes wide. “Give over, Lex. She’s like my kid sister. I’m just looking out for her, that’s all.”
Laughing, Lexia pushed off the tree trunk and clapped Miles on the back. “Chill, I’m messing with you. Guard away, but get Marcus to sub you and get some rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“I need you at your best, Miles. I’ve a feeling this fight isn’t over just yet,” she said, walking away.
“All right, I’ll call him if I need him. Don’t worry, Lex. We’ve faced worse than a few suits.”
Turning back, her smile sad, Lexia answered, “I’d hoped my suit-fighting days were over.”
“Didn’t we all,” he replied, the same sad smile echoed back at her.
Leaving Miles to his watch, Lexia went in search of her daughter. The children had been allowed to carry on with their usual activities, but with a few extra watchers nearby. The last thing they wanted was fear creeping into their minds. Never did they want to go back to the days where to be a shifter meant you had to hide, to conceal your true self.
Lola was unique. Her looks were human, but her mind and her body far more advanced. Lexia wanted her to be a child, to keep her innocence for as long as possible, and, luckily, living in a shifter pack allowed that. Uniqueness was celebrated here. Her advanced strength wasn’t an issue when playing with shifter children. It didn’t matter to them if Lola could climb a tree like her cat friends or run as fast as a wolf cub. She was just another cub, another child to be treasured.
Smiling to herself as Lexia picked up the sound of her daughter’s voice, she rounded the corner to find Lola with her hands covering her eyes as she counted. Lucas was several meters behind her in panther form scrambling up a tree, nimbly leaping from branch to branch until he was perched as far as he could climb, hidden well between the foliage of leaves.
“Six, twenty, ten. Ready not, ’ere I come!”
Lola’s hands dropped away, her small, pretty face looking up, eyes darting in all directions. She smiled briefly as she made eye contact with Lexia but didn’t pause in her searching.
Lexia loved to watch her daughter play, to see her brilliant mind work. Where most two-and-a-half-year-olds would probably have started running around, frantically searching in random places, Lola first observed and assessed.
Her gaze scanned the ground, picking up the trail Lucas had made when he’d ran away. Following the path herself, Lola skipped along, humming to herself as she casually glanced up into the trees she passed. Coming to a stop underneath the tree Lucas had dashed up, she looked up, eyes searching. Frowning, Lola turned slowly and studied the ground until she’d come full circle and was once again gazing up into the tree.
“I know you up there, Lucas, just can’t see you,” Lola called happily.
Lucas made no move to reveal his position.
“Fine, I’ll get you,” she said, fisting her tiny hands.
Within seconds, Lola was scaling the tree.
“Be careful, honey,” Lexia called, walking closer to the tree.
“I fine, Mommy,” Lola called down.
A few leaves fell free, tumbling to the ground as the branches rattled.
“Found you!” Lola’s shrill voice sang out.
Moments later, after a growl and some giggles, a black panther cub scrambled down the tree, leaping off halfway down the trunk, followed by Lola. Lexia’s breath caught, the yell of warning stuck in her throat as her tiny girl leaped from the same height. Only instead of landing in a heap as Lexia had feared, she landed legs bent in a crouch, her hands stretched out, lightly touching the ground for balance.
“I swear that daughter of ours is part cat,” Lincoln said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
“She scares the life out of me.”
“As all cubs should,” Lincoln answered, laughing softly.
Lexia turned her head, kissing Lincoln on the cheek. “Everything cleared up?”
“Yup, no more suits littering our forest.” They watched Lola in silence for a few moments, watching her play fight with Lucas. “He’s so good with her, knows his limits better than most his age.”
“That’s because he grew up too young,” Lexia answered sadly.
“Don’t go there, Lex, that wasn’t you.”
It was hard not to blame herself for the past, and with the government on her door, it didn’t help but stir up old memories she’d rather not remember.
“Jeez, did you see that?”
Lincoln laughed, shaking his head as Lexia looked back at him.
“It’s not funny really, our toddler putting a seven-year-old on his ass.”
“They’re just playing, and besides Lucas is going easy on her.”
“He shouldn’t. She needs knocking down a peg or two. I wish she wouldn’t play fight.”
Lincoln kissed Lexia’s cheek, squeezing her closer. “She’s growing up in a shifter pack. There’s no chance of her not play fighting. It’s normal play for cubs.”
“Hmhmm,” Lexia grunted. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Lola! Enough, time for supper.”
“I’ll be in later. I’m going to patrol. We’ll keep security tight until we are sure this is behind us.”
“I hope it is, but I’m certain it isn’t. I can’t get hold of Sarah, or her assistant, which isn’t a good sign.”
“She could just be busy. She got promoted a few months back.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m still worried. Not just about them coming back, but what this means for Alice, and all the others given the cure for that matter.”
“You should reach out to the others you know,” Lincoln suggested.
Lola chose that moment to barrel into Lexia’s legs with such force, Lexia thought she might have stumbled if not for Lincoln at her back.
“Whoa there, little lady! Go easy on your momma. You’ll break her, and I quite like her just as she is,” Lincoln said, going down to Lola’s level and opening his arms for her.
“Sorry, Mommy, I racing Lucas, an’ wanted win,” Lola explained.
“That’s okay, baby,” Lexia said, ruffling her hair as Lincoln stood straight with her in his arms. “I’m not all that breakable anyway. Daddy just forgets.”
“You go with your momma now and be a good girl. Go straight to sleep. I’ve gotta run patrol tonight,” Lincoln explained, kissing Lola on her cheek before passing her over to Lexia.
“You watching for bad guys, Dada? Be careful, ’kay?”
“Don’t you worry about me, beautiful girl. Bad guys don’t scare me,” Lincoln answered.
Lexia leaned forward and kissed Lincoln briefly. “Be safe,” she whispered. “We love you.”
“Yeah, love you, Dada. Be ’afe,” Lola chimed in.
“I love you too, girls.” Lincoln turned to Lucas, who’d been waiting patiently. “Come on, Lucas, I’ll walk you home.”
Smiling as Lincoln walked away, a small panther trotting along beside him, Lexia committed the image to memory and prayed Alice’s return wouldn’t disrupt peaceful moments like these. She didn’t blame Alice, of course. It wasn’t her fault the cure was failing. Sure, she should have come to her earlier, but Lexia understood why she hadn’t. Sometimes it was hard to face the people you loved the most, especially when they reminded you of the person you once were. A person you could never be again, no matter how hard you tried.
∞∞∞
Closing the door to Lola’s room quietly, Lexia breathed a sigh of relief. Her daughter had taken a while to settle down enough to sleep. Her tiny brain was brimming with questions and worries from the day’s events. Lexia had done her best to answer them, but it was hard at times to find a child’s explanation of the very grown-up questions Lola was asking. It was all part of being a mother to a unique child, one whose genetic makeup wasn’t entirely known. She might have been only young, but her brain was developing far faster than that of a human’s or even a shifter’s.
Sarah had offered to do some tests to ascertain what exactly was going on inside of Lola’s small body, but Lexia had turned her down. For one, Lexia didn’t want the government getting hold of any information on her daughter, and two, she didn’t want to know. Not yet anyway. Lexia simply wanted to see her daughter as a child, a gifted child, yes, but just a child, and certainly not sheets of data and genetic code. Lexia wanted Lola to grow up feeling as normal as possible, to not feel like there was something wrong with her, or that she was dangerous. She understood now more than ever why her own dad had kept the truth of her genetic makeup from her. Lexia would have never grown up feeling normal otherwise. She’d have never had that childhood innocence all kids deserved.
“Wine?”
Lexia turned her back to Lola’s door and faced Belinda. “Yes, please,” she replied softly, taking the glass held out for her.
“I take it Lola didn’t want to sleep?”
Indicating for Belinda to head back down the stairs, Lexia followed, answering after a large sip of wine. “No, she wanted to talk about patrols, and how many guards would be placed around the house, and if she could join in.”
Belinda laughed at the last comment. “Ever her mother’s daughter.”
“I suspect most of the children will be difficult to put down tonight. Two years of peace… is it too much to ask for another twenty or so?”
“Possibly.”
Belinda opened the door to the main living area. It was a large space with lots of seating as it tended to be the area pack members congregated. Since living here permanently, Lexia had made a few adjustments to the house, one of the biggest being knocking down the wall between the living area and kitchen/dining room. While most pack members ate with their individual families, there was a need for a communal area for those coming off a long shift on patrol or those who simply wanted the company of pack. The fridge was normally stocked with leftovers and baking that the more maternal members of the pack cooked and brought here. Opening the fridge, Lexia peered inside and pulled out some leftover lasagna to heat up.
“Don’t be stupid, Alice,” Miles countered.
“I’d never forgive myself if something happened.”
“Those first five shots were from Marcus, and he never misses, so they’re facing five men. Human men. Lexia’s faced more than that alone, and she has a pack behind her now.”
“She’s not that person anymore though.”
Miles’s hand rested on her ankle, and he squeezed. “Listen to me, Alice, we’ve all changed. We’re all far more than what we once were, but that doesn’t mean we’ve suddenly become weak. War doesn’t leave you, Alice. You know that as well as I do.”
Mustering a small smile, Alice broke eye contact and let her head fall back. In the seconds before her eyelids slid shut, Jared’s gaze met hers. He was filled with questions, and there was a longing there to know her. She didn’t understand it. Jared knew nothing about her really, and she’d not been particularly nice to him, yet it was there, etched in the depths of his green stare. He liked her, he wanted to know her, and it was a feeling she planned to stomp out of him.
It was over in minutes, though it seemed like an eternity. The last gunshot rang, and silence followed, no growls could be heard or howls from an angered wolf. Just silence. Alice had heard the silence before. She’d come to learn that the silence of death was the same no matter the situation or body count. It was eerie, final.
Moments after the last gunshot, the deep call of a cat thundered through the trees.
“Is that Linc?” Alice asked.
“Yeah. It’s over,” Miles confirmed.
Several of the children had already jumped to their feet. Alice guessed they understood the calls of their alpha far better than she did.
“The threat’s gone, but I want all of you to stay within the grounds of this house. Keep an adult within eyesight at all times, okay?”
A chorus of agreements followed and then the shuffle of feet and bubble of excitement.
Alice smiled. “Trust shifter kids to find this exciting.”
Lola went running off too, shouting to a boy named Lucas as she went.
“Kids are resilient. Shifter kids more so,” Miles said. “I’ll catch you later, Alice, Jared.”
He left with a nod, shifting from friend to soldier seamlessly, pausing only briefly at the door to murmur something to the only other person in the room. Alice didn’t recognize him. He was young, probably sixteen but most definitely a shifter of some kind. At that moment, Alice didn’t really care what he was, nor did she have the energy to try and focus her senses to figure it out. With each beat of her heart, the wound in her gut pulsed angrily, reminding her that at that moment she might not be quite human, but she sure felt it.
“They don’t trust me,” Jared whispered to her as he turned his back on the young man at the door.
“They don’t know you,” Alice murmured back.
“I saved your life.” He crossed his arms, irritated.
“I’m sure I’d have survived just fine on my own.”
“If you say so.”
“You’re probably right,” she whispered, closing her eyes as her vision blurred. “Thanks for that.”
“Alice?” His hand gently touched her forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“Now you mention it, I do feel a bit hot,” she mumbled.
“Hey, you,” Jared snapped. “Go get that doctor.”
Alice opened her mouth to say she’d be fine, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Alice? Alice?” Opening her eyes, she gazed up at the blurry image of Caden hovering over her. “Alice, talk to me, how do you feel?”
“H-Hum… an,” she managed to get out before succumbing to the numbness that had been beckoning her.
Chapter 11
Jared
“What’s the matter with her?” Jared demanded.
The doctor studied him for a moment, a frown on his forehead, before deciding to answer, “She’s developed an infection.”
“I thought she healed better than us?”
“Hunters heal faster than shifters, but Alice isn’t a hunter…. Alice is an enigma. I can only treat her as the situation changes. A course of antibiotics and some rest should see her back on track again.”
The calmness of his voice irritated Jared; in fact, Caden just touching Alice irritated him. Having two males in the room with her set his blood boiling.
Get a grip, Jared. What the hell is the matter with you?
“May I suggest you get some rest yourself?”
Jared looked at the doctor, then back at Alice. The lion inside of him snarled, but the rational human half of him noted how tired he actually was, and how out of character he was acting.
It’s because you are around other shifters. Yup, that’s all it is, tiredness and being around my own kind.
“Actually, yes, that would be good, but I never actually got shown to that cabin before all hell broke loose.”
“Ah right… Isaac here can show you where to go.”
∞∞∞
A shower did him good. Towel around his waist, Jared padded around the small but sufficient cabin and paused at the window. Pulling the drape aside slightly, he looked out. The main house could just be seen, and a few children played outside with a football. They were watched over by more adults than he suspected would be normal, but no one seemed overly alert or distressed. He guessed they trusted their alpha. Pack dynamics weren’t something Jared was all that familiar with since he’d been raised by humans.
Just as he was about to let the drape fall back into place, Jared spotted Miles leaning against a tree not too far from him. His stance was casual, his body language relaxed, but his gaze was assessing, constantly roaming the grounds. Their eyes met. Jared didn’t look away. A part of him wanted to bare his teeth. Miles half smiled, tipping his head forward in greeting. It looked friendly enough, but Jared couldn’t help wondering if he’d chosen a tree near the cabin he happened to be in for a reason.
Nodding back in return, Jared let the curtain fall closed and stepped away. Running a hand through his hair, he eyed the bed. “Sleep. I need sleep. Then maybe I might be able to think straight.”
Letting his towel drop, Jared dragged on the jeans he’d left discarded on the floor and lay on the bed. He wasn’t expecting sleep to come all that easily, but within minutes, he was out. Only it didn’t help clear his mind of Alice. She followed him into his dreams, except dream Alice was far less angry, and far more welcoming.
Sleep had been a good idea. Jared didn’t want to wake up.
Chapter 12
Lexia
“Is there a reason you’re standing guard?” Lexia asked Miles as she took up position, leaning against the tree beside him.
“Just doing my job, making sure all are safe,” he replied nonchalantly
“So it has nothing to do with Jared sleeping in that cabin right there?” Lexia said, waving a hand in the direction of the cabin.
“Like I said, making sure all are safe.”
“You don’t trust him then?”
“Do you?” Miles asked, pushing off the tree and turning to face her. “He’s a stranger. We don’t know if he can be trusted.”
“He saved Alice.”
“I know, I know. It’s just…” Miles ran his hand through his hair, frustration on the lines of his face. “The way he is with her, it’s….”
“Possessive?” Lexia finished for him.
“Yeah, that’s exactly it. Alice didn’t act like they were close or anything, so why is a man she hardly knows acting all….”
“Shiftery?”
Miles laughed. “Yeah like a damned, bloody, possessive shifter.”
“He is a shifter, Miles.” Lexia shrugged. “But I get what you mean. I picked up on something, but I don’t think he’s a threat.”
“Do you think Alice likes him?” Miles asked, turning to look at the cabin.
“He’s not her type, but then I might not know her type anymore. You got a thing for her, Miles?”
Miles swung around, eyes wide. “Give over, Lex. She’s like my kid sister. I’m just looking out for her, that’s all.”
Laughing, Lexia pushed off the tree trunk and clapped Miles on the back. “Chill, I’m messing with you. Guard away, but get Marcus to sub you and get some rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“I need you at your best, Miles. I’ve a feeling this fight isn’t over just yet,” she said, walking away.
“All right, I’ll call him if I need him. Don’t worry, Lex. We’ve faced worse than a few suits.”
Turning back, her smile sad, Lexia answered, “I’d hoped my suit-fighting days were over.”
“Didn’t we all,” he replied, the same sad smile echoed back at her.
Leaving Miles to his watch, Lexia went in search of her daughter. The children had been allowed to carry on with their usual activities, but with a few extra watchers nearby. The last thing they wanted was fear creeping into their minds. Never did they want to go back to the days where to be a shifter meant you had to hide, to conceal your true self.
Lola was unique. Her looks were human, but her mind and her body far more advanced. Lexia wanted her to be a child, to keep her innocence for as long as possible, and, luckily, living in a shifter pack allowed that. Uniqueness was celebrated here. Her advanced strength wasn’t an issue when playing with shifter children. It didn’t matter to them if Lola could climb a tree like her cat friends or run as fast as a wolf cub. She was just another cub, another child to be treasured.
Smiling to herself as Lexia picked up the sound of her daughter’s voice, she rounded the corner to find Lola with her hands covering her eyes as she counted. Lucas was several meters behind her in panther form scrambling up a tree, nimbly leaping from branch to branch until he was perched as far as he could climb, hidden well between the foliage of leaves.
“Six, twenty, ten. Ready not, ’ere I come!”
Lola’s hands dropped away, her small, pretty face looking up, eyes darting in all directions. She smiled briefly as she made eye contact with Lexia but didn’t pause in her searching.
Lexia loved to watch her daughter play, to see her brilliant mind work. Where most two-and-a-half-year-olds would probably have started running around, frantically searching in random places, Lola first observed and assessed.
Her gaze scanned the ground, picking up the trail Lucas had made when he’d ran away. Following the path herself, Lola skipped along, humming to herself as she casually glanced up into the trees she passed. Coming to a stop underneath the tree Lucas had dashed up, she looked up, eyes searching. Frowning, Lola turned slowly and studied the ground until she’d come full circle and was once again gazing up into the tree.
“I know you up there, Lucas, just can’t see you,” Lola called happily.
Lucas made no move to reveal his position.
“Fine, I’ll get you,” she said, fisting her tiny hands.
Within seconds, Lola was scaling the tree.
“Be careful, honey,” Lexia called, walking closer to the tree.
“I fine, Mommy,” Lola called down.
A few leaves fell free, tumbling to the ground as the branches rattled.
“Found you!” Lola’s shrill voice sang out.
Moments later, after a growl and some giggles, a black panther cub scrambled down the tree, leaping off halfway down the trunk, followed by Lola. Lexia’s breath caught, the yell of warning stuck in her throat as her tiny girl leaped from the same height. Only instead of landing in a heap as Lexia had feared, she landed legs bent in a crouch, her hands stretched out, lightly touching the ground for balance.
“I swear that daughter of ours is part cat,” Lincoln said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
“She scares the life out of me.”
“As all cubs should,” Lincoln answered, laughing softly.
Lexia turned her head, kissing Lincoln on the cheek. “Everything cleared up?”
“Yup, no more suits littering our forest.” They watched Lola in silence for a few moments, watching her play fight with Lucas. “He’s so good with her, knows his limits better than most his age.”
“That’s because he grew up too young,” Lexia answered sadly.
“Don’t go there, Lex, that wasn’t you.”
It was hard not to blame herself for the past, and with the government on her door, it didn’t help but stir up old memories she’d rather not remember.
“Jeez, did you see that?”
Lincoln laughed, shaking his head as Lexia looked back at him.
“It’s not funny really, our toddler putting a seven-year-old on his ass.”
“They’re just playing, and besides Lucas is going easy on her.”
“He shouldn’t. She needs knocking down a peg or two. I wish she wouldn’t play fight.”
Lincoln kissed Lexia’s cheek, squeezing her closer. “She’s growing up in a shifter pack. There’s no chance of her not play fighting. It’s normal play for cubs.”
“Hmhmm,” Lexia grunted. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Lola! Enough, time for supper.”
“I’ll be in later. I’m going to patrol. We’ll keep security tight until we are sure this is behind us.”
“I hope it is, but I’m certain it isn’t. I can’t get hold of Sarah, or her assistant, which isn’t a good sign.”
“She could just be busy. She got promoted a few months back.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m still worried. Not just about them coming back, but what this means for Alice, and all the others given the cure for that matter.”
“You should reach out to the others you know,” Lincoln suggested.
Lola chose that moment to barrel into Lexia’s legs with such force, Lexia thought she might have stumbled if not for Lincoln at her back.
“Whoa there, little lady! Go easy on your momma. You’ll break her, and I quite like her just as she is,” Lincoln said, going down to Lola’s level and opening his arms for her.
“Sorry, Mommy, I racing Lucas, an’ wanted win,” Lola explained.
“That’s okay, baby,” Lexia said, ruffling her hair as Lincoln stood straight with her in his arms. “I’m not all that breakable anyway. Daddy just forgets.”
“You go with your momma now and be a good girl. Go straight to sleep. I’ve gotta run patrol tonight,” Lincoln explained, kissing Lola on her cheek before passing her over to Lexia.
“You watching for bad guys, Dada? Be careful, ’kay?”
“Don’t you worry about me, beautiful girl. Bad guys don’t scare me,” Lincoln answered.
Lexia leaned forward and kissed Lincoln briefly. “Be safe,” she whispered. “We love you.”
“Yeah, love you, Dada. Be ’afe,” Lola chimed in.
“I love you too, girls.” Lincoln turned to Lucas, who’d been waiting patiently. “Come on, Lucas, I’ll walk you home.”
Smiling as Lincoln walked away, a small panther trotting along beside him, Lexia committed the image to memory and prayed Alice’s return wouldn’t disrupt peaceful moments like these. She didn’t blame Alice, of course. It wasn’t her fault the cure was failing. Sure, she should have come to her earlier, but Lexia understood why she hadn’t. Sometimes it was hard to face the people you loved the most, especially when they reminded you of the person you once were. A person you could never be again, no matter how hard you tried.
∞∞∞
Closing the door to Lola’s room quietly, Lexia breathed a sigh of relief. Her daughter had taken a while to settle down enough to sleep. Her tiny brain was brimming with questions and worries from the day’s events. Lexia had done her best to answer them, but it was hard at times to find a child’s explanation of the very grown-up questions Lola was asking. It was all part of being a mother to a unique child, one whose genetic makeup wasn’t entirely known. She might have been only young, but her brain was developing far faster than that of a human’s or even a shifter’s.
Sarah had offered to do some tests to ascertain what exactly was going on inside of Lola’s small body, but Lexia had turned her down. For one, Lexia didn’t want the government getting hold of any information on her daughter, and two, she didn’t want to know. Not yet anyway. Lexia simply wanted to see her daughter as a child, a gifted child, yes, but just a child, and certainly not sheets of data and genetic code. Lexia wanted Lola to grow up feeling as normal as possible, to not feel like there was something wrong with her, or that she was dangerous. She understood now more than ever why her own dad had kept the truth of her genetic makeup from her. Lexia would have never grown up feeling normal otherwise. She’d have never had that childhood innocence all kids deserved.
“Wine?”
Lexia turned her back to Lola’s door and faced Belinda. “Yes, please,” she replied softly, taking the glass held out for her.
“I take it Lola didn’t want to sleep?”
Indicating for Belinda to head back down the stairs, Lexia followed, answering after a large sip of wine. “No, she wanted to talk about patrols, and how many guards would be placed around the house, and if she could join in.”
Belinda laughed at the last comment. “Ever her mother’s daughter.”
“I suspect most of the children will be difficult to put down tonight. Two years of peace… is it too much to ask for another twenty or so?”
“Possibly.”
Belinda opened the door to the main living area. It was a large space with lots of seating as it tended to be the area pack members congregated. Since living here permanently, Lexia had made a few adjustments to the house, one of the biggest being knocking down the wall between the living area and kitchen/dining room. While most pack members ate with their individual families, there was a need for a communal area for those coming off a long shift on patrol or those who simply wanted the company of pack. The fridge was normally stocked with leftovers and baking that the more maternal members of the pack cooked and brought here. Opening the fridge, Lexia peered inside and pulled out some leftover lasagna to heat up.
