Xenos
My alpha always says one out of ten people are an asshole. I used to believe it was a joke but now I have evidence that such things even apply after souls take their journeys through the doors of life and death into the Other World. Unfortunately, most assholes don’t go straight onto their spirit trees or reincarnation. They like to stick around and call it moxie or unfinished business. Unlike animals, who mostly want to know why people ate them, where the door is, or wanted one last snack before they go, people want their way. The spirits of departed shifters, vampires, and the like want one last chance to enforce their will upon others.
“It’s not always like that,” my bear cut into my thoughts as we walked to Mori’s Mementos.
The storefront was one of the few our sleuth voted in favor of in the last few decades. It probably helped that one day, Sigmore, my son, would be their spiritual leader. He’d have my job as soon as I grew so frustrated with a spirit that I ‘atsilv ko’ed spontaneously into a burst of sparks.
My son was a morbid elf-wolf. His little shop, named after himself of course, sold relics of by gone eras. At least that’s what he claimed. Mostly, he sold items that once belonged to dead people. Mori also dabbled in tarot card readings, seances, and casting for money. It wasn’t the way I did things but everyone who sees dead people has to develop their own coping mechanisms. Besides, it was how he became such good friends with Othoni. Sometimes he went by Ni, pronounced like the body part for short, but only sometimes.
“Can we eat spirits?” my bear chimed back into my thoughts.
If we could, Finn would be my first choice to devour. He caused more trouble than he was worth while he was alive. He nearly stabbed me over a political dispute and then, my adopted son, Colton, got shot by his brother to protect him from a gun he brought into the sleuth in the first place.
Finn hadn’t even died in Nightshade Bear Territory. He died playing with an antique war cannon on Hemlock Mountain about ten years ago. Fortunately, his three sons were grown before his cavalier attitude toward things that went ‘BOOM’ offed him. Theodore (never Teddy), Evan, and Barley hadn’t seen their parents in years since the funeral. Somehow, despite the odds their mother and Finn’s true-mate, raised them with some common sense. They lived out where the uncle helped lead the Raven Hollow Wolf Pack now. So did their Mama. Only now their sire was here mucking around in Mori’s Mementos.
“Mate, leave it be. Finn can’t hurt anyone,” Barry chimed into my thoughts.
He was at the clinic double-checking his appointment schedule for the week. As the community expanded beyond the ring of trees, he had more and more house calls to perform. Even with the added help of new healers, sometimes it felt as if I’d have to drag him off by his pointy ears if I ever wanted him to myself for a weekend.
“Shoo!” Mori shouted from inside his shop.
I pushed open the glass door and the little bell chimed. The whole place smelled like incense and lemongrass. Maybe some lavender in there too somewhere. Mori didn’t use sage. He had his reasons and that was a bear I didn’t want to poke again. So, I left it be even if sage was easier to use. Whatever he did use worked most of the time.
“I’m not going anywhere. My house used to be right here! I’m telling you! My house was here!” Finn said, tossing his ethereal arms above his head. “I’m staying here. You can’t just take over someone’s house. Crystal’s gonna be home soon and the boys won’t be at school much longer either.”
“Great,” I thought at Barry over our mating link. “He’s lost his damn senses. I wish Frost would just keep him in the Pit already. Where are the pit hounds when you need them?”
“I don’t think Finn is dangerous,” he said again for the millionth time.
The shit thing was, Barry was right. Finn wasn’t dangerous anymore. He was just annoying now.
“You’re dead, Finn,” Othoni sighed. “Your house is in the Other World.”
“He’s a shaman,” Finn pointed at my son. “What are you?”
“Your worst nightmare!” Othoni said, opening his mouth in a hiss.
Ghost Finn flinched but stood his ground.
“I’m not afraid of a pussycat,” he growled back.
“You should be, Finn,” I said, finally cutting into the conversation. “He might not be that scary, but his parents are. His whole pard is, really. They’d have you treed faster than you could scratchy your ass.”
“Xenos,” Finn turned toward me his eyes lighting up. “Tell them to give me my house back. It’s my house! He keeps saying they voted to take my house away.”
I let out a long, slow breath. I despised Finn while he was alive. Now, I wasn’t so sure how I felt about him. He was still annoying, if a lot less dangerous. Only, I had a soft spot for confused spirits and that’s exactly who he was now.
“Finn, no one voted for your house to be taken away. Your house fell over the year after you died. Big ole storm came through and blew it over. Thankfully, no one was living there. We didn’t build it back because Crystal wasn’t coming home. You died, Finn. Playing with that cannon backfired on you. I’m sorry but your house isn’t here. Your house, if you have one now, is in the Other World.”
Finn rubbed his eyes and blinked at me as if he were a man waking up from a dream. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. He wasn’t moving on because he was waiting on Crystal. For all his flaws, he loved her. For the love of Juda, he probably loved her more now that he was dead, and all the living bullshit was stripped from him.
“I know, Finn,” I sighed. “It’s hard to remember you’re dead sometimes but you are. I’m very sorry about that. I’m sorry that your new toy blew you up. I’m sorry that your house isn’t here anymore but this store is here now. It’s my son’s store. I don’t think you ever met the twins, Mori and Preston. He’s the tall one – he’s mine. One half of my first-borns. You’ve got to stop harassing him. Your boys are out with the bird wolves still. No mates yet. Yes, Crystal is dating but you agreed that she should. You’ve got to stop this and go home, okay? Go watch her from your house.”
Finn nodded and waved goodbye before he faded away. I rubbed the bridge of my nose for a long time before looking up at the kids. Mori wasn’t a kid anymore but in someways he’d always be that little wolf playing around with nature in ways he shouldn’t and talking to dead people. I was almost positive that it was the same for Ni’s parents. Both of them were too young to have so much weight on their shoulders. Ni would inherit leadership of his pard, if his parents ever moved on.
“They have each other,” Barry said over our mating link, and I almost reminded him the boys weren’t dating but he already knew that. They were both omegas and spent most of their time together because who else would ever understand them.
“Their mates, eventually,” Barry cut into my thoughts again.
“Thanks, Dad,” Mori grinned at me. “We tried to get rid of him, but he was getting hot under the fur. Said he’d fight me for his house. I know technically he couldn’t touch us but last time he was here he knocked over all the bookshelves.
“Ask him about it,” Ni whispered to Mori.
“Ask me about what?” I arched a brow and wished Barry was here. I hated whenever one of the kids sprang big news on us separately. It made it so much harder to vent about later when they weren’t around because first, we had to fill each other in on the little details we missed out on over our mating link.
“UH…. They want me to go to the Appalachian Wolf Pack Territory. I’m ready to say no, of course. I’ve told everyone I don’t want to do business like that. I don’t want to be a paranormal investigator,” Mori frowned.
“Your history says otherwise, kiddo,” I chuckled. “You’re always in the middle of the ‘paranormal’ action out here. What do they want from you out there, though?”
“Some guy shot Teddy Moonscale because his dead mate told him to or something like that.”
“Teddy Moonscale? Lotus’s Teddy?” I asked.
“We’re not getting involved,” Barry chimed into my thoughts. “We are not going out there. They can solve their own problems or call Ross to do it.”
“That one,” Ni nodded. “But this guy claims he’s a fortune teller and…. Stuff. I don’t know what all he claims but there are some crazy stories coming out of there.”
“And you want to go,” I grinned at the jaguar.
“Yeah. I do. I spent way too long locked up in our territory. Besides, one day when I have to lead them, I’ll be all locked up again. So, I want to see as much of the world as I can.”
“And he thinks Teddy is hot,” Mori rolled his eyes.
“Teddy is hot,” I chuckled. “He’s too young for me to say that about but then again his sire is hot too. Though, he gets…” I stopped myself from spreading gossip that I heard from the spirits. Why would the spirits tell me that Teddy Moonscale was getting around anyway.
“OH,” I blinked.
“He gets OH?” Mori blinked at me. “Do you need a snack?” he squatted down and opened the mini fridge behind the bar. “I think your blood sugar is low or something.”
“I’m alright,” I reassured him, but he passed me a piece of cheesecake in a tiny biodegradable container anyway. They tasted vaguely like those fancy protein bars Barry still imported from that little European elven bakery. Raspberry and chocolaty goodness was a good payment for dealing with Dead Finn.
“What does Teddy get?” Ni leaned his elbows on the counter.
“Around,” I sighed.
“Then why the OH?” Mori asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. You should go. Both of you should go. Make a vacation out of it. Stay at that cute little bed and breakfast that’s not far from the main town. It’s close to the Warden’s farm and brewery…”
“That’s where we’re being called to more or less,” Mori explained.
“Even better. You can stay with them. I exchange letters with their matriarch a few times a year. Just be careful of the moonshine.”
“Moonshine?” Ni asked and I bit the inside of my cheek. He was so naive and sheltered in someways.
“I’ll make sure no one tricks Othoni into drinking it,” Mori sighed. “But why should we go? Did the spirits tell you something that they didn’t tell me?”
“Nope, nothing. Not one little thing,” I said and shoved the rest of the cheesecake in my mouth so that I had an excuse not to talk until the boys changed the subject.