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Conri decided to go with Cass to see her sister. It wasn’t going to be easy on her, but he’d be there for her in the event it got out of hand. And if she got out of hand, he’d shift and kill her. No bones about it. He was about as finished with the other woman as he had been with his dad towards the end of his life.

The funeral had been lovely. There had been so many people showing up at the first showing that they’d had to add an additional day of viewing to accommodate the people that came by. Then, the reception at their home was larger than he could have imagined. Everyone coming, however, only had great things to say about the older man. Stories about how he’d been there when he was needed. How he’d been known to go to the school and help hand out books when needed and was a part of the mentorship at the high school. There were many stories like that one that cheered Elizabeth up when she heard them.

Then, there had been the reading of the will. He knew that Howard was going to leave him something he’d just not known what it was. But to leave him the insurance checks to rebuild the house and the ranch was something he was sure that he should have left to his son. He was to use it as pack land, and there were no restrictions on the land either. It was for him to use or not the way he wanted. And he wanted to make it the best pack land there was around.

But Howie said it was nothing that he wanted there. That his sister had tainted not just the ranch but the land that went with it. Conri’d not known that Howie’s wife had been killed on the ranch when she lost their child. Now, here he was, the owner of a large estate with money to spend on it to bring it up to par. He didn’t know if he should be grateful or pissed off at the man when he thought about it.

Now, here he was, driving to the asylum to see his daughter and tell her that her dad was dead and that he’d left her nothing in the will but for her to be buried at the place where she was hopefully going to spend the rest of her days at. He hoped so as well. He didn’t want to have to kill her, and it would come to that if she were to get out again. And he’d have no regrets about it, either.

“Are you going in with me?” He told Cass that he was planning on it. “I heard from the doctor, and he said that Cynthia is in a state of limbo all the time. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m willing to bet that she’s not going to be able to have much in the way to say to us. I’m thinking that they’re keeping her doped up all the time to keep her out of trouble. Are you going in with me?”

She’d been asking him that same question several times over the last few hours, and each time, he told her that he was. He didn’t know if she was reassuring herself or what, but he wasn’t going to leave her alone when she seemed to be in this sort of state of unknowing. He’d do it himself if he thought it would make her feel better.

The building was imposing looking. There was nothing but a small sign in the front of the building to tell what it was and how long it had been there. He had an idea that people in town drove by this place several times a week and never thought of what could be behind the doors nor the kind of people that might be in some of the rooms. He knew that he’d have a hard time just thinking of it as anything but a home for people who needed extra care and help. And sometimes guards that would keep others safe that were within the doors.

“We’re here to see Cynthia Smith.” Conri had forgotten about that, too. That Cindy went by an anonymous name here so no one could track her down. Why they’d want to do that was beyond him, but then he didn’t have to deal with this sort of thing all that often, so he’d know the ins and outs of a stay in one of these places. Once it was established which Cynthia Smith they were seeing, they were given badges and a long list of rules that they had to follow for their safety.

They couldn’t touch the patient. He thought that was a good rule. Nor were they to agitate her in any way. Cindy was forever agitated, so he didn’t know how that was supposed to work. There were other things, too. No outside food or drinks. No clothing that hadn’t been approved by the doctor. They couldn’t leave flowers or other things in the room either. Nothing sweet nor sugary was to be given to the patient. Don’t unstrap the patient. Don’t sit close to the patient any closer than four feet.

Some of the rules he thought were saying the same thing. But he wasn’t going to do any of the things on the list, so it didn’t bother him in the least bit to know that he wasn’t going to give her any candy or fruits. When they were taken to her room, a guard would be with them for their safety. They went into a large room that looked like any other bedroom he’d ever been in. With the exception of the long cot in the middle of the room with a small figure in it chained to the bed.

He’d never realized how small Cindy was until then. She always seemed larger than life because of the way she acted all the time. She had on a gown that looked like all the other gowns in the place, but hers was stained and dirty. He thought that they should have cleaned her up after her breakfast, but he didn’t know how that worked, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Cynthia, you have visitors.” The guard gave a little shake to the figure in the bed. When she stirred and looked up at them, he got a look at Cindy’s face. Christ, she’d aged twenty years in the few weeks she’d been here. “Come on, Cynthia, you have some people here that want to see you. Come on now, get up.”

She was sat up in the bed, but it did nothing to improve her looks. Her hair looked like a rat’s nest had taken up residence. Her nails, while short, were filthy and brown. He looked at the guard when he said he’d be outside and realized that he was loving the way they were shocked about how she looked.

“Get her cleaned up. Christ man, when was the last time someone combed her hair.” He told him that they didn’t have time for pampering. “It’s just human decency to clean her up after she’s eaten. And when was the last time she had a shower?”

“Like I said, we don’t have time for pampering people like her.” He asked him what that meant. “Killers. She’ll get one when someone has time.”

Against his better judgment, he grabbed the man by his shirt and tossed him against the wall. When it looked as if he was going to hit him, Conri let go a little of his wolf and told him to get her doctor. He didn’t think that he was going to do it until the nurse came into the room to give Cindy meds. It looked to him that she’d already had a great deal of meds in her, but again, he didn’t know what was going on with her.

It took them two hours to get the room cleaned up—there had been dirty linens in the corner that looked to them as if they’d been there for several days. Then, while she was given a shower—a very much needed one, as it turned out, her bed was changed, and clean sheets were put on it. When she came back from the bathroom, she looked like she had when she’d been free, only with a great deal of weight loss.

“You’re not feeding her well, are you?” The doctor told Cass that her sister wasn’t cooperating with them and made a mess. “Tough shit. You’ll start feeding her better, or I’ll have the board in here so quickly that you’ll not know what hit you. How do you think someone is going to like knowing that their loved ones are being treated like this?”

“They don’t care so long as they’re not with them.” He was sort of sad to think that might be true. “If you make a fuss about stuff, it’s only going to make it harder on her when you leave. This is a state-funded facility, and we don’t have the money nor the resources to help everyone that comes through those doors.”

“You’ll do your job, or you’ll be out of one.” Cass was on a roll, and he pitied the people who didn’t hop to it when she wanted answers. By the time they were ready to talk to Cindy, she’d had her nails cleaned up, her hair brushed, and her room cleaned up. It certainly smelled better once they got the other linens out of the corner. They were even given chairs to sit in when they were ready to talk to her. “Cynthia, I’ve come to talk to you.”

She was too stoned out of her mind to understand anything that was being said to her. The doctor, when he finally showed up, said it was the best way to have her, or she’d be throwing food at people and cursing. So their solution was to keep her drugged up all the time so they’d not have to deal with her. It had merit, but he still didn’t like it.

He didn’t like Cindy at all, but that didn’t mean that he would tolerate her being treated the way that she was. Instead of sitting there being pissed off, he decided to contact his good friend and ask Brew if there was anything that could be done about this place.

“Let me check into a couple of things. I know at one time I owned one of those buildings, but I can’t remember off the top of my head.” When he got back to him, he was about as pissed off as he was. “I own that place. You’re saying that they’re telling you it’s state runned? It’s not. I donated millions of dollars to that place to have it run top-notch. I don’t even have a board that I answer to. My mother was in one of those when she was alive, and I, like you, was disgusted when I went to visit her. I’ll make some calls right now.”

“Thank you. We’re here with Cass’s sister, and it took them two hours to make sure that she had on a clean gown and the linens changed on her bed.” He told him what he’d been told, too. “I don’t like the woman, but I don’t want to see anyone treated like this. This is worse than my nightmares could have dreamed up. The staff was having a little party when we walked in this morning, and I found out it was one of the resident’s birthdays. But there wasn’t any of them around to have any of the cake and ice cream that was set up. I’m telling you right now, Brew, I’d be hard-pressed not to come in here as my wolf and kill all the staff off.”

“Don’t do that. We’ll call that plan ‘b.’ I’ll make a couple of more calls and see what I can do about it. Oh, you’ve no idea how pissed off my Calla Lily is right now. She’ll be getting that viper’s nest taken care of in no time.” He was glad to hear that and told his best friend that. “She’d make a great vampire. I’m going to talk to her about a few things here, and you should see some changes soon. Oh my, tell your Cass how sorry I am that it got to this point and nothing has been done about it. I swear on the heart of my mate that it will be changed. Vipers.”

“Thank you, Brew. You’ve no idea how much I appreciate this. As I said, I don’t like the woman, but she’s not the only one here that is being neglected.” He looked at Cass and realized that he might have missed something while talking to Brew. Telling her what was going on so that no one could hear them talking, she smiled at him.

“I figured that you were taking care of things here. We might as well go. She’s not able to function right now, and I don’t like it here. Let’s go get some lunch and watch what happens here from across the street. There was a nice soup and sandwich place there.” He told her that he loved the way that her mind worked.

As they were leaving, he could see the head guy. They’d never caught his name on the phone. He was saying ‘ yes, ma’am’ a great deal, so he figured that Calla had gotten things rolling here. As they were badged out of the building, he could hear sirens coming up the street, and when they pulled in front of the place, he had to smile. Christ, this was going to be so much fun to have a front-row seat to.

People were being escorted out by the police at one point. As many as a dozen. They looked like they were the cafeteria crew and some of the nursing staff. The doctor that they had spoken to was then taken out in cuffs and chains. They both speculated what had happened to the older man when he tried to run from the police at one point. The place was gathering quite a crowd of lookee Lou’s, and they both thought that it was the funniest thing ever. He only wished that he’d remembered to record things for Brew when he saw the big vampire standing in the crowd with a lot of news reporters.

Brew didn’t join them before they left, and he figured that the man had enough on his mind right now and left him to it. There were other people going into the building now, and they were dressed in nurses’ uniforms as well as some of them looked like cooks. It would be just like Brew to be able to get an entire crew in place with the snap of his fingers. The man was that wealthy and that powerful. By tomorrow, he’d bet that it was as if nothing happened, and the people, the residents, would be getting good care and better food than they’d had since being put into the place.

~*~

Cass sat by the headstone that had only just been put in and decided that she could talk to her dad any place that she wanted, but here offered her the most peace. There were still bunches of flowers all over his grave, and she got down on the ground and straightened them up so they looked better. Once she was done, he dusted off the top of his headstone that had her mom on it, too, for when she passed and smiled.

“You’d be so upset about all the fanfare that went on when you had your services. Flowers and condolences came from all over the world at your passing, and people are still leaving flowers at the funeral home that couldn’t be collected in time.” She brushed away a tear that had formed and looked around the cemetery. “You’re in such a lovely place, Dad. I know you picked it out for Mom, and she loves it as well. The big tree will keep you shaded in the hotter months and cover you with leaves in the fall. I remembered how much you liked to rake the leaves up when you had time. It’s beautiful out here.”

She saw a couple going to what looked to her like a gravesite for a child. It broke her heart that there were so many little children’s graves not far from where she was sitting. Perhaps her dad would enjoy talking to the little ones. She had to believe that there was a place that people went to when they passed on. Otherwise, her dad would just be gone like her mother someday.

“Conri is a little overwhelmed about the land that you left him. He keeps asking Howie if he wants it. It’ll make a great pack land for the pack that is growing now, thanks to the king of their kind telling people what a forward-thinking alpha he is. Me too, but I don’t do as much for the pack as he does. I’m the one that makes sure he has all his appointments in order.” She laughed a little at that. “He had so many meetings in the day I was surprised that he ever got anything done. Now he has them once a week and he’s sleeping better because he’s not so stressed about them anymore.”

There were loud voices at the child’s headstone. The man stormed off and left the woman there. It wasn’t until then that she noticed that the woman was going to have a baby. She wished her better luck with this one. Not knowing what had happened, it was all she could do for now.

“I went to see Cindy. Conri said you were calling her that, so I am, as well. But we went to see her last week, and you’d not believe the state that she was in.” She told him about the visit, how she was dirty, and that people weren’t taking care of the residents. “It was awful, Dad. You’d not believe how nasty the place was. But Conri called his friend the vampire and told him what was going on, and now I guess it’s in perfect working order. Even Cindy is getting better care. I know that you’d want that for her. Even for all that she did to us, she’s still family, and I couldn’t stand to have her looking like a homeless person and not being taken care of.”

The man came back with flowers, and he handed them to the woman. She hugged him, but the man just stood there. She didn’t know what was going on, but she felt sorry for the two of them.

“I wonder if they’ll make it. I know that I will.” She plucked one of the flowers from the stem and held it up to her nose. The smell was heady, and she loved it. It reminded her of home when she lived there and the flowers that were forever in the front hall when she came home. “Conri and I are going to try for a baby the next time I’m in heat. It’s a terrible name for me ovulating, but that’s what they call it. Once I’m going to have our baby, I’m going to name him after you if it’s a boy. Conri Howard Valley. Conri loves that name. And if we have a little girl, I’m going to name her after his and my mom. She’ll be Elizabeth Ethel Valley. I love that name. It’s so old-fashioned, don’t you think?”

She remembered her list and pulled it out now to tell her dad what she’d been up to. When she was about halfway through the list, she remembered something else. Something about her big brother.

“Howie is dating again. No one special just yet, but he’s giving it a try. He’s seeing someone from the pack, and they seem to be getting along well. They’re not mates, her mate died some time ago, and she has three children. You should see Howie, Dad. He just dotes on those little ones like they’re his own. And he tells them about you too how you would have taken them to get ice cream daily just so they could be happy. He does it too, just so you know.” She laughed a little. “He’s bought him another house. It’s not nearly as big as the one he shared with Margaret, but it’s lovely. He’s been planting flowers in the front yard since he moved in. I actually think that he was planting them even before he unpacked the first box.”

Looking at her list again, she thought of Kendrick and how he’d been avoiding her lately. “I think he is thinking that I will blame him for you passing the way that you did. I don’t. You left this world just the way that you wanted to, and I couldn’t be happier. Mom is, too, by the way. Happy, I mean. It’s only been a few weeks since you passed, but she’s doing well. I think her being with you when you passed is what’s giving her the strength to go on. I’m very proud of her.”

She told him how she was learning to make jelly from Ethel, Conri’s mom. How she’d been at pack meetings with the women and was learning too how to cook for hundreds of people. Smiling sadly, she thought of her dad and how much he was missing right now, but she couldn’t be sad, she told herself. He was in a better place.

As she was sitting there, looking around the cemetery, a butterfly came and sat on her leg. The large monarch seemed to understand how special and beautiful he was and stayed on her leg for twenty minutes or longer. It was then that she remembered her dad and her on a walk in a garden once and him pointing out all the butterflies and bugs that they found on their trip. She knew it was a sign from her dad telling her that she was all right and would be from now on.

“Thank you so much, Dad. I love you.” Tears streamed down her face as the butterfly landed on the headstone by her father’s name. “I miss you so much, Dad, I can barely function at times. But then something like this happens, and I’m all right again. Thank you, and I love you very much.”

Walking to her car, she took a small glance at the couple again. They weren’t arguing anymore, but she could tell that the man was upset. He was stiff in his shoulders, and his face looked pinched. The woman was crying, sitting on the ground next to the child’s marker.

Since she didn’t know what was going on, she gave them a wide berth and went on her way. Whatever their problems were, she hoped they worked them out soon. A baby wouldn’t fix everything, so she hoped that they understood that. Getting in her car, she sat there for several minutes as she gathered her thoughts. She needed to go home; she had plenty to do, but she always felt so rested when she left here after talking to her dad for a few minutes.

Putting her list in the glove box with the other two she’d brought out here, she was on her way home. She didn’t know why she was saving the lists, but she did, and someday, she’d get them out and reread them and think of the time that she spent with her father. It was good for her to be able to do this.

Conri met her at the door when she got home. Smiling at him, he kissed her on the mouth. Asking him what that was for, he told her that he simply loved her and wanted to show her every time he saw her. Such a goof, he was, but she loved him anyway.

They spent the afternoon together going over reports from the pack. She was getting better at finding things on the report for the foodstuffs that they had stored away, and he was a great teacher, telling her what they should and should not have in their larders. It was for emergencies, and so far this month, they’d used up a good portion of it for when there was a house fire in one of the smaller homes.

“Once a year, we’ll clean out the foodstuffs and use it for giveaways. There are a lot of families that show up for it, and it all goes to good places.” She asked him why they stored the food at all. It seemed silly when there was a store not too far away. “I thought about that too, but there are times when we use it for making up dinners for someone who has had a loss in their family. That way, no one is out a bunch of money for food. Also, we store things like vouchers and gift cards in there.”

“I don’t like that at all. Something could happen to them if there was a fire. But it’s better than having them in the house where we could be robbed. I guess you can think up a better place for them so that we’re not taking the chance of them being destroyed.”

“I’ll give it some thought. I’m assuming that they’re in fireproof containers.” He said that they were. “Good. At least, that’s something. Maybe we can put them in the bank in a safety deposit drawer or something. No, that won’t work. We won’t be able to get to them on the weekends or after five. I think you have the best solution for them.”

They also made up a menu for the next pack meeting. And a list of those that would have to mow the area off when it was closer to the meetings. The last group that had done it did a shitty job, and Conri had to take them to task. It was good to see him not cutting them any slack when it came to doing things for the pack. But it was a lovely ceremony. She got to meet so many of the pack that night.

She’s been really nervous about the meeting. But she had all of the brothers there with her, and Conri, so she needed not to worry so much. Her mom had been invited as they were going to talk about the next meeting being on the new land, but she wasn’t ready to face that many people at one time. She didn’t blame her; there were over four hundred pack members at those things, and it was a little scary for her to know that they could all change into wolves whenever they wished. None of them would hurt her, of course, but she was still a little nervous.

“There are some things being delivered on Thursday. Are you going to be around the house?” She told Conri that she didn’t have any plans that would take her away. “Good. I need someone to sign for them. They’re new computers for the pack house. I guess the kids at the schools need a place where they can get on the internet and rather than buying a lot of computers for everyone that needs one, I thought that we could put them in the pack house for everyone to use. It certainly would make it easier for them to be used there instead of in the houses.”

“I like that idea. How many did you get?” He told her that he’d gotten ten computers and three printers. “That’s wonderful. You’re such a brilliant man.”

“I feel like you’re buttering me up for something. Or did I do something that you need to talk to me about?” She told him not to be so paranoid that she was just complimenting him. “You can butter me up when you want something. I’d give it to you anyway because I love you that much, but I’d love to be able to figure out what I’ve done so that I can worry a little. You make it too easy to be your mate when you’re so agreeable all the time.”

“I don’t want to fight with you. It’s nice just having you around all the time. I especially like that I can talk to you whenever I like. You make me feel good.” He told her that it was his pleasure. “Thank you for that. I have some things that I need to get done if I’m going to be home for supper. There are two meetings that the pack women are having that they want me there for. I think they invite me because they’re afraid of you. But I don’t mind all that much. It’s nice of them to have me around too. One is about the food for the next meeting and the second one is about daycare for the little ones. Did you know that the older generation watches over the little ones two days a week to help out the mothers? It’s nice they said because they can teach the kids the old ways and stories and the moms can get their house cleaned up for a few minutes before the kids mess it up again.”

“I think that I did know that but forgot about it. You’ll learn that they can’t do much without asking you or me for permission. It’s not always needed, but they ask me all the same. They’ll ask you now, too. Just go with your gut on some of the things, and it’ll work out.” She said she’d have to remember that. “All right. Be on your way, and I will, too, or we’ll end up in bed again. Not that I don’t love having you there all the time, but I’m getting behind on my work chasing you around the house. Go now before I change my mind.”

She was still laughing when she went out the door to her car. They had been spending a great deal of time in the bed, the kitchen, and the dining room. Anywhere there was a sturdy surface, they’d make love several times a day that way. It was exhilarating and relaxing at the same time.