Chapter Fifteen
Stef called Blake on his satellite phone at 5 a.m. There was still no sign of Ethan Coffman, and things were reaching a boiling point. The lion shifters and the locals were taking potshots at each other, and there were rumors of silver bullets being used. Several lion prides were camped out on the outskirts of Flowering Dogwood, and more were traveling across the country in caravans.
The family reunion would be the last chance for Krista to gather intel.
After that, they were looking at all-out shifter war breaking out in the holler—and no doubt spilling out into the rest of the region, maybe the entire state. As soon as tonight.
Krista pawed through her suitcase, sick with nerves. She picked one of her older dresses, scoop-neck, blue with daisies scattered across it, and a pair of lace-up low-heeled shoes with visible scuff marks. Anything that smelled too new would make it look like she was putting on airs.
Then she threw her fiery hair up into a quick ponytail and dabbed on some rosy lip gloss.
She looked around for Blake, who was pacing the floor and talking to Stef still.
He hung up abruptly and focused his attention on Krista. His heat and scent hit her all at once, and it was like a thirst.
He seemed to sense it, because he crossed over and took her in his arms and just held her, his hands clasped at her lower back. He rubbed his nose against hers, grounding her with one touch. She hadn’t even realized just how anxious she was getting.
The fate of a child rests on my shoulders. Is he still alive? Is he suffering?
She didn’t even want to think about what his father was going through right now.
Everything was different this morning. She knew it was because she’d finally trusted him with her darkest secret. She’d finally let down her walls, and because of it, they’d done more than just have sex. They’d bonded. She could feel a part of him in her soul. Somehow, the lie had turned true and she really was taking her fated mate to meet the family she’d turned her back on—an out-of-towner who was here with every intention of kicking the hornet’s nest.
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She tipped her head back and returned the kiss, but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to respond to him, but the emotional weight of what they were about to do and the people she was about to see felt like a stone in her stomach.
They headed out to the fairgrounds at 10:15 and arrived at eleven. There were ten plastic picnic tables lined up on the asphalt groaning with food, an all-fox bluegrass band setting up on the stage, and the smell of sizzling meat and roasting corn perfumed the air. Krista set her pie down on one of the dessert tables next to a mouthwatering pecan pie.
Krista sniffed. Was that Pearl’s pecan pie? It smelled like her pecan pie. Pearl was Hattie’s best friend and bridge partner.
Easily a hundred people were already there. Wolves and foxes mostly, with some coyotes, too. Scattered around the fairgrounds were potato sack races, a horseshoe toss, a strong-fox competition, a kissing booth, and face-painting.
Kits and cubs chased each other through grown-ups’ legs and up and over wooden picnic tables and around bushes.
It made Krista’s heart ache. Here was the best of Flowering Dogwood, the way things should be all the time—happy families leaving their cares behind. This was the side of her past that Krista never let herself think about in the years since she’d fled town for fear that the loneliness would grow so big inside her that she’d split in two.
“Krista! Krista!” A shrill voice cut through the air.
Hattie flew at them like a great-niece seeking missile and flung her arms around Krista, who hugged her back.
“It’s about time!” she cried. She stepped back and looked Krista and Blake up and down. Then she sniffed the air, long and hard, and finally nodded in satisfaction.
“I would be mad with you for not coming around to see your poor old great-aunt, but I know you needed to get some things squared away. That’s all right, then. You smell bonded,” she announced to Krista’s utter mortification. Several people glanced over at them and smiled and nodded approvingly. Krista’s face flamed red.
“That is not a thing!” she hissed.
“Then why can I smell it?” Hattie didn’t wait for an answer. She turned and bellowed out to a group of older lady foxes “She’s bonded!”
Krista looked up at Blake, but there was no help there. He looked like he was ready to explode with laughter. “Kill me now,” Krista pleaded to Blake. “Just make it quick and painless.”
“And miss the most fun I’ve ever had in my whole life?” he grinned at her, batting his eyes innocently.
Hattie poked Blake in the chest with a bony finger. She had to reach up high to do it. “You treat my great-niece right or you’ll have me to deal with.”
“I absolutely will treat her like gold,” Blake said quickly. “Platinum. Diamonds. Plutonium? Whatever has the most value per gram.” Now Hattie was looking at him with skepticism, and Blake looked embarrassed, but Krista found his awkwardness endearing.
“Well, you’re a little tetched in the head, but as long as you make her happy.”
“He’s tetched in the head?” a loud voice said, and Krista flinched.
