Chapter Fourteen – Hank

“What did I miss?” Hank asked as they waited outside the bathroom while Lauren washed her face. After a whispered conversation with Emily, it was agreed that Lauren would come with them.

“Lauren is ill.” Elise couldn’t meet Hank’s eyes. “When we saw her at the hospital it was for tests.”

“What kind of tests?” Hank asked. Lauren hadn’t said anything about being ill, but she did have an idea of where Thor might go if he wanted to be alone.

“I can only guess. But she’s jaundiced.” Elise touched her cheek. “Her liver isn’t working properly.”

The air puffed out of Hank’s lungs. “Is she…” The bathroom door opened, and Lauren came out.

“Ready to go?” Elise asked brightly. She was doing her best to keep everybody’s spirits up, but the strain showed on her face.

“Yes.” Lauren nodded, and they walked out to Hank’s truck. “But I don’t want to talk to him. I can’t.”

“That’s up to you, Lauren, but he’s hurting,” Hank replied. “He thinks you are mates.”

Lauren swung her head around to look at Hank. “He told you that?”

“He said that’s what you’d told him. He believes you are ashamed of him.” Hank reached out and grabbed her arm as Lauren staggered forward.

“Why would I be ashamed of him?” Lauren asked. “I love him.” Her voice came out in an agonized whisper.

“That’s what he needs to know, Lauren. Please, think it over. The truth is always better than lies.” Elise helped her into to the passenger side of the truck and then climbed in beside her. “But that choice is yours.”

“I can’t.” She brushed a tear away. “I thought he’d give up and move on. You know he’s not a shifter, I didn’t think he’d feel it the same way.”

“Well, he does,” Hank assured him. “And he’d do anything for you.”

“There’s nothing he can do.” She smiled sadly. “I see it in my parents’ eyes every time they look at me. That hopelessness. I don’t think I could bear it if Thor looked at me like that.”

“Let’s find him. You might change your mind.” Elise put her arm around Lauren and hugged her tight as Hank drove out of the parking lot and headed back toward Bear Creek.

He followed Lauren’s directions, which took them across the lower slopes of the mountain, and along a dirt road, where they left the truck and continued on foot.

“It’s a couple of miles in that direction,” Lauren pointed to the south. “It’s where we used to meet.”

“Why did you keep your relationship a secret?” Elise asked as they walked along the dirt trail. It was early evening, and the heat hadn’t diminished, the sweat soon poured off them.

“Because Thor was young. We didn’t want our parents to object.” Lauren fanned her hands out as she talked. “We only had a couple of months to wait. And there was a thrill to it being our secret.”

“And then you found out you were sick,” Hank said as they reached a steep part of the trail and stopped.

“Yes. I panicked and told Thor it was over. He’s young, he’s not a shifter, I thought he’d move on.” Lauren looked done in.

“That must have been difficult for you. With the mating bond pulling you toward him,” Elise’s tenderness made his heart ache.

“It’s the worst.” Lauren’s voice cracked, and she had to reach out and grab hold of a branch to keep upright.

“Is it easier if we shift?” Hank asked.

Lauren nodded. “Yes.” She shifted instantly and moved past Hank, climbing the trail that led to her mate.

“This breaks my heart,” Elise told him. “How can this ever end well?”

“Is she dying?” he asked, looking along the trail to where Lauren’s bear climbed surefooted as if nothing was wrong.

Elise shrugged. “She hasn’t said, and I can’t ask her. Not here when we’re trying to find Thor.”

Hank nodded. “One step at a time.” He shifted into his bear and Elise did the same, following the trail upwards. Despite the heat, and her illness, Lauren set a fast pace. The closer they got to their destination, the quicker she moved. Hank was certain Lauren could sense Thor close by and he nudged Elise, telling her to hang back and give them space.

He was right. Lauren stopped, sniffed the air, and then shifted into her human form as she approached a small den made from branches and covered in dried ferns. This was their secret place.

Elise shifted into her human form. “He’s here.”

Hank nodded. “We should give them some time alone.” His bear had heard the whispered shock as Thor saw Lauren, he didn’t want to overhear such a private conversation.

“At least she changed her mind about talking to him.” Elise slipped her hand into Hank’s and they walked to the edge of a cliff and sat down.

“How are you doing?” Hank asked. “This must bring back memories for you.”

“It makes me thankful that Elise and Terence died together. If one of them had lived…” Elise wiped her tears from her face. “Their bodies would have lived, but part of their soul would have died.” She turned to him. “What about you?”

“You mean about my dad?” Hank asked. “I don’t know what to think. I have a half-brother.”

“There’s still time to pull out of the festival. If you don’t want to be in the public eye.”

“No. I’m… His wife looked familiar.” Hank cast a glance her way. “I think… I can’t be sure.”

“Who is it?”

“The woman who told me he’d used her.” Hank shook his head. “I’m sure it was, but it’s so long ago.”

Elise leaned against him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders. “What a mixed-up, crazy world we live in.”

“What if I walked away from my career for nothing?” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “What if nothing happened?”

“You said there were rumors.”

“People gossip.” He stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans, holding out his hand for her. He didn’t want to think of his father. Not now. “There’s a stream that way. Want to go and dangle your feet in it?”

“I do.” She grasped his hand and he helped her up. “Hank, would it be so bad?”

“Would it be so bad if I walked away from a career, and spent thirty years estranged from my father because of gossip?” His words cut through the warm, thick air.

“Okay, stupid question.”

“No, it wasn’t. I don’t know.” Hank wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “We might never have met. I would never have been outside my cabin playing that song. You would have walked past and gone on with your life. Alone.”

“Can we hold on to that? That we were right where we were meant to be,” Elise asked as a big fat blob of rain splattered on her head. “It’s raining.”

The air pressure dropped as several more raindrops fell from the sky. The higher peaks were completely obscured by gunmetal rain clouds. “We should get to shelter before this comes down.”

“What about Lauren and Thor?” The concern on Elise’s face told him how serious this could get. “I don’t know how ill she is. If she gets soaked and catches a cold…”

“Come on.” He took her hand and they ran back to the den, where Thor held Lauren, his face a mask of pain as she cried in his arms. She’d told him the truth and now they had to deal with the aftermath. “We need to get down off the mountain. The weather is about to break.”

Thor got up and hauled Lauren to her feet. “Do we have time to get back?”

“If we hurry. We can shift and run faster. Do you think you can do that, Lauren?” Hank urged them to move.

“Yes.” She nodded and stumbled out of the den, which had kept the rain off them.

“Once this starts, it’s going to be a deluge. The mountain is no place to be in a storm.” A crack of lightning split the sky, followed by an ominous rumble of thunder. “We have time.”

They shifted into their bears and set off back along the trail, with Thor running behind. Clouds gathered, and the light dimmed as the spots of rain hit the dry ground. Puffs of dirt rose where the drops fell, while lightning flashed overhead, followed by echoing rumbles of thunder.

A sense of urgency filled them as the rain came harder and the time between the lightning flashes and thunder lessened. Hank threw a glance over his shoulder, relieved to see Lauren and Thor keeping up. His need to get his mate to safety could not outweigh his responsibility for the young people.

At last, his truck was visible, parked on the road where they’d left it. He shifted when he was ten feet away, plunged his hand into his pocket and took out the keys. Only just in time. Forked lightning split the air and the thunder crashed in a deafening crescendo. Like a sheet of water, the rain fell from the dark, ominous clouds as they all squeezed into his truck and he started the engine.

Hank drove down the dirt road and onto the steep mountain road where rivulets of water made temporary streams, joining together to run like a river. With both hands on the wheel and his windshield wipers on fast, he took them to safety.

“Where to?” he called over the sound of rain hammering on the truck roof.

“My house,” Lauren replied. “I’m going to tell my parents about Thor.”

Elise shook her wet hair back from her face. “Thor, if we have cell phone reception, you need to call your dad.”

Thor took his phone from his pocket. He held it up and shook his head. “Nothing yet. The storm must be blocking it. I’ll call them from Lauren’s house.”

“Make sure you do. Your dad was really worried, he’s waiting for you to come home.” Hank put on his best adulting face. “They love you and worry about you.”

“I know.” He looked sheepishly at Lauren. “I’m still a kid to them.”

“Hey,” Hank said. “Don’t knock it. Having two parents who love you and want the best for you is a precious thing.”

“He’s right,” Lauren told Thor and leaned against him. She looked tired and pale, but relatively dry. Unlike Thor who was soaked through.

Hank pulled up outside Lauren’s house. “Make that call.” Elise got out of the truck, huddled up against the rain. “And take care of each other.”

“We will.” Thor put his arm protectively around Lauren’s shoulders. “Thank you. We owe you one.”

As they ran toward Lauren’s house, Elise called, “You can say thank you by singing at the festival. Hank’s written you a song.”

Thor gave them a thumbs up and then the two young bonded mates went inside and shut the door. Elise climbed back in the truck. “I’m soaked.”

“Let’s get you home. A nice warm bath and an early night.” He might even climb into the tub with her.

“Your place or mine?” she asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Yours is closer.” He turned the truck around and drove back to Elise’s house, feeling pleased with himself. They’d managed to work a miracle.

Next to this, putting on a music festival would be easy. As long as it stopped raining.