Fang Chronicles: Tyboll Read online

  Whoa. The little she-wolf has a temper. “The mushrooms will empty his bowels and they only last an hour or two. Grumpy old bears need cleaning out on occasion.” I wouldn’t bother to explain that giving him a needed purge is the only way around the strict rules in place for my kind: “Do no harm.” I couldn’t kill him even if I wanted to.

  “Mushrooms?” She pushes me back slightly.

  “Yes, he deserved it. The bastard burned down my home when I wouldn’t save his mother.”

  “He burned down your home?” she repeats.

  “Yes, I almost burned to death when I tried to save my books.”

  Mandy stands, places her hand out, and assists me to my feet. She moves the chair closer so I can sit. I rest my elbows on the table and bury my head in my hands.

  “You pack quite a punch.”

  “And you scared the living shit out of me. I thought you were trying to kill him.”

  “Speaking of that no-good, flea-bitten bear rug, you need to check on him.” I’d be lucky to walk a straight line or I’d do it myself.

  “Could you save his mother?”

  I should have expected that question. “Maybe… no.”

  Mandy’s exasperation over my answer comes through loud and clear when her voice elevates. “What kind of an answer is that?”

  I give a long sigh. “It goes against fate. One way or another, her death was inevitable. She could’ve only lasted a few days, maybe. So no, I couldn’t save her.”

  “Did you explain that?”

  I lift my head and look into Mandy’s piercing eyes. “You think he gave me the chance? Or that he would care if I did explain? When someone you love is dying, an additional day is worth selling your soul to the devil.”

  For one so young, she surprises me. Her expression changes and I know she understands. “Where are the mushrooms?” she asks.

  I nod to the counter. “In that cloth.”

  She walks over and picks it up. “How many did you use?” she asks.

  “Only two small pieces of one mushroom. I placed them in the bottom of his mug.”

  She pushes the cloth deep in her pocket. “I’ll go check on him.” She looks over her shoulder before walking through the door. “Who rebuilt your home?”

  It galled me to answer her question. “That infernal bear who probably wishes right now that I had killed him.”

  Mandy laughs as she walks outside. I rub a hand over my temple and feel a hard knot. I realize that I most likely hit my head when I fell. My bear-shifter blood will help me heal quickly. Unfortunately, Tyboll will get the same benefit.

  I take a deep breath and rest my head on my arms. I can’t help but think of Tyboll and how he was years ago. He wasn’t always a scruffy-haired Bigfoot. Bitterness turns you into a different person and Tyboll’s resentment proves it.

  Now that I’ve met Mandy, I wonder what prompted his royal grouchiness to adopt her. It went against everything I thought I knew about the stupid bear.

  I also wonder about his son, whom I’ve never seen. He must be about ten now. His ex-mate came to see me before she bred with a human. I didn’t like her. She held no love for Tyboll, which at the time I found sad. Now that I’ve dealt with him, I completely understand. Well, that’s not exactly true. Tyboll stirs my blood in a way that only he can. I noticed it when he asked me to save his mother. She was shot by a hunter. By the time Dmitri, the bear clan’s vampire, tried to save her it, was too late. So, Tyboll came to me.

  A week after I turned him down, I was out collecting herbs and noticed dense smoke through the trees. My entire cabin was in flames by the time I arrived. I ran inside to save the great texts. The smoke overcame me and the next thing I knew, Tyboll was carrying me out cursing me for being a crazy witch. He also managed to bring out the books. It didn’t matter, though, because I would never forgive him for the fire. He was the most selfish person I’d ever met. The fact that he rebuilt my cabin while I was away meant nothing. It took weeks for his odor to disappear. That only made me angrier.

  He deserved a strong case of diarrhea. Maybe that will teach him not to mess with a witch. I stand and cross to the sink to rinse out the mugs and refill the tea kettle with hot water. My head is killing me and I need herbal tea to soothe the ache. Tyboll and Mandy don’t return and that is fine by me. I am better off alone.

  Chapter Four

  Tyboll

  “We are leaving now,” I growl telepathically at Mandy when she walks up to the outhouse. I waited outside after I shifted to bear. Shifting helps whatever poison the old witch gave me pass through my system quicker.

  “I wanted to talk to her more about the babies,” Mandy whines.

  I turn away and head deeper into the woods leaving behind my favorite shirt. “You will stay far away from her. The old bat is crazy and I should never have brought you here.”

  I hear Mandy following me. “Do you blame her for the mushrooms after you burned down her home?”

  Of all the bullshit I’ve ever heard, this was the worst. I can’t hold my temper and shout my response. “I didn’t burn down her home. I rescued her after she burned it down herself.”

  “She says you did it,” Mandy throws back not in the least bit intimidated.

  My roar makes every animal for a mile scramble for a place to hide. I turn and see Mandy with her hands over her ears.

  “I didn’t burn it down. I went to apologize for the names I called her the week before. I found her passed out on the floor of the cabin clutching her stupid books. From what I could see, the fire started at her stove where she left dried herbs too close to the flames.”

  Mandy stubbornly puts her hands on her hips. “So why did you rebuild her cabin if you didn’t burn it down?”

  The cocky she-wolf is lucky she carries my grandchildren or I’d be tempted to take a bite out of her backside. I refuse to answer, turn, and take off at a faster pace.

  “You heard me. Why?” Mandy demands, running on human legs to keep up with me.

  “Because who else would build the crazy witch a cabin?” I yell as loud as my telepathic voice will go.

  Mandy says nothing for several seconds and then I hear her whisper, “How romantic.”

  Yes, bears can roll their eyes and I roll mine. I refuse to talk about it any longer. I’m thankful that Mandy stays peacefully quiet for the remainder of our trip home. My mind drifts to Veda’s wild red hair. It’s obvious she’s never cut it. She keeps it pulled back in a long braid, but strands stick out around her head. I refuse to think about her green eyes that lit up when Mandy hugged her. The old witch comes from a line of crazy females. It would be so much easier if they turned into old crones instead of becoming more beautiful with age. Thank the Goddess I hate red hair.

  Honey and Patreous are waiting at my cabin when we return. Little Deme is in bear form. She’s climbed half up her father’s leg and holds the fringe of Honey’s shirt between her sharp teeth.

  I walk up and grab her by the scruff with my teeth and pull her off. I put her down on the ground and nudge her little furry bottom with my nose. Mandy launches herself at Honey and he swings her around in a circle.

  “It’s twins, but I’m not telling you if they’re boys or girls,” she laughs as Honey lowers her to the ground.

  “They’re boys,” I grumble telepathically.

  “You’re no fun, you grumpy old bear,” Mandy says to me, but she doesn’t sound angry in the least.

  “I didn’t want your poor husband to have a heart attack thinking the cubs might be female.”

  “As soon as she said twins I knew they were male,” Honey boasts proudly.

  “And how did you know that?” Mandy demands.

  “If I fathered twins, of course they’re male.”

  I can only shake my big bear head. Honey will never learn. Demetria bites my nose and I swat her to the side. This is a game we play. Patreous shifts to his bear form and joins us as the two mated shifters argue. This is the game they play.

 
“I’ve decided to shift today so the babies will be here sooner,” Mandy informs her mate.

  “No, you will grant me another week before cutting off access to your delectable body.”

  Neither I nor Patreous need to hear this, so I nudge little Deme into the cabin. Patreous enters, shifts to human, and closes the door behind him. I shift and make my way to the bathroom. “Watch her for a minute,” I call before shutting the door behind me.

  “Come here, you little rascal,” Patreous says when I hear Deme scratching at the door for me to let her in.

  By the time I come out, I feel better, but I’m starved. Honey holds baby wolf Demetria in his arms as her sleepy eyes slowly drift shut. We all remain quiet until she is completely asleep and Honey lays her on the bed in my room. I toss Patreous some sweats and put on my own pair.

  Honey closes the door to my bedroom and sniffs in my direction. “You okay, Tyboll? You smell funny.”

  I actually feel my face heat up. “The old witch poisoned me and I’ve been purging my guts ever since. I need to eat. Are the two of you hungry?” I really don’t need Patreous’s answer. He’s a growing Kodiak bear and needs to eat every hour.

  “If you can eat after spewing up your guts, I’m in,” Honey says.

  “It wasn’t that end that was spewing,” I grumble as I slam a pan onto the stove. “Where’s your mate?” I ask before Honey’s grin turns into all out laughter.

  “She’s sulking, but she won’t be changing form until next week.”

  Nope, he’ll never learn. I fight a grin. My daughter doesn’t take kindly to being told no. Not kindly at all.

  Chapter Five

  Veda

  His face is shadowed as his large hand reaches out and one finger trails down my cheek. My heart beats double time and I can’t get enough air into my lungs. I want him. His other hand curls around my waist and he pulls me tightly against him. He’s hard… ready. So am I.

  The pounding at my door wakes me. I’ve had these dreams all night and gotten very little sleep.

  “Are you okay in there?”

  It’s Mandy. I inhale slowly trying to clear my foggy, sleep-deprived brain. I smell… no it can’t be. I jump up, run to the door, and throw it open. Mandy stands with a small bundle of fur wrapped in her arms. A child. She came with her child.

  I fight back tears as Mandy thrusts the wolf cub into my arms. “She’s heavy and she’s not happy. She wanted to play with Patreous today, but he has other things to do.”

  I back up and tighten my arms around the squirming cub. I feel the magic build and suddenly I’m holding a bear cub. I laugh. This may be the greatest day of my life.

  “She likes you,” Mandy says with a big grin.

  “I love her,” I say with an answering one. The tears prickle my eyes again. “Don’t you know that I’m the big bad witch and I eat small children?”

  Mandy cocks her eyebrows as the little cannibal bites my finger.

  “Ouch.”

  “You better hurry up and eat her then because she’ll leave teeth marks all over you.”

  I shake my hand and laugh. Holding the wiggling ball away from me, I look into her small face. “You don’t scare me.” She tries to nip me again, but she can’t reach. “Teething, I see. You should have all but your back molars in by now. Let’s see what I have to help.” I look back to Mandy. “Can I place her on the floor while I check my cupboard?”

  “As long as you have nothing of value that will perish under sharp teeth. Could I have some tea also? I need to calm my nerves.”

  My heart sinks slightly. “It must have been hard to bring your child out here to me.”

  Mandy looks stunned. “Umm, no. That was the easy decision this morning. I’m arguing with my mate and I don’t want to be around him. Out here, he may not find me.”

  The bear cub bites the tip of my toe. I squeal and laugh. She’s absolutely adorable. “You watch her while I make us tea and give her something to chew on. I know just the thing.”

  Mandy walks over to the table and sits down. “She’s a handful and I have no idea what I’ll do when there are three of them.”

  I place the water on to boil and unwrap a large deer bone. Mandy stays quiet as I look through the cupboard. The silence is broken when a tall stack of wooden bowls that are resting on the floor clatter as they fall. “What is this precious one’s name?”

  Mandy laughs and I smile. “This little hellion is Demetria, named after Dmitri, our clan vampire. I don’t think anyone’s called her precious since she was two weeks old.”

  “She’s not just precious, she’s amazing.” And she is. My entire cabin now smells like a child. I may never clean it again. To be gifted by the Goddess like this is a true miracle. I carry the bone to Demetria. “Here you go, little one. This will make you feel better.”

  I bend down and wave the bone. The magic in the air shifts again and it’s a wolf cub who runs over and snatches it from my fingers. It’s too large for her, but she manages to drag it under the side table by my favorite chair. Her small growls make me grin from ear to ear.

  “So she’s using us as chew toys because of back teeth?” Mandy asks as her daughter goes to work on the bone.

  “Yes, they pain her something fierce. I’ll give you the salve to use when it’s bad and she won’t bite as much.” I fill two mugs with tea and carry them to the table.

  “Here,” Mandy says as she lays down the cloth she took the day before that contains the mushrooms. “It’s probably not the best idea for me to keep them. Three small pieces won’t permanently harm a bear shifter will it?”

  I burst out laughing. “Poor Tyboll will never forgive you or me.”

  Mandy laughs, too. “It wasn’t Tyboll I fed them to. My mate needed an attitude adjustment and an hour or two of solitary thought. I added the third piece because Tyboll recovered too quickly.

  Both of us laugh until tears run from our eyes. I finally manage a sip of tea. “What did your mate do to deserve such ire?”

  “The man has sex on the brain.” She looks at me and blushes. “Don’t get me wrong, I do too. I just want to shift and have the babies as soon as possible. He insists we wait a week so he gets his fill of my body. I told him the entire process would go faster this way, but he put his paw down.” She gives me a very mischievous grin. “Or so he thought.” Now Mandy looks over to her daughter. “She never stays in one place this long. Can I take the bone home with me?”

  “Please keep it. It will take her a month or more to chew through it. Just cover the bone with salve once a day and she will feel much better.”

  Mandy’s grin is infectious. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  I always smell fear on the she-bears who visit. They hate coming here. Hate me. But this young wolf smells of maternity and forest—not fear. I can’t help but ask, “Why are you not frightened of me, Mandy?”

  She rolls her eyes. “Truthfully, it makes no sense that anyone would fear you. Everything about us is magic. Vampire magic. Beastkind magic. Why should yours be something to fear? And you’re a bear shifter. You would think that would ease their stupid doubts.”

  I truly love this girl. For one so young, she is incredibly smart. “Thank you.” My voice cracks when I say it. “And thank you for bringing your child. She is the first one.”

  Mandy looks from me to her daughter, who now lies curled in a tight ball fast asleep. She walks over, picks her up, and carries her to me. “This is the only time you have to cuddle her. The little demon never stops moving.”

  I take the small bundle and bring her against my chest. I can’t help the tears that slip down my face. Never did I think I would hold a child.

  Mandy’s face holds pity, but I smile when she says, “You will be crying harder when she wakes up and bites you again.”

  I look down at the baby wolf in my arms. “She’s incredible,” I sniff.

  Mandy’s voice is soft when she speaks next. “My father did not set your home on fire.” I jerk my head up,
but Mandy continues before I can say anything. “He came to apologize and found you consumed by smoke on the cabin floor. He says he thinks the fire started at the stove.”

  I look at my newer stove, which he also delivered. The old one didn’t have a tight seal and sparks escaped it constantly. This made more sense than Tyboll burning the place down and then rebuilding it. I give a weary sigh. My anger and sadness have simmered for years over the thought that he could do something so terrible. I didn’t want to believe it of him. With loneliness as my only friend, I pushed aside my doubts. I glance back at Mandy. “I owe him an apology.”

  “He will not soon forgive you for the mushrooms, but he deserved it for saying you had warts on your nose.”

  We both smile. I bring up my arms and nuzzle my nose against Demetria. She’s so soft and wonderful. Her tail escapes from between my arms and part of my dream makes sense. I refuse to think about the remainder of the dream. If I could only freeze this moment in time. My heart is near to bursting with love.

  “You want to babysit while I go check on my mate?”

  I can’t believe my ears. I’m stunned and my heart swells even more. “I will guard her with my life,” I promise.

  “The only people who will watch this little hellion are her father, uncle, and grandparents. It’s you who needs to guard your toes and fingers.”

  “We’ll get along fabulously.”

  Mandy sighs. “I’ll remind you of that when I pick her up. Right now, I will shift so I can get there and back sooner. I don’t want you placing yourself on the list of people who hide when I need someone to watch her.”

  Chapter Six

  Tyboll

  I am fully recovered, but Honey is in bad shape. It does no good to remind him that he brought this on himself. We’ve managed to keep sedation dart guns away from my wily wolf daughter, but obviously she got her hands on the mushrooms that bent me double yesterday. Honey’s a wimp because he’s moaning loudly and won’t listen when I tell him he won’t die.