Not knowing where else to go, she’d finally settled on a compromise. They had to let her work at the farm stand and earn her own money, and go into town when she wanted to, or she’d leave. They’d reluctantly conceded, although they’d paid her next to nothing, and whenever she’d gone into town there had been somebody with her.
Now she was coming to realize that her entire time at the Wilkinsons’ farm had been designed to do one thing. Keep her isolated and away from any other male suitors until she was eighteen, when she was legally old enough to be mated to Loren. Everyone had reacted with shock and dismay when she’d kept putting him off, telling him she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. She’d finally felt so hopeless and isolated that she’d given in to the pressure and agreed to the mating.
Why did they specifically want her to marry Loren? she wondered. She knew they believed that she was a Firestarter. Did he have a history of it in his family as well? Or was he just some douchebag who was willing to accept a bribe to utterly betray his mate and his future cubs? The Wilkinsons had introduced him to her as a “friend of the family”, but now she was sure that had been a lie, like everything else she’d been told.
A car backfired, and she stopped, startled by the noise. She had been wandering around aimlessly as she reminisced and worried. She needed to pay more attention to her surroundings. The Badlands weren’t a place where she should be letting her guard down.
She looked around. Businesses were opening, and shifters were walking down the sidewalk, chatting with one another as if they were in a normal town on a normal day. She had to admit, the Hudson pride kept their territory up well. They had a garbage collection service and provided utilities, there was medical care, they chased off criminals and hunted down ferals. She didn’t love the idea of protection money, but she supposed it was no different than taxes.
She glanced at her watch; it was nine a.m. She needed to meet Madison with the Starweed in an hour.
She went to the grocery store, bought two bags, and impulsively bought half a dozen Danishes too. Then she headed off to the bear side of town, where Madison was already waiting, with Sam and Sarah.
“Told you she’d show up,” Madison said triumphantly to Sam. “She’s even early.”
“This time,” Sam said skeptically, grabbing a pastry from the bag. “Probably she won’t show up next time.”
“You are just a little ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Flora said.
Sarah snorted as she grabbed a Danish for herself. “Yeah, that’s his nickname. Sunshine.”
“Really?” Flora looked at her in surprise.
“Nope.” Sarah shook her head and devoured half the Danish in one hungry bite. Flora looked at her with worry; she was so thin, and there were circles under her eyes. “You believe everything people tell you?”
“I used to,” Flora sighed. “Not so much anymore.”
“Welcome to the Badlands,” Sarah said, swallowing the last bite. “It’ll only get worse. Oh, crap, lions. I smell lions. Pretty close. Ten, twelve blocks away.”
“Yes, Finn has noticed that the bears are patrolling more, so he’s stepped up his patrols too,” Flora said nervously. “I’d better hit the road. And let’s skip a day, just in case, and meet at a different time. I’ll meet you here day after tomorrow at eight a.m. How are you doing on Starweed? Do you have enough yet to make the trip?”
“We’re getting close. Three more bags should do it,” Madison said. “Okay, just in case we can’t come here because of the patrols, there’s an empty building at 45th and Chellis Avenue where you could meet us. That’s kind of a last resort, though – it’s one block into our territory. We’d be in the basement. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. Don’t you want to say thank you, Sam?”
“Not really,” he muttered, already walking away.
Madison glanced at Flora apologetically. “He had it rough when my mom remarried. My stepfather beat him with his belt if he so much as sneezed. He doesn’t trust many people now.” Then she and Sarah followed Sam at a fast trot, heading back towards Ruben’s territory.
Flora quickly headed towards the Hudson side of town.
As she approached the Lion’s Den, she heard Finn calling out her name. He was standing in the doorway of a used furniture store. Probably there collecting protection money.
She felt a dull stab of pain deep inside. She kept reminding herself that they weren’t really mates, but his rejection of her still stung deeply. She’d offered herself to him completely – and he’d gotten up and walked away.