CHAPTER 5

Connor clenched his teeth harder when he thought about the hunter attacking the Cliff Walker den. The brave warriors fought and died to protect each other. There was no way Eli could have taken on an entire den by himself, he would have had help. The first man to come to mind was Mutt.

If only Alex hadn’t gone so far, Eli might not have so much support from the bikers now. His one sided vendetta to kill Alex for breaking his arm and taking his bike gave rise to someone even worse.

The feeling of powerlessness stabbed at his chest. He wondered if this was how Tess felt all those time he’d run off into danger and left her alone in safety.

“Can you drive any faster?” Connor asked Samantha.

“Are you kidding? I’m flooring it right now. This old truck is barely holding together as it is. Can either of you remind me why we took this one instead of my grandpa’s?” she asked.

“Because your grandpa trusts me about as far as he can throw me,” Connor started, but then shook his head, “Okay, that’s a bad analogy. He could probably throw me pretty far now that I think about it.” He scratched at the stubble under his chin, “Listen, he doesn’t trust me. He thinks that one of us let Torque escape.”

“I can’t believe Torque escaped!” Samantha said, still in disbelief, “What the hell?”

“That’s what I said. I guess they found his lock undone. He had help on the inside. There’s a traitor in the bear camp.” All was silent for a second. It was clear that Samantha was thinking.

Tess caught Connor’s gaze and opened her eyes wide as if to scold him, as if to say that now is not the time for that. Connor shook his head to say he had no choice, she’d find out soon enough anyway.

“No way, nuh huh,” she finally spoke up, “Every single one of those bears follows my grandpa as though their life depended on it. There isn’t a traitor among them.” Samantha bit her lip, still deep in thought.

“I’ve been wracking my brain for the last few days trying to figure all this out. You told us that bears are fiercely independent, but yet your grandpa managed to bring them all together to fight against the wolves. How does he command so much power? If he’s the alpha, he’s supposed to be the biggest and the strongest. There were way bigger guys in the camp, they could have easily taken him down,” Connor wondered.

Samantha shook her head, much to Connor’s frustration.

“You look at my grandpa and see a weak old man. I look at him and see a man that would do anything to make sure his people were taken care of,” she said, turning the wheel around a corner. “That house he lives in, he built that with his mate, Annie. You know what that house represents? Loyalty. That’s not the first one he built. Most of the bears that you saw in that den, they owed not only their livelihood but also a debt they couldn’t ever possibly repay. He gave them the chance to live their lives.”

“Your grandpa built their homes?” Connor wondered, “There was only one house there.”

Again, Samantha shook her head.

“You don’t get it. My grandpa not only built their homes but also their lives. They own businesses, they open property, and it’s all thanks to my grandpa. I told you that bears act independent? That’s because my grandpa invested in them. He gave them each a bit of land, he helped them build their homes, and he gave them a life and a future.” She said. “Tell me, what kind of a future do the wolves that live in your den have?”

Connor was stunned. She was talking bad about his den. But, was she right? The most that they could look forward to was living huddled around fires during the winter, or the sow fields in the spring. It was a simple living, but was it what they really wanted?

He thought about Crunch, the big man that didn’t belong at all. Didn’t he say that he built his own pack from the ground up? He accepted the castoffs and the exiles. They all came together under his leadership, and even though they were on the outside of society they were still capable of having a life.

“They have a home, isn’t that enough?” Tess said.

“I didn’t mean-”

“Didn’t you?” Tess said, cutting off Samantha. “Wolves aren’t bears. We hunt as a pack. We know that each of us needs the other to move forward. Sure, our life might be a bit simple, but as long as we have each other we move forward.”

Connor felt emboldened by his woman, but somehow he felt weak when she was able to speak up but he couldn’t. She was a strong woman in her convictions.

“Listen, what the bears have for my grandpa is respect. A strong man might stand tall and order around a bunch of weaklings, but that’s not a leader. A real leader doesn’t drag the rest of the group behind him; a real leader moves and everyone follows behind him. That’s respect. That’s what I was taught from the day I was born.” Samantha went silent. There was no use discussing the matter any further.

Connor leaned an arm out of the cabin. The broken glass caused the wind to howl past his ear as they drove. The mid-day sun beat down on him and the heat was a welcome friend, even if the biting wind still tore it all away.

“Why did you save me?” Samantha asked from the silence.

“What?” Connor asked.

“You jumped in the way of the gun to save me,” she said, “Am I really that important to you?”

“You’re the only one that knew where the bear den was,” Connor replied, with a chuckle. Connor could tell he’d struck a nerve in her as she sunk into the driver’s seat. Honestly, he knew he was lying to himself.

“Don’t make that face,” he said.

“What face?” she asked.

Connor sighed.

“I said the wrong thing, okay?” he said, “I’m just upset with everything that’s going on and you’re doing your best to make everything right. You don’t deserve that from me.” Connor wasn’t sure what words to use. Samantha had grown on him. She was willing to do things that few of his own boys in the pack would volunteer for and he was starting to consider her a friend. “Listen, Samantha. I had one thing in mind when I saved you, and that was keeping you alive. There was no special reason, no powerful emotion; it was just my need to make sure you survived.”

“I wonder if I could have done the same,” she said. She sat up a little higher in her seat. “Seeing all those dead wolves in the den was a real eye opener for me. I know I look tough but I hate fighting.”

“We all hate fighting like this. Anyone that prides themselves on their ability to kill doesn’t belong in my pack. It’s one thing to kill for defense but another to go out and cause trouble.” Connor said.

Tess kissed Connor on the shoulder then rested up against him.

“You ask me if you would have done the same thing,” Connor asked, “You’re a strong young woman. I’m glad to call you my friend, even if I did leave you in a prison cell for a few days, I’m sorry for that,” he said sheepishly. “That’s not the point, though. When you have something that you need to protect, like I do, then you won’t hesitate to protect it no matter what.”

“Thank you,” she said. She returned to her thoughts but she didn’t seem so glum anymore. For that, Connor was thankful.

Connor wondered where this self-sacrificing nature was coming from. His own father forced him to spend so much time away from his pack in his youth. Something his father said would ‘toughen him up’, a line that was losing all of its meaning. What did he mean by that? Was he really trying to make him not care for the rest of the pack? If so, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Maybe he was becoming entwined with the idea of becoming a father. Perhaps his own need to protect the young one that would be a part of his life soon was stamping a new idea in his head about what it meant to lead.

But, then it hit him. He’d spent so much time away from the pack, pulled apart from lust, alone and frustrated. The nights he spent hungry because he was unable to find enough food gnawed at him. If he’d had others with him he could have easily taken down a deer and feasted like a king. The times when he was frozen, huddled around a tree for warmth made him beg for the heat of a group. Is that what he was supposed to learn? The pack was strength and the alpha was the one to make sure that everyone had a share.

“This is some shit situation we got ourselves in, isn’t it?” Samantha broke the silence with a laugh. “It almost reminds me of the time my dad caught me with one of the local boys.”

Tess cocked an eye; Connor leaned forward in his seat, surprised.

“When you say caught, do you mean …”

“Caught,” Samantha replied. Her smile lit up her tiny face. She didn’t even look old enough to be dating. She brushed her hair out of her face, the leather of her jacket squeaking as she did.

Connor and Tess had such looks of surprise that Samantha decided she needed to clarify.

“You guys know I’m 22, right?” she said.

“You barely look 18,” Connor replied, shocked. “How long ago was this?”

“About six months ago,” she said, she looked a little embarrassed but continued to share. “He was sweet; I’d known him for a little while. We would chat, maybe play in the lake. He was super into me, but I wasn’t really havin’ it. Still, I was super horny one day and he was the closest thing.”

“Are you always so cavalier with your sex life?” Tess asked.

“Are you?” she retorted.

Tess was shocked she’d say such a thing, but had to admit she had a point. Granted, Tess had never slept with a guy she wasn’t at least dating.

“How the hell did your dad find you two?” Connor wondered.

Tess slapped him in the chest. Why was he so curious about where she got caught? Did she need to put a muzzle on him?

“Well, my dad was busy around the house and I thought he wasn’t going to be working in his shop. So, we snuck into the shop. I was on the work bench and we were goin’ at it pretty hard. I guess I was being a little loud because when dad came in, he was on a warpath.” She laughed, “I swear to god I had never seen a boy run so fast with his pants around his ankles. I thought he was goin’ to die at first, but I knew I’d be in for the worst of it. Ended up stuck doing chores without a single second of free time … till lately anyway.”

Tess just pictured Connor trying to run away from her father with his pants around his ankles. It tickled her a bit and she laughed into her hand. Meanwhile, Connor had his hand on Tess’s leg which he massaged gently. She could tell there was only one thing on his mind. Was he really that easy to turn on?

“What about you guys? I bet you have a ton of stories,” Samantha said. Her eyes were glued to the road which showed no end in sight.

“Well, this one time-”

Connor grabbed Tess’s attention and shook his head from side to side so fast she thought his head might fall off. Tess widened her eyes, wondering why she wasn’t allowed to tell their story.

“Nevermind,” Tess continued.

“Oh, come on. I shared an embarrassing story, the least you could do is help make me feel less awkward about it,” Samantha begged. Tess sat still, as did Connor. Eventually Samantha gave up releasing a deep sigh on the steering wheel. “Man, you guys are no fun sometimes. Geez.”

The car was silent again for a long while. Connor stared out the open window with Tess still leaning on him. They almost didn’t notice the tears running down Samantha’s cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Tess asked.

“I miss him,” she said, she brushed the tears away with the sleeve of her jacket which did no good as they were only replaced with more tears.

“Who is it that you miss? Did you want to talk about it?” Tess released Connor and gripped Samantha around the shoulders.

“My dad,” she said, “I miss him.”

“What happened to him?” Connor asked.

“He died,” she said. Tess hugged her close, or as close as she could while she drove. “It was a hunter. He got wind that my dad was a shifter. Came in like a regular customer. When my dad’s back was turned, the bastard put two barrels in his back. When I saw Eli I thought he might have been the one, but I only saw it happen through the kitchen window. I didn’t get a good look at the one that killed my dad.” She sniffled. “I swore that the next hunter I saw I would tear in half. But, when I saw Eli, I was scared. I couldn’t move, couldn’t shift because of the cast on my leg, I was helpless.”

She punched at the steering wheel with anger. The truck weaved in the lane. Tess held the wheel to steady the car.

“I won’t let it happen again,” she said, “This time I’ll be brave. Even if Eli didn’t kill my dad, I still need revenge for my grandma.”

Tess had no words to console her; only the warmth of her tender touch and whatever love she could provide to the ailing woman. Everyone in the car knew what it meant to lose someone important. Whether a mother, grandmother, father, or friend. Her tears were a tapestry of loss that wove itself together with their own. For a moment they’d become a real family.