Prologue
Cole Major
Something is wrong. Dad should be here in the living room watching the football game like he is every Saturday afternoon, but his chair is empty and so is his house. I’ve checked the entire house and even his shed, but he’s nowhere to be seen. All of us kids are supposed to meet up with him here for dinner to celebrate Mom’s birthday today. It’s something we do every year in remembrance of her.
The way he talks about her, it’s like she’s still alive and with him. I’ll never know how he’s made it living this long without her. I was only six, and Slate was three when she died giving birth to the twins Gabe and Ruby. It tore him apart losing her, especially the way that he did. Shifters aren’t supposed to die in childbirth, we’re supposed to live longer, healthier lives because we’re made sturdier than humans. No one expected for her to die. There were no complications until she was in the middle of giving birth and things took a turn for the worst. Mom had all of us naturally at home, that’s the way it is for shifter kind. “Can’t let anyone know about us,” momma told me once when I asked her to take me to the doctor, just like the other kids at school. She shook her head and held my hand. “We do the best we can and rely on our bear to heal us.” Most times she was right, until that night. Dad had to decide, her or the twins, and Mom begged him to save their cubs. When the twins were delivered safely, he did what he could to save her, but nothing worked.
His mate died, but he stayed behind because of us kids. If it weren’t for us, I know their mating bond would have had him passing not long behind her. For our kind, you really can die from a broken heart. I’d love to someday find a love like he has for my Mom, but at this point, I doubt that will happen.
I shake my head, trying to get the thoughts of that night off my mind. Shifting into my bear. I decide to go for a run hoping to scent him. Before I make it to the end of the clearing behind Dad’s house, I see Slate drive up in his pickup truck. I shift back to my human form and meet him in the middle. “What’s going on? I thought we were doing dinner.” He asks.
“Slate, Dad’s not here. I’ve just got this feeling that something isn’t right.”
“Oh, now you’ve got a feeling?” He jokes.
“Can you feel him?” I ask wiping the smile off of his face. “Because I can’t. I need to find him before it’s too late. Call the twins and let them know what’s going on. I want everyone together. I could be wrong, god I hope I am, but if not, we need to find him before someone else does.” He nods his head.
Shifting back into my bear I take off and to the back of the clearing that butts up against the national forest. Catching his scent immediately I run deeper into the forest. As his scent gets stronger so does the metallic scent of his blood overwhelming my senses. I run faster trying to get to him, to save him before anything happens, but I’m too late. Following his scent, I stop abruptly when I see Sheriff Cusack standing with Ranger Jones. They’re looking down, watching the county coroner check the temp of the naked man lying in the forest covered in what I already know is his own blood.
Without seeing his face, I know it’s him. My father has died alone. I let out a loud roar and turn in the opposite direction and start running toward my siblings. When I get there, Slate, Gabe, and Ruby are in the living room. Gabe and Ruby are sitting on the couch holding hands and talking in whispers while Slate paces behind them. They look up as I enter, and I can’t even get the words out. How do I tell them that we’re all that’s left of the Major clan, that we’re all alone in this world, all we have left?
“We already know,” Ruby says and stands to walk toward me.
I breathe out a sigh of relief, of course, she does. Ruby always knows. Knowing her and Gabe, he probably sensed it from her and then Slate, ever the observant brother would have caught on.
“Do you know what happened?” Slate asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I shake my head. “As soon as I saw him, I got out of there. Sheriff Cusack, Ranger Jones, and the coroner were all there. I couldn’t just shift on the spot and ask them what the hell happened. I got back here as soon as I could to let you know and wait for the call. I suspect they’ll be calling or stopping by any time to let us know.”
There’s a knock on the front door not ten minutes later. Ranger Jones and the Sheriff are both standing there, hats in their hands. “Can we come in Cole?”
“Have you found my Dad?”
Ranger Jones looks at me suspiciously.
“I suspect that’s why you’re here, he’s been missing for a few hours now. When we got here and hadn’t heard from him. We started calling around to all his friends. We’ve checked at the hospital and at Remy’s, but they hadn’t seen him either. Is he doing okay?” I ask playing along with the fact that I have no idea what’s going on.
I hate having to put on this charade, it’s not who I am, but it’s what I have to do. They’d question how we knew, and we don’t need that. If anyone ever found out shifters were living among them, I’d hate to see what happened to our kind. Their anguished faces are ripping my insides to shreds. I know what’s coming, yet I don’t want to hear the words they are about to say.
We’re surrounding them in the foyer, waiting for him to tell us what we already know. “I’m sorry kids, there has been an accident. He didn’t make it.” The sheriff says.
“Do you know what happened?” Gabe asks.
“As of right now it looks like an animal attack. We can’t be sure, but we think it was a group of mountain lions. The coroner has taken your father and will be doing an autopsy to see what he can find out.”
“An animal attack?” Ruby asks.
Ranger Jones nods. “He was over ten miles deep into the forest. Do you have any idea what your father would have been doing out there?”
All my siblings look to me to answer his question. “It’s my mother’s birthday, that’s why we were all here. They spent a lot of time exploring the forest together, I’m sure he was out there to remember her.”
“We’re sorry for your loss boys, and Miss Ruby. It’s never easy to lose a parent. Cole, we’ll be in touch in the next day or so. We’ll need someone to come and identify the body.”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
I close the door as they leave, and we watch from the big windows of the living room as they get in the sheriff’s cruiser and drive off.
Ruby starts bawling into Gabe’s chest and Slate clasps Gabe’s shoulder. I rest my hand on the nape of Slate’s neck, and together we stand in solidarity, in pain. My father is finally with his mate, and we are left to carry on the family name.