A New Beginning. Joycee Clark
in fact they are our friends, since you are staying in our cabin, they will be around sometimes to check on you and protect you even. We use them occasionally in our search and rescue efforts, fire calls, and forest matters. Our teams are the only ones they will work with and they are very helpful. We have seen them protect baby wolf cubs from a mountain lion, helped search for lost kids on the trail and off. You don’t need to be scared of them, just respectful.”
Mariah was looking at Lucca very strangely when Garret came around the cabin. “All clear.” Garret announced “What?” Mariah asked. “Lucca dropped me off up the road a ways so I could check out the property and make sure everything is all good, it is. Let’s go, I’m starving.” Garret announced as he held the door for Mariah and helped her climb in.
“Hey Garret, Mariah met big gray today.” Lucca started explaining so Garret would know Lucca had explained the version they had decided on to explain the large wolves. “Oh wow”, Garret played along. “Incredible, aren’t they?” Mariah looked from one to the other, “Wait a minute, how many phenominal wolves are there?” Her curiosity had spiked. Now she wanted to know everything about them, where they came from, how long had they been working with the emergency services, where was their pack, where they stay, how did they know when they were needed. Question after question flew from Mariah’s mouth, so excited, she had a new species to study. She could use them as her subject material for her doctorate thesis. Garret and Lucca knew they may have over played their hand and it wasn’t working the way thought it would. They needed to call their Alpha, Dean, and figure out how to fix this.
“Mariah”, Garret started, “As near as we can tell they were a government project, they were probably meant to be used in war. When it didn’t quite work the way they expected, they brought them up here on government protected land to live out their days. There doesn’t seem to be any females so they won’t reproduce. It’s a perfect solution. They just didn’t know we would meet them. They are suppose to be a secret.”
“We get very few people up here, and when we do, they stay hidden. They are intelligent creatures. They know when to relax and to get vicious. Leave it at that.” Lucca said.
Garrett took his turn again. “They know to protect you when we can’t be around.” Garret sighed, they were almost to town. Shopping, food, and beer in that order, he hoped.
Mariah wasn’t through with this discussion, but she would drop it for now. They had lots to do in town but she was secretly glad the huge wolves were around. Just felt like more security to her. As errands were run and a fantastic meal at the diner, she was ready to spend some time with Lucca and Garret at the cabin. Mariah had invented a question and answer game she thought would give her better knowledge of the guys without having to tell them too much about her past. Let the games begin.
Chapter Eleven
“Gosh guys, this is more than enough stuff to last us quite a while.” Mariah said as they got into the truck to head back to the cabin. Using the word we, put a sly smile on both their faces, hoping to spend more time with Mariah and convincing her they belong together. The ride was quiet, but as soon as the truck stopped, Mariah started pushing Garret out of the truck. “Bathroom first!” she cried as she hurried to unlock the door. The guys laughed and started unloading the truck. “No wonder she was so quiet on the way back.” They both laughed and started putting things away while noticing the shower was running. “Must think she needs cleaned up.” Lucca said, “I wonder what is going through her head.”
When Mariah entered the kitchen, she looked around noticing the supplies were put away and the guys were sitting at the table having a beer. “Hey, guess I was gone long enough, good job guys carrying and putting away all the supplies.” She laughed and kissed them both on the cheek. Quick and sweet, just what she needed to start her game.
She grabbed herself a beer and sat down at the table with them, noticing they were both looking at her with a question in their eyes. “Okay guys, we are going to play a little game. Garret cocked his head to one side and asked, “What kind of game?” “Questions and answers, and you can only answer with the truth.” Lucca responded first, “I thought the name of that game was truth or dare.” “Nope” Mariah challenged. “This is my game and since we hardly know each other there will be no dares.” Both guys looked disappointed, but it was a place to start.
“Here’s a deck of cards, we will draw to see who gets to ask the first question, high card wins, Ready?” Mariah said. She hurried and split the cards and shuffled so they couldn’t accuse her of cheating. She had every intention of drawing the highest card and asking the first question. She knew they hadn’t been completely honest with her and she wanted answers.
All three drew a card. Garret drew a jack of diamonds, Lucca the ten of spades, and turning her card over, she had a six of hearts. Wait a minute, she could always pull the highest card when playing with her sisters. When she played with them it was for dirt on guys they were dating, or being nosy, even though Mariah wouldn’t date, she still played with them, kind of a way for all four sisters to keep tabs on each other though they all lived together, they all had classes, jobs, and friends that kept them so busy they hardly had time for each other.
“Garret, I guess you get to start.” Mariah muttered. “Be nice.”
“Okay,” Garret responded. “When is your birthday, Mariah?” Although Lucca and Garret had looked her up and the company she was working for, they didn’t want her to know that. They already knew a lot about her. After all, she was their mate and would spend her life with them, she just didn’t know it yet.
Mariah replied “November 8th, that was easy enough.” “Lucca, you have a question for one of us?” Lucca chuckled “Well of course, but I already know everything about Garret. We have been together for years, but Mariah, I would like to know your middle name.”
“Wow, okay. Marie. Mariah Marie Marten. I was born two minutes after my twin, Maranda Michelle Marten, and arrived to a happy family.” Mariah said while silently hoping it would stay this simple, but knowing the game would change once she started getting personal with her questions, so decided to start light.
Mariah added “okay, my turn, but I get two questions since there are two of you and only one of me.” Both guys started challenging the rules but they all laughed together. “Lucca, what is your favorite color?” Mariah started. “Green.” Lucca replied. “Garret, the same question. “Blue.” Garret answered. “And what’s yours Mariah?” Garret started the next round. Mariah answered, “Well, it depends on the color of what. I love royal purple but would not live in a purple house. The sky, I really love the blue of the sky, I love the different shades of green in the forest, the trees and grasses. Not into any shades of pink or yellow for anything, and, “Whoa girl” Garret laughed. are we suppose to answer all questions like that? Mariah replied with a smug look on her face. “Well, you wanted to know all about me and I just gave you a world of information for one question. “She did Garret” Lucca slid in, “I liked her answer.”
The evening flew by and Mariah knew the next time she could up her game because the guys were more relaxed with her. They had continued asking questions like favorite music, favorite holiday, favorite movie, favorite clothes and favorite time of day. All light easy questions, it also made Mariah much more comfortable around them. Being able to laugh and joke with guys was a big thing for Mariah. They hadn’t crossed any boundaries yet, but Mariah wondered when that would happen and Mariah was actually looking forward to it.
They both gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, and that would keep her smiling all through the night.
Chapter Twelve
The next morning, Mariah slept in rather late. The predicted storms weren’t here yet and it was beautiful out. She decided to pack up her backpack with snacks and bottled water and go check out the drop location for her wolf drop. The wolves were to arrive tomorrow and Mariah hadn’t heard on any delays so maybe the bad weather had missed them.
The hike felt good. The birds were singing. All kinds