Wolf Tales 12 (13 page)

Chapter 9

Colorado, first week of September

“Do you think I’m crazy because I still want to move away, Ric?” Millie glanced up from the mail she was sorting. “I think your, um . . .” She cleared her throat and flashed him a big smile. “Your therapy has worked wonders, but I’m still ready for something else. My motivation for wanting a change isn’t the same, but the desire is still there. I’ve got the foundation ready to take over the sanctuary, so that’s under control. There’s really nothing holding us here any longer that can’t be dealt with, so my only concern is the kids. What about you?”

Ric leaned against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in his hand and gazed out the window at the towering pines and cedars surrounding their cabin. He didn’t miss life in San Francisco a bit. He loved it here, but he understood Millie’s desire for a change. She’d never lived anywhere else, and in spite of the fact she was handling her memories a lot better, he knew she’d be happier in a new place—somewhere fresh. “Don’t think about the kids right now. Think about Millie West and what she wants. Do you have any idea where you’d like to go?”

She shrugged. “I don’t really know. We’ve got grandbabies on both coasts, but for some reason I keep thinking of Montana. Anton’s got a lot of room. He and Keisha have invited us more than once to live there. I worry, though—you’re so used to the alpha role after all those years with Pack Dynamics and now here. Would you be happy with Anton as the undisputed leader? And face it”—she laughed—“there’s no disputing Anton.”

Ric hadn’t really thought about that part of the move. Would he miss the role he’d held his entire adult life? He’d always admired Anton and had never felt a need to challenge him, though as wolves they’d learned to give one another a wide berth when their feral instincts were engaged.

Then he thought of Matt and how the young man had been slowly moving into a stronger role within their small group, occasionally taking over from Ric—not only in the day-to-day decisions around the sanctuary, but even in the bedroom. Matt topped him now more often than not, but Ric hadn’t ever felt threatened. He’d never felt a need to challenge Matt—he was too proud of how far the kid had come. Obviously Ric’s human nature was stronger than his wolf when it came to pack dynamics.

He gazed squarely at Millie. “I don’t think it’s a problem. Anton and I have always gotten on without any dominance issues. He carries his leadership well. He’s intelligent and his magical abilities put him on another level altogether. Even when the guy screws up, he does it with panache.”

“True.” Millie grinned. “Still, it’s a big decision to make. And we really do have to think about the kids, what our moving away will mean to them. Daci’s babies are due the end of next month, and I hate to leave when I know they’ll need help.”

“Speak of the devil.” Ric heard the sound of laughter a moment before Daci, Deacon, and Matt climbed the steps to the deck. He opened the door and held it wide. “C’mon in. We were just talking about you.”

“That can’t be good.” Matt stepped into the kitchen ahead of the others, pulled a chair out for Daci, and helped her sit. He flashed a grin at Deacon. “I swear we’re innocent.”

“Yeah, right.” Deacon flipped a chair around and straddled it. “I’ll speak for myself, but you, my friend, weren’t even born innocent.”

“Behave, boys.” Daci grinned at Ric. “See, Millie? Look what I have to put up with all the time.”

“It’s got to be tough, dealing with not one, but two drop-dead-gorgeous young men.” Millie rolled her eyes dramatically and pressed a hand to her chest. “My heart bleeds for you.”

“What’d I tell ya?” Matt sat beside Daci and nudged her shoulder. “Millie thinks we’re gorgeous. See how lucky you are? We could be butt-ugly, but we’re not, so quit picking on us.”

Daci nipped his shoulder. “Pick, pick, pick,” she said. Then she giggled when he groaned.

Ric could stand there all day and listen to the teasing. He thought of Millie’s desire to move away and realized how much he’d miss these three. They were like his own children—and not.

They were friends, but they were also his lovers. He’d never allowed himself that same familiarity with any of the people who worked under him at Pack Dynamics, but here, with Millie and these three, he’d been able to let down his guard in ways he’d never done before.

“So what’s up?” he asked. “You guys want coffee? Anything to eat?”

“Not for me, thanks. We just had breakfast.” Daci glanced from Matt to Deacon and then back at Matt. He’d grown into a formidable young man—it was hard for Ric to even remember him as the young beta he’d first met. Now Matt was the undisputed leader in his small family.

“Anton called this morning,” Matt said. “Our conversation sort of solidified some things the three of us have been talking about for a while.”

Ric shot a quick glance at Millie, then returned his attention to Matt.

“A couple of things have happened over the past few days that he felt we should be aware of—he’s contacting all the Chanku who either have children or are expecting them.” Matt gazed softly at Daci. “Calling to warn us.”

Deacon interrupted with a shrug of one broad shoulder. “It appears some of the older kids are manifesting their Chanku abilities a lot earlier than anyone expected.”

“How so? I haven’t heard from Anton for at least a month.” Ric folded his arms and tried to imagine what would have Anton upset enough to pick up a phone. He generally just invaded the minds of the ones he wanted to talk to.

“Well, Lily’s disappeared. She’s okay,” Daci added at the sound of Millie’s soft gasp. “Considering she went for a walk on the astral plane and ended up in Tibet.”

“Holy shit.” Ric set his coffee cup down before he dropped the damned thing. “She’s what? Six?”

“Six and a half.” Matt shook his head. “It seems she figured out how to read the hieroglyphs carved on the wall in that cavern under Anton’s house. No one had any idea they gave explicit instructions for crossing through onto the astral. Once he realized she was missing, Anton followed her. He met up with Eve, who told him Lily was on a quest, that she’d already gone on to Tibet.”

“I don’t get it.” Millie looked a little shell-shocked. “Why Tibet?”

“Remember? That’s where Anton and Oliver went years ago when they were searching for more about Chanku history. Anton said that’s where the Chanku started out,” Daci said. “It’s where our history is kept, with a bunch of monks he called the Ancient Ones. They’re in a temple somewhere at the foot of the Himalayas, though he said he suspects it’s not really Tibet as we know it, but maybe Tibet as it exists on the astral.”

“But even then, it’s not where we actually originated.” Deacon interrupted Daci. “It’s so cool. Anton said our ancestors actually came from another planet, long before modern humans had evolved here at all. We’ve always suspected it, but now we know for sure we really aren’t human.”

“Not even close,” Daci said, laughing. She winked at Matt. “Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, Lily decided she wanted to help Anton find all the missing Chanku. That led to her reading the directions on the cavern wall, crossing over to the astral, and traveling on it to wherever it is that these guys called the Ancient Ones and their temple are. She’s there now.”

“And Anton’s letting her stay?” Millie looked utterly shocked. “She’s hardly more than a baby. I find it hard to believe that he would leave her there, knowing where she is.”

“I know, and the poor guy sounds like it’s killing him not to go after her, but he said Eve told him he had to let Lily do this on her own, that she has an old soul.” Daci rubbed her belly. “I’m with you, Millie. I don’t know how he and Keisha are handling this. I can’t imagine letting one of my children do something so scary. Of course, Lily’s always been precocious.”

“I think this is taking precocious to an entirely unacceptable level.” Millie’s dry comment had everyone laughing.

“The point is,” Matt said, “Eve told Anton Lily isn’t merely capable of traveling on the astral plane—she’s already shifting, too. He had no idea she’d learned to shift, because she’s able to block his mind.”

Ric shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think anyone could block Anton.”

“I know.” Daci shrugged. “No one but Lily. Eve said Lily didn’t want to worry him, which is why she hasn’t said anything.”

“She’s six and she’s shifting?” Millie glanced at Ric. “Cami and Shay aren’t that much younger.”

“Exactly.” Matt sighed and shook his head. “We all thought we had years before we’d have to worry about our kids shifting, but it’s already happening. That’s why Anton called—to suggest we think about moving to Montana. We’d be closer to more parents with little ones. We’d have the support of the pack when it’s time for us to deal with this. There’s a huge worry about our secret getting out. What if a kid shifts in public?”

“Exactly. The thing is”—Daci clasped Deacon’s hand in one of hers and Matt’s in the other—“we hate to leave you with the sanctuary and all this responsibility. At the same time, I really want to raise our kids with others who are like them. I think it’s going to be a lot harder than we ever imagined, but we don’t want to make a decision this big without talking to you about it.”

Ric moved to stand behind Millie and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you. We appreciate that, and I think Anton’s right, it makes sense for you to be around other young parents dealing with the same issues. It’s an excellent idea.”

He leaned over and kissed Millie’s cheek. “We’re talking about a change, too. Millie has actually got things rolling for the foundation to take over running the sanctuary. They’re going to make it part of the university’s threatened species reintroduction program. It’s set up so that there will still be places for you to stay on, should you want to, but from what you’re saying, living closer to the main pack sounds like something you really need to consider. I want to know more, though. Lily’s always been a step ahead of the rest of the kids. How does Anton think this will affect the other children?”

Deacon shook his head. “It’s not only Lily. She was just the first.” He glanced at the others before continuing. “Last night, Stefan went out to get the kids in for their baths. They’d been playing in the meadow. His two oldest, Amber and Alex, were flying a kite with Oliver and Mei’s little guy, Leo.”

“The kite got caught in the branches of an oak,” Daci added. “It was up higher than anyone could reach, but it was getting late and Stefan told them to leave it, that he’d figure out how to get it down in the morning.”

Matt laughed. “I guess Alex didn’t agree with his dad. He threw a typical Alex fit, stripped off his clothes, shifted into an eagle, and flew up to the branch. Then he turned back into a little boy, untangled the line and dropped the kite, shifted back, flew back to the ground, and landed in front of Stefan.”

Ric reached for a chair and sat down, hard. “An eagle? Alex? But how . . . ?”

“So far,” Matt said, “Alex and Lily are the only two who can shift. Alex admitted they’ve been doing it for a couple of months, but since they figured it was grown-up stuff, they didn’t want to get into trouble, so they haven’t said anything.”

“What I think is even scarier than the fact they’re already shifting,” Daci added, “is that both kids are capable of hiding this kind of info from their parents. Their minds are already that strong, their abilities that refined.”

Matt interrupted. “As far as the how of it, Anton said that Logan thinks it’s the exposure of the developing fetus to the nutrients. None of us take the pills all the time anymore, but Daci has craved them throughout her entire pregnancy. So did Keisha and Xandi, and the others, as far as we know.”

“And the nutrients are in our breast milk, too,” Daci said. “All the babies have been breast-fed, including Shannon’s triplets. None of our generation or yours were exposed from conception except for Keisha, but she had no idea her mother was a shifter, so she had no example to follow. Plus, she doesn’t think she was breast-fed, and would have missed out on the nutrients through mother’s milk.”

She shook her head, tossing her dark brown curls over her shoulders, looking both exasperated and excited at the same time. “It’s scary and exciting to think about, but our babies have been exposed from the very beginning to the nutrients. They’ll continue that exposure later, through lactation. Anton said Logan is convinced the gland for making us Chanku is developing the way it was designed to, from conception on. Our children probably won’t need the pills to become Chanku—it will be a normal part of their development, but that puts us all in the position of raising children with the ability to shapeshift long before they can understand the need for secrecy. It puts all of us at risk.”

She focused on Ric. “Your granddaughters aren’t that much younger than Alex and Lily. Luc and Tia could be faced with shapeshifting kids one of these days in downtown San Francisco. Try keeping that a secret.”

Ric’s head wouldn’t stop spinning. He kept thinking of Luc and Tia and those two beautiful little girls—plus, their boys were already three. What of AJ and Mik and Tala and their two kids, and Tinker and Lisa with their three? Anna Marie was almost five. So were Tala’s twins. And Daci was right—Cami and Shay were five and a half. The thought of those two shifting at this age was mind-boggling, to say the least.

Ric’s head snapped up. He focused on Matt. “You said Alex became an eagle. How can that be? We’re wolves or, in Mei’s case, snow leopards. How the hell did he learn to be an eagle?”

Matt shook his head, more serious now as all of them considered the implications. “I asked Anton. He’s not sure, but he thinks that we all became wolves because that’s either our primary beast or maybe just the creature we were first exposed to. Like with Deacon’s and my small group. Our first exposure to shapeshifting happened when we saw Nick turn into a wolf to protect Tala. This was before any of us knew we were shifters, but maybe a wolf was a natural creature to protect a helpless woman.”

Millie snorted. Everyone turned to look at her. “Sorry,” she said, choking back laughter. “I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the words ‘helpless woman’ in reference to Tala.”