{"sf1_id":755855,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Quert","author":"assilsasta","words":8325,"posted_at":"2014-09-12T07:17:00.000Z","tags":["Aura reading","Barter","Chance Meeting","Cheating","Deer husky hybrid","Deer/husky","Discernment of Spirits","Dream travel","Druid","Emancipated","Hybrid","Implied Incest","Kissing","Lynx","Nature","New experience","New places","Nudity","Ogham","Orphaned","Outdoors","Paganism","Self-discovery","Sheltered","Spiritual gifts","Tree meanings","astral projection","confusion","hiking","pagan","supplies","trade"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/755855-quert","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/755855","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=755855\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe\nForest through the Trees\n09\nQuert\nby Assilsasta(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain\nTown_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nKatie looked out the window as they drove through the snow\ncovered, winding mountain road. They had spent the last two days on the road\nnon-stop after her dad got the go ahead to take vacation to look for her\nbrother. She glanced over at her younger sister sleeping in the five-point\nharness car seat across from her. For the past hour since she had woken up, her\nparents had been talking about how they never got a straight answer from the\nlocal police about the missing persons report he had filed nearly a month ago.\nThey had not heard from him for nearly two months and it was now late September\nand the region was experiencing higher than normal snowfall already.\n \nIt wasn't long before she saw the beginnings of the town.\nThe furs in the town were out shoveling the sidewalks of the quaint , eclectic\nmountain town. It almost looked like a scene out of Mayberry. The lines of\nsmall storefronts ran down both sides of the main street. Her father pulled\ninto an angled parking space in front of a set of windows with the word\n'Police' stenciled in white letters. On either side of them was a squad car,\none looked as if it had not been moved for the day, a blanket of recently\nfallen snow covering the entire vehicle, obscuring everything. It's outline\nwith the light bar above the top was all that Identified it as belonging to\nauthorities.\n \n\"Okay girls,\" her mother said turning around, \"We're here. Your\ndad is going to go in and talk to the police about your brother. We're going to\ngo on to the hotel and get checked in. Then we can play in the snow.\" \n \nKatie wasn't really interested in playing in the snow, even\nthough she had never done it before, it was just frozen water, and cold to\nboot. She glanced over at her sister who was still asleep, then back to her\nmother and asked, \"Can we get something to eat first?\"\n \n\"When your dad is done, yes,\" the older lynx woman replied\nas the lynx man stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him.\n \n(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Runaround?_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nEmmett Hunter walked into the small town police station. The\nthings he had heard about the place didn't seem too farfetched as he saw the\nrelaxed environment within. He walked up to the reception desk and rang the\nsmall counter bell that sat in the nearest corner.\n \n\"Be right with you,\" a voice called out from somewhere\nfurther in the building, though he couldn't quite tell exactly where it came\nfrom. A few moments later a tall, lean Doberman walked through a doorway near\nthe back of the squad room, steaming coffee cup in one paw, a glazed donut in\nthe other as he strode towards the front of the room. \"Good evening sir, how\ncan I help you?\" the Doberman said as he set his cup and snack on the desk,\nwiping his paws with a napkin.\n \n\"Yes,\" the lynx started of crossing his arms, \"I filed a\nmissing persons report for my son nearly a month ago, Donovan Hunter. We're\nstarting to get worried and this was the last place he mentioned before he went\nmissing. I was wondering if anything has been found.\"\n \n\"Missing persons report you say...\" the Doby said flatly,\n\"that would be Arnold Kielder's department, he's the one that handle things\nlike that. Hold on and I'll go roust him up for you sir,\" the black furred dog\nman said as he picked up his coffee cup and turned away from the lynx.\n\"Shouldn't be but just a minute sir,\" he added as he walked towards a door at\nthe rear of the squad room. He rapped on the door, opening it when he heard a\nresponse from within, \"hey Arny got a man out here...\" he began, the rest of his\nwords cut off as he entered the other room and closed the door behind himself.\nA few moments passed before the door opened again, this time a broad shouldered\nGerman shepherd walking calmly across the mostly deserted squad room, extending\na paw towards the lynx. \"Arnold Kielder, I understand you're here about a\nmissing persons report concerning your son?\" the taller man asked as he walked\naround the desk.\n \n\"Yes, sir,\" the lynx said, extending his paw to the canine.\n\"I am Emmett Hunter and I filed a report looking for my son Donovan. He was\nlast heard from at a cabin outside of town. Or that is what we were brought to\nbelieve.\"\n \n\"Donovan Hunter... that names not ringing any bells,\" the\nShepherd said scratching his cheek with a paw. \"Not like there are a lot of\nstray lynx running around town though. Let me just take a look real quick and\nsee if I can find the report that was filed and we can go from there. It'll\njust take a minute or two,\" the officer said as he turned and walked back to\nthe door he had come through only moments ago. As he opened it Emmett heard him\nspeak to someone inside the other room, \"hey Joe, I need the missing persons\nreport on a Donovan Hunter, I'll see if i can find it over there while you...\"\nthe rest of the conversation lost as the door closed again.\n \nAs Emmett waited for the officer to return he looked around\nthe office. After several moments of looking at the wanted posters and\nmotivational pictures that covered the few walls he took a seat in one of the\nwooden chairs that lined one wall. The sound of the front door opening drew\nEmmett's attention to the Irish Setter that walked in dressed and a sharply\npressed tailored suit. \n \n\"Are you being helped sir?\" the canine man asked rather\nunexpectedly.\n \nHe stood up and faced the setter as he spoke, \"I certainly\nhope so. I believe there are at least two officers looking for a missing\npersons report in the back. Or playing checkers, I'm not sure which at this\npoint.\"\n \n\"Missing persons report? Involving a young lynx boy by the\nname of Donovan Hunter I would assume,\" the canine man said as he pulled a\nsmall black notebook from the breast pocket of his suit flipping the cover open\nand thumbing through a few pages. \"Reported as missing near here some time ago,\nby his father Emmett Hunter, I take it that is you sir?\"\n \n\"It's about time someone has a clue what's going on,\" he\nsaid with a smile as the other man seemed to have the answers before he even\nformed the questions. \"Is there any news? Signs that he has moved on or taken\nshelter locally?\"\n \n\"As far as definite news I'm sorry to say there is not.\nThere have been unconfirmed reports of him being sighted in the area by several\nlocal residents. Reported sightings of a lynx boy that I believe may be your\nson showing up at more than one local gathering or festival. But as of yet\nnothing truly concrete to pinpoint his whereabouts,\" the setter said as the\ndoor at the back of the squad room opened again. \n \n\"I'm sorry sir but...\" the German Shepherd started to say as\nhe entered the room, his words trailing off as he saw the setter speaking with\nthe lynx man. \"Oh Detective O'Leary, I see you made it back from Denver after\nall.\"\n \n\"Yes sergeant Kielder, I have, and I was just filling Mr.\nHunter in on what little we have been able to ascertain about his son's\nwhereabouts as of yet.\" Turning back to the lynx the older setter continued,\n\"Your son was also reported to have been in contact with a local youth, a young\nman well known in town. Supposedly your son spent some amount of time at or\nnear the cabin owned by the boy. But I have been unable to verify that\ninformation as of yet.\"\n \n\"Cabins, Festivals, two months of sightings and nothing to\nconfirm whether he is even still here? What the hell is going on here?\" the\nLynx asked raising his voice, \"Are you all just incompetent or are you trying\nto hide something?\" He turned to the shepherd and continued, \"And what were you\ngoing to tell me? Some other line of crap to keep me busy while your buddy in\nthe back makes a few calls? Having to jump through some hoops now aren't you?\nDidn't expect us to come looking for him so soon. I know how these things work.\nJust have to keep me busy while you figure out how to fix things don't you?\"\n \nRaising an eyebrow at the lynx man's outburst the detective\nreplied, \"Quite the contrary Mr. Hunter. I for one am surprised that you\nhaven't come looking for your son that is supposedly missing or lost in this\narea. I also find it interesting that in the past two months you have only\ncalled seeking information twice, and that was only after at least a full month\nwithout contact with your son. It has been my experience that a parent of a\nchild has gone missing, regardless of the child's age, reacts far sooner than\nthat. While trying to locate the young Mr. Hunter it has more than once\noccurred to me that the lack of contact seems very much to be at his\ndiscretion. After that outburst I wonder if he might have a valid reason to not\nwish to speak to you.\" \n \nThe lynx snapped his gaze to the setter as he said, \"Don't\nyou dare try to turn this around on me. Whether or not he was intentionally out\nof contact, any competent person in a Podunk town like this should be able to\nlocate one young lynx and be able to tell whether they are in good health or\nnot. I've heard about this town and something isn't right here. You're hiding\nsomething from me and I'm going to find out what it is, and I'm going to get my\nson out of it and take him home where he'll be safe from your satanic rituals.\"\n \n\"I see,\" the setter said calmly, \"then I wish you the best\nof luck in locating your son Mr. Hunter. Assuming he wishes to be found at all,\nyou are of course well within your rights to search for him. But I would\ncaution you against disparaging the people of Winter Creek so vehemently. You\nare sadly misinformed or blinded by many things if you think so lowly of us.\"\nTurning to walk away he stopped after but a few steps turning his head as he\nadded, \"you may also want to bear in mind that according to my investigation,\nyour son is an emancipated minor. He is free to leave with you, if he is in\nfact here at all. But parent or not, forcing him to leave against his will is\nagainst the laws of the state of Colorado. You may want to keep that in mind if\nor when you do find him, teenagers do not respond well to overbearing demands\nwhen they have the right to ignore them.\" The two officers turned and walked\naway leaving the angered lynx standing. As soon as he felt they were out of\nearshot the setter turned his head slightly and in a very low voice said, \"We\nneed to get word to the boy that they're here.\"\n \nHearing the whispered words, only confirming his suspicions\nof the activities going on with his son, Emmett turned and stormed out of the\noffice. \"It'll be a cold day in hell before you tell me what I can't do with my\nson,\" he muttered as the door swung closed behind him.\n \n(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Cabin in\nthe Woods_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nDonovan pulled the hood of the oversized fur cloak off his\nhead as he looked at the abandoned cabin. It had been almost two months since\nthey had been there, but it looking like the place had been empty for at least\nhalf that time. He glanced over at Sonnet as she tended to the small cart with\nthe feral wolf cubs. She seemed so at peace with the younglings, not even\npaying attention to the fact they were in the clearing with Mark's cabin that\nhad sent her into the rain last time she had been near it. \n \n\"Sonnet,\" he said loud enough to get an ear twitch of\nacknowledgement. \"It looks like Mark might have moved back to town for the\nwinter or something, so I will need to head into town to get some supplies for\nthe night at least, and see if I can make a phone call. You want to come?\"\n \nWithout turning her attention away from the small wolves she\nreplied, \"No, they need me.\" \n \n\"Okay,\" he said, \"I'll be back in a few hours, sooner if I\ncan catch a ride.\" She seemed nearly oblivious to him ever since the wolves had\nstarted to whine earlier that morning. But even with her attention on them he\nknew she would be Okay as long as she didn't head toward Winter Creek without\nhim, her display at the last meet still fresh in his mind. \"No matter what I am\ncoming back, so just wait for me, okay?\"\n \nWith a quick nod of her head Donovan pulled the hood back up\nto fend off the cold winter wind as he started his way down the dirt road. The\nthought about the few extra things he might pick up while in town. Maybe some\nbatteries and simple fireworks if they had any, he wasn't sure about the laws.\n \n\"Still haven't taught him to sense what's around him yet\nSonnet?\" a slightly familiar, deep gravelly voice seemingly coming from nowhere\nsaid. \"Surely this old bear is easier to feel than that this close,\" it\ncontinued as what had appeared to be a large snow pile began to shift and move.\n\"You're early young ones; I thought I had a few more days of solitude before\nyou would be showing up for Mabon.\"\n \n\"We didn't know how long it would take with the pups,\" the\nyoung doe-husky said as she pinched off small pieces of meat to feed to the\nbundle of wolves surrounded by a makeshift fur pile den in the small cart.\n\"What brings you out to the cleansing snow, Brother Star Dreamer?\"\n \n\"Several things Sister Sonnet, some of quite a bit of\nimportance. Keeping an eye on things for a friend, while he looks for guidance\nand answers. Taking a little time for myself in preparation for the festival.\nAnd to bring news that Dawn needs to know of... before he heads into Winter\nCreek,\" the old polar bear said as he turned to face the lynx, his dark eyes\nand black nose tip nearly the only thing visible against the stark white snow\nthat his fur blended with.\n \nDonovan turned to look at the white face framed by the white\nsnow as he asked, \"What kind of news?\"\n \n\"They have come looking for you Dawn, as you knew they\neventually would. Your family is in Winter Creek searching for you,\" the old\ndruid said, his breath forming a steam cloud around his muzzle. \"Quite an...\ninteresting man your father, he's made quite an impression on everyone he has\nspoken with.\"\n \n\"Figures,\" the young lynx said. \"He's not one to see\nanything any way but his own. But it doesn't really matter much, I still need\nto go get us stuff to make it through the next few days. Kinda used up our\nsupplies faster than I thought we would. Was my mom with him?\"\n \n\"Indeed she did, as well as two young ladies, your sisters I\nwould hazard a guess from their similarity in looks to you. Very beautiful\ngirls, just as striking as your mother is. Not hard to see where the better\nparts of you came from Dawn. But you need not trek all the way into town just\nyet if you don't wish to. When neither you nor Sonnet returned for additional\nsupplies before the early snow began we assumed you may head this way earlier\nthan usual. If you wish the tepee is already prepared for you at the edge of\nthe meeting grove. Supplies for several days and a supply of dry deadwood for a\nfire to keep you warm as well,\" Star Dreamer said as he slowly stood up. \n \n\"We are not going to be able to make it back through the\npass,\" Sonnet said calmly. \"We will need to make camp for the winter down\nhere.\"\n \n\"Wait,\" Donovan started to question. \"What do you mean we\nwon't be able to make it back through the pass? What about the grove?\"\n \n\"A heavy snow is coming,\" the Doe said as she continued to\nfeed the small wolves. \"It will be better to stay closer. The mother will take\ncare of the grove until we return.\"\n \n\"Okay then,\" Donovan said as he sat in the snow by the cart.\nHe looked at his calloused paws for a moment before he asked, \"Star Dreamer,\nWhat did my Dad do in town?\"\n \n\"Attempt to pry information about you and your whereabouts\nout of everyone he could find that would speak to him. He seems convinced\nyou've been... indoctrinated shall we say, by a satanic cult and are being held\nagainst your will here,\" the old bear said glancing to the doe/husky for a\nmoment before looking the lynx in the eyes. \n \n\"Sounds about right,\" Donovan said. \"So what are they\ntelling him? Not much I take it.\"\n \n\"Little more than rumors and unconfirmed reports of you\nbeing seen in the area. We generally do not interfere in the matters of others,\nespecially not with others and their families. But these are not normal\ncircumstances now are they? We've been less than subtle about keeping him in\nthe dark, and I'm sure it's not helping his impression of our little town any.\nBut there are larger things to be taken into consideration than the ire of one\nman that is unhappy about the decisions of one young man doing what he knows to\nbe right,\" the polar bear said with a bit iof a sigh. \"It's up to you if you\nwish to deal with him or not Dawn, just know that the people of Winter creek\nare with you in this matter. You are a grown man in our eyes, and shall be\ntreated as such.\"\n \nThe lynx snickered for a moment at the bear's words, \"Yeah,\nthat's not going to help his impression of our satanic cult either.\" He paused\nfor a long moment then looked over at the bear again. \"So Mom and my Sisters\nare here also. I guess I need to go see them, at least let them know I'm okay.\nMaybe she can talk him into leaving.\"\n \n\"Proceed however you see fit, we can keep him at bay a bit\nlonger if need be, or if you wish it so to give you more time to consider your\noptions or seek the mothers guidance. Your father isn't the first to darken our\ndoor with a closed mind, nor is he likely to be the last.\" Turning to the doe\nhe added, \"as for you little one, whatever you have need of you need only ask\nand it will be made so. Your grandfather, and my friend may be with the mother,\nbut that does not end the love we have for the family, or for my favorite\nlittle sister.\"\n \nSonnet turned and lunged at the bear wrapping her arms as\nfar around him as she could. \"Grandfather always spoke well of you, Brother\nStar Dancer. I have nothing I need, the Mother gives me everything,\" the doe\nhusky said before she sat up and looked at him. \"But you could send some of\nthat rock sugar candy back with Dawn after he see his mother.\"\n \nDonovan stood up and looked at Sonnet as he said, \"One day\nyou're going to need to teach me how you know things like what furs are going\nto do without them telling you.\"\n \nThe doe husky jumped to her hooves and wrapped her arms\naround the lynx as she said, \"The same way I know your sister Loves and misses\nyou. May the Mother be with you both and bring my Dawn back to me.\"\n \nDonovan kissed Sonnet on the lips softly as he said, \"I\nbetter get headed that way, before Dad takes to preaching in the town square. I\nmight still have some time to see mom before he gets back.\" He looked at the\npolar bear as he let Sonnet slip from his paws. \"Do you know where they are\nstaying?\"\n \n\"I do. It is on my way and I will take you to them, if you\nare ready we can start out now,\" the old bear said reaching down and flipping\nan old cotton trap back to reveal his backpack, already packed and ready for\ntravel. \n \n\"No time like the present,\" Donovan said with a mock\nconfidence before adding, \"That's what my dad would say.\" He smiled at the bear\nfor a moment before he asked, \"So, are we going to walk, or do you have a\nflying carpet or something?\"\n \nAs they walked along leaving the doe far enough behind them\nshe couldn't hear his reply the old bear said, \"I may be crazy but I'm no fool.\nNor am I that young any more. There's a snowmobile about half a mile down the\nroad. What, you think I walked all the way from town out here?\"\n \n\"To be completely honest sir,\" Donovan said with a shy grin,\n\"I wouldn't be surprised if you walked, actually flew on a carpet or even just\nmagically appeared out of thin air. I've seen some strange things these past\ntwo months, most of which I'm not even going to try to explain. But, if I've\nlearned anything it's that you don't take anything for face value.\"\n \n(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Prodigal\nSon_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nLydia Hunter sat in the hotel room chair reading the bible\nas her youngest daughter slept off the exhaustion of playing in the snow\ncovered park for hours. She glanced up to check on her other daughter who had\nbeen sitting up on the far bed playing the small handheld game that she had\ngotten just for the trip. The older lynx sat the book on the table beside her\nas she started to speak, only to be interrupted by a knock at the room door.\n \n\"I wonder who that could be,\" she pondered aloud as she\nstood up and crossed the room. \"Your dad has a key. I hope he didn't lose it.\"\nAs she opened the door she gasped at the figure that stood on the deck. Covered\nin a thick fur cloak with an oversized hood covering its face, the imposing\nfigure stood quietly for a moment. Whoever it was just slightly taller than she\nwas and the furs gave the appearance of being twice as wide, its chest at least\nas broad as her husband's. Her mind raced with the horror movies she had gone\nand seen as a teen. The secluded mountain lodge and the fur clad stranger only\nserved to heighten her fear response as she nearly screamed before he pulled\ndown the hood.\n \nSuddenly the frightening, murdering psychopath was\ntransformed into her son, his thick white and gray winter coat framed his ice\nblue eye as he looked down at his mother. Her heart leaped in her chest as her\nlost child returned to her. \"Donovan,\" she said throwing her arms around the\nslightly snow covered boy. \n \nHe returned the hug as he said, \"Hi mom, Is Katie and Grace\nhere?\" Before he could even get the question out his sister appeared, nearly\nsprinting around the corner and slamming into him, joining her mother in the\nhug. He chuckled a little at his sister's enthusiasm. \"Hi Kat, its good to see\nyou too. So I'm guessing dad's not here.\"\n \n \"Oh god no,\" she said\nas she turned and trotted into the room, \"I'll call him and let him know you're\nhere.\"\n \nDonovan pushed his sister away slightly as he started to\nwalk forward saying, \"No, please don't. I really don't want to have to deal\nwith him right now.\"\n \n\"Why not? He's really worried about you.\"\n \n\"I'm sure he is,\" Donovan replied as he started to take off\nthe winter cloak. \"The thing is, it's just going to end like it always does.\nHe'll be telling me I need to go home with you and get my life together.\"\n \nShe sat her cellphone back on the table as she turned to\nlook at him, \"He does that because he cares about you.\"\n \n\"I know he does, but he doesn't listen,\" Donovan sad as the\nfurrs swung away revealing him in only a pair of shorts before he dropped into\na chair.\n \n\"Oh god, Donovan, you're not even dressed,\" Lydia said as\nshe looked at her son, \"What happened to your clothes? Did you lose them?\" She\ngasped before adding, \"Did they take them away?\"\n \nDonovan rolled his eyes as he said, \"No, THEY did not take\nthem. We left most of it behind to save room for the supplies.\" \n \n\"We?\" Katie finally said after snapping her mouth shut and\nlooking away from her half-dressed brother blushing through her white fur. \n \n\"They made you leave your clothes behind? In this weather?\"\nher concern for her son was evident in her voice. \"Don, we've heard things\nabout some of the people in this town. Some of the things...\"\n \nDonovan cut his mother off before she could continue, \"Mom,\nit's nothing like that. The place isn't going to end up on some Sixty Minutes\nspecial. It's not a cult or anything. And I am not joining any group of\nbrainwashed followers that are going to kill ourselves to get on the spaceship\neither. It's just Sonnet and I, no one else.\" Donovan's eyes went wide when\nthey both turned to look at Katie as she gasped. \n \n\"Katie?\" the older lynx asked, \"Are you okay? Is something\nwrong?\"\n \nThe suddenly silent room echoed with the sound of the\nyounger lynx's teeth clicking together as she shut her mouth. Still wide eyed\nas if she had seen a ghost she shook her head, locking her eyes on her brother\nas she indicated that nothing was wrong.\n \nLydia's head snapped back and forth between her two oldest\nchildren as she noted the unmistakable look in their eyes. \"What's going on?\nWhat aren't you telling me Don... Kat?\"\n \n\"You can't tell dad,\" Donovan said without looking away from\nhis sister. \"I... I met a girl out here and... and I am staying with her. But dad\ncan't know.\" He looked at his mother, deep into her blue eyes as he continued,\n\"It's hard to explain, but things would be bad if he met her. I know how he is,\nthe people around here care about her and protecting her way of life.\"\n \n\"Her way of life?\" Lydia asked as she dropped to her knees\non the floor, uncertain of exactly what was happening with her son and eldest\ndaughter. \"What... way of life is that?\"\n \nDonovan sighed as he looked down at the floor. \"She... She's a\nDruid.\" her son's words hit Lydia like a hammer as she fell back onto her\nbottom, stopping the complete fall with her arms. He continued, \"She was raised\nin the forest by her grandfather, but he passed away and she is now all alone\nout there.\"\n \n\"How... how old is she?\" the lynx mother asked as she thought\nabout her son being taken advantage of by an older woman living out in the\nforest.\n \n\"She's fourteen summers old,\" he replied.\n \n\"What?\" she gasped, \"The people of the town knew about this\nand they just left her out there all alone? Why... why didn't you bring her into\ntown and get help. This... this is wrong.\"\n \n\"No!\" he exclaimed, \"That would be so much worse than you\nthink. She.. \" he paused as his own words from when he first met her ran\nthrough his mind. \"Fuck, I don't know how to explain this and it's only going\nto get worse.\"\n \nLydia sat quietly as the explicative rolled so smoothly off\nher child's tongue, her heart racing as the situation he was in only deepened.\n\"How... how can it get worse?\"\n \n\"Shit,\" the teen lynx uttered as his mother looked on, the\nfear evident in her eyes. \"It's not bad, it's... its actually really good, I'm\nhappy and it's not like you think. I'm staying because I want to, because I\nlove her. I... I want to keep her safe, and the best way to do that right now is\nto keep people like Dad away from her.\"\n \nLydia saw the sincerity and determination in her son's eyes\nas he talked about this girl she had never meet. She saw something she had been\nlooking for in her son when she first signed the emancipation paperwork to let\nhim get out on his own, even defying her husband for the first time since their\nmarriage. He had found something... someone he was willing to fight for. She sat\nup and tossed her arms around her son, his thick furred bear chest pressed\nagainst her long dress. \n \nAs she held him she felt his arms wrap around her. She let\ngo and looked into his eyes as she said, \"I understand. I'll try and get your\nfather to leave you alone, for now. But you need to call. I can keep him at bay\nas long as I know you are Okay.\"\n \n\"It's kind of hard to do that mom,\" Donovan said as he\nlooked at her. \"We are out in the forest, almost two day's walk for the nearest\nreception area. And the weather is getting bad.\"\n \n\"What about the dreams?\" Katie blurted out making them all\nfreeze as her younger sister groaned and rolled over, still asleep.\n \n\"What dreams?\" Lydia asked as she saw the sudden look of\nfear well up in her son's face. \"What is she talking about?\" Her mind started\nto race with the implications of her daughters comment and the look they had\ngiven each other just a moment ago.\n \n\"Look mom, it's... it's not something I know how to explain,\"\nDonovan said as he stood up grabbing his cloak. \"We'll be camping closer to\ntown for a while. Maybe I can get into town and make some calls more often;\nmaybe even let you talk to Sonnet. She is wonderful, a little hard to get used\nto, but once you get to know her...\" he tossed the cloak over his shoulders and\ntied it at the neck as he added, \"But I need to get out of here before Dad gets\nback. I don't think I could even start to explain this all to him.\"\n \n\"Call me,\" Lydia said as she hugged her son again, \"Call me\ntonight, give me any excuse to get him to stop looking for you. He is\ndetermined that they have you hidden away somewhere. Brother Barton told him\nthat this town is run by a cult.\" \n \nDonovan snickered at the thought as his mother talked, \"If\nthey are a cult they are one really unorganized one. They are just wiccans\ntrying to live out their lives in peace. Just... I'll try to call, Mark has my\ncellphone so I'll see if I can find him and get it back, just try and keep him\nin town until you can get him to give up.\"\n \n\"I'll do what I can,\" she said as she watched her son walk\ntoward the door. \"Don,\" she called out. \"We love you, even if your Dad isn't\ngood at showing it.\"\n \n\"I know you do,\" he said as the door started to swing closed\nbehind him. \"I love you too.\"\n \n(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conflict_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nKatie had managed to escape to the bathroom and hide in the\nlarge garden tub as her mother was preoccupied with everything her brother had\ntold them. She lay in the warm water and the jets messaged her back and legs.\nShe had spent nearly a half hour in the Jacuzzi tub and her mind wandered\nthrough the revelations that had come with her brother's visit. She kept going\nback to the dream she had nearly a month ago where she had met the girl, and\nseen him, just as he was when he showed up at the door. It all seemed so\ndisconnected until he had said her name... Sonet... It couldn't have been a\ncoincidence. \n \nWas the dream real? Did she actually meet the girl her\nbrother was talking about? Was she really his mate? The final question made her\nheart sink as she lowered herself into the water, leaving only her nose and\nclosed eyes above the surface. She knew the feelings she had for her brother\nwere wrong, but she couldn't help feeling let down by the fact that he was with\nsomeone else. \n \nHer mind drifted to the kiss she had shared with the doe,\nthe soft, tender lips pressed against hers. The look in the other girl's eyes.\nShe had tasted sweet and spicy at the same time, like the scent of cinnamon\nthat had filled her dream. Was that as real as the rest of it? Was that really\nthe girl that Donovan was staying with? Were they really mates?\n \nShe felt her nethers get warmer than the water around her as\nshe imagined her brother with the older girl. He had said she was only\nfourteen, two years older than her at the most. She was beautiful, more than\nany other girl she had seen. She thought about the implications as her paws\nroamed over her body, trying to avoid the sensitive spots that longed for her\ntouch.\n \nShe was in love with her brother, and longing after another\ngirl as well. Things she knew were wrong, preached against by the church and\nher father. She felt her heart race at the taboos that caused her body to lust\nafter things she knew she could never have. Was it really a sin to think and\nimagine such things, even if it would never really happen?\n \nShe jerked her paw away from her nethers as she heard the\ndoor to the room slam open outside her sanctuary of solitude. She could tell\nher father was angrier now than he was when he had returned from the police\ndepartment. She could hear him shouting about the entire town stonewalling him\nat every turn. They wouldn't tell him anything, nothing about the cabin in the\nwoods, the commune where they must be holding their son, or even the\nwhereabouts of this 'Coven Leader' he was told about by the other deacons at\nthe church. \n \n\"But I know where they will have him,\" her father shouted in\nthe other room. \"There is a festival in the woods this week. If they bring out\ntheir INITIATES, that will be the place.\"\n \n\"Honey,\" her mother said not nearly as loud as her father,\n\"Don called, he's fine. He said he's not even in Winter Creek, he's just been\nout of range for the past two months. He found a safe place to stay out the\nwinter.\"\n \n\"Hell no,\" the older lynx shouted again, \"he's here alright.\nI'm sure of it. That detective said they needed to get word to him, that's\nprobably why he called, they are trying to get rid of us. We're going to go to\nthis... celebration thing, and get our son.\"\n \nKatie slid deeper into the water as her father's anger grew\nand her mother's blatant lie failed. But even with the anger and rage in her\nfather's attitude, the thought of seeing her brother again is what quickened\nthe pace of her heart. And the chance to see if Sonnet was real, and if the\ndream was more than she had thought.\n \n(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Truth_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)\n \nThe sun peeked through the forest canopy as Donovan felt the\ndoe husky move in his arms. Together the pair had dozed off by the fire,\nwrapped in the two fur cloaks that they had worn for the trip out from the\ngrove. He reached over to the small package he had gotten from Star Dreamer\nthat contained the few things he had needed to get from Mark, his Cell phone,\nfully charged and his solar trickle charger as well as a few extra batteries\nfor his other electronics that had died over the past two months.\n \nHe picked up the phone for what felt like the millionth\ntime. He wasn't sure what to say when he called, he just knew that his father\nwould take the phone from his mother and get off on one of his tyrannical rampages,\nand he didn't want to be part of it, or subject his sisters to that if he could\navoid it. So he dropped the phone into the backpack once again and just held\nSonnet tightly as he fed off the warmth of her body.\n \n\n\n \nEmmett followed the slowly progressing stream of cars into\nthe outskirts of town toward the 'Mabon' festival. From the fliers he had found\naround town it seemed like nothing more than an arts and crafts gathering, but\nhe knew better than to let that cloud his judgment. He was aware that it was a\nsatanic pagan right to celebrate the passing of the year. He didn't know what\nkind of rituals or sacrifices might be made, but he could not bring himself to\nleave his family in the town alone. \n \nTheir car was approached by a large black bear in his mid-teens.\nThe boy bent down and smiled as he signaled for Emmett to roll down the window.\n\"Sir, are you a vendor?\"\n \n\"Excuse me?\" the lynx asked confused by the question.\n \n\"Are you bringing goods up to the meet to trade? We have a\nsituation where we need to check the goods being brought in this year, after an\nincident at the last meet,\" the bear said, still courteous and with a smile.\n\"And we are going to have to ask everyone to park a little farther out than\nnormal. A half mile instead of a quarter. But I still need to check your goods\nif you are bringing anything to trade.\"\n \nEmmett heard a voice from one of the surrounding cars, \"What\ndo you mean You have to check my goods? I've been up here at this meet for the\npast five years without a problem.\" Another voice said, \"I don't know if it's\nnatural, it smells like peaches and wax.\" followed by another asking, \"What\ndoes it taste like?\" \n \n\"What's going on here?\" Emmett asked as he started to look\naround at the cars being directed to park in small clearing under the trees as\nother teens went through containers and packages looking at items that were\nobviously being brought to be sold at the event.\n \n\"Boy, I don't care if you've brought your DS with you every\nother time, you're thirteen now and I am sure you can live without it for a few\nhours. You'll be looking at other things at your age anyway,\" a badger man told\nhis son as the boy whined. \"Besides I'm sure you'll find other things to occupy\nyour mind with here anyway.\" \n \n\"Sir,\" the bear teen said into the car, \"it's just something\nwe are doing this festival to be sure that everything runs without an\nincident.\"\n \n\"We're not going to be here long enough to be a bother,\"\nEmmett said with a weak smile trying to maintain his cool. \"I'm just looking\nfor my son and we will be on our way.\"\n \nHe watched as the bears expression changed dramatically. He\npointed to the clearing where another family was parked and said, \"You can park\nover there. We just ask that you leave all electronics and non-natural goods\nbehind for this meet.\" The teen stood and walked toward an older polar bear and\nstarted taking to him.\n \n\"A half mile?\" Emmett asked as he pulled next to the other\ncars. \"Why are they having us park a half mile from this place? It doesn't make\nsense. There is something going on here.\" He looked at his wife and added,\n\"Keep a hold of the girls, we don't want them disappearing on us here.\"\n \n\n\n \nDonovan sat outside the teepee waiting to trade for goods.\nHe was rather confident that he had many of the fresh and dried herbs memorized\nby look and smell. and had even taken the time to write small descriptions of\nthe trinkets and charms that Sonnet had made. He was often still surprised by\nthe value of some of the items furs would trade for what he thought was an\ninsignificant amount of an herb or a small trinket. \n \nHe watched Sonnet in the distance dancing to a small group\nof pan flute players, several small carved wooden sticks covered in colorful\nsugar crystals in her paws as she trailed to the music. The clearing was filled\nwith furs in many stages of undress, most of which still wore clothing to fend\noff the cold. The equinox itself was still a few days away, but the gathering\nwas well established as a time to trade wares with each other and many\nnon-local crafters before the bad weather limited the ability to get out to the\ngrove meet. \n \nHe glanced at his flip phone again as he thought about how\nhe would deal with his father when he did call. He leaned back against one of\nthe supporting poles of the tent as he popped one of the sugar rock candy\nsticks into his muzzle. \n \nJust as he began to relax once again, he felt the soft touch\nof his mate on his paws as she pulled at him. \"Come dance with me.\" the Doe\nsaid, a big smile on her face. \"Let the sorrow and tension go, we are here to\ncelebrate.\" He smiled as he allowed himself to be pulled away from their camp\nand into the celebration. \n \n\n\n \nKatie watched as her mother nearly dragged her and her\nsister along trying to keep up with their father. They had rushed past many\nsmall families and other furs as they rushed into the pagan meeting. Her eyes\ndarted around as she realized how many of the furs around her were not wearing\nclothing. Her mind raced as she remembered how Donovan was dressed when he came\nto the hotel room. \n \n\"Jesus Save us,\" her father exclaimed as they stopped in\ntheir tracks. \"Cover the girls eyes, this is some kind of orgy.\"\n \n\"It's nudity, not an orgy,\" her mother expressed as the\nolder lynx woman looked at the man. \"And it's foolish to even try such a thing,\nthis is a forest. To blindfold children is unsafe.\"\n \n\"Then take them back to the car,\" he retorted. \"I shouldn't\nbe long.\"\n \n\"We are already here,\" Katie noted the twinge of anger in\nher mother's voice. \"And I want to see my son. So if you want to save the girls\nfrom nature and nudity, you'll have to take them yourself.\"\n \n\"I'm not going to argue with you, woman,\" her father said\nvenom in his voice. \"Do as I say. I'll get Donovan and be back to the car in a\nmoment.\" \n \nKatie felt her mother let go of her paw as the older woman\nwalked after her husband. \"You are not going to do this to me, You drove him\naway once already.\" Her mother's words suddenly confirming what she had\nthought. Her brother was running away from what their father was trying to make\nhim do.\n \nKatie grabbed Grace's paw and followed the two adults into\nthe gathering. She ran faster as she heard her father say, \"There he is, I told\nyou they'd bring him here.\"\n \n\"Leave him alone,\" her mother shouted, getting the attention\nof many of the others. Katie blushed as she realized they were now the center\nof attention. She only blushed harder when her brother come into view, and the\ndoe that was at his side. Katie stopped dead in her tracks as the month old\ndream played vividly in her mind. She sniffed the air, only to be greeted by\nthe smell of pine and incense, lacking the cinnamon she remembered from the\nsleeping vision.\n \n\n\n \nDonovan froze as the sound of his father's angry voice\nreached his ear. He watched as Sonnet shivered and stepped away from the sound.\nHe turned and looked at the older lynx nearly pushing his way through the crowd\ntoward the small dance circle. \n \n\"Donovan,\" the lynx shouted over the new silence,\" Get your\nstuff, we're going home.\"\n \n Emboldened by Stare\nDreamers words, Donovan faced his father and said, \"I am home, You can't tell\nme to do anything anymore.\"\n \n\"You dare disrespect me?\" the older lynx raised his arms as\nhe continued, \"Have they brainwashed you so much that you forgot how you were\nraised?\"\n \nDonovan watched out of the corner of his eye as some of the\nadults herded the smaller cubs toward the central circle. The remainder started\nto form a circle around them, almost as if separating the lynx family from\neverything else in the meeting grove. \n \n\"It doesn't matter what I say, you're not going to listen,\"\nDonovan said in a calmer tone as he walked closer to his father. He felt Sonnet\nclose behind him. \"These people have done nothing but help us. I am here\nbecause I want to be here.\"\n \n\"That's what they want you to think,\" the older lynx\nretorted. \"How much of your trust fund have they drained out of you?\"\n \n\"Not a dime,\" Donovan replied. \"Until just now no one knew\nanything about it. If you still had any control you could have seen it hasn't\neven been touched for two months. You're the one who's been brainwashed. Ever\nsince you started going to church everything suddenly became a sin.\"\n \n\"Don't talk back to me,\" Emmett said as he grabbed the boy\nby the arm. \"You were raised better than this. Now listen to me and go back to\nthe car with your mother.\"\n \nA murmur rose in the crowd as the breeze picked up.\nDonovan's mind went back to the  last\ntime he was in the meeting grove and the reaction the doe had to the candle\nsalesmen. He reached back and put his paw on his mates arm as he said, \"I'm not\ngoing anywhere, not without my wife.\" He watched as the look of shock washed\nover his family, including his sister. \n \nDonovan watched as his father's face shifted from shock, to\ndisbelief, then to anger as the older lynx said, \"You're too young to get\nmarried.\"\n \n\"I am married,\" he retorted to the angry lynx, \"And this is\nmy wife Sonnet. And there is nothing you can do to make me go anywhere.\"\n \n\"We'll fix this mistake when we get home.\" \n \n\"You can go home, Dad, I'm staying right here,\" Donovan said\nas he jerked his arm out of his father's grasp. \n \n\"You will honor and obey me,\" Emmett said as he grabbed\nDonovan again and raised his paw in the air. \"I am your...\"\n \nAs he started to bring his paw down on the boy Emmett's arm\nwas jerked to the side by the slightly shorter female lynx as she yelled, \"He's\nnot your son,\" then clapped her paw over her muzzle. \n \nDonovan watched the look of horror on his mother's face\nsuddenly mirrored on Emmett's as the older lynx man let go of him and dropped\nto the ground in sudden defeat. \n \nShe took her paw away from her mouth as she muttered, \"he\nnever was.\" Then she turned and ran, pushing her way through the gathered\ncrowd. \n \n\"Lydia,\" the older lynx shouted as he scrambled to his\nfootpaws and chased the woman away from the scene, leaving behind his two\ndaughters and the boy he thought was his son. \n\n \nDonovan looked at his sisters; the older of the two\ndumbfounded while the younger began to cry. \"Oh dear god,\" he muttered as he let\ngo of Sonnet and knelt down with outstretched arms. \"Come here Grace,\" he said,\n\"Everything's going to be okay.\" He smiled as the toddler ran from her older\nsister into his arms. \"We'll be fine.\" He picked her up and asked, \"How would\nyou like some candy, Sonnet knows where all the best stuff is.\"\n \nThe small lynx wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded as\nhe glanced over at Katie who wordlessly did the same.\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n"}