Thoreau - Chapter 63: Chapter 63

"Dad! Papa! Bubble! I'm home!" I hollered as I walked through the front door on Saturday and plunked my helmet on a side table.
"Reau?" I heard Dad shout from somewhere upstairs. "I'll be down in a minute! Almost finished putting away the laundry!"
Wandering out to the kitchen, I opened the cupboard, took out the bread and peanut butter, and laid it on the counter. By the time I got the jelly out of the refrigerator, Dad had joined me with three seconds of his minute left.
"Where is everyone?" I asked as I grabbed a butter knife from the drawer and held it out to him.
Sure, I could make my own sandwich, but Dad made them the best.
"Papa went to New York City after Wayne's birthday, remember?" Dad said as he took the knife and started making my sandwich. "And Kon was part of the group that went with him."
"Oh, yeah. Did they find anything out about that mean old witch Papa's chasing?" I asked as I sat down on the bar stool at the kitchen island.
"They did. They also found Elijah's twin sister."
"They did?!" My eyes flew wide open. "Oh, my! What is she like?"
"Kind of hard to tell, honey." Dad finished making my sandwich and handed it to me on a paper towel. "She's ... not in good enough shape to say much, and her wolf is almost feral."
"That's so sad." I paused and took a big bite of peanut butter and jelly. "And her name's Imogene. At least, that's what his parents named her."
"I didn't know that." He poured a glass of chocolate milk and slid it over to me. "Papa said she's very attached to Elijah already."
"I'm sure that makes him happy, but what about her wolf? Are they going to have to put her down?"
"I don't know. That's the alphas' call. For now, Poppy sedated her until they get home."
"Luna will heal her," I said confidently.
"That's what everyone's hoping," he agreed.
He told me a bit more about what was happening in New York City with Papa's nephilim friend, Hank Bishop, and I listened as I finished my sandwich and drank my chocolate milk. When he paused to take a breath, though, I looked him in the eyes for three seconds.
"Did Papa break them?"
"Break what, honey?"
"Every finger that hurt Imogene."
"My, my, when did my baby brother get so blood-thirsty?"
"I am not thirsty for blood. That is disgusting!" I made a yuck face at him. "Well, unless you're a vampire, I guess, but I'm not! I am a wolf shifter!"
"Okay, little wolf shifter," he chuckled.
"Why did Bubble get to go along, anyway?" I pouted. "And Grey? I mean, I understand why Elijah got to tag along, but why Bubble and Grey?"
"Kon and Chime Karma needed a distraction. As for Grey, Alpha Jay thought it would be a good introduction to what a diplomat does." Dad shook his head with a little smile. "Although I can't see him learning anything about diplomacy from your papa. All of his negotiations begin and end with a gun in someone's face."
I grinned as I grabbed my glass and carried it over to the sink.
"So I assume you and your mates have been going to school since Leo hasn't contacted me or Nathan," Dad said as his eyes followed me across the kitchen.
"We have been going to school. We took off for Wayne's birthday, of course, but that was the only day."
"Good. Your education is important." Standing up straight, he stretched his arms up and laid his palms flat on the ceiling. "Are you staying for dinner? If so, luna invited me over since I'm here all alone. She won't care if you tag along, but I guess you probably want to go home to your mates."
"Go home?" I whimpered as my bottom lip quivered.
"Shit! Are you crying?" Dad rushed over and took my face in his palms so his thumbs could wipe away the tears I didn't even know were falling. "What's wrong, honey?"
And I couldn't hold it in any more. A sob slipping out of my mouth, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. He hugged me and rested his chin on top of my head and let me cry for a bit, then leaned back and made me look at him.
"Honey, where are Arch and Wayne?"
"Work," I hiccuped.
"Did something happen? Did they do something to upset or hurt you?" His eyes widened. "Oh, my Goddess! Did they rush you into mating before you were ready? Did they scare you? Damn! I knew Arch would get too rough! Is your tushy okay? Did they prep you properly first or—"
"No! We haven't even done anything like that yet! But I just— I want— I'm—"
"Shh. It's okay. Whatever it is, I'll help you. I'll always help you, honey, but you have to tell me what's wrong."
That made me cry harder, and I hid my face back in his chest.
"I want to come home!" I wailed. "I miss you! I miss Papa! I miss Bubble! I miss my room and the hidden garden and the secret fort and the secret room in the study."
Yes, home was with my mates, whom I loved very much, but this was home, too. My first home since I was a little boy. The first place I felt safe again after those monsters tried to break me.
"Oh, honey, you're homesick," Dad said. "That's normal to feel when you first leave the nest. You had some major changes in the last couple of days and all of your routines are disrupted."
His big hand ran up and down my back, relaxing me so much that I didn't even ask him where I left a bird's nest. I didn't remember picking one up recently. Not since last spring, anyway, when the wind knocked one out of a tree.
Finally, I got myself under control, wiped my face and nose on his shirt, and raised my head again.
"It'll get better, Reau," Dad assured me and kissed my forehead. "I know it's probably lonely while your mates are at work and you have off, but you can go to the garage with them. Nathan won't care if you do."
"I know that, but I don't always want to, especially on days they're painting the cars."
"The smells get too much?" When I nodded, he sighed. "Once school is over, maybe you can talk to Mrs. Harrington about giving you Saturday hours. That would at least keep you busy."
"I did, and she told me that she could make my position full-time if I want," I admitted. "She said luna suggested it since I do such a good job."
"Well, of course you do a good job!" He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Until then, Wayne and Arch said you could get a cat soon, right? That will help. You know what? I bet Zia Maria would loan you Squidge to keep you company when you're home alone. You'll just have to get him out of the house before Wayne comes home."
Even though he didn't make a sound, I knew he was laughing inside, and I pouted a little. It was no secret Squidge and Wayne had a hate-hate relationship despite all my attempts to get them to be friends.
"And you can come here whenever you want. This will always be your home. I swear Papa and I won't change your room or your garden or your fort. They will always be here for you."
"But you may want to adopt pups someday," I muttered, staring at his damp shirt. "They will take my place."
"No one will ever take your place. Remember what Papa and I told you? You are our son, and you always will be. We love you so very much."
"I love you, too," I sniffed.
"Do you want to spend the night?" he asked, but I shook my head. "You can whenever you want. You know that, right? Even if Papa and I aren't here, you have a key and can let yourself in."
"I know. Wayne and Arch said I might want to stay here on the weekend or even a couple of nights a week, and maybe I will once in a while, but right now I miss my mates and want some of their great cuddles."
"All right, then, let's get you on your way to cuddles." He gave me one last, big hug, which made me happy. No one's hugs compared to my dad's! "They'll be getting off work in less than an hour, anyway."
My eyes widened as I looked at the clock and saw how late it was. Time always seemed to go by so quickly when I wasn't watching the numbers and so slowly when I was!
In a rush now, I wiggled out of his arms, grabbed my helmet on my way out the front door, and ran to my dirt bike.
"Bye, Dad! Love you!" I shouted as I kick-started it.
You can link me instead of yell, you know, he chuckled from the front porch. Bye, and I love you, too. Don't drive too fast.
Won't! I grinned and waved, then took off down the driveway.
Knowing my mates would be hungry after a long day at work, I decided to swing by Roger's Diner and pick up some cheesesteaks. They were so delicious, and Arch and Wayne would be happy to find a good meal ready for them on the table.
Turns out, what I should have done was turned my little tushy around, went straight home, and ordered pizza.
Bridger
As I cleaned the dirty dishes off of table seven, I checked in with Eli for the seventh time today. The first couple of times, he couldn't say much more than, "It's bad. It's very fucking bad," because he was too overwhelmed with worry for his sister, so I linked Grey to catch me up on the details.
And Eli was right. It was very fucking bad, but Imogene was alive, and that was more than any of us had hoped for.
Although her wolf's going to be in survival mode for a long time, I muttered to Max after saying goodbye to Eli, and she's going to have to be strong enough to deal with that and her own trauma.
They have Eli and Darius to help them now, Max pointed out.
Yeah, and I can't think of anyone more dedicated to his sister than Eli, I agreed, then shook my head. Even though she's nowhere near ready for it, Goddess knows what will happen when one or both of them find a mate.
The Goddess does know, Bridge, and will give them the mates they each need when the time is right. Besides, they won't turn eighteen for a while yet.
Then the door opened and drew my attention to Princess Rhys, who entered the diner with her two bodyguards flanking her.
"Princess Rhys." With a smile, I greeted her first. "Hey, Bowie. Hey, Becks. How's it going?"
"Great, little man!" said one of the monstrous Hall twins, but I didn't have a hope in hell of telling them apart. No one except their mate could, although luna got it right eight times out of ten. "How about you?"
"Doing all right."
"And your darling little pup?" the other twin asked me, and I couldn't hold back the genuine grin that took over my face.
"She's amazing. I fall more in love with her every day."
"Aww," the princess squealed. "That's so sweet!"
"Princess Rhys!" Roger boomed from behind me. Thank the Goddess, the last human customer had walked out just before the princess walked in, or his greeting would have raised some eyebrows. "You honor me with your presence at my humble diner."
"Oh, Roger, you're so full of crap, your eyes are brown," she giggled.
As Roger blustered, the Hall twins and I snorted.
"So, um," I rubbed the back of my neck with one hand and dropped my eyes to my shoes, "Yolanda all right?"
"It's okay for you to ask about her, you know," said one of the twins and crossed his arms over his chest. "We never will, but Yola forgave you the first time you apologized."
I nodded. She said she did, but that didn't mean she meant it. Eli and I had made her last three years of high school absolutely miserable.
Sometimes, I wondered how far we would have gone if luna hadn't gotten mixed in the middle of it, but she had, which caught the full attention of her guard dog, Beta Ty, and that brought it all to a painful end.
Not as painful as what happened when Bowie and Beckham found out why their new mate had occasional nightmares, Max pointed out, and I grunted.
The beat-down the twins had given us was definitely painful, but not even that hurt as much as learning we had traumatized Yolanda so badly, she had nightmares from it. That really brought home to us how badly we'd fucked up.
So did what happened with Bram Merriweather.
He had been our favorite target. With Yolanda, we stuck to words not only because she was a girl, but also because she would either break down in tears or run away and hide. Not much fun. Bram would try to stand up for himself, though, and that usually led to us getting physical. Since he was an omega, his wolf submitted to everyone, whether Bram wanted to or not, and Eli and I took full advantage of that.
It sickened me now to remember some of the things we'd made that poor guy do. Let's just say that we more than earned the epic ass-kicking Eli's brother gave us after he found out why Bram had a full-blown panic attack on their first night together as mates. Just the idea of sleeping in the same house as Eli sent the little omega into hysterics, and Gamma Reuben had to move them into the pack's smaller guest house until their new home was ready.
We were such assholes, I muttered as regret swamped me and made me feel like absolute shit.
Eventually, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences, Max smugly pointed out. I tried to tell you to stop it before it got as bad as it did. You didn't listen, so bon appétit.
And I couldn't even defend myself with a snippy comeback because he was right.
"Yola's fine," the other twin said, drawing me out of my thoughts. "Better than fine. Made the Dean's List last semester and most likely will again at the end of this one."
"Not a surprise. She's smarter than all three of us combined." I jerked my head toward the full dishpan I'd left on table seven. "Hey, listen, let me get this load to the kitchen, then I'll come get your order. You can sit wherever you want. This is our slowest hour."
"We know," the twins said in unison. "That's why we're here."
"Ayla is supposed to be here in half an hour, probably with Azure," one twin continued.
"So the princess will wait to order til they get here," the other picked up. "Don't rush."
"Cool." I nodded and grabbed my dishpan and hustled off the kitchen.
Usually, Roger had a waitress on at this time, but Peri James had just quit because the food smells made her too nauseous now that she was pregnant, and Roger hadn't found a replacement for her yet. Until Atticus' little sisters, Charlotte and Cherise, showed up for their shifts in an hour, I was stuck waiting tables as well as bussing them.
Roger was good about jumping in to help when he wasn't slammed cooking, but he also liked to clean when he had a free moment so it didn't pile up on him. Besides, I didn't mind the extra work. Kept me from thinking about the past.
Right as I got the dishwasher started, I heard the door open again and figured it was Ayla with Azure, so I grabbed my notepad and pen and went back out to the dining room.
"Bridger!"
There was only one person I knew who squealed like that, and I grinned as Thoreau del Vecchio ran over to me and threw his arms around my waist.
"Hey, little man!" I patted him on top of his head as he released me and stepped back with a big smile. "What're you doing here?"
"I want to order cheesesteaks for me, Arch, and Wayne, please!" he shouted. I tapped the side of my forefinger against my lips, and he lowered his volume as he said, "Sorry! I'm excited to surprise them!"
"That's okay, little man. Only the princess and the Hall twins are here, anyway."
His eyes whipped around, and I knew the second he saw them sitting in the corner booth because he squealed again and took off. Shaking my head, I picked up my notepad, wrote up his order, and clipped it to the spinny thing for Roger.
Hope you know what they like on their cheesesteaks, I linked the old man with a chuckle, because I'm not going to ruin his surprise by linking Arch or Wayne to ask.
Yeah, me, either, but I'm fairly sure they like only steak and cheese like normal carnivores, Roger joked back.
Since everything was in order out here, and the Hall twins had Reau entertained, I went back to the kitchen, figuring I'd take advantage of the dead hour to get ahead. Two big black bags sat by the back door, so I made sure they were tied properly - definitely did not need a trash shower when I threw them in the dumpster - and opened the door only to come to a dead halt.
Those scents were back.
The ones Roger and I both caught a whiff of the other day and didn't recognize, but other pack members did - and they weren't anything good.
I hadn't even known what a freaking nephilim was until then, but I got educated pretty quickly. Nathan Barlow and Gelo told us that nephs weren't implicitly evil, but some of them chose to be, and obviously the ones we'd smelled had made that choice if they were hanging out with a dark witch and something infernal.
Although the alphas didn't go into detail about why, they'd given clear orders to contact them immediately if anyone picked up those scents again, and that's exactly what I did now.
Alphas, two of those scents are back at the diner.
Which two specifically, Bridger? Alpha Ice wasted no time in responding.
Nephilim and infernal, but I can't tell if they're the same as the other day. That brimstone and sulfur shit is overpowering.
The infernal one is the same, but not the nephilim, Max jumped in, and both Alpha Ice and I acknowledged him with a nod.
A wolf might misremember a face, but never a scent.
Can you tell us anything else? Alpha Ash asked. Jay's alerting the witches and Cole's telling Dad to bring the boys down from the garage, but until someone gets there, can you give us any more intel?
No humans in the diner right now—
Where are they? Alpha Wyatt interrupted me. Can you see either of them?
No. I came into the kitchen and opened the back door to take out the garbage and smelled them.
Taking another deep inhale, I tried to pinpoint a location, but something hit me in the side of the neck, and pain exploded through my whole upper body. A major league baseball player hurling a fastball into my throat would have hurt less.
"Fuck!" I screamed.
"Bridge?" Roger called. "You all right?"
I heard him, but was in a bit of a swivet, as Grandma Sadie would have said, and couldn't answer.
Dropping the garbage bags, my hands automatically went to my neck, where I felt something sticking out of my skin right at the epicenter of the pain. I pulled it out and found a long tube with a red tuft on one end and a needle on the other, but was more concerned about the blood fountaining down my chest.
Tranq dart! Max rumbled and linked the image to the alphas as he healed me.
I nodded, then stopped when it made me dizzy. I was already feeling out of it, although I didn't know if that was from the drugs, seeing so much of my own blood, or the shock of actually being shot.
Bet Eli's never been shot, I snorted as I dropped the dart on the ground.
Shut up and take cover, idiot! Max barked.
I was about to tell him to hush and let me enjoy the amazing sensation of leaving my body, but he took control, forced me back a step, and slammed the door shut. Unfortunately, it wasn't in time to avoid another dart walloping me, this one right in my gut, and I fell to my knees, doubled over in pain.
"Son of a bitch, that hurts!" I hissed as I plucked it out and let it fall on the ground near the first one.
Max tried to help, but he was fading faster than I was. Slumping against the wall, I listened to Alpha Jay, who was saying something in the link, but only understood him after he repeated himself for the third time.
Hide, Bridge! Do you hear me? Roger said hunters are pouring inside and darting everyone. Hide somewhere in the kitchen until we get there!
Darting everyone? Everyone? No. No, that was bad.
Princess is here, Max managed to share what I couldn't, then went silent, unable to hold out any longer against whatever was in these damned darts.
We know, Alpha Ice rumbled. She's fighting alongside the Hall twins.
I knew elves were hella powerful, so she would probably be okay, but there was something important I needed to tell them. There was something... No, someone... Someone vulnerable and needing protection...
Hide like Jay said, Bridge, Alpha Cole rumbled. The witches are fighting out front, and my dad will be there in two minutes with Arch and Wayne.
Arch and Wayne. Arch and Wayne...
The names mattered for some reason, but my brain wasn't working so well now, and my eyes went closed and I couldn't open them again. I wanted to listen to the alphas and hide, but I needed all my focus to do something very important before I passed out.
Isabelle? I linked my daughter in a soft whisper. Are you awake?
Yes, Dada. Playing tea party with Rosie and Midder and Miss P., but Midder eat all our cookies and Miss P. hadda make more!
Yeah, Midder likes his cookies, I agreed with a tiny smile, still finding her nickname for stern Mr. Price adorable. Hell, everything my daughter did and said was adorable. You know I love you, right? Dada will always love you. Never forget it, okay?
Okay, Dada. Is-belle never frog it. Is-belle love Dada, too!
Then she gave me such a big grin, her chubby cheeks almost hid her eyes, and I smiled, grateful beyond words that my daughter was safe at home and far away from here.
Closing the link before I knocked out, I slid down the wall, then fell the rest of the way to the floor. Praise the Goddess, when my cheek bounced off the tile by the fridge, the cold woke me up a tiny bit, and I latched onto consciousness with the last scrap of determination I had in me. Flinging open the whole pack link, I hoped someone would hear and understand.
Reau's at the diner! I shouted, then my eyes rolled back and the darkness swallowed me whole.