The following day, a thought occurred to Amanda as she stood in one of the empty rooms making notes on what she would need to get started on finishing it. Putting down her notebook, she walked down the hall to find Aspen talking to a group of the guys. He stepped away when she walked up, smiling down at her as she kissed her softly on the forehead.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I was wondering something. A couple of the comments that cop made yesterday. Something about getting your fur ruffled and mongrels. Is he a shifter?”
“Jensen? No. His father is a shifter. She married a human and Jensen got the rough end of the stick. Every occasionally, when humans and shifters mate, the genes remain dormant. Either they will have powers beyond those of a regular wolf shifter or they will have no powers at all. Jensen ended up with no powers at all and has a chip on his shoulder about it. He got a gun instead of claws and he’s still pissed off about it.”
“I can imagine that would suck.”
“Yeah, but he was also spared the curse, so it’s not all bad for him.”
“The curse? What do you mean?”
Aspen’s head dropped as he seemed to weigh his words carefully. When he spoke, it seemed that each word was almost painful for him.
“I was going to talk to you about this, but I guess I just wasn’t sure we were at the point yet where it was warranted. Still, I guess you should know that there are other issues to being with you beyond what you already know.”
“Do I need to sit down for this?” she asked.
“Maybe. I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
Amanda sat down on the arm of the sofa behind her and waited. Aspen looked very ill at ease and she wondered what could be so bad. Was he going to tell her he would die early or something even more horrible?
“Just spit it out,” she coaxed.
“About twenty-five years ago, one of the Dire Wolves found an old gypsy woman who owed him a big favor. He had murdered someone who was set on harming her and, in return, she did him a favor.”
“What kind of favor? A curse?”
“Yes. She placed a curse on the Silver Wolves for him. Because of it, not one child has been born into this pack in twenty-five years.”
“Come on. Curses aren’t real. That’s just folklore.”
“No, it’s not. Not so long ago, you would have told me that wolf shifters don’t exist, but now, you’ve seen proof that they do. The curse is real. Look around you, have you seen any children running around? Have you seen any shifters under the age of twenty-five?”
“Some of the females are younger.”
“All humans. Wolf shifters only mate with human females for offspring. If they mate with other wolf shifters, they don’t produce offspring. So, both the men and women shifters in this pack are all well over forty, as most were in their teens when the curse happened.”
“So, you and I, we would never be able to have children?”
“No, never.”
Aspen watched her face as it ran a gamut of emotions. She had never wanted children before him. It had been a huge bone of contention between her and the ex. Now, she wasn’t sure if it was the idea that she couldn’t have them with Aspen or if she had really grown to desire them with him, but she felt incredibly sad that it wouldn’t be an option. Still, she shoved it down and told herself she would just have to accept it. There seemed to be no exception to what she was willing to embrace if it meant keeping him in her life and she didn’t feel as if she was forced into it. It was just the way things were. Whatever happened would be okay as long as he was by her side.
“Well, I guess we’ll get a dog,” she remarked.
“I think there are enough dogs in this place already,” he replied.
“A cat?”
“Even worse idea.”
“How about a nice bearded dragon?”
“That might be doable,” he replied.
“Well, a dragon it is then. I will name him Godzilla and buy him a miniature skyscraper to climb.”
“Why do I feel like this isn’t the first time you’ve thought about this?”
“Animal instinct?”
“Funny. Are you sure you are okay with this?”
“I promise.”
“Okay. I have to get back to the guys. We can talk about it some more later, if you want.”
“I won’t,” she assured him.
No matter how she felt about it, there was no reason to make him feel any worse about a situation that he had no control over. Still, she found herself marveling at what a weird world he lived in, one she had never known about where men could be wolves and old gypsies really did curse people. The thought stayed with her the rest of the day as she finished making notes for some of the rooms.
It was funny how she had run from a man because he pushed her to settle into a role as housewife and mother when she didn’t want to and now, here she was, in love with a man who she would be more than happy to do that with. The difference, of course, was that she wasn’t being forced into it here. She would be in it willingly and she knew that once the danger passed, she would be freer to do what she wanted rather than be stuck here at the club so much.
It was amazing to her how things had changed since she had come here. She had been intent on building a new life somewhere new. The job at the bar had been a temporary fix until she could find something better. The fact was that she was highly skilled in the workings of the art world and missed it. Rio Lobo wasn’t exactly the art capital of the world, but there was no reason why she couldn’t start a small boutique here and branch out to bigger things all over the world.
It was a dream that hadn’t died in her, but she wasn’t as focused on world domination of the art world as she had once been. For now, she was content to be with Aspen and possibly build a life with him. She knew, when the time came, that he would support her in whatever she wanted to do and that was enough for her. She returned to her work, doing what she could with supplies already on hand while she waited to obtain additional supplies.
“Can I help you?” came a voice from behind her.
Amanda turned to see a girl standing there. The guys called her “Mouse” and that was the only name Amanda had ever heard.
“Sure, Mouse. What do you want to do?”
‘I can paint. I’m good at that.”
“Rather dull work, but I’d be happy for a hand. The guys will be in to paint the bigger rooms, but this one is already done, so I’m just finishing up some trim.”
“Could I paint a wall?”
“A wall?” Amanda asked, not understanding. Hadn’t she just told her the walls were freshly painted, even though it should be apparent from the smell and appearance.
“Yeah, like a mural.”
“Oh,” Amanda said, looking back at the blank wall.
A wall mural would be cheaper than putting any sort of framed art on the wall, especially if the artist did it for free. Of course, calling Mouse an artist was a stretch since she’d never seen anything the girl had painted. She looked back at the girl, who looked more alive than she had ever seen her. The prospect of doing art on the wall seemed to really light a fire in her. What the hell. The worst that could happen was that she had to have the wall repainted.
“What would you paint?” she asked her.
“I don’t know. It’s a biker club so they aren’t going to want flowers and birds. This is usually Moose’s room. So, how about a moose and some background art?”
“What if someone else takes the room one day?”
“Who doesn’t like a moose?”
“A good point, I suppose. If you want to help me finish this trim, we will leave it to dry and you can have it in the morning to create a masterpiece,” Amanda told her.
“Thank you,” she replied, smiling broadly.
“Mouse, do you have a name? I mean, besides Mouse?”
“Yes, but I prefer Mouse. I know they call me that because I’m scrawny and plain, but it is better than my real name.”
“What is your real name?”
“Eunice.”
Amanda looked at her, unsure of what to say to that. It was truly the lesser of two evils. She studied the girl for a moment. She was a bit mousy, but she had some nice features.
“Would you like for me to help you with that?” Amanda asked.
“Help me with what” Mouse replied.
“I can help you with your hair and makeup when we are done here. We can make you so unmouselike that they will forget why they call you that.”
The girl lit up even more at the idea. It was obvious that she had never had anyone show her how to improve herself. Amanda wondered where she had come from and how she had ended up here. She was no more than early twenties, at best, so she wasn’t a shifter.
“How long have you been here, Mouse?”
“Eight years. I ran away from home when I was fourteen. I was homeless when Aspen found me on a backstreet. I would have died if he hadn’t brought me here.”
“Aspen brought you here? Why?”
“I don’t know. He just felt sorry for me, I guess.”
“It must have been tough being here, being a young girl and all and staying in a club with a bunch of bikers.”
“It wasn’t so bad. Much better than my home. My father, he was drunk all the time and my mother was strung out on heroin mostly, turning tricks to pay for her habit. One of the men, he tried to attack me, and I ran, never went back. I would have rather died in that alley than go back to that. I was just lucky that Aspen came along and helped me. I just hate that he got into so much trouble for it.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“He went to prison for beating the man that tried to stop him.”
“What man was that?”
He was a pimp. He had set his sights on me to be one of his girls and had me cornered when Aspen had shown up. He told Aspen to piss off and mind his own business, but Aspen wouldn’t. Instead, he shoved the man out of the way and then the man attacked him, tried to stab him. Aspen was just protecting himself, but he hurt the man badly and the man told a different story afterward, so they arrested Aspen and he pled guilty.
“Why? Why would he do that if is was self-defense?”
“For me. I was the only witness and Aspen wouldn’t let me talk to them. I told him I would, even if it meant they sent me back to that house or a foster home. He wouldn’t let me. He told me to stay at the club out of sight and he would handle it. He pled guilty to attempted manslaughter and went to prison. The other guys made sure I was safe and took care of me while he was gone.”
Amanda was speechless, once again. She looked at the girl in disbelief as she continued.
“By the time it was all done, and he went to prison, I was fifteen and I was eighteen when he got out. I tried to repay him. I thought he was like the man in the alley, that he had ideas, ya know?”
Amanda nodded, she was all too afraid that she did know those sorts of men. They were everywhere, lurking in the shadows, waiting for some young thing they could control. Aspen, however, was not one of them and she knew that without being told.
“He rejected me. He told me that wasn’t why he brought me here. No one was allowed to touch me, even when he was away. They are all like big brothers to me.”
“I’m sorry you’ve been through so much. I’m glad you are doing better now.”
“Me too. Anyway. Can we finish the painting, so you can work on me next?”
“Absolutely,” Amanda told her.
They stood, side by side, painting and Amanda realized something. Aspen had adopted Mouse, in his own way. He might not call her his daughter or maybe not even think of her that way, but she was exactly that. It’s why none of the members attempted to approach the girl. She was just a much a sister to them as they all were brothers to one another.
Amanda smiled to herself as she painted. Somehow, her heart was even fuller now. Aspen had told her he went to prison because he had an anger management issue, but he had never told her that his anger was the result of beating the shit out of a pimp for trying to take advantage of a young girl’s vulnerability. He was very much a man of convictions, someone she could be proud of, no matter what the world around her might think of him and his kind.