Beauty's Beast(33)

Samantha nodded. “We await your word.”





Chapter 16



Blake and Samantha already stood in the hall. Blake was no doubt certain the coast was clear.

Alon lingered to say farewell to Aldara.

“You’re not just staying to protect him. I can see it in your eyes.”

His sister’s desolate expression tore at him. “He needs my protection.”

“As Alpha leader, I could order you to come.”

Her lip trembled. “Don’t.”

“Come with us,” he whispered. Then his voice took on a chiding tone. “Do you think anything will change afterward?”

“I don’t know.”

“As a Niyanoka, he can’t claim you, not without facing banishment like our father.”

She stared at the carpet. “I know.”

“Is that what you want? To force him to choose between you and his people? He’s their War Chief, Aldara. He has a duty to his people.”

Tears leaked from both eyes. “I know his duty and I know mine.”

Alon nodded and kissed her goodbye.

* * *

The roar of the twin engines made the fuselage vibrate, filling the cabin with a constant rumble as they made their approach at the small private airport outside Butte, Montana. Alon and Samantha were on their way west to find his parents and the rest of his family. Back to join an alliance that did not want them.

Word had come from Blake before they even departed. Neither the Niyanoka nor the Ianoka would accept them in the alliance. If the Ghost Children fought, they would not recognize them as allies. And the Skinwalkers went one step further. Alon’s forces would be treated no different than the enemy.

He wished Aldara had come with them, but she was as adamant about protecting Blake as he was about protecting Samantha so he did not force the issue.

Alon felt a piece of himself wither. It was a fantasy of Aldara’s that once they learned to control their hunger and their shape, they might live among the human race, like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Alon argued that they needed to live apart from humans for the safety of all.

She must know that the Niyanoka would instantly recognize her even if she took human form. She might hide among the Skinwalkers but never the Spirit Children. But she loved Blake Proud. He saw it in her eyes. She loved him and it was breaking her heart.

She chose to remain with a man who kept her hidden like a dirty secret. When this was over Blake would leave her behind.

Alon could hardly believe that he and Aldara were twins, they were of such different minds. Aldara wanted to save the world and every lonely orphan Ghostling in it, while Alon wanted to fight. Fight himself, fight his kind, fight his father. Yes, him especially.

He knew he’d leave Samantha, because that was what she wanted. She’d told him once that she wished to return to her family and be able to use her gifts. If she stayed with him, she’d be a banished Seer and an unwelcome healer.

He couldn’t do that to her.

The wheels touched down and the fuselage bounced then settled into the fast deceleration that forced them forward from the seatbacks.

Cesar and Bess had moved the family a great distance in only a few days, all the way to Wyoming. The Skinwalkers assembled in Cody, Montana, and so Alon made that their destination. Both the Skinwalkers and the Spirit Children had always believed there would be another war. But neither had anticipated it would be against a common enemy. His siblings. Not the ones he knew but the ones they did not find in time. Brothers against brothers. Sisters against sisters. One more cruel blow in a cruel existence. Samantha had been the one bright spot in his life. Soon he must send her away.

The plane stopped and he heard the stairs placed against the exterior. A moment later fresh air and sunlight streamed in through the open door.

Alon followed Samantha down the narrow metal stairs toward a shiny black limo. His father was more than just a Soul Whisperer. He was also a Truth Seeker and a Memory Walker. As a Memory Walker, his father could remove painful memories, like all recollections of some traumatic event. The trouble was, once he did his work, all the reminiscences, good and bad, were forever lost.

So the question was, did Alon want to forget Samantha completely after she moved on or hold tight to the most precious memories of his life and live with the grief?

His father left the limo to greet Samantha. He kissed her cheeks and then his smile faded. He could have noticed Samantha’s upset but likely he read it all in a touch.

“He knows you have feelings for him?” he asked.

Samantha seemed momentarily surprised by the question.

“Yes. But he doesn’t believe it.” She scooted past him and into the rear seat.

Alon stilled as he watched it happen. His father’s hand trailed from Samantha’s arm as his expression changed. He looked stunned. An instant later, he glanced at Alon. What truth had he read in that touch? Alon was burning to ask. Instead he opened his arms to his father, knowing his dad would soon know all his thoughts, as well.

“Samantha told you?” asked Alon.

“I read it in her thoughts. Our offer was rejected by both the Niyanoka and the Skinwalkers. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Cesar opened his arms and Alon stepped into his father’s embrace. Cesar clasped Alon to him. His father’s hand pressed to the bare skin of Alon’s neck. He needed this contact to receive answers. Alon knew it was not necessary for him to speak or for his father to ask a question. Could his father read the grief and longing or only Alon’s thoughts?

“Both,” said his father as he released Alon.

“Mom’s with the others?”

“Mom’s already joined the Skinwalkers in Cody. Flew out yesterday. She’ll speak to Sebastian. Try to convince him we are not his enemy.”

Without a jet, Alon knew. Bess preferred her feathers to fuselages.

“We’ll meet them soon.” He turned to Samantha. “I’m proud that you have taken our side. I’m sorry they didn’t accept our offer. People are often afraid of what they don’t understand.”

Samantha seemed momentarily surprised, but she nodded. It was hard to get used to how much his father could perceive in such a brief touch.

“I’ve sent all those under thirteen away with Cody and Callie. Don’t worry. Those two will be here for the fight.”

These were the third set of twins his father and mother had found. A good choice to protect the babies and young ones, Alon thought, since Bart and Bella were still with Michaela Proud, the first Seer.

“All the rest of our family is ready to fight.”

“How many?” asked Alon.

“Including the ones who have been arriving each day, forty-nine.”

Alon wondered how many Nagi had coerced into service.

“They’ve been coming in pairs and small groups, all fleeing the ghosts who have been stalking them. Even the wild ones seem to recognize that their place is with us.”

“These new arrivals might attack the Skinwalkers or Spirit Children,” Alon cautioned. “It’s dangerous to include the feral ones.”

“These are dangerous times.” Cesar motioned to the open door. “Before leaving Bess spoke to a Puma Skinwalker. She said Nagi’s Ghost army is amassing in the Bighorn National Forest, west of Rapid City. Clearly he knows where to find us. She told Sebastian to move from Cody to intercept them there.”

Alon stilled and stared at his father. Had Sebastian chosen his ground based on the mumbo jumbo of a lion?

His father must have seen his disbelief because he grinned. “Lions are never wrong, son. Not like Clairvoyants because they don’t see possible futures. They only see what is happening at the present in a different location. Apparently she had her teeth on one of the Ghost Children who joined Nagi, but he got away. Now she can see him and he is with our enemy.”

Alon climbed into the limo across from Samantha, who now stared intently out the window. They needed to speak about what had happened between them.

He wanted to reassure her that he would not try to trap her into a relationship that would cause her pain. He knew the soul mate connection troubled her. He could assure her if he only told her the truth—how could he be a soul mate when he had no soul?

If she knew, would it change her conviction to fight at his side? If they survived she would surely leave him after the battle was done.

The war with Nagi loomed, but somehow losing Samantha alarmed him more than losing his own life.

* * *

In the two weeks that followed, Alon organized the Ghost Children into a fighting force. The only thing he seemed to put more energy into was avoiding Samantha. She knew that by not telling him immediately of their connection she had hurt him badly. Her silence told him all he needed to know about her feelings—or lack of feelings—for him.

What he didn’t understand was that her silence came from fear. Fear of what she would lose if she chose him, fear of admitting aloud what she already knew in her heart. She didn’t need the aura to tell her that Alon affected her like no one else or that she could feel what he felt when they touched. But was that love?