Chapter 894 Chapter 894
Ena felt relief flood her whole body. “So, it is possible. I could go help the Alliance and still be alpha to keep my clan protected?”
“Yes. From the videos of the property and what Jesse has told us, your lands are going to be under construction for months, with Alliance representatives coming to help. Devin and I feel it could be easier to let the work be done and everyone settle before restructuring their lives and adapting to Alliance standards.”
Ena didn’t know what those were, and she wasn’t going to ask because she had enough on her mind right now. “Okay.”
“Ena?”
“Yes?”
“You’re incredibly brave and compassionate for putting others before yourself. I think you will make a wonderful alpha.”
Ena’s eyes teared up. “I don’t know about any of this.”
“You will have all the help you need. I promise.”
She’d never trusted anyone before, but the tone in her voice had been so reassuring, and she was the princess of the entire shifter world. If she couldn’t trust her, then every shifter was in trouble. “Thank you.”
“Take a day and let it all sink in. There’s no rush.”
Ena nodded. “Okay.” There was a rush for her. She wanted her clan to have real lives and not have to exist barely.
“You can call any time you like.’
‘Thank you. I probably will have a hundred questions later when all of this sinks in.”
“That’s understandable. You take care.”
“You too. Bye.” She looked at the phone and then pressed her finger over the phone symbol. She put it to her ear again just to check that she had done it right. She had.
Lowering it again, she blew out a breath. She was allowed to do both, but she couldn’t help wondering if she could handle doing both.
Getting up, she went back over to Jesse and held out the phone. “Thank you.”
He took it and smiled. “I hope Rayne was able to help.”
“She did.” She glanced at Foster, he smiled at her, and even though she didn’t feel like smiling, she did. She needed to do this before she changed her mind. “I need to talk to everyone.”
“We can do that. I’ll go round them up.” Jesse stood there looking at her.
She realized he was waiting for her to say more. “I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I think I need everyone on the same page.”
He nodded. “Understandable.”
“My alpha called me. She said you can call her anytime you want. She’s willing to sponsor you and help out until you’re up to speed and feel like you can do it on your own. If you decide to be alpha.” Foster shrugged.
“Your alpha is a woman?”
He nodded. “Margie, she’s great.”
There were female alphas who were willing to help her. “That makes me feel better…” A gunshot echoed, and she froze. Turning, she looked for Zach. He was already jogging toward his house. Swearing under her breath, she started walking toward the trail. “Nyssa. You get inside and stay there.” She went by one of the women who looked horrified. She turned and called over her shoulder. “Take the new women with you. Harland—” She turned until she saw him, still walking backward. “You stay with them.”
Orson came out of the house, looked at her, and nodded.
“What’s happening?” Her aunt came out.
“Hunters,” Orson said.
“I’m coming,” Zach called out as he hit the steps of his porch. He had his 22 in his hand.
Ena looked around. “Watch the new men.”
Orson nodded. “I’ve got them.”
Ena turned and jogged to the back of the house. She heard footsteps hitting the ground behind her and glanced back. She was expecting Zach, but it was Foster.
“What are you doing?” He caught up to her.
“Deterring hunters.” She kept going.
“How?”
“You’ll see.” She ducked under a branch and hoped she had her boots tied tight enough that she wouldn’t lose them in the snow that was still on the other side of the bush, heading up the hill.
Zach was behind them now. “Those new folk looked scared stiff.”
“They have a good reason,” Foster said, sliding around a tree so he could keep up with her without having to slow down.
Her boots were filled with cold slush, which annoyed her. She’d be sloshing with each step until she could dry them out by the stove.
“We need bigger signs.” Zach sounded a little winded, but he didn’t whine.
“An electrified fence might do better.” She said in a choppy voice as she ran. She slowed and slid a few feet. “Sounded like it was near the bush on the back lot.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
She nodded and started moving again.
“I’m going up on the hill. I’ve got your back, Ena.” Zach’s voice was moving away from her now.
She looked to see Foster running alongside her, not asking a ton of questions or telling her she shouldn’t be doing this. “Between pits, traps, and hunters, my whole clan should be dead by now.”
“Alliance will deal with that for you.” He didn’t even sound winded.
She liked that because running in animal form or not was one of her favorite things to do. She put her hand out. “Slow down. We don’t want to run up on them.” She slowed to a fast walk and then let her animal sample the scents in the air around her. She knew exactly where they were. One of them was wearing some awful cologne—amateur hunters. No experienced one would go out wearing something that any target could smell minutes before they could see them. She stopped and looked through the trees. She spotted something red in them. “Over there.” She pointed and started walking.
Just before they could see them, she laughed loudly and grabbed Foster’s hand. His expression asked what was wrong with her, but he didn’t say a word.
The two men turned and watched them come out of the trees. Their jackets, boots, and hats looked brand new. It was amazing how many suddenly decided they wanted to be instant great hunters. She often wondered if they ever made more than one trip. “How’s it going?” she called to them and kept walking.
“What are you doing walking out here?” One of them asked.
Ena pointed over her shoulder. “My home is over there.” She looked around, trying to see if there were more than two of them. “You’re on private property and should be careful where you’re aiming those.” She motioned to the guns. “Our settlement isn’t big, but we don’t take to strangers shooting wildlife on the land.”
They exchanged a look. “We didn’t see any signs.”
“Probably got knocked down during a storm in the winter. I’ll tell someone and get them replaced.” She pointed. “There’s a river down that way, about a twenty-minute walk. The other side of it is public land.” She shrugged. “It’s a preferred hunting area.” She glanced at Foster; he stood there letting her talk but continued to hold her hand. “What are you hunting? I don’t keep track of the seasons.”
“Uh–” The one looked at the other. “Twenty minutes that way?” He pointed.
She nodded. “If you go back to your car, you can take the bridge over the river on the county road.”
The one that hadn’t spoken nodded.
“Yeah, okay, then. Thanks.” The other nodded and then started walking fast, his friend following right on his heels.
Ena looked at Foster. “Hunting without a license.” She clicked her tongue a few times. “Brand new everything.” She kept her voice down. “With luck, they’ll fall in the river and decide hunting isn’t their thing.”
He was grinning at her.
“What?”
“Just you.” He was still grinning. “You just take whatever is tossed at you, catch it and run.”
Ena laughed. “It might seem fun, but most of the time, it’s things I’d rather not catch.” She looked at their hands and then released his. He reluctantly let go. “We should get back. Zach will watch that they leave the land.”
He nodded. “Jesse will have someone putting up signs and cameras by tomorrow.”
“Cameras?”
“Most clan lands have them now, so they can keep an eye on anyone that goes on the property.” His expression was serious now. “Last I heard, none had been taken off clan lands since they started doing that.”
“I guess we’ll need cameras then because the land we have makes it hard to know if anyone is on it unless they fire off a shot or one of us smell them.” She wrinkled up her nose. “They’re not the smartest, wearing perfumed colognes that animals can smell miles away.”
Foster shrugged. “That’s good for the animals.”
She nodded and walked for a few minutes without saying anything. She was going back and talking to the clan and new people, and she still didn’t know what she was going to say. Stopping, she looked at him. “I need you to be straight with me.”
He gave her a concerned look. “Of course.”
“Official clan life.” Her stomach felt tight. “It’s worth it?”
He looked confused for a second but then nodded slowly. “I think it is. Not just the protection from the Alliance, but other clans pitch in and help. There used to be gatherings, but until all the others like Waylon are found, those have been put off.” He sucked in a breath and nodded while he exhaled. “It’s like you never have to do it all on your own. Does that make sense?”
“There’s not many of us.”
“Not right now, but when more are found, you could end up with more joining the clan and, of course, their mates.”
“Mates?”
He nodded. “Clans of the same type used to have yearly gatherings, but again, that’s paused. Some of your people could find their mate, and then the clan grows again.”
“Right.” She pinched the tip of her tongue between her teeth as she thought about that. “I just want them to have a life and not live the way they—we have been. I want Nyssa to get some education, maybe some of the others if they want to.”
Foster put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “A proper clan will change a lot of things, but none of them are in bad ways.”
Ena looked around and took a few breaths. “I never could have imagined my family came from alpha lines.”
He gave her an intense look. “I can’t even imagine what went through your mind when Jesse told you.”
She snorted. “Not much. It was like my brain froze.”
“No doubt.” He smiled. “I think you’d be a good alpha. Your clan doesn’t need some gruff man barking orders, they need someone that has been there with them through this and understands how it’s going to be going through changes and rebuilding.”
“I don’t know if I can do it. Be the alpha.” She hated admitting it. “I don’t even know what it’s like having one, really. Ours was old and just got older and less caring as I grew up.”
“My alpha said she’d help you learn all you need to, but I still say you’d be great at it.” He grinned. “And you’ll get a nice house with heat and no drafts.”
She smiled. “That’s some selling point.”
“Mhmm, new furniture and even a hot tub if you want.”
She couldn’t remember the last time she had a real bath. Her usual routine was to scrub, get out of the water, and wrap up as quickly as possible. “Hot tub would be a perk.”
He nodded. She knew he was being silly now, but she needed that. She stepped closer. “I know I said we’d talk about—” She motioned between them.
“Hey.” He grabbed her hand and held it lightly. “I get it, okay. There’s a lot for you to deal with, and once you sort through all that, we’ll talk.” He shrugged.
She was watching his mouth again and decided this time she wasn’t going to miss the chance. Moving closer, she raised onto her toes, and then a branch snapping had her spinning around.
Foster stepped in front of her, holding her close against his back with one arm.
“Sorry.” Zach came out of the trees. “I tripped over a mess of branches.” He stopped. “They cleared out. Got in their car and are probably still going.” He grinned. “Guess hunting wasn’t the hobby they were looking for.”
“Good.” Ena moved to stand beside Foster. “Go back and tell the others. We’ll be there in a minute.” She bit her lip briefly. “Tell them I need to tell them something so they can gather up. I won’t take long, then we can work on dinner.”
“I can do that.” He started to turn and then paused. “I hope you decide to be our alpha. I think you’re just what we need.” He smiled and then turned and started jogging.
She pursed her lips together and blew out a long breath, making a sound as she did. “Oh boy. I am so out of my depth.”
Foster grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I won’t let you sink under the surface.” He lifted their hands to his mouth and kissed hers. “If you need me to interrupt and say something dumb, just give me a look while you’re talking to them.” He gave her his playful smile. “I’m great comic relief.”
“You won’t let me drown?”
“I won’t let you drown.”
Ena stomach was filled with butterflies and knots at the same time. The problem was she didn’t know which was causing either of them. Foster or the thought of becoming an alpha. She woke up no different then every other day of her life and now she could be a leader of her clan. She hoped he was strong swimmer, because she could already feel the tide dragging her under.