chapter 12
She knew only that Alon wished to be done with her. Now he had his wish. His obligation was finished and she had reached her goal. Why then did her chest ache and her stomach twist?
Bess motioned to the picnic table and waited while Samantha sat before joining her on the long narrow bench. A larger cloud flew out the door.
“The Beta Pack,” said Cesar. “Plus the ones we found here in the forest.” There was another rushing sound like a sudden wind on a calm night. “Gammas.” Cesar sighed and took a seat in one of the folding chairs. “Alone at last,” he said.
Samantha turned to Bess. “Have you heard anything more from my family?”
“I have word from your brother. Blake has been elected War Chief of the Northwestern Council.”
Samantha sank back against the connecting table. He had done it. Blake was now in a position to speak before the other councils and convince them of the imperative of joining the Skinwalkers against Nagi. Their dad would be so proud.
Satisfaction buoyed her up. Then an arrow of self-doubt pierced her bubble of contentment. She’d been running and hiding and lusting after Alon while her brother had accomplished the impossible.
“None of mixed blood has ever reached such a position,” said Bess. “Perhaps there is hope for those Spirit Children yet.”
Samantha hunched and folded both arms across her middle. “Father will be pleased,” she managed to whisper.
“Yes. He hopes to bring Skinwalker and Spirit Child together to fight. But old wounds heal very slowly.”
Samantha assumed Bess referred to the wars between the Halflings. Both sides had endured heavy losses, but that was before her time. Had Bess fought the Spirit Children?
“Blake will convince them.” If her dad wanted something, Blake would move heaven and earth to bring it to him. Her brother made everything look effortless. She released a long breath. Would she ever get a chance to make her dad proud?
Bess spoke softly. “I’ve known this day would come. Your father asked me long ago to protect you should the need arise, and you are welcome to remain as long as you wish. But...”
Her hesitation gave Samantha time to grow anxious.
“But?” she asked.
“But the Thunderbirds did not bring you to me. They brought you to Alon. I wonder if they think he is better suited to be your protector.”
“He’s happy to be rid of me.”
“I know my son, and I can assure you he is not happy. Now, why is that?”
“He finds me a burden.”
Bess glanced at Cesar, who shook his head. Then she directed her attention back to Samantha.
“What are your plans? Will you rejoin your father or your mother?”
Samantha felt her breath catch. But she needed to say aloud what was in her heart.
“Neither. Since my arrival I’ve seen many things. And I think...that is I believe that it is essential to include the Ghost Children in this fight.”
Both Bess and Cesar rose to their feet. Samantha followed them, now feeling awkward and uncertain.
“Did your father send you here to ask us this?” asked Bess.
“No. He told me you had strange ideas and that there would be Toe Ta...Ghostlings about you. He told me that if I saw a Ghost Child, I was to run and if I could not run I was to kill it.”
Bess threw up her hands. “He doesn’t listen to me. I warned him of Nagi recruiting the lost children, but still he sees no difference between those Nagi has captured and those we have found.” She pinned Samantha with a focused stare. “But you see. Don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I believe you are right. Your father cannot win without the Ghost Children.”
Samantha clasped her hands together before her heart. “Then you’ll help me?”
Bess shook her head. “I am not their leader. Alon is. He has always been. If you wish them to fight, you must persuade him.”
“How do I do that?”
“It will be difficult, as he hates the Skinwalkers, but the Thunderbirds brought you to him for a reason. Perhaps this is it.”
“There is another reason,” said Cesar, looking at Samantha. “Isn’t there?”
She looked into the eyes of a Spirit Child, one who could see auras as clearly as she could. Her stomach dropped.
“And now, Samantha, you and I need to have a talk.”
* * *
Aldara found him first, of course. She materialized in her fighting form. The other Alphas appeared a moment later.
“Alon, what is happening?”
In the course of a few moments the other twins from the Beta and Gamma packs took shape around him, and he was forced to change to his fighting form or stand naked before them all.
“I was scouting for ghosts.”
“There are none,” reported Bart. He and his sister, Bella, were the second twins found by their father. It was Cesar’s idea to name them alphabetically. The Alpha Pack also consisted of Cody and Callie, Daniel and Darya and Evan and Elizabeth.
“Aldara said that she’s a Skinwalker,” said Callie, her speech much better than Cody’s, whom Alon still could barely understand when in this form. “Why would you bring her here?”
“She is a Seer of Souls.”
The gathering gasped.
“If he finds her, he finds us,” said Darya, her yellow eyes huge and round.
There was nothing his siblings feared more than Nagi. Samantha’s arrival threatened them, and that put her at risk. He wondered if he should take her away.
“You said there are no ghosts here.”
“Brother, there is a war coming,” said Aldara. “Our parents speak of little else. What are we to do?”
“That is up to each of you to decide.”
“No,” said Bart. “You are the Alpha leader. You decide for all of us.”
The honor swelled inside him. A moment later the responsibility dragged him down. He tried to think of someone better qualified. Aldara? She was as good a fighter but she lacked self-control. His sister was always ruled by her heart.
“Will we join the fight against Nagi?” His sister sounded so anxious to fight and die. Did she understand what they faced?
“Why should we fight with those who hunt our young?” asked Bella.
“Because Nagi is trying to upset the Balance,” said Bart. “It is our duty to protect it.”
“And Mankind,” added Daniel, his words slurred and awkward.
They were willing to fight for a world that did not want them. Alon bowed his head in humility at the magnitude of their generosity.
Bess and Cesar would be proud.
When he lifted his head, it was with the conviction of his brothers and sisters.
He lifted his voice and spoke to the three packs. “We have not chosen war with Nagi. But he hunts us. From this moment on we will fight all who threaten us. It is better to die in the battle to be free than to be taken as a slave.”
They cheered.
“We will fight to defend ourselves. But we will not join the Skinwalkers who hunt our babies or the Spirit Children who do nothing to stop them. They reject us so we reject them.”
The assemblage nodded their approval of this.
“To defeat his army we will need more than bravery. Nagi will drag the humans into this fight. I would not kill innocents. That is why we must protect the Seers.”
They cheered again.
“But the Seers are Spirit Children,” said his sister.
“We cannot save the possessed humans without them.”
She nodded her understanding of this. He wondered if she would be so understanding of his next order.
“Aldara, you will go to Samantha’s brother, Blake Proud, and act as his bodyguard. Keep him safe from ghosts and any of Nagi’s forces.”
Aldara frothed at the mouth and gnashed her teeth. “I am a better fighter than any of them.” She pointed an accusing finger at their siblings.
“It is why I send you. I know you will keep him safe.”
“They are Niyanoka. Not our concern.”
“Am I Alpha leader or am I not?”
Aldara hunched. “You are.”
“Then you go.”
She nodded her acceptance.
Alon turned to the next oldest. “Bella and Bart. You will guard Michaela Proud, Samantha’s mother. Find out from our parents where she is. But do not let her see you unless it is to save her life.” He turned to his sister. “Aldara, you go with them.”
She scowled at him but did not argue. The three burst into their flying form and billowed away.
“Who will guard the last Seer?” asked Hamilton, the leader of the Beta Pack.
All eyes turned to him.
Alon knew he could not leave Samantha with his mother because only a Ghostling could protect her from her enemies. But it did not have to be him. Hamilton was a good fighter. Not as good as him, but still formidable. The hopeful expression on Hamilton’s face made Alon seethe. No, he would not hand her over, even though it might be safer for Samantha if he did.
“I have taken her under my protection. She’s mine.”
Hamilton bowed his acceptance.
“The rest of you go back. I need to hunt and think. I will see you in the morning.”
The packs dispersed. In a moment he was alone.
She’s mine. But she wasn’t. Never would be.
His heart beat painfully against his ribs. Until this was done, Samantha would be under his guard protection. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he lost control and took what he wanted.
Icy fear for Samantha crept through his blood like poison. With all his strength and power, he couldn’t protect her from himself.
* * *
Cesar drew Samantha away from his wife, and Bess allowed it. He walked with her toward the riverbank beside the ribbon of water that still glinted bright against adjoining banks. Beyond, the tree line loomed darker against the midnight sky.
“Alon is quite protective of you,” said Cesar.
He had stopped walking. She glanced above his head to where his black-and-white aura burned beneath a glittering gilded cap.
“You can see my aura,” he said.
She nodded.
“And I can see yours. Yours and Alon’s.”
She knew it.
“Did you know I found Alon the day he was born, feeding in a Dumpster a few feet away from his dead mother?”
Samantha nodded.
“He told you? This surprises me.” He paused to look out at the water. “He and Aldara. Bess was there and Tuff Jackson. But Alon came to me. He couldn’t speak, but I could see his aura. He sought help. His sister was too afraid to come with us. But she followed. I released them in the woods. Both Tuff and Bess thought I was crazy. I tried to set them free, but Alon kept following me. I didn’t adopt him. He adopted me.”
“I thought it was Bess.”
“Bess was rightly afraid of them at first. They smelled the animal part of her, and that meant food. A buffalo does not adopt a wolf pup or a raven foster an eagle. But that’s what I asked her to do. And she did it for me. Now you could not find a fiercer defender of her Ghostlings.”
“But they’re so dangerous.”
“That is part of what makes them wonderful. That viciousness brought under conscious control.”
“No one can fully control their instincts.”
“You do. Right now, when your instinct tells you to run. But here you are.” He rubbed his palm over his jaw as he stared up at her aura. “Alon didn’t bring you safely from Nagi’s ghosts because of his love for his mother. He brought you here because of his love for you.”
Samantha stepped away, the denial springing to her lips. “Love? He can’t wait to get rid of me.”
“Only because he is afraid of what you make him feel. Do you deny what you see?”
She dropped her gaze, unwilling to accept the truth reflected in his eyes. “It is not love. Just a physical attraction,” she whispered.
“Yes. But it could be more.”
She raised her gaze to his, her hands curled into fists. “No. It cannot be. Not with a...”
“Toe Tagger?” supplied Cesar. His mouth set in a grim line.
“Just like Bess. She couldn’t see the beauty in them at first. She thought I was crazy. But she was willing to set aside her fear and loved them because she loved me.”
“He doesn’t want me. He’s told me so.”
“And you believed his words instead of your own eyes?”
Her heart beat so loud she felt sure Cesar could hear it dashing against her ribs. Alon’s soul and her soul reaching... But they did not touch. They were not true soul mates. Yet.
“I didn’t want to believe my own eyes because...” Her words fell off. When she spoke again it was only a whisper. “I don’t want this. Not with him.”
“But it is there, whether you want it or not.”
“Is there some way to break it?” She didn’t like the desperation in her voice.
“None that I know. You will always be connected in some way. What way is up to both of you.”
“Will you tell him?”
Cesar shook his head. “That’s not for me.”
“I just want to go back to the way things were. Back to my family.”
“Back to running? Back to never being allowed to be who and what you are? Is that what you really want, Night Sky Woman?”
She didn’t. But neither did she want Alon. At least not as a soul mate.
She covered her face with her hands and hunched over as the sobs racked her. Cesar gathered her up in his arms and held her just as her own dad would have done.
“It can’t be him.”
* * *
Alon hung in the darkness in his flying form, watching his father embrace Samantha. His mother had tried to speak to him, but he would not leave Samantha alone with another man, even if that man was his own father.
Alon was there when she told him that she wanted her family. He had known that. But what did she see that he could not? What was the connection between them that she denied?
It can’t be him, Samantha had said.
Alon’s shape contracted at the agony in her tone. Her hurt and dread drove him wild. He did not pursue her, had not asked for her affection because he had known how it would end, and even knowing all that, he had allowed himself to grow fond of her. Now he must suffer the pain of her rejection.
Alon billowed away, scouring the forest for something he could kill and eat.
Whatever this connection was, she didn’t want it. Of course she didn’t. No one would want to be connected to him. Alon knew what he was. But it was hard to hear it from Samantha’s lips.
If only he could be free of her. But to be free was to leave her unprotected, and that he could not do. He sank to the forest floor and hung there, blanketing the ground like a black fog.
Even if he left her, would he ever be rid of her?
You will always be connected in some way.
He did not understand this connection. But he felt it. It burned within him like molten lead eating him away from the inside.