Melody Snow Monroe (17 page)

Taryn kissed her nose. “What’s wrong?”

“It’ll take weeks, or maybe months, to do a complete excavation.”

He nuzzled her neck. “All the more reason for you to stay. Can you imagine if you could decipher the reason for the hatred between the lions and the wolves?”

A thrill raced through her, but she immediately squashed it. “No would believe me. Besides, I have a movie to make. Remember?”

“Painfully.”

There wasn’t much more she could do without the proper tools, but she did want to return. Or did she?

In relative silence, the three of them headed back to the tree house. She was more exhausted than she expected by the time she stepped inside.

Kellum said he’d make dinner if she wanted to take a shower.

“That sounds divine.”

Taryn followed her in. “I thought I’d join you since you don’t know how to turn on the water.”

“You could show me.”

“I could.”

She swore he withheld information because he could.

* * * *

Lara thought there would be an argument about where she would sleep, but as it turned out all three of them slept in Taryn’s bed. It must have been bigger than a king-size bed on earth because they all fit quite nicely. This time, both Kellum and Taryn remained in their human form. It was pure bliss to be able to hug one and then the other. If she rolled over, the other man usually gathered her to his chest. Too bad it had taken hours to fall asleep since her mind refused to stop spinning. She realized that her time here was drawing to a close, and that idea both thrilled and depressed her at the same time. These two men were amazing, wonderful, and perfect in every way. Well, okay, the fact that they were shape-shifters was a bit odd, but having men who could protect her gave her a tremendous sense of security.

Added to the fact was the potential archeological discovery. It might turn out to be nothing, but on the other hand, it could be huge.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to return was Amy and Krista. They already would have called the police to search for her and probably were frantic by now. Then there were her parents. Was she willing to have them be crushed when they believed she was dead? Last, but certainly not least, could she give up her one chance to become independently wealthy for life and not do the movie? Easy street was where she wanted to be.
Aaargh
.

As much as she tossed and turned, she must have conked out before dawn because when she awoke neither man was in bed, and she hadn’t been aware of either one’s departure. She sat up a little too quickly and her head kind of spun from having been in such a deep sleep. While there were no voices, the banging of pans told her one or both of them were cooking breakfast. She crawled out of bed only to realize that she didn’t have anything to wear. Then she remembered her earth clothes would be dry by now.

When she went into the bathroom to wash her face, her clothes were neatly folded on the edge of the sink. She couldn’t even guess which of the men had been so considerate. After she cleaned up and brushed her teeth, she put on her clothes. They were stiff but comfortable. Unless one looked carefully, the bloodstains weren’t too noticeable.

In the kitchen only Kellum was there. “Good morning. Where’s Taryn?”

“He’s arranging your day.”

“That sounds like fun.” She was tempted to ask him if he knew when the elusive alignment point would be ready, but she wasn’t up for the pain that would surely lace his face.

Kellum prepared scrambled eggs and bacon and heaped a huge portion on a plate. “Here you go.”

“I can’t eat all of this.”

His brows furrowed. “You need your strength.”

She knew better than to argue with him. “Okay. You’re not joining me?”

“I ate a while ago.”

He must have heard her get up and started a fresh batch of eggs for her. She’d just delved into her meal when Taryn came in carrying her backpack. She jumped up from the table. “No way, you got it!” She halted halfway there. “You didn’t see any wolves, did you?”

He handed her the pack. “No, but I was very cautious.”

She gave him a hug and a kiss. “You are one wonderful man.”

“Hey, hey, hey. What about me?” Kellum pressed his chest against her back, grabbed her hips and fake humped her. “I made you breakfast.”

She swiveled around in his arms and kissed him, too.

Taryn tapped her butt. “Finish eating. I thought you might like to meet Henla today.”

The idea of getting to know his family better appealed to her. “Oh, goody. I hope she’s more talkative than you two. Maybe she’ll give me some gossip about her sexy brothers.”

Both men groaned. Kellum winked then led her back to the table. If she hadn’t thought it rude she would have taken out her cell phone to see if she had any signal. Most likely the phone would be dead since she’d left it on. With a reason to hurry, she finished her breakfast quickly.

“Are we going shopping?”

“That’s my older sister, Sella, who owns the shoe store. Henla mostly tends the garden.” Taryn slipped in the chair across from you. “When I spoke with her about you, she was really excited to show you how much work she’s put into getting it ready.”

While Lara wasn’t thrilled with working in the garden all day, she appreciated that he wanted to share the Anterran life with her, even if it would only be for another few days. Just thinking that she’d have to leave these two men made her heart squeeze, but she wasn’t made for the hard life. Having to plant her own garden and not be involved with the movie world would be too much to bear, despite enjoying the wonderfully healthy food.

Taryn seemed to have extra energy, as if meeting his sister somehow would prompt her to change her mind. Neither of the men had brought up her departure, but she’d have to press Kellum soon about leaving.

She was still dressed in her
Spirit
clothes and hoped they’d be okay. She couldn’t imagine working in a garden in a skirt.

“Are you ready to check out more of the locals?”

“Sure.” He almost made it sound as if there would be more than just Henla.

By now, she’d acclimated to going down on the
elevator
, but she still clung to the pole. Kellum came with them, claiming he needed to work. She didn’t ask what his work involved, but she suspected it had to do with some military maneuver or protection detail.

The trip to the garden took but a few minutes. Only one woman was there. She was tall, as were most of the Anterran women, with long, flowing blonde hair. Instead of the usual skirt, she had on billowy pants and to her surprise, a shirt.

“She’s rather dressed.”

“Depending on the season, when the women are outside, they often need to protect their bodies from the sun and bugs.”

“That’s kind of the same as on earth.” Boy, did that sound odd to say, but she’d come to realize that she wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

“Hey, Henla?”

“You can’t telepath with her?”

“Not easily. That’s another difference between men and women on Anterra.”

It wasn’t fair that the men got all the good genes. His sister turned around. Henla’s beauty nearly took her breath away. Her fair skin was silky smooth, her features amazingly symmetrical, and her smile was welcoming. She put down the hoe and rushed toward them.

“I’d shake your hand, but I’m a little dirty.”

“That’s okay. Hi, I’m Lara.”

“I know. My brothers have told me all about you.”

In a way, she was flattered that they cared enough to mention her to their family, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to get too attached to them.

Too late
.

Taryn leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Work her hard, Henla.”

Great
. She was on vacation. Hard work wasn’t on the itinerary. Taryn glided out of view. “So what can I do?”

“Have you ever planted crops before?”

“My whole life as a matter of fact.”

His sister’s smile widened. “Fantastic. I brought a hoe for you.” She nodded to the instrument at the edge of the field.

This family had not only welcomed her into their home, fed and clothed her, but their hospitality couldn’t have been any better. It wouldn’t hurt for her to do a day’s work to help pay them back. She picked up the hoe and got to work. She wished she had garden gloves because her hands weren’t in shape to be handling the equipment, but she wouldn’t complain.

It was less than ten minutes when the lid to the plastic container banged shut and Henla came over carrying gloves.

She handed them to her. “I wasn’t thinking. Perhaps you aren’t used to doing this kind of labor.”

Even though Lara had stated she’d spent her life growing food, most likely Taryn had told his sister that in recent times, she’d had a different sort of life. “Thanks.”

For the next hour, they worked in companionable silence. While she expected to hate the digging, in a way, it gave her some sense of satisfaction for doing something important and useful.

Only when the sound of Henla’s raking stopped did Lana look up.

Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

Two wolves were twenty feet away staring at them.

“Lara, don’t move.”

She remembered someone else making that same request a few short days ago. The only problem was that Henla couldn’t shift into a lion and eat these two. “What do we do?” Her voice broke.

“These are not shifters.”

Really?
Was that fact supposed to calm her? A wolf was a wolf regardless of what it could become.

“They are only looking for food.”

Both of them, she bet, would taste pretty good to those gray creatures.

“Can you toss them something?”

“They’ll leave in a bit.”

Her speeding heart didn’t believe that. At least she had her hoe, which, if need be, could fend them off for a few seconds. Where were Taryn and Kellum when she needed them?

“Can’t you send some psychic waves to those brothers of yours to come rescue us?”

“I can try, but it’s not a sure thing.”

That wasn’t what she needed to hear.

As if there was someone looking out for them, the two wolves slowly turned around and walked back into the forest. She dropped onto her knees. “How can you live like that?”

Henla rushed to her side. “Are you all right?”

“Physically, yes, but mentally I’m a bit shaky.”

“Why don’t you sit under the tree and rest? Your fear will soon pass.”

She appreciated Henla’s calm. “How come you’re not rattled?”

“Animals are part of nature.”

When she’d lived on the farm, things like snakes and worms didn’t faze her. “How come you knew they weren’t shifters?”

“By their eyes. Real wolves have oval pupils instead of round ones, and the coloring is a little different. Besides, the shifters wouldn’t have dared come this close. If they had, we might not have been so lucky.”

Despite it being hot, goose bumps prickled her skin. “Good to know.”

Wanting to keep her body in motion so that she wouldn’t think about what happened, she dug into the earth. After she created the long trough, she took a break.

Henla must have sensed she was ready for the next stage for she reached into her pocket and pulled out a cloth. “Here are the seeds. Just sprinkle them in and stir them into the soil.”

“Can do.” She hadn’t seen any hoses in which to water the plants, but perhaps they had a more sophisticated watering system than back home.

She’d planted half of the seeds when someone shouted to them. Henla dropped her rake and scurried across the field. The two women hugged. The older woman was almost as tall, but had a larger frame. Henla grabbed the woman’s hand and led her over to where Lara was working.

The woman was probably in her late fifties, but she was still beautiful.

“This is my mom.”

“Hello. I can see the family resemblance.”

She waved a hand. “Nonsense. My children get all their looks from their father. I’m Elena, and you must be Lara.” The woman gave her a strong hug, just like the one Amy had given her. Then she turned her around. “Let me get a good look at you. My, but you are a pretty thing.”

Lara’s face heated up. “Thank you.”

“So tell me, Lara, what will you do for a living?”

Her mouth wouldn’t work. What was this woman talking about? She sounded like she thought she was planning to stay. “I’m an actress.”

Henla placed a hand on her arm. “Mom means when you live here for good, where do you plan on working?” From the pleading tone in her voice, she wanted Lara to humor the mother. Perhaps her mom had violent tendencies or something if she didn’t hear the right answer.

“Well, I’m good with gardening, though I have studied archaeology. I love to learn about a civilization’s ancestors.” She held up a finger. “In fact, I found a fabulous cave with drawings inside that might give a hint as to the history of Anterra.”