Dawn Redeemed

The brother Patrick slid out from a blind of pine trees and approached. "It never gets any better, but it does get easier...in time." Carter took little consolation in Patrick's words. Patrick was a Son, but not cut from their particular cloth. He was born into this world by a harsh, screaming birth filled with blood and death. He was in some ways more like Carter and less like the Great Father he served. He'd killed and known the bliss of drinking someone to their death. He'd gone rogue and somehow managed to find his way out of the trap of the devil's dance. Carter only knew the sketchiest of details about Patrick's past. But, in the end what was there really to know and what secrets did fiends such as themselves really need to share?

Patrick studied Carter. The man was so desperately trying to fit the mold and not quite managing. He was out of place in his designer shoes tromping through the woods trying to sate his instincts for the hunt with the weak blood of deer. Carter wasn't a brother and never would be. He was his own entity, separate from the fold and yet eager to pretend as if he were a harmonious part of it.

It was a damn hard thing to deny your nature. Patrick ought to know. He fought the darkest parts of himself for something bigger and better each and every day. Faith in a cause and the love of a good woman could make a man believe almost anything. The compound was filled with a bunch of busy bodies and whispering gossipers. Everyone speculated about Carter and seemed to have an opinion. The Brotherhood needed the Guardians on their side. And Carter was their best...their only link to the illusive Guardians.

The whole world...at least the vampire world was about purpose. Carter and his Guardians were allies because of the purpose that bound them to the Sons. If that ever changed, the fragile balance between friend and enemy would tip. Carter wouldn't be in the woods hunting deer and Patrick wouldn't be standing here, trying to give him a pep talk. They'd be hunting one another and the only pep talk would be the ringing of steel on steel.

Carter brushed flecks of mud off his pants as best he could. Patrick watched him as if he were sizing him up for a coffin. And maybe, he was. A truce was only as trustworthy and binding as the two parties who made it. The brothers understood as did his Guardians how fragile the peace between the two factions truly was.

Carter didn't want to kill these people any more than they wanted to kill him. Necessity...the vampire world was all about necessity. Necessity made enemies into allies. Something the Great Father and he knew. The two of them were friends until the day they weren't. For the time being and for the far foreseeable future, they had a common cause forged by necessity. Rogues were deadly, they were fierce, and they were an enemy in no short supply. This Carter knew, because, like Patrick he'd been one himself and perhaps that was the why of how they understood each other so very well. "I doubt that," Carter said.

"Are you still hungry?" Patrick asked.

"Famished," Carter replied.

Chapter 9

After a few hours of healing sleep and a good meal. Shayla turned her attention to the new baby cradled in her arms. R.J. was so perfect. Ten little fingers and ten little toes. She smoothed her hand over the wild black fuzz on his tiny head and cooed down at him. She was amazed at the little life that she and Ramon had created. She couldn't help but be relieved that Carter's blood had no visible mark on her son. She would have loved him no matter what, and still would. Not all marks were visible and knowing if Carter's blood had any effect or not may take years to discover. She held the baby out from her chest so her little nephew, Evan, could see him better. "Isn't he pretty?"

Evan stood on his tip toes, balancing on the edge of the bed for closer inspection. "I wouldn't say he's pretty. He's all wrinkled up and he smells funny." Evan stared down at his cousin and timidly ran a finger down the baby's smooth ruddy cheek.

"Evan, hush," Ruby scolded her son in a mild voice. Sometimes Evan embarrassed her with his child like honesty. "Shayla, R.J. is perfect." Ruby kept her thoughts to herself. Secretly, she wondered what the baby would become when he grew up. She didn't say a word about her doubts or her jealousy that R.J. was so damn perfect and her own son was so...flawed. Her sister needed her support, not her criticism. And no one saw Evan as flawed. It seemed to only her that noticed his shortcomings.

Shayla was the brave one, not her. She'd been safely tucked away from danger with Evan while her sister and the other braver members of the pack fought for their freedom. Things happened. Sacrifices were made. Things that had to happen and sacrifices that had to be made to earn their freedom and bring the fences down. Ruby had done nothing but baby sit while others died. It had kept Evan and her safe. And led her sister to make choices with consequences that possibly hadn't been revealed yet.

"I'm going to be his big brother," Evan announced proudly. He dodged behind his father expecting a swat from his mama for interrupting 'grown up' talk. Sometimes he didn't understand how he got into so much trouble with one parent while the other parent was content to let the same supposed slight slide. It didn't make any sense to his six year-old mind. Moms were supposed to be soft and gentle, to make you feel better and dads were supposed to be firm and stern. For his parents, it worked the other way and his dad was the softer touch while his mom ruled the roost with a hard, heavy hand.

"You're going to be a good one." Hanning reached out and ruffled his son's short black hair. Seeing Shayla with the baby made him long for a real little brother or sister for Evan to play with. Ruby wasn't ready for another child yet. He felt comfortable and at home here. She wasn't sold on the idea of Indiana completely. Sometimes, he could see the longing in her eye. She missed Texas and other things about her old home he'd rather not dwell on too intensely.

Maybe, for him, things were different because he was busy helping to build the massive addition to the pack's home. He was helping, in effect, to build their home with his own two hands. To her, he was doing nothing more but nailing together two by fours and slapping on some shingles, just playing macho man with the guys. But to him, he was constructing a legacy that would stand for generations. Board by board, his hands sawed and nailed the wood to form the walls. The sweat of his back poured onto each timber. The common goal of constructing the wood and brick structure bonded him to the pack.

Ruby was more reserved. She helped with the children. Did her share of the busyness of keeping such a large household going. She chatted with the other women. Did her part in all things. But she kept everyone, even her sister, at a distance.

Eventually, she'd come around. He hoped. The price of freedom was a heavy price to pay. And they all had paid in one way or another. Some, had paid with their lives. Some had given up their homes and left to follow Eloise north. Some had chosen to stay and rebuild what had been laid to waste.

Nash had not asked any of them to join the pack. He waited patiently for them to come to him for protection and leadership, and some had. Hanning was ready to make the pledge. After all, being loyal to him included loyalty, the same loyalty he'd always given to his old mistress, Eloise. She and Nash were married. In Hanning's mind swearing an oath of loyalty to one automatically included his loyalty to the other. He put his arm around Ruby's narrow shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "We should let Shayla get some rest."

"You're right. So the doctor says tomorrow you can come home?"

Shayla rolled her eyes. "I'm ready now. I feel great, but he wants to keep me here till the morning, just to make sure. I'm totally fine. Really."

"Why don't you two wait in the hall for a minute. I want to talk to my sister alone." Ruby ushered her husband and son toward the door. Evan pinned her with an eye roll and a half hearted sigh. He was an impatient little boy. Difficult to keep entertained and sitting still was almost painful for him to endure. Her question wasn't for little ears to hear and Hanning really didn't care one way or the other. "Won't take but a minute. I promise."

Ruby waited till the door was tightly closed before she began to ask the question that had been burning in her mind. "Will Carter be living amongst us?"

"What do you mean 'living among us'?" Shayla asked. Ruby hated Carter. He'd been instrumental in getting everyone out of Texas. He'd saved lives that night, including hers and Mistress's Eloise's. Ruby despised the bond Carter had with her son. Hanning took it in stride chalking it up to nothing more than a child's curiosity.

Ruby was almost offended by Evan's affection for Carter. She discriminated, not completely trusting him alone with her son. Carter had never harmed one hair on Evan's or anybody else's head. Ruby hadn't asked to hold the baby. She eyed R.J. with cool, reserved speculation. Her proclamation that he was perfect was lip service. Ruby knew what had happened between her and Carter and she looked at R.J. as if she expected him to sprout fangs and a second head. "I hadn't really thought about it. I guess that's up to Carter."

"Aren't you two... involved?" Ruby stammered. She assumed that there was something going on between her sister and the vampire. Not that she approved, but, if she argued the point with Shayla, their tentative sisterly friendship would never survive. Ruby didn't trust the vampire. He'd never done anything to her and he'd been gentle enough with Evan, but she didn't buy the nice guy act he fed to Shayla. He was a predator. Shayla might be able think she'd tamed the beast. Ruby knew better. Wild animals never made good pets and eventually they'd turn on you and bite the hand that fed them.

"He saved my life and I saved his. Doesn't get much more involved than that does it?" Shayla bristled underneath the heat of Ruby's insinuation. R.J. picked up on the change in her voice and wiggled in her arms. Or maybe, it was that she'd tightened her grip on him, holding him too snugly against her chest.

"You know what I mean. Only a few months have passed since... are you sure you're ready to move on?" Shayla couldn't see the forest from the trees. She was completely ignorant about Carter. Almost as protective of him as she was the baby in her arms. Ruby wanted to take R.J. from Shayla before her sister squeezed the life out of the poor thing. The decisions Shayla made didn't effect just her. That poor innocent baby would have to pay the price for his mother's indiscretions.

"Move on? You make it sound like I'm forgetting Ramon completely. I'm not. I could never replace Ramon. I wouldn't even try. Carter and I...I have feelings for him. Feelings that I haven't even begun to sort through yet. So much has happened in such a short period of time. I can barely keep up let alone plan ahead. Neither one of us are ready for any kind of an 'involvement' yet. You think I'm stupid for even entertaining the thought. I'm not. I've seen inside of him. I know exactly what's under that pretty wrapper of skin and blond hair. Some of it isn't nice. Some of it scares the shit out of me."

"Good. It should," Ruby interrupted. She stepped back and smugly crossed her arms over her chest. R.J. wiggled in Shayla's arms, snuffling on the verge of wailing from the emotions he sensed tainting the air. Her sister did her best to quiet the baby, patting his butt and tamping down a tight rein on her anger. Ruby hadn't meant to upset Shayla. Without Carter, her sister would have died on the birthing table like so many other mothers had before her. She'd only meant to get Shayla to see the truth for what it was. Carter's blood had poisoned her sister's reasoning. She claimed she knew the fiend. She didn't have a clue. She wasn't seeing things clearly.

"Are we any better? Carter has killed. For defense, for food, never for conquest. Our kind, how many died in Texas at the hands of Seff? And what for? Land? Control? Don't get all self- righteous on me, Ruby. We're not the better monsters, if there is such a thing. You weren't there when it went down. You were safe. I don't begrudge you that. You were where you needed to be, with Evan, protecting him. I saw what Seff did to Eloise. I heard Torr's suffering. I had to walk past my husband's rotting body everyday to have the right to iron the son of a bitch's underwear. While you were safe with your son playing house. Don't pretend that you have any inkling of what's best for me. You don't."

"I...I didn't mean...I'm sorry. I had no right to question your relationship with the ... with Carter." Ruby was stumbling over the words as soon as they left her mouth. Each sentence tangled and twisted her further into the hole she'd dug for herself. Shayla was angry. Angered enough to deny her the right to see her little nephew. Someone had to protect R.J. from Carter. Shayla obviously wasn't going to do it because she didn't see him as a threat, yet. And by the time she did, Ruby feared it would be too late.

"Let's just call it a draw and leave it at that. I honestly don't know what's between Carter and myself. Something? Nothing? I don't know. But, I do know that behind all that scary stuff is a man. He feels the same as we do. He lives, just as we do. He's a man, Ruby, only a man."

Shayla shook her head, smiling up at Ruby with a bitter grin. "He's more afraid of himself than I am of him. Where that leaves us. I don't know. I refuse to live in fear. I will not live in the past. And I will never use Ramon's memory as a measure for any man."

"Well said. I really am sorry. I guess, I've been spending too much time watching talk TV and not enough time paying attention to what's really going on around me. I know you'd never use Carter as a replacement for Ramon. I don't know what I was thinking." Ruby forced her voice into a tone of contrition. Working Shayla out of Carter's grip was going to take some doing. Building the wall between Shayla and herself was not the way to construct one between Shayla and Carter. Accusations and warnings would only serve to send her further into Carter's arms.

"You were trying to watch out for me. Like you always have. Don't you ever stop. I need someone to give me a reality check once in a while. I meant it, Ruby. And I appreciate your worry, but it really isn't necessary." Shayla smiled and gave her sister's hand a gentle pat. Ruby worried too much and perhaps, she didn't worry enough. "You'd better get going before Evan drives his dad completely nuts."

"Yeah. Will you be alright?" Being below ground always gave Ruby the creeps. She'd come to the compound before and could not tolerate the stifling subterranean world of the vampires. Their home made sense, for them. The vampires didn't like daylight and weren't really comfortable in it. The compound was surrounded by miles of winding, endless, mine shafts and dead end tunnels. Very private, very secluded, and very easily defended. Perfect really. The wolves, Shayla included, needed fresh air, sunlight, and the openness that only the outdoors could provide. Yet, another freedom that might someday cost them their lives. But one, they'd cease to exist without.

"I'm fine down here. The vampires have been great hosts. But, I'll be glad to get home." She missed the constant noise of the pack and the constant commotion going on everywhere. The vampires were quiet and the compound as silent as a grave.

"Carter isn't any better suited for your world than you are for his. Please, Shayla, keep that in mind." Ruby held up her hand before Shayla could protest, "I don't want either one of you to get hurt."

"Without dark or light, the world would be a pretty dim place now wouldn't it?" Shayla cradled R.J. tightly in her arms. The truth in her sister's words of caution made sense. Carter would be miserable living above ground, exposed, and in the open. She was miserable being stuffed so deeply in the ground. The posh furnishings and artificial light didn't detract from the feeling of being buried alive. They couldn't go to dinner. Not unless Carter wanted to snack on the waiter. They couldn't take long walks in the afternoon. Not if she wanted to look into Carter's eyes. Their differences weren't petty or small. If they'd become a mountain that stood between them, was up to them. If they wanted to bad enough, they'd figure out a way to scale the mountain and be together. IF.

"Uncle Carter!" Evan jogged to the big man stalking toward them. He basked in the wide smile Carter gave him and jumped on the opportunity to climb onto his back for a ride.

Carter dropped low enough for Evan to scramble aboard the 'Vampire Express' as Evan called him. His little hands were warm around his neck. Evan's breath hot on his skin. Carter groaned, pretending to strain to pull his powerful body into a stand with the little boy's weight on his back. "Have you gotten bigger? I can barely lift you now."

Evan giggled and squeezed his arms tighter around Carter's neck. Uncle Carter was so full of crap sometimes. But, full of crap or not, Uncle Carter was in a far better place than he had been the last time Evan saw him. His future though, and Evan had the smallest reassurance that Carter was going to have a future when before he hadn't been so sure, was still muddy and confusing to a little boy of Evan's age, and unclear. Evan tried not to think about what that might mean. "I get bigger every day."

"Yes, you do." Carter nodded to Hanning in greeting. Hanning never seemed to mind sharing his son. His mother though, Ruby was an entirely different story. She eyed him the way a person would eye something unpleasant on the sole of a shoe. Evan wiggled on his shoulders eager for his piggyback ride. The boy would grow and change. In the blink of an eye, Evan would transform from a child into a man. Carter wondered if Evan or any of the wolves understood how valuable of a gift the ability to grow and to change truly was. "Have you been taking care of your Aunt Shayla for me?"

"Yup." He pressed his palms to Carter's forehead, pulling his head back so that their eyes met. Uncle Carter's artic blue gaze met what his mother called 'chocolate drop brown' stare. "My mom is in there talking to Aunt Shayla about you."

"Me?" That was no surprise to Carter. He suspected Ruby would barge in attempting to rally Shayla to her 'hate Carter' campaign as soon as she set her eyes on that baby. He kept his distance and gave Shayla the time she needed to heal after such a grueling ordeal. Not Ruby though. Ruby was going to cause trouble.

"Uh huh, mom doesn't like you much."

"Oh, well, thanks for the warning," Carter said. He made light of what he could not control. Oh, he could eliminate Ruby from the picture. He could do a lot of things. But, this little boy on his shoulders had him bridling his temper and playing the wait and see game.

"I like you." Evan smiled down at the mountainous man. Uncle Carter was what his dad called, 'all flash'. Carter pretended to be big and bad, but he wasn't. Inside he was just like everybody else. He simply hid it better.

"Thanks, big guy." Carter smiled up at the boy perched on his shoulders. "I like you too. Now are you sitting up there impersonating a scarf or do you want a quick ride?" Evan seemed to think he was funny. At least someone appreciated his dry sense of wit. Evan nodded wildly and tightened his grip on Carter's neck. Carter dipped his head to Hanning and asked, "May I indulge your son?"

"Sure." Hanning had no reservations about the vampire. He'd seen the big son of a bitch in action. He knew Carter was a creature of lethal grace and blinding speed. Carter was a powerful enemy and a even more powerful ally. The more people like that in Evan's corner, the better. Carter, Hanning suspected, wasn't devoted to much beyond the cause he served, but he was completely devoted to Evan.