Saving Briar

Kayla didn’t look much like her mother at all. She had golden ringlets and bright blue eyes. She had bolted across the room the moment Harlow had walked through the door and thrown herself into her mother’s arms, not even giving Theon a second glance. When Harlow had pointed him out and introduced him to the child, Kayla had reluctantly walked across the room and shook his hand, although he hadn’t missed the roll of her eyes after she’d done it.

“Harlow, don’t forget to take your medicine before you leave. You missed a dose last night. You can’t go around doing that. You need to be responsible.” Harlow’s mom had given them a wide berth, staying out of the living room other than to say a quick hello to him through the doorway of the kitchen, although Theon would have had to be blind to miss the disapproving look in her eyes before she turned away.

“Mama, I’m fine. I don’t even know why I still have to take that stuff. My blood sugar is always normal. I think we should get a second opinion.”

“Harlow, Dr. Warner is the very best doctor in this town. You’re lucky he’ll even see you. Now go take your Lantus and don’t talk back to me. You can’t be careless with your health. Especially if you’ve been drinking, which I suspect you have.”

“Do not get started with me in front of Kayla, Mama.”

“Then don’t act like a teenager. You aren’t one anymore.” Harlow’s mother was a small woman, who looked more like her daughter’s sister than her mother. Theon would have been willing to bet that she’d had her daughter young, just like Harlow had had Kayla young, making her a grandmother in her mid thirties.

“I never got to be one, Mama. Not really.” Harlow muttered as disappeared into another room.

“And whose fault is that Harlow Josephine?” Her mother was already walking through the kitchen when Theon’s ears picked up Harlow’s response just before she walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind her.

“Not mine Mama. Just like everything else, I never had a choice at the start, middle, or end about anything to do with my life.” Theon felt an ache in his chest at her words and go wanted to after the human girl, but he couldn’t not only because he sensed she needed her privacy, but also because at that moment the small blonde whirlwind in front of him had decided that he wasn’t entirely useless, or boring, and had begun to show him her collection of Princess Ponies. She had forty-seven and they all had names and she had just announced that she was going to tell him all of them. Theon had the distinct impression that there might be a test later.

As Kalya began to reel off names like Sunshine Sparkle and Rainbow Glitter Morning Star, Theon nodded and smiled and asked questions, while keeping one part of his attention focused on what the little girl’s mother was doing down the hallway, as she stomped around and slammed cupboards and occasionally swore under her breath.

“Mama said a bad word.” The five year old met his eyes and made a tsking sound before handing him a pink pony and a brush. “It’s a good thing Mimsy isn’t in here or she’d be in even more trouble than she already is.” Kayla spoke with a conspiratorial whisper, before glancing at the pony in his hands and frowning. “You need to brush her hair. It’s not going to brush itself.”

“Is she in trouble a lot with-” his voice trailed off as he tried to remember what Kayla had called her grandmother.

“Mimsy,” the child quickly offered while beginning to nod. “Yes. All the time. She doesn’t like my Mama’s job. She doesn’t like her friend who comes to babysit me sometimes. She definitely doesn’t like my Dad.”

Theon was stunned by this announcement. He hadn’t realized that the child knew who her father was, much less that the man was present in her life. He was under the impression that the werewolf that had fathered the child had nothing to do with either Kayla or her mother. Had he misunderstood?

“Who is your Dad, Kayla?” Theon had begun to brush the pony’s pink plastic hair rather enthusiastically as he asked the question, but Kayla only rolled her big blue eyes at him again and shook her head.

“Nope. You’re good at brushing pony hair but my mom’s told me not to talk about who my dad is. He’s too important to let on-”

“That’s enough Kayla. And you-” as Harlow walked back into the room, tugging at the bottom of her shirt she fixed him with a steely glare, “you do not attempt to trick my daughter into telling you anything that you do not need to know.” Kayla stood and was about to launch herself back towards her mother again, but this time she stopped when Harlow flinched.

“Sorry Mama. I’ll be extra careful with my cuddles.” She turned back to Theon before her mother could open her mouth to stop her and continued. “After she takes her special medicine she’s always extra tired. And I have to be extra careful not to touch her too much or it will hurt her.”

“You can touch me silly,” Harlow shook her head, “no one says that you can’t.” With dark eyes that did look considerably more tired than they had five minutes earlier, the beauty looked up and met his stare. “ It just makes me tired. That’s all. Someone takes after Mimsy though, and has always had a flair for the dramatic.”

“No, Grandma says as I’m getting older and older I shouldn’t touch you after you take your medicine. It could make me sick if it touches me or if I touch you after you take it.” Both Harlow and Theon frowned at Kayla’s confident statement.

“I’ll have a talk with Mimsy later on. I think she was probably just trying to tell you not to touch my medicine. Because playing with the syringes isn’t safe. Even touching them isn’t safe, Kayla.” Kayla frowned, and looked as if she were ready to protest, but Harlow was already headed towards the coat closet, coming away with a puffy pink coat with white faux fur trim for the kindergartener.

A few minutes later they had moved Kayla’s high backed booster over into the back seat of Theon’s car and Kayla, along with two of her favorite ponies, were buckled safely in and ready to go. Theon turned the key in the ignition and threw his SUV in reverse, putting his hand on the back of Harlow’s seat as he turned to look over his shoulder before he began to back out, when a vaguely familiar scent hit his nostrils and he froze.

Turning to face forward he threw the car back into park before turning to face Harlow.

“Do you smell that?” She raised her eyebrows before taking a deep breath, the expression in her eyes letting him know she thought he might be losing his mind, before shaking her head. “Not at all?” Harlow took another deep breath but again there was absolutely nothing there.

“Don’t worry Mister- Mama? What should I call him?” Harlow raised her eyes at the man sitting next to her. After a long pause he realized that she was waiting for him to give her daughter an answer.

“Um. I guess… Call me Uncle Theon.”

“Uncle. I like it.” Harlow made a snorting sound that turned into something like choking before she finally managed to sit back in the seat and catch her breath.

“Uncle Theon, it’s Mama’s medicine.” The Alpha had almost forgotten what they’d been talking about after Harlow’s outburst, but the little girl’s voice snapped his attention back to the faint, bitter metallic scent that was stinging his nostrils. “It’s icky isn’t it? I think that’s why Mimsy wants me to stay away. I was trying to put it under the sink before my bath so it wouldn’t stink up the room. It makes my nose burn. And Mimsy can’t smell it."

"I wasn’t even touching the pointy part at all. I was being safe. I just wanted to put it somewhere it wouldn’t stink everything up. I was only touching the bottle. Then Mimsy came over and said I could have dropped the bottle and it could have splashed on me and burned me and my grandpa would have killed her and she went on and on.”

“Your grandpa? That doesn’t even make sense?” Harlow’s voice was low, her brow furrowed.

“Why doesn’t that make sense, Angel?”

“I don’t know my father. My mother’s never even mentioned him. From everything she’s said they have no contact since before I was born.”

Now it was Theon’s turn to frown as he threw his SUV back into reverse.

“I have a grandpa.” Kayla muttered.

“An imaginary grandpa that only visits when I’m not there,” Harlow volunteered. “My mother’s explained the whole thing. Kayla has a very active imagination.”

“Not that active.” The little girl was glaring at the front of the car. “He’s real. If we see him I can show you. I have a grandpa.” Kayla’s little voice became high pitched and insistent as she said the last sentence and Harlow shook her head, her eyes wide. She’d never seen her daughter get like this about her imaginary friend.

“Let’s get that breakfast, okay, Princess?” The words were directed at Kayla and she gave him a huge smile in return. But his mind was on anything other than where they were headed. Alpha Theon’s thoughts were focused on the scent of silver and wolfsbane that were burning his nose, as he wondered why that was a scent the newest member of his pack was familiar with. Was it possible that the human he was finding himself fonder and fonder of by the hour had been unknowingly injecting herself with it, while thinking it was some sort of medication.

Harlow seemed to have no idea it was happening, but he couldn’t come up with any other explanation. And her mom would have to know, along with his pack doctor. Theon had to admit, it was odd for the man to have a human patient. Why would they go to all that trouble to inject a human with silver and wolfsbane. None of it made sense.

They pulled into the diner as Theon mulled over what he had pieced together, and whether what he was imagining was really possible. He parked the car and began to open the door when pain sliced through his mind, blinding in its intensity. As he fell to the ground he heard Harlow scream and then embraced the darkness as a balm to the red hot pain that was coursing through every atom of his body, as he realized why he hurt and what she was doing in that moment to make him feel that way.

Anger, pain, and jealousy swept through his body before the darkness swallowed him whole.