Slate's Mistake
Authors: Tigertalez
Evernight
Publishing ®
Copyright©
2015
Tigertalez
ISBN: 978-1-77233-201-8
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor:
Karyn
White
ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters,
and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
The heroine was inspired by a friend of mine,
Leslie.
This story has a lot of personal
meaning for me. Though I didn’t focus too greatly on the disease, it has had a
huge influence on my life. I have lost family to it, I have suffered through it
twice, I have friends who have battled it, and have friends like Leslie and
Katt
, who are currently battling it.
For all who are touched by this affliction, I’d
like share a quote:
What
lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies
within us.
—
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Keep up the good fight, my friends.
SLATE’S MISTAKE
Kaska
Pack, 2
Tigertalez
Copyright
© 2015
Chapter One
Just over a week ago
The dust and airborne sediment from the stalls Slate
was cleaning mixed with the sweat on his neck and
forehead,
making him itch
. He didn’t mind the smell of horses. He actually liked
their smell. It didn’t bother his sensitive shifter nose.
But
the heat was unpleasant, and the other ranch hands on this ranch weren’t worthy
of his respect, to put it nicely.
He welcomed the break when the sound
of his cell phone howled. He recognized that ring tone as Enzo’s, a buddy from
his former military days and mutual friend of Alphy’s. Sliding his finger
across the screen, he
answered
it.
“Hi, Enzo, it’s good to hear from you. What’s
goin
’ on?” Slate used his free hand to lift up his cowboy
hat and wipe his forehead on his wrist where he kept large handkerchief tied
for this very reason.
“Alphy needs us. He’s putting a pack together and
wants us to join. But he also found his mate. She and her family are in danger,
and he needs us now. Can you make it?”
“Tell me where to fly to and I’ll leave on the next
flight out.” Slate didn’t really need to hear the whys to join his friends. He was
more than eager to pack up what he had and jump on the first flight out. These
friends meant that much to him.
“Good, I hope you have your passport current. It’s in
Canada. You’ll need to fly to Toronto.”
“That won’t take me too long. I’m not that far away.
Let me call a friend in the local pack to make some arrangements and I’ll be
there.”
“I thought you weren’t in a pride or pack.”
“I’m not. The territory I’m staying in belongs to a
wolf pack, but I’m not a member. Some of them aren’t too bad. I even made a
couple of friends. Nothing much, just some drinking buddies. Not enough to really
appease my lion.”
“You and I have a lot in common, Slate. I know most
feline breeds are independent from family and communities, but lions, like you,
crave to be part of that pack dynamic. But for one reason or other, have been
denied like myself. The whole family is gathering. We’ll both be a real part of
it.”
“That would be great. I’ll text you my traveling
info.”
“All right, see you there.”
After hanging up, Slate dialed the number of one of
his buddies. After a few rings, a cheerful voice toned through the line. “Hey,
pussycat, this is a little early for beers. What’s up?”
“Hi, Grey. I just got a call from someone I consider
family. They’re putting a pack together and want me to join. They also need
help with a bit of trouble, so I need to head out on the next flight. Can you
help?”
“Wow, congrats. Of course I’ll help. I know you try to
hide it, but I can tell it’s been hard for you to not belong to any community.
I’m happy for
ya
.
Whatch’ya
need?”
“I’ll need my stuff packed up. I’ll only be able to
take a couple of bags on the flight, and since I need to head out now…”
“No probs. I’ll head over to your place and you can
give me the keys. I’ll organize everyone to pack your shit up and when you’re
ready, we’ll ship it to
ya
.
You at
home now?”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. No, I’m still at work.
As soon as I hang up with you, I’m
gonna
give my
resignation to the boss and head out.”
“Boy, would I love to be a fly on the wall for that
little event. All right, I’ll meet
ya
at your place.
And again, congrats.”
“Thanks. See you there.”
After using his cell to book a flight, Slate texted
the info to Enzo and hurried to find his current employer. The man wasn’t as
tall as Slate’s six foot four, but he was a stocky hard-working man. The man
also cheated on his wife and didn’t pay his employees what they deserved, so Slate
had no troubles telling him he quit.
Slate saw the man standing by a pickup truck, ordering
another ranch hand, who bullied anyone smaller than he was, to unload the
supplies.
Yeah, no shed tears over any
goodbyes
.
“What is it you want, Slate?” The boss was belligerent.
“I’m informing you that you are a piece of shit and
the horses smell better than you. I quit.”
Slate didn’t wait for his response. He turned his back
on the now sputtering ex-boss, giving the finger as he trotted over to his
pickup, climbed in and sped home. No sooner did he get out his bags than the
doorbell rang. Answering the door, he let in his friend. “Thanks for coming,
Grey.”
“No problem, man. You can thank me by telling me how
you told off your boss when you quit.”
Slate chuckled. “Not much to tell. I just told him he
was a piece of shit, and that he smelt bad. I didn’t wait for any dramatics.”
“Ha! Still would’ve loved to have seen that. I bet he
turned all sorts of different colors. So when’s your flight?”
“My flight
leaves in two hours, and I’m just over an hour away.”
“Well, shit! What do you need me to do?”
Slate was stuffing his bags as he talked. “I would
appreciate it if you could drive me to the airport.”
“Oh hell!
That’s no sweat. You having me drive you will get you to there in half the
time.”
“I’ll give you the keys to my truck and apartment so
you can pack my shit up. Once I’ve settled, I’ll give you a call and let you in
what’s going on. I’ll repay you for this”
“Sounds good.”
****
Present Day
Slate’s perspiring form glistened in the warm and soon
to be setting sun as he leaned against the medical equipment Seamus, their pack
doctor, was insisting on bringing with them on their new mission. His eyes were
sure to be sparkling with mirth and entertainment as he watched their uber-powerful
and lethal Kodiak bear alpha go rounds with the average height, lightly built vampire
(and pack doctor) over what should and shouldn’t be taken with them.
“How on earth do you expect us to fit your portable
x-ray machine into the plane? It’s a Cessna, for crying out loud!” Alphy’s
voice was raised, but Seamus didn’t appear to be the least bit afraid of him.
Slate wouldn’t have been so brazen, but Seamus knew Alphy better than anyone
other than his twin, Ryker. The brothers had grown up in a coven that
neighbored Alphy’s birth sleuth. “Where are the rest of us supposed to put our
bags, or hell, even our bodies?”
Seamus had been “directing” Alphy, Slate, and Kace
with helping him “pack” for the journey to British Columbia. Alphy
growled,
something he did quite often around Seamus. Slate
smirked and tried to smother his laughs as he watched the bickering duo.
“It is extremely likely I will need this. There’s no
telling what those poor shifters have endured at the hands of Alpha David. If
you hadn’t have killed him in that challenge, we would never have learned about
the abused and neglected that are likely in his herd,” Seamus stated.
Slate noticed Kace, who was standing next to him on
the other side of the device, rolling forward from his heels to his toes and
back again. Everyone knew how much Kace complained about having to pack
all the
doctor’s medical equipment in a fourteen foot U-Haul
truck when he first came to Canada to join the pack. Come to think of it, Slate
did, too, so he was right there with Kace, silently rooting for their alpha.