Chapter Eight – Naomi
Naomi shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together as she settled Sapphira into her youngest sister's arms and handed her the bottle of formula. It wasn't that Anne and their sister, Heather, were unwelcome sights. If anything, Naomi was happy to have them here and away from their father.
But it was the timing.
"You both put yourselves in danger by coming here," she said.
"We heard Father's plan and decided we wanted to help," Heather said obstinately. "We didn't know that the Bears would all be on high alert waiting for Wolves to attack. Or that you'd have a baby."
Anne grinned. "Yeah, is there something you want to tell us? Were you having secret rendezvous with your Alpha Bear for nine months, sister dear?"
"We found her in the woods and adopted her. We think she might be a Wolf-born non-shifter. Do you know anybody who has had a baby recently?"
The sisters glanced at each other helplessly. Naomi knew how they felt. Their father deliberately kept them isolated from the pack, trotting them out for special occasions when he wanted to show them off, but not much else. Now as she thought about it, Naomi couldn't help but wonder if it was because if she had gotten to know more of the pack, they might follow her instead of him.
She was born to be Alpha. Was she strong enough to take her position back?
"But seriously, about the Bear," Heather said. "Is he treating you right? I could see a little blood on your thigh and smell him all over you when you first came in here. If he did anything you didn't want, I'll kill him. I promise you I will."
Naomi smacked her arm, her cheeks warming self-consciously. She twitched the long, oversized dress she wore, glad for the modesty. "I don't want any of that, Heather. For your information, we spent the night at the Mating Caves. And yes, he treats me right. Better than I expected. And with little Sapphira, I feel like we're complete. Like an actual family."
Anne stroked Sapphira's cheek as the baby drank hungrily. A frown crossed her face. "We never really had that with Father, did we? I mean, you're both my sisters and I love you dearly and I feel like family with you, but I've always felt like we were missing something."
"I know. You're too young to remember Mother, but when she was alive, it was like we were… Well, we were a family." Naomi sighed. "But never complete. Father might have been more devious back then, but he was always using her from the start. I don't think he actually ever loved her."
"But you love Joshua?"
Naomi tensed. Love at first sight was the norm among shifters. In fact, it was odd for a couple to be together for more than a week without declaring how much they loved each other and mating or breaking up because it just wasn't going to happen. There was no moving slow among them.
But she wasn't ready to share this with her sisters. Not yet, at least. She and Joshua hadn't even said that they loved each other out loud. Did he love her?
I think I love him. I want to be his mate forever… yes, that's love, isn't it?
Heath frowned. "Naomi, I know you've always been private—"
The sound of gunfire made them all tense. The three sisters and all the other children and mothers that were down in this hospital bunker looked upwards. A few of the little ones started to cry, but apparently it was too distant to bother Sapphira, because she kept drinking, though her little eyes were growing heavy.
Naomi's hands clenched as she stared at the ceiling. The battle had started. Her father leading her pack against her mate and his pack. Apparently, all three of his daughters being with the Bears wasn't an incentive for him to call it off. The nervous energy she had been feeling for hours was growing to the point where it was almost burning.
She shouldn't be here. She should be out there, helping. Somehow.
"Take care of Sapphira," she ordered, jumping to her feet. She didn't stay to hear their protests as she ran for the exit.
That was her pack up there. She wasn't going to let her father ruin them any more than he already had.
The gunfire increased as she ran up the stairs. There were a few Bears that tried to stop her, but all she had to do was throw them a single glare and they backed off. She had no idea why, but she didn't stop to consider it. There was something strange pounding in her blood, something filling her from head to toe. A kind of buzzing that started in the woods when she had jumped in front of the Wolves, and stopped them from attacking Joshua, and Joshua from attacking them.
When she emerged back on ground level, she found herself in an all-out war zone. Gunfire echoed from every side. All around there were people with guns firing at one another. Bears and Wolves both in their Beasts' forms were fighting. A wolf howled as a Bear's jaws closed over its back. A Bear fell writhing under a pile of Wolfs. Blood splattered every which way. The sidewalks were slick with it.
Naomi took a deep breath and slowly stepped out of the hospital. She wanted to scream at them all to stop fighting, but her voice couldn't seem to work. There was no stopping this. Not with her voice alone, anyway.
Joshua.
Naomi glanced around. If she could find Joshua, then she knew that they could end this. Maybe she couldn't do it with her voice alone, but she knew that as soon as Joshua's was added to hers, then nothing could stop them. She dashed through the ranks, nostrils flared as she tried to scent him out. The smell of gunpowder and blood was heavy in the air.
A few Wolves formed a circle around her, running beside her, like a guard. A few Bears chased after them, but they made no move to attack. They must recognize her as Joshua's mate.
It didn't take her long to find Joshua in the end. He was in the main square, in front of the courthouse. Half a dozen Wolves were coming at him from every side, but he held them off expertly. He was in his Bear's form, but she had seen him enough by now that she recognized him. The creamy fur was stained red with blood, his massive jaws snapping here and there, holding off the Wolves that were driving at him.
When she stopped moving, so did the Wolf escort that had formed around her, and the Bears following after them.
What was she supposed to do now? She clenched her hands. Her heart pounded. All around her the guns and the howls and the roars just seemed to get louder and louder. A Wolf tore into Joshua's leg and she found herself running forward again. That burning sensation was back in her chest. All around her, the Wolves howled.
"Stop!" she screamed.
The howling stopped. The Wolves attacking Joshua froze. The Alpha himself stopped as well. Naomi ran between the now-still masses. The posse that had followed her thus far stayed behind as she went to Joshua's side, and dug her fingers into this thick creamy fur.
"Whatever my father told you, it was a lie," she said to the circle of Wolves facing them. "This is my mate. He didn't kidnap me. I went with him of my own free will, and I want to stay with him. All this bloodshed is not necessary. You all knew my mother. She wouldn't want this. Please. This isn't what should be happening between our two packs."
A deep, commanding howl drowned out the rest of her words. She turned to see her father's familiar dark shape bounding down the road. His teeth were bared, ears flat against his skull.
He leaped right at her.