8 - Meet the Parents

Finding out what people were hiding was one of the main jobs of a guardian. From a very early age we were trained to uncover what people hid. Therefore it really amazed me that this small glade had remained hidden from my family for nearly two thousand years. Not even my partner Phila knew about this small hideaway of mine - this was astonishing considering that traditionally partners shared everything. It might have been selfishness on my part but I wanted a place that was solely mine.

All the family members had a main residence on the island which was located in close proximity to both the meadow and the main house. These large houses were erected with the help of the entire family, and the completion of your own home was a rite of passage for the newly trained guardians. That was the time when you became a true "adult" and no longer lived with your parents. Great-uncle Peter was the architect of the family and designed your house any way you wanted. Most of us just went with the normal layout as it was one we were familiar with. This building became our new home, this was where we brought our mates, this was where we raised our families, and this was where we escaped when we were tired of dealing with humanity.

The island, as we called this planet, had been terraformed by the elders of the family to look like Earth. A cursory glance might make a person think that the island looked was in fact the home planet of humans. The size was a little larger than Earth but the difference in gravity was negligible. The trees in the forests and the flowers in the grasslands were all the same. I am not sure how the elders got the diversity of flora and fauna to reflex that of Earth, but I think it had to do with the alien technology - those creatures had perfected terraforming long before they had come to Earth in search of test subjects. There were lions and tigers and bears - oh my. There was one glaring difference that would immediately tell the observer that this was not planet Earth, and that was the lack of human settlements on the island. There were no cities, towns, villages, or even hamlets. The closest we got to a town was the group of houses surrounding the meadow, but they were scattered with a mile or more distance between them. The pristine looking hills were not crisscrossed by roads, telephone poles, or power lines. If you went a little to the south where the hills disappeared to yield a flatter terrain you would find the hydroponic greenhouses that grew our vegetables and the herds of semi-wild livestock that provided us with meat.

All this was just a speck, less than a percent of the surface of the planet. We did not have high enough numbers of people to truly make an impact. Beyond our small group of homes there were a few shelters that dotted the planet. These varied from huts next to pristine powdery white beaches to small shelters in the high mountain ranges. The small buildings were public domain and any family member would use them whenever they wanted a change in scenery without leaving the planet. The winters around the meadow could be harsh and after a while sitting and staring at snow go boring. When there were less than five hundred people inhabiting an entire planet you could really get away from everyone - including your much too nosey and opinionated family.

The cabin I was heading for was one such sanctuary. Except it was not public domain as it was my ultimate getaway.

I had come across this small valley when I was stuck on the planet during my training sessions. Two hundred years gives you a lot of time to explore even with the intense routine of guardian training. I had instantly fallen in love with the tiny blue lake nestled in between the large peaks. Even though it had been love at first sight the building of the cabin had taken me decades. The beams that made up the walls had been cut by me alone and assembled over one summer. Normally we used the special alloy because it would last forever without altering, but I did not know how to make it. Asking for building materials would have made someone curious so I had to improvise. To keep the wood from rotting I added layer upon layer of protective spells to each beam. During the full moons if you looked at the walls just right you could see the letters of the ancient language glowing across the large beams of wood.

Compared to my home this was nothing but a small shack, but in some ways it was more comfortable than the large multistory house. I spent a few minutes walking around the perimeter of the place to make sure that none of the beams were out of place. It would most likely not kill me if the place fell on my head but it would hurt like hell.

Satisfied with my survey I pushed the door open and heard it creak in protest - that would have to be looked at later. The great room looked just as I had left it a few years ago with sheets covering a lot of the main furniture. The wooden furniture was ornately carved with scenes from the forest around me. I had thought it was appropriate to do so considering the wood was from the trees that grew around my cabin. The pieces of furniture were not protected like the walls so I would carve replacement pieces in the small attached workshop whenever something became broken or worn out. Currently my workshop contained a half finished chair that was intended for the small table that stood in one corner of the room. My current chair had a lose leg that no amount of glue seemed to hold. It was starting to look very rickety, but unfortunately I had not really had the time or the inclination to get back up here to finish its replacement. Maybe I would make two chairs - the second one for my princess.

I wasted several minutes daydreaming about making two new chairs for the table. What pattern would she like? Bluebells or maybe lily's of the valley? I attempted to picture Leah's reaction if I brought her to my secret sanctuary. It was sad that I had kept this place a secret from my partner for nearly two thousand years but less than a week after meeting my mate I was ready to bring her here.

Honestly Leah would be freaking out, since I would first have to explain the whole you are on another planet thing. She might not exactly be very trusting since I would have to kidnap her to get her here.I smiled while calculating out how pissed Leah would be if I just brought her here one day without explanation. Could I move her while she was asleep?

The major question was would she like this place? I had chosen to go full rustic, so there was no electricity or plumbing. If you wanted a bath you had to drag water from the lake and heat it up on the wood burning stove. That stove had been hell to get here since I could not make it myself. I commissioned it on Earth and then snuck it through the meadow before bringing it here. That monstrosity and the small Franklin stove in the corner were the only sources of heat for the place. Normally I just went without bathing since I was the only one who came here or I would jump into the lake. Though the latter option was not always appealing since the water in the lake was from melting snow and tended to stay frigid even in the middle of the summer.

Would Leah be like Phila and need the full on civilization or would she enjoy rough living for a while?

I moved past the dust covered sheets with barely a glance at the loft above that housed my bed. I did not allow myself to picture Leah up there or I might be have to go jump into the cold lake. My reason for being here was not the awesome Fall foliage that blanketed the hills around me or the tallest two peaks that already had snow covering their tips. My destination was the storeroom off to the side of the great room.

Entering the cramped space I was greeted by the sight of row after row of shelves. They were filled with a plethora of items, and all of them intended for a single person. They were gifts for my future wife. There was a time right after finishing my guardian training that I went through what Phila called my slut phase. That time did not last long as it very quickly became clear that having sex with as many people as possible became tedious. It was then that I started to dream about my mate, about this perfect paragon, and I began the gathering phase of my life.

Anytime I would walk past a truly pretty trinket I would wonder if she would like it, whoever the fates would pick for me, and I would buy it just in case. Initially there was a certain amount of guilt associated with the purchase as I saw the baubles as a way to atone for the slut phase of my life. How in the world was I going to explain to my future wife what I had done? Fortunately for my sanity the guilt had dissipated with time, and it was replaced by the need to just find her. Regardless of the reason for the purchases over the past thousand or so years I had accumulated a great many of these trinkets. Some I had made myself but most I had gathered from several planets. There was everything from seeds of rare plants to hand woven silks to jewelry. Lots and lots of jewelry. I was a magpie and tended to go for the big shiny ones. She certainly struck me as the type of girl who could carry off some of the larger pieces, but even so I hoped she liked jewelry.

All the pieces were housed in special boxes that protected these gifts from the effects of time. Looking at the plunder around me I came to realize that I had a lot of christmases, valentines days, birthdays, and anniversaries covered. "Well Phil you have quite the collection," I told myself while looking through the shelves.

As far as I was concerned everything in front of me belonged to Leah and despite my joke of all the holidays covered I would have liked nothing more than to give everything to my princess - at this moment. That was a wish that would have to wait till later to be fulfilled, but I wanted to give my princess one gift. It would have to be simple, not too personal, and most of all it would have to be pretty enough for my princess. Nothing caught my eye, or at least nothing that was appropriate for a stranger to give to a nineteen year old girl on a second meeting. Everything surrounding me was extremely personal, and each piece had a story behind it. Picking up a gold filigree brooch l touched the polished amber in the middle. The stone reminded of Leah's eyes and one day I would be happy to give this to her but not today. To Leah I was just a stranger who happened to give her a ride, and nothing more. What if she wanted nothing to do with me? What if she had enough of the supernatural world and pushed me out of her life? My chest began to tighten painfully as panic consumed me, and no amount of rubbing relieved the pain.

I took a deep breath to try to calm myself before I had a full out panic attack. This binding had thrown me off-kilter. I was at an advantage in that Leah was not fully human and therefore she would not freak out if introduced to the "supernatural" world. The wolf instincts were strong in the males but I was not sure how much it would affect Leah. Clearly she had not instantly on sight realized I was her mate. Patience and care would be needed every step of the way if I was going to help Leah become the happy woman Aodh had shown me. If I happened to tie her to me with the bonds of friendship then naturally the next step... but I needed to stop thinking like that. Leah would always have a choice, but before that I would have to somehow ear her trust. This tricky task would have to be accomplished without giving away any of my secrets. The family's identify would have to be protected. I would have to feign blindness and ignorance when she did anything wolfy. Oh and all this was going to have to be accomplished without telling her any outright lies. Yeah this was going to suck.

Coming here to my retreat was a waste of time. Time that I could have been using to plot my next move in regards to Leah. I was torn between two choices, whether to go see her again or to give her some time to grieve. It might have behoved me to let her have a little more space to get over the loss of her father before I popped into her life. However, from the looks of things she was not getting better, despite the fact that he had died months ago. She needed an intervention and I was willing to do anything to help her, including being the platonic friend. In reality I wanted to drag here back to this cabin and fuck her brains out until neither one of us could move. As insensitive as that sounded I would not apologize for being a healthy male that had been cock blocked for months now. After the insane amounts of sex I wanted to interrogate her. A new need had formed inside of me, a need to find out all the ins and outs of this intriguing young woman. And while I was asking for the moon I wished for her to have a matching need to spill her guts to me. I made it my life's work to find out the secrets of other, and it was easy enough to dig through old records as well as houses to find anything you wanted. Normally it did not bother me in the least to search through other people's lives, but to my surprise with Leah I wanted her to tell me everything. Leah should tell me these things because she desperately wanted to share herself with me as much as I wanted to share everything with her. Not that the latter was an option right now, but it did not mean I did not want to tell her the truth about the life I led. My life had suddenly become a Shakespearian drama. I shook my head hoping to rid my mind of all these thoughts and focus on finding something to give to Leah.

The gifts in this room would have to wait for later, but I was suddenly struck with an idea. There was something I could give her immediately that would not be considered too much. Satisfied with that part of the plan I turned around to leave the cabin when something caught my eye.

Sitting in the back of one of the trays next to some of the more elaborate pieces was a perfectly matched pearl necklace and earring set. It was not appropriate at this point in our relationship, but it would make the perfect gift for a young lady. All women needed a pearl necklace to wear with a business suit to a job interview. It was also something an older man could give to a friend - so long as the girl did not figure out that it was a priceless antique. The only problem was the fact that the earring were made for pierced ears, and I was fairly certain that wolves were incapable of getting piercings because of their quick healing abilities. I touched the strand of pearls, allowing my fingers to run across their smooth surface, and found myself extremely pleased with my find. Cultured pearls were only a recent development, and this strand of pearls was obtained from a time when a matching set of pearls was an appropriate gift for a queen - or in my case a Princess.

A few hours later I parked the truck in front of the small building that housed Clearwater Rentals. The exterior did not give a good first impression. The poor quality of materials used in the construction of the building could not be fully hidden by the recent paint job. This was not a major surprise considering the substandard quality of life that was a universal trait of Native American reservations. The blatant discrimination against non-whites was no longer condoned in this country, but the effects of generations worth of racism was not so easily eradicated. Those dark times still cast shadows on the lives of the current residents of this place. People who did not have access to a good education would have a much harder time moving up from the lower middle class - if they were lucky enough to be born into such a high place on the social strata. Even if Clearwater Rentals was well managed there was still an issue with the customers. The locals of this region would not be that high quality; the rich white people with money to spend went to places with boutiques, Fiji water, and a french masseuse. They would not waste their time here unless they were "slumming it".

My perusal of the place was interrupted by my inner voice. Since when do you care about the injustices that had been visited upon a countless number of people simply because there was too much melanin present in their skin? Quit being a chicken shit and get in there. Talking to oneself was a nasty habit that most people acquired after a couple of centuries of life. The worst part was when that pesky voice was right. Which it usually was - the bastard.

The front of the building consisted of several large windows, a plain entrance, and some damp siding. Two large hanging baskets containing some late blooming petunias added a sense of cheer to the otherwise drab exterior. It was a decidedly feminine gesture, and served to remind me of my current mission: Sue Clearwater.

Honestly there was no reason to fear such a benign looking building or the small native american woman inside. The other four parking spaces were empty, so no one else would be here to witness my performance. Despite the fact that it was only two in the afternoon there was no movement among the natives - it might as well have been two in the morning. Not a soul was on the road, or even sitting on one of the rickety porches. It had taken me a great deal of effort to find someone willing to tell me where to find Leah.

I already knew the answer to my question but I needed to make my stories legit. Therefore I had driven by Leah's family home and had even gone so far as to ring the doorbell. Then I spent a good twenty minutes driving around until I found an older man willing to give me directions. This was such a small community that people would easily find out if I was lying about stopping and asking directions. The old man had sent me to this place with a promise that Leah could be found here. He was wrong. Aodh had been sending me visions of Leah's activities throughout the day, and I knew she was nowhere near here. Leah was still in pursuit of a job that would take her away from the area, but currently it seemed a futile endeavor. I knew very well that she would not be back on the reservation for another half hour or so. This would give me plenty of time to charm Sue Clearwater into allowing access to Leah. Or at least that was my plan.

It would have been prudent not to pay attention to all the visions of Leah's activities since they did little more than make me angry. How could anyone treat my Leah with such disdain? In one foolish moment these previously unknown humans moved from obscurity to a very high spot on my shit list. Going on a killing spree would have been reckless, and fortunately for them I was too old for such tantrums. That did not mean they would be allowed to treat her this way without consequences. These fools were in for a very unlucky week. Karma was a bitch - especially when it was doled out by me.

Pushing the thoughts of punishment out of my mind I concentrated on my task. Normally I did not do the whole meet the parents thing since most of the women I dealt with were far too experienced to bring me home to meet the parents. I distinctly remember laughing at my cousin Bryce who had been struggling to prepare for such a meeting - I was certainly not amused now. The women of my past had all known, or figured out very quickly, that I was not the Sunday dinner type of guy. The thought of having to gain the approval of a mother practically gave me hives. What would I do if for some reason the mother did not approve? Appeal to her rebellious teenage side? No, no that would add to much strife to her already chaotic life. I needed to bring peace and hope and not more disorder.

Given enough time I could get Leah to agree to "hang out" with me behind her mother's back, but then that Sam would probably be a nark and tell Leah's mother. He appeared very enthusiastic about making sure Leah followed his rules. It surprised me how much effort Sam put forth to make sure Leah did not break any of his commands considering he no longer had the excuse of being her pack leader. I would have to find a way to wedge myself between Leah and that nasty boy. It would be much easier if I had Sue Clearwater's approval.

Leah's wolf instincts should naturally recognize me as her mate so technically she should be more receptive to my attempts at friendship than just any stranger. While her broken heart and general depression threw up all sorts of walls there should be some small part of her that knew who I was. My hope was that this would be enough for her to let her guard down long enough to give me her trust. More than anything else in the world I needed her happy and content, so if Blossom and Phila were right about her needing a friend then that is what I was going to become. I might have to draw the line at watching romantic comedies; Leah might have to find another friend to watch those horrible excuses for entertainment. Oh who was I kidding - at this point I was willing to go for spa day with her and get matching mani/pedis if that is what made her smile.

My only fear was that if I messed up with her mother now it would be irrelevant if Leah's wolf instincts recognized me as her mate or not. Sue Clearwater was in the position to make my life a lot harder than it needed to be. Which is why I was going to pull out the big guns and put on my weak little human act. Now was not to the time to push down my need to control and just pretend to not care that much about the outcome of this conversation. I took an unnecessarily deep breath and stepped into the store.

The front room was not overly large and filled with a great deal of fishing memorabilia as well as the usual tourist knick-knack - magnets and postcards from the region. There were some cheap fishing rods displayed on one wall along with the usual assortment of lures. I did not pay too much attention to those things since fishing was too much of a tame sport for me. To my dismay I was the only occupant of the room. For a moment I was afraid my plan had failed and Sue Clearwater was not here. After I calmed down enough to think clearly I was able to hear the sounds of a person puttering around in the back room.

"Hello," a human would not be able to detect that someone was around so I forced my voice to sound hesitant as I got closer to the extremely cluttered counter. I would have to watch every gesture and word in order to make sure that no one suspected I was anything more than human.

I breathed deeply once again, reaching out with all my sense in order to gain every advantage here. The room's smell was rather unique in a strange combination of motor oil and fish. "Hello," I asked a little louder, "anyone here?"

Thud. The sound of something heavy being dropped on the floor was followed by a curse. I recognized the voice as belonging to Sue Clearwater. Moments later the small woman who had so much control over my immediate future walked through the door that connected the front room with the back storage area. She did not look quite as intimidating as I expected, but being covered from head to toe in dust tended to make people look less menacing. There was also a smear of some sort of brown oily substance across her cheek. She looked like she had fought hard and lost a battle to a storage room.

She was dressed in jeans the jeans and t-shirt combination that seemed to be the local uniform. The only difference was that she was wearing an old worn looking plaid shirt for extra warmth instead of the jean jacket I had chosen. The shirt's style was not cut for a woman and made me suspect it once belonged to a man. Was this one of her dead husband's shirts? And did she wear for practical or sentimental reasons?

Her salt and pepper hair was shorn, and unless I missed my guess about the same length as her daughter. I speculated behind the reason for having matching hairstyles - a show of support? Though Sue's hair looked a little more professionally cut. Leah's hair was filled with jagged edges and made me suspect that she had done it in a fit of anger. The visions of my distant future with Leah had shown her to have the long hair that was traditional for the women of my family. For a moment I imagined what it would feel like to have that dark cascade of hair spread out across my chest. Down boy, down. Great now I was talking to my dick. Having a raging boner was sure going to give a great first impression.

I waited patiently near the counter not wanting to scare the woman. Having watched her daughter for nearly a week I had become familiar with the mother as well. If Sue thought I was too scary then this conversation would end before it began. She was very strong willed and felt that the end justified the means. Currently this stubbornness was leading to a lot of tension between Leah and her mother.

"Yes. How may I help you?" She asked in a professional manner. Her thoughts were quickly taking in my appearance as she tried to assess my reason for being here. My clean clothes gained me some positive points but she was intimidated by my size and sex. I also lost points for not being Native American and she spent a few moments trying to figure out my heritage. I tried to alleviate some of my nerves by imagining her reaction to the truth. Well Mrs Clearwater technically from my father's side I am of Neanderthal descent and on my mother's side you have a group of human experiments that gets infected by some sort of spirit that occasionally will take over my mind. Yeah that would go off as well as a lead balloon.

"Philip Nelson," I extended my hand across the cluttered counter and waited for her to shake my hand before continuing. Her hands were a testament to her life and were covered with evidence of years of hard work. "I was told by someone that this is where I could find Leah?" I made sure to infuse my voice with uncertainty. The character I was playing today, Philip Nelson the tourist, should not know that Leah was out looking for a job and that only her mother was here in the shop. He was operating on the poor information he had obtained from an old man walking down the street.

"My daughter is not here right now," her tone became like frost, my hand was dropped, and she stepped back while crossing her arms across her chest - it was kind of amusing how quickly she went from cautious to displeased. Or it would have been had she not been the gatekeeper preventing me from getting to Leah.

"Your daughter?" I paused awkwardly and pretended to be thrown off by the fact that I was now speaking to the mother of the girl I was looking for. I altered my features to give the appearance of disappointment. "Do you know when she will be back?"

"She does not work here," Sue Clearwater was happy to tell me this half lie. She knew her daughter would most likely not find a job elsewhere and would come back to working for the family business. She was hoping that working might get Leah's mind off of "things". Leah's mother clearly was old school regarding the process of grieving. Bad emotions could be dealt with by working hard to ignore them. Going to talk to a professional about your grief would be viewed as a sign of weakness.

"One of your neighbors gave me the impression that I would be able to locate Leah here." A human would have been curious about why the information was incorrect.

"Well they were wrong." Sue Clearwater was confused for a moment as my words sunk in. I was judged to be too well spoken to be the common laborer and questions began to crowd her mind regarding my relationship with Leah. "How do you know my daughter?" she finally blurted out rudely.

"I met her a few days ago and she was kind enough to help me out. I wanted to stop by and thank her again for the assistance." Here is where I was going to cross my fingers and hope that Leah did not call me out on the lie. I somehow doubted that Leah was going the share the tidbit about jumping on the back of a motorcycle to avoid Sam.

"Kind... Leah," the mother sounded incredulous. The words kind and Leah did not belong together. "How exactly did she help you out? Who are you again?"

"Phillip Nelson, I am vacationing in the region for a few months and your daughter gave me directions when I got lost." This was technically true, but I was not going to mention that Leah was sitting on the back of my bike at the time. Instead I gave Sue Clearwater my full dimpled smile, the one that most women could not resist, and waited for the reaction. She was not completely immune to its effects.

There was a brief instant where she returned my smile before the suspicion returned. "On vacation for a few months? Around here that is called unemployed."

I faked a small laugh at her joke since humor usually helped put others at ease. "I assure you my job will be there waiting for me in January." Speaking of my job I would have to start to extricate myself from Los Angeles. There was no way I would be able to work there while Leah was here in Washington.

"Job security is a good thing," she continued to fish for information regarding my profession. She was torn between wanting me to leave and needing to know more information about how I met Leah. She was leaning towards the leave because she did not want me anywhere near her daughter. I was not from the region, I did not seem to have a steady job, and I was male. All these marks were against me and made her determined to see me off. I listened to her thoughts as she made a mental note to interrogate Leah about our meeting.

"I am going to assume you are not expecting your daughter anytime soon?" This was not the right time to talk about my profession.

"I don't think so," she made a poor attempt to look sorry that her daughter was not around to speak with me. "I will tell her you stopped by to thank her for the directions," she was suddenly happy since it appeared that I was about to leave. Foolish woman, she did not know who she was dealing with. "No need to waste your time coming back."

I suppressed my smile as she fell right into my trap. "While I appreciate your offer I am old-fashioned in certain respects. I believe thanks should be given in person and not through a third party. Do you think your daughter will be around sometime tomorrow afternoon?"

Her mumbled noncommittal answer almost made me smile.

"I have nothing scheduled so I will stop by tomorrow. Have a good afternoon." I turned towards the door and took a few steps in that direction before I paused and half turned back towards Sue Clearwater. "Mrs Clearwater? I apologize for being discourteous. I would like to offer my belated condolences." The words came out almost as an afterthought. She would not know that this was the hook.

"Your condolences? For what?" She asked suddenly straightening up even more behind that counter. I did not think it possible but she looked even more suspicious than before. It seems my fish was nibbling a little at my bait.

"Regarding your husband's loss." I replied in a polite tone.

"Well ... thank you." I would have missed it had I not been watching her face so carefully. There was an instance of deep rooted pain before it changed back to suspicion. "How do you know about my husband?"

"Leah told me about him," I paused and let the words sink in. My tone was casual but my mind was quickly searching through her thoughts in an attempt to gage her reaction to my words.

"Leah told you about his death," she sounded amazed.

"She joked about it, but she is obviously still grieving." I scrunched up my face, for once not having to fake my concern. "For a young woman she certainly is carrying around a great deal of baggage. Have you considered grief counseling for her?"

Sue's reaction to my statement was surprising, I had expected anger but instead of telling me to mind my own business she sat down in the chair behind the counter. Her shoulders drooping as she went through her interactions with Leah during the past three months. According to Sue's thoughts Leah had not spoken to anyone about her father's death. Sue was confused as to why Leah would talk to a stranger about such personal things yet never speak of it to her own family. Sue was a mother on the brink of desperation since nothing she had done in the past three months helped her daughter. In fact anything Sue had tried just made Leah more and more angry.

"My daughter is fine," she followed her daughter's example and retreated behind the anger. I was beginning to see where Leah had learned her coping skills from.

"I could be wrong but I don't believe she is fine. I am fairly sure she is very confused, upset, and likely to do something stupid," like accept a ride from a strange man as opposed to going home with her ex-boyfriend.

"Leah is fine," Sue Clearwater was definitely old school regarding the grieving process. Her generation of women were often still imbued with the idea that keeping up appearances is what mattered the most -even at the cost of your sanity.

My temper flared at the foolish words coming out of the mouth of this obstinate creature. How dare she endanger my princess? How could she continue down this road of denial? My princess was hurting and depressed while this woman who claimed to be her family did nothing about it. Obviously Sue Clearwater knew very little about how to deal with grief. She was clearly deluded if she thought I was going to just walk away and accept that her daughter was doing 'fine'. I fully turned back around and walked up to the counter.

"Fine? Is that why she tried to get into a fist fight? It would have been a very bad plan considering this Sam is twice her size." Telling Sue this felt like a betrayal of Leah's confidence but the mother needed to understand how bad things were for her daughter.

Sue's eyes widened in surprise at this news. She was not surprised at her daughter's misdeed. She opened her mouth prepared to say something derogatory about her daughters temper but I interrupted before she could say anything else.

"Honestly he deserved it and had she not taken a swing at him I would have done so myself. When a woman tells you no and walks away you do not follow her shouting orders. Leah had explicitly told him no and yet he continued to push her. My mother would have beaten me to within an inch of my life if I ever treated a girl that way. No matter how provoking a woman is grabbing her arm and forcibly attempting to bend her to your will is never an appropriate response."

"Sam is a good boy," her words seemed hesitant. What did I mean by using the word 'forcibly'? The image Leah's cousin Emily with her scarred face also popped up as evidence that Sam was not always so good. The moment of doubt regarding Sam's sterling qualities passed quickly as she reminded herself of he fact that Sam was the alpha and he did what was best for everyone.

I shrugged my shoulders and pretended not to have that strong of an opinion regarding that sorry excuse for a human being. "I don't know this Sam very well. All I know is that he was trying to push his will on your daughter. That in my book is one of the hallmarks of abuse."

"Circumstance are different around here. She probably..." She stopped herself as she was about to say the wrong words.

"She probably deserved it? Were those the words you were about to use? Ma'am I have had my fill of abused faces. I have seen enough to make me never want to see another one in my life. Honestly I would rather not add Leah to that list." Several lifetimes worth of faces in fact. I have been a doctor for a very long time. "Regardless of whether this is abuse or not you have to admit that Leah needs help."

"She has the support of her family and tribe," Sue Clearwater was determined to convince me that there was nothing wrong with Leah.

I wanted to blurt out that it was her tribe that was making her sick in the first place but that would have not helped my case. Instead I gave an approving nod, "it is always good to have support. Sometimes the people around us are too close to the problem and do not see the big picture."

"What would you know about such things?" She was getting angry now, prepared for an argument, and all her plans for getting rid of me as quickly as possible were forgotten.

"I am fortunate to have yet to experience the loss of a parent but I do know what it feels to be lost. I do know what it is like to have no dreams for the future." Just the knowledge that I will have centuries of watching ahead of me. Simply watching and never being able to intervene because that was not allowed as a guardian. "I was once very young and extremely foolish, but luckily a person outside of my situation noticed the issue and helped guide me to a better place."

"Were you a drug user?" She was picturing me with a needle in my arm.

I laughed, "no it was nothing like that. And before you ask no I did not get in trouble with the police. I was merely dissatisfied and feeling powerless. No drugs, no hookers, but lots of angry music." I gave her another smile and this time her reaction was stronger. Well technically there had been hookers but that was not something I was going to reveal to Sue Clearwater.

"So how did you finally get over it?" It seemed she was not going to admit her daughter had a problem but that did not mean she was not going to look for a solution. I had to admire the woman for her determination but at this point sadly there was very little she could do for her daughter. In a way she was too close to the problem, and sometimes Sue was part of Leah's problems.

"I was greatly helped when I moved away from my toxic situation. Leah needs the same thing because she is clearly disturbed by this Sam." I was pointing out just one of the problems.

"Yes she is," Sue Clearwater put her hands in her face. Why could Leah just not understand that Sam now loved Emily?

"Just seeing her with him for a few minutes made it obvious that his mere presence makes her miserable. I am guessing they have a history together?" The bastard had treated her like crap and when she retaliated with bitterness everyone forgave him because honestly who would want to be around with such a bitch? I wanted to smash all their faces in but that was not an option.

Sue did not look up at me as she answered, "you have no idea how much history. But that cannot be erased."

"My suggestion is that you get her away from him as much as possible," I was trying to be as subtle. My "frankness" had made Sue Clearwater reciprocate and if I was going to be successful then I would need to tread carefully.

"This is her home and there is no where else for her to go. It is too late for her to sign up for college. Even if I could afford the tuition to send her there." Sue replied in a tired voice.

"How can you say there is nowhere to go? Have you looked around you? Nothing but places to go. There are so many places out there to go to that you could spend a lifetime in the woods around here and still not get to see everything." I looked out one of the windows that faced the ocean, "and that does not even include all the places you can go by boat."

"So what do you suggest? I give my daughter one of the boats and send her away from here?" The sarcasm was thick in her voice.

"I don't have to go back to work until late January and since my closest friend lives in Seattle I am essentially alone. I have some things that require my attention but aside from that I had planned on spending most of my free time hiking. I have a great deal of experience when it comes to hiking but I would still feel more comfortable with a partner. Generally speaking it is a bad plan to go alone into the woods."

"What and you think I am just going to hand over my daughter to be a tour guide? We rent out boats here not people, and honestly I don't think you could afford it." Her thoughts began to fill in ways I would seduce her daughter. Her imagination was nothing compared to mine, and fortunately I was the mind reader in this situation.

"I am not interested in paying for your daughter. But if for some strange reason I was then money would not be an issue. I am the walking cliche - a plastic surgeon from LA. So in some ways I have more money than sense." I did the quick smile again but she was not paying attention.

"You are a doctor?" She asked to make sure she had heard me right. Being a physician automatically gained you respect points in this society, and Sue Clearwater was suddenly impressed.

"Yes, you sound surprised." I had taken care not to look or act like a physician.

"You just don't look like a doctor," she said somewhat cautiously.

"That may be so but the diplomas on my wall at home state otherwise." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Humans always tended to be so foolish and would only see what you wanted them to see.

She opened up her mouth prepared to argue with me, but then quickly changed her mind. "It does not matter, my daughter is not for sale."

"I am not out to buy your daughter. There are several reasons why you should give me your support. First of all I am an outsider and unlike you I can remain neutral." Only centuries of practice allowed the lie to pass my lips without heistation. "I am not interested in seducing a nineteen year old girl who is busy grieving the loss of her father and her boyfriend. What I want is someone willing to go hiking with me. It would do her some good to do something other than mope."

"She is not completely carefree. There are duties that she has to perform," Sue was determined to win this argument even at the cost of revealing the secrets of her tribe - and people called me stubborn.

"There is another reason that you should accept my help. I cannot return that favor to the man who helped me out, but I can pass along the goodwill." This was my one last shot at being polite and if this appeal would not work then I was going for plan B. The woman was starting to irritate me to the point where I was considering merely putting her to sleep and forcing her mind to accept me.

"What exactly were you planning?" Suspicion was clearly one of her favorite emotions.

"Well I noticed that she seemed to be having a hard time the other day, and I was going to ask her to join me on a picnic to cheer her up. It would also serve as a thank you."

"A picnic? In this weather?" She looked out at the gathering piles of clouds. They might yield a little drizzle but they were not going to produce a serious rainstorm.

"It is not raining yet, and I have the proper gear it that happens. I picked up a nice large umbrella from the store just a few days ago." Phila had made fun of me for doing this. According to her the only people that used umbrellas in this area were the elderly and the tourists.

"Why would I trust you with my daughter?"

"I can give you my social, you can run a background check. I can also give you my doctor's license number." I pulled out my walled and place several pieces of identification in front of her. When my son had first met his future wife I had dwelled deep into every one of her records. It would make sense that Sue Clearwater would feel more comfortable knowing my background. Not that she would find anything I did not want her to see.

That finally won her over enough that we could have a true conversation. I told her a little about my reasons being in the area - the friend with a cabin, blah, blah, and the need to just get away from the long workdays. I kept it light and shallow making her laugh several times with stories of my childhood spent with my cousins and sweet grandma. Who incidentally would probably break both my legs if she ever found out that I called her sweet.

A car pulled up at the back of the building, there was a slam of the car door, and someone entered in the back. Her clothes were ill-fitting and worn looking, her face filled with suspicion and fatigue. This was a girl who had fought and lost many battles today but they had not broken her completely - deep within her eyes was a spark. She still had some fight left and she was trying to gage how to deal with the current potential disaster. Every instinct within me was screaming at me to close the distance between us, fold her in my arms, and tell her that she had nothing to fear from me.

If I was going to be honest with myself I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and kiss her until that small spark in her pretty eyes turned into an inferno. Would she prefer soft, delicate kisses? No that could not be right, Leah was a strong girl, and if I were to guess I was going to say her kisses would probably knock me on my ass - but I had always been a sucker for strong women. My legs twitched with the need to get closer and I felt my thigh relax in an unconscious attempt to take a step towards my mate. Grabbing a hold of my wayward body I locked my muscles and gave her a small greeting, "good afternoon, Leah." I dared not call her Princess and ruin everything I had accomplished with the mother. Now it was time to start earning the trust of the daughter.

A/N: Thank you everyone for all your support and concern. Honestly I have had this chapter finished for over a month now but have been hesitant to post it. You all may thank Lizzy-vamire for pushing me to post this. She was very kind and read through this chapter for me and gave the all ok. Sorry I have been MIA for the past couple of months but this summer has been absolutely amazing. Camping trips, playing in the cold, cold Pacific Ocean, picking wild blackberries and using them to make the tastiest of all cobblers. Next week the kids start school and technically I should have a lot more time to write though I might try my hand at writing original fiction instead of fanfic. Lots of smoochies and for those that want to know about Seth's story I am working on his too but first I have to fix some of the earlier chapters.