Dark Refuge (14 page)

Sissy frowned and stared at Em, but she asked Gabe, “Are you and Em mated?”

He turned and smiled at Em. He loved watching the color rise across her face. “Not yet,” he said. “I’m still giving her time to warm up to me.”

• • •

Much later in the day after what had easily been the best sexual experience of her life, Sissy was helping Annie in the kitchen, and she told her what Alex had said. She still felt guilty. To have a man make love to her with such close attention to detail was an entirely new experience, but she couldn’t handle it if there were any secrets, if Alex had lied about Annie’s true feelings of her man with another woman.

Annie shot her a big grin that totally dispelled the shadows. “Isn’t he great? Sissy, everything Alex says is true, though he left out the most important part. I’ve loved Alex since I was a kid, and he had no idea how I felt. I avoided him, avoided the pack for years because I couldn’t handle the pain, the knowledge that he didn’t love me. But then when we got together as adults, the love was there and it was spectacular. Does it sound awful that I love him so much I want to share him?” She laughed, but her eyes sparkled with what looked suspiciously like tears.

“No.” Sissy shook her head, fully aware her tears weren’t even suspicious. No, they were flowing down her face, dripping off her chin. These people were amazing. So kind and selfless and absolutely good. She wanted to be like Annie. Wanted to find the kind of love that Annie had.

But it would have to be someone like her, a shapeshifter. A man who understood that when he loved her, that even though there might be sex with other partners, she was the only woman in his world.

• • •

Friday evening, just over a week since she had first spotted Sissy in Chinatown, Em flopped down on the comfortable old couch in the sunroom on the third floor. She’d felt a need for some quiet time, if only to digest all that had happened over the past few days. Sissy, Janine, Nina and Lindy were downstairs in the kitchen watching television and talking about their meeting with the district attorney earlier in the day. All four men were being held without bail and it appeared they were going to be charged with human trafficking and sexual slavery along with running a prostitution ring.

There was also some gossip around the station that someone high up in local politics had been implicated in an active human trafficking ring, but the investigation on that was going to take time. Detective Bandy had told Alex what he knew, but it wasn’t much. Still, anything that would stop crimes against both men and women was good.

There wasn’t a formal living or family room in the building because every usable space—except for the big central kitchen—had been turned into separate suites for pack members. The top-floor sunroom with its western wall of glass and a full view of the Pacific was the only gathering place outside the kitchen.

Right now Em was really glad no one else was gathering here.

She’d heard Alex and Annie come in a few minutes earlier. They’d ended up moving a bunch of their stuff from the Marina house because they missed being part of a pack, and there were enough of them here to constitute a pack. Gabe was working late tonight, but Em had taken the week off to help the women get settled, and in case any of them found out they were Chanku and wanted to shift. So far, only Janine and Mbali had noticed any changes, and both of them had scratched their arms raw. She fully expected at least one of them to shift by tonight.

Nina and Lindy weren’t sure what they planned to do, but neither had felt the least bit changed by the nutrients. Lindy had been a CPA who sidelined as a beautician and Nina had majored in accounting and business at Stanford before she was kidnapped. Both of them had excellent taste in clothes and had done some of their own designs. Gabe had tossed out the idea of them opening a shop as partners.

They’d told him they had dreamed about doing that but lacked the capital.

Gabe and Alex were discussing going in as silent partners, something that had both Lindy and Nina working on a business plan and checking out available shops.

The only mystery—and the reason Em had come up here to think—was Mary. She was so very shy and she kept to herself, though she spoke by phone daily with her family. Still, she’d shown no interest in going home to Indiana. Em suspected that Mary was taking the nutrients, even though she’d denied any interest in them. Em remembered that her adoptive family’s religion was fairly conservative and preached that shapeshifters were created by the devil. Mary had said more than once that she didn’t want to know because she couldn’t be what her parents hated.

Em and Annie had tried to explain that she couldn’t change what she was, that if her parents truly loved her, they would accept her no matter what. If only there was a way to guarantee such a thing. She couldn’t imagine having parents turn away from you over something you couldn’t change.

Which made her think of her parents, and the darkness that was so much a part of her. A huge gap in her teenage life that had to have been caused by her parents. Thinking about it made her feel ill, but until they had all six of the women settled, Em couldn’t consider going home.

She heard someone coming up the stairs and turned as Annie stepped into the room.

“Hey, Em.” She held up a full bottle of chardonnay in one hand and a couple of glasses in the other. “You hiding out up here?”

Em scooted over and made room on the couch. “Not really. Well, maybe.” Smiling, she shrugged. “I dunno. Just thinking. Thanks for bringing the wine. That’s actually one of the things I was thinking of. You must have read my mind.”

“Sort of.” Annie set the glasses on the table and pulled the cork out of the bottle. “I can tell you’re worried about something, but not what . . . or who.” She shot a quick glance at Em and then focused on pouring the wine. “I hope it’s not Gabe.”

“Not Gabe. Mary.” Em took the glass, tapped the rim to Annie’s and took a sip. “I’m sure Janine and Mbali are close to shifting. Tonight, maybe. Nina and Lindy don’t seem to have a drop of wolf in them, but I think Mary could be Chanku. Sissy’s the one who told me what she suspected, and I’ve been watching for clues. The bottle of pills is going down faster than it should since Nina and Lindy quit taking them. I think Mary is taking them as well, in spite of what she said about her family.”

“She’s been wearing nothing but long sleeves. I haven’t seen her scratching at her arms or legs, but she spends a lot of time alone in her room. I heard her telling her father she wasn’t ready to go home yet. I think he’s been pressuring her.”

Em nodded. “Gabe had a good idea. He thought we should ask Mary if she’d like us to invite her family here. Pay for their flights, treat them as guests. Be on our best behavior.” She grinned at Annie. “You’d be in charge of Alex.”

“Oh, Goddess! That’s so unfair.” Annie chuckled. “Actually, if we can get Alex to act like a grown-up, it’s a great idea, though personally, I prefer him as a cocky teenager.” She laughed. “I missed that period of his life, and mine, too. With Alex, though, I think his inner sixteen-year-old remains alive and well. But as far as Mary’s folks? There’s room for them to stay here, and it would give them a chance to see that she’s okay, and maybe get past some of their issues with shapeshifters.”

Em rolled her eyes. “Or not.”

“I know.” Annie stared out the big window facing the Pacific. “It’s hard to fight serious lycanthrophobia, especially when that’s the message you hear in your place of worship, but it might work.”

Em faked a shudder. “I cringe every time I hear that word: lycanthrophobia. You know it means ‘fear of werewolves,’ don’t you?”

“I know. I absolutely love the word!”

Annie actually giggled, and that had Em laughing with her. “And?”

“Crap. You made me snort my wine.” Still giggling, Annie grabbed a tissue and wiped her face. “Lycanthrophobia.” She drew out every syllable. “It’s so much fun to use it because it drives Anton absolutely nuts. The minute you find a place to use it in a sentence, our dear alpha puffs out his chest and proclaims in a voice that would fill an auditorium, ‘The term does not fit us. Unlike werewolves, we are not ruled by the phases of the moon. We shift at will and can become many different predators.’”

“Yipes! You sound just like him.”

“That good, huh? Maybe we need a new term. Chankuphobia? Of course, that one could come back and bite us in the butt. Besides, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun around Anton. Anyway, back to Mary’s parents. You’ll tell her first, won’t you? Before actually inviting them?”

“Definitely. By the way, I like Chankuphobia. Run that one by Anton next time you see him.” Em stroked the stem of her wineglass and stared at the pale wine. “As far as Mary, I’m the last person to approve of making decisions about another person without that person’s approval.”

“I imagine you would be.” Annie went back to staring at the view out the window, almost as if she couldn’t face Em. “I still feel terrible that I’m the one who told you. I’m so sorry.”

“C’mon, Annie.” Em leaned close and hugged her. “Please, don’t be. Gabe and I already knew there was something wrong, that I had some serious missing memories along with a few other hang-ups. Your information assured me I’m not crazy.” She chuckled and took another sip of her wine. “At least not certifiably crazy. Not yet, anyway. You helped me identify the source of some scary stuff I’ve been dealing with, though not the reason my memories were so obviously wiped. I’ve tried to remember, and there’s nothing there. Nothing at all, but your information has been pivotal to my sanity. Believe me. I was afraid I was going crazy.”

“You’re as far from crazy as any woman can be. Of course, that’s not saying all that much, is it?”

Em couldn’t stop grinning at Annie. Finally, she couldn’t stand it. “I am so goddess-be-damned glad you and Alex are here. Seeing the two of you together makes me feel good. This is the closest I’ve been to being part of the pack since I was a kid. I’ve felt so isolated for so many years, but I had no idea why. Now, knowing so much of my past has been kept from me, I can finally understand. Having you guys around is wonderful.”

She listened for a moment to the laughter from the kitchen. “Having them here is good, too. But I’m still worried about Mary.”

Annie sipped her wine, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Have you tried mindspeaking with Mary? If she’s been taking the nutrients, she might hear you.”

Such a simple thing. “No. I haven’t. But I will.” She pictured Mary, thought of her personality, her vocal voice, and called out to her mental voice.
Mary? It’s Emeline. Are you okay? I’ve been worried about you.

Em? I can hear you! I’m afraid, Em. I’m so afraid. Help me, please?

“Shit. C’mon.” Em set her glass on the coffee table, hiked up the skirt on her sarong and tore out of the room, taking the steps three at a time down to the second floor and racing down the hallway to Mary’s room. Annie was right on her heels.

The door was shut, and when she tried the handle, locked.

“Move. I’ll get it.”

Em stepped aside while Annie landed a well-placed kick beside the handle. The door bowed without breaking, but the latch slipped free and the door flew open. Em raced in first, but it was dark in the room and she scrambled for the light switch.

She flipped it on, and an overhead lamp lit the room. A tan and black wolf cowered in the corner, shivering in fear. “Oh, sweetie.” Em knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around Mary, hugging her tight. Annie slipped out of her clothes and shifted, sniffed noses with Mary and then lay beside her, resting her chin on Mary’s back.

“How long ago did you shift?”

I don’t know. A couple of hours, maybe? I really didn’t think I was Chanku, but just in case, I took the pills. My arms started itching a couple of days ago, and I think I was ready to shift yesterday, but I was afraid. Today when I called my dad, he told me I had to come home, that I was being corrupted by staying with you, that you were evil, but I know you’re not. I was so angry that I hung up on him, and then suddenly I was a wolf and the phone kept ringing and ringing and I couldn’t shift to call him back. He’s going to hate me. He already hates what I am, that I was a prostitute, even though I didn’t have a choice. This will be even worse, but he still doesn’t know I’m one of you. What am I going to do? Why can’t I shift back?

Em continued stroking her head, projecting as much calm as she could. She kept her voice low, soothing, yet very matter-of-fact. “I imagine you can’t shift because you’re scared, and once you relax, you’ll be fine. As far as your father, Gabe had an idea we wanted to ask you about. We thought we’d offer to pay for your family to fly out here to see you, see what we’re like. I don’t think we’re all that scary, and I know you aren’t. You’re such a beautiful wolf, Mary. I can’t wait for everyone to see you.” She kept stroking the wolf between her ears, speaking softly while Annie calmed her with the sense of pack, the knowledge she wasn’t alone.

It didn’t take very long. In a couple of minutes, Mary was lying naked on the floor with Annie beside her and Em stroking her hair. She looked up and burst into tears. Annie shifted and she and Em both hugged Mary. They sat that way for a long time. Then Annie got up and went into the bathroom, wet a clean washcloth and brought it out. She handed it to Mary before picking her scattered clothes up off the floor. She dressed quickly and left the room. She was only gone a couple of minutes, long enough for Em to find a robe for Mary and the two of them to get comfortable on the bed where they could talk.

Annie walked in with the wine bottle and three glasses this time. She handed one to Em, another to Mary and set her own on the dresser. Then she poured half a glass for each of them, raised hers and said, “To the newest member of the pack. Welcome, Mary.”

“Definitely welcome. I am so glad you’re one of us, Mary.” Em raised her glass and they each tapped the rims together and took a sip. As she tasted the wine, Em reached out to Gabe and told him what had happened. From the besotted look on Annie’s face, she knew her friend was sharing with Alex.