DOUBLEGLOW

Riordan bit into his mile-high burger and closed his eyes as the taste filled his mouth, beef, tomatoes, lettuce, and the most delicious barbeque sauce he had ever experienced. He had to stop himself from moaning out loud from the best meal he had in a long time.

Although he was a fair cook, a shifter on his own didn’t take the time to create masterpieces when there was no one to share them with. He thought he had come close once to remedy his lone status, but it was not to be.

He had hoped he would’ve been blessed by the double shifter sister of his Alpha’s wife, but the heart wants what the heart wants…or in her case, what her animals wanted…and they didn’t want him…

When the first of the double shifters was discovered almost two years ago, his time had been taken up with helping to discover how an extinct species was very much alive. He spent long hours researching with his Alpha, Slayde, and the cat king, Kaden O’Connor, to find out more about their history and the eventual genocide of their species.

He still found it incredible that one being could live with two very different animals existing inside them…he found his wolf was more than enough to deal with when he wanted to get out. But a wolf AND a cat? He couldn’t imagine…

The little bell above the diner door twinkled merrily as it was opened. Riordan didn’t even turn his head to see who was walking in…after all, this wasn’t his town, these weren’t his people. He was only here as a volunteer to check out the possibility that his Alpha’s long-dead brother might still be alive and working on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. He was supposed to be here last fall, but it was decided to wait until spring since it might be easier to make contact and find an excuse to approach him.

In the meantime, Riordan had helped his Alpha train an elite squad of shifters on the ins and outs of double shifters and how to find them. And it started with the list they had recovered last year at the cabin where Valaria, his luna’s sister, had been severely beaten and was moments away from death. He still didn’t know how she found the strength to live…

He wished…

Riordan shook his head slightly, wishing Valaria had picked him for her mate was not going anywhere. That’s why he volunteered to find Tiberius if it was indeed him that was working near here. He had to get away for a while…his wolf was demanding his own mate but Riordan didn’t know if he could take another rejection right now and the last thing he wanted was to be introduced to any more female double shifters who relied on their animals to pick their mates…after they were exposed to both wolf and cat shifters…

He didn’t like that decision being taken out of their control…

No, when his wolf, Beast, wanted to settle down, it was going to be with a nice normal one hundred percent wolf shifter…

“Hey Greta!” a female voice called out as the stranger made her way to the counter and sat down.

Riordan didn’t even offer her a glance, he was here for one purpose…

“Well, Lucy, it’s going to be a few extra minutes on your food, we had another order come in for the men at the mill,” the plump gray-haired waitress smiled cheerily.

“No worries Greta, I’m in no hurry. The girls are making dessert so I’ve got time to spare,” the female, Lucy, replied.

Riordan half-listened to the exchange as he continued to fill his own stomach. Underneath the conversation, the whirr of the small round fan sitting on the counter behind the waitress began its next swipe around the small diner to move the warm air and offer some relief to the diners and employees within.

They really needed to put in an air conditioner…

Riordan’s nose twitched as the air swirled towards him, enveloping his nose in a sweet scent that was unmistakable in his world.

WTF??

He was powerless to resist turning his head over his shoulder to get a look at the pre-shift sitting at the counter spooning sugar into the cup of coffee that the waitress had poured. The first thing his eyes were drawn to was the thick red mop of curls cascading halfway down the back of a petite figure dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of black cowboy boots that weren’t just for show.

He drew in another long breath to make sure he wasn’t imagining anything and when the fan swung towards him, he was blasted again with the sweet dark fragrance that was unique to the shifter world. It let every available male within half a mile know that a female was soon going to come into her own.

Riordan turned back to his food and decided to pack the rest up and take it back to his motel room. Although her scent was like ambrosia to his nose, he had things to do. He didn’t have time to track down her Alpha and inform him of his wayward female. They all knew when they were that close to their first shift, they shouldn’t be out in public. Their scent would drive the young males crazy and not all of them would have control over their wolves yet.

He shook his head as he grabbed his last couple of fries and decided maybe he should order another helping to go. Surely it wouldn’t take very long…

“So, what’s going on at the homestead tonight, Lucy?” Greta leaned on the counter as she asked.

Lucy took a drink of her coffee before replying, “Well, Tee and Jaxon took the boys out to a hunting lodge that’s been in Jaxon’s family forever so the girls and I are enjoying some time without any men around. And since it’s been a year since I started working there, they thought they would bake me a cake and we could all celebrate.”

“Has it really been a year already?” Greta was surprised.

Lucy nodded, “I know, right? Time just flies when you’re having fun. And since they are making dessert, I offered to either cook or pick up some burgers and fries from here. I don’t have to tell you what the vote was.” She smiled at the woman.

Greta chuckled, “Well, that’s great for us! So, you have six girls with you right now? How many young men went out with Tee and Jaxon?”

“All eight of them. It’s a sort of he-man getaway for them, I guess. Tee just sprang it out of the blue and said it would be good for them to all hang out in the woods for a couple of weeks, especially since three of the guys are leaving in a couple of months to strike it out on their own,” Lucy explained as she started kicking her boots absently against the stool leg underneath her.

Riordan stopped what he was doing when he heard the name Tee come from her mouth. Did she work at the same ranch where Slayde’s brother lived? It would explain why he would have suddenly made excuses to leave…her smell would have driven him crazy…

And if he was his Alpha’s shifter brother, he might not know why his wolf was attracted to her…and if she didn’t know that he was a shifter just like her, she wouldn’t know that she shouldn’t be around him in her current state…

DAMN, this was getting complicated fast…too many ifs…

“So, do the boys have anything lined up?” Greta asked as she began to box up the meals.

“Yeah, Tee has a friend who would hire all three of them and get them a three-bedroom apartment they can share too until they decide what they want to do with their lives,” Lucy explained easily.

The waitress paused, “That man is a Godsend to these young people, Lucy. They would all be lost causes if it weren’t for him…and you,” she quickly added.

Lucy smiled again, “Thanks, Greta, that’s why I wanted to come here and help. I could have easily been one of those lost causes.”

Greta finished bagging the meals, “You have such a big heart, Lucy. You are going to make some lucky man a loving and caring wife.”

“Hah!” Lucy burst out, “Not in this lifetime!”

Riordan had been so intent on her conversation that when Lucy shouted loudly, he hit his half-empty cup of soda and it fell off his table and splattered into the aisle. He swore under his breath as he grabbed some napkins and bent over to start wiping up his mess.

“That’s okay,” he heard the waitress call out, “I’ll get a mop!”

“Sorry I startled you,” Lucy spoke directly to him.

He had no choice but to look up at her at the same time that the damn fan blew her scent all over his body. He swore that her smell was permeating his clothes. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to get a shower or sleep in his clothes all night.

He looked up at her sitting on her stool. Her deep blue eyes hit him deep in the gut. A small dusting of freckles covered the bridge of her nose and her hair bounced wildly around the angel’s face that stared at him.

Riordan was suddenly self-conscious, wondering if her wolf was impressed by what she saw. Surely, she knew he was like her…

A mop slopped over his hands as Greta started to clean up his mess.

He stammered, “Sorry about that.”

Greta waved airily, “Happens all the time, don’t worry about it. All my customers have done it once or twice.”

Riordan’s dark emerald eyes swung towards the angel again, but she had pulled her phone out of her back pocket and was now texting to someone…her future mate perhaps? The smile he had turned her way dropped…

Greta had finished cleaning and asked, “Would you like another drink? On the house,” she threw in.

“I’d actually like to get another order to go if it’s not too much problem,” Riordan asked as he picked up his basket.

Greta picked it from his hands, “No problem at all, young man, that’s what we’re here for. You might as well take a seat at the counter, it’s going to be a few minutes.” She disappeared down the aisle with her sodden mop.

Riordan hesitated, not sure how to approach the woman sitting at the counter with her head in her phone. Should he whisper to her that he knew what she was and he was the same? Then again, if she didn’t know Tee could also be a shifter…or maybe it was all one big mistake and Tee might just be a regular human…

His wolf whined inside and dug at his insides, clearly, indecision was not his problem…he wanted to get closer…

But he only got one chance to get closer to her to find out about the mysterious Tee. If he fucked this up, he was going to be spending a lot of empty days in a three-star motel waiting until the mysterious Tee came back…

“I won’t bite you know,” Lucy spoke out loud, “Take a seat, it’s a free country.”

Riordan found himself walking slowly towards his quarry, feeling like a teenage wolf with a whole lot of hormones and not knowing what to do with them.

Rory sat gingerly on the stool beside her, his body floating with the strength of her preshift odor. She must be very close to her first change…but how could she do that and look after a bunch of teenagers on the ranch? There had to be more to her story…

He put out his hand, “Riordan McCraven.”

The woman looked up from her phone but didn’t take his hand.

Awkward…

Riordan left his hand in the air, “And you are…?”

The woman returned her gaze to her phone as she replied, “Not interested.”

Rory let his hand drop…wow, that was the coldest reply he had ever received from a female. He wasn’t vain enough to feel he was God’s gift to women, but his clean-cut blond hair and deep green eyes got him his share of long stares…

The waitress returned to finish packing up the load of meals for the woman next to him and he watched her put her phone away before grabbing the bags of take-out, “Thanks, Greta, the girls say dessert is ready and they’re just waiting for me. How much do I owe you?”

Greta waved her hand, “Consider it a donation for all the hard work you do for those kids.”

Lucy nodded, “Thanks, every donation helps,” she pulled the bags off the counter and then turned away.

Riordan watched her stop and then turn back to face him. He was hit again with her natural beauty and the essence that was now clinging to him everywhere.

“Nice to meet you, Roy,” she turned away and left the diner.

Riordan watched her through the front window as she climbed into an old pickup truck and drove away.

Roy? He must be losing his touch…

“Here you are Roy, is there anything else you would like? How about a slice of pie?” the waitress set his order on top of the vacant counter.

Riordan opened his mouth to correct her but figured it wasn’t worth his time. He smiled as he picked up his supper, “Yeah, that would be great, I would love a piece of your pie.”

The older woman smiled, “You won’t taste anything better!” She turned away and walked to the small refrigerator unit to pull out a pie. She asked, “So are you just traveling through, Roy?”

…Roy…

“No, not exactly, I’m here on business, but it shouldn’t take too long,” Riordan replied as he watched her place a healthy piece of pie in a take-out container.

Greta turned to face him, “Where are you staying?”

Riordan felt it wouldn’t make a difference if he told her, “Out at that little motel off the highway.”

Greta added his pie to the bag on the counter, “Paddy’s? Yeah, that’s a nice little place. He hasn’t changed it much in the last thirty years, but it’s clean and comfortable,” She smiled, “and my granddaughter works there when he needs her. Her name is Tabitha…and she’s single.” The woman winked at him and Riordan felt his face begin to redden.

What was wrong with him?

Greta chuckled, “Well isn’t that cute, a young man that still blushes.”

Riordan could only smile crookedly as he grabbed his supper, “Thank you, Greta, I appreciate it.” He threw a fifty-dollar bill on the counter, “Keep the change.”

The woman reached for the money, “But I can’t…” but Riordan was already heading out the door to get into his SUV. Then he took a moment to sit and ponder what his next move should be. Obviously, the mysterious Tee wasn’t coming back for a while and the woman Lucy basically gave him a one-finger salute…so where did that leave him?

Sitting around an outdated motel room until he could speak with Tee when he got back from his man-bonding trip…yippee…

~*~

Lucy arrived back at the ranch and turned off the truck. She looked over at the bags of hot food and mentally thanked Greta again for the freebee. Their ranch was always on a shoestring budget with never enough money being allotted from the state, but Tee had a really great ability to stretch every rubber dollar. And it was good that the other female councilor decided to head back home to visit with her family for a while since they were down to just six girls at the moment. A dollar saved…

What about the man?

Lucy smiled as her inner voice urged her to remember the tall blond man that had been sitting by himself when she entered the door to the diner. A stranger…He stood out like a sore thumb…no…like a rose among thorns…

She had been aware of him since she sat down and knew exactly when his eyes landed on her back. Lucy always had a sixth sense when it came to that stuff and she listened to that voice, trusting it completely. It had served her well when her mother and father split and she became caught in the middle of their hatred for each other, each trying to make her take sides in their war that no one was winning.

And when her father found another girlfriend, her mother went ballistic and went to their house for a final showdown that resulted in a loss…to everyone.

Her mother shot and killed her father and his girlfriend before turning the revolver on herself with no thought to the daughter she left behind. The police had knocked on their door a little after two in the morning along with a very nice lady who was taking her to another house where she would be safe.

The next day she sat bewildered while the nice lady did her best to tell her what had happened that an eight-year-old girl could understand yet shield her from the ugliness. Lucy Bannix also learned the meaning of adopted when they told her that the woman who killed her father was not her real mother and the now-deceased man was not her real father. She didn’t know if that was a relief or just another sadness to be endured.

Yet the voice inside told her everything would be all right and she trusted it again. While the adults started to clean up the mess that had been her life, she was sent to a foster home filled with broken kids. Now she was one of them, broken…and nobody wanted a broken child. Someone came to visit her and told her that monies earned from her parent’s estate would be held in trust until she was twenty-one. She didn’t understand what any of it meant and the woman never came again.

She had asked the woman who ran their house when she could get her stuff from her old house, but the woman just shook her head, “That’s all gone, child. This is your life now.”

Lucy had gone into the bedroom she shared with a twelve-year-old girl named Rochelle, (everyone called her Rocket), and she cried herself to sleep. That was the last time she remembered crying…it didn’t solve anything…

She only knew she could only rely on herself from then on. She went to school, eating a simple packed lunch every day, and watched the other girls show off their new clothes and the latest toys that she could only see on t.v.

She envied them…she used to have all that, but now it was all gone…

Lucy decided then that she would find a way to get all her stuff back. She knew money was what she needed. She began to knock on doors in the neighborhood and ask if there were any jobs that needed to be done. Soon her after-school hours were being taken up by washing windows, mopping floors, and any other odd job that people needed done.

She could still remember the first time someone gave her a five-dollar bill. She hugged it to her and took it home to hide it. She cut a small hole in her mattress big enough to hold the small can she had rescued from the garbage and soon she was rewarded with her little can filling up with bills and coins.

Her friend Rocket would watch her count her earnings and asked her what she was saving for. Lucy always answered, “For a rainy day.” She had remembered the woman who had been her mother always singing, catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day.

She had loved that song and they had spent long evenings outside waiting for a falling star to land at their feet so they could save it for a rainy day…

Lucy smiled to herself as she sat in her truck, remembering the good times from when she was a child, before her world broke…funny how those things snuck up on you when you least expected it. It had been a long time since she thought of her mom and dad.

She had been adopted two years after being thrown into the group home. In that time, she had saved a substantial amount of money and before she left, she had given Rocket everything. She had been lucky to find another Mom and Dad and she knew the older kids never left until they were old enough to live on their own. Rocket would need money for that.

Lucy shook her head, wondering what ever happened to her friend…

And why had her mood shifted so suddenly?

Lucy’s stomach growled and then started to cramp. She tensed as the pain radiated out from her middle. She had been trying to ignore it for the last month, but they were getting more frequent and more intense. She knew she should be seeing the doctor, but with Tee and Jaxon leaving for a couple of weeks, it would have to wait until they got back.

Lucy opened the door and swung to the ground, gritting her teeth until the pain lessened before grabbing the bags of food and going into the house.

~*~

Lucy sat on a living room chair eating the chocolate cake that the girls had made for her. It was surprisingly good with the fudge frosting laid thickly on top. As she ate, she glanced around at her charges.

The youngest, Cyndi, was ten years old and the product of a drug-loving mother who became the child in their relationship until she overdosed, leaving Cyndi to make her way in the system. She didn’t say much and was sent to the ranch in hopes of finding out what was going on inside and how she could be helped.

The twins, Kiley and Krissy were twelve years olds going on twenty-one. They had been living above the local crackhouse until it was raided. They couldn’t tell the police or social services which woman was their mother. None had ever claimed them as their own.

Then there were the partners in crime, Georgie and Bessie, both street kids who made a living selling drugs until they were rounded up and sent here. They were thirteen going on thirty but found a deep and lasting friendship with each other. They were a handful but their hearts were in the right place.

And the last and oldest, Roxy, fifteen going on fifty…she had been pimped out by her mother since she was eight to pay for drugs and food on the table. It took her the first six months to learn that sex was not a currency they traded in here. Hard work was all that was needed. She was finally starting to find her voice around the guys, refusing to take any of their shit…

Lucy watched as Roxy got up to sit next to Cyndi and stole her last fry. Cyndi smiled up at her and Roxy tousled her hair, “You’re all right, squirt.”

Lucy marveled at the strength inside each of these young women to get them through their young lives without checking out. Tough on the outside, but gradually warming on the inside. And any one of them could have been her if she hadn’t been adopted by the nice elderly couple when she was ten. She was still young enough to enjoy the childhood she had left and become a contributor to society instead of living a wasted life. They had given her security and love and she knew when she grew up, she always wanted to help kids like her friend Rocket. Her last adoptive parents were both gone now, but the influence they had over her life would remain forever…and hopefully, somewhere on this journey of hers, she might be able to help a few children find their way to live their lives to the fullest without fear of rejection.

The pain hit her out of the blue.

Lucy squeaked loudly as she keeled over on her chair, her leftover cake sliding to the floor along with her fork and plate.

Immediately she was surrounded by six concerned girls, alarm sounding in their collective voices.

She knew she had to somehow brush it off and show them that she was fine. She held up her hand, “It’s okay, I’m okay,” she got up while resisting the need to grab her stomach, “Just some gas.”

The girls all started laughing and backing away which made Lucy laugh along with them. They had no idea the strength it took for her to appear unharmed, “So, I think I’ll take a run to the bathroom while you guys clean up and put on some television.” She didn’t wait for them to answer.

As Lucy sat on the flush cover behind the locked door, she gave in to the shit-kicking her insides were taking. Wow…this must be the third time today that she was almost brought to her knees. She hoped the girls wouldn’t think it strange that she was getting gas a lot more often lately. Maybe she should pick up something for that, it might do the trick.

Sorry…soon…

Lucy had gotten used to talking to herself since she was a child, but she couldn’t understand why she would be apologizing to herself.

Still, she answered back, it would be rude not to, “It’s okay, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”

We are strong…

Lucy waved her hand as she whispered, “Yeah, yeah, we are strong, but it still hurts like fuck!”

She sighed as the reign of pain eased before disappearing completely like nothing ever happened. She pressed gently in her middle worrying about finding some lump that might give her an idea about what was going on, but there was nothing…not even a twinge…

“Lucy? Tee is on the phone for you!” she heard Georgie knocking on the closed door, “Are you okay?”

Lucy jumped up and flushed the toilet to give credence to her story. As she was wiping her hands, she pulled open the door, “Yep, right as rain, Georgie.”

She pulled her phone from the young girl’s hand and put it to her ear, “Hey Tee, what’s up?”

“Are you okay, Luce?” the voice on the other end sounded concerned.

“Yeah, yeah, fine, just some gas,” she hoped her crassness would discourage any further questioning.

She watched Georgie return to the living room as she walked upstairs to her bedroom. She didn’t want to alarm the girls in case it was a serious situation. They needed security and routine.

“So, I’m away from the girls, do we have another arrival?” It was always her first assumption.

“No, no, I just had to come out to the local store to pick up some things we forgot and I needed to give you a ring. I forgot to tell you about the guy that’s going to be fixing the roof on the barn,” Tee explained, “Cause once I go back to the cabin, there is no phone service so you won’t be able to reach me.”

Lucy felt her breath ease, “Oh, okay, so what about him?”

“Well, actually he might be stopping by to look it over to see what materials he needs to order. I told him we have the metal and we have staging but he would need his own tools if he needed more than what we have,” Tee explained.

Lucy was nodding as he spoke.

“And I told him he could sleep in the bunk at the back of the barn. I hope it’s okay with you that he takes his meals in the house. I just wanted to throw as much into the deal as I could to get the best deal,” Tee continued.

Lucy combed her fingers through her hair, great, another person to keep track of, but she knew Tee was just trying to stretch another dollar, “No, that’s okay, I would have done the same thing. It has to be done.”

“Yeah, so if he shows up, just show him what needs to be done and what we have available and find out when he can start,” Tee finished.

“No problem, I can do that. By the way, what’s his name?” Lucy asked.

“Roy.”

His answer caused her stomach to drop to her feet. She repeated, “Roy?”

“Yeah, Roy McDavid, he was the only one who seemed interested in the job,” Tee replied.

Was that his name?

Lucy tried to concentrate on what the stranger had said…

“Lucy? Is there something wrong?” the voice on the other end questioned.

Lucy bit her lip, “Yes…I mean no, I’ll handle it…”

“Handle what?”

“I think I met him earlier today in the diner,” Lucy replied.

“That’s great news, at least he’s eager to get started,” Tee sounded relieved on the phone.

“Umm, well…” she hedged, not wanting to reveal her lack of a welcome wagon.

“What happened?” Tee knew her by now to know all was not right.

“Well, he tried to introduce himself, but I was trying to text Bessie to let her know it would be a few minutes until I could get the food and…” she really didn’t want him stressing out and cutting their trip short, “and I sort of gave him the brush off.”

She heard the silence on the other end and she felt like she had fucked up big time. She blurted, “Listen, I will fix this. He must be staying at the motel, so I’ll just hop on over early tomorrow morning and re-introduce myself and apologize for the mistake and offer to help him with his work any way I can.”

She heard the sigh and could almost picture Tee washing his hand down over his face, he tended to do that when plans went awry, “Ok, see if you can catch him. If you can’t, I’ll get a hold of him when I get back, and hopefully, he is still interested.”

Lucy jumped in, “Hey, I will make sure I’m there before sunrise and I will grovel on my hands and knees if I have to for him to come here and get that roof fixed. It will be one less thing you’ll have to worry about when you get back, okay?”

“Okay, Luce, I trust you’ll get it done, I can always count on you,” Tee acknowledged, “So, since I won’t be able to call again for a while, don’t forget if you have any trouble…”

Lucy repeated his next words right along with him, “Call Newton. He’ll handle everything.”

They both started laughing and then Tee said, “I’ll talk to you later Luce, hold down the fort while we’re gone.”

Lucy laughed as she saluted, “Yes, Sir,” and they both hung up.

For the millionth time, she wondered how a catch like Tee was still single with no girlfriend in sight. But she supposed people probably thought the same about her…

Her mind filled with the face of the blond stranger…Roy…he probably had a woman waiting for him at home…well she was going to have to wait a little longer. She vowed come hell or high water that man was coming to their ranch to fix the barn roof and she wouldn’t accept any other answer.

She felt a flutter deep inside and could almost swear she felt a grin light up her insides…

How strange…