Crescent (Tribes, Book 1) [completed]

Chapter 25 [pt. 1]

"Alpha Conner?" a small, girly voice carried over the wind snapped Conner back to attention.

In a sudden and horrifying moment, Conner realized the position he was in with Liana. He had promised, but he had almost lost the thread of control he still had. Conner eased her leg back to the ground and slowly released her waist, allowing Liana to find her balance.

Her eyes fluttered open, her brow furrowing in confusion and... disappointment? Oh, no, Conner couldn't read too far into that. So he changed the subject.

"My clothes..."

"Oh." Liana, all aflutter, scrambled to remove the knapsack from her shoulders.

Conner helped, doing most of the work to get his clothes out. He sufficed with pulling on his jeans. He didn't have time to get to the shirt before Kat came tumbling out of the trees.

"Alpha Conner!" Kat wrapped her arms around Conner's leg, hanging like a kitten with its master. "Are you out here patrolling? Why'd you bring Ms. Liana along?"

Liana's eyes darted between Conner and Kat. Kat and Conner. She couldn't even look him in the eye, much less answer Kat's innocent question.

Conner, at all times keeping one arm around Liana's waist to steady her, smiled down at Kat. "I have a better question. Would you like to hear it?"

"Of course!" Kat held out her hands as if it had been the dumbest thing Conner ever asked.

That was just how she was. Conner had long since gotten used to the little girl's sassy nature. It was endearing, usually.

"What are you doing out here?"

Conner posed the question with a sense of serious concern. This was one of the most remote parts of his territory. Kat shouldn't have come this far out.

Kat scratched her head with a single tiny finger. "Um... sometimes I come out here. But I'm safe. Grandfather makes sure."

Conner went silent. On her father's side, Kat's grandfather had died in the Great Raid. On her mother's side, her grandfather hadn't been the most upstanding and... hadn't he passed on, too? The fact that she had come this far out and seemed to have someone to care for her safety didn't settle well with Conner. Not one bit.

"Your grandfather?" Liana asked the question this time.

Kat nodded. "I don't see him, but I know he's there."

Like a spirit? Or something far more physical?

"Katherine," Conner implored, using her full name so she took him seriously, "I need you to do something for me."

"I'd do anything for you!"

"That's great!" Conner released Liana so he could squat down to Kat'slevel. "Can you take me to where you've seen this grandfather?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to..." Kat's nose wrinkled and her lips pursed. "But I guess you're okay since you're alpha."

Conner breathed a sigh of relief. If they had someone or something on the res, he would feel better knowing its location now. Conner would rather handle it sooner than later. Leaving things as they were had never been his style.

Liana bent beside him, wrapping her fingers around his arm to steady herself on the uneven ground. Conner loved how easily she fit into the role of his second half.

"Thank you for trusting us, Kat."

Kat nodded her head, hair flying around her like tendrils of magic. "Follow me." She spun on her heel to scamper off.