Running in Fear: Abandoned (8 page)

Jaycee sat on the plane, waiting for it to take off. So far, so good. She didn't sense them yet. It was a four-hour flight. She already had a car waiting for her in the fake name on her Montana license. She even had a cabin she been given years ago in her fake name, in the mountains of Bear Paw Mountain.

Jaycee woke up to the flight attendant's announcement that they had arrived. She stretched, rubbing her belly.
We'll be in our little cabin in a bit, little one. Through the years I have sent my favorite things there, knowing that one day I would end up there alone. But I'll never be alone with you by my side. I love your father, baby. I'm sorry he doesn't love me.

She jumped into her rental car, throwing her knapsack into the back seat. She couldn't wait.

* * * *

Pulling up to her little cabin, she smiled. It was beautiful and the repairs had been done. There was a huge porch off the front that wrapped around the cabin. Grabbing her knapsack, she walked up to the door and pushed it open. Marsha, her second mom, had come by and cleaned it. She always did know when to send things or what Jaycee needed. Jaycee walked to the kitchen table and noticed the note on the table.

Jaycee, There's a casserole in the oven and my son has stacked wood for you. I'll stop by tomorrow. I stocked the fridge. Take care of that little one you carry. We're going to get a storm tonight, so be careful. Love, Marsha

Jaycee smiled, slipped off her coat, and walked to the oven. She pulled open the oven and noticed the huge casserole dish. She laughed, grabbing it out of the oven. There was enough for ten people.

She froze. Did Marsha know her mates were going to come? Crap, not this fast. Jaycee decided to ignore her thoughts as her stomach growled. She dished out some food and grabbed a cup of milk, then sat in front of the blazing fire on the floor. She looked at all the things she had sent here. God, she was home. Stuffing her mouth, she heard the truck pull up, and knew her mates had come. She didn't know how they had gotten her so fast.
Shit, Ralph's jet.
She would never win.

Jaycee jumped when they pounded on the door. She used her powers to open the door not moving from where she sat. She stared at the photo album of all the old pictures she sent here.

“Get up. We're going home,” Remi said quietly, standing next to her.

“No. Do you see all this stuff?” Jaycee pointed all around the cabin. “Over the years, every time something made me happy I would send it here, to my special place. There's food on the oven. My friend made enough even for you. She has this way about her. She knows what's going to happen before it happens. She said she would see me tomorrow.

Remi's cell phone rang. “What?” he demanded.

Jaycee went to the kitchen, dished out food for her mates, and took three beers from the refrigerator. Placing everything on her favorite tray, she carried the food out to the living room and set it on the floor. Remi was still on the phone.

“What do you mean we're stuck here?” Remi demanded, pacing back and forth. “We have a ceremony to attend. … Fine. Let me know when we can leave,” he shut the phone. “Are you happy? We're going to miss our own bonding ceremony,” he yelled at her.

“Yes, I am. Now there will be no interference for a little while. I can relax. Sit and eat.” Jaycee started to eat, looking at her pictures again in the photo album. Her mates stripped out of their boots and coats and sat down by the fire. At first they didn't say anything.

“You never told me about this place,” Dane said, taking a sip of his beer.

“There are a lot of things you don't know. I told you what you wanted to hear. You didn't want to hear about what made me happy. All these things, and this cabin, make me happy. I found this place about ten years ago, right after I left the fruit-picking job. I met Marsha when she found me starving in the woods behind her place. She took me in and treated me like a daughter. Her sons treated me like a sister. They knew I had been hurt, but they didn't push. Every time a nightmare would come, she would be there for me. She gave me this place, saying it would be my safe home, that no evil would ever come to me here. I only stayed for a few weeks, but I felt safe. Then I got a call from Gaston and he asked where I was. It seems my friends had called them, telling him I was on my way. He never knew about this place. It was my own. I never had anything that was all my own that wasn't taken away.” She stood. “I'm glad you got to see it. Maybe just for this night you can see
me
.” Jaycee turned away, going into the kitchen and switching on her stereo as she went by it. She recognized a favorite CD and laughed. Marsha even knew what music she wanted to listen to.

Jaycee had started washing her dishes when Remi came in, handing her his dish. “It was good.” He grabbed a dish towel and started to dry the dishes as Mark and Dane came in, also handing her their dishes. They all stood in the kitchen as she cleaned her kitchen.

“I'd like to meet this woman who helped you,” Remi said, taking a clean plate from her.

“You will tomorrow. She's always right. She said in the note she left me that there is going to be a bad snowstorm. So we're going to be stuck here for a little while. She even knew about the baby.” Jaycee laughed, shaking her head. “You know, I would like her to be there when we do have our bonding ceremony, if possible. She and her family have been precious to me. If it's allowed.” She looked up at Remi.

“I don't know,” he said. “Bringing outsiders into our world, it's risky.”

Jaycee did understand this and nodded, but hated it all the same. She let the water out of the sink and dried her hands. She walked back into the living room and sat back on the floor, curling up in a blanket Marsha had made for her. Remi pulled her into his lap in front of the fire.

“So, tell us about some of these things,” Remi said, rubbing her arms she laid her head back against him.

“I have some things of Dane's here. When I visited with my father a long time ago, I noticed his high school jacket lying there on the floor. I took it. I slept with it many nights. It was one of the things I took with me when I left home.” Jaycee pointed over to the far wall. Dane turned, noticing the jacket. He got up and touched it.

“You kept this all these years?” he asked in awe.

Jaycee shrugged her shoulders. “I knew you were my mate, Dane. I loved you then. It was the one of the things that kept me going. I am afraid it has a lot of tearstains on it and it's worn in some spots, but it was a part of you. I never dreamed I would get a chance with you after Curt. I also think I have something of Mark's.” Jaycee stood and moved to the dresser in the dining room to pull out an old baseball hat. She carried it to Mark, handing it to him and sitting back down in Remi's lap, pulling the blanket around her.

“I can't believe you have this,” Mark said. “I searched for weeks for this, and I accused Dane of giving it away. He accused me of stealing his coat.”

Jaycee shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know how to explain it, but I needed it.” She paused. Oh, I remembered something else last week. When I was about five my father went up to Michigan to the northern packs up there. He took me with him to one of the houses. A lady was having a garage sale. My dad gave me a dollar to buy something. But when I was rummaging through the toys a boy came running around the corner and knocked me over. I ended up hitting my head on the concrete and blood was coming down. I was screaming when another older boy came running around the corner. He picked me up, wiping the blood from my face, and he told me to say there when he went…”

“Wait, I remember this,” Remi said. “I went into the house and got you something to drink and my old teddy bear. I gave it to you that day. I remember you stopped crying. You hugged that thing like it was your lifeline.” Remi shook his head, laughing.

Jaycee got up again and ran upstairs, coming back down carrying the worn-out teddy bear. She smiled at Remi and handed him the teddy bear as she sat down next to him.

“So you see, everything in this house has a special meaning to me.” She took the teddy from Remi and curled up with it. “I'd like to get this all cleaned up and sewn up. I want to give it to our child,” Jaycee whispered, looking at Remi. He smiled, pulling her into his arms and kissing her neck.

“I'd like that to. I hate to say it, but I'm glad we're here tonight with you. Maybe we can come back here for visits. Make this our retreat,” Remi whispered into her ear.

A large cat roared outside the cabin. Remi placed her on the floor, standing up, as did Dane and Mark. Then there was knocking on the door. Jaycee went to open the door, but Remi grabbed her around the waist and held her back.

“You don't know who's out there.”

“Yes, I do. I can smell him. It's Marsha's oldest son.” Jaycee slipped out of his arms, and went to open the door. She looked up to a smiling face before she jumped into his arms, hugging him tight.

“God, I missed you, Bo.”

Her mates growled behind her. She rolled her eyes at Bo, who put her down beside him.

“Me too, munchkin. Now let me in out of this snow and introduce me to your mates,” Bo said, guiding her back into the cabin and shutting the door behind him.

“How did you know they're my mates?” She frowned, trying to think if she mentioned anything.

“Don't think so hard. We've always known you're part wolf. Our cat form can smell it on you.”

“You mean you're shifter cats? What kind of cats? Can I see?” Jaycee asked, excited. He laughed at her and shifted to his leopard form. Jaycee walked up to him, petting him. He was beautiful and big. His head bumped her hand and she laughed. She looked up at Remi and Dane to find them frowning again. “What's wrong now?”

Bo shifted back to his human form, with clothes.

“Okay, I want to learn to do that. I can't stand shifting and being naked. Everyone stares,” Jaycee said.

Bo hugged her. “We'll see. I'll talk to Mom and see if it's okay to show you. Now introduce your mates to me so they don't bite my head off.” He swatted her ass and nudged her forward.

Jaycee introduced her mates, but they stayed quiet.

“Okay, Dane, why are you guys so quiet?” she asked as she sat back down near the fire. Her mates never took their eyes off Bo.

“It's unusual for another shifter species to take in a different one. We're just trying to figure out why they would take you in and treat you like family,” Remi said.

“Our family is different from normal shape shifters,” Bo said. “My mom is also a witch. We were outcasts at first until I challenged the alpha of our pack and won. But when I found Jaycee in the woods that day, I knew I couldn't leave her there. There was so much pain in her eyes. My mother fell in love with her right away when I brought her home. My mom had six boys and not one girl. She longed for a daughter and, well, Jaycee is her daughter. Jaycee doesn't know it yet, but Mom is going to talk to her tomorrow about learning the ways of the witch. She wants to pass on her knowledge to her since there are no females in our family, but her.”

Bo went to the door. “Jaycee, I want you to stay inside tonight. Jack is out there somewhere,” he said, looking at the door.

“Well, why didn't you bring him with you? You're hardly ever apart.”

“You don't understand,” Bo said. “He's furious right now with you. For some strange reason he always believed you were his. He knows now that's not the case, but it hurt him. He smells that you're mated and it's driving him crazy. Even though he has a mate, it still hurts him. He'll calm down tonight, but just stay inside for now.”

Jaycee looked down at the floor. “I didn't know. I'm sorry, Bo. It seems I bring trouble where ever I go.” Jaycee turned to go to her room when Bo stopped her, pulling her into his arms.

“Little sister, you did nothing, but be your kind self. How could anyone not love you? He'll be fine. He has his mate waiting for him. Now go on and go to bed.”

She knew he wanted to talk to her mates so she excused herself from the room, walking up the stairs to the loft where her bedroom was. She slipped off her clothes, used the bathroom, and climbed into bed.

Eventually the bang of the door indicated Bo had left. She waited for her mates and she didn't have to wait long. All three of them came up the stairs, looking around her room.

“This is incredible, Jaycee,” Dane said, looking around the room. She sat up, smiling at him.

“Before I left, I told Marsha about my dream room and they did this for me while I was gone. Isn't it great? She incorporated my love for certain things. See those fairies behind you? I used to have tons of them. I collected them when I was small, but my mother went into a rage one night when dad left, and broke everyone except the few I hid from her. I loved dolphins too, so Bo painted that wall for me. It relaxes me so much just to look at it when I try to sleep.” Jaycee pulled the covers up over her, looking at her mates. “You see, I know it will take a while for each of us to get to really know each other, but all I wanted was to share some part of me with you. I needed that. I know I'm different, but every once in a while, all I want is to be held and to be loved.” Jaycee whispered the last part, watching her mates strip out of their clothes. They were breathtaking–so strong, muscular, and handsome.

Dane crawled into bed, pulling the blankets from her, and taking in her naked body. “I need you, baby, and we do love you. We may forget to show you, but we do love you,” he whispered into her ear as he kissed her neck, licked her neck. His mouth moved over every inch of her body as he slowly worshiped her.

She watched Mark and Remi. Mark was on his knees sucking Remi's cock, while Remi watched her. He had hold of Mark's head, urging him on. Jaycee had never seen something so beautiful.

Dane turned and looked at Remi, grinning. “You like what you see?” he whispered to her as he turned, staring at her face. Jaycee couldn't form words. Her body was in flames. She could only nod.

“Mark, is Remi's bond partner,” Dane whispered as he pushed her legs apart and attacked her clit. She jumped and pushed her body toward his face. He slid his fingers into her pussy and stretched her.