He didn’t add that they weren’t confident she was still alive. The teen looked stressed enough.
Rance nodded, and between bites of food and sips of lemonade, he shared his harrowing experience through halting words and brushed away tears. His journey began with waking up in a burning Grove and spotting scary strangers and ended withmagically traveling to his mother’s old tree at Anthony’s hotel.
“And you didn’t get a good look at this person?” Silver asked. Even with his gentle tone, Rance’s back stiffened like a soldier at attention.
“No, sir, just what I told you. She told me to claim sanctuary, but I’d rather return to my mother.”
Silver’s expression softened. “You can call me Silver. As leader of the Moon Pack, I grant you sanctuary until we can return you to your mother. As a sanctuary seeker, you are entitled to food, shelter, and safety until it is safe for you to leave.”
“Thank you.” Rance nodded but didn’t say anything more and kept a wary eye on the Alpha. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Rance had limited contact with other males and was uncertain about how to act around them. Hopefully, they could return him to his mom before that became an issue.
Hallea took over the questioning. “Your mother told you to ask for sanctuary at Anthony’s hotel?”
That was the part Kat couldn’t quite wrap his head around. Why Anthony? Granted, that was where she had purposely placed her tree, but a pack didn’t know anything about dryads. Weren’t there other Groves to send a displaced teen? He would’ve thought Rance’s mother would want her son sheltered with other dryads. Not that they wouldn’t try to help as much as possible, but they weren’t dryads and, other than Hallea, didn’t understand the culture.
Rance nodded. “She said in an emergency to follow her magic to safety.” He darted a look at Anthony. “She claimed he would protect me if something bad happened.”
“What about other Groves?” Anthony asked, proving they were in a similar mindset. “Not that I’m unwilling to help you. You are welcome to stay with the pack while we figure out what happened to your mother. I’m only concerned about you being comfortable among us rather than among your kind.”
“Groves don’t socialize much with each other, and most don’t like male dryads.” Rance shrugged as if used to such base discrimination before taking another bite of food.
Hallea stepped in before Kat could ask the question on the tip of his tongue. “What Rance didn’t say is that he’s already fifteen. His mother mentioned her concerns when I talked to her last.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Kat frowned. Dryad dynamics were even more confusing than mixed packs—something he still hadn’t deciphered.
“Dryad males are both rare and unwelcome when they reach manhood. For dryads, that’s sixteen.”
“We’re unwelcome before we reach sixteen,” Rance muttered.
Kat frowned. He would investigate Rance’s home life or tree life before they returned him. It didn’t sound like he enjoyed his Grove, even before it burned down.
“But he’s still a baby!” Kat protested. He didn’t even try to hide his disgust. You never kicked a kid out of the cave before they knew how to sharpen their claws.
“I’m not a baby!” Rance scowled.
Kat held back a coo at the adorable pout.
Hallea sighed. “Dryads are nature beings, but they aren’t the most empathic. Trees don’t feel emotions the same as humans or shifters. They are more practical than emotional.”
To Kat, that sounded more like they were insensitive and budding sociopaths. It didn’t match the hippy, free-spirited image he’d built in his mind.
“The longer we live, the less we connect to others.” Rance sunk back into his chair when all eyes turned to him. “That’s what Mother always said. She claimed she only retained emotions because she grew me. None of the others have that connection.”
“Why?” Kat couldn’t help asking. The more he heard about dryads, the more they reminded him of fairy tales about haunted woods and the trees that killed the unwary. Dryads sounded both fascinating and horrifying.
Hallea took over the conversation. “Only the priestess can have children. It takes enormous Grove magic to channel the power to grow a child. The magic doesn’t only come from the mother.”
“Another reason some of them never accepted me.” Rance poked at his sandwich morosely. “They hated that their magic went toward a boy instead of a girl. Mother didn’t tell them her plans before she grew me.”
Kat squeezed Rance’s shoulder. How harmful it must be to his emotional development to grow up among people he knew were disappointed in his birth sex.
“Were they going to kick you out?” Kat asked.
Rance shrugged again. “No one had mentioned anything yet, but Mother didn’t charm my tree to be portable for nothing. I think she was waiting for someone to mention my age.”
“You’re still a minor at sixteen.” Kat felt compelled to point out.
“Not for a dryad,” Rance replied.
