Chapter 10
When they reached the clan’s campground, Fate breathed out a sigh of relief. Calling the day stressful wasn’t quite an accurate description. In between moments of terror and confusion, they’d lost someone who meant a great deal to Hanai and Jilly, and they brought home an orphaned dragonfae. Treasure had woken up shortly before they arrived in Ashland, and although they’d all attempted to talk to her, she hadn’t been interested in conversation.
Not that he blamed her.
Even though Jilly had been sure to explain that Treasure wasn’t going to be alone, it was clear the girl was worried about her future.
He’d texted his parents about the sad events so the clan would be prepared to welcome Treasure and not question her about her story. When he’d realized that Treasure was all that was left of her family, Fate had expected Jilly to want to bring her home with them and join the clan. She’d mentioned her childless Aunt Lisa and Uncle Rhett, and it had been clear to him that she hoped the couple would want to take in Treasure.
He would be surprised if they didn’t. But success would hinge on whether Treasure wanted to be with them or not. If she didn’t, then she’d stay with the clan. Whatever the outcome, he was glad they were home and safe.
He pushed the button to slide the second-row seat forward and offered Treasure his hand. She looked at him blankly for a moment and then put her hand in his so he could help her from the vehicle. A door creaked, and he heard his parents come out.
“We’re so sorry, Hanai,” Dionne said.
“Thank you,” Hanai answered. He turned and said, “Treasure, this is my brother, Dag, and his mate, Dionne. They’re our clan’s leaders.”
Jilly and Wyked joined them, and she said, “Come say hi to my parents.”
Treasure’s head tilted. “But you’re not the same kind of cat.”
“They’re Wyked and Fate’s parents, and since we’re married, it makes them my parents, too. I actually have three more parents for you to meet later.”
“Three?” she squeaked. “You have five parents?”
With a chuckle, Jilly said, “Yeah. Crazy, right? My biological father, my step-mother, my step-father, and my in-laws.”
“You don’t have a biological mother?”
Jilly’s face shadowed for a moment and then she smiled. “I don’t know where she is. Mountain lion females are a complicated group. I’ll tell you about them another time.”
Treasure accepted a hug from Dionne and shook Dag’s hand. “Are you hungry?” Dionne asked. “I’ve got ribs and potatoes in the oven.”
“Yes, please,” Treasure said.
Jilly led Treasure to a picnic table with Dag, Hanai, and Wyked. Fate followed his mother into their RV to gather the table settings. “She’s so lovely,” Dionne said with a low voice so her words didn’t carry. “And that hair! I’ve never seen that sort of color outside of a salon.”
“Her fae wings and her dragon scales are the same color as her hair. She looks like an exotic butterfly.”
“Do you think she’s safe now?”
He pulled the plates from the cabinet and set forks and knives on them. “Hanai thinks so. The fae who attacked Georgette are all dead, and the house is destroyed. We don’t know how they found them in the first place, but we couldn’t leave her there.”
“Of course not. She needs friends now more than anything. I can’t think of a better group to keep her safe than the pride. Even though she’d be very welcome to join our clan.”
“Maybe she’ll decide to, but Jilly seems to think Lisa and Rhett will take her in.”
“They’re very kind and caring. I’m sure they will.”
He grabbed a stack of plastic cups and carried everything out to the picnic table. Jilly took the items from him and passed them around while he headed back to grab the door for his mother, who was carrying a platter of BBQ ribs. He picked up the bowl of baked potatoes and the fixings and set them on the table. When his mother returned with a pitcher of lemonade, they all filled their plates.
“What is this?” Treasure asked as Jilly used tongs to put a rib on her plate. “It smells sweet.”
“It’s a barbecue rib. Mom makes the best ribs,” Wyked said.
Treasure eyed everyone, watching as they started to eat, and then she picked up the rib, sniffed it, and took a tiny bite. “Oh!” she exclaimed, and then she took a larger bite, tearing into the tender meat with a growl of happiness.
Fate chuckled. “I guess she likes them.”
While they ate, they answered questions she had about the clan and about their nomadic ways. Then she asked about the pride.
“Why don’t you want to be with your people?” she asked Jilly.
“Because I want to be with my mates’ family. We’ll be back every summer to visit.”
“I could stay here? Or I should follow you?”
“I’d like you to meet my family and the pride members first. Then you can decide what you’d like to do. There’s no rush. We’re not traveling for a few weeks.”
“Okay. I’ve only been in this realm for a little while. It’s all weird to me.”
“What’s weird?” Fate asked.
“Everything,” Treasure said. “My aunt and I were the only fae around. There were a lot of humans and some shifters, but it’s not magical here like it is in the fae realm.”
“I think you’ll get used to the differences after a while,” Jilly said with a smile.
When the meal was over, Treasure offered to help in the kitchen, and Dionne and Jilly disappeared into the RV.
Dag cleared his throat. “We need to know if Treasure’s safe.”
“I believe she is. While I was helping Georgette with the soldiers, she said that one of them had something that belonged to her sister, which he’d used in a spell to find relatives. She believed that they followed her and not Treasure.” He paused and blinked rapidly to dispel tears. “I think she knew she was going to die. She asked me to take care of Treasure.”
“We just need to make sure that if she stays in Ashland, the pride knows to be watchful over her,” Wyked said.
“I can cast a protection spell,” Treasure said as she joined them. “I think.”
“If you can, that would be good. But if not,” Fate said, “I’m positive you’ll be fine with the pride.”
“They won’t mind that I’m a hybrid?” She wrung her hands together, and her eyes flashed bright blue for a moment.
Jilly hugged her. “Of course not. The pride is really accepting of others, just like the clan.”
“Okay.”
“I called Lisa, and she said to come over anytime,” Jilly said. “I didn’t tell her what I was thinking, though, just that we had someone for her and Rhett to meet.”
“No better time than the present,” Fate said.
* * *
Treasure was nervous as she sat in the back row of the big vehicle they called an SUV. She kept thinking about the dream she’d had, and she wondered if she’d really been following Jilly, or if there were another mountain lion she was supposed to meet. She did feel connected to Jilly, but now that she was in Ashland, she felt a strange sense of rightness that she couldn’t explain. It felt like when she’d gone to live with Georgette after her parents were killed. At first, she was scared, but then it became home.
It was hard to believe that only hours had passed since she’d lost the last of her family. She’d seen Georgette cast the protection spells, and she knew she could perform them as long as she had the right ingredients. The recipe book that Treasure had told Jilly she needed to keep wasn’t for food: it was for spells. Not all fae could cast spells, but Georgette could and so could Treasure. She’d just started learning when they’d been attacked.
A soldier had come for Georgette, and he had demanded to see Treasure, saying that she was the property of the fae realm and must return immediately. She didn’t know what that meant, but she knew if she returned to that realm, she’d end up as an experiment, because she was a hybrid and shouldn’t exist.
The SUV stopped next to a large house with a big front porch. Jilly said it was called a farmhouse because it was on a farm, and her aunt and uncle had a big farm where they grew vegetables.
“Two other sets of pride members live on the farm, too,” Jilly explained as she got out of the vehicle. “My cousins Eryx and Ethan, their shared mate, Callie, and their kids. And a family of three males and a female, and their kids.”
“Do all mountain lions have multiple mates?”
“Except for Rhett. It’s just him and Lisa.”
“Why?”
Jilly shrugged. “Just because, I guess.”
The front door opened with a creak, and a pretty woman with light brown hair stood in the open door. She wore an apron that was smudged with chocolate. She looked at Treasure for a moment, and everything within Treasure quieted profoundly.
“You’re not a lion,” Treasure said.
Lisa let out a laugh. “No, I’m human. Is that okay? Or do you only like lions?”
Treasure looked at Jilly and said, “Did I follow you to come here in the dream, do you think?”
“I don’t know, sweetie.”
Treasure approached the woman, who was only a few inches taller than her. Her dragon trilled quietly, and the word family flashed through her mind. Impulsively, she hugged her. “I like humans.”
“I’m Lisa, and I’m glad to hear it,” she said, as she returned the hug. Lisa smelled like chocolate and raspberries.
And she felt like home.
Tears filled Treasure’s eyes as she realized that she had followed Jilly into the woods to find her new home, and her dream had been prophetic. Because of Jilly, she had a chance at a normal life. No more living in fear of the fae, and no more hiding. Treasure was in a different state, with a new group of people, and she really liked this Lisa lady.
“Who’s this pretty young lady?” a booming male voice said.
Lisa said, “Rhett, this is Treasure. Honey, this is my mate and husband, Rhett.”
He offered her his hand, but Treasure hugged him instead, finding him smelling of straw and wood. “Can I stay with you?” she asked. “It feels like home here.”
“Oh, honey,” Lisa said, joining them in a three-way hug. “If that’s what you want, you’re very welcome here.”
“I do want that. I want to be here.”
Jilly murmured, “Am I psychic or what?”
* * *
Wyked marveled at how Jilly had been able to predict that Lisa and Rhett would take in the dragonfae. They hadn’t even questioned it; they’d simply opened their arms and hearts to her, and that was it. He’d wondered if she’d be too scared to be anywhere but with them, but she was possibly the most fearless female he’d ever met.
Next to his mate, of course.
They’d brought along Treasure’s bag, and they left her with Lisa and Rhett, who asked Jilly and her mates to come back for dinner that night. After saying goodbye, they returned to the boarding house so that Jilly could explain the situation to the pride and alert them to the need to be vigilant when it came to Treasure.
John looked suddenly hopeful. “Does this mean you’re changing your mind and plan to stay in Ashland?”
Jilly’s eyebrows rose. “Um, no. We explained to Treasure that we were going to be leaving on the first and that she could come with us or stay here. I thought she might come with us, but then she met Lisa and Rhett and, well, she looked right at home.”
“Poor thing,” Rue said. “To lose so much in her short life. No matter that she lives with Rhett and Lisa, the pride is here for her.”
“Sorry, Dad,” Jilly said, giving his hand a squeeze.
He shrugged with a smile. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
James said, “We’ll make sure that she stays safe. To start, we can outfit Rhett and Lisa’s home with basic security.”
“Sounds good,” Jilly said. “Thanks for being so awesome.”
“That’s what mountain lions are famous for,” John said.
The pride disappeared slowly, except for Jilly’s parents and two of her cousins – fourteen-year old Kevin and thirteen-year old Brian. They stood near the table, both staring at Jilly intently.
“Everything okay, guys?” she asked.
Kevin cleared his throat and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “Is she okay?”
“Who?”
“Treasure.”
“Yes. She’s sad and probably a little scared still, but she’s in good hands.”
Fate glanced at Wyked, and they shared a curious look. “You can meet her tonight,” Fate said.
They both smiled. “Thanks,” Brian said.
The two disappeared, and James turned back to them with his brows raised. “That was weird.”
“Well, they’re teenagers,” Rue said. “Even in the best of circumstances, they’re strange.”
“Hey!” Domino, Rue’s son, shouted from the family room. “I am not strange.”
“You’re not a teenager anymore,” Rue reminded him.
“Oh. Right.”
“Hey!” Henry said. “I’m not strange either.”
“Oh my gracious,” Rue said with a smile. “They’re so silly.”
Jilly looked at Wyked and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “I want to get the clippings into the window garden before they’re ruined.”
“You got it, kitten,” Wyked said. He stood and took her hand, saying goodbye to the pride and heading to their RV.
“I also want to go to bed,” Jilly said as they crossed through the yard and into the woods that separated the boarding house from the field.
“Tired?” Fate asked.
“Not remotely,” she said with a giggle.
“Ah,” Wyked said, his cat purring in excitement. “Let’s take care of the plants, quick. We’ve got a date with our mate.”