Chapter 6

Over the next few weeks, life returned to what I thought of as ‘normal’ for us. Belle was my constant companion as I took care of things around the property and at night in bed.

We heard from my daughters that they were able to find someone to assist them with the gold that they had received, and again, when asked about it, I replied “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” I did reassure them that it was all legally come by, and not stolen. I think they had doubts, but too bad.

Curtis enjoyed speaking with me on the phone, and in a fit of what his mother though to be silliness, he asked to speak to Belle. “Please take good care of grandpa, Belle! I know you love him and he loves you!”

A soft smile came to her face and she crooned out a soft acknowledgment. She really couldn’t answer any other way without the risk of someone else hearing. I was content. She was content. At least until the day that things changed.

We woke up one morning and she was agitated and nervous. “What is it, sweetheart?”

Standing in front of me, she turned around and lowered her head. She reached back and pulled the long fur away from the base of her neck, exposing down to her skin. “Tell me what you see.”

I studied the area. “That’s strange. It looks like there is a soft blue light glowing under your skin. What does that mean?”

“It means that they are coming to retrieve me.”

“Who? How? I don’t understand.”

“I’m the last member of the group sent here still alive. I told you my family was part of a research team. The program that sent us here is looking to retrieve us, and since I’m the last one, I’m obligated to go and report what happened here.”

There was a look of terror in her eyes. “I was a child, when we got here. I was in the same age specifications as Curtis! What could I tell them? How could I know anything? By now any records that the group had are long gone.” She threw herself into my arms. “I don’t know what to do!”

“You do what you have always done. Take one day at a time and move forward. Tell them about the accident and how you managed to survive. You are strong and beautiful, inside and out. You managed to stay alive in an unknown place, surviving when others might not have. You will be fine.”

“What do I tell them about you?’

“The truth. That I found you, and fell in love with you.” I closed my eyes and clutched her to me. “If they can’t accept that, I’m sorry. But we know how we feel for each other.”

Belle placed a paw on each side of my face and looked into my eyes. “You are my love, my mate, my alpha. You saved me and I am devoted.” Leaning forward, we kissed. “I will make them understand.”

“How long before they get here?”

“A blue light is 72 hours. When it changes to green, within 12 hours. When it flashes alternate blue and green, we have one hour left.”

“Will they know where to find you?”

“Yes.”

We made love. We laughed, we cried, we clung to each other in fits of hope and despair. In my heart, I could hope that Belle would be allowed to stay with me, at least for the rest of my life, since I was certain to die well before her, given how long-lived she was. The idea of losing her less than a year after finding her, frozen and near death, to becoming someone so wonderful, was killing me.

And then the light turned green.

And then the light was flashing blue and green.

It was right after breakfast. I had cooked Belles last meal and she slowly picked it over. Tears were leaking down her face. I know my eyes were wet. We sat on the front porch and waited. She was in my lap and I was trying to let her know how much I loved her with my simply holding her close and rubbing her along her back, down to her tail.

There was a sound of a small thunderclap and then a circle of roughly ten feet in diameter was seen floating a few inches over the ground. There were shimmering lights and swirling colors inside the circle and it reminded me of the old TV series ‘Stargate: SG-1’ that I used to watch.