Talia answers her phone with an expectant, "Well…"

Uncle Bob's not thrown off or insulted by Talia's lack of a proper greeting. He simply starts to tell her what he's learned. "Bayberry Falls is where he was born and raised. He lives in the same house he grew up in, 3 My Street. His parents died in an air-shuttle crash several years ago. He had an older brother who was struck and killed by a drunk driver when they were kids. He has degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology. He's known for being sympathetic towards wild folks. He's never been married and has no children. Call if you need anything else."

"Thank you, Uncle Bob. See you soon," then she hangs up and tucks her phone away. She stops in front of a store front window and checks her appearance.

Contrary to popular belief among most tamed people, wild folks are very clean. They bathe every day in the nearest stream, creek, river, water fall etc. And in this mountainous region, there are many waterfalls to choose from, most of them created by the tall constantly white mountain peaks. Most of the original tribes of this region are now one tribe, Animalistic, who her brother Roar is the current chief of. Most of the other tribes in the region are from all over the world: flown in, trucked in and marched in so tamed people could develop their land. Talia's people have been lucky. The mountains and severe winters make their region undesirable to most tame folks. Yet two interstates wind their way through, and there are a few small towns like Bayberry Falls here and there. Fortunately, none of the tribes are overly territorial and share well.

Talia combed her hair after her waterfall shower and it's dry now, but she misses her grandmother's ability to tame it as she combs her fingers through the waves. The clothes she wore the day before, she washed and laid on rocks to dry while she showered in the modest waterfall. But she traded the white outfit for an identical outfit in peach. It's not unusual for wild folks to store things they may need in different areas, especially frequently traveled routes. Talia has several caches of clean clothes and food stored in different places where she roams frequently. Breakfast for Talia was deer jerky, nuts and berries she picked from a bush that grows by the modest falls she showered in.

Talia smooths her clothes as she checks herself in the store's front window. She tilts her head to the side. Normally Talia isn't concerned with her appearance. She's not a vain person, most wild folks aren't. But at the moment, she wishes she were taller and thinner. The way she's built is fine with wild males and good for wild living in this area. Sheriff Richard Griffin may have wild blood in him, but he's not wild. He lives a tamed life. There's no way he would be seriously interested in her, she thinks to herself. And that thought makes her realize that she's interested in Sheriff Richard Griffin. So interested, she called her Uncle Bob to dig up info on him.

Talia sighs as a woman steps out of the shop.

"Are you okay, Sugar," the woman ask Talia. "You look a little lost."

"I'm fine, thank you ma'am," Talia answers. "I'm not lost."

"Where ya headed," ask the woman.

"Sheriff's office," Talia answers. "He asked me to drop by today."

"Well," the woman glances at Talia's feet, but continues to smile warmly, "you're almost there. It's just a little farther up Main Street here on the other side."

"Thank you, ma'am," and Talia moves on. The woman had been genuinely concerned for Talia. Talia smelled it. The woman was curious and just wanted to help.

A minute later, Talia is standing across from the office of peace with b.u.t.terflies in her stomach. His vehicle is parked right out front with another peace vehicle. Talia takes a deep breath, waits for a pickup truck to pa.s.s and crosses the street.

Talia enters the front doors of the Bayberry Falls Department of Peace cautiously. The floor feels cool against her bare feet. A middle aged dark skinned woman with her dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her head looks up from some electronic paperwork as she sits behind her desk.

"You must be Miss Talia," the woman stands up smiling and puts out her hand. "I'm Margie Sumpter."

"Talia Devons.h.i.+re," she introduces herself shaking Margie's hand.

"Thank goodness you're finally here," Margie says honestly. "He's driving me crazy. I'm ready to shoot him. As late as he worked yesterday, he should have taken today off. He's described you to me at least a half dozen times. His office is right though those doors on the right. Please get in there before he comes out here and describes you again."

"Yes, ma'am," and Talia rushes through the doors Margie indicated. She knows the woman didn't mean that part about shooting him, but the smell of her irritation was strong.

Talia glances at two holding cells to her left. Then past a row of filing cabinets and a desk on the right is the door to Sheriff Richard Griffin's office. Talia walks up to the door with Sheriff Richard Griffin stenciled on the tinted gla.s.s and raises her hand to knock. But the door yanks open before her knuckles can make contact.

Sheriff Richard Griffin stands there for a moment staring at Talia. And just as Talia is about to speak a greeting, his arm snakes out around her waist and pulls her against him. Then he puts his nose to her neck and draws it up behind her ear inhaling her scent. Then he offers her his neck and Talia returns the wild greeting. She wasn't expecting to receive a wild greeting. And his scent tells her that he was anxious, nervous and suddenly aroused. Of course the sudden swell in the front of his pants against her abdomen also told her he was aroused. While his scent is causing the blood to rush to her groin as her nipples harden.

"Thank you for coming, Miss Talia," he says as he guides her into his office with his hand at the small of her back. "Please, sit down. I was afraid you wouldn't come." He gives his pants a small tug in an effort to find some relief as he sits down behind his desk. He had to fight the urge to run into the forest and track her the previous night. His sense of smell isn't as strong as hers, but he can usually track a scent less than a day old. He had been well on his way to finding the little girl when he startled Talia.

He tells her, "After the way you were treated, I wouldn't have blamed you for not stopping in." He leaves out that he would have gone out to look for her tonight if she hadn't showed up, and not because he needs her statement for his report, because he didn't need it. "Well, let's get started."

"Should we leave out the part where Deputy Al almost shot me, Sheriff," ask Talia.

Richy nods, "That would be kind of you. And please, Miss Talia, call me Richy."

"OK… Richy. Call me, Tali. You can leave off that miss stuff."

Richy flashes her his dazzling smile as he mentally notes Talia lacks most of the flashy jewelry and tattoos most wilds usually have. The best piercings and tattoos are done by wilds. Yet Talia only has one modest piercing in her right nostril where sits a small silver ball, most likely a nose screw. Wilds prefer nose screws over studs. In her ears she has five pairs of piercings filled with five pairs of silver loops of modest size. No other jewelry and no tattoos in plain sight; even though, he's sure she has at least one tat. Her tribal tattoo is probably located at the small of her back.

"Good," Richy responds placing his hands on the keyboards of his office computer and focuses on the flat screen. "Okay Tali, let's start with your full name." Then he cringes internally because he knows most wilds don't have middle and last names.

But Talia answers without hesitation, "Talia Marie Devons.h.i.+re."

"Age?"

"Thirty-two."

Three years younger than himself, he thinks to himself.

"Are you going to need my address and stuff too," ask Talia.

Richy pauses to make eye contact with Talia as he answers, "Yeah." He watches as she reaches into a pocket and pulls out a small rectangle of plastic. Out of the palm sized plastic rectangle she pulls out three cards and places them on his desk for him.

Richy is surprised yet pleased to see a driver's license, a PINC (personal identification number card formerly known as a social security card) and a business card. Talia is the most intriguing woman he's ever met. He smells she's wild, yet she just handed him three things wild folks don't usually have because they don't usually even have a birth certificate because they were born in the wilderness.

The business card is basic, a white card with black type face. In the center it says: Devons.h.i.+re World Law Firm. In the upper left corner: Talia M. Devons.h.i.+re. In the lower left corner is the office phone number. The lower right corner has her cell number. He wonders all kind of things about Talia. He wants to know everything about her.

Curious he asks, "Where were you born?"

"My grandfather's home, the address on my driver's license," answers Talia.

"It's a little isolated," comments Richy.

"It's close to our tribe," shares Talia. "Pawpaw had it built there so my Me'me' would be close to our tribe and family, so she could run wild when she needed to."

Richy understands the need to run wild. That's what he's doing when he tells his tame friends he's going camping, fis.h.i.+ng, hunting, rock climbing or caving when he's actually meeting up with wild cousins. He can't become an animal of any kind, but he's more wild than he is tame and he knows it. His wild excursions save him from going crazy from what he thinks of as domestication or a domesticated life.

"What's your tribe," ask Richy.

"Animalistic."

"That used to be several different tribes," recalls Richy smiling, "original tribes of this region: Wolf, Mountain Lion, Bear, Beaver, Deer and ah… Eagle."

Talia's impressed that he knows all the original tribes and decides to ask a question of her own, "What's your tribe?"

Richy answers without pause, "Water Tribe."

Talia eyebrows furrow as she says, "Fjord."

Richy stops smiling. "I'm not friends with him. He's a mean son of b.i.t.c.h. The man doesn't deserve to be chief of a dead rat. May I keep your business card?"

Talia shrugs, "Of course." She wasn't expecting the business card back. That's what you do with business cards, you give them away to other people.

Richy slides her driver's license and PINC back to her. "Now for your statement."

Talia puts her ID and PINC away. "I was racing a deer when I happened upon you and Deputy Al. You said you could use my help finding a lost child. I rushed ahead of you and Deputy Al, caught the girl's scent, heard m.u.f.fled crying and tracked the scent and crying to the little girl. I took the little girl back to you and Deputy Al. Then together we returned the little girl to her parents."

Richy finishes typing Talia's statement. "Just let me print this and get your signature." He hands the statement to Talia. She reviews it and signs it with a pen from the pen holder on his desk.

Richy accepts back the signed statement. "Would you like a copy?"

Talia shakes her head no. Richy places the statement in a manila folder with other paper work for the case and puts it in a desk drawer.

Richy stands up. "Talia, would you do me the honor of joining me for lunch? There's a café a couple of doors down with excellent grub."

Talia wants to say yes. "But I'm not wearing any shoes. You know: no s.h.i.+rt, no shoes, no service."

"Please," implores Richy.

"And when they won't let me in?"

Richy smiles, "They'll let you in."

Talia sighs as she stands, "OK."

As soon as Richy is near Talia, he grabs her hand. His fingers automatically interlace with her pet.i.te fingers. Talia blushes.

"Margie," Richy announces as he and Talia walk through the reception area, "I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"Thank heaven," Margie responds, "I thought I was gonna hafta hurt you."

Richy smiles and gives Margie a wink as he exits with Talia.

"She was very irritated with you," Talia tells Richy.

"Yeah," Richy responds amused. "Margie's fun when she's riled up."

"She's wearing a gun, and Deputy Al wears a gun," Talia asks, "where's your gun?"

"Trunk of the car," answers Richy. "I don't really like guns. I use a bow when I go hunting."

Talia tenses as they near the café. There are tables and chairs on the sidewalk, but those are already full. People begin to greet Richy and he returns their greetings cheerfully.

When they get to the door of the café, Talia puts her free hand out toward the door before Richy can open it. Instead of a No s.h.i.+rt No Shoes No Service sign, there's a Cash Credit Trade sign. She looks at Richy, who smiles confidently as he opens the door for Talia.

More greetings for Richy as Talia notices the wild handmade jewelry for sale at the cash register, Water Tribe jewelry. No one gives her a strange look, just smiles making Talia comfortable enough to say h.e.l.lo.

"That's a very pretty lady you got there, Richy," says an elderly nearly toothless grey bearded man who smiles and winks at Richy.

Richy pulls Talia possessively against himself. "Be careful old man, no funny business. I ain't sharing."

The old man's response is, "Son, I'm of an age where just the thought of trying sumfin funny makes me tired."

There's a roar of laughter from all the old men at the table. Richy shakes the old man's hand while careful to keep himself between the old man and Talia. Talia has seen wild males behave in this manner with a female they're pursuing as a permanent mate. Talia puts a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Because despite the fact that Richy's scent indicates he's just as serious as he is good humored, Talia has never had a male put on such a display for her. Mentally, she can accept he's aroused by her and may find her attractive enough to mate with her, but make her his mate, Talia can't imagine it.

For years the only male displaying any serious interest in Talia as a mate has been Fjord. And Talia will never be interested in Fjord. His reasons for wanting her are purely selfish. In every tribe there's a family that possesses a unique talent that is usually pa.s.sed from father to son, but sometimes skips a generation or two. Fjord's father didn't possess this talent, but Fjord does and he used it to help make himself chief of Water.

In Talia's tribe, Animalistic, there are several families that carry this talent in their genes because Animalistic used to be several different tribes. And in one of those tribes the talent is pa.s.sed female to female. It has made Animalistic an unbeatable tribe.

Fjord wants Talia because she is of the female family where this talent is carried from female to female. But historically, these females have also pa.s.sed this talent on to their sons too. The added bonus is that Talia's father is of a family that possesses this talent as well. Fjord is extremely jealous of Talia's older brother, Roar, who not only inherited this valuable talent, but has pa.s.sed it on to his two sons by two different females. Granted, the two boys won't be able to use their gift until after they go through p.u.b.erty and it activates. Still, thinking about it makes Fjord crazy, because he has several children by several different women and not one has inherited the gift. Fjord wants Talia because it would guarantee him children with this talent, this gift.

At this point, Talia has been alone for so long she doesn't expect to find a mate or have children. So Richy's behavior as he guides her to a small isolated table is flattering. But Talia doubts he's conscious of his behavior as he pulls out a chair for her then seats himself. He has deliberately seated Talia so her back is to the room and he can monopolize her attention.

It's been a while since Richy has been with a woman, and even longer since he met one he was truly interested in. And he finds Talia more than just interesting. He finds her fascinating. Richy has every intention of learning everything there is to know about Talia Marie Devons.h.i.+re, including locating her tribal tattoo hidden beneath her clothes somewhere. Making her his mate hasn't popped into his conscious mind. But mating with Talia, he has every intention of doing that with Talia as soon as possible.

"Everyone here is so friendly," Talia smiling at Richy.

Richy nods in agreement. "It's different here than other towns and cities. At least half the population here either has some free blood or is married to someone with free blood and has free kin out there, and we like it when they visit. So we do everything we can to make them welcome."

Talia inquires, "Mostly Water Tribe like you?"

Richy nods yes as he holds Talia's hand and looks at the menu.

"Who does your wild blood come from," ask Talia, "your mother or your father?"

"My mother was half free," answers Richy. He has slid his chair within an inch of Talia's chair so his leg is touching hers from the knee down. When a man walks by them to go to the restroom, Richy puts his arm across the back of Talia's chair as a barrier between her and the man.

"Are you going to act like that the entire time we're here," ask Talia amused.

"Like what," ask Richy.

"Like you're my personal body guard," answers Talia.

"Am I offending you with my behavior," ask Richy worried.

"No," Talia leaning closer to Richy. "I'm actually quite flattered."

"I was afraid I might be annoying you," Richy admits as he touches her hair. "As such a beautiful woman, men must be falling all over themselves trying to get your attention, domesticated as well as free."

Talia suddenly looks terribly sad and lonely, "No. I'm an outsider no matter where I go. I don't know how you live tame. I couldn't do it. I could walk the walk and talk the talk, but I was miserable. While I was in college, I was teased and made to feel ashamed because I didn't shave my legs or under my arms."

"Free women don't shave hair from their bodies," Richy shrugs matter of factly. "Shaving is considered strictly a male activity for facial hair removal among free males that grow facial hair."

"But at that time I was working so hard to fit into tame society," admits Talia sadly. "So I had laser hair removal. My parents were so upset… I went through the motions for years trying to fit into tame society, but it wasn't who I was. Now I live wild, but apart. My own people are uncomfortable with me, repulsed by me. I spend most of my time alone with the animals. The only male that persistently pursues me is Fjord."

The mentioning of Fjord makes Richy frown, but his heart goes out to Talia. "Well, as of the second I laid eyes on you last night, Fjord got himself some compet.i.tion."

"May I take your order please," a waitress ask. Richy and Talia order and spend more than an hour in the café talking as they have lunch. It has been years since she was this at ease with anyone that wasn't a relative. Richy finds himself thoroughly enjoying Talia's sense of humor. She's not afraid to poke fun at herself or him. He admires her intelligence, strong sense of self and strong will. Richy pays the men's restroom a visit just before they leave. When he comes out, Talia is standing at the booth with the old men in it talking to them. She's holding one old man's hands in both of hers and is patting the top of his old gnarled hand.

Richy doesn't take his eyes off Talia as he pays for their meal.

"Old man," he says as he walks over to the booth and Talia, "you just don't know when to quit." When he gets within reach of Talia, his arm snakes out grabbing Talia by the waist and pulling her against him.

"That's enough of that," Richy tells Talia. Then he rubs his cheek into her neck and up one side of her face and then the other side as if he were scent marking her.

Talia's mouth drops open in shock. She's not offended. She can hardly believe he just boldly went through the motions of scent marking her causing the old men at the table to burst into laughter.

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"Gentlemen," Richy nodding farewell to the old men and leading Talia out of the café.

Out on the sidewalk, Talia stares at Richy stunned as he leads her by the hand back the way they came. She's never been scent marked by a male before nor ever had one attempt to scent mark her before. And males usually only scent mark their mates or females they intend to make their mates. That last thought makes Talia nervous. She just met this man. He's beautiful to look at, his scent makes her wet, the conversation over lunch was wonderful, but she just met him. She hasn't even known him for a whole twenty-four hours.

Richy opens the pa.s.senger side door of his sheriff's vehicle and guides Talia onto the front seat. She reaches for her seat belt, but Richy gets it for her. She refuses to make eye contact as he straps her in and shuts the door. Richy smelled her nervous anxiety as he clicked her seat belt in place. As he walks around to the driver's side he's kicking himself internally as he wonders why he tried to scent mark her. Logically, he knows those old men, no matter how interested in Talia they were, weren't any threat. But his instincts and subconscious needed to let the other males know his intentions for the female with him. Consciously, he's confused by his own actions. Talia's beautiful, intelligent, her scent intoxicating, but he just met her and he'll never bed her if he scares her off by being too aggressive.

It's a quiet ride with Talia glancing at Richy out of the corner of her eye careful not to make eye contact. Richy reaches for her hand and she tucks it between her legs. But Talia can smell Richy's frustration and sadness. The scent of his sadness makes her heart ache, so she slowly slides her hand back within reach of his. When his fingers lace through hers, he relaxes. But he can smell that Talia's still nervous and anxious and wonders what to say to make it better. Talia's a complex woman, more complex than most. She's wild, but was raised tame for most of her childhood. She attended the best private school in the area and one of the most prestigious universities in the world. He learned a lot about her as they talked over lunch and he craves to know more.

When they turn down My Street, Talia knows where they're going, to his home. It's a dirt road, extra wide for a dirt road, two lanes. It looks as if they were going to pave it then changed their minds. But they did put in a sidewalk that runs down each side. There aren't many houses and they're s.p.a.ced so far apart that no one would hear you scream if you were being attacked. These people definitely wanted privacy and lots of it. The houses are modest considering the size of the property each sits on, one would expect much larger homes with extravagant landscaping. But the yards are kept with tender loving care by each owner and it shows.

Talia rolls down her window. The breeze that flows through the open pa.s.senger window brings the scents from the area to Talia. They tell her they're not very far from Water Tribe's home base. Some tribes are more nomadic than others. But they all have a home base, an area they return to frequently or spend certain seasons at. The frequent visitations by the tribe gives the area a different scent than the rest of the forest.

"I grew up here," Richy breaking the long silence between them. "The only time I've lived any place else was when I went away to college. I thought I'ld go crazy that first semester, too much domesticated living. But I learned to cope by finding out lets for my need to run free: cycling, jogging, martial arts. Still, I was anxious for breaks, to come home and run free with my cousins."

My Street was a little longer than one might expect and ended in a circle. A more accurate name would have been My Court. Richy's house is the only house down here. The driveway is blacktop and at least one hundred meters long that leads up to the modest home. Talia can see that Richy takes good care of the house and property. It has a two car attached garage with a well-used basketball hoop and a room over the garage. The home itself is a split level.

Richy parks his law enforcement vehicle in front of the closed garage door. "This is home," he says as he unbuckles his seat belt. Then he unbuckles Talia's seat belt. Talia slowly opens the pa.s.senger door, but the second her feet hit the ground, she's off and running.

"s.h.i.+t," Richy exclaims as he slams his car door shut. Then he scrambles over the hood of the vehicle and runs after her.

Richy's long legs are quickly closing the ground between him and Talia. Talia can feel him getting closer and knows she can't out run him. She spots a tree with a tree house in it. She scrambles up the rungs screwed to the trunk. Her foot slips through Richy's hand as she pulls herself onto the deck. As she turns to face Richy, she turns into a mountain lion. Talia takes two warning swipes at Richy's face as she hisses at him.

Richy jumps back, "Jiminy, Talia." He can smell her fear, anxiety and confusion. But he doesn't know what to do, just what he wants to do and she's obviously not in the mood for a hug.

"Was that really necessary," he ask as he looks up into her eyes.

Talia hisses at Richy as tears start to find their way from her eyes.

"Don't cry," says Richy feeling like a piece of c.r.a.p. "I just want to show you my house… I just want to share my… my…" The words that want to escape Richy's mouth don't make sense to him. He sits on the ground with his back against the tree letting his head loll against the tree. If he could just manage to think straight for a few minutes, but his genitals are on fire for this woman. He decides to take a cold shower.

Richy stands up and looks up sadly at Talia. "I'm going inside. The doors will be open. They're never locked."

Talia watches him go, fighting an overwhelming urge to run after him. Talia's not used to confusion, and she finds being confused terrifying. Her body is screaming at her. She's never been so wet and hot for a man before in her life. And her conscious mind keeps going over the illogicalness of it. Neither Richy nor Talia sleeps well this night.