Entangled Interaction (14 page)

One dimple popped in a boyish smirk while he chewed his stolen dessert. "It was melting." His posture tightened once more, signaling a return to the seriousness of our discussion. After a moment, he answered. "About us. The
Familia
. Where you fit in my life."

"Oh." I blinked and waited. A quick toss placed the remainder of the cone in a nearby trashcan.

Leading me over to a nearby picnic table, Meat motioned for me to sit before sliding onto the opposite side to face me. Taking both my hands in his, his gaze locked with mine. I fought the urge to squirm with nerves and impatience.

"You have to understand the perspective of my family and my father."

"I thought your father liked me." My brows furrowed together in confusion. From what I could recall, I hadn't done anything that should have upset his father. At least, I sure hoped not.

"He does." The words fell flat.

"But?"

A long breath preceded the rest of the explanation. "It's not you personally. It's just that he doesn't believe that humans are meant for long term relationships, but rather only for a short dalliance for entertainment. Humans and shifters simply don't mix in his way of thinking."

My mouth opened. He quickly shook his head and continued. "He doesn't understand why I want to be with you. And my father tends to voice his opinions. Loudly and often." One thumb slowly began a gentle brushing over my finer boned fingers. "The
Familia
follows his lead. They may not always agree with him, but they won't oppose him." He released a long breath. "He's an alpha and has distinct views on how an alpha behaves. Even more so for his prodigy."

"So, because of me, you're at odds with not only your parents, but with your whole extended family?" I sighed in resignation of what this meant. No one held more respect and care for their relatives than Meat. I couldn't bear to be in the middle of causing such pain and misery. My shoulders sank as my line of vision fell to the table beneath our hands.

But his mother came to my door. Told me to fight for her son. How could he be at odds with them when she dictated I try to patch things up?

His forefinger tapped under my chin before putting just enough pressure to raise it, encouraging my eyes to meet his once more. "It appeared that way for a bit. Until my mother intervened."

I stared at him as my mouth gaped open.

A small smile began to form. "Yes. It shocked me too. But she stood toe to toe with my father and told him to basically stay out of my love life." His low chuckle followed. "Now that was a sight to see."

"I guess so." Thoughts blurred inside my head as I tried to make sense of what he was trying to say.

He sobered a bit. "Mother pointed out a few other things to me. About how I was too much like my father in some instances, namely work and how much of myself was given to the
Familia
." He reached up to cup my cheek as he retained eye contact. "She's right."

"What does that mean?" I whispered.

"That I'm learning to juggle my responsibilities, but no longer will you be at the bottom of my totem pole. In fact, you get to go straight to the top."

"To the top of your pole?"

A wicked smile flashed on his face. "The very top."

With a blink, I felt the building tension slowly ease, allowing my muscles to relax, my shoulders to relocate to their normal position instead of the turtle pose they attempted to replicate before.

Leaning in, he nuzzled my cheek before whispering saucily in my ear, "I happen to like it very much when you slide up and down my pole."

Oh, boy.

Chapter 13

"Feel up to a tour of the pride grounds?" Meat intertwined his fingers with mine, bringing our bound hands up for a kiss.

"Sure." I jotted this down as another attempt to allow me into his life more, to trust me with his pride. Besides, a few hours with the sexiest man on earth never hurt.

With a grin, he led me through the door, hit a well-worn trail, and played informative tour guide. He pointed out houses and shifters, introducing me to a few who happened to be close by. While each greeted me politely, they also stared at me with a mixture of confusion, amusement, and haughtiness.

"This is the records house." The liger led me up to the front glass door.

"What's a records house? Like a library?" I peered through the door, but the sun's glare made seeing anything near impossible.

"Think of it as a museum with records of our pride back thousands of years."

I glanced up at him. "Thousands of years? Wow. Shifters were around that long ago?"

He chuckled. "Baby, we can live a thousand years each, barring accidents or pissing the wrong person off. When you consider that, it's not a big leap to go back three or four generations or more and come up with thousands of years in the past."

"Good point."

Pulling open the door, he ushered me inside. The walls were covered with pictures, paintings, and even a couple of tapestries. Two shelves were lined with floor to ceiling book shelves, crammed with books of all sizes and colors. To the left, a desktop computer sat at a large wooden desk. And straight ahead, glass cases covered presumably the most important or valuable objects.

"Wow."

"Yeah, it's quite a collection."

"Tygerius. A moment." Meat's father's voice boomed through the small area. Micah stood with the door open and gestured at his son.

Meat looked at me apologetically. "I'll be right back. Why don't you look around while I'm gone?"

I nodded and watched him leave, my eyes locking on his exquisitely shaped rear covered by light blue denim.
Boy howdy.

No sooner had the door shut behind them both than I made a beeline for the far wall and the cases. A radiance of color caught my attention. Slowly stepping closer, I gasped with recognition. The Talisman Stone sat on a small pedestal covered by a glass cube, very reminiscent of how I first saw the rock sitting at the city museum. Only, I figured this time, if I tried to lift the lid, even with magic, I'd be caught red-handed. A large extended family full of magic-bearing shifters would guard against such.

Reds, blues, purples, and oranges sparkled in the dim light, making a cascade of beauty and a promise of goodness.

Come to think of it, goodness might be a bit over-exaggerated. Sure, the stone brought a dinosaur to life, but barring a few paleontologists, most people would prefer the huge beast remain extinct rather than find a new favorite snack, namely humans. I could live without the silly beast waking up again and viewing me as a Twinkie.

While pretty, the stone held little appeal to me.

"Are you sure about that?"

I startled and swung around to find an old man standing at the doorway. His gray hair and deeply cragged face spoke of age. Black eyes told of wisdom while his slightly bent body as well as the use of a cane put him probably toward the geriatric category of shifters.

"What?" He either read my mind or I'd lost mine.

"Are you sure the Talisman Stone has little appeal to you?"

Well, crap.
The grizzled man can read minds. That particular ability never boded well for me. I shrugged. "I'm not sure the world needs live dinosaurs. That being the case, yeah, I'm sure."

He tsked as if I were an impatient child. More than likely he saw me as such, considering our potential age differences. "Can't see the trees for the forest."

"Huh?" Now he lost me.

"My dear, you don't realize the gift you carry. How rare and wonderful an ability. To work the Stone at all puts one in a select group. To bring objects back to life, it's unheard of."

"Objects? It was one dinosaur." I furrowed my brow. Why couldn't he just spit things out? Oh, yeah. Because shamans and wise men revel in convoluted twists and turns. My brain just wasn't sharp enough to read between the lines.

He shook his head. "It's not what you brought back to life, it's the fact you did so."

"Okay…" I studied him further, noticing a glimmer in his eyes. "I'm Shy, by the way."

For the first time, a grin lightened up the wrinkles in his face. "This I already know. The unusual human who has the young alpha's heart in her hands. The girl who can heal and teleport."

I snorted. "Someone hasn't been honest with you. My teleportation stinks."

He waved a hand dismissively. "A matter of concentration is all."

"How do you know so much about me?"

"I know lots of things, including you hold unlocked magical abilities deep inside." He walked over to stand beside me, staring at the stone under glass. "I know you can bring things back to life. People. Animals."

My brain hiccupped as I blinked at him. "Whoa. People?" I swallowed loudly.

He turned to meet my gaze. "Yes, my dear. People." He puffed out a deep breath. "You can bring back your deceased husband."

I covered my gasp with my hand. This conversation just declined from informative and quirky to downright scary. "How…?"

"You can work the stone, bring the dead back to life. Your precious husband, the love of your young life, as well."

My heart thumped loudly as I stared at him, trying to determine the truth to his words.
I can bring Wills back to life?
Excitement flared and hummed.

He nodded. "Yes, you can. However, a word of warning." Slowly, he shuffled back toward the exit. "Gifts aren't received without consequences or payments. Especially large ones such as the return of a life."

"But… the stone could bring my husband back?"

"Yes." With one final look, he pushed open the door and walked through.

For the longest time, I stood in place, still watching where the man had left. Thoughts flew through my mind like a high powered tornado, swirling, picking up bits and pieces, then rejecting some to plummet away. The possibility of having Wills back, safe and whole, called desperately to me. My dream for four years could come true. All I had to do was borrow the Talisman Stone again and whisper the magic words I used before in the museum. Then I could have my love back. We could share our lives together as we always dreamed. Raise our twin sons. Life would be as it should.

Gifts aren't received without consequences or payments. Especially large ones such as the return of a life.

The warning dampened my enthusiasm as a shudder coursed through my body. I didn't know much, but did understand a few things. There was a consequence to each and every choice and action. Some sat firmly on the good side of the line. Others fell to the other with dramatic ramifications.

I could have Wills back, but what price would I have to pay for the greatest present of my life?

"Shy?"

Meat stuck his head through the door. Catching sight of me, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Ah ha. Found an old friend, huh?"

I forced a grin. "Something like that." With a final glance at the glittering rock, I hurried over to my boyfriend. "Can we finish that tour now?"

"Sure." He tilted his head. "You seem tense. What's up?"

I sighed, not wanting to ruin our day, but unable to lie to him either. "There was a very old man here, kinda creepy. Like he knew everything about me."

"You met Sawyer then."

"Sawyer?"

Meat took my hand and guided us down another trail. "He's the oldest of us. Over a thousand if the records are accurate. Gray headed with a cane?"

"That's him. It's like he knows everything about me."

Pulling me to a stop, Meat swung me around to face him. "He knows everything about everyone. No one knows how, but he always has. It's strange, even a bit frightening, but I can vouch that he only means well."

I nodded. This Sawyer wore a white hat. Good to know. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the dilemma he tossed into my lap. Unwilling to talk about the old man's words, I went up on tiptoe and brushed my lips over Meat's. He responded in kind, wrapping me tight in his embrace.

Moments later, he pulled back and met my gaze. "Okay now?"

"Yeah, he just rattled me is all."

"He's good at that. Believe me."

"You, too?"

Meat wrapped my hand in his and resumed our stroll. "Oh, yeah. When I was a youngster, he used to bug the crap out of me, making predictions, telling me things about myself that I didn't even know."

"And?"

"He was always right."

Chapter 14

"Mommy? Will you play a game with us?"

I glanced up from my dinner plate. "Sure, Chance. When we're done eating and the kitchen is cleaned up."

Sasha groaned. I couldn't help but smile at their youthful impatience.

"We're done." Chance nodded.

I checked their plates and didn't argue. "Okay. Go wash your hands and pick which game you want to play while I clean up the mess."

"Goody!" They literally ran out the kitchen door, and loud footsteps declared them on the way to the upstairs bathroom. Knowing them, they'd be in the living room in less than two minutes with the game already out of the box.

Standing, I gathered their plates and scraped the remainder of their meal into a scrap bucket used to feed the crows. My plate followed, though not much had been touched.

I couldn't get Sawyer's words out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried.

The temptation proved oh so great. To have Wills back. The boys would have their father. I'd have my husband. We'd continue life where we left off, living in bliss and raising the boys together.

A nagging voice reminded me that while possible, that particular scenario would be the tip of the iceberg in options as well as the ideal. A whole gamut of other situations could happen. Certainly, I never knew details on how Wills died. What if he returned but was a quadriplegic? Or had no memory of me? Or worse, couldn't think, move, or interact any longer, dependent upon machines to keep his body alive?

A cold shudder coursed through my body. How would bringing him back under those circumstances be a gift? Instead of a happy reunion, the bittersweet renewal might be a trial of cruelty and torment. So many possibilities and none were more or less likely than the other. Truly a gamble dictated by fate. The chances of him being whole and perfect with all his faculties probably existed along the lines of winning the lottery. But to have him back. Oh, my dream for the past four years could come to existence and be so sweet. The things I'd tell him. Pictures of the boys. All the words I wished I'd said before he left. To have one more chance to tell him how I felt and explain about Meat.