A Home for her Hawk Read online

  Kimber blushed. “More than a neighbor,” she confessed, putting her hands on her cheeks to cool their sudden burn.

  “Oooh,” Melody’s eyes lit with pleasure. “We need to have another girls’ night out, and you can tell me all about it.”

  “We will.” Kimber smiled. “Did you want to leave a message for Mr. Chamorro? He went out to show a property.”

  Melody glanced at the clock behind the desk. “No, it was silly, me stopping by. But I’m glad we caught up. I have a client I need to get ready for.” With a jaunty little wave, Melody left and went across the street to the salon she worked at.

  As Melody left, though, another thought occurred to Kimber. Melody had never made a secret of the fact she admired the shifters in town. Could one of them be the baby’s father?

  She was about ready to lock up for lunch when the phone rang. Kimber debated on not picking it up but reached for the receiver. It had been a quiet morning, and she really should do some work.

  “Jaguar Realty, this is Kimberly. How may I help you?”

  “Kimber! It’s Lacey. I went over to the cottage to check on Jenna and Anthony, and they’re gone. I’ve tried calling, but there’s no answer. I saw them go for a walk, but that was hours ago.”

  Kimber felt the blood drain from her cheeks. “I’m on my way,” she managed to get out. She scribbled a note for her boss, grabbed her purse, and ran for the car.

  Dan

  As Dan traversed the roads back up to Maxwell Mountain, he felt confident for the first time in memory. In some ways, Kimber was a mirror to his birth mother. Both had unexpected pregnancies at young ages. But Kimber had a family to help her. Maybe his birth mother’s problems were bigger than her ability to handle them. Bigger than the tribe that surrounded her.

  The thoughts surprised him. Always before when he considered his mother, it was with anger or shame. But perhaps, she deserved a healthy dose of pity and understanding.

  He stopped off at a Five and Dime in an out of the way shop on his way back from Ashville. He found a puff in a pale shade of yellow that didn’t hurt his eyesight and picked it up for Kimber. Dan grinned wickedly as he thought of bathing her after the baby went to bed.

  The trip to Ashville had been productive. He’d gone to a consignment shop with samples of his pottery work, and they’d been thrilled. Using the view he’d once had as a bird, Dan had designed the pottery to look like the sky. But not the point of view humans were used to seeing.

  The enemy may have taken away his eyesight to the point where flight was dangerous and unlikely, but they hadn’t taken away his memories.

  Already he was planning on finding a permanent home. Building his own studio. Sharing it with Kimber and Anthony. As he rounded the corner to the small cottages that made up Maxwell Mountain Resort, he wondered if it was too soon to bring up marriage, adoption, and maybe more babies.

  But when he saw Lacey and Kimber frantically pulling out the ATVs from the garage, he and his inner hawk went on full alert.

  “Dan!” Kimber’s cry was loud enough to hurt his ears, but he pushed past the initial pain.

  “What happened?” The smell of fear permeated the air and Dan felt his pulse increase in anticipated response.

  “We can’t find Jenna. She left a note that said she was going for a walk with the baby but never came back. It’s been hours.”

  “Okay. Where is Quinn or Cree? Can’t they find Jenna’s scent? They can track sunshine over rock.”

  Kimber’s answer was incoherent as she burrowed into his chest.

  “Quinn went into Raleigh to talk to his handler,” Lacey said, her fingers knotting themselves in worry. “Cree went on a run. He does that on Mondays after a weekend at the bar. Too many people for his cougar to cope.”

  Dan nodded absently. Sometimes the influence of their animal was strong. With blinding insight, he realized how tightly chained he kept his hawk. Like a hunting bird with a hood and jessies on.

  Kimber pulled back long enough to stare at him. Her eyes bored a hole into his soul, and he knew what she was going to say. “I need your hawk’s help.”

  Dan closed his eye, feeling the soul-deep shame of failure. “I told you. I don’t fly anymore. I can’t.”

  “You did when those kids got hurt in the fire,” Lacey pointed out while Kimber simply stared at him with blue eyes full of tears.

  “I didn’t do anything. I gave some support to the fire jumpers. Let them know where it was okay to drop water, but it reminded me of how much I’ve lost. I can’t fly like he used to.”

  “There is no one else,” Kimber said. She cupped his cheeks in her cool hands. “Tamara said she would send Cree down here the second he came back from his run. But they aren’t here. You are. You have to help. Right now, Anthony needs you.” Hysteria rose in her voice, and she smelled sick with fright.

  Anthony needed him. When was the last time anyone had needed him? It didn’t matter. Dan nodded and took a breath. In the distance, another truck was making its way up the switchbacks to the cabins they called home.

  “If I wrap myself around a tree,” he warned.

  “You won’t,” Kimber promised.

  Dan nodded, his mind already made up. He could spot a rabbit in underbrush half a mile away. How hard would it be to find a lost babysitter? “I’ll find them,” he promised.

  Kimber sniffled and wiped at her nose. “Of course, you will.” Her faith in him was humbling.

  Dan thought about his bird. The sky. The freedom it represented. He closed his eyes and felt his arms morph and adjust into wings as he shifted into a powerful red hawk with a nearly five-foot wingspan.

  “Omigod you’re beautiful,” Kimber remarked as he took to the sky.

  Kimber knelt and collected his clothes before waiting to see who was coming up the mountain to help.

  Chapter Seven

  Kimber

  “Hunter!” she ran to her brother and sister-in-law as they got out of their truck. After Dan, she had never been so happy to see anyone. She ran into his oversized arms and hugged him. “Anthony and Jenna are missing,” she sobbed.

  “What’s going on?” Hadley asked as she wrapped her arms around Hunter and Kimber.

  Hunter’s arms tightened, and for just a minute, Kimber felt suspended in familial love. She knew at that moment that no matter what happened between her and Daniel, the mountains of North Carolina was her home.

  “Jenna went out for a walk with the baby this morning,” Lacey explained. “Dan went in search for them from the sky.”

  “Where’s Quinn? His nose can sniff out anyone who gets lost on his mountain.”

  “He’s in Raleigh,” Kimber said. “Are you suggesting Dan can’t find them?”

  Hunter’s dark eyes darted between his sister and his mate. “It’s not that, Kimber. But he’s missing an eye. Birds have dual vision that lets them fly.”

  Kimber pulled back from her brother. She knew he was right, but she was counting on him. “Well, let’s get the ATVs out and follow him. If Anthony or Jenna are hurt, we’ll need to get them down the mountain quickly.”

  Kimber climbed on the back of Lacey’s vehicle while Hunter and Hadley took the lead. “I’ll see if I can find their trail,” Hunter said.

  “Just, not as a bear,” Kimber begged. “I don’t want to scare poor Jenna if a ginormous grizzly comes out of the woods at her.”

  Hunter nodded and swung his leg over the ATV and started it up. “Let’s roll,” he said, leading the way.

  They were part way up the path when the distinctive sound of a hawk’s scream ripped through the woods. Kimber felt gooseflesh rise on her arms in response.

  “This way,” Hunter called, gunning the throttle and heading off at a breakneck speed.

  Lacey’s pace was slower but not by much. Kimber held on with a white-knuckle ferocity and prayed. She couldn’t tell if the hawk’s scream was a good one or a bad one. Were they hurt?

  Lacey came to an abrupt stop by a brook. Kimb
er’s eyes scanned the ground, looking for any sign of her son. For seconds that felt like hours, there was silence. But then, everything and everyone went into action at once.

  “There, can you see them?” Hunter called and pointed. He dismounted and began running.

  Dan’s giant hawk descended gracefully from the sky and perched on the handles of the ATV. Kimber stroked his beak in thanks before racing off after her brother.

  “Your clothes are in the saddlebags,” Lacey said as she and Hadley walked at a more sedate pace.

  Kimber slid to the ground on her knees in front of a crying Jenna.

  “Oh, thank God you found us,” Jenna said, crying. “I think I broke my ankle. I’ve been trying to crawl through the woods to get home, but I got all turned around.”

  “Shh, it’s okay,” Kimber crooned. She reached for her son in the pouch Jenna wore.

  “He’s been crying and fussing,” Jenna cried. “He drank his bottle ages ago. I had a spare diaper, but I know he’s hungry.”

  As though sensing a meal was imminent, Anthony began wailing in earnest. Kimber’s breasts let down at the same time, and she groaned at the burning pressure. “Okay, sweetie. Mommy is here.” Kimber spread her jacket down near a rock and began feeding her son.

  “Let me take a look,” Hadley said, turning all business. Kimber breathed a small sigh of thanks that her sister-in-law was a nurse practitioner. “Are you wearing any jewelry? A toe ring? An ankle bracelet? Anything like that we need to cut off?”

  Jenna bit her lip and shook her head.

  “Okay.” Hadley turned to her mate. “Hunter, get a T-shirt or something and wet it down in the stream. It won’t be quite ice cold, but it’s the best we can do. Then we’ll get her on the ATV so we can head down to the hospital.”

  Jenna began crying in earnest. “I’m so sorry, Kimber. I thought a walk after lunch would be a good thing. It’s so pretty up here.”

  Kimber reached her free hand out and held the injured girl’s hand. “I know. Accidents happen.”

  “I tried calling, but my cell phone had no reception.” Jenna began shivering as shock and exposure set in.

  “It’s okay,” Kimber said, trying to remind herself and Jenna that everything was okay. Everyone she loved was healthy, even if one of them was eating enough for twins.

  Dan strode up behind and knelt. One large hand cradled Anthony’s bald pate. “He’s okay?”

  Kimber nodded, chin beginning to tremble as her adrenaline began to crash. “He’s fine. Probably needs a new diaper.”

  “You’re doing fine, baby,” Dan whispered against her ear. “Just hold it together for another hour or two, okay? I promise when all this is over, you can cry all you want, okay?”

  She tried to smile but couldn’t. She settled on another brief nod. Kimber tilted her head. “Did I forget the eye patch?” she asked, momentarily distracted.

  Dan ducked his head to hide the surgical scars usually covered by the eyepatch. “I didn’t see it with my things. I have others back in my cabin. It’s okay.”

  “Don’t hide from me,” Kimber whispered, pressing against him for warmth and comfort. She lifted Anthony to burp him and tucked her breast back into her bra.

  After giving off a healthy belch, Kimber let Anthony latch to the other side. “You’re beautiful. Is there a reason you decided not to get a prosthetic?”

  Dan shrugged. “It probably sounds crazy, but if I wore a prosthetic, I couldn’t fly. It wouldn’t respond to a call into my hawk form.”

  “You don’t fly that much,” Kimber pointed out quietly.

  “I didn’t know that at the time I made the decision.”

  Another wave of reaction swamped Kimber. She owed this man her life. Her son’s life. “Thank you for finding them. Are you okay.”

  He nodded and kissed her forehead. “I’m fine. You take care of the hungry man in your arms. Okay?”

  Kimber sighed and relaxed into Dan for just a moment. “I can do that,” she agreed.

  “Good.”

  Lacey sat near Jenna, hugging her. “She’s cold. We need a jacket or something, or she’s going to go into shock.”

  While Hunter took his shirt off to wet it and wrap it around Jenna’s broken ankle, Dan pulled off the Oxford shirt he wore that day. “Here, maybe this will help,” he said as he draped it around Jenna’s shoulders.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “Do we need to call your folks?”

  Jenna’s brown eyes filled with tears. “I live with my aunt,” she said.

  Dan

  Once Hadley got Jenna as comfortable as possible, she elevated her foot. “We need to get you to a hospital. As soon as possible.”

  “Let’s get her on the four-wheeler,” Hunter said. “I’ll drive her down.” He glanced at the three remaining women. “Will you all be able to get down on your own?”

  “I’ll come with you,” Hadley said, unwilling to leave her patient. She shrugged. “We’ll make it work, right?”

  “You can drive,” Hunter said. “I’ll run down in bear form.”

  Hadley glanced nervously at Jenna then back at the small seat they needed to share. “Okay. Give me your clothes.”

  Dan smiled briefly at the comment. Only among shifters was nudity and animal forms so easily accepted. “Are you okay?” he asked the scared girl crying on the ground.

  She nodded. “I am so sorry.”

  “It was an accident. I’m glad I found you before you were out too long.”

  Jenna tilted her head and pointed to the sky. “That was you? I didn’t know you were a bird shifter.” She opened her mouth to ask more questions but was brought back when Hadley palpated her foot.

  “I’ll guide Lacey and Kimber down once Anthony has finished eating,” Dan offered. “We’ll get him a clean diaper and meet you at the hospital, okay?”

  “I think he’s about finished,” Kimber said in a singsong voice as she talked to her son. Dan helped her to her feet and brushed the debris off her denim-clad bottom.

  “We’ll go slow,” Lacey said. She held her hands out to hold Anthony. For a moment, Kimber resisted. Unwilling, perhaps, to give up her son so soon after the fear of losing him. But, she brushed a kiss on his forehead and let Lacey hold him.

  “That was some adventure you took,” Lacey whispered against the baby’s neck. “But you’re safe and in Aunt Lacey arms now. Aren’t you, sweetie?”

  The trip back down to the cottages was slow and in silence. The engine of the four-wheeler seemed muted amidst the trees.

  Dan led the way, flying low in order for Lacey to keep him in her sights.

  “He’s gorgeous as a bird,” Lacey commented.

  “He really is.”

  “Is this the first time you’ve seen him shift?”

  Kimber nodded before realizing Lacey couldn’t see behind her. “Yes. I begged him. He said he couldn’t. Or not couldn’t, exactly. But that his compromised eyesight, he couldn’t fly the way he once did.”

  “Like at the fire last summer,” Lacey commented. She swerved to avoid a rock in the path.

  “Yeah, he said he wasn’t able to help.”

  Lacey looked up at the bird in front of them and grinned. “I was there. Everyone did their part. No, he didn’t help the way the land shifters did. They were able to get in there and help the kids. But don’t let Dan fool you. He made sure the kids were out before telling the water crew where to hit. It was a big help.”

  Dan’s bird preened a bit at Lacey’s words. Giving up the skies had been emasculating for him. Robbing him of something he loved.

  But maybe, as he darted between branches, learning the limitations of his sight, he could both nest and soar with Kimber by his side.

  Chapter eight

  Kimber

  Back at the cabin, Kimber got Anthony into a dry diaper and packed his bag.

  “You need a manlier diaper bag,” Dan commented as he checked on her wipes. “Teddy bears are cool and all, but he needs a bird of prey o
n there.”

  “It was a gift from his uncle. You know, the bear shifter one.” Kimber closed her eyes and felt tears leak out the corners.

  “Shh, he’s fine. Jenna is fine. We’ll get Anthony checked out just to make sure.” Dan spun her into his arms, and Kimber relaxed into him.

  “When I first found out I was pregnant, I felt so sorry for myself. Wayne wanted me to have an abortion. My folks are dead. Hunter wasn’t quite sane after whatever happened in Quibria.”

  “Did he ever tell you?”

  “No, I didn’t push. I’m still the baby sister, you know? He likes to protect me.”

  “That doesn’t make you feel like a child?”

  Kimber shrugged and looked at her shoes. “Being protected feels nice. It’s a reminder that someone loves you. I mean, he doesn’t take my decisions away. He and Hadley supported me through the end of my pregnancy. I even talked to him about taking a loan out so I can finish school and live on what’s left of his sign-up bonus from the Shifter Forces. I’m lucky to have him.”

  Dan soothed her hair away from her forehead. “I like protecting you, too.”

  Kimber blushed a little as she met his gaze. “I’m lucky to have you, too.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I think you have that backward, baby. I’m blessed to have you in my life.”

  Kimber wrapped her arms around his lean waist. “When I realized Anthony was missing, it brought me back to right after I found out I was pregnant. I wasn’t ready at all. And, at least at first, I hoped it was all a mistake. That I’d wake up and I wouldn’t be having a baby.”

  “That sounds like a normal reaction to an unexpected pregnancy.”

  “Probably. But all I kept thinking while we were looking for Jenna and Anthony was ‘am I being punished?’.” Kimber’s voice caught. “I don’t think like that anymore. I’m so thankful I’m his Mommy. I couldn’t even imagine something bad happening to him. And I’m so furious with myself for ever thinking I wanted to not have him.”

  Dan cupped her face in his hands. “You thought those things out of fear, Kimber. Humans do all kinds of things when we’re afraid. We lash out at the ones we love. We make wishes we don’t mean. Sometimes we even say things we don’t mean.”