Lia reached out to touch the snake too, to Julia's horror, like neither of them could quite see or hear their parent's panicked yells. Julia ran at the curious four year olds, as Levi ran, Julia's feet stumbling and knocking over sand forts. What was just a few metres suddenly became miles, miles and miles, and she knew she wasn't going to reach them in time. Neither was Levi.
A crash in the bush barely sunk into her head, as she saw the angry brown snake lash at Lia and David, and then something large and dark knocked both Lia and David over, the snake caught between its teeth.
An otter.
It rolled around with the snake, no more cute Otter, teeth bared and sinking into the brown snake as the brown snake attacked back. But the otter was fast, sharp, and the snake stopped thrashing as teeth sunk down, the flexible paws grasping onto the snake's head.
It bent over the snake, breathing hard, and then Ben changed back. He kind of stumbled, looking shocked, white, staring back at the upset twins.
“Did it bite?”
Levi got to them, as Lia and David grabbed for him, now crying their eyes out. Julia caught up to him and grabbed Lia, checking her, her hands, her face, her body, looking for anything. But she was just shocked, just frightened, and there was nothing.
“No.”
“No.” Levi breathed out, flopping, arms grasping onto David.
“Good.” Ben flopped. He seemed to be not okay though. Julia smelt it- something different, heard something different about his heart and breathing, and her eyes met his. She got it. He had been bitten. He smiled a weak smile as her face drained of blood. “I would not let your children get hurt.”
Levi stared at him, then stood, heading straight for the Pack Hall. For Randy, or someone, and she watched him go. They had a first aid kit, they had some people in the Pack with training, and Julia tried to think.
“Okay. Evie, Angelica?”
The older girls had watched this, hand in hand, staying close to the fort as if it'd protect them. Maybe they got it, they weren't that young, maybe they knew about snakes. She had to stop thinking of them as babies. “Mama?”
“I want you to take Lia and Davie up to Beth's house, okay? You tell her they were playing with a snake.” Julia hadn't found a bite but she still felt paranoid. “It didn't bite them. But stay there while we make Ben feel better.”
“Okay.” There it was, that strangely mature thing they both had, even though they looked kind of freaked out. She hugged them hard as they came over, and then squeezed their hands.
“I'm going to come up soon. Then we can eat chocolate. But I want Ben to feel okay.”
A nod from both of them, as they took Lia and David's hands, and she watched them lead the littler ones up the hill to where Beth and Yasmine's cottage was. To Julias relief, Beth only took a minute to answer the door, and let them in.
She slid over to Ben, who'd exposed the bite, frowning. It looked so tiny but Julia could smell it was bad. Stupid Australian snakes. Julia felt totally helpless. She had no clue what to do. Ben seemed calmer than she was.
“Do not worry. It is a bite.” He stared at his arm, like it was no big deal, but she knew it was. Levi and Andy were running down the hill, a first aid kit in Andy's hand, and Levi tugged Julia back so Andy could get to it. He glanced at the snake and frowned.
“Okay. We have anti-venom.”
“We do?”
“Randy's idea. Seemed stupid to be in Australia, with all these snakes, and not have some way to handle it.” Andy muttered. “We'll worry about that in the Pack Hall.”
He and Levi bound Ben's arm up, careful, while Julia stood there watching helplessly. Then Andy helped Ben stand and lifted him up in his arms, Ben holding onto his skin carefully.
“Safer I carry you.” He explained, shrugging slightly, as Ben looked amused. Andy was shorter than Ben and it looked a bit odd. “It's a steep hill. Levi, I want you to stab that snake through the head, then bring it up.”
“Through the head?”
“Just to make sure. Be careful. Snakes still can bite for hours after they're dead. Julia, you should stay with your kids, they're probably a bit upset.” Andy turned to her. “We can handle it.”
He was right but Ben might have just saved her kid's life. Seriously. Those snakes were scary.
“Go on, Julia.” Levi nudged her gently. “He saved our kids. I'll be there helping. You talk to our angels.”
She nodded, heading up the hill, as Andy and Levi followed close behind with Ben. Beth opened the door, just as Julia hesitated about whether she should knock or not, and Beth hugged her.
“See? Here's Mama. It's not that bad.” Beth said. She sounded strained, cheerful, as if she was forcing herself to smile. Julia saw why when Beth pulled her inside and shut the door. Lia was actually crying and David looked shaken. “Mama can tell you what happened. And me. Because I don't really understand.”
Evie and Angelica shifted, a bit guilty, but they were white too. Julia went to sit in the mdidle of them, snuggling them, tugging the little ones into her lap as Angelica and Evie leaned against her. “It's okay. David found a snake and Lia wanted to pet it, but you can't pet those snakes. They don't like to be touched. So Ben took the snake away before it could bite.” She spoke lightly, squeezing them, as if their brush with death was no big deal. Julia's heart was still racing and she tried to calm down for their sake.
“I just wanted to pat it.” Lia spoke, a thumb in her mouth, upset. “Ben hurt me.”
“I know, baby, but the snake was going to give you a little bite that would make you sick. So Ben stopped it.” Julia smelt something familiar. Chocolate? Beth was tugging a block out and breaking it up for everyone. “He didn't mean to hurt you two. He's a little sick now though and he can say sorry when he's better.”
Beth and Julia met eyes, as Beth handed out chocolate, and Beth stood up.
“How about we watch a movie in here. Yasmine's asleep but we can watch it quietly.” She suggested, voice soft, and added, “I'll make popcorn.”
Oliver burst into the door then, staring at them, his eyes wide. Went from the kids, to Julia, to Beth who narrowed her eyes at him, he was even panting.
“I heard.... snake. Bite. Kids?”
“Ben protected them.” Julia thought that would make him happy. She stared at him as his face darkened, felt jealousy briefly through the mate bond, felt that weird aggression towards Ben. Like he was a challenge to Oliver someone. It was the strangest feeling. “So we're going to watch a movie. While Levi and Andy help Ben with his snake bite.”
“He was bitten?”
Somehow that didn't help. Oliver frowned.
“We're going to watch a movie quietly. Yasmine's asleep.” Beth added, fixing him with a look, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. “So you stop slamming doors or you get out.”
Julia actually giggled, which made the kids relax, as Oliver stared at Beth. He nodded.
“Fine. I'll be quiet.” He slid down to sit on the couch and opened his arms as Evie and Angelica slid into his lap. “You two okay?”
“Yeah.” Evie rested her head against his chest, Angelica leaning against his side. “I'm okay. We saw the snake too late.”
“Everyone did. I think we'll talk about what you can and can't pet when everyone's relaxed.” Julia squeezed Lia and Davie. “There are some things you can't pet. They don't like it.”
Julia watched the door anxiously, as the kids relaxed and settled in for a movie, Beth distracting them with some food and soft drink. Normally the four year olds would have had a nap by now, but she didn't disturb them, both of them now falling asleep on Oliver's leg and on the edge of the couch, clearly already heading in that direction on their own. Oliver was falling asleep too, to her amusement, barely able to keep his eyes open. He always looked so tired lately. She wondered if he was pushing his training too hard.
Levi texted her, which was kind of funny when he was just five minutes away, and she read it. Julia relaxed. He was going to be okay. The otter skin was thick and the snake had only scraped him, it was his panic that had made his heart sound funny, so it was going to be painful but not deadly. Julia breathed out slowly, shutting her eyes, relived. Snakes scared her a bit now. She had to find out what kinds were here.
Was it crazy to want to hunt them all down? Probably. They were just trying to live like she was. Trying to survive. Julia just had to learn to respect them. Teach the kids to be careful.
Levi came in later and hugged her anyway, hard, nuzzling against her neck as Julia leaned against him.
“What kind of snake was it?”
“A young copperhead snake. Not even an adult.” Levi said softly, stroking her back, his scent washing over her and taking away the last of the anxiety that clung to her. “He said it'll taste delicious. He'll cook it tonight.”
Julia tried to smile as Levi grinned weakly at her. “Otters eat meat?”
“Mmhmm. Otters are predators too, remember?” He gazed over her shoulder at the couch and Julia turned to look. Oliver and the 'four angels' were asleep, some pink sunburn on all five of them, Levi looking amused, his chin resting on her shoulder as he leaned against her back. “Our poor family. Never a dull moment.”
Beth rolled her eyes and gestured for them to follow her outside. She slid the door shut gently. “Let's just let them sleep. Oliver looks like he's been awake for days. You want some help to cook dinner?”
How did she know? Besides, of course, all of Julia's terrible attempts at cooking dinner for the women's night out thing they usually did weekly. She'd been unable to do it this week. Julia nodded, Levi laughed softly, and the three of them headed for Julia's house.
Sunday, compared to Saturday's snake drama, was peaceful. The kids didn't fight as much, to Julia's shock, and she sat with them as they went over different animals and insects that 'didn't like being petted'. Levi had researched all night and found several species of snake and spider that might be on the island.
The scary one was the copperheads. They were aggressive and didn't like to be played with. But they had little teeth and apparently the teeth didn't go through boots or thick socks. The other two, the tiger snake and the white lipped snake, was also deadly, but both species were shy. That was nice to know. So if the kids just didn't come across a sleepy snake and pick it up... it'd probably run from them. That was probably why Julia hadn't really seen much of snakes over the years she'd been here. They probably stayed deep in the bush and avoided the noisy wolves and humans.
Then there were the insects. Apparently there was an ant that actually jumped and had a nasty bite, called a Jack Jumper, bees and wasps that the kids already knew to avoid, a couple of spiders including a 'cave spider', and a red back spider. It freaked Julia out a little but Levi was so calm, so relaxed, that her panic faded pretty fast. Apparently people rarely got bitten, even less likely to die from the bites, so even though they were technically deadly, it just took some brains in the bush to avoid getting in trouble.
They actually took the kids on a bush walk after that, even though Julia wanted to hide them inside, Levi and Oliver with her as they wandered through the bush. She'd made the kids put on long pants and boots. Just in case. The kids were scared of the bush now and Levi wanted to change that.
No snakes though. Maybe the kids scared them off- they kept squealing if they saw movement in the bush- but it worked like how Levi wanted. Their fear of the bush soon turned to interest again. He showed them birds, made them look at spiders, Oliver catching a frog and showing them the frog.
It was on the way back that they finally saw a snake. Levi froze, the kids mirrored him, and instead of panicking, he knelt calmly and pointed at where the snake lay in the sun. He whispered, “You see? It just likes sunshine. See how it has a lump?”
A nod, as David and Lia slid closer, their eyes wide. Angelica headed for Oliver and Evie stood near Julia.
“That means it had lunch and it wants a nap now.” Levi explained. He was so calm. They were barely ten metres away from a tiger snake and he just spoke like it was a zoo with safe glass between them. “So we're going to talk loudly and let it know we're here. Okay?”
Before Julia could protest, he'd risen his voice, and her heart stopped as the snake raised its head in their direction. Levi stood up and actually stopped his feet on the ground, talking about what he'd like for lunch, both sounds pretty loud in the quiet bush. The snake tensed. Julia's fear rose.
And then it turned and slid away into the undergrowth as fast as it could, looking pretty uninterested in a fight.
Julia breathed out slowly, kicking for Levi, and he ducked her foot. Grinned. “Mama doesn't like snakes. Okay. Let's go home and have some lunch.”
“Okay.”
Julia helped them pack over the afternoon, biting her lip as Oliver vanished for a 'last minute training session', so that it was just her and Levi packing the four bags for the kids.
“You okay?”
“I don't know. I guess so. It just feels strange that they have to go away like this.” Julia muttered. “The little ones. They're four. I mean, they need naps.”
“I know. I checked about that.” Levi agreed, sliding close to hug her as he folded up clothing. “They have naps every afternoon at two. They play games. Every day of the week has a topic that repeats. They seemed to enjoy it, they've made friends, and I could barely get them away from the toys.”
“Good toys?”
“Kid sized kitchens, bedrooms, prams, puzzles, all kinds of things you'd expect from a private school.” He shook his head, laughing softly, and squeezed her side. “Even a section with tiny hammers and wood. I think David and Lia are working on something with his teacher for us.”
“Hammers?” She pictured their tiny fingers, hammers, and cringed.
“Rubber ones. Blocks of wood that already have holes and soft edges. It's all safe. The teacher said it helps them learn to use their hand-eye coordination.” Levi slid clothing into their bag. She suddenly saw it- how much of a pro he was at this. At being daddy. It was amazing. He seemed to know how much clothing they'd need, how to handle them, how to answer endless questions, she was kind of stunned by how well he'd taken this all on. “What did you get told yesterday by Ben?”
But he was cut off. The kids reappeared. Julia had to bite her lip and go quiet, and Levi sighed, nodding a fraction. As much as she hated to say it, she had to put it off again, because she wasn't sure it was a good idea for the kids to hear it all. It was pretty dark stuff.
“I'll pack a bag for your daddy.” Julia muttered, when it go to five thirty and Oliver still wasn't back, while Levi got the kids an early dinner. She headed upstairs to pack for Oliver, wondering what the hell he was doing, a little confused by this. Julia didn't mind packing for him but usually he did it, if he had to go somewhere, which was fairly rare.
Oliver met them at the airstrip in the end, much to her disgust, as they hurried up to meet the plane. Julia frowned at him as he took her bag.
“You weren't spending the afternoon with us?”
“Had to train.” He leaned forward to kiss her, seeming hurt when she didn't return it, but Julia was frustrated with him. Oliver was starting to do his distant thing again. “Sorry. I really had to. Beth and Yasmine coming by boat?”
She didn't get much chance to answer beyond a stiff nod. The plane landed, Julia watched Oliver and the kids get on with a couple of fighters, and then they were gone again. Just like that.
Julia hadn't even really got to say goodbye this time. It was like Oliver had forgotten.
“Julia.” Levi said softly, tugging her back, as she watched the plane vanish. “I think we better talk about Oliver now.”
Julia nodded, tense, and turned to follow him down the hill. Levi was right. They needed to talk about Oliver.
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A/N Thanks for reading! :) Please remember to vote!