Vulcan's Woman (19 page)

“How long ago?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

Shadows of the clan’s fire danced along the ground near the
end of the path. Wisteria halted, squeezed Ivy’s hand for reassurance and took
a deep breath. Earlier her spur-of-the-moment decision to return home had
seemed like the right choice. Now, facing reality, it might not have been the
best idea.

She stiffened her shoulders, squeezed Ivy’s hand once more
then sauntered into the camp. Despite an occasional cricket chirping or the
flames crackling, it was quiet. No one was in sight but it was late and they
were obviously asleep.

“Ivy, I’ll wait by the fire while you check the cave for
Momma. I’m afraid Daddy might be in there too, and I’m not ready to face him
yet.”

Ivy nodded.

“If he’s there, don’t mention me. Wait!” Although chills
from the slightly cool breeze crawled up and down her spine, her palms sweated.
She ran them along her bottom garment while chewing on her lower lip. What was
she afraid of? The worst he could do was make her leave. “Okay. Go.”

She paced near the fire as Ivy walked toward the cave. She
hadn’t gone halfway when her mom appeared outside, rubbing her arms and
glancing at the sky.

“Momma,” Ivy squealed. “Momma!”

Nodda’s eyes rounded in surprise and her mouth dropped open.
She snapped it shut and placed her hands over her heart. “Ivy! My baby!”

Wisteria smiled and her eyes filled with tears. She’d missed
her mother so much she’d barely contained the excitement of seeing her again.
“Momma.”

Nodda froze. Little by little she turned her head toward the
fire pit where Wisteria stood wringing her hands. “Wisteria,” she said through
a long breath, patting her chest. “My baby. You’ve come back to me. You’ve
finally come back to me.”

Wisteria and Ivy ran to her, each landing embraced in an
arm, snug against her breasts. She kissed Ivy then Wisteria, squeezing them,
and then kissed them again. “Are you girls okay?” She grasped Ivy’s face
between her hands and examined her closely then released her to place her palms
on Wisteria’s cheeks. “I worried. I worried what those Barbarians were doing to
you.”

“They didn’t hurt me, Momma. They were very gentle.” Too
gentle and she’d fallen hard for their leader.

“If only my Boar would return, I’d have all my children
together again.”

Ivy swallowed, glanced at Wisteria then back at Nodda. “I’m
so sorry, Momma, but—”

Wisteria kicked Ivy and slightly shook her head. It wasn’t
the right time to explain what’d actually happened.

“I…I didn’t mean,” Ivy continued, fumbling for words. “I
didn’t mean to…um, wander off without telling you. I wanted to find Wisty, but
I knew you’d stop me.”

Wisteria closed her eyes and sighed.

Again Nodda cupped their faces one at a time, pulled them
close and kissed their brows.

Wisteria placed her hands on her mom’s wrists. “Momma, I
want to come home,” she whispered. “Will it be all right?”

Nodda pushed the hair from Wisteria’s face. “I want that
too. Let’s sit,” she said, dropping her hands and grasping both daughters’
fingers. “We have so much to discuss.” She guided them beside the fire and sat
down between them.

From the corner of her eye Wisteria saw a man exit the
slaughter shack and turn toward the forest. During the initial inspection she
thought it was her father but after closer scrutiny she realized he walked too
slowly. The man stood as tall and robust as her dad but his shoulders slumped
forward and his face tilted toward the ground.

Her jaw dropped. It wasn’t just a man. It was a mutant.
“Ma-Ma-Momma,” Wisteria choked, her eyes bulging as she pointed at him.

Nodda patted her hand. “What is it, dear?”

“That,” Ivy blurted. She too pointed at the man.

“It’s Wolf, Dahlia’s father. He’s obviously been poisoned by
something he ate, or he’s fighting a sickness.”

“Momma, that’s not Wolf,” Wisteria stated, focusing on her
mother and shaking her head slowly back and forth. “It’s a mutant.”

“A mutant?” Nodda’s brows rose.

“It’s an altered human,” Wisteria tried explaining calmly. “Actually,
it’s not human. It’s a body with no soul.”

Nodda glanced at Ivy then at Wisteria. “Were you girls
sipping silly elixir?”

“Momma,” Ivy said desperately. “We’re telling the truth.”

“What’s going on out here?” Wisteria’s father shouted as he
strolled toward the fire. When he laid eyes on Wisteria he stopped dead in his
tracks. “You,” he rumbled. “You don’t belong here.”

Wisteria’s belly knotted at the tone of his voice but when
she saw the club in his hand her heart lurched. As he charged forward she
cringed, squeezing her fists. He looked angry. Nearly as angry as the night
he’d ordered Sledge to whip her.

She didn’t know whether to beg for forgiveness, face his
fury or run. “Momma?”

Nodda stood up and barricaded Wisteria with her body but he
reached around her and grabbed a handful of Wisteria’s hair.

“Don’t hurt her,” Nodda yelled, pounding on his arm. “She’ll
go. Just don’t hurt her.”

Wisteria knew her mom only tried to help but with every blow
she delivered to his arm he tightened his fist in Wisteria’s hair. Wisteria
winced as he yanked her to her feet by the chunk wound around his fingers.

“Don’t ever come back,” he snarled. He pushed Nodda aside
then shoved Wisteria backward. She stumbled but quickly regained her balance.

Ivy jumped up. “She came to apologize and beg for
forgiveness.”

“Never! She’ll never be forgiven.” He stepped toward
Wisteria, lifting the club over his head, positioning it to strike. She
flinched and covered her face. “Go!” he blared. “While you still have the
chance.”

Wisteria glanced at her mom, knowing they’d possibly never
see one another again. “I love you, Momma,” she said and then she dashed past
the cave and darted into the forest. She hurt too much to care where she’d end
up and she ran, batting twigs and branches aside until her legs collapsed and
she landed near a pile of logs and broken branches. Tears bathed her face and
air sawed through her lungs but within the pain a gentle hand lightly stroked
her back.

“Don’t weep, Wisty.”

“I’m not weeping,” Wisteria sniffled, wiping tears off her
face with her fingertips. It was a huge relief knowing she wasn’t alone but she
didn’t want her sister to suffer too. It wasn’t fair to Ivy.

“Just because Daddy won’t let you stay, it doesn’t mean
Momma doesn’t love you anymore. She does. If she doesn’t support Daddy’s
decision, he’d probably toss her out too.”

“I’m not weeping because of Momma, okay? I knew this may
happen.” She stood up, holding her tummy, and walked to a short pine tree. She
thought maybe, just maybe, she would’ve been forgiven. And when her mom sat
them near the fire she’d hoped it was true. “Why don’t you go home, Ivy? Daddy
hasn’t banned you.”

“I’m not deserting you in this forest.” She stood up beside
Wisteria, wrapped her arms around her elbow and laid her head on Wisteria’s
shoulder. “I’d never, ever do that.”

“You deserve better than this. We don’t even have a place to
start a fire for warmth.” The trees completely surrounding them made it
impossible and it was too dark to search for an open area. The clouds had
decided to hide the moon in her time of need. “Go home. Lie beneath the hides
and seek comfort.”

“Stop it, Wisty. I’m not going anywhere,” Ivy snapped. “I
can’t believe you got us into this mess though. If you knew this would happen,
why’d you not stay with Vulcan?”

Another tear slipped from Wisteria’s eye. She quickly swiped
it away. “I wanted to, but it’s no longer possible.”

“Why not? He adores you.”

“He’s leaving, Ivy.”

“Where’s he going to go?”

“It’s complicated.”

Ivy remained quiet for a moment and straightened as if assessing
the surroundings. “You have time to explain. It’s not as if we have anything
else to do.”

“I’ll tell you this much,” Wisteria said then sighed. “He
was sent here on a mission. When it’s finished he has to return home.” The
entire situation was hard to believe. A man from another world, a gentle man,
had swept into her life and stolen her heart. Soon he’d be leaving. She hadn’t
even kissed him goodbye and instead lay on the ground in his hut, anticipating
his departure so she could flee.

“What type of a mission, Wisty?”

Wisteria’s eyes burned from new tears. “I can’t talk about
this right now.”

“When will the mission end?”

“I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ivy stated. “You said you’ve fallen for
him. You should’ve stayed until he’d actually left.”

“What does it matter who leaves first when the outcome is
destined to be the same? This just forces me to get on with my life sooner.”
Before she fell completely in love. Who was she kidding? She’d already fallen
with every ounce of her heart to the man whose strong arms she missed so
desperately, it felt as if pieces of her were left behind. The man who’d taught
her about being a woman. She would do anything to sit cuddled beside him just
once more. To have him hold her tightly while his warm breath rustled through
her hair.

Leaves crunched a short distance away and something thumped
the ground.

Ivy shrieked.

“Shhh.” Wisteria clamped a hand over Ivy’s mouth. It was too
dark to see beyond the immediate area but she tried focusing through the trees
anyway. She and Ivy were close to home, Ivy’s home—not hers anymore—but not
close enough to utilize the firelight. And being secluded in darkness felt as
if they were the only two people alive.

As the noises tapered in the distance the clouds
disappeared, allowing moonlight to filter through the trees. Wisteria lowered
her hand from Ivy’s face. “It’s gone. It was probably a harmless animal.”

“We can’t stay here,” Ivy whimpered. “What if a mutant finds
us? What if another monster appears?”

“We can outrun them.” She removed the blade from her
waistband, guided Ivy back to the stack of tree logs and sat down, pulling Ivy
down beside her. Cold vapors seeping from the ground swept over her body,
forcing gooseflesh the size of anthills to rise on her arms. “Close your eyes
and sleep,” she said, snuggling Ivy in her arms. “I’ll wake you if I sense any
danger.”

Little by little Ivy relaxed. When the hand gripping
Wisteria’s arm weakened, she knew her sister had fallen asleep. Shortly after,
Wisteria began dozing but the cold chills racing up her back kept waking her.

Then she heard a branch snap in half. She stiffened and held
her breath, glaring side to side despite the inability to see. The moonlight
had disappeared again, removing the only means of light. It wouldn’t have helped
anyway unless she turned around to see what lurked behind her. But she wouldn’t
dare. She wasn’t prepared to face what had inched closer and now lingered over
the log pile.

She’d never been so frightened in her entire life. How could
she survive on her own when she could barely make it through one night?

Squeezing her arms around Ivy, she unfolded the blade and
scooted lower. Her chest tightened and her heartbeat battered her breast.
Despite the dull echo thumping in her ears, she heard not another sound yet she
still sensed the presence behind them.

She tried releasing her breath quietly but it escaped in a
shaky hiss. Her hand trembled as she covered her mouth. A swoosh of air brushed
her skin then something soft dropped over top of her and Ivy’s bodies, encasing
them in warmth.

Wisteria’s eyes widened. She reached upward and felt fur
tickle her fingertips. She sat straight and turned around but couldn’t see
anyone, not even a shadow. “Momma?”

* * * * *

“Vulcan, how long are you going to let this go on?” Bronto
asked, removing a chewed stick from his mouth.

“Until she settles someplace safe.” What he really wanted to
do was grab and shake the shit out of her for pulling such an asinine stunt and
putting herself in danger.

“You stood between the trees watching her father banish her
from the clan. Isn’t that enough? What do you intend to do now?”

Vulcan squatted, draping his hands over his knees. “It
would’ve already been done had you not held me back from charging in there to
beat his ass.” When he saw her father grab her by the hair and yank her to her
feet, Vulcan nearly frothed at the mouth like a rabid animal.

“I couldn’t let you pummel her father half to death,” Bronto
said. “What are you going to do about Wisteria?”

“Teach her a lesson.”

“Fabulous idea. We’ll sit right here
teaching her a
lesson
until she and her sister are abducted by aliens or eaten by a
dinosaur,” Bronto said, flicking the stick into the fire.

“We’ve got our eyes on them. They have nothing to be afraid
of. They can tough it out through one night.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to hear my objections?”

“No,” Vulcan grouched.

“Well, I’m going to state them anyway.”

Here we go.

Bronto stood, clasping his hands behind his back. He kicked
stones around the small temporary fire pit they’d constructed awhile ago and he
began pacing back and forth. “I’m quite fond of Ivy, and I don’t appreciate the
fact she is lying in the forest freezing.”

Vulcan wasn’t happy about it either. “I covered them with a
hide. What the fuck else do you want me to do?”

“One suggestion, we carry them to safety and offer them
warmth.”

“Give me an idea I haven’t already thought of. Damn it,
Bronto, I love that woman, but she has me so pissed right now I’m afraid I’ll
hurt her if I get my hands around her pretty little neck.”
Love?
Yes, he
loved her. He’d always loved her. From the first day he’d laid eyes on her at
the lake. Unfortunately he’d chosen a hell of a time to disclose his feelings
to Bronto. “She made this choice, not me. I didn’t do a damn thing to chase her
away.”