Love An Eagle

Peggy wasn’t gone ten minutes before she was back. “Cara?”

Cara looked up to find Peggy standing there, her face pale. “Yes?”

“You need to go to Dr. Claw’s office,” Peggy whispered.

Cara frowned, “Okay. Is something wrong?”

“I think the Ithanchan (chief) must have called. Dr. Claw snarled for me to cancel all the appointments from lunch on and it sounded as if he was throwing things. You’re the only one who can calm him down now,” Peggy said.

Then walking over to Ramona, she leaned in and began to talk fast to her.

Cara stood up and hurried down the hallway toward Wamblee’s office. His door was closed, but she could hear his voice. He sounded as if he was almost yelling, but she didn’t understand a word he was speaking, so she figured he must be talking in his native language.

Opening the door, she stepped inside and closed it behind her. She then stood silently, waiting, glancing briefly at the mess of books and papers on the floor.

Wamblee turned and looked at her, his face blank, but she could see the anger in his dark eyes.

“What happened Wamblee, mihigna ki (my husband)?” she asked him softly.

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she moved toward him.

“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him. “I love you and I won’t let anyone take you from me.”

Now standing in front of him, she rubbed her hand up his chest, around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair. He’d taken the braid out and it looked as if he’d been dragging his own fingers through the top of it.

He took another breath, then muttered, “My father called. He has called me home to speak with him about my insolence. It seems, he was willing to let my becoming a doctor go because the town has taken so well to my clinic. In return, he expects me to spend one day a week on tribe land, looking after those there. He’s even found a small house, which I can use as a temporary clinic.”

“Oh,” she said, not sure where this was going yet.

“Cara, shifters rarely get sick, not like humans do. All the clinic would really be, is me looking after the few humans who are the claimed ones of a shifter. These are things that they could come to town for, but by doing this, my father has found a way to keep his thumb in my business.”

“I’m sorry Wamblee,” she told him.

He brought a hand up and rubbed her cheek. “I was “mihigna ki” a minute ago.”

She stared into his eyes and, seeing the twinkle beginning to return, she smiled at him. Then she teased, “Liked that did you?”

“I did, and it sounds better every time you say it,” he told her then he sat down in his desk chair and pulled her onto his lap. “I love you Cara.”

“I love you to,” she repeated. Then she kissed him with all the love in her.

“He also mentioned the claiming,” he said as they broke apart.

She leaned her forehead on his and closed her eyes. “Peggy explained how he would feel it, well, her and Ramona both did. I’m guessing he wasn’t pleased?”

“He was, until he was told you’re human,” he huffed. “I know, somewhere deep down inside him, he loves me. At times like this though, it’s real hard to feel that love. He wants to see me, like yesterday, and he told me to bring you with me. I fear this isn’t a good thing because I believe he will try his best to run you off.”

“But…but you have claimed me, I bare your mark!” she exclaimed.

He nodded, glancing down at his own wrist and the mark there. “Yes, but it’s won’t stop him from trying.”

She was the one taking a deep breath to calm herself now. She had never met the man, but right now, she was ready to rip him limb from limb, if she thought she was strong enough to do it.

Instead, she placed a hand on each of Wamblee’s cheeks and told him, “You are mine, and I won’t ever let you go! My sister can’t have you, Becky can’t have you, and your father isn’t going to take you from me! I am not the strongest person in the world, but for you I would find a way to fight your father Wamblee. You are my handsome golden eagle, mihigna ki.”

They sat, staring into each other’s eyes for long moments.

“Time to go meet the big bird,” Cara muttered as she stood. “We should to go now before I lose my bravery.”

Wamblee stood up also. “Then I will be brave enough for both of us because you are mine.”

Wamblee drove silently and Cara stewed.

She wanted so badly for his family to like her, but she figured it wasn’t in the cards.

Wamblee sighed and she turned to look at him. “I can almost feel the worry rising off you.”

“Sorry, I just wish I knew exactly what to expect,” she told him in a whisper.

“Slide over here winyan, and let me touch you, it will calm us both,” he said.

Cara did as he asked, scooting over and placing her hand on his thigh. She heard him let out a breath and the tension seemed to leave the cab of the truck almost instantly.

“Since I was a bit side tracked this morning, there are a few things I should tell you about our bond. One, is that I can almost feel your emotions. Two, you will feel mine slightly, but because you are human this will only happen if we’re touching. Three, if you are in pain, I will be able to take most of it from you with my touch.”

“Does that mean you’ll be in pain then?”

“No, the pain will just be gone. Although, it will weaken me a bit if there is a lot of it,” he answered.

“Alright. Well, can I ask you something?”

He nodded.

“When we get to your father’s house, will it just be him and your mom?”

“No. Both sets of my grandparents will be there…”

She looked at him when he stopped talking but didn’t say anything. She just waited.

“More than likely Peggy and her parents will also be there.”

“Oh?”

“Our parents want us together Cara, one way or the other. As long as neither of us were claimed, our parents held out hope. They want the pure eagles that would come from our union. With you being human there is no guarantee of us having an eagle child at all.”

“But…I thought you said it was up to the…um…” she stopped biting her lip trying to remember what the name was.

He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “The Wankan Tanka?” (Great Mystery)

“Yeah, him!” she agreed.

“It is, but there is still a better chance because most shifter couples produce shifter offspring,” he said. Then he further explained. “When a human and a shifter mate, it gives them a roughly a seventy-five to twenty-five percent chance of a shifter child. At twenty-five percent, few have one. Even fewer have a chance of having a hybrid which though human they have shifter characteristics.”

“What are those?”

“I’ve never actually heard of a bird hybrid, but I have a friend who is a wolf hybrid. He is human, but he has great speed, strength, hearing, and vision. So, basically everything but the change from human to animal.”

“Oh.” She huffed, laying her head on his shoulder. “Well, since Ms. Dolly likes me, will she be on my side?”

When Wamblee didn’t answer, she had her answer. That would be a no.

They turned down a long dirt road, it was like the one leading to his house and passed under a large wooden arch. Above the arch it read, The Eagle Flies Ranch.

“Is this your dad’s ranch?” Cara asked.

“Not exactly. It is where my father’s tribe of shifters live. By calling it a ranch, it keeps people from being suspicious about what we do here and what we are,” he explained.

She watched as they passed a few cattle, and some horses. She also saw what looked like cabins off in the distance. After what seemed like five miles, they came to a stop at the front of a huge house. It was cabin like but two stories.

“This is my parents home. It is also holds my father’s office and is where tribe meetings are held, that’s why it’s so large,” Wamblee said as he turned his truck off.

Cara nodded and waited for him to come around to her side. She continued to look around and saw a few men and women move closer.

Her door opened, and she looked at Wamblee. “Why are those people staring at us?”

“Curiosity. You’re someone they’ve never seen before, yet they sense you are one of us somehow,” he told her. “That of course comes from the fact that you are claimed by me.”

“So…they just “know” I’m claimed somehow?” She said as she got out and he closed the door.

“Yes. Think about it, it takes strong magic to create a shifter, to transform from human to animal, or bird. So, when one is claimed, they just know when they see you.”

She huffed. “Alrighty then.”

Taking her hand, he leads her up to the house and they climbed the stairs.

The door opened.

Cara saw a woman standing there, her face blank, yet somehow Cara knew this was Wamblee’s mom. She had the same shape face and eyes, the same solemn look Wamblee gets when he was trying to hide his feelings.

Wamblee began to speak, in his own native tongue.

The woman nodded and stepped back, allowing them to come inside.

“Your father is waiting in his office along with everyone else,” the woman said. “Introductions should be made there.”

Wamblee gave a slight bow and then followed behind the woman as she led them down a long hallway.

The woman opened the door and walked in. Wamblee and Cara went in after her.

Cara almost stopped breathing as she looked at all the people in the room. She quickly scanned the room and noticed Peggy off to the side with a man and a woman she figured to be her parents. Her gaze stopped though on the man seated at the front of the room in a chair that could have been his throne the way he looked.

His back was straight, his arms crossed over his large chest. His straight black hair, laced with silver was in two braids which hung down his chest. His dark eyes looked as if they missed nothing.

This was Wamblee’s father, the Ithanchan himself, the one Cara had to win over if she wanted to keep her husband. Looking at his face, Cara knew she had her work cut out for her and mentally cried.

Wamblee gave a slight bow to his dad, then turned his attention to the others in the room. “Everyone, I would like to introduce my claimed, Cara.”

Cara felt everyone’s eyes land on her and it took everything in her not to shrink back behind Wamblee. Somehow, she knew now was not the best time to show fear. She figured they could all feel it if she did.

So, instead, she squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up as she did when she was faced with Robyn the hateful. She’d learned long ago not to back down because it always made it worse.

She smirked and said, “Hello, I would say it’s very nice to meet you all, but I fear you’d know I was lying. So, instead I’ll say this, Wamblee is mine. I want him, I love him, and not a one of you will take him from me.”

The room was silent as they continued to stare at her.

Wamblee gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.

“Cara, this is my grandparents on my father’s side,” Wamblee said as he pointed to the older couple on his left. He then pointed to his right and said, “This is my grandparents on my mother’s side, Ms. Dolly you know. Of course, you also know Peggy, these are her parents.”

She looked over at Peggy and saw her trying to hide a grin.

Wamblee didn’t bother with names, which didn’t bother Cara. If they accepted her, she’d learn them later. She did take note though that Ms. Dolly was his grandmother on his mom’s side.

Returning her gaze back to the Ithanchan, Cara waited. It seemed collecting his thoughts was a trait he and his son shared.

Finally, he spoke, in a very deep voice that sent shivers down her spine because it was full of power.

“If I wish it, I can do exactly that because as my son, Wamblee has a duty to his Ithanchan and his tribe,” the Ithanchan stated.

Cara looked up at Wamblee and saw him looking at her. She felt like he wanted her to stand up for herself, after all this was mostly about her. When he made no move to say anything, she felt she was right in her thinking, so she turned her attention back to the chief.

“Really?” she asked. “Well, I want you to know that I’m getting really tired of having to defend myself. It seems as if everyone thinks I’m not worthy of Wamblee, well, everyone but him. I’ve had Becky threaten me, pour coffee on me, threaten me again. Then my sister got involved, told me to say away from him. Then she decided she wanted to know what it would be like to ride “Tonto”, so she went after him…hm…what else? Oh, and she slapped me because I refused to stop seeing him.

“I think I’ve had enough opposition in those two women to last me a life time,” she informed him, “so how about we play on the same side? As Wamblee’s father, I should think that above all else you should want him to be happy. Am I right? Isn’t that what every parent wants for their child?”

The Ithanchan just stared at her, unblinking, not saying anything and Cara huffed.

“You…! Look, I know you’re the chief and you have to be tough or something. I really don’t know much about the tribe, or Native American’s in general. I also don’t know much about shifters.

“I know that as the chief, your word is pretty much law, but I have to say I’m not feeling it right now. I want to be happy and so does Wamblee.

“You know, I actually met his eagle first. He’s quite handsome, and I told him so. He shocked me by walking right up to me and later when I began to think about things I thought I must have dreamed it all.” Cara told them with a sigh. Maybe if she explained…?

“I met Wamblee when he came to pick Ms. Dolly up from the dentist office. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He filled me with a longing that I’d never felt for any man before. He hadn’t said a word to me, yet all I wanted was to have my way with him. He was turning my life upside down and I didn’t even know who he was.

“A few days later, I decided to go search for my eagle, yes, mine because I claimed him!” Cara told them as if she was expecting an argument. “Anyway, he found me and, in what I thought was a dream, he kissed me. I knew then the strange feelings I had for him were more then I knew what to do with.

“The point is, even though I have no supernatural blood telling me I was his soulmate, deep down, I think I always knew. I’m not giving him up, because deep down, I also know I’ll never feel for someone else the way I feel about him,” she finished.

Hearing an “aww…” off to the side she glanced over to find Peggy looking misty eyed.

“I’ve always liked Cara, from the day I met her. She’s got a good head on her shoulder, for a human. I also think she is good for my grandson,” Ms. Dolly told them all then.

This obviously surprised everyone because they all turned to look at Ms. Dolly.

Cara saw Ms. Dolly shrug as she said, “What? I only speak the truth.”

The room was silent after Ms. Dolly’s statement, everyone still staring at her, unblinking.

They then all turned to look at the Ithanchan and looked to be holding their breath.