"You agreed to do what?", Winter asked in a furious tone as he got off his bike. Ripping off his gloves he headed into the warehouse fuming at what he just heard Devin tell him. She had to be insane for agreeing to do such a thing-- he couldn't explain it.
Devin rolled her eyes following behind him "Look, this is not like this is something we haven't done before, Winter. We've done recon and babysat before."
Winter whipped his head around and scowled. "You damn well know that this is different, Devin. Maddie's got some nerve to ask this of us. You've got some nerve to asked this of me."
"Oh, come off it Winter. Look, you're going to be a fucking crybaby about this? This isn't about Maddie or the human she's asking us to lookout for. This is about Thesians who were removed and yet still threaten our territory. If Aidan exiled one whose decided to return, that spells trouble for us. All of us. It's a small job and Maddie did not easily ask for this."
"Oh, what a relief. She actually agonized over asking such a thing from you," said Winter. "She is not my Alpha."
"No, but I am." Devin replied. "And I'm asking you to do this not for Maddie, but for me." She faced him head on, ready for him to challenge. "I've known you for a long time, Winter and you're one of the best trackers I know. I know you aren't a fan of mingling with humans, but you have to be realistic. They are the majority and whether we like it or not they have and always will be in the crossfires of our feuds. And it's not their fault."
Winter folded his large arms and sighed. Nothing about this felt right to him regardless of there being a Thesian sniffing around a human woman to what did that even matter to him or Devin in a couple of weeks they would be leaving from this area into their own territory this was Aidan's beef to deal with not him. As he stared into Devin's dark eyes, he knew that there would be no reasoning with her to think otherwise. She was totally smitten with Maddie and Aidan and held the highest respect for them.
The fact that Maddie had the nerve to ask this of Devin seemed extremely selfish and over-reaching, but it seemed that there was nothing that he could really do. Had it been Maddie who asked him directly he would have flat out refused along with maybe some choice words, but Devin was his Alpha. He's pledged his loyalty to her and considering all that they've been through together she deserved it. All he could really do was hope that this was just a false alarm and any Thesian in their right mind would have been exiled would know to stay away especially after everything that went down in the past month with the attacks. Thesians would know better, but maybe a rabid or crazy one may not, which meant more trouble for him and the human woman he was supposed to protect.
Devon knew exactly what she was asking for of him and she knew that he probably thought it was quite unfair. Hell after all Maddie asked her to do it, not him, but it was time that Winter started to realize that he couldn't live in a bubble. That they were certain duties that were acted upon them and that wasn't always understood at the time but were needed. A Thesian was a threat to everyone and if it turned out that there was nothing then Winter could get back to his old grouchy ways, but if not, that meant they had to get involved and take care of it before the problem got any bigger.
She looked in her Beta's eyes and saw confusion and anger. Those emotions weren't there solely because of what she asked of them they just seemed to linger there all the time. But that was all he could ever feel. Winter's past was filled with blood and loss– it was dark and cold just like the season he was born in and she wished she could take all that away from him but it wasn't meant to be. He held onto it like a badge of courage as if there was the only part of him that wanted to keep that history. Perhaps focusing on something other than his comfort zone such as bikes and people hating would force him to learn a bit about himself. Maybe enough to feel some sort of joy. She wasn't really banking on it, but if there was ever an opportunity it would be now.
"I know I'm an asshole for asking this but, all I need for you to do winter is to just case the area if you catch on to a fusion sent let me know about it and I can deal with it. You don't even need to let her know who you are or what you're doing she doesn't even have to know you exist this could be a pretty simple mission if you let it." She walked past him. " Then you can get back to your life. So what say you?"
Winter scoffed at her formal ask. "As if I really had a choice in the matter?"
Devin shrugged. "No, but as always, it's out of respect. I really need you on this."
"Fine," he finally replied. "I'll sniff around to see if there's any suspicious activity, I'll let you know. If there's nothing, trust me, you'll also know."
"Fair enough." Devin said with a nod. "Thank you. Remember, her name is Linda Petersen. The little blonde you literally ran into today. I'm going back to finish packing up at the bar. Text me on what you find." She walked towards her bike and winked. "
Winter begrudgingly replied with a grunt as he watched her straddle her bike, kick it on and drive off. Seeing her taillights slowly disappear, he swore to himself. "Of all the fucking things someone could ask me for..." He moved over to the working table I started to grab his supplies he had a couple of cars to work on and the bikes are starting to pile up. He needed to keep busy and he wasn't ready to deal with he was asked to do right now. He just did not quite understand the fascination with helping humans. It was very clear that there was enough of them to help themselves and each other. I know the woman was crazy enough to get involved with a Thesian perhaps she brought some of this on herself. Thesians loved to roll around in the sack with human women, using them. They believe that blending in to society was to be completely assimilated that also meant taking humans as courteshas and even wives rumor said. Until he met Aidan, he didn't think that that was even true for Aristan ShadowShifters. Everything was changing around him and the rules didn't much weight. He just hoped he could survive this next mission despite it meant crossing some of those rules.
*****
Linda's list of to-do's was steadily growing for the holidays. So much, that she was excited to perhaps have a day off to plan everything out. This will be the first Christmas without drama in her home, so she planned to milk it for everything it was worth. Sandy was going to be so happy, she wouldn't know how to top next year. Between the office holiday party, the festival and her own home fun, she had her hands full organizing all the people and details. Her phone was buzzing non-stop with messages and voice mails from phone tag with some vendors and folks. Looking at the time on the dashboard, Linda sped up a bit. Between picking up groceries and work holding her up, she needed to make up for lost time to pick up Sandy.
She passed by the businesses decorating with garlands and tree shaped signs and smiled. By nightfall, downtown will at least have the white Christmas lights on and getting ready for the big tree lighting later that week. By that time, all the cookies and treats should be ready to give out. There was no Evan to bitch and complain about taking up the kitchen with pastry nonsense and holiday crap as he referred to it. She turned the corner and rolled her eyes at the thought of him. "Wow, I can't believe I put up with that shit. He's was deplorable."
Pulling up to the front of the school, she blew twice, then got out of the truck to go inside. Sandy was standing right at the door with her teacher, who opened it to finally release her. Sandy turned and waved to her smiling teacher and some friends before seeing her mom scurry towards her.
"Hi Mom! You won't believe what Ms. Chestke said about my art project!"
Linda smiled at her grinning daughter, guilty for being so late. "Hey bug, sorry I'm late. I've got some good news too!" She hugged her and grabbed her hand. "Come on, before we freeze to death. We can head to the bookstore and on the way you can tell me all about it." She unlock the doors and help Sandy get in making sure that her belt was fastened, she shut the door and hopped in the driver side. the bookstore was on the other side of town and she really had to hustle if she was going to make it there to give them enough time to pick up some books for a family-run store their hours were short on the weekdays, but she promised Sandy that they were going to get books and that's exactly what she aimed to do her daughter didn't ask for much. cooking on the engine she spit out of the parking spot and proceeded down the street.
"Are we going to make garland out of popcorn like we did last year mama?" Sandy asked.
Linda shrugged. "I suppose. I don't think Conrad's a fan of it so it's not like we're tempting him I guess as long as you make sure that you and Connor I don't eat them I think it's fine."
"Okay, we promise."
"Wow, speaking for Comrade, eh? Playing a pretty dangerous game kid," she said with playfulness in her voice.
"I trust him," Sandy said matter-of-factly.
"So do I, bug," Linda agreed. "So do I." In fact the really sad thing about it but she thought was that Conrad was the only male in their lives right now that they could trust. Evan was so cold and terrorizing at times, she was afraid that she may have ruined her daughter to trust any other man again. It's not like she had the greatest examples in life and part of that had a lot to do with her mistakes in choosing a man. Her therapist told her not to get into the whole sinkhole of blaming herself, and what he called "shouldy thinking," but it was hard. She learned everybody, even supermoms were allowed to make mistakes, still she just wondered how long it would be before the mistake stop beating the hope out of possibly feeling any trust for an outsider ever again. I will pay for my sins by learning from them and giving Sandra the best life I can offer her. The past is the past.
She heard the phone ring and picked it up without even paying attention to who it was calling. "Hello?," she answered. "Hello?"
There was nothing on the other end but static. "Hello?" The only sound that was returned past the static was some breathing and a very eerie silence on the other end.
"Mom, who is it?," Sandy asked.
Linda frowned. "Who is this?" she asked. Pulling her face away from the phone to look at the number she saw that it was listed as unknown "Look, I don't know who this is," she started shouting into the phone, "But I don't like freaking pranks!"
"Mom! Look out!" Sandy's voice screeched as she pointed to an obstruction coming closer.
Immediately shifting her focus, she turned to see a deer and quickly whipped her steering wheel to the right as she ran over something in a loud crunching sound which made both Sandy and Linda scream. Linda extended her hand to help pin Sandy to the seat as she slammed on the brakes, skidding against the slick, icy road.
A couple of seconds passed both of them planted in their seats, still panting for breath. Linda was able to finally speak. "Are you okay, Bug?" she asked with a shaky breath. Turning to examine her daughter, she was still strapped in-- her little hands wrapped tightly around the seat belt holding on for her life as they had screeched to a halt, but she was safe.
"I'm okay Mommy. Are you okay?"
"Yes." But she really wasn't quite sure. She was still trying to collect what actually happened. Did she actually run over a deer? What was that she hit and how could she have been so distracted? She shook her head to herself. I'm such an idiot. I could've hurt Sandy. She threw on her hazard lights and looked around to see where they had stopped. Thankfully, they were in an intersection but she was on the curb side. One quarter of the truck seemed to be hiked up on something from underneath. Oh no...
She leaned over to open the glove compartment and pulled out a flashlight "Bug," she said. "Wait here. Don't move. Just keep the seatbelt on you, okay? Mom is going to take a look outside to see what happened. Okay?"
Sandy nodded eagerly. "Okay Mommy. Be careful!"
Linda turned on the flashlight to test it making sure that her batteries were fresh. She cut it off then unbuckled herself and hopped out of the truck slamming it tight. Her feet landed in about several inches of snow. The traffic on the other end was slowly moving and a couple of people slowed down, rolling down their window.
"Is everything okay?," a young woman asked in her SUV.
Linda nodded, her cheeks flushed. "Yes, I am fine. Thank you!" Taking the flashlight out it didn't take her long to see that she had ran over something and got caught up in her axle. The bad news was that it indeed was a reindeer. The good news is that it really wasn't a real one. The big plastic obstruction was one of nine others that made up Santa's sleigh right outside Cooper's Shopping Center. She looked back at where she drove, and saw that she must have tracked for reindeer several feet past the rest of the group. Luckily, there was nobody around the area. She double-checked. They must have been just getting ready to put it together as it typically was ready by the tree lighting ceremony for the whole town, where Santa is actually able to sit in his sleigh and take pictures with kids.
Linda looked back and looked at the reindeer what a great big sigh What a way from you to put a dent in Christmas. And by the looks at her ass, it was going to put a dent in her automotive budget too. She didn't think that she would be able to roll back over the obstruction to get her truck free from it. She ran over it pretty good. Damn it . How can I have been so stupid? She opened the truck door and checked on Sandy.
"What happened, Mommy?" she asked.
"I'm so sorry, sweetie. We ran over one of the plastic deers. It wasn't a real deer, but it messed up the truck pretty bad."
Sandy pouted at her explanation. "Aww Mommy," she chided. "Which one was it?"
Linda frowned and checked back under the axle looking at the tag around the plastic reindeers neck. She shook her head rose back up and peaked at Sandy. "Looks like Prancer, honey."
"Mom," she said folding her arms. "We killed Prancer?"
"I'm sorry honey. Not the real Prancer, okay? We're going to get them all fixed up, I promise. We're going to get him fixed up, we're going to get the truck fixed up, I'm going to get you books everything's going to be okay just sit tight, okay?" She sighed. Mommy ruins everything, mommy fixes everything. Fair trade.
She reached in and grabbed her phone before closing the truck door. She turned on her phone and look at the log of the last call. It didn't give a number, only listed that it was unknown. She tried to call it back and it wouldn't even register. She was seriously annoyed by whoever who called and herself or letting it get the best of her. But at the same time as she stared at the phone making about the static and the soft breathing part of her wondered it if it was somebody that she knew. Perhaps it wasn't a prank? Was it Evan? How could she ever be sure? I'm overreacting she thought to herself Calm down. You're just dealing with a lot of stress a lot of things going wrong in a short period of time. Just need to call the tow and get us home and everything else will work out later. She took a deep breath and one of the patrons from the nearby store ran out to her.
"Goodness gracious! Are you okay ma'am?" the man asked. His dark brown hair was hidden behind a hoodie.
Linda nodded quickly, and tightened her coat. "Yes, we're okay. We just had a little accident. I'm calling the tow truck guy to get us moved." She didn't have a AAA card but she knew they were a couple of garages around that she could call. Before the attendant ran away she called him back. "Do you happen to know a name of a reputable tow truck company?" she asked.
"My dad used Jim's Tow & Salvage that's on the eastside. Nice old man."
"Jim's Tow & Salvage," she repeated. "Thank you!" She turned and looked it up on her phone. No website, but there was a phone number and a couple of positive ratings. She hit the number and hopped back in the truck away from the biting cold.
After the third ring, a deep, but gravelly male voice broke through. "This Jim."
Linda cleared her throat. Hello I'm actually looking for someone to help me with my car I need a tow are you available?"
"What's your location?" Jim asked.
Linda turned on her windshield wipers to clear snow from her visibility. " I'm right off of the corner of Lily and Main Street right by Cooper Shopping Center you won't be able to miss me I ran over one of them Santa's reindeers and currently jammed underneath my vehicle."
"Did you run into some livestock, mam?"
Linda couldn't help but laugh a bit at his serious tone and the situation she was in. "Yep, but it's actually not live. You'll seen what I mean when you come out. My daughter and I are okay, though."
"Alright. Where do you need me to tow the vehicle?"
"It's making a grinding noise when I tried to back up, so I could use someone to take a look at it."
"No problem, I can take you to a mechanic."
"I appreciate that, Mister Jim," she said looking at a shivering Sandy. "Do you know how long you'll take to get here? Hate to be a pain– It's getting pretty cold for my little girl."
There was a slight chuckle from Jim's side of the phone. "Not long. Fifteen minutes or so. Sit tight."
Linda nodded to the phone. "Okay will do. See you in a bit." Hanging up, she peered over to her daughter who had now reached into her backpack to pull out a book. " How are you doing over there bug?" she asked.
Sandy's big eyes looked over to her with a pouty face. "Mommy I'm cold. How long is it going to be?"
"Not long sweetheart," she replied. "He's on his way. We're going to get it towed to take care of all of this okay?" Linda reached behind the seat and pulled out the blanket they use for watching soccer and wrapped it around Sandy. She rubbed her arms up and down on her shoulders trying to draw some heat "There is that better, sweetheart?"
Sandy nodded her head and smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Bug. It won't be too long okay? The tow truck guy is on his way."
"We're not going to get books today are we mama?"
Linda nearly forgot that was where she was speeding off to before this little accident occurred. By now, the bookstore was closed and they wouldn't have another chance until probably tomorrow if they were lucky. Depending on the damage of her truck, who knows. The bummed look on her daughter's face kicked her heart. "I'm so sorry."
Sandy flipped through her notebook. "It's okay. It's not your fault. We'll go soon though, right?"
Linda gently rubbed her head that supported her favorite blue cap "Of course sweetheart," she said "We're definitely going; we just had to take a little detour. Sometimes bad things happen. You know that sweetpea. But we don't let it stop us from doing what we want anymore."
Sandy nodded. "No more."
"That's right. So we're gonna wait here and Mr. Jimmy will come and take our truck to get fixed up. Then we can go and get those books. Alright?"
"Okay mama." Sandy reached into her backpack and pulled out a piece of cardstock. She handed it to Linda. "Miss Chestke said it was one of the best in the class!"
Linda grinned. "Oh really?" she opened the fold and lit up at the big drawing of her, Sandy and a semblance of a German Shepherd to represent Comrade standing in front of a Christmas tree. She gasped, "Wow." The yellow for her hair was far too bright and the proportions were definitely from a child's eye. But both of them looked so happy in the picture, so it was spot-on in her opinion. She leaned over and kissed Sandy's forehead. "Muah! I freakin' love it! She tickled Sandy's sides. "And I freakin' love you!" Sandy jolted and giggled forgetting about being cold and bummed book shopping would have to wait. She had her mama.
By the time Jim's Tow Truck's highlights shone through the rear window, Linda and Sandy were singing sea shanties and Christmas carols, laughing at each other's misappropriation of lyrics and words. Linda finally turned and cheered, but soon found the cheering too soon as she now had to get out of the warm cab and back into the cold. "Wait here, bug. I'll be right back." Linda hopped out the truck and carefully trotted over to the driver side of the large diesel tow flatbed truck. Running in place, she waited for him to roll the window down.
A salt and pepper bearded man with a red trucker cap greeted her. "Are you Miss Linda Petersen?"
"Yes! I'm the one who called. My daughter is in the truck!" She shouted over the droning of the engine.
"I can tow you to Winter's Automotive if it's not drivable. I've worked with the guy a long time and there's no job he can't do. He's also the closest."
Linda nodded. "That sounds great. I'd appreciate that very much!"
Jim nodded. "Great! Go on and get your daughter and your belongings you need out the truck. I'll get started on picking her up. You and your kid can sit in the cab and keep warm until I'm done, okay?"
"Thank you!" Linda offered him a gentle smile and ran back to the truck. She opened it and heard Sandy shriek. "Come on, Sandy. Grab your stuff, baby. We gotta go in the tow truck while he hooks this one up." She handed Sandy her drawing and other papers they pulled out to past the time. Stuffing them back into her backpack, Sandy looked around on the floor before putting her backpack on.
"Can I watch him pick up the truck?"
Linda nodded. "From the tow, yeah. You can see it from the rear window in the cab. She slung her bag over her shoulder and extended her arms out to her daughter. "Undo your seatbelt and just crawl over to my side."
Sandy unfastened her seatbelt and did as instructed climbing into Linda's arms so she could pull her out and close the door. They hurried to the tow truck and huddled inside while Jim raised up their truck. Sandy turned and watched though she complained about how hard it was to see the action.
"So he's gonna fix our truck up good as new?"
"Yep. I hope. He's taking us to a mechanic who can get us all fixed up."
"Mechanics are cool. They are doctors for cars, right?"
Linda laughed. "That's a good way to put it."
She nodded and continued to watch Jim lock in truck before striding to the driver's side.
"No worries, ma'am. I'm sure Winter will be able to get you back on the road in no time. He can fix anything." He climbed into the truck and kicked into gear. "I'll get you there before he leaves for the day, alright?"
Linda nodded as Sandy climbed in her lap. "What are you doing, bug?"
"I need body heat" she said in a strained voice as Linda pushed her back on the seat.
"No problem. I can help with that," Jim said. He cranked on the heater where the heat blew against her faux fur sleeves on her coat. "Old Molly will get you guys toasty in no time."
"Thank you," Linda said softly. "I appreciate you coming out so quickly."
"No problem. Glad I could help. It's some nasty weather out there.
Linda helped Sandy hop out of the tow truck and pulled her purse around her chest. The tow truck guy proceeded to hop out and start pulling levers to lower the vehicle to the garage. "Feel free to go inside and talk to him while I lower and release your car. Might as well thaw out."
Looking up at the neon sign she was distracted by the sound of grinding coming from the inside the garage. She gently nudged Sandy. "C'mon bug, let's go inside and warm up. Be careful and don't touch anything." Holding her hand, they walked through a clear area leading to the office of the garage. As they walked, they both gazed at cars, trucks and motorcycles in the garage. Some on lifts, some missing parts and some looked like they just came off the dealership's lot. Sandy was wide-eyed and completely absorbed in the clutter of mechanics. Evan never let her anywhere near his bike, but she always found them fascinating.
"Wowww," Sandy whispered with awe. "There's a bunch of motorcycles here, mama! Oooh. That one is a pretty blue color!" Her fingers outstretched to pick out the cobalt blue and black Ducati that had a dented fuel tank.
Linda smiled. "Those are not toys, baby. They go fast and are dangerous."
"So does that mean I won't be getting one for my birthday?"
Linda scoffed. "Ha, not on your life, bug. Wouldn't you rather a car?"
"Nope." Her fingers trailed the dusty iron rail as she walked.
"Well, we'll see. Sixteen is a long time off. Plenty of time to change your mind about it." Finally reaching the office, they stepped inside and looked around the empty space. There was a counter with a file cabinet and terminal and receipts spilled over from a folder. Sandy gravitated to the vending machine, pressing herself against it to stare at the fig cookies inside. Linda turned around and spotted the coffee machine with minimal relief since the pot only held enough stale coffee to line the bottom. She sighed, half tempted to make a fresh pot. "Hello?," she called out, looking around for the owner to show up.
Their attention was diverted by a man rolling out from underneath a truck near the office entrance. Linda paused to see a muscular, dark haired man get up from the dolly and stretch his long thick body. His black t-shirt clung to his broad torso but rose just enough to give her a glimpse of his toned abdominals. His jeans were smudged with dirt and motor oil as was his arms. She recognized him immediately as the guy who she ran into back at the vet.
That presence was hard to forget–as well as the scowl he held.