Thanks to my editor sleeplessgurl.
Thank you everyone for the comments and emails on chapter 3. As always, they are deeply appreciated. I hope everyone enjoys chapter 4 even though I'm afraid this may be a bit shorter than normal. The Mississippi River-if you live in the States then you probably know about this mess-is flooding and things have been tense at work.
I do have plans for two series to arc off this with 'Finding' in their titles. It will be about two certain half-brothers and their lives.
This is a copyrighted work of fiction by the author durablue. All rights reserved.
*
Chapter 4
Ivy smiled, and held her arms out. Daylon picked her up and carried her into the water. The look of bliss, of happiness, told Daylon how much Ivy loved the water. She hugged him hard, then swam out to explore the falls, her movements carefree. This was their time; there would be time enough to worry about Dolmas, her step-brothers, Mary and Sam... right now he wanted to hold his mate and forget, just for a while. Daylon knew that Dolmas wouldn't forget the humiliation handed to him by Ivy, and he worried about how to protect his mate and the ones she cared for.
He had good reason to be worried.
* * * *
Dolmas watched Surlak walk away.
"How dare he show up here and lay his judgment down on me about how things are going to be," Dolmas snarled to himself.
And to find out there would be no restitution for Mary being... He growled and for a brief moment control wavered and Dolmas' wolf strained at the leash, yearning to break free. For one wolf to turn his back on another was the ultimate insult as far as Dolmas was concerned. How dare Surlak turn his back on him? Control slipped farther, his eyes lightened, and his wolf snarled in anger. Who did Surlak think he was dealing with?
"By god, we need a new leader, one who is strong and fearless, someone who will take our pack and turn them into a name to be feared... someone like...
me
."
The more Dolmas thought about it, the more convinced he became. Clenching his fists, Dolmas wrestled his wolf back under control. He'd deal with Surlak later; right now he needed to focus his attention on what mattered most...
her
. The bastard child he raised, the one who caused him such humiliation, that freak who was responsible for him.... he couldn't think about it.
His mind refused to accept what he felt, down toward his crotch, when he woke up. Dolmas walked back in the house and started cleaning up the tattered remains of furniture. His anger rose again. Mary should be there to clean up this mess. That thought led to where she was, what she doing, and with whom. More dark thoughts entered his mind, and he began to plot. Hours later headlights flashed across the yard, and Dolmas watched the pickup truck park in the drive.
Kern and Caleb stepped from the truck, both the worse for wear. They approached the house, moving with the exaggerated carefulness of someone looking for danger. Dolmas opened the door, backlit by the room's light. Kern and Caleb stood frozen, eyes glued on Dolmas. Both scanned his body language, trying to read him.
"Where have you boys been?"
"We, ah, we went to the local watering hole and, ah..."
"What Caleb is trying to say is we went out and had a few drinks," Kern said. "We figured you wanted to be alone for a while."
All three men stood silently, eyeing each other. Dolmas scanned their appearance, noting that while they were battered and bruised, neither seemed drunk. Thankfully they had their wits about them. Dolmas motioned for them to come inside, then turned and walked out into the room. Caleb looked at Kern and shrugged. Both followed their father inside the house.
"Help me clear away the debris, then we need to decide what to do about this situation," Dolmas said.
"Ah, Dad, we ran into Surlak in town. He said you agreed to drop this whole deal." Kern was holding what was left of the coffee table.
"I never agreed to that," Dolmas said. "The simple minded old fool actually believes I'm going to take this kind of insult. Well, I'm not. So get busy cleaning, then we got plans to make."
Several hours later the house was cleaned, the broken furniture removed, and Kern lay in bed. His door opened, and Caleb slipped inside.
"You awake?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Kern asked as Caleb shut the door.
"I'm worried. I've never seen Dad like this. What he was talking about..."
"I know. Trouble with a capital T. But I don't know what to do. If we don't stand with him... Caleb, things are going to get bad." Kern rubbed his hands over his face.
"Do you really think he means to do what he said?"
"God help us both, but yeah," Kern said.
"This could cost us our lives'." Caleb stared at the floor. "I don't want to die, Kern, especially over things that we know nothing about."
"Look, try to stay away from the old man as much as possible. I'll... think of something."
"What?"
"I have no idea," Kern said, and sighed. "Go on to bed. We have to go to Lowe's tomorrow for some sheetrock. Maybe a new day will bring some new options... and all that shit."
"Yeah, maybe. Night."
Kern watched his younger brother leave. Sleep was a long time in coming. As far as he could see, there were no easy answers here.
* * * *
Mary and Sam walked hand-in-hand to his house.
"Any particular movie you want to see?" Sam asked. "You used to have a thing for action movies, if I remember correctly."
"Oh Sam, I haven't watched a movie in ages, so it doesn't matter to me. But..."
Sam grinned. "Yeah?"
"Has that new movie, with the fast cars, come out on DVD yet? You know, it has that actor with the bald head and sexy voice."
"I know the one, and I do have it. Is that what you want to watch? Not a nice romance?"
"Yes, that one. Frankly the romance movies... well, real life never works like that," Mary said quietly.
"Mary..." Sam rubbed a head over his head. "True love does exist. Sometimes, well, sometimes things get in the way, but—"
"That's one way of putting it. Let's not talk about the past, Sam. I don't want to ruin this by going over old, horrible memories."
"Neither do I, but Mary, I want to see you."
"We can't just pick up where we left off, Sam. It doesn't work that way. You don't know what my life was like all those years. I've changed."
"As have I. We're both older now, but Mary... can you tell me that spark is no longer there? If it isn't I'll back off and leave you alone." Sam stopped on the sidewalk, and looked at their joined hands, and raised an eyebrow.
"I-I-I..." Mary blushed. "I still have feelings for you, Sam. I always have, but I need time, time to find myself again. I don't know who I am anymore."
"That's all I wanted to hear. I'll give you as much time as you need, just don't shut me out. And this time... trust in me Mary. We haven't heard the last from Dolmas. I need to know you won't let him bully you back to him in an attempt to keep me or Ivy safe. Can you promise me you'll let us handle this situation?"
"Yes. I was young and foolish before. I will
never
go back to him. Never. I will miss my sons, but they hate me now. Do you have any idea what it's like for your own flesh-and-blood to despise... Oh, Sam, I'm sorry, I forgot," Mary said, turning pale.
Sam tugged gently on her hand, and they resumed walking. "Yes, I know what it's like for your family to turn its collective back on you. We do have that in common. But Mary, you have me, and Ivy. And over time you'll have more. Our pack is very loving, and they will accept you if given the chance."
Mary walked next to Sam, but didn't reply.
"You have to give them the chance, though," Sam said, and shook Mary's hand gently.
"I'll try, Sam. It's hard for me to trust."
Several more minutes passed as they walked along, enjoying the warmth of the night. Sam stopped in front of a small, but well kept house. Solar lights marked the walk-way to the house. The bushes were lush and green, the yard nicely mowed, and flowering plants circled the mature trees in the front. Hanging baskets of plants swung gently on the front porch, a riotous of color exploding from the baskets. Two white Adirondack wood chairs sat on the porch with a wooden table between them.
"My goodness, this is your house?"
Sam grinned. "Yes, I live here, and yes, I did all this. Daylon and Holland like to poke fun at me for having a green thumb, but, well... I like digging around in the dirt. I seem to have a way with growing things, of persuading them to open and bloom for me."
Mary blushed again. She hadn't blushed this much in... she didn't know when. Was that last remarked aimed at her? She resisted the urge to fan herself. Sam was still the gentleman she remembered, but now there lurked a... sensuality that hadn't been there before. And Mary was slightly ashamed at the brief flash of jealousy she felt when she saw the front yard. At first glance, it screamed of a woman's touch to Mary.
"It's beautiful, Sam. I can't wait to see the inside."
"Then follow me."
The inside of the house was as well kept as the outside. It was comfortable, and homey. Sam put the movie in and popped a bag of popcorn.
"What would you like to drink? I've got Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Sprite. Any of that sound good?"
Mary breathed a sigh of relief... no alcohol. "A Coke sounds good."
Sam returned with a bowl full of popcorn, and put it on the table. He went back to the kitchen and got the drinks. Sitting down on the couch, he started the movie. Occasionally their hands bumped as they ate. The credits rolled for the movie and Sam scooted closer to Mary. After a little time passed he casually put his hand on the back of the couch, and Mary grinned.
"That wasn't your most subtle move."
"Yeah, I'm out of practice, I'm afraid," Sam said. "Is this okay?"
"Perfectly okay," Mary said and leaned her head over onto Sam's shoulder.
The rest of the movie was spent in that position. Sam was careful to respect the boundaries Mary set, and Mary was able to relax. No one was yelling, cussing or drinking. She noticed Sam hadn't offered anything alcoholic to drink, nor had he drank anything. Sam played with a strand of her hair as he watched the movie, a simple gesture that spoke of caring.
Mary had tensed when he first lifted a stand of her hair, as if she almost expected him to yank it. She had to remind herself that Sam wasn't Dolmas, and an easy gesture such as that wasn't the prelude to something darker. Once she relaxed she enjoyed the movie, enough that she fell asleep against his shoulder.
