Knight Shift (57 page)

Jax looked back at Penny like he didn’t understand her statement and said as a matter of fact, “These are essential. It’s my collection now and I’m not leaving this cabin without it.” When he looked at the sheer number of garments, he whispered to himself, “I wonder how I’ll organize them back at home—by color, style, or season?”

As his words trailed off in deep concentration, Penny laughed and she let him pack the silk and lace while she collected more practical everyday items.

As she worked across the room, he asked, “Penny, what’s all this stuff?”

She turned to see Jax holding the large pink bow, sketches of himself, and several other items that he had unknowingly given to her. Realizing that he found her secret treasure chest, she walked over and took the bow.

As she tucked it gently back into its safe home, he asked, “Did you save everything I ever gave you?” As he watched her carefully adjust the positions of her treasures, his eyes locked on several of the items. He picked up a pocket knife and said, “Hey, I’ve been trying to find this for months.”

She grabbed the item from his hand and, as she placed it back on the shelf, she confessed, “I’ve never had a crush on anyone before and having these things here made it feel like you were with me.” Fearing he would reclaim his property, she said, “If you don’t mind, I would like to keep them.”

He smiled and said, “As I told you earlier, everything that’s mine is yours. By all means, keep them. Do you want me to pack them up?”

Penny shook her head. “I have you to hold on to so I guess really don’t need them right now, but I won’t give them up yet. They can stay here in the cabin.”

Jax kissed her on the forehead and then went to find another box to collect more lingerie. Once the Rover was filled, they headed up the mountain toward her new home.

Now that Penny and Jax were a couple again, she insisted that Chloe be told. It wasn’t out of spite or jealousy. She wanted to do it because she had seen the look in Chloe’s eyes when she stood at Jax’s side. Penny knew first-hand how painful it was to wait for something that you could never have. Jax gave in, called Chloe, and asked her to come to the house. Given the tone of his voice, Chloe knew that she wasn’t going to enjoy the visit. Her fear was realized when she walked into the home and found Penny at Jax’s side.

At first Chloe was angry, but then she sighed and asked, “I never really had a chance, did I?”

Jax shook his head and, after intertwining his fingers with Penny’s, he said, “My heart belongs to Penny.”

Chloe stared at the owner of Jax’s heart and said, “I won’t lie and say that I’m not disappointed that Jax chose you over me, but somehow I knew that we weren’t meant to be. I don’t understand how you, a Human woman, were able to make the changes I’ve seen in him, but the proof is standing right in front of me.” She turned her attention back to Jax and said, “You’re glowing with happiness. That’s something I had accepted would never be a part of our relationship.” As she glanced at the couple’s intertwined fingers, she said, “I see how much you genuinely care for each other, but if you pursue this relationship you’ll face some hard times. You may fool Humans for a while, but Changelings will know instantly and won’t be forgiving. We’re on the verge of declaring war and your relationship will confirm the rumors that you’ve become sympathetic with the enemy.”

“My relationship with Penny has made me even more dedicated to our people and opened my eyes to other possibilities. I now believe that the only way to save our race from extinction is to partner with Humans.”

Penny added, “And I’m not the only Human that would embrace us sharing our lives side by side. If given the chance, many of my kind would support peace.”

Chloe replied, “But not all.”

Penny shook her head and said, “No, there are those that will want to fight on both sides and they won’t stop until they destroy each other.”

Jax added, “But I want to give those that will listen an alternative and, if we all stand together, we might survive.”

Seeing Chloe carefully considering their words, Penny said, “I know that you’re feeling hurt right now, but I would like to ask you to stay and help us. If you aren’t comfortable staying here where I am, I own a cabin not far from here that I would be happy for you to call your home for now.”

Jax hugged Penny tighter against him. Although Chloe didn’t understand what kind of sacrifice Penny was making, Jax was completely aware.

Sensing the sincerity in Penny’s words, Chloe said, “I’ll stay because I, like both of you, want to do whatever it takes to help prevent a war. Although I support your cause, be aware that Logan and many others like him, will never agree. They’ll fight and win or die trying.”

As soon as it was dark outside, Razor rose for the night and, after learning that Chloe was now part of their growing team, he took her out hunting so they could talk. Besides wanting to offer a shoulder to cry on, he knew that she and Logan had been friends for many years. Even though their friendship faded away when she confessed her feelings for Jax, Razor hoped to learn something that could help track Logan down.

*~*~*~*

For some reason, the watchers stopped harassing the family over the next few days. Taking advantage of the unexpected lull in hostilities, Razor left with Chloe to help her move a few of her things into the cabin. Chloe thought it would be easier on everyone if she stayed there and it would give herself some time to adjust to Jax and Penny’s relationship. Razor offered his services to help distract and comfort her.

Razor was with Chloe and Penny was hidden away with Jax, so the rest of the family relaxed and watched a game on the television. Ben, who had been working tirelessly on how to block Penny’s rather explicit thoughts, decided to take advantage of the quiet evening to sneak away and take a long, hot, relaxing bath. He grabbed his clothes and walked toward the large bathroom with the whirlpool tub. When he opened the door, he found the room occupied. Both he and Penny screeched and Ben quickly closed the door, stumbling backwards.

When he went back downstairs and entered the living room, Susi sensed the heat radiating off his cheeks and Taylor asked, “What was all the yelling for?”

Ben pointed upstairs and stuttered, “Bathroom. Counter. Penny and Jax’s spots.” With his eyes opened wide, he added, “I’ll never be able to look at a vanity the same way again.” When his mind completely engaged, he yelled up the stairs, “Doors have locks for a reason, you two! There’s young impressionable minds living here.”

Penny yelled back, “Sorry Ben!”

Susi chuckled and said, “I thought you could sense their thoughts and emotions. Couldn’t you tell what was going on in there before you opened the door?”

Ben replied, “I assumed that what I was picking up was more of Penny’s random daydreams. Those two project passion constantly, so I’ve been working on ways to ignore the mental images I see. But I didn’t think what I saw was even possible.” After shaking another image out of his mind, he added, “Penny’s thoughts should be considered the eighth wonder of the world. That girl has a rather vivid imagination. I don’t know how Jax handles it.”

Moments later Penny and Jax emerged and headed toward their apartment. Jax was wearing a simple, long robe in black, while Penny glowed in her fuzzy white robe covered in enormous colorful daisies and matching daisy slippers. She was riding on his back and carrying a pair of bright print stilettos.

Taylor called to the overly happy looking couple, “What’s with the heels, Peanut?”

While Jax gave him a wicked smile, Ben exclaimed, “Lord, don’t ask that! You really don’t want to know.” He blushed brighter at the image that was forever etched in his mind. Penny leaned toward Jax and whispered something into his ear that made Ben yell, “Penny, please! Have mercy on me.”

With a growl and a blur of speed, Jax carried the one he loved into their room and kicked the door closed behind him.

Moments later, Ben jumped as if stabbed by something and yelled, “Now that’s just not right! PB&J is a sandwich, not a position.” He rolled his eyes and said, rubbing his temples, “I’m thrilled that Penny and Jax are together where they belong and that they thoroughly enjoy each other’s company, but really! I’m instituting a new house rule. No one is allowed to buy any peanut butter or jelly until further notice.” He stood and said loud enough for the happy couple to hear, “If you’ll excuse me. I’m going for a walk outside until those two pass out from exhaustion or they end up in traction.”

Everyone laughed, including Ben, who was actually very envious of the genuine love the couple had for each other. Just before Ben reached the door, the twins shouted, “Wait for us!”

Out of Chad’s room, a Greyhound came racing past them, almost knocking them off their feet. As they yelled in protest Charlie, as a crude Cheetah, chased behind him.

Taylor yelled, “I got money on the dog!”

Tadd whacked his brother in the arm and said, “No way. The Cheetah will have him pinned down in five.” He quickly turned to Ben and said, “Hop on.” After he shifted, Ben jumped on his back and he leapt out of the door to catch up with his brother to see who won the bet.

Sam looked to Susi and, feeling the love in the air, he said, “Looks like we have the house to ourselves.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Susi took the hint and pounced.

It was mid-morning when Penny walked into the living room and she sighed at the welcome quiet. They hadn’t seen any watchers the last few days so the atmosphere around the house had relaxed considerably. She found Jax standing by a window in a deep discussion with someone on the phone. She waited until he hung up and then approached. Seeing his concerned expression, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

He replied, “Razor called me before bed last night to tell me that he had taken Chloe to Portland to see the reality of what’s happening. Well, he just called back to inform me that there’s a situation brewing.”

When Penny noticed him fidget anxiously, she knew that he wanted to go, but wasn’t about to ask her. Showing support for his life’s cause, she replied, “Then what are you still doing here? Go help Razor. You’ve been here with me for almost a week and your people could start questioning what you’ve been up to. No one seems to know about you and me yet and, if you want to postpone the inevitable Penny reveal, you need to show them that you’re still engaged in the protection of your people.”

“But I don’t want to leave you.”

“Jax, if we’re going to be a couple, you can’t hover over me twenty-four hours a day. We both have parts of our lives that are unique to who we are and we can’t throw them away just because we’ve chosen to share a bed. This actually works out well. I need to go to the store to do some training with Quinn, but I didn’t want to leave you here. It’s been quiet outside for days, so I think it’s a good time for both of us to go do our thing.”

“I could send someone with you. How about Charlie?”

“Charlie is with Chad. Their relationship is new and exciting and I don’t want to interrupt that. And you’ve sent everyone else out to help set traps to let us know if anyone approaches the house. I promise to go straight to the store and I’ll be back before dark.” Seeing his resolve starting to weaken, she added, “You know you need to let me do this sooner or later. Let’s give it a try today.”

He reluctantly gave her a nod and said, “I don’t like it, but okay. Go have a good time and I expect a very enthusiastic thank you later.”

“You have a deal. Now get out of here.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and added, “I’ll text you when I get to the store.” She grabbed her keys and called as she walked out the door, “I love you.” She hopped on her motorcycle and headed down the lane.

*~*~*~*

Hidden behind the thick brush, a man watched Penny pass his location. He then picked up his phone, placed a call and, when the person on the other end answered, he said, “Hawk, it’s Spider. It worked as you guessed. Leaving them alone made them drop their guard and she’s riding into town on her bike alone. Do you want me to grab her?”

“Logan will want her intact and unharmed so follow her, but don’t do anything that could risk her getting hurt. We’ve been waiting for this moment to come along and I don’t want to rush and screw this up. Like your namesake, just lie in wait until she walks into your web and think before you act. If she figures out what you’re doing, she’ll dig in and call in the family. Jax will lock her up so tightly that we’ll never get this chance again.”

“Understood.”

“Keep me informed of your progress.”

“You can count on me.” He flipped his phone closed and then raced through the woods until he found his car hidden in the trees.

*~*~*~*

While Jax drove to Portland, Penny arrived at Gone Wild. She spent hours working with Quinn and everyone commented about how she seemed to be walking on air. She couldn’t argue. She was happier than she had ever been in her life.

The store had been quiet all day and, since this would be the last time she would walk these floors as anything other than a customer, she secretly hoped for a little excitement. She got that wish when, just before she grabbed her purse to head home, a group of young men in their twenties came in to the store laughing and roughhousing. Seeing several of them stagger, Penny’s protective nature toward the store came forward, causing adrenalin to make her pulse race. She loved dealing with challenging customers and, with a smile of excitement, she said to her apprentice, “Get ready, young Skywalker. We’re going to need the force to tackle this one.”

Quinn looked at the group and shrugged his shoulders. “They’re just having some fun.”

Penny replied, “Ahhh. Trust me, my Padawan. You better get ready.” She lifted her arm, pointed it in the customers’ direction, and called on the force within. Suddenly they both cringed as they heard a crash and then watched as boxes of golf balls went sailing into the air. The store echoed with the delighted cheers of those that caused the mess and golf balls bounced and banged in every direction.

Quinn cursed and said, “They spent all morning working on that display.”

Penny chuckled and replied, “And the force failed me so it will take almost as long to clean it up. I warned you about allowing the workers to build such a tall tower. It looks cool, but all it takes is one overly enthusiastic customer to send it crashing and five of them just walked through your door.”

“Lesson learned, Obi-Wan.”

She patted him on the back and said, “Come on. You’ve got one more lesson to learn.” Penny led him to the scene. As she approached, her smile faded as her inner voice whispered, “
Caution
.” She understood when she got a little closer and instantly knew two things about the men. Several of them reeked of alcohol and were most likely drunk, and every cell in her body told her that they were Changelings. Given the young ages of several of them, she also knew that the group contained those that recently changed.

When Penny and Quinn approached cautiously, the oldest and least drunk one of the group said, “I have to apologize for my friends. We haven’t seen each other in a while and we met at a bar up the road. I guess some of us reminisced a little too long. We’ll help clean up the mess.”

At first Penny thought that the group of Changelings might have been sent to spy on her but, other than the one man that spoke to her, none of the others seemed to even notice her presence. They were too busy laughing and chasing golf balls down aisles. If they were Changelings as she suspected, they were of Jax’s world. Since that was a world that she was planning on making her own, she forced back her fears. Although they seemed harmless, she knew that they were young to the change, making them unstable. She didn’t want to do anything to provoke them to lose control.

As Quinn attempted to coordinate workers to help with the cleanup and collect the overly helpful drunk customers, Penny stayed with the sober one. He insisted that they buy something to make up for their behavior. Although she helped him shop, she remained on alert.

Once both Quinn and Penny completed their tasks, the man attempted to herd his friends out the door. In his struggles, he looked over at Penny and said with pleading in his eyes, “I seem to have my hands full. Could you follow me out with my bags?” He nodded toward his purchases.

Although Penny saw no real threat in his expression, she heard Jax’s voice in her mind. She instantly called over a couple of store workers and they carried the bags and assisted the men out of the store. As he left, he gave Penny a smile and an expression of disappointment. Penny remained inside the store and watched as the men crammed themselves into their two door blue Toyota. Once they drove away, her inner voice relaxed.

Before turning back into the office, she looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was low on the horizon. She announced to Quinn, “It’s getting late and I really do need to go.” After retrieving her purse, she asked him for Jax’s benefit, “Will you walk me to my bike?”

Quinn agreed without question and, when others saw Penny leaving, they quickly followed. By the time she made it to her motorcycle, half the store was surrounding her.

*~*~*~*

Spider was watching the scene from behind a tall bush and cursed, backing further into the shadows. While leaning against a blue Toyota, he flipped open his phone and made a call.

*~*~*~*

Just after Penny gave her last hug, her phone beeped and announced the arrival of a text message. She looked down to see that it was from Taylor. The message said, “
Still in town?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
I am at the cabin. Stop by to review security plans for Chloe.
”

“
Can’t. Getting too dark
.”

“
We will protect you from the woods
.”

After a moment to consider her answer, she texted, “
Ok. I will let Jax know
.”

“
See you soon Peanut
.”

She then sent another note to Jax, “
Got delayed at store. T asked to meet at cabin. Don’t worry. I’ll have him ride home with me
.”

Jax responded, “
Be careful. Text me once there. My return delayed too. Tell you all about it later
.”

She tucked her phone in her pocket and grinned. She had wanted to find an excuse to stop at the cabin so that she could pick up the ring Jax had given her while on their trip. Although he wanted her to wait for a while, she already knew without a doubt that she wanted him at her side forever. She planned to tell him tonight and seal the deal by having him put the ring back on her finger. This time, it would remain on forever.

It had been several days since she had been to her cabin so warmth grew in her chest when she turned the corner and saw the gentle glow of lights coming from the windows. Although she was willing to share this place with Chloe temporarily, at that moment she knew that she would never be able to sell this piece of herself.

Per her promise, Penny sent a text to Jax to let him know that she had arrived safely. After she pressed Send, she sent a second text. “
Changelings came in store today. Do not worry. Just having fun. Left without any issues. Just wanted you to know
.” She then went into the cabin. Although she didn’t find the twins she assumed that they were still in the woods protecting her arrival. She sent Taylor a text that said, “
I am in cabin
.”

She received an instant response. “
Be right there
.”

She decided to take advantage of the brief delay. She went to her treasure box and retrieved the ring. The familiar sparkle made her heart skip a beat. She debated on whether to put it on, but she wanted Jax to be the one to do it. So she gave the diamonds a kiss and, after wrapping it in a lace handkerchief, tucked it carefully into her pocket.

Shortly after she walked back into the living room, she heard a playful howl. Since the noises were coming from outside she knew that the twins were, once again, trying to lure her out so that they could jump from the shadows and scare the living daylights out of her. No matter how much she prepared for their appearance, they managed to make her scream each time.

“Not this time,” she announced with complete confidence. She tossed her purse on the couch and opened the back door. After squaring her shoulders, she stepped out onto the deck and, playing along, called into the night. “Okay boys. Come on out and give it your best shot. I’m ready for you tonight.”

She stared off into the rustling bushes as a figure emerged. When he stepped into the moonlight, she was shocked to find that it wasn’t the twins. Instead she stared into the face of someone she didn’t know. She asked while discretely backing up toward the door, “Can I help you?”

He held up his hands to show that he wasn’t a threat and replied sweetly, “I’m sorry if I frightened you. My name is Hawk and I was out hiking with a few of my friends, but I got separated. I’ve been wandering around these stupid woods for hours trying to find them when I spotted your lights. My cell phone is dead. Do you mind if I use your phone?”

Although the man made no threatening moves, Penny noticed that he wasn’t dressed in hiking gear. She gasped as her inner voice screamed “
Night Walker
,” followed by “
Danger
.” Seeing only one, she recalled Jax’s previous instruction. When there was one Night Walker, she was to be very cautious. When there was a group, she was to run and hide. Seeing this one alone, she replied calmly, “Stay there and I’ll call the rangers for you. They can come get you and help find your friends.”

While keeping an eye on the stranger, she pulled out her phone while continuing to back up toward the house. As soon as she pressed speed dial for Jax, with incredible speed, the stranger was standing in front of her and knocked the phone out of her hand just as it started to ring. It landed with a crash against the edge of a lawn chair and shattered into several pieces.

When he pinned her against the side of the cabin, she dropped all pretext. She said, “You better run. I have several wolf friends that will be here in seconds.”

He held up a phone and asked, “You mean Taylor? He really should be more careful where he stashes his clothes when he shifts. But you’re right. We should get going. Logan is extremely anxious to see you.” When he attempted to pull her away from her home she fought him, kicking a lawn chair and knocking several potted plants over.