Inheritance (The Dark Gifts) (17 page)

Clearing his throat, Thomas replied, “Jason, most of us know ahead of time what is coming.  We have years to prepare.  Just like Sarah, we spend the day of the primary transformation in meditation.  The moon does bring on a frenzy, especially when you don’t know what is going on.  But it doesn’t have to rule you.”

Jason’s face fell.  The pained look on his face brought tears to Sarah’s eyes.  Reaching out, she squeezed his hand.  “It’s not your fault.  It’s not.  Please stop thinking like that.  Had we known…”

He looked away.  “I’m sure the parents and families of those kids would be comforted by that.”

Uncomfortable, Thomas stood and began clearing the remaining dishes from the table.  “If you want to blame someone, Jason…blame Shana.  It was her fault you had to go through it alone.  She’s the monster behind the tragedy.”

Gazing out the window, he answered, “The blood was on me.”

Lighting a cigarette, he took a long pull, and scrutinized the young man. 
This poor boy is ate up with guilt.  He won’t be worth his salt if we can’t do something about that. 
Exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, he said, “All righty then, I cooked, so you two finish cleaning up.”

Catching the hint, Sarah replied, “Aww man!  I always have to do dishes.  Doesn‘t being Alpha get me out of anything?”

Thomas eyed her and growled, “Get up woman.  Thar’s work to be done!”

She rolled her eyes and laughed.  “Not you too.  This woman thing is not quite what I pictured.”

Without speaking, Jason rose and methodically began cleaning the table.

***

After clearing away the remnants of their breakfast, Jason and Sarah went outside to relax on the porch.  Sarah sat on the edge swinging her legs while Jason lounged across the porch swing.

“You did good last night, sis.  I saw everything with your eyes, and you did a bang up job.”

“I was terrified I’d kill him.”

“I know, but you kept your head.  That dirt thing was an awesome idea.  Wish I’d have thought of it.”

“Oh, Jason.  I’m sorry.  None of the stuff you went through would have happened if it weren’t for Shana.  You know that don’t you?”

“I know, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.”

They sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts until Sarah remembered what Pete had said the night before.  “Jason?  Pete says you and I won’t be the same anymore now that I’m fully Alpha, do you think it's true?”

“That’s horse shit.  Maybe none of the rest of them could be--but you and I are not like them.  We won’t ever be like them.  It’s just me and you like always.  Pete’s an ok guy and all, but don’t listen to everything he says, okay?”

“Pete likes me.”

“I know.”

“I think he wants to be my mate.”

“I know.”

After another pause, Jason spoke with carefully chosen words, “How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know.  I want to be with Shad…you know I could have sworn last night as I was running away--” Sarah paused.  She was being stupid.  She was fairly certain she’d heard what she wanted to hear, instead of what was there.

“You did.”

“I did what?” Sarah asked.

Jason‘s eyes became intense as he sat up and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.  “You heard him say that.  So did I.  Question is, what you going to do about it?”

“Nothing I can do.  He’s not one of us.” 

“Not yet.”

“Don’t you say that, Jason.  Don’t you dare!  You swear to me you won’t do that to him.  You swear right now.”

“Hey, settle down.  I didn’t say
I
was going to do anything.  I’m just saying there are always options.”

Sarah looked up into the sky and watched the clouds roll by.  There was a storm coming.  The threat of rain still permeated the air.  In the distance, she heard the muffled boom of thunder.  Yep, it was coming all right.  It would be here soon.  She was fairly certain the strength of this storm wouldn’t come close to matching the one raging inside her. 
There are always options,
he’d said.  But he was wrong, she wasn’t about to let Shad’s life be ruined like hers.  She’d die making sure it never happened.

***

At 10 am, Pete showed up.  Sarah was still boiling from Jason’s solution to her problem with Shad.  It’s not that the thought hadn’t crossed her mind; the idea was ludicrous.  She'd give anything to be normal again.  Why in the world would he think she’d sentence someone she cared about to the same fate? 

Pete followed Sarah around like a lost puppy.  “You need anything?  You okay?”

“I’m good, thanks.”  She answered.

Ten minutes later, “Anything I can get for you?  I’m getting a soda so…”

“Nope, I’m good thanks.”

After an hour of incessant questioning, she was in no mood to be bothered and finally locked herself in her bedroom.  Pete sat in the living room pretending to watch television.  Jason sat across the room and watched Pete.

Admittedly, Pete was a nice guy.  He didn’t have much going for him in the way of money, but few of them did.  Nearly everything about the pack was communal.  Each family had their own house, but money came from the Alpha.  Jason was still learning about the financial holdings of the pack and the distribution of money.  A handful of clan members had jobs, but most farmed and sold their crops.  The proceeds of their sales went into a clan fund.  This style of living did not invite ambition from those that were young.  Jason couldn’t find fault with Pete for doing what others expected of him.  What worried him most was the possibility of Pete being another Shana.  A union with Sarah would allow him power and prestige within the pack.

Pete had been around, here and there, since their arrival.  However, his recent interest in Sarah left Jason wondering about his motivations.  It seemed unlikely that Pete just suddenly fell for his sister.  As Jason studied Sarah’s self-professed protector, he dissected every aspect of him.  Pete was tall, nearly as tall as Jason.  Jason figured he had to be at least 6’2”.  Muscled, but still on the lanky side, he could have passed for a farm hand easily.  He had a relaxed look about him, as if he didn’t take too much seriously.  For a guy, he was all right looking.  He wouldn’t be on the cover of any magazines any time soon, but hey, not many men were.  The fact that Pete was twenty-five bugged the crap out of him.  That was just too old for an eighteen-year-old girl.  A question interrupted Jason’s analysis of Pete’s looks and character. 

“Well, what did you decide?” Pete asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been sitting there staring at me for a long time.  I assume you're trying to figure me out, so I want to know what you’ve decided.”

“I haven’t
decided
anything…yet.”

“You could just ask me.  Or better yet, I’ll just tell you.”

Jason’s eyebrows knit together as he continued studying Pete.

Pete looked Jason squarely in the eye, took a moment to collect his thoughts, and began, “I know you’re going to think I’m nuts, but I want to be with your sister.”

“Thanks Captain Obvious, that helps a lot.”

“I’m serious.  I couldn’t say anything before because she wasn’t eighteen.”

“You’re still twenty-five, Pete, or did you forget about that?”

“So I’m older and wiser, big deal.  Doesn’t that make me a better protector for her?”

“Protector from what?  This isn’t the old days; we aren’t constantly at war with rival packs.”

“Oh…so you think Shana is just going to quietly disappear?  That ain’t happening man.  I’d bet money on it.  She wants both of you dead, and believe me, she won’t stop until you are.” 

Jason’s eyes narrowed.  “Yeah, you should know her.  You were there to fight with her when everyone else had come to our side.  Why is that Pete?  You just want the chick with the most power or what?”

Pete answered so quickly that Jason briefly wondered if it was rehearsed.  “Yeah I was there, but I had a plan.  I had already decided it was all wrong.  You can ask Mark.  We were going to wait until she wasn’t ready and jump her.  I didn’t know she had the Savata to back her up.  None of us did!  Do you really think any of us would have let her put the entire pack in jeopardy?”

Jason leaned back in his chair and mulled over Pete’s claim.  He had a valid point.  The entire clan had been astonished by Shana’s treachery.  Both men were distracted from their thoughts by the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive.  Pete jumped up and went to the window.  “Great.  Freaking wonderful.”  

A smile crept over Jason’s face.  It must be Shad.  Within seconds, Sarah was out of her room and bolting out the door yelling, “I’ll be back later!” 

Pete returned to his seat with a disgruntled look on his face.  He glanced at Jason and seeing his smile, left in search of Thom. 

Jason laughed as Pete stomped out of the room. 
Pete might think he’s next in line for Sarah, but he’s got major competition
, Jason thought as the back door slammed.

***

The truck had barely rolled to a stop when Sarah jumped in.  “Don’t stop.  Just keep going.”  Sarah said as she hunted for the seat belt.

“And good morning to you, too.”  Shad smiled as he pushed the gearshift into reverse and turned the truck around.

“I’m sorry.  I just don’t want any trouble today.”  Sarah relaxed into the seat with a sigh.

“How did you know I was coming?”

“I heard you coming down the driveway, silly.” 

Shad reached out and turned the knob on the radio, shutting it off.  “I thought we could have lunch, unless you want to do something else?”

“Lunch is good.  Where we going?”  Sarah watched the trees fly by as they headed to the main road.  Afraid she might say something to give away her secret, she couldn’t look him in the eye.

Shad kept his eyes on the road ahead of him.  Every so often, he glanced out of the corner of his eye.  Sarah looked drawn and uncomfortable.  He thought he knew why, but there wasn‘t much he could say to dispel it.  “There’s an old bar about an hour or so from here.  You can get in if you’re eighteen, you just can’t drink alcohol.  They have pool tables and stuff.  I thought you might like it.”

“Sure.  Sounds fun.”

Finally deciding she was not going to get into a conversation with him, Shad turned the radio back on.  He moved the tuner back and forth trying to get a clear signal.  “So what kind of music do you listen too?”

“I don’t know, lots of stuff.”  Sarah kept her hands in her lap and sat ridged in her seat.

“How’s this?”  A song about a lost girlfriend and a stolen pickup truck filtered through the cab of the truck.

Sarah laughed and scrunched up her nose.  “Ewww.  I hate country music!” 

“You live in Arkansas.  How can you hate country music?”  Shad mused.

“I just never got into it.  Some of the newer stuff is pretty good, but the old twangy stuff irks me.”

Shad settled on a classic rock station.  Sarah smiled and crossed her legs, her foot tapped out the rhythm on the dash.  Before long the radio blasted, “Smoke on the riverrrr,” sending them both into fits of singing and playing air guitar.

By the time they reached the old bar, Sarah was giggling, animated, and telling stories about her friends.  Shad pulled in and parked.  “So Liz, covered in mud, runs up and gives Jason a big fat hug.  You should have seen his face.  It was hysterical!  He had it all over him.  Our team didn‘t win the volleyball tournament, but we sure had fun trying.  You‘d love her.  I wish you could meet her.  She always knows the right thing to say.  Have you ever met someone like that?  You know, someone that just seems to always do the right thing?  That‘s how I want to be.”  Words tumbled from her mouth so fast, she didn’t notice the change in his expression.

He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out again.  There were only three vehicles in the lot.  Two old trucks and a sleek black Chrysler.

Shad held the door open for her and followed her inside.  The smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke assailed them as they entered.  Large and open, three pool tables were placed across the front, with a yellowed linoleum dance floor directly behind.  A silent jukebox sat against the wall nearest the dance floor.  Five men sat around a table in the back corner.  All of them watched the couple enter.  A withered old woman behind the bar looked up from a book she was reading.  Her eyes grew wide and she hurriedly placed the book on the bar and disappeared into the kitchen behind it.

Placing his hand in the small of her back, Shad lead her to the nearest table and pulled out a chair.  “Not much to look at, but the food is good.” 

“If we can order any.”  Sarah answered still staring at the empty space where the bartender had been sitting.

“Don’t mind her.  She’s kind of weird.”  Shad leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “I’m not positive, but I don’t think she’s fond of my people.”

Sarah laughed and leaned her head to the side in an attempt to see the men sitting behind Shad.  For a moment, one met her eyes then looked at the man next to him and whispered.  The other man also glanced at her before leaning in to the table and whispering something.  All eyes turned to her.  Embarrassed, she positioned her body behind Shads.  “What do you make of that?  Looks like quite a meeting.”