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Chapter Two
Cerine
Snowflakes drifted softly around the cabin, catching in the trees and melting on the roof. After the early snowstorm in October, I’d expected winter to settle in by now, but except for the stubborn snowpack in the pass to the west of us, we’d had a mild fall. Incat and I were able to be out and about in the forest during the day, collecting its bounty for tonics and tinctures and teas, much later in the season than usual.
But with Christmas days away, the Goddess had decided it was time to ease us into winter, the time when pack members stayed close to the family hearth and few ventured outside unless absolutely necessary. We prepared for this time all year, and for many, it was a time of rest and renewal, just like for the trees, the forest and meadows, and cliffs surrounding us.
The snow would fall and lie deep and soft on the lands, and, barring some odd weather phenomenon, would not be gone until spring. The snow pack here in our high mountain valley and the higher peaks would feed the earth when it melted. The rhythm of the seasons a blessing on all who dwelled here.
Sometimes, I got overly philosophical in winter with so much time on my hands and no one to share it with. My cabin lay a quarter mile from most of the others in our pack. As a healer’s home, it stood as far away from the others as practical, although when Grandmother died last winter, the alphas, Tadeo and Sawyer visited me…
“You are alone here, Cerine. We would like to offer you a house closer to the others.” Tadeo sat stiffly on one of the seats my great-grandmother wove decades ago. Although it appeared delicate, he needn’t worry about breaking it. Many larger men had sat there while Grandmother or Great-Grandmother employed their healing gifts. I did not remember a time when a man actually lived there. Grandfather passed when I was small, and my father and mother were also long gone. “You must be lonely.”
Grandmother’s love and care had been ever present in my life, and I missed her every hour of every day, but moving would not bring her back. And the presence of others would not ease my missing of the one who had made me feel so loved, so cared for, so special. So I replied as I must. “Thank you for checking in on me and for the offer, but I must respectfully decline. May I offer you some tea?”
Without waiting for a reply, I stood and moved toward the kitchen area. “I have a seasonal blend that I think you will both like.” The kettle sat on the back of the woodstove, as always, adding humidity to the dry air. I moved it forward to bring the simmering water to a rolling boil while I measured the blend of chamomile, peppermint, and rose hips from my garden. The chamomile flowers added complexity, the peppermint sweetness, and the rose hips a tang. Together, they made a brew that reminded me the long, sunny days of summer would return, while warming and soothing at the same time.
When the tea was steeping in the pot, I placed some little cakes on a plate and arranged cups and napkins as well then brought them to the low table in the seating area. “I have sugar or other sweeteners if you like,” I told them, pouring the tea into the cups. “Taste it first though.”
I waited until they’d both sipped and nodded their agreement with me before sitting on a cushion on the floor. “Help yourself to honey cakes. Having our own hives has been a real boon.”
“Analise says the same. She hopes to be involved in beekeeping next year.” Finton reached for one of the cakes.
“Your mate is a blessing to all of us. She’s a beautiful soul.” And a lucky one. Analise had escaped from an arranged and unwanted mating to end up here, mated to both Tadeo and Sawyer. As they were to one another. Analise had barely made it through the pass before the snow filled it, proving the Goddess would have her way where mates were concerned.
“She is that and more.” Tadeo’s eyes glowed when he spoke of her, and my throat tightened at such raw emotion. Would I ever find someone? Did the Goddess have a mate for me? If not, I would be all right. Incat and I would live here for all of our lives, serving our pack, and if I did not have a child, another healer would come.
I studied the powerful alphas of our pack, who’d already been a loving couple when Analise arrived. Anyone would have said they were perfectly happy—anyone who didn’t see them once their female mate arrived. Analise stepped in and raised happiness to joy.
“Alphas, I belong here, where I am. This is the healer’s home, where my family has lived for generations.”
“But you are young, alone, and have no protection,” Tadeo pointed out.
I eyed my black kitten who, while she might keep me from being alone, could not hold off marauders. “Again, I thank you but unless you strictly order me to move, I will stay here, where I belong.”
“So if I say, or if Tadeo says, come with us now, you will?”
I wet my lips before remembering I had tea to ease the dryness in my mouth. A long moment passed while I sipped the beverage and considered how to reply and how much to say. Finally, I set the cup down. “I believe strongly I need to be here right now. If you order me, as is your right as alphas, I will have no choice but to obey. Just know that doing so will cost lives.”
Sawyer started, eyes blazing. “You are saying you’d move where we told you, but that you’d refuse to treat anyone who needs you?” His voice was low, but carefully banked anger lay behind it, and I hurried to correct him.
“Not at all. I would never do that.”
“Then how will it cost lives?” Tadeo asked. “I don’t understand.”
Since I’d never had a feeling like this before, I didn’t completely comprehend what it meant, either. “Grandmother said I had my own path. As the healer of this pack, I believe it is for the good of all that I follow it as best I can.”
They looked at each other, communicating in the way that mates do, and I tried not to envy them. Their happiness was of benefit to the entire pack, and as the healer, that should make me very happy. They turned toward me, two intelligent males, without speaking.
“Alphas?”
“We’ve considered your request, and we will agree under one condition.” Tadeo’s expression was as serious as I’d ever seen it.
“Which is?”
“You have someone move in with you.”
I blinked at them. Just randomly ask someone in the pack to move out here to this little cabin? With few amenities, who would want to come here? Sometimes I wondered why I was so adamant about staying.
