Chapter 882 Chapter 882
Ena reached over and put her hand on Foster’s as he reached to put the van into park. “Thank you for bringing me here to see my aunt.”
He nodded. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”
She liked touching him, which made her animal do strange things inside her. She pulled her hand back, started to open the door, and then paused and looked back at him. “Do I tell her how Orson looked?” She watched him consider her question for a moment.
“Maybe just tell her you saw him so as not to upset her.”
Ena got out and looked around. There were lights on in three of the houses. That was odd for being late at night.
Her coyote alerted her to an animal being close. She turned slowly, and a very large cat came out of the bush. It was a leopard.
Foster came around the van. He stopped beside her and looked around and then at the animal. “Where’s Jesse?”
The big feline made a soft chuffing sound and then turned and went back into the bush.
“Foster.”
Ena turned to see a man coming toward them. His eyes were the palest green she’d ever seen. Her coyote settled, and she wondered how someone could emit so much calm with only their presence.
“Jesse.” Foster grinned and pointed to the bush. “Ah, Minn was just here.”
The man nodded and sighed. “The living conditions here triggered Leah, so Minn is out keeping watch until she settles.” He looked around. “Evanna won’t let her go too far.”
Ena glanced around without being obvious. There were others that came with Foster’s friend?
“You must be Ena.” Jesse smiled, and again, she felt her animal relax.
“Yes. Thank you for coming.”
Jesse tucked his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner.” He motioned to Orson’s house. “I was just talking to your aunt.”
Ena cringed. “Hopefully, she wasn’t going on about things I’ve done in the past.” Her aunt retold stories so often that she knew some would have her in it.
He chuckled. “There may have been a few.”
“Do you have a list already?”
Jesse smiled at Foster. “A very long one. Rayne is sending a lot to start, so I’ll revamp that once it gets here.”
Ena saw her aunt looking out the window. “I’m going to talk to my aunt.” She glanced at the bush, checking if the leopard was there, and then hurried toward Orson’s house. When she reached the door, she turned to see Foster was watching her. She didn’t know why, but she liked that he was.
Aunt Heidi smiled at her when she went inside. It had only been a day, but somehow, she looked better than she had in a long time. “I was just talking to that nice man, Jesse. He said I could get new curtains.”
Ena blinked. The entire house was falling apart, and she was excited about new curtains. She nodded. “I’m sure they’ll look nice.”
“Yes.” She came over and touched her face. “You look all flushed. Are you feeling all right? I’m sure there’s a medicine for it if you’re not. Jesse and his lady brought more.” She let go of her face. “I’ve never heard of the kind of thing his mate is going through, but they’re all very nice.” She sucked in a breath. “Did you see the leopard? Isn’t that something?”
Not sure what she was talking about, Ena took off her jacket and hung it beside the door. “It is. She is keeping watch.”
Aunt Heidi went over and sat in the big chair. “I bet she’s fierce if she wants to be.”
“I have no doubt.” Ena sat by the window. “There’s several of the Alliance members here now to deal with Waylon.”
Her aunt smiled. “Good.”
Ena could still see Orson and the way he had looked, but Foster was right. Her aunt didn’t need to know that part. “We were there earlier, watching, and I saw Orson.”
Her aunt sucked in a breath. “So, he did take him.” She shook her head. “Orson was right about that too.” She gave her a focused look. “This team is going to get him, right?”
Ena nodded. “Yes. They are all very capable—in a scary way.”
“Good. I hope they lay a good beating on Waylon Kamble.” She nodded.
Ena glanced out the window. Foster and Jesse were talking to Zach. She couldn’t believe everyone was still awake. “How’s Nyssa?” She asked, forcing herself to look away from Foster.
“She’s going to be off that leg for a few days, but soon she’ll be running around again. Harland feels awful about it. He hasn’t let her out of his sight since it happened.”
“He shouldn’t have in the first place. It could have been a lot worse. What if the owner of that trap came back?”
Aunt Heidi shook her head. “I don’t like traps being so close to our lands. Savan said he was going out in the morning and removing any. Next thing you know, some of ours could be shot at.”
Ena looked out the window again. She knew what that felt like firsthand now. Foster smiled at something Jesse said, and she thought for just a second about when he was just a student and she was a waitress. She knew it wasn’t simple, but it felt like it at the time.
“What’s eating at you? Are you worried about them getting Orson?”
She turned back to look at her aunt. “I was—out for a run earlier.” It wasn’t a lie. She had run faster than ever before. “Foster was out too.”
“That would be something, seeing young folk out again.”
“He’s fast.” She glanced at her aunt and then looked out at him again. “He’s my mate, Aunt Heidi.” She heard her aunt gasp and turned to look at her. She had her hand over her mouth, and for a moment, she thought she was upset, but then she saw that her eyes were shining with joy.
“That’s wonderful news.” She smiled. “I have prayed you would find a nice man someday, of course I didn’t know how you were going to because we don’t see any other clans.” Her smile grew bigger. “We’ll have some babies to cuddle and chase after again.”
Ena’s body forgot how to breathe. She drew in a breath and then choked on it.
Her aunt laughed. “I didn’t mean right now. What’s his clan like?”
Ena looked out at him. “I don’t know. We’ve only known for like five minutes, and there’s more important…”
The older woman scoffed. “Doesn’t much matter what’s going on. A cousin of yours–this goes back a long while ago. There was this one boy she fought with over everything. We had to keep the two of them apart when they were kids, or else they would have killed each other.” She chuckled. “He went away for a few years, working on some bush crew somewhere.” She started laughing quietly. “He comes back, and that’s when we had those bad fires, the one that took out three homes before we got it under control. Your cousin sees this man, and then while the whole world is on fire around them, they’re making puppy eyes at each other in the middle of it.” She laughed again. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening around you. Fate gave you a gift, and she won’t let you ignore it.”
Ena sighed. “I don’t know anything about mates. Were Mom and Dad?”
Her aunt nodded. “They were, but when your mother hooked up with that other clan that came visiting, I think she began to dabble in some drugs. They were a strange bunch.”
Ena hadn’t known about that. Now she wished she still didn’t. On one hand, it might explain why her mother had left her, but it still didn’t change the fact that she had let her.
“The only thing you need to know about it is that it’s your choice. The best damn thing that ever happened to our kind that is.” She nodded. “—making it law that if a woman didn’t want a mate, it wasn’t forced on her.”
Ena thought about the women she had seen freed on the video earlier. They had no choice in anything. “So, I could say no to this?”
Her aunt nodded slowly. “You could, but I bet your animal has a different idea about that.’ She pointed to the window. “He’s a cute one, that Foster. I wish you luck saying no to that.”
Ena sighed. “I’ll think more about all of this once Orson is free.” She didn’t tell her that it could be before daytime tomorrow. The less her aunt knew about that, was better. She would be talking to some of the men and Nyssa. If there were groups out there that took shifters, they needed to be aware.