Hidden Creek

Chapter Sixteen

Nik

This place is like a fortress... My thoughts spiraled as I followed along behind Haven. We followed a trail lined with pretty purple flowers from the garage, around the house, and to the front door. The enormous doors were a heavy redwood stained to a color that resembled blood. “Nice redwood.” My lips turned up nervously. 

“My uncle imported it from California. He spent a summer there when he was in his late teens and fell in love with the forests out there.” Haven looked around nervously as we stepped through the double doors. “Fuck.” She muttered under her breath.

I followed her line of sight to a guy who looked almost identical to her. “Is this the guy you’ve been going on about for days?” He winked at Haven before turning his attention to me. “I’m her brother, Davidee.”

“Nik.” I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I turned to Haven. Her stormy gaze locked on her brother, and a silent message seemed to pass between them, because a moment later, he took a tentative step back. “So, you’ve been talking about me?” I chuckled, attempting to break the awkward silence.

“Just a little.” She smiled tensely. Despite the obvious tension hanging in the air, I couldn’t help the warmth that spread through my stomach at the idea of Haven talking to her family about me. “Anyway,” She raised an eyebrow at Davidee. “We’re trying to avoid common areas.” 

Davidee glanced to his left and nodded once. “Understood.” Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs. 

Haven turned back to me, relaxing minutely. “So, on the first floor there’s nine bedrooms but only five are filled. There’s a library through there.” She motioned to a door behind the stairs. “A lounge and attached game room through there, and a nursery through there.” Her hand waved in the direction of two dark doors on the left of the stairs. I followed her up the stairs, fighting to keep my gaze on my feet rather than on her butt. “Second floor has seven bedrooms, only four are filled. This floor has three offices and another lounge with an attached game room.” She said as she directed me to another staircase a few feet away from the one we just walked up. “This is my floor. There’s two bedrooms, but obviously only one is occupied.” She turned long enough to wink at me. “There’s two offices, a spa, lounge, and a library. The entire floor is off limits unless I say otherwise, so no one should bother us up here.” 

“This place is massive. All I saw last time was the hallway downstairs, I never would have guessed there was so much more to it." My eyes were wide as she opened the door to her bedroom. Everything was dark, but not in a closed off, dim kind of way. The walls were a deep gray and all the furniture was a forest green. “What kind of fur is your comforter?” I eyed it cautiously.

“Grizzly bear.” She said calmly.

“Griz- Your comforter is grizzly fur?” I scoffed. My gaze roved over the rest of her room. Not farmhouse chic or even rustic... “Uh... Why?”

She chuckled lightly. “It was a gi-” She stopped short, her eyes narrowing as she took a deep breath. “It was a gift from Bammiuk. There was a grizzly pair that was stalking around the area, they almost took out a couple of kids in town. Bammiuk killed them and made me a comforter from their pelts.”

Yeah, that’s not something I could do. Anger sizzled through me even though I knew it was irrational. “Oh...”

“I know it’s weird that my comforter is a gift from my ex, especially that kind of gift. I would get rid of it, but... I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I don’t attach it to Bammiuk anymore. I’ve had it for so long at this point, it’s just a comforter.” 

“Just a comforter.” I smiled awkwardly, running my fingers through the coarse brown fur. “Is that the lounge?” I pointed toward a small opening in the side wall where the floor dropped down slightly. 

“Oh, yeah.” A beautiful smile lit up her face as she grabbed my hand and gently tugged me over. “This is where I hide out when I don’t want to deal with anyone. See?” She nodded to the ajar door. “It’s a hidden room that I’ve made sure no one knows about but me.” 

“Now me.” I shut the door behind us as I took in the room. There was a large dark blue sofa accompanying a rose pink chair. Haven spread out on the couch, bouncing a little as she sat. “So, your uncle had the house custom designed?” 

She nodded. “Everything but this floor. That was all me.” 

Should I sit next to her? Or should I sit in the chair? I fidgeted nervously next to a large window, tugging the curtains aside to see outside. “Aren’t there mountains around here?” 

“Oh, yeah. We built all of this around the mountain, incorporating nature into the architecture instead of forcing the land to accommodate the building. From this window, the closest mountains you can see are to the left and right of us. There aren’t any in front of us.” She shrugged, coming to stand next to me. “Look down there.” She pointed down toward a flat plane where a couple of houses could almost be made out through the trees. “That’s where the rest of our tribe lives. It spreads out to the right of the territory and wraps around a little.”

“So, the reason the house looks so small from the outside is because it’s built into the mountainside?” I thought about the exterior, how it seemed to disappear into the mountain range.

“That’s right. Nature was here before us and will be here long after us.” Haven leaned against the cool glass pane, gazing at me.

“There’s something so different about you.” I sighed. “Everyone around you, too.”

Something in her eyes changed, and her face tightened. “Different how?”

“I don’t know...” My eyes darted around the room before settling back on her. Grizzly bear comforter that you ex boyfriend made for you. An apparent bar brawl that left you covered in blood. Pet wolves that I haven’t seen once around here, no indication you even have pets. I inhaled deeply, trying to collect my thoughts. “It just seems like there’s a lot of aggression in the people around you, and I kind of see it in you too whenever you interact with them. It’s almost animalistic.”

“Oh... There’s a lot you don’t know about us and what goes on around here. Things I don’t know how to begin to even explain.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I would really like to show you one day. Whenever we’ve gotten closer.”

I chuckled softly, leaning closer to Haven. “You know, it doesn’t really get much closer than what we did in the warehouse.”

“Maybe, but even if you were ready... I’m not. There’s too much risk to my family.”

A pit formed in my stomach. “What could be so bad that it put everyone here at risk for me to know?” I scoffed.

“I want to tell you, Nik, I really do. You’d run in the opposite direction, though.”

“Haven, I can handle so much more than you think I can. Whatever it is, I don’t like secrets, and I would much rather know.” I tried to plead with my eyes, to show her just how deeply I wanted to know her. Lighten the mood. She’s never going to open up to you if she thinks you’re desperate. “I mean, it’s not like you’re a vampire or something.” I chuckled. 

“Ha.” Her face paled a little as she turned away from me. “Obviously vampires aren’t real.” She turned long enough to smile coyly at me. 

“Obv-” I started, but was cut off by her gasping. “Haven? Is everything okay?” 

“Haven!” A deep voice bellowed from the other side of the wall after a loud bang. 

“God, I never get a f*****g break.” She hissed. “Listen, I will tell you everything, just not right now.” She kissed me quickly before pressing a panel on the wall between the two rooms. She barely cracked the door and pulled us out quickly, silently closing it behind us. “What?”

“Where did you two come from?” Bammiuk stood just inside Haven’s room, a perplexed look on his face.

“Don’t worry about it.” Haven’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him. 

His eyes turned to me, and rage flared in their black depths. “Why is he here? Do you even realize how dangerous it is to have him here?” 

Haven’s shoulders drew back, and for a second, it was like she grew taller. “What makes you think you have the right to talk to me like that?” When she spoke to him, her voice was ice cold. Any warmth she had in the hidden room evaporated. 

For a moment, Bammiuk held his ground. But something shifted, and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “Sorry.” He ground through clenched teeth. “I came because of the call.” 

She turned to me before sighing and returning her gaze to the man practically snarling across the room. “It’s not our fight.” What the f**k are they talking about?

“If they come after us again, it’s going to be our fight.” Anger rolled off him in waves as he stared at her incredulously. “We haven’t recovered and we never will if they keep gunning for us. They already hit the tavern.”

Realization dawned. “That was the first time I saw you. You’re talking about when you were covered in blood.” 

“Why is he still here?” Bammiuk waved a dismissive hand toward me. 

“Because I want him here. That’s all the reason you need. As for Salt Water, they won’t get wiped off the map, and maybe this is our chance to move from Ternion to Adjutant. If their numbers fall low enough, it makes it that much easier for us to climb the latter.” The words were English, but they made zero sense as I watched the two of them arguing. 

“This is the most shortsighted you have ever been, Haven.” He turned on his heel and stormed from the room. As the door slammed behind him, Haven sat heavily on the bed, resting her face her palms. 

“You look like you could use some sleep.” I rested my hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. 

She chuckled softly. “Is that your way of telling me I look like crap?”

“No. Definitely not.” She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. “It’s my way of saying you look tired.”

“Yeah, I never really get enough sleep.” She shrugged, bobbing my hand with her shoulder. “You should stay. It’s late and the roads get dangerous at night.” 

“They couldn’t drag me away.” I said as she slid under the giant, furry comforter, pulling me down with her. Even though I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore. 

“You really do smell amazing.” She murmured as I wrapped my arms around her. Quicker than I expected, she relaxed and her breathing evened out.