Page 8 of Storm Dragon
Watching one of her dearest friends walk straight over to the renowned Guardsman, give the stoic Warrior a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, Tamsyn sighed, “That girl knows everybody.”
“She damned sure does.”
“What the…?” Jumping back at least a step, Tamsyn swatted the Black Bear’s arm and huffed, “Damn, Luke. Give a girl a warning.”
“Dude, you need to switch to decaffeinated. You’re …” Waving his hands and shaking his head as if he had a serious case of the jitters, he added with a. chuckle, “…wound up tighter than an eight-day clock.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t help when you sneak up on me.”
Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Luke acquiesced, “Okay, okay, I won’t remind you how difficult it is for a six-foot-eight, three-hundred-and-thirteen-pound specimen of perfection such as myself to ‘sneak’ anywhere. I’ll just say I’m sorry and mention that everybody’s here and Amethyst just showed up with refreshments, and…”
“And you wanted to know if it was okay to start eatin’?”
“I did!” Luke’s smile was brilliant, and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes was one of the many reasons they’d been friends for so very long.
“Let me say, hey, then everybody can get some munchies, and I’ll get this meeting started. Sound good?”
“Oh, yeah.” The Black Bear waggled his eyebrows, clapped his hands together, then rubbed them loudly as he added, “Amethyst brought those little quiches I love so much, and you know…”
“They’re always the first thing to go? Yes, I know she would make them anytime I asked–and she has, but they’re so much better when it’s a surprise. Ya know what I mean?”
“Sure, whatever you say.”
“I do so love it when you agree with me.”
Laughing at her friend for what seemed like the umpteenth time in their lives, Tamsyn patted Luke on the back as he suspiciously walked toward the table of food at the back of the room. Stepping up to what had always been her dad’s place at the head of the hug, oblong, handcrafted, walnut table, she looked each person in the eye and smiled, ending with the renowned Guardsman, Carrick.
Shaking off the shudder that ran down her spine, she kept her shoulders loose and the smile on her face as the conversation dulled. Opening her hands outward, she started, “Thank y’all so very much for being here. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that each of you cares about this mountain every bit as much as I do.”
Clapping along with everyone else, she continued over the happy sound. “Now, most of all, you have known me for more years than I care to admit, and for those of you who don’t know him….”Motioning with her left hand, she looked everywhere but into his swirling, crystal blue eyes and happily announced, “Let me introduce, Carrick, Head Elder of the Golden Fire Clan of Dragons.”
The room exploded in loud applause as the first true sense of relief she’d felt in nearly a month filled the room. Holding up her hand, she didn’t have to wait long for the clapping to die down, so she could add, “And going around the room to my left, let me introduce Rafe Rosehill, Alpha of the Rosehill Red Wolf Pack, and Greg St. James, Alpha Bull of the St. James Alligator Congregation.”
With a simple nod at Carrick, who she was sure had chosen the chair directly across from her on purpose, she continued by saying, “Bonnie Sampson, one of the famous Sampson Twins Alphas who lead the Sampson Wolf Pack in Valentine, Texas, Sissy Miller, Spokesperson of the Mountain Shifters Menagerie.” Pointing to the back, she felt her smile brighten of its own accord as she locked eyes with her best friend and she introduced, “And back there by the food, where you will almost always find him, is Luke Jackson, Black Bear extraordinaire, and Amethyst Wildwood, the Spiritual Healer of the Ryder Pounce and one helluva fine cook.”
“And since she’s cooked up a feast for us, how about y’all go get something to eat and drink, and we’ll get this meeting started?”
Watching everyone head to the back of the room, she wasn’t surprised that everyone was back in their seats in record time with full plates and inquisitive looks on their faces. Taking a sip of water, Tamsyn almost cocked when Bridgette teased, “Well, at least their mouths’ll be full while you’re talkin’.”
“That was not…”
“Oh, hell yes, it was,” the Bobcat Queen snorted with laughter. “Now, go on and get ‘em. It’s time for my midmorning nap.”
“I wish it were…” And that was as far as she got before her eyes met Carrick’s, and something deep in the very fiber of her being sprang to life.
It took a few extra seconds, ones that she covered with a loud cough, then an exaggerated clearing of her throat, before she took another drink of water and apologized, “Sorry ‘bout that. I have no clue where that cough came from.”
But the look in Carrick’s eyes said he’d heard the conversation between Tamsyn and the Bobcat Queen with whom she shared her soul, knew exactly why she was coughing, and was still somehow sure she was hiding something. In less than the time it took her heart to beat, Tamsyn decided to ignore the Dragon. She didn’t know him. He didn’t know her. And the Great Goddess knew she had more things to worry about than a grumpy Guardsman who thought he knew everything.
One quick glance at her list, and Tamsyn officially started the meeting. It didn’t take long until everyone joined in with the ideas or plans they’d already put into place in their little corner of Defiance.
“We have divided the Menagerie up by those with wings, those with fur, and those who can get into places others cannot or will not go.”
“Thank you so very much, Sissy,” Tamsyn acknowledged. “I was sure y’all had a plan in place since all together you outnumber any of us larger Shifters about fifteen to one.”
Loving that the young Squirrel Shifter’s cheeks blushed a gorgeous pink, she went on, “Please tell those leading each group to holler at me, Rafe, or Luke if they need anything at all.”
“I sure will,” Sissy nodded, making notes on the yellow legal pad she had atop file folders she’d brought along for the meeting.
