After the noise quieted down, everyone was properly introduced. James stayed outside with Charles and Fletch.

“Where is Heidi? Amy is dying to meet her,” Holly asked.

“She’s with Robert. Turns out, they’re mates,” Franny told her.

“Oh my god, really!” Holly was so surprised. “Where is she? I want to congratulate her.”

“Maybe later. Things have been a bit traumatic, I’ll explain later,” Jackie told her. “Now we can ask Amy our question.” Amy was all ears. They explained to Amy and Holly what had been so funny. All about pandas and pouches and they all had a good laugh.

“Giant Pandas belong to the bear family. She is a Giant Panda, right?” They all looked at her like she was speaking Greek. “A Giant Panda is the one that is black and white and the size of a black bear. When Holly told me about Heidi, I looked it up on the Internet. Panda shifters are really rare.”

“You can look up shifters on the internet?” Becky asked.

“Oh yes, we have our own website, but you have to know where to look. Only shifters are allowed.”

“Is there an un-giant panda?” Franny asked.

Amy laughed. “It’s called a lesser panda. A Red Panda, actually. It looks more like a cross between a raccoon and a fox, totally different.”

“No, Heidi is definitely a Giant Panda,” Becky told them. “I remember when Jackie taught us how to shift, she was so cute!”

“So, they can have kids.” Jackie asked.

“Oh yeah, no problem there. They tend to have twins and triplets though.”

“Oh lordy, this place is going to be busting at the seams. I think Robert is going to have to think about building another house or expanding this one.” Jackie thought about that. “I’ll have to ask Charles if they’re allowed to build here, no one else can.”

Just then Charles, Fletch and James came into the kitchen. “Sweetheart, I think we need to move this party to the living room, what do you think? The kitchen isn’t big enough for all of us.” The girls had just pulled the first pies out of the oven and put the rest in to bake. They all moved into the other room.

“Charles, are you allowed to build another house here? I know you said no one else could build here because of the earthquake fault and the lake, but what about you?”

“Just Robert, when he’s ready. Why?”

“Amy was telling us that twins and triplets run in Panda families.”

“They have only just met, sweetheart. Let’s wait a bit before we start building Robert a house.” Charles introduced James to Franny and Becky. James had the same reaction his sister had when he held Becky’s hand.

“Wow, you’re a wolf.” The girls laughed.

“What?” James looked around.

“I had the same reaction,” Amy told him. “The only other wolf Becky has ever met is Holly.”

James had a big smile on his face. “Maybe we should take Becky up to the Peak so she can meet a whole bunch of us. How long are you staying?” He looked at Becky.

“We have to go back on Saturday. We’ll be leaving early in the morning.”

“That doesn’t give me much time,” James commented.

“Much time for what, James?” Jackie asked.

“Oh! Ah, for Becky to meet the family, I mean, more wolves.” He was up to something and Jackie could only guess what it was. Just then, Robert walked in.

“Rob, where’s Heidi?” Charles asked.

“She’s upstairs in my room. She fell asleep in my arms in the den. I didn’t want to leave her on the couch, so I put her in my bed. She is totally spent. I never knew someone could cry for so long. You were right, Charlie. She had been holding it in for a very long time.”

Charles shook his head. “Poor kid.”

“I’m sure she’ll feel better when she wakes up.” Rob went to James and gave him a hand shake. “Good to see you, James.”

“You, too. Congratulations, I hear you found your mate.”

“Thanks, I’m still trying to get my feet back on the ground.” He looked at Jackie. “I wish you had given me a heads up concerning her injuries.”

“Her injuries? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The girls looked back and forth to each other.

“Maybe I’d better not talk about it right now. James, would you like a beer?”

“Sure, but just one. We can’t stay long.”

“Anyone else? Fletch? Charlie?”

They both said yes. Rob left to get their beers. Jackie got up and excused herself and followed Rob. She followed him into the pantry.

“Rob. What was that about Heidi? What injuries?”

“Her back. It’s awful, Jack. How could someone do that to another person.”

“I don’t recall seeing her back. Surely, after almost two months, she’s healed.”

“How can you not have seen her back? Didn’t she have to be naked to shift?”

“She did.” Jackie thought about it. “Maybe she never turned her back to me.”

“Well, it’s still very painful.”

Jackie breathed in sharply. Rob spun around to look at her.

“Rob, are you sure they’re old?”

“Oh my god, you don’t think someone has been beating her?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her back. I don’t know where she’s been working or what she’s been doing.”

Rob wanted to run upstairs. He started to pass Jackie.

“Rob, wait. We must handle this with kid clothes. You can’t just barge in and confront her. Let me get Charles. Stay here.” Jackie returned to the living room. “Charles, may I borrow you for a moment.” She handed James and Fletch their beers. She looked at the girls. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She followed Charles.

“What’s up?” He stopped in the hall and waited for her.

“Come in the pantry, we can’t talk here.” In the pantry, they found Rob sitting on a stool with his face in his hands.

“What’s going on?” Charles asked. “I’m not going to like what you have to tell me, am I.”

Robert rubbed his face and looked up at his brother. “No, I don’t think you are,” he said with a long sigh.

Jackie and Rob proceeded to tell Charles what they suspected.

“You are telling me that this might have been going on recently and she didn’t tell anyone.” They both said yes.

“I have to think about this.” He looked at Robert. “She’s staying here, right?”

“Yes, there is no way I’d let her go back there.”

“Okay. What I need to do is find out who she has been working for. Maybe we can handle this without Heidi even knowing about it.”

“That would be great if we can do it,” Rob told him. “If someone has been beating her, I want to know. I want to do to him what he’s done to her. Charlie, it’s awful,” Rob was getting angry. “No wonder she cried so long. I feel like such a jerk. She showed me her back. I ran my fingers over the welts and didn’t realize they could have been done recently.”

“Hold on, Rob. I need you to keep it together for Heidi. This is going to be tough. Right now, we need to go back to our guests and decide what to do later. After James, Holly and Amy leave, we’ll talk to Franny and Becky and see if they know anything. Come on Rob, we’ll get this fixed. I might even call Agent Adams. At least she’s safe now.”

Robert pulled himself together and the three of them went back to their guests.

“I’m going to check on Heidi.” Rob ran upstairs before Charles could stop him.

Jackie put her hand on Charles’ arm. “He’ll be alright. He can handle it.” Charles gave her a nod and they returned to their guest.

 

                                                             *****

Rob gently opened his bedroom door. He looked at the bed and it was empty. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard water running in the bathroom.

“Heidi, are you okay?” He called out.

“Yes, I’m fine.” She came out of the bathroom. “I had to wash my face. It felt all salty and gritty.”

He went to her and wrapped his arms around her and held her. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes.” She nodded against his chest. She was so short. Her head barely came to the center of his chest.

“Holly is downstairs. Would you like to go and say hello?”

“Oh yes.” She looked up at him with a big smile. He leaned down and kissed her luscious mouth.

“Come on, let’s get down there before I lose all control.” He was trying to hide the bulge in his pants. 

“Sorry.” Heidi blushed and giggled. She wasn’t totally naive.

He gazed into her beautiful sea green eyes. “I love you.”

She rested her head against his chest and hugged him around his waist. “I love you, too.”

“Let’s go.” He took her by the hand and they went downstairs. As they came down the stairs, James let out a long wolf whistle.

“Robert, you didn’t tell me she was a china doll.” Heidi blushed. Robert walked her up to James.

“Heidi, this is my very rude friend James and his sister Amy.”

James was gallant and kissed her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Amy gave her a gentle hug. “It’s nice to meet you, Heidi.”

Holly ran to her with a screech and gave her huge hug that made Heidi cringe. She tried to hide it, but Robert saw it.

“It’s so good to see you. I’m so glad you’re Roberts mate. Now I’ll get to see you more often.” Holly and Heidi had been close when they were together in Oregon.

Robert stuck his hand out to her so she would go to him. He needed to rescue her from Holly’s harsh embrace. He kissed her forehead as he gently wrapped his arms around her. They talked for a while longer and James finally announced they needed to get going. They wanted to get to the Peak before it got too late.

“Will you be able to make it back in time for the game?” Charles asked.

“I don’t know. We’ll try. Our team is going to win. You sure you want me here to watch Robert squirm.”

“I’m not going to squirm. My team is going to win,” Robert told them. James roared with laughter.

“We will see. We have to go.” James, Holy and Amy got up to leave. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you ladies. Hopefully we’ll get to see you again before you leave.” They all said goodbye and Charles walked them out.

“Holly looks really happy,” Franny remarked.

“Yeah, I think she is,” Becky answered.