"Do you suppose Christopher has begun searching the forest yet?" Minnie asked her husband as they packed up their belongings, preparing to continue searching the forest after a restless night in the woods.
"Perhaps. Hopefully he is still searching the west village though."
"We should have told your parents to try and stall him. They could tell him Kallie ran off to Ohio or something."
"Yes, that would have been a good idea. We will just have to do our best to find her first."
Jamison watched the humans in his territory from a distance, staying completely still. The two humans looked stressed, and he'd feel awful if he frightened them. His heart skipped a beat when he heard Kallie's name. He wondered if these two could be her friends from town. By the sound of it, they were working against this Christopher, not with him.
Jamison rushed to Kallie to deliver the news. He didn't even think twice about aggravating Tucker for trespassing. He leapt over the river and was standing in Tucker's campsite in no time.
Tucker was cooking over the fire, he instantly stood once Jamison appeared. "What do you want?"
"Where is she?" Jamison looked around.
"Still sleeping." Tucker motioned towards the tent.
"Not anymore." Kallie announced, sticking her head outside.
"There are two people in the forest. I think they may be looking for you." Jamison explained.
Kallie looked nervous; Tucker looked suspicious.
"Could it be your friends, David and Minnie?"
Kallie came outside. "I...I don't know. What did they look like?"
"The man had blonde hair; the woman had darker hair I think."
"That could be them." Her eyes lit up. "How far from here?"
"Just a quick run for me. More like an entire day for you. I—" Jamison was going to offer to take her to them, but she looked to Tucker.
"Can you take me to them, Tucker? I could ride on your back if that is okay with you?"
"Of course."
Tucker quickly transformed.
"Jamison, could you help me?" Kallie asked standing beside Tucker whose massive body towered over her. Jamison gave her a boost. "Will you lead us to them?" Jamison nodded and took off, Tucker right on his tail.
Kallie gripped Tucker's fur in her hands, trying her best not to fall off. She had never moved this fast before. All she saw were blurs of green and brown. The wind whipping her hair all around and causing her eyes to tear.
Both men slowed down as they got closer. Once at a full stop, Jamison helped Kallie down. Tucker was back to his human form. "They are just over there." Jamison pointed in the distance. Kallie saw her two friends traveling through the woods. They each looked equally exhausted. Which didn't surprise her given they were traveling on foot now.
"That's them." She looked up at both men. "What are they doing out here? Have they lost their minds?" she shouted in a whisper.
"I am assuming they are out here because they are worried about you." suggested Tucker.
"What do you want to do?" Jamison asked.
"I suppose they should know that I am safe."
She took her time walking towards them, their backs turned to her. She glanced back, each man gave her an encouraging smile. Kallie got closer to them, then finally said. "Minnie? David?"
They stopped dead in their tracks, glanced at each other, then slowly turned their heads. "Kallie!" Minnie cried out once their eyes met. The two best friends ran to each other, then embraced each other as tears began to fall. "You're alive!" They held one another for a while, then Minnie finally released her.
"David." Kallie smiled through her tears while embracing him.
"You are okay, right?" Minnie asked with concerning eyes as Kallie let go of David.
"Yes, I am."
"Good." Minnie spoke.
"Now what the hell were you thinking?" both David and Minnie shouted at her.
"I—"
"You scared us half to death!" David yelled.
"I—"
"You could have been killed!" Minnie also yelled.
"I'm sorry for scaring you both. But I've been safe the whole time, I promise. While I've been safe most of the time. There was this bear and then I got scarlet fever." she said as casual as ever.
"A bear!" David exclaimed.
"What do you mean you got scarlet fever?" Minnie exclaimed next.
"And you have gotten through all of this alone?" asked David.
Kallie smiled. "No, not alone."
"Oh my," Minnie looked at David. "She met someone."
"Who in the world could she have met out here?"
"Well...I actually met two someone's." They each stared at her with wide eyes. "It's a little complicated."
"Well, where are they? I would like to meet these men." Minnie asked eagerly.
Kallie turned to see Tucker and Jamison coming out into the open.
"Oh." Minnie gasped.
"Oh? What kind of oh was that?" David asked, insulted.
"Oh, stop and introduce us to the nice men."
David approached Tucker and Jamison. Kallie wondered for a moment if David was puffing his chest out. "Hello, my name is David James." he spoke in a deeper voice and firmly shook their hands. Minnie and Kallie couldn't help but snicker at how intimidated David was at the moment. Kallie had to admit, Tucker and Jamison were both equally intimidating. But the two of them were double that standing side by side. It was enough to make any man quiver.
"This is my wife, Minnie James." Each man delicately shook her hand, Kallie swore Minnie was blushing.
"So, what are you two doing here?" Kallie finally asked.
David and Minnie exchanged worried looks. "Christopher is looking for you." said David.
"First of all, we are here because we were worried and needed to find you and help you if you needed it. Although I can see you've been in good hands." Minnie winked at her.
"Christopher should still be searching the west village. But he's going to start searching the forest next. We were hoping to find you before he did."
Kallie stared at the ground. "I know he's looking for me. Which is why I am still in the forest. My plan was to get to the west village, but I knew Christopher would find me there."
"So now what is your plan?" Minnie asked.
"Well," Kallie looked at Tucker and Jamison. "It is a long story. Why don't we all start walking."
They walked for the entire day, stopping to eat here and there. Kallie and David asked Minnie if she was doing okay almost every twenty minutes. Minnie would yell at Kallie for running away while knowing she was pregnant. "I can't believe you would just disappear leaving your childbearing friend behind." Minnie would say.
"Oh please, it is not like you are going to have the baby any day. You have a ways to go still." Kallie would roll her eyes, but the friends would laugh together.
Kallie explained everything to David and Minnie. What happened the night before she took off. Tucker saving her from the bear and how she got hurt in the process, she left out the werewolf part. Then she told them about Jamison saving her from the small avalanche, not mentioning the vampire part though, or the werewolf vampire fight that took place shortly after. She explained the scarlet fever and staying with Tucker's tribe for a few days, and how they then found out that Christopher was looking for her.
"Well, now what are you going to do?" David asked. They were almost back to Tucker's camp. Kallie had invited them to stay the night. It was almost completely dark out, leaving the forest only slightly visible.
"You obviously can't go to the west village. Christopher is going to have flyers with your face all over the town." said Minnie. "Oh! We can hide you at our house."
Kallie laughed. "I...um...haven't decided what I'm going to do yet."
She looked at Tucker and Jamison who were walking in front of them all day. The two men had been the quietest that Kallie had ever witnessed. She could tell by their body language that they were both stressed, probably from having to spend the whole day together. She knew they had to be sick of one another. And she was continually putting them in situations where they had to deal with each other. She was honestly surprised that they were handling it so well, at least from what she could see.
When they came to the river, Kallie looked to Jamison. He gave her a quick hug and kiss. She wasn't worried about David and Minnie seeing since it was so dark. Jamison told them it was nice to meet them, then he disappeared into the night. "So where does he live then?" Minnie asked.
"On this side of the river. And Tucker lives on the other side." answered Kallie.
"But why?"
Kallie quickly hopped away across the stones in the river, avoiding the question.
Tucker built a fire then said he was going for a walk. He also gave Kallie a quick kiss while the other two weren't paying attention.
Kallie sat around the fire with her two best friends and a beaming smile on her face.
"I need to know everything." Minnie demanded. "Both of those men are crazy about you! But I cannot figure out which one you are crazy about."
"I noticed that too." David began. "She has that same look on her face with both of them."
So, Kallie told them everything. Still not about the werewolf and vampire stuff, but everything else. How she began developing feelings for Tucker, and then experienced the same with Jamison. She explained how they both asked her to stay with them and were still waiting for her to decide.
Minnie demanded every detail about her intimate moments with both men. David sat there, shocked to hear women discuss such things. He became even more shocked when Minnie admitted to telling Kallie about everything that had happened in their bed. "Oh David, it is not the 1700s anymore. Get with the times." Minnie would say.
"So," Minnie began. "Both of these men just live in the woods?"
"I was wondering the same." said David. "If you choose Tucker...are going to be living in that tent all your life?"
"I also couldn't help but notice how bright Tucker's eyes seemed to be once it became dark."
"And was it just me, or did Jamison's skin look to be an odd shade?"
"I would just really like to know why they live in the woods though? Was Tucker banished from his tribe? Can Jamison not afford a home?"
"I also kind of got a feeling that those two hate each other."
Kallie wished she could tell them the truth, but she knew it was not her right to tell secrets that were not hers. "Your million questions are not helping me choose between the two of them."
"Hmm..." David thought.
"I say both." Minnie shrugged.
Tucker walked and walked through the darkness. He found himself in his grandfather's sacred garden. His grandfather was there pruning away at a copper rose bush. Tucker loved being here at night. The plants glowed as if sprinkled with star dust or something of the sort. The golden apple tree matched his grandfather's glowing eyes.
"Well, good evening, Tucker." Chayton spoke as Tucker took a seat upon a rock. "I sense something is troubling you."
"Yeah, that damn vampire."
Chayton sighed. "And what did the damn vampire do now?"
"Made Kallie like him. How could she want to be anywhere near that thing?"
"Slow down now. Don't judge the girl's judgement. Have you not asked her to stay with you?"
"I did."
"And?"
"Jamison did too...at the same time."
"Oh." Chayton made a pained sound. "And who did she choose?"
"No one...yet. Each day I hope she has gotten closer to a decision. But it seems to be the opposite."
"Does it appear that she has stronger feelings for one of you?"
"No. She looks at each of us with stars in her eyes. Even speaks to us the same."
"Now, if she did choose Jamison and not you, are you going to leave her alone? Will you be able to walk away from her for forever? Do you think Jamison could if things were the other way?"
"No. He and I have already discussed this."
"Then why does she need to choose?"
"I thought the same thing."
"If the two of you going to spend the rest of her life fighting over her...then you might as well do just that. It doesn't matter who Kallie were to pick. Just let her have the both of you. If she is what you truly want...then so what?" Chayton shrugged.
"It's just...that all sounds..."
"Insane?"
"Yes!"
Chayton sat beside him. "Kallie, she is a good human. I am sure that woman has enough love in her heart for the both of you. Talk to Jamison, see if it is something he would be willing to put up with. Then ask Kallie. Find out if the two of you are what she truly wants. If it will make her happy, then I say it is worth every frustrating second you must spend with your enemy. Who by the way...is also a good person, just like you have known all along."
Tucker was silent for a while. "Would you have been able to share elisi with another man? A man you hated?"
"Hell no!" Chayton answered immediately with a laugh.
Tucker rolled his eyes.
"But" Chayton began. "It would have been worth every second to see your elisi smile. If having another man in her life meant she would have been twice as happy, then it all would have been worth it."
Tucker smiled as he thought of his grandmother, one of the kindest people ever. She and Kallie would have gotten along well. Then he thought of how upset his grandfather was when she passed away. That was one of the negatives about being a werewolf, your woman usually passed years before you. He knew that time with Kallie would come eventually, and he would never be ready for it. But he was going to make sure to give her the best, happiest, most wonderful life...and possibly with the help of Jamison.
"Thank you, eduda." He patted him on the back, then left to find Jamison.
Tucker found Jamison on his own side of the forest. Sitting in front of a small fire, poking it with a stick, his other hand resting beneath his chin. It was the most human that Tucker had ever seen Jamison. He looked lost with a hint of lovesickness.
"What do you want?" he murmured, not bothering to look at the giant wolf.
Tucker changed back to human. "We need to talk." He grabbed a log and sat across the fire from Jamison.
"Don't even bother asking me to step away, I'll never give up on that woman." Jamison continued staring deep into the flames.
"And neither will I."
"Did you hear her telling them how she met both of us? Making us sound like heroes. She looks at us the same, speaks of us with the same amount of admiration. I haven't a clue where her mind is at."
"I am too afraid to ask where her mind is."
"What if she never chooses? We will be fighting for the next seventy years." Jamison chuckled.
Tucker couldn't believe what he was about to say. He took a deep breath then said, "Maybe we shouldn't make her choose."
Jamison dropped the stick. "What?"
"Does it really matter? If she picks you, I'm still going to be there every day, fighting my way to her heart and refusing to quit. And I know you are going to do the same thing, if she picks me. You're still going to be here every day; you're not going to stop. So, it doesn't matter who she picks. We are going to end up fighting over her for the rest of her life."
"What are you trying to say?" Jamison glared at him. "What? We both get her? Are we both going to have a relationship with her? Share her?"
Tucker knew it was ridiculous once it all came out of Jamison's mouth. "This is a disaster." he mumbled, rubbing his face.
They were silent, staring into the fire and thinking of the possible future.
"You really want to do this?" Jamison asked.
Tucker waited a moment to answer. "If it will make Kallie happy . . . then it is worth it."
"Are you sure?"
"Are you?"
"No. But if it will make her happy, then it's worth a try."
Tucker swallowed. "So, we agree then?"
"We will both take care of her."
"And protect her."
"And make her happy,"
"Agreed?" Tucker asked as he stuck his hand out for Jamison to shake.
"Agreed," Jamison shook his hand.