Page 23 of Shifter's Homecoming

Trent shook his head. No, he was not faking.

Troy pulled him to his feet, shooting him dirty looks the whole time, and muttering under his breath, then he placed Trent back in the same chair and left him again, with a “keep your ass in the chair” look.

Trent kept his ass in his seat, eyes closed, still trying to take in every bit of his mate’s scent, patiently waiting to hand over his heart.

14 - Talking to the Trees

Reed Marion stood on the grass running alongside the back of the cabin she’d slept in with Troy, her new…mate, last night, and the night before, staring at the forest. The month was August and the night was warm.

She turned around and watched Troy until he disappeared into the main house. She’d wanted privacy to do what he’d asked her to do.

Reed looked forward again, toward the forest, then crossed her arms over her chest. Her thoughts were jumpy and scattered and she didn’t like it. The surreal feeling had overtaken her again, the one that had been coming again and again since she’d touched her first tree in decades. That had been two days before, when those men who could turn into overgrown foxes and bears just like Troy could turn into a wolf had tried to grab her and throw her into a giant crack in the earth — a crack that led to another dimension. She had touched the tree on that day becauseTrevorhad asked her to, and now here she was about to do it again becauseTroyhad asked her to.

It was for a good reason.

Trevor and Troy had another brother, Trent, and Trent wasmissing. He had been missing for weeks, and Trevor could not take it anymore, even though Troy was still insisting Trent was fine. Troy and Trent had a special bond, probably because they’d both been non-shifting, stuck as wolves since birth, and Troy said that even though Trent wasn’t talking telepathically to him or to anyone, Trent was okay. Troy said Trent was on a mission and didn’t want to be looked for, but even Troy was starting to look worried when he said it.

Which was why Reed was willing to at leasttrywhat Troy wanted her to do. She didn’t think a tree here in this Illinois forest would be able to tell her where Trent was, but she would… she wouldask, and she would try not to feel like a dumbass while she did it.

Troy had shown her two pictures from the last time Trent had been seen. They’d lifted the images from the Internet from a wildlife trail camera. One was a close perspective, one was far away, and they showed Trent heading into a massive forested wildlife refuge with several wild wolves lined up behind him. He entered the forest line in a natural break that lined a ravine, ducking under a partially downed tree to do it.

His “point of entry,” Trevor was calling the slim trail that could be seen leading under the downed tree. Trevor wanted to send Reed and Troy up to the “point of entry.” Trevor was convinced that Reed could find him in the forest, even if no one else could.

Reed shivered, remembering the black wolf in the picture. He’d had his head down and much lean power had been obvious in his muscular frame.“That’s him, that’s my brother,”Troy had said, tapping the picture, making Reed wonder how she would even communicate with him when he returned. She couldn’t hear or speak that telepathic language the rest of them could.

Troy had brushed the concern off. Reed tried to forget it, too. She focused on the trees in front of her, forcing herself to take a step. The sun was setting in front of her and it made the forest look like it was on fire, the heat rising up from the ground supplying the illusion of smoke. Just what she needed, extra spooky ambiance.

She was barefoot, on the lawn, for the first time since she’d been a child, letting her toes touch grass, on her way to talk to a tree. Grass! And the grass… it was… it wascommunicatingwith her. It… it liked her. Reed resisted the urge to jump backwards. She resisted the heebie-jeebies. She was half-angel, Troy said. This power to talk to plants was natural, it was given to her by her father, Troy said. This was not weird as fuck and not scary at all, Troy said. Reed knew that … in time, she might fully believe it, but right that second? Right at that second, itwasweird and scary as fuck, and she was freaking out inside, but she could handle it.

Reed forced herself forward anyway. She took another step, and another. She stopped and looked behind her at the cabin she’d come from. Troy had made love to her in that cabin a dozen times already, and he seemed to think that was where they wouldlivefrom now on. Trevor had even arranged for a truck to bring all her things from her apartment, and they would be there tomorrow. She hadn’t even had to pack anything, she hadn’t even had to go back there and face her horrible landlord. Reed turned to the front again. He’d done all that for her. She could do this for him.

She took another step. A woman’s laughter reached her from somewhere behind her and she looked around, but saw no one, only trees, lawn, pasture, cabins, a big, handsome farmhouse, and lots of open space and dusky sky. There were a lot of others living on this farm, several… sisters, and their … mates, and someone was moving around somewhere.

She waited a moment for the laughter to come again. It did, moving away. She could not tell who it was, but then she barely knew any of them. Troy had kept her in bed all that day and most of the day before. The names shedidremember were Ella, Leilani, Eventine, — who was actually a wolf — not a sister, plus Trevor, Track and Treena, Kendra, Graeme, and then there was Rogue.

Rogue was the one who had made the most lasting impression so far. Rogue was mostly silent, watchful, and a little harsh when she did speak, but Troy insisted Rogue liked Reed a lot.

Whatever. She didn’t want to see how Rogue treated people she didn’t like.

Troy was smart and Troy was intuitive and Troy was… he was a wolf and she would never forget that, but he was still aman, which meant Rogue could have him fooled. Rogue wouldn’t fool Reed, though. Reed would wait and watch and then decide if Rogue liked her or not, and if she liked Rogue or not, half-angel-sister or not.

A breeze picked up, sighing through the trees, then patting her face with the soft scents of warm earth, pine resin, and wildflowers. The beauty of the moment made her smile, and her smile allowed her to let go of her quest to remember everyone’s names, to figure everything out in advance, and to make sense of the illogical.

For now, she had a job to do. She propelled herself forward, quick, one-motion, like ripping off a band-aid.

She touched a tree.

She asked the question.

***

Five minutes later, Reed found herself closer to the main house, but holding back, staying close to the cabins for now. She leaned against a railing and watched a tall man holding a sleeping baby stand outside a window. Right here, Reed knew, was the first part of what she’d gotten from the tree.

She’d asked her question, and she’d gotten… information, but she hadn’t quite understood any of it… until now.

She’d seen two images in her mind. The first had been of a tall man holding a baby in his arms, outside of a house, standing near a window. In the image, she’d gone to the man and she’d spoken to him, and he’d told her something. The second image had been of a trail in a forest, lit pink under her feet.

Here, in front of her, was the exact first image she’d seen, and so she guessed she knew what she was supposed to do next. She was supposed to go talk to this guy. She decided to watch him for a little while longer first.

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