Mated To The Alpha: A Standalone Wolf Shifter Romance, стр. 5
Emma's dad parked the car at a small, worn, trailhead in the state park that only the most hardcore local hikers even knew about, dragging Emma's thoughts back to the present.
"We walk from here."
The girls didn't speak, they just climbed out of the car, donned their large backpacks, and headed down the trail behind Henry.
The girls tried to get information out of Henry, but he wasn't very forthcoming.
"Why have I never met them before now?"
"Well, it's complicated. Your mother walked away from them long ago, when she got pregnant with you. She wanted to raise you more hu- ahem, more normal, than if we had stayed with the pack. And then she died shortly after your birth, and I wanted to honor her wishes. It's a long story, Emma."
"If we had stayed? The pack? Dad, is this some kind of cult? Are they going to brainwash us into giving them all of our money, and into staying out here, worshiping the leader and cranking out cult-owned babies for the cause?"
Her dad laughed at her question, saying, "No, of course not. But, well… they are kind of different."
"Different how?" Kate asked.
"More rustic. Traditional. There is a hierarchy, of sorts. They shun most advances in technology, choosing to concentrate on family, and the old ways. They aren't big on electricity, preferring wood burning stoves and kerosene lights. There is running water, but it is piped in, from the nearby stream. No cars, they grow a lot of their own food, although they do have some family members that come and go, living in town but coming back with supplies they can't produce. Like milk, eggs, and such. They can't raise chickens or cows, well because, umm..."
"My mom's people are Amish?" Emma asked, shocked.
"No, definitely not Amish." Henry laughed.
"Sounds Amish. Do they travel by horse?"
"No. No livestock. No horses, or like I was saying, cows or chickens, because well, the animals wouldn't last very long. A month, at most..." He said, cryptically.
"How do they travel if not by car, or even horse? Even the Amish can travel by horse, and raise livestock."
"By foot."
"By foot? Only? They walk everywhere? No wonder they don't get out much. We've been walking for hours already, and aren't even there yet."
"They walk, yes. And run. They run a lot."
"I don't run," Kate said, her breathing ragged from the long hike.
Emma laughed at her friend. It was true, Kate kept in shape with yoga, weights, and dancing, she was not a runner. Emma was, though. She loved running, or the idea of it, anyway. The practicality of it though, being so tall, and well...curvy.
Emma started to say something but was stopped by a flash of motion off in the distance. Something big, and oddly quiet, blurred by up ahead.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" her dad asked.
"There's something out here. Something big, and wild."
"We're in the woods,” Kate quipped, teasing her. “There are lots of things out here with us. Snakes. Bears. Big cats. Little crawly things. Huge spiders. Things that want to kill us. Is it too late to go to Africa with my parents?"
"Like Africa doesn't have things that want to kill you? Like lions? And elephants?"
"Elephants don't want to kill people."
"No, Kate,” Henry said, answering her question but ignoring our death talk. “It's not too late. You can leave with me; Africa is still possible."
"You'd leave me here? All alone?" Emma asked them both.
"You won't be alone," her dad said. "You will be with family."
"Weird, cult-like, Amish family that mom already walked away from, you mean?"
"Well..."
Kate said, "I'm staying, Emma. Zebras scare me."
"What? Of everything you could be afraid of, here and in Africa, it's zebras that are the deciding factor?"
Kate just shrugged her shoulders at Emma’s teasing and said, "Them, and monkeys. I hate monkeys."
Emma laughed. She didn’t think she could argue with that logic, so she didn't.
It wasn’t long before she saw the large shape again.
"Whatever that is out there, it's really big. And hairy. And it seems to be watching us."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised. We are getting close to their den."
The girls came to a complete stop, forcing Henry to stop as well.
"Their den?" Emma asked.
"That cop, before. Didn't he say something about sasquatches?” Kate added. “You aren't taking us to...I mean, there's no such thing as..."
"Sasquatches? Yes. They do exist. But no, I'm not taking you to them."
"I'm sorry, what?" Emma asked. "Spill it dad. What the hell is going on? I'm not going any farther until you do."
"I can't. Really, you just have to see to believe. But give me ten more feet. See right there, where the path crests and falls off? Walk with me just to there, then you can see for yourselves."
The girls eyed each other wearily, and nodded.
They took a few more steps and the land fell away. They found themselves looking over a huge, open valley.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. In the middle of the forest floor was a complex of wood cabins. Some cabins were larger than others, with wrap around porches, rocking chairs, and grills.
It looked like a campground, or a resort. Emma could hear rushing water somewhere just out of sight. That must be the river, where the water was piped in from. They could see a few people milling around down there, and a few dogs, but they didn't seem to have noticed the three hikers standing up here on the rise.
A rustle in the nearby trees drew their attention, and Emma heard Kate's panicked squeal as the huge, hairy beast that had been watching and accompanying them stepped into view.
It looked to be a large,