Barely Winging It (3 page)

His alarmed instincts urged him to search out Havana
to make sure she was safe. Following his nose, and knowing her habits, he
headed for the kitchen. Subtly peeking around the corner, he saw Havana cheerfully
getting out plates and silverware. With the worried looks on Connie’s and
Gale’s faces, he guessed Havana was being cheerful to keep their spirits up. He’d
figured out that part about her. Havana was normally strong, especially for
others. In fact, she seemed strongest when she helped others.

Dultyn
needed to find
Alphy
and find out what happened to
get everyone so worried. Leaving the ladies uninterrupted, he made his way to
the office, passing Seamus in the hallway. Seamus was on the phone but nodded
his greetings as they passed.
Alphy
, Enzo, Ryker and
now Nix, congregated in the smallish room. He could see Nix shift anxiously
from foot to foot, waiting for
Alphy
to give him
permission to talk.
Dultyn
stayed in the doorway and
listened.

Alphy
gave them each a nod and then turned to Nix.
“Nix, report.”

“A bush pilot did an emergency landing on my field of
wildflowers. I didn’t get her name, but when I flew closer…” Nix seemed to be
struggling over what to say. “She’s my mate, I’m sure of it. She’s human, so I
couldn’t shift to talk to her. All I have is the number of the plane she was
flying.”

Alphy
gave a relieved smile. “Well, that’s good news, Nix. We could use that about
now.” Turning to Ryker,
Alphy
asked him, “What do you
think, Ryker? You think you can track her down?”

Ryker didn’t stop tapping on his keyboard as his green
eyes landed on Nix. “Congrats, man, I’ll make sure we find her. What’s the
number?”

Nix gave Ryker as much detail as he could remember,
from the plane’s number and description, to the description of his mate.
Dultyn
had to wonder if he was doing the right thing by
choosing not to claim his mate. Fate certainly seemed to be favoring this pack,
but why?

“All right, you two keep working on that, and maybe if
you get the chance, look into what private jets are available to purchase and
how much they cost.
Just a recap to get you two up to speed.
Slate, Matteo,
Dex
, and Pierce were sent to Toronto
on some errands in Toronto. When they were there, they were attacked by Slate’s
father.
Dex
was shot. He’s in pretty bad shape, so we
sent his mate down with Marek. As she’s his mate, he can only drink from her
now, and from the sounds of it, the injury is pretty bad. He did get some
bagged blood through an IV, which a vampire can use temporarily, so we are
optimistic he will pull through.

“Slate challenged Carl and defeated him. There was
another shifter who they took into custody. He was reportedly coerced by Carl
to assist. Slate and Matteo are bringing him up for us to question. Keep your
guards up. His father may be dead, but the alpha, Tony Smith, has gone missing.
And I’ve been reminded to not forget keeping a lookout for the herd’s beta,
Damon.”

Dultyn’s
hard ridged brow rose up on his forehead. “You certainly keep yourself busy. I will
let the others know.
Anything else?”

Alphy
rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.
“Nothing
official.”
Alphy’s
head fell back, and his
eyes were closed. “Seamus met with Katie about some test results on her
pregnancy, and she’s been holed up in her room ever since, refusing to speak to
anyone until Slate gets home.” The alpha looked around the room at each of the
men around him. “There’s no telling what he told her, if it was good or bad,
but it has many in the pack worried and upset. Seamus refuses to tell anyone
what it is, or even hint at it!” He growled, irritation shown clearly over the
alpha’s face. “Says
it’s
doctor/patient
confidentiality. With so much drama going on, the stress of this could cause
trouble within the pack.”

Ah, that must be why my
mate and the other ladies were so upset
,
Dultyn
thought. Having the mate of a friend severely
injured was pretty bad, but adding to that the unknown element with their
friend’s pregnancy was weighing them down.

Supper was quieter than usual. Even the twins, Abby
and Danny, were not as demanding of their attention as they were normally.
Dultyn
pulled Stelios and Bogdan aside and told them
everything he learned, and they in turn told him what they’d overheard through
the pack members. The gargoyles had been together for so long that they worked
well as a team.

Tires sliding over dirt could be heard outside as a
vehicle came to a fast stop in front of the house.
Dultyn
stood and watched the door bang open, and Slate, dressed only in a pair of low hanging
navy blue sweats, leapt up the stairs. Everyone around him stood as well, and
it felt like the whole room held its breath.

Shortly after, Matteo, Pierce, and two other men
walked through the still open door. One man was short, maybe only five foot
ten, with short blond hair and a thin athletic build. His eyes were downcast,
and he held his hands together in a tight hold. He was obviously very
submissive and very afraid of whatever his fate entailed. The other man had
long, dark hair and well-trimmed facial hair. He stood as tall as Matteo, but before
Matteo introduced them, he asked about
Dex
.

“I just talked with Raymond a few moments ago. Elise
arrived, and
Dex
drank from her. His wounds have
vastly improved, and their physician believes he’ll make a full and speedy
recovery.” Everyone in the room heard the alpha and breathed a little sigh of
relief.

Matteo nodded to him and then turned and introduced
the others to the alpha. He started with the taller man. “
Alphy
,
this is Gregory Johnson. He’s a member of the Toronto coven and was kind enough
to drive us home. Next to him is Maximus Stone. He was a lion from the pride in
Texas.”

Alphy
nodded towards Gregory.
“Gregory, thank you for bringing them
home.
This is my mate, Gale.”
Alphy
pulled his
mate closer to his side.

“Alpha, ma’am,” Gregory politely responded.

Gale smiled back at him. “Would you like something to
eat? We have plenty.”

After briefly looking for permission from
Alphy
, which he was given, the vampire smiled. “Thank you,
I would love to. Perhaps if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll dish this one up, too. I
can tell you he’s malnourished.” Gregory gave the alpha a knowing looked, which
he returned with a slight nod.
Dultyn
noted that bit
of information. Perhaps the little lion wasn’t as guilty as he appeared to be.
Nix and Pierce led the two into the kitchen just as Slate and Katie made their
way downstairs. Everyone gathered in the living room, waiting to hear what the
big and dire news was.

Henry led his mate, Beverly, and Katie’s sister, Sara,
into the room. Beverly looked fully healed after her near death beating at the
hands of her now dead husband. Seamus joined the group, his face giving no clue
what was about to be revealed.

Slate held his mate tightly against his front as Katie
spoke. “I’m sorry for scaring everyone. The news isn’t as dire as I’ve just
been told everyone thinks. It was a bit of a shock, and I needed time to
process it. You are all my family, so I want to share this with you all at the
same time as I tell Slate.”

Slate looked more like he was chewing glass.
Dultyn
could hear his racing heart from where he stood.
Katie continued. “I’m not having a cub…” She paused and took a breath to steady
herself.
Dultyn
watched Slate’s arms tighten around
her, his face full of concern as she continued. “I’m having more than one.”

For a brief second, the room went still. Leave it to
his mate, Havana, to be the first one to break the silence.
“Twins!
Sweet!”
Her brother, Reese, who tended to always be
with the tot twins when they were over, cheered along with her, but Katie shook
her head and everyone got silent again.

This time, Katie’s sister, Sara, exclaimed.
“Triplets?”
At Katie’s nod, everyone whooped and cheered … all
except the expecting father.
Dultyn
noticed the
enforcer grew a little bit pale. Everyone congregated around the couple and
offered hugs and their congratulations. He couldn’t stop the chuckle at hearing
Havana tease Slate.

Dultyn
was struck by a thought. This pack truly was blessed by fate. With knowing
that, should he really defy fate by delaying his mating with Havana? But she was
so young and so full of life. He could only hold her back.

He shook the thought off since he couldn’t even talk
to her until tomorrow. But what would he say? What would
she
say?

Chapter Three

Wednesday evening

Bronya
went over her mental check list to power down the plane she’d just repossessed.
It was relatively easy with the exception of that minor mechanical difficulty
forcing her to land.
Thank heavens there
was a flat strip of land right where I needed it
. Once done, she grabbed
her jacket, flight log and file, and exited the plane.

Her boss, and father, was waiting for her.
“Was
gettin
’ worried.”

She gave her dad a reassuring smile.
“Had a mechanical issue.
A couple of the spark plugs were so
loose, they were about to fall out.” They walked together and made their way to
the small airstrips office her family owned. “It was the strangest thing. There
were no issues at all until I get over halfway home, and then she just threw a
fit and forced me to land. And that wasn’t the weird part. Right after I
landed, this falcon landed on the plane and watched me the entire time.” She
didn’t tell her dad how torn up she’d felt at leaving the falcon. She saw birds
of prey all the time, and even though she enjoyed watching them, she never felt
any grief or anxiety leaving any of them. Maybe she was coming down with
something, or maybe it was the bad date she couldn’t shake that threw her off.

“Falcon you say? Huh, that’s interesting. Falcons are
known to symbolize visionary power that leads you to your life’s purpose, higher
knowledge in solving current dilemmas, and guardianship. Perhaps nature was
telling you something important was going to happen that will make a big change
in your life, one that you will need wisdom and protection to get through.”

Bronya
knew her dad loved to look for the meaning in things, and with this one, for
the life of her, she couldn’t deny it.
Weird
,
she thought, because she never could get into superstitions like her dad did.

“Let me guess, Gates called again,” she said dryly. This
referred to her date gone psycho. After only one date, she’d had to tell the
guy she didn’t think they were compatible. Two weeks later and the man still
wouldn’t stop calling her. He was getting seriously
stalkerish
with always dropping by her apartment or work, and the endless calls and texts
at all hours.

Her dad grunted his affirmation. “You need to get the
authorities involved with him. He’s sick in the head, which makes him
dangerous.”

Bronya
couldn’t argue with the sick and dangerous part, but law enforcement wouldn’t
do anything until he actually put her in danger, which usually meant she needed
to be raped or killed before they stepped in. Still, she wanted to try to ease
her dad’s worries. “Don’t take the falcon thing so seriously. Everything will
be all right.”

“I seriously don’t have a good feeling about you going
home tonight. Why don’t you come back home with me and stay the night? Your
mother would appreciate knowing you are all right for at least one night. She
worries, too.”

“Huh, let’s see. Go home and fix
myself
something to eat and worry about a possible crazy-ass psycho
watching me through my windows, or go home with Dad and have Mom make me supper
with
dessert and a foot rub.” She
eyed her dad playfully.

As she hoped, the man laughed. “All right, I’m not
opposed to bribery. Dessert and a foot rub it is.”

Even though she teased, she knew better than to argue
with her father’s hunches. She may not believe all the hokey-pokey jargon that
he did, but he and her mom were usually right about things. After finishing up
her paperwork, she let her father lead her to his truck and drive them home.

In spite of the toe-curling dinner her mother had
prepared, and a foot massage that made her feet almost sing the Hallelujah chorus,
Bronya
couldn’t get to sleep. She felt so restless
that she had to get up and start pacing.

With her brain refusing to shut down to sleep, her
father’s words about falcons echoed through her head as she fought to control
her wandering thoughts. The male falcon she had seen stayed paramount. Come to
think of it, it was the largest falcon she had ever seen. She was an avid bird
watcher. She knew the subtle differences between falcons and hawks, male and
females.

It was near three in the morning when a knock on the
front door sounded through the still of the house.
Bronya
headed to the entryway to see who it was. If it was Gates, she was going to
kick him a new asshole. The porch light automatically went on during the night,
so she didn’t have to flip any switches to view through the peephole in the
heavy wooden door. Shock rippled through her when she spotted two uniformed
officers on the other side.

Reaching up,
Bronya
twisted
the deadbolt but kept the chain lock in place as she cracked open the door.
“Can I help you?”

The older officer, who looked to be in his
fifties, answered grimly.
“Uh, yes,
ma’am.
We’re looking for Mister and Missus Webber. Do you know where we
can find them?”

“They’re in bed,” she said cautiously.

“We understand that, ma’am. We’ll wait here while you
get them.”

Bronya
glanced over at the younger officer standing just on the other side of the
older one before nodding her head and closing the door.

Bronya
carefully made her way down the dark hallway until she came to her parents’
door. Knocking lightly first, she reached for the handle and opened the door.
Her mother was always a light sleeper but her father was a pretty heavy
sleeper, so it was no surprise she heard her mother’s
groggy
voice sound through the darkness. “What is it,
Bronny
?”

“There are two officers here who want to speak with
both of you.”

“In the middle of the night?
This won’t be good. Rich, wake up, Rich.”

“Mm?”
Her father mumbled. He was also a difficult man to wake.

Her mother raised her voice sternly.
 
“Richard Roy Webber, get up now!”

“Dad, some policemen are here to talk to you and Mom.”

After hearing moans and griping,
Bronya
saw the shadowed form of her father roll out of bed and reach for his pants.
She quickly exited and returned to the front door to check on their visitors.
Looking through the peephole, she could see they were still there, waiting
patiently and talking quietly with one another.
 

She stepped aside when her father approached. He
unlatched the chain lock and opened the door wide. Staring briefly at the two
men, no doubt assessing them, he spoke to them. “I’m Richard Webber. What’s the
nature of this visit?”

This time the younger officer answered. “Mister
Webber, I’m Officer Ryland and this is Officer Miller. There was a structural
fire this evening at the Meadowlark apartment complex. You are registered as an
emergency contact for one of the residence, a Miss—” The officer looked down at
his notes, but
Bronya
interrupted him before he could
finish.

“
Bronya
Webber, that’s me.”

Both officers looked up at her. For a moment she
thought they looked a little bit relieved but then they looked at her
questionably. “Miss Webber, have you been here all evening?”

“Yes, why?”

The older officer interjected, “Mister Webber, can you
confirm to that?”

“Yes, she’s kept her mother and me up all night
pacing.”

Bronya
didn’t show her shock at hearing she had kept her parents up.
Oops
.

Turning to the two officers,
Bronya
felt compelled to ask, “Do you believe it was arson?”

The younger officer answered, “Why would you ask
that?”

“You mean besides asking me where I was at the time of
the
fire?
”

Her father cleared his throat, silently telling her
she needed to tone down the snarky sarcasm. This was a common thing for him to
do as she had a bad habit that she just couldn’t care to change.

Her dad turned an apologetic look towards to two
uniformed men. “Officers, would you like to come in? I’ll get a pot of coffee
brewing.” He stepped aside, and the officers entered nodding their gratitude.
He led them to the living room where everyone took a seat. Her mother had
watched from around the corner of the entryway, so while they made their way to
the living room, she made her way to the kitchen to brew the coffee. Her mom
and dad worked brilliantly as a team.

“My daughter has been having problems with a man who
won’t stay away. In fact, he had called for her several times at our office.”

With a look from her father,
Bronya
told the officers about the only person she had in her life that she would
suspect for anything malicious. The officers asked questions and took down
notes. After giving her their cards, they thanked them for the hospitality and
promised to keep in touch before they finished the last gulp of the coffee and
headed out the door.

After they left,
Bronya
felt
fatigue plague her, but instead of going to bed, she called her insurance
company and reported the fire. Hours later, she curled up on the couch in her
father’s office, covered herself with the throw from the back, and closed her
eyes for a little nap. She wasn’t one to get scared, but being alone right now
felt sickly to her. But here in her dad’s office, with people all around, she
relaxed enough to give herself some rest. She’d deal with everything else after
that.