Barely Winging It (2 page)

Chapter Two

Wednesday
afternoon

Havana watched Slate and the others head out on
errands to Toronto. She envied them for sure. There had to be all sorts of
great things to do and see there. However, she didn’t complain. She had a
reason to stay, not that she would tell anyone else that reason.

It was afternoon by the time she was able to sneak
away without being noticed. She grabbed some papers on college courses and her
drawing pad and pencils and headed out to the barn. She truly enjoyed her daily
treks to the barn. Even if one of the gargoyles wasn’t her mate, she felt it still
might be a relaxing thing for her. The house was so busy and loud that it was
nice to have some quiet time alone, and she liked talking to someone without
having to worry about judgments or actually any response at all. It was nice
just to talk.

She felt the hairs on her neck prickle and figured it
was Nix watching her. She knew he could see her at times and really didn’t care
he knew so long as he didn’t go blabbing it to anyone, especially her older
brother and alpha,
Alphy
. It would force her to answer
questions about something she wasn’t ready to talk about right now. The falcon
shifter hadn’t seemed to feel it was anything worth reporting, and she
appreciated that.

The musky smell of the barn, mixed with the other
smells of wood, concrete, metal, and animals that once inhabited the old
building filled her senses as she entered the darkened space and headed to the
stairs that were in the middle on each side. The boards creaked underfoot while
she ascended them until she reached the top.

The structure was full of building supplies her
great-aunt had collected over the years in hopes to rebuild the sleuth. They
weren’t a sleuth anymore, but a pack, but it seemed to have made Betty very
happy anyway. Or would that be her mate whom she’d just found? Actually, Havana’s
guess would be it was probably both.
Kace
and his
crew had started using the supplies, so there were noticeable “dents” in the
stock.

Making her way around some of the equipment, Havana found
where the gargoyles were roosting. After placing her things on a flat surface
of a stack of wood planks, she easily recognized the mound of slate white stone
that was her mate.
Dultyn
was the biggest mound. The
other two were curled up and covered their bodies with their wings, but her
mate didn’t. She believed it was because he knew she was coming out to see him
while he roosted.

Reaching up, she let the tips of her fingers glide
down the smooth, warm stone surface of his face. When she’d first felt him, she
had expected the stone to be cold. She was shocked to find out that they were
warm when they were stone. But these were living beings, so after that
revelation, it actually made sense to her that they were warm, and she loved
it.

She leaned close and nuzzled his face.
“Hello, mate.”
After giving a peck on his cheek, she closed
her eyes and leaned her head against his hardened surface. “Tomorrow is my
birthday. Are you going to finally claim me then? I’m looking forward to it.
I’m
gonna
claim you right back, too.” She stood there
for a while, soaking up his warmth and easing the pain of the forced
separation, with his touch.

They kept their distance because she was seventeen, not
yet legal. At least, that was what she hoped he was doing, because they hadn’t
even talked with each other.
Dultyn
tried avoiding
her even though she knew he watched her when she slept. It was hard on her and
her bear not to have any contact with him or even time to talk with him.

“After tomorrow, whether you claim me or not, you
won’t be avoiding me any longer.” After placing another kiss on his cheek, she
went back to the items she brought.

“I’ve got information on all my classes that I’m going
to take. Ryker said I can take them online. In fact, he’s setting up a ‘school
room’.” Havana lifted her fingers and made quotes in the air, as if he could
see her. “Turns out there’s
gonna
be a lot of us
taking classes. My youngest brother, Reese, is doing his schooling over the
internet, as well as
Alphy’s
mate, Gale. She’s taking
public relations.” Havana laughed as she made herself comfortable in a
makeshift seat. “Her brother, Paul, is going to do his schooling online,
although, him I can understand more because he’s still so messed up. Humans
heal so
slow
. I don’t know how they can stand it. You
deal with what you’re dealt, I guess.” For the next several hours, Havana
continued to talk out loud as she studied over the information she was given
for graphics design and drawing.

She didn’t know how long she was there until she heard
the growl from her cell. That was her brother
Alphy’s
tone. Looking at the screen, she cringed when she saw the time. Sliding a
finger over the glass and putting it to her ear, she answered while she
gathered up her stuff.

“Hello.”

“Where the hell are you?”
Alphy
wasn’t shouting, but he was definitely concerned.

“I’m around. I just wanted some quiet to work.
What’chya
need?”

“There was an attack on Slate and the others.
Dex
was hurt pretty badly, so we just sent off Elise with
Marek. Get your ass back here.”
Alphy
growled before
he disconnected the call.

“On my way,” Havana mumbled into the phone. “I guess
it’s time to go. See
ya
later, my mate.” Quickly
planting a chaste kiss on his soft sculpted cheek, Havana trotted down the
steps and made a quick exit.

The house wasn’t still or quiet when she entered and
placed her things on a nearby table. Precisely the reason she liked going to
the barn.
Ok, one of the reasons.

With the money Tom and his wife had received from the
herd settlement, they had decided to temporarily move into an apartment in town
until they could close on a house they’d just bought, but Tom was always here helping
Alphy
with something or other.
Alphy
respected Tom and trusted him, and Connie was cooking for the pack house while
Betty was away. Connie was also
Alphy’s
mate’s
mother, so they were here often for one reason or another. With them came the
twins, Abby and Danny. Havana enjoyed the twins, as they were adorable and fun.
But they were also loud, and right now was no exception.

The house was also cluttered with other pack members
in a scurry of activity. Havana quickly popped her head around the corner to
the office. She saw
Alphy
was having a meeting with
Enzo and
Kace
, with Ryker tapping away on his laptop
beside them, and Seamus was on the phone with someone, talking his medical
jargon. She quickly waved to her brother to let him know she was back, as
ordered, and headed into the living room.

Reese and Paul were playing with the twins and
Kace’s
building crew. Peter, Steven, Marley, Gavin, and
Rushod
were lounging around in the living room talking
about their current build.
Rushod’s
expectant mate,
Lois, was sitting on his lap with his arm securely around her. Marek was also a
part of their crew, but his absence was expected right now.

Making her way over to her younger brother, Havana stood
over him, “Ok, baby brother, where’s my bag of M&Ms?”

Reese pulled out a neatly folded candy wrapper and
handed it to her. Looking at the thing, she narrowed her eyes and shot him a
perturbed look. “You
doof
, I said you could eat half,
not the whole damn thing.”

Mischief covered Reese’s face. “Yeah, but my half was
at the bottom. I had to eat yours to get to it.”

Around her, she could hear others laugh at his antics.
“We’ll just see what you think when I won’t let you have any of my birthday cake,
and what’s with it being neatly folded?”

“Ha, I bet I can still get a piece of your cake. What?
You don’t like the fold? I was practicing hospital corners. It takes a special
talent to get those skills mastered on candy wrappers.” Reese winked at her.

“Special is right. Hold on, let me find you that bib.”

Laughter followed her as Havana made her way to the
kitchen. The smells from supper cooking drew her there. She entered the kitchen
and inhaled the spicy fragrance of enchiladas.

“
Mmm
, smells good,
Connie.”
She stopped to look in the
skillet of Mexican fried rice that was on the stove before looking around at
the others in the kitchen. She saw Connie leaning against the island, and she
looked like she was forcing her smile. She saw Gale sitting across from her at
the breakfast bar. She was looking at her hands while she fidgeted with her
nails. Looking around some more, Havana didn’t spot Katie or Sara. She was used
to hanging with the girls as they all got along really well. It felt a little
off not to have them around. She understood Elise’s absence. “
Where’s
the others?”

With a lowered voice, Gale filled her in on what just
happened. “While Slate was out, Seamus spoke to Katie about the test results on
her pregnancy. She locked herself in her room and won’t talk to anyone. Not us,
not her dad or her sister, not even
Alphy
. She hasn’t
come out since. And the guys that went to Toronto were attacked. With the news
about Slate’s attack, Henry took Beverly and Sara downstairs to try and comfort
them.
Dex
is pretty bad, and Elise was sent down in
hopes she can help.”

Havana wasn’t told about Katie, so that was a slight
shock, but shock didn’t sit long with her, so she was able to shake her head
pretty quickly and shrug. “They’ll all be fine, just you wait and see. Fate
brought everyone together at this very present moment for a reason. I have
faith, and so should you. Want me to help get the plates ‘n’ stuff out,
Connie?”

With that forced smile Havana saw earlier, Connie
nodded, “Yes, thank you, Havana.”

****

Wednesday after sundown

Dultyn
woke from his roost and stretched. He could hear Stelios and Bogdan doing the
same nearby. He inhaled the air and scented his mate had visited him again. As
much as that pleased him, it also caused a pained ache in his chest. His mate
was here, and yet he couldn’t touch her. He took in another deep lungful of her
earth and woodsy smell and held it in for a bit before letting it slowly leave
in a heavy sigh.

“Damn,
Dultyn
, she was here
again, lucky bird. I can tell she was here for a lot longer this time,” Bogdan
said next to him.

Dultyn
didn’t respond to the bird reference. They were hatched and grew up together in
the same clutch. The reference had come from when they were still quite young
and Bogdan thought because they had wings, they were birds. It was used more as
a friendly nickname now.

“With so many from this pack finding mates, I am
hopeful we will finally find ours as well. Fate is truly blessing this pack,”
added Stelios.

Dultyn
remained silent. He didn’t want to tell them how he didn’t plan on bonding
Havana to him after her birthday. She was too young and had so much she wanted
to do with her life. She was full of energy and was always strong and cheerful.
He felt he would only slow her down, and that might diminish the light he loved
seeing in her eyes so much. Oh yes, he loved her, there was no mistaking it.
Even without saying a single word to her, from the very first time he’d walked
into the house and first met the pack, he knew his heart was lost to him. It always
happened fast for
paranormals
.

“Did that birthday present you ordered for her arrive
yet?” Stelios asked.

“I do not know. It would have been delivered by FedEx,”
Dultyn
answered as they made their way out of the
building and toward the pack house. He wrapped his wings tightly around his
body to keep warm through the light rain that had begun to fall.

“Which one did you decide on?” asked Stelios.

“The one entitled ‘
Ursidae
’.”

“That one was my favorite, too. Nice pick, she’ll love
it.”

Dultyn
could smell the spices before they reached the house, and it made his mouth
water. Right before they reached the house, Nix flew down to the front porch
and shifted. This wasn’t a surprise. Nix would always wait until they came out
of roost before joining them as they entered the house for the evening meal.

Nix hastily pulled on the jeans
that
were
always waiting on the porch for him. He looked rushed and out of
sorts.

“Is everything all right?”
Dultyn
asked as they approached. But the shifter darted past them and into the house
without answering.

As the trio entered, they listened briefly to the
chaos that sounded like the norm.
Dultyn
took in a
breath and tasted the scents. Worry tasted thick in the air, and even though
some of the conversations were light and mundane, the tension he felt betrayed
the truth.