Chapter 33
We slept at one more motel and drove the rest of the way to Storybook.
Lucian greeted us at the gate with his usual wave before letting us in.
I rolled down my window to catch the scent of home.
Adventurous road trips had always been my passion, but I’d never had a real home worth coming back to until now.
Lucian flashed ahead of us, blurring out of the headlights and into the darkness.
As we neared the house, Tak approached the front of the vehicle with an anxious expression. After the rescue, we updated Lucian and informed Tak we were heading home with Cleo. I was pretending to be asleep while Krys made the call, so I didn’t hear if he was angry with us.
While I unbuckled my seat belt and gathered my things, Cleo got out first and walked into view. As soon as the pack saw her, some shifted.
Robyn’s black wolf sprinted across the yard and howled excitedly when she reached Cleo. Montana and Lakota both flanked her protectively. I wondered what everyone’s animal must’ve experienced when they realized Cleo wasn’t there anymore.
Krys and I sat quietly while Tak dropped to his knees. That was one man who couldn’t hide his emotions, so we got out to offer our support.
“I broke my promise,” Tak said in a low register. “I vowed to always protect you.” He reached for his sheath and pulled out the knife.
Cleo stepped back.
Tak turned the handle toward Cleo and offered her the blade.
“What do you want me to do?” She accepted the large knife and glanced at us nervously.
“Cut me,” he replied. “The scar will serve as a reminder. I don’t hide my mistakes.” He stroked his fingers along his tattooed face. “I learn from them and teach others. Can you forgive me?”
Cleo shrugged. “Nobody knew my mom was a psycho. Not even me.” She lowered her eyes to the weapon. “I was supposed to go with her, but I really wanted to stay here. Please don’t send me away again.” Cleo handed him the knife. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Tak collected the knife and sheathed it. “You’re right. What good is an ugly scar when I can get a tattoo of a beautiful snow leopard?”
She jerked her head back. “But you’re a wolf.”
“Who will have a tattoo of a leopard.” He smiled warmly. “Can I give you a hug?”
Cleo nodded, and when Tak wrapped his arms around her, he was so gentle.
“Your packmates are waiting.” Tak finally stood. “Go say hello.”
Cleo walked in measured strides across the yard until she reached the steps. Everyone lavished her with kind words and love without being overly physical. They didn’t yet know what she had survived.
Krys and I fell into step beside Tak.
“Her mother had no criminal background,” Tak said, his long hair free of its usual braid. “I spoke to her, and she seemed genuinely happy to reunite with her daughter.”
Krys scoffed. “All she saw was dollar signs.”
I rubbed a crick in my neck that I’d gotten from napping against the car door. “She didn’t give off any weird vibes. The apartment was small, but there weren’t any red flags. She had pictures of Cleo and a few old toys in her room. It looked like a normal home, and she put on a good performance.”
“And the men who took Cleo?”
Krys hiked up the steps and then faced him. “Dead.”
Firelight glowed through the cracked door, and the house was alive with chatter and howling wolves.
Tak lowered his voice. “What did they want with her?”
Krys folded his arms. “To sell her to poachers. A group of rich assholes hunt Shifters like her for sport. They think it’s more of a challenge.”
Tak planted his hands on the porch rail, and his silence made my stomach tighten. “And the mother?”
I stood next to him. “She won’t be getting Cleo back.”
“Damn right she won’t.”
Krys leaned against a post. “We took most of the money she made from the transaction. I figure we can put it into Cleo’s savings.
Nothing for the pack. She might not want anything to do with it, but it’s her choice to make.
Her mother doesn’t know we found her. We’ll let you decide what to do with that woman. ”
Tak nodded before pulling each of us into a hug. “You make me proud to be your alpha.”
My shoulders sagged with relief. I’d been worried this conversation might’ve gone differently, but he supported our decisions.
“Cleo’s our child now,” he continued. “I need to consider whether making her mother public knowledge might put her in danger. I’ll think on this.”
Once inside, I kicked off my shoes and socks to get comfortable.
Salem patted Krys’s shoulder. “I’ll get your bags.”
The pack milled around the open space. Cleo leaned against the back of a recliner, her arms folded and eyes watchful. Catcher greeted her with a friendly wag of his tail and licked her arms. Instead of acknowledging him, she remained quiet.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” Mercy asked. “We can fix you a plate.”
Cleo shook her head.
Mercy flashed a bright smile. “I am so glad you’re back. I bought a new pair of sheets you’re gonna love. Melody, come and help me put them on.”
Hope gave Cleo a gentle hug while a few packmates found something to do so they weren’t hovering. She was clearly anxious, and everyone could sense it.
Tak joined her side. “Can you tell us what happened with your mother?”
Cleo shrugged. “It was fine at first but weird.”
“Weird how?”
“It’s kind of strange to be in someone’s house when you don’t know them. On the first night, she made a big dinner, but I wasn’t hungry. I was still kinda nervous.” Cleo lowered her head. “She grabbed a handful of the food and shoved it into my mouth.”
Hope shielded her eyes and turned away.
Krys and I drew closer.
“She said I was an ungrateful B-word,” Cleo continued, “and I was wasting her money. It’s not fair.
I told her I wasn’t hungry, but she cooked all that food anyhow.
After she did that, I said I wanted to go home, so she took my phone away.
” A blush rose on her cheeks. “Maybe it’s my fault.
I yelled and said she couldn’t do that. Then she slapped me.
” Cleo’s chin quivered, and she took a deep breath.
“She screamed about how I hadn’t changed and was always running away and wasting her money.
The next morning, she reversed the doorknob and locked me in my room. ”
Krys cursed under his breath.
Cleo’s gaze darted around before fastening onto Tak.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he said firmly. “Children are emotional, but no one should strike a child.”
“I don’t want to go by Bailey anymore. She didn’t even love me, so why does she get to name me?”
“You can pick whatever name you want. That will be what we call you.”
She raised her chin. “I’m Cleopatra. Cleo for short.”
“Cleo it is.” Tak looked across his shoulder at me. “What about the ghost?”
“She’s gone,” I confirmed while stretching my stiff back. “But I can’t promise another won’t slip in.” I reduced the space between us and gave my alpha a big squeeze.
Without hugging me back, he asked, “What’s that for?”
“Teaching me how to throw an axe at a target. For all the times you made me play that silly game.” I leaned away and patted his chest. “It saved our lives.”
“I want to hear about that later.”
After collecting Cleo’s bag, I gestured to her while making my way to the hall. “Come on, munchkin. Let’s go unpack.”
She needed time alone to decompress, and the pack could be overbearing all at once. Halfway up the stairs, she looked back at me. “What ghost is he talking about? Is there a ghost in here?”
“Not anymore. But I’m a Gravewalker, and that means there’s always a chance one might follow me home.”
She reached the top. “Then you’ll have to invent a ghost zapper. We can hang it on the door so they can’t pass through it.”
I paused in the middle hall and briefly wondered if something with a high electrical current might repel them, but then I remembered Tak would have serious concerns about experimental designs that might electrocute someone or open a portal between worlds.
Mercy and Melody headed toward us, Melody holding a balled-up set of dirty linens.
Mercy stole a quick hug from Cleo. “You’re all set, honey. I bet you’re tired after that long drive, so we’ll let you go to bed early.”
“Thanks.”
The faint aroma of paint lingered in her room.
I set the bag by her wall art. “Now you can finish your masterpiece.”
While Cleo changed in the closet, I studied her painting and wondered what might’ve happened if we had never left. Would her mother have appeared on our doorstep? Had she taken Cleo, we never would’ve found her. And Krys and I might’ve never bonded. It made me ponder things like fate.
“Can I watch TV?” Cleo asked. “I promise I’ll be quiet.”
I switched off the overhead light, since the lamp was enough. “You can blare that TV all night if you want. It’ll be music to my ears.”
She climbed onto the bed in her oversized T-shirt and sleep shorts and kicked the covers down while plumping her pillows.
I strolled around and surveyed her living quarters with a fresh perspective. This was her forever home now. “You definitely need posters on these walls. Maybe pictures of hamsters or metal hair bands,” I said, trying for a laugh.
“Hair bands? I don’t get it. Like what Uncle Salem ties his hair up with?”
I snorted. “Sweet summer child…”
The cloudy blue sky on the wall behind her bed didn’t fit her aesthetic.
I made a silent vow to help Cleo discover her vibe and express it in her surroundings.
“You could paint a jungle on the wall,” I suggested.
“Or mountains. Snow leopards are mountain climbers, you know. They can survive the harshest conditions.” I approached the bed and pulled the covers up to her waist.