Calico Cross (4 page)

Chapter Seven

“I don’t care what kind of trouble you have had! I want those girls found and I want them found now!” I barked at the two men, my blood pressure boiling, and I knocked my breakfast plate to the floor.

“We will send someone else this time, Sir. We will find them,” Axle said and then him and Blaze turned and left me.

They were my best men and they were loyal. They had been with me from the very beginning. Unlike Blue, who was always questioning my motives. I guess it didn’t help that the previous pack leader, the one I killed, was his brother. I knew deep down that he didn’t respect me, and he most likely had members of my own pack feeling the same way, but he wouldn’t dare go against me; nobody would. In the beginning he stood against me, but that changed when I bit his right thumb off as an example to anyone who thought they could challenge me. I promised him worse if he did it again, and that was the end of that. I had proved myself as a worthy opponent years ago, and I played nasty. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. If I wanted something, I would do whatever it took to get it. No shame in that. And right now I wanted those girls. I knew Axel and Blaze would do all they could to find them.

The Cross girls!

They had been a pain in my side for years, too independent for their own good. First their parents were defiant and so I took care of them. I thought that would assure the girls’ loyalty, but it had worked against me. Every other pack in the area had sworn allegiance to me, all but the Cross girls. I would not rest until every one of them had bowed to me and sworn their loyalty. Calico in particular had my interest. And for all the trouble they had caused me, I had some very special plans for them. All of them would become our servants, with Calico by my side at all times. Yes, she would be forced to honor me with every breath she took. The special little she-cat with the strange green eyes would serve my purposes just fine.

Taming the Cross sisters was vital and would send a valuable message to anyone who tried to defy my authority and have their freedom. And I would once again be the one in complete control.

* * * * * *

I counted the days until the weekend of Appleville’s Annual Apple Festival. It seemed like forever but in truth only took two weeks, and in that time, we continued to have things go missing; things like the car keys a few times, several of Fancy’s favorite dresses, and even one of Kiki’s many curling irons.
Were our ghosts females?
The only thing that was added was the number of cookies. Even though I continued to put one in our neighbor’s mailbox every day, we never seemed to run out of cookies…weird I know. 

I thumbed carefully through my closet, looking for just the right dress for the occasion. I had never been to an apple festival before, but it was all anyone could talk about. The bakery had been preparing their treats for many days as well as the deli, and Tabby and Kiki were both working their booths. I, on the other hand, was free to wonder about and inspect all the goodies. We never had anything like it in our old town. It was a dried up, boring place to live, not like Appleville with all its interesting people, tales, and history.

“Ah ha!” I said, pulling out my yellow sundress from last spring. “This will work perfectly for the occasion.”

Suddenly, it flew out of my hands and landed across the room. I should have been alarmed but instead I placed my hands on my hips and huffed. “What now?” I asked in clear irritation.

No sooner were the words out of my mouth when another dress fell out of my closet and to my feet. I picked it up and inspected it. It was a lovely strapless sundress with red and white polka dots. “Hmm, not bad. I can’t imagine how Fancy’s dress managed to get in my closet,” I said into the air, my sarcasm hard to miss. I could have sworn I heard a faint giggling, but it must’ve been my imagination again…or not.

The dress fit me like a glove, and I spun several times in the mirror, adoring the way the skirt moved with ease. I walked into the bathroom and inspected my hair and finally decided that pulling it up would probably look best. My streaks didn’t show as much when it was pulled up. I opened my drawer and grabbed a ponytail band when it too flew from my grasp and into the wet tub I had just showered in earlier. I rolled my eyes and slumped my shoulders. “Fine. What then?”

A curling iron landed on the sink in front of me. “Oh great, Kiki’s missing curling iron. I’m beginning to think you have an agenda,” I said into the air again.

Okay, a few things were suddenly pretty clear to me. One, these ghosts were obviously not out to hurt us, and two, they, for some odd reason, wanted me to show up at the apple festival looking a certain way. Why? I was scared to ask.

Once my hair was curled and the sides pulled up and pinned. I slipped on my shoes and headed downstairs where the sisters were waiting.

“Hey! That’s my missing dress!” Fancy said in confusion.

I shrugged. “Don’t look at me. You have our mischievous little ghosts to blame. It seems they are interested in my appearance today for some strange reason. Who am I to argue with ghosts anyway?”

“Humph. Well, you do look beautiful. Even though your hair is gonna fall straight in this humidity,” she replied back.

“Yes, I know,” I responded, and then I moved my hand uncovering the ponytail holder I was wearing on my wrist. I quickly covered it back up so our little ghosts wouldn’t see it.

The four of us jumped in the car and headed for town, the smiles on our faces leading the way.

* * * * * *

I helped Kiki and Tabby get their booths set up and then Fancy and I strolled casually around, checking out all the amazing spaces. Some tables were loaded with the most incredible looking treats, all made with apples of course. There was one station set up with every kind of apple you could imagine. I had to stop there and taste every one of them. I think the Pink Lady was by far my favorite.

Fancy pulled me along to the next set of tables. They were loaded with food of all kinds. We grabbed plates and piled all sorts of unfamiliar items onto our plates…and every bite was heaven.

With my mouth full, I snickered at how fast both Fancy and I had cleared the food from our plates.
Are we ladies or what? Oh wait, we are she-cats.

My eyes scanned my surroundings and all the many different people passing by. I even recognized a few and nodded politely as I passed. “Wait. No, it couldn’t be. Is that…is that…” It was then that I choked on my bite and bent over, coughing uncontrollably.

“Ma’am, are you all right?” a gentleman asked, patting me on the back.

I straightened and quickly recognized the voice of ‘the savage’.

As soon as he recognized that it was me, he quickly removed his hand and backed away, but not before I spotted him scanning me admirably from head to toe.

“I’m sorry,” he said and the harshness I recognized so well was back in his voice. “I didn’t mean to call you ma’am.”

“Haha, you are such a gentleman,” I responded back. Then I remembered what I saw, or should I say ‘who’ I saw. I grabbed Fancy’s hand and pulled her away with me, leaving ‘the savage’ standing alone.

“Fancy, I think I spotted Blake Huntley.”

She jerked her head around in search mode. “What! Where? Are you sure?”

“No, but it looked just like him.”

“If he sees us, we’re in big…”

“Well, hello ladies.”

We heard his voice behind us and we both jumped and spun to face him.

I instantly got riled up, ready for a fight. “Listen here, Blake! If you think you’re gonna turn us in…”

“Hold up, Calico,” he said, his hands raised in the air in defense. “I’m just here to enjoy the festival. I only joined Creed because I had no choice. I’m one of you. I won’t tell him where you are.” Then he leaned in toward my ear and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Fancy and I were both leery of his remarks, but we had no choice but to trust him…for now.

I glanced around and noticed Dane watching us intently.
Had he heard us?
We knew he was a ‘were’ of some sort, but we were too young yet to sense what kind of were-creature he was. That was a gift developed later in life. No doubt he knew we were different as well. I smiled my usual sarcastic smile at him. He scowled and whipped his head around, his long mane of blond locks flowing behind him, and walked in the other direction, totally unaware of the group of admiring ladies in pursuit of him. Something struck me then, and I grabbed Fancy’s arm and tugged her away.

I reached Tabby’s booth and quickly pulled her aside. “Tabby, I think I know what our new neighbor is.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Really? What?”

“I think he’s a were-lion.”

She gasped and covered her mouth but was shaking her head. “Cali that’s not possible. Were-lions don’t have blond hair, for one. They either have dark red or brown hair, and they never live alone. You know that. They have to be surrounded by their pack. There is no way he is a were-lion. No way!”

I rubbed my chin in concentration. She had a point, but if not a lion then what? I was determined to find out.

I strolled off, deep in thought with Blake Huntley tight on my heels. He stayed that way for the rest of the evening—followed closely by ‘the savage’.

Chapter Eight

If I thought seeing Blake at the festival was the end of that, I was sorely wrong. He showed up on my front porch bright and fairly early the next morning. I knew this because he knocked on the front door for almost ten straight minutes before anyone got up to go to the door. It had been a long and emotional night and so we were all sleeping in. It was ten o’clock.

I felt a bounce on the end of my bed and peered over my covers to see Blake sitting on my bed staring at me with a crooked smile.

“Auggghhh!” I huffed, pulling the covers back over my head.

“I thought we could hang out today,” he said in what sounded sincere.

I pulled the covers back and looked at him. “Blake, we are enemies. Why would I want to hang with you of all people?”

“Cali, we are not enemies. Okay, so I succumbed to the pressure of Creed’s authority. That doesn’t mean we are enemies. It simply means I was not as strong as you girls. Besides, I was all alone and you have each other. It’s harder to resist when you’re alone.”

I knew he was right in that. It was harder to resist when you were alone with no one to support or align themselves with you.

“Fine, but just this once,” I finally agreed.

He smirked. “Who knows, you might like me and find yourself spending more time with me.”

It was then that a book flew off my shelf and pounded him in the head.

I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. I knew it was our friendly ghosts saying they didn’t approve of our new guest.

“What the…” he said, standing and rubbing the back of his head.

I shrugged and got out of bed. “I think you need to wait on the front porch for me. I’ll meet you down there in a few minutes,” I told him.

“Ummm, okay,” he muttered, looking around in confusion as he fled from the room.

I burst out into laughter as I fumbled through my drawers for some clean clothes to wear. I had a feeling I was really going to like these ghosts.
This is going to be interesting for sure,
I thought.

Blake took me to the Appleville Park less than ten miles down the road from the house. The park wasn’t a huge one, but it was very beautiful, surrounded by a small lake. There were lots of people already out. Some were riding bikes around the lake, while others were walking their dogs or feeding the ducks. I was falling more in love with this town by the minute.

We sat on a bench by the lake and watched the people pass by. Blake asked me questions about myself. He was trying to get to know me better, but I wasn’t so sure that was a good idea so I kept my guard up and my answers short. I hadn’t gotten this far by being naïve, and I still wasn’t so sure I trusted this guy. I mean I wanted to trust him. I really did, but he had aligned himself with my enemy for life. Granted, he didn’t really have a choice, but it didn’t change that fact.

Later, he took me to Fill’s Diner for lunch. Tabby eyed us suspiciously. She was nervous about it too, but she remained polite as she served our food.

As Blake shared details of his hard childhood and losing his parents in a fire when he was six, I found myself studying his appearance. I mean after all he wasn’t telling me anything I hadn’t already heard before, so my mind drifted off. He was actually quite handsome. His dark hair was cut short with more length on the top, and his dark eyes had a hint of the golden color associated with us were-cats—well except for me, mine were always green, unlike any other were-cougar I had ever met or seen. That was just another thing that made me different.

But back to Blake; he had a nice size build, not the hulk frame like Dane, but definitely a good size physique. I imagined that back home he probably had his share of girls. Did I think I was going to become one of them? I think he probably thought so, but for me, well, I didn’t think so. He just seemed a little too fragile for my taste. I liked a man who had confidence and strength about him.

“I’m so sorry about your parents,” I said in all sincerity as I took out my roll of Spree and popped a red one in my mouth. “I remember hearing about the fire when I was little. I really felt for you. It’s hard to lose parents.” I felt my shoulders slump forward, and I suddenly felt really sad.

“I’m sorry, Cali,” he said, taking hold of my hand. “I didn’t mean to bring up memories of losing your own parents.”

I gently pulled my hand away from his. “It’s okay, Blake. I know you didn’t mean to.” I stared him in the eyes and felt the fire growing behind mine. “It just makes me so mad that you are still with that criminal, Creed. You know he killed my parents. How can you still be with him?”

“It’s not that simple, Cali. You should know that. He will kill me if I try to leave.”

“He didn’t kill us.”

“Maybe not, but it really angered him when you guys fled. He’s done nothing but pace and stew about finding you ever since then.”

I jerked to attention. “He’s got people out looking for us?”

“Shhh. Yes he does.”

“Oh, Blake, you can’t tell him where we are! You just can’t!”

He glanced around nervously. “Calm down, Cali. I won’t tell him. You have my word.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, no offense, Blake, but your word doesn’t really mean that much to me right now.”

He smirked slightly. “I know it doesn’t right now, but maybe someday you’ll learn to trust me.” He took hold of my hand again.

About that time the bell to the door of the deli rang. I glanced up to see Dane walking into the restaurant like a man on a mission. He froze the moment he spotted me, and he inspected Blake’s hand resting on top of mine. Without thinking, I pulled my hand free.
Why on earth did I do that?
 

He appeared to be angry, but it was a look I had become accustom to seeing so it could’ve been anything that angered him. Somehow I wanted to believe that it was because he was jealous, but I knew that was unreasonable since we both pretty much hated each other.

He seemed a little caught off guard, but then he righted himself and continued to the checkout counter where Tabby had his order waiting for him.

I felt let down. So that was why he was in there, and it had nothing to do with me. Of course it had nothing to do with me! I would’ve slapped myself right then and there if I wouldn’t have looked like an idiot.

I watched as he paid for his lunch and walked out of the diner without looking in my direction. I glanced over at Tabby. She gave me a wide-eyed expression and shrugged.

As Blake and I exited the deli, Dane was suddenly there, towering over both of us. “Are you okay?”

I had to look around to make sure he was talking to me. “Ummm, yes. Why do you ask?”

“You shouldn’t be hanging with this guy. He has dangerous ties. Don’t you know that? I thought you were smarter than this.” His voice was strong and sharp, just like always.

I felt my hair standing on end. “Excuse me, but you don’t know anything about me, Mr. Rude Much! You still think I’m a girl scout!”

“Girl scouts are smart enough to know when to avoid predators like this guy and the guys he runs with.”

Blake was about to say something when Dane stuck his face in his and we both heard a deep growl rumbling in Dane’s chest. It was something that instantly shut Blake down and made me want to run away. Dane’s eyes briefly flashed a scary deep gold. There was no doubt that his threat was real.

“Umm, I’ll catch up with you later, Cali,” Blake said barely looking at me, and then he was gone.

I felt slightly scared myself, but I put on a brave face. “You wanna tell me what that was about?” I asked, but I had to swallow my throat down.

He pointed at the running Blake. “You stay away from that guy. He is dangerous.” He took a deep irritated breath and added, “Now, I’ll take you home.”

I probably shouldn’t have allowed him to, but honestly, I was really curious as to what had set him off.
Maybe I will finally get some answers about this guy.

As I walked to my side of the truck, I could’ve sworn I heard giggling behind me, but when I spun around there was no one there. I shrugged and got into the truck.