The Truth About Kadenburg (7 page)

Seven

A
rnold Goult slammed the door shut on his old,
beat up truck before he walked hastily towards the Bamey house. His niece had
been back for less than a week and she was already trying to make him grey
headed. His jawline was tight as he took the steps two at a time and then
lifted his fist to knock against the screen door.

“Come on in, Arnold,” Mr. Bamey called out.

Pulling the screen door open, Arnold stepped inside to
peer around. His eyes easily adjusted to the darkness of the room as he
spotted Richard Bamey sitting in his recliner.

“Where is she?” He asked. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Richard responded as he pushed himself up
from his seat and moved into the kitchen. “Are you hungry? Charlotte just
whipped up some fresh tuna casserole. Seems Presley had a hankerin’ for it
last night,” he chuckled.

“No, I’m not hungry,” Arnold frowned. “I just want to
take her home.”

“She’s still sleeping,” Charlotte Bamey interrupted as
she appeared from the hallway with a laundry basket in her arms. “I think she
had a mighty eventful night.”

“You don’t say?” Arnold asked as his frown grew deeper,
brows furrowing. “Why didn’t anyone think to call me sooner? I’ve been
worried about her all night.”

“You ought to know you can trust us, Arnold,” Richard
replied as he lifted a bushy eyebrow. “She’s in good hands.”

“I even washed her clothes for her,” Charlotte added as
she held up the freshly dried hoodie between her fingertips. “She’s so small.
She should eat more.”

“I am her uncle!” Arnold barked. “You should have
called me as soon as you knew she was here. I don’t appreciate anybody trying
to take over what I’ve been doing for years. That kid ain’t had anybody but me
since before she was able to walk,” he quieted then, his chest rising and
falling with quick breaths as he lifted a hand to run through his hair.

Mr. and Mrs. Bamey stared at him in silence before
exchanging glances and then Mr. Bamey stepped closer to the other male. He
lifted his hand to rest against his shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze.

“We weren’t trying to step on your toes, Arnie,”
Richard offered. “And I called you as soon as I could.” He turned his gaze to
the clock on the wall to read the time. It was only 6:38 in the morning.

“Where is she?” Arnold asked again. “Which room?”

Charlotte pointed down the hallway. “She’s in Lorcan’s
old room, but Arnie,” she stopped him as he attempted to move down the
hallway. “We need to talk before you wake her up.”

“About what?” Arnold asked in an agitated tone. His
eyes flashed with anger as he placed his hands on his waist and cocked his head
to the side. “About the damn wolf that tried to attack her in the woods? I
don’t need any help taking care of that problem.”

He tried to move past her again, but Charlotte took a
quick step to the side to block his path once more.

“That’s what you say now, but need I remind you of what
happened to Liam?” She asked. Sadness immediately reflected in her brown eyes
as she gazed at him. Arnold knew how sensitive that subject was for her, and
it probably would be for a very long time.

“It’s not just that, Arnie,” she continued in a quieter
voice. “There’s other things we need to talk about. Important things,” she
lowered her voice. “
Ursithrope
things.”

Arnold exhaled loudly as he rolled his eyes to look up at
the ceiling. He knew exactly what they were hinting at and he didn’t have any
interest in the discussion right now. His only concern was seeing Presley.

“I don’t have time to discuss nuptials between your son
and my niece,” he stated firmly as he moved past her and down the hallway. He
knocked loudly upon the door before pushing it open. The bed was empty.

“What the hell kind of idiot do you two take me for?”

“What?” Charlotte was behind him in seconds and she let
out a faint gasp. “But..she was just there, I swear it!”

“And now she’s not,” Arnold muttered as he turned his
head to glare at her. “When’s the last time you checked on her?”

“I don’t know! Maybe half an hour ago?”

“Leave that kid alone for five minutes and she’ll be
halfway to B. F. E!
This
is why I wanted you to call me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Charlotte stammered as she became
flustered. “She was sleeping so soundly and I didn’t want to disturb her,
Arnie. I-I’m sure she couldn’t have gotten far.”

Arnold lifted his gaze to the open window and he could
see the sky beginning to lighten outside. Within three long strides, he was
resting his hands against the window sill as he tried to pick up on Presley’s
scent. It was too windy and other pheromones were masking the one smell he
needed the most at the moment. He moved his hand to rub at the back of his
neck as he frowned.

“She must be close by,” Charlotte insisted. “She’s
been through a lot.”

“Well, you don’t know her like I do,” he said quietly.
“She’s a damn fast runner.”

Arnold was once again in his truck and leaving a cloud
of dust behind him as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. He wasn’t
very fond of the idea that a wolf had tried attacking Presley. He didn’t like
that one of his own had been killed just because he wasn’t a lycanthrope.

The mutts have gone too far this time,
he
thought as he curled his fingers tighter around the steering wheel. He glanced
into his rearview mirror to make sure no one followed him. He honestly
wouldn’t have put it past Richard to make this a ‘sleuth thing’, and Arnold
preferred to handle things on his own.

She’s so damn stubborn,
he rolled his eyes as he
glanced in the rearview mirror again.
She’s too much like her mother.

The sudden thought of his twin sister made a twinge of raw
pain ache in his chest. It was difficult to think about Caroline. He never
allowed himself to slip into that corner of his mind, where every memory of her
smiling face existed. To think of Caroline meant to suffer from grief. He
opted out on that a long time ago.

Caroline had made her decision and it didn’t include
having her daughter-or Arnold-in her new life. He accepted responsibility for
Presley because he didn’t want her to grow up with a family who wouldn’t love
her, wouldn’t understand her, and most importantly; a family who would be
unable to help her when the time came.

Despite his best effort, his mind returned to that
life-changing night of April 27
^th
, 1989.

“I need you to take her,” Caroline said as she moved
to place the 26 month old baby girl onto the floor. The tall blonde
straightened back up as she stared him straight in the eyes.

“Take her? For how long?” He inquired as he
crouched down beside of his niece to unzip her little jacket, carefully pulling
her arms through the sleeves as he gave her a brief smile. “Got a date or
something?”

“No,” she responded with a shake of her
head. “I’m leaving, Arnie.”

“Leaving..? What do you mean leaving, Caroline?”
He picked the tiny girl up and held her against his chest as he stared at his
sister, their identical green eyes connecting in a knowing gaze.

“I don’t want this life anymore,” she
frowned. “I can’t live in this town. I can’t…look at that child.”

Arnold turned his attention back to the
little girl who was smiling so sweetly at him. She reached her pudgy hand out to
rest against his chin as she laughed. How could she not look at her own child?

“I think you’re overreacting, Caroline..”

“No!” She shouted suddenly. The volume of
her voice was loud enough to startle Presley and the toddler began to cry
almost instantly. “See? I can’t handle that. She always cries. She hates me,
Arnie. I can’t do anything right for her.”

“Calm down, Caroline,” he said softly as he
bounced his niece in his arms, glancing back at her mother. “You’re just
stressed. You need a break.”

“I do need a break,” Caroline agreed as she
began to pace back and forth. “I need a permanent break. I never agreed to do
this without Pierce, you know I didn’t.”

He sighed, pressing a kiss against
Presley’s temple before he frowned. His sister’s mate had been dead for almost
three years and she was still so consumed with her grief that he wasn’t entirely
sure how she’d carried his niece to full term-though he was grateful she’d been
able to.

“I have to go,” Caroline sobbed. “I can’t
look at her. She looks just like him. When she smiles..I see him,” her bottom
lip quivered. “I can’t be her mother.”

“But you
are
her mother,” Arnold
argued as his brows furrowed. “You have to be strong for her, Caroline. She
needs you now, more than ever. A cub depends on its mother and you know it.”

“I DON’T WANT TO BE HER MOTHER!” She
screamed. As her voice bounced off the plain white walls of the living room,
Arnold stilled immediately. Presley let out frightful cry as she moved her
little hands towards her ears. She was visibly shaken up. Arnold pondered how
often these outbursts had happened in front of her.

Deep in his heart, Arnold knew his sister
wasn’t well. She needed help. If he could have reached into her body and
absorbed her pain, he would’ve done it in an instant; but instead he was
helpless and by the end of the night, Caroline was gone. He tucked his niece
into his large bed and kissed her forehead as his mind reeled with questions
and concerns. The cubs clung to their mothers always-it was their nature to do
so. How was he supposed to take care of this baby on his own?

“You’ll be okay, Presley,” he murmured as
he laid down beside of her and stroked her cheek with a single fingertip.
“It’s you and me now, Kid.”

Twenty four years. It had been
twenty four years since Arnold had seen his sister. He didn’t have the
slightest clue of where she lived or what she was doing, but his concern for
her had shifted to Presley when she was legally placed in his custody by the
state of Tennessee. Caroline had abandoned the child and Arnold did his best
to channel the role of Mother
and
Father.

Did he have regrets? Of course he had regrets.
Sometimes he regretted not revealing Presley’s true nature to her, but a part
of him was terrified she’d end up like her mother. He was afraid she’d fall in
love with another ursithrope and have her heart ripped out. Apparently Goult
women couldn’t survive heartache.

Like that human Tim was any better,
he thought
bitterly as he pulled over to the shoulder of the road and put his truck in
park. He sighed as he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, attempting
to clear his mind. If he could just catch her scent…

“Hey, have you-”

Arnold jumped in his seat as he turned his head to see
Lorcan standing near the driver’s door. He smacked his open palm against the dashboard
as he swallowed his heart back down into place.

“Scare the bajeezus out of someone, why don’t you,
Lorcan?” He asked with a frown. He glanced from the left to the right before
lifting a brow. “Where the heck did you even come from?”

“Sorry,” Lorcan murmured as he scratched the scruff
against his chiseled jawline. “I figured you might need some help tracking her
down so I followed you.”

Arnold rolled his eyes as he let out a low breath and
glanced in the rearview mirror. That damn Chevelle was parked right behind him.
His pulse was still racing at an uncomfortable speed. He’d been so distracted
with his worry for Presley that he hadn’t sensed Lorcan’s approach-what a
stupid thing to do. He knew better than to let his guard down at any given
time.

“I think I can handle it,” Arnold replied stubbornly as
he gazed straight ahead once more. “She can’t get too far.”

“Well, I’m pretty positive that’s the same thought I
had last night when I found out she was involved in Jim’s wreck,” Lorcan
remarked as he leaned down to rest his forearms against the window frame. “She
was almost three miles away from the scene when I found her.”

Goosebumps rose on Arnold’s heated skin as he tried to
imagine what that ordeal must’ve been like for Presley. He’d spoken briefly
with Jim on the phone and learned of why she was in his jeep in the first
place. He was grateful that Jim had given her a ride, but he was disappointed that
Presley gave in to a habit he’d been so confident she could kick. There was a
part of him that knew, deep down, her breakup with Tim involved more than she
was telling. Sometimes it bothered him that she didn’t trust him more.

“I guess we can start with the woods,” Lorcan
suggested.

“I don’t think she’d be going into the woods anytime
soon,” Arnold disagreed with a shake of his head. “Would you go back into the
woods after coming face to face with a massive wolf that tried to eat you?”

Lorcan slowly shook his head before he responded. “If
I was a girl who was brought up to believe she was just an ordinary human
being? No.”