Novice Defender

by Marisa Chenery

  Tears welled in Jerrica’s eyes as his words thoroughly broke her heart. One tear trickled down her cheek before she could stop it. Becca laughed.

  “Aw, look, she’s crying,” Becca said meanly. “I think you hurt her feelings.”

  Calan chuckled. “As I said, she’s a pathetic excuse for a Defender.”

  Jerrica spun away from them, their laughter ringing in her ears. Once she was outside, she went wolf. She wanted to run somewhere to be by herself, but there was still the zombie herd to deal with, and she was the only one who could do it. She’d have to set aside her hurt and heartbreak and do the job Calan no longer wanted.

  She reached the gates and went to where her father stood. He turned toward her and waited until she was in front of him before he spoke.

  “Calan isn’t coming?” he asked as he glanced behind her.

  She shook her head. “No. He refused to come.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now. Have them open the gates.”

  Her dad ran his gaze over her face, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll be on top of the walls, watching. You’ll be all right.”

  Jerrica nodded back. Once the gates opened wide enough, she slipped through them. They started to close after she was clear. She looked up at the top of the walls. Her father stood there, as he’d said he would. He gave her a thumbs-up.

  She set her gaze on the herd of zombies that milled about a good dozen feet away. There were fifteen of them, just as Tony had said. She smelled the rot of their decaying flesh wafting toward her on the breeze. None of them turned in her direction. She was as good as invisible, at least to them.

  Jerrica slowly walked to where they shambled around, moaning. They were too close to the gates for comfort, but they weren’t trampling the field. That was a plus. The nearer she came to them, the faster her heart beat as the familiar fear rose inside her. You can do this. You’re a Werewolf Defender. You have to do this. There’s no one else. She repeated her pep talk to herself over and over. There could be no turning back or running away. This was all her responsibility.

  With a deep breath, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind, doing her best not to think about what she was going to do. Jerrica reached the first zombie. It seemed to look right through her. Her fear tried to overtake her, and she almost froze in place. She couldn’t let that happen.

  Drawing on the hurt and anger Calan’s words had caused, Jerrica brought it to the surface. It overrode her fear. She launched herself at the undead creature. She ripped into it with her sharp teeth and claws, tearing its head from its decomposing body before biting through to its brain. Jerrica pictured it was Becca she ended as she took out each zombie until they all lay ended in pieces on the ground.

  Jerrica shifted to human form and had to resist the urge to gag from the taste of undead blood on her tongue. She spat a few times onto the ground to get rid of it before she set about dragging the remains into a pile. That complete, she waved her hand over the heap to set it afire. She stepped away from the flames and sniffed the breeze, seeing if she could detect more zombies. There weren’t any, and she didn’t hear any in the area.

  She turned toward the gates. Someone on the walls called for them to be opened to let her back inside. Jerrica walked through, then found herself enveloped in her father’s tight hug.

  He kissed the top of her head. “You did it. You got over your fear,” he said quietly for their ears only. “I’m proud of you.”

  Jerrica took a step back out of his embrace. “I had to. Calan left me no choice but to conquer my fear.”

  “Let’s go home. It will be dawn soon. You need to eat some breakfast before you have to patrol the field and orchard.” He set her walking, and once they were out of earshot of the others, he said, “You’ll tell me what’s going on with Calan, but wait until we’re at the cabin.”

  She nodded. Jerrica didn’t really want to discuss it with her parents. It hurt too much. Since her dad was the leader of the settlement, he really did need to know that one of the Werewolf Defenders would no longer do anything to protect the settlers, so she didn’t have any choice but to let him know what was going on with Calan.

  At the cabin, her dad opened the door for her and waited until she went inside before he followed. Her mom was already up, cooking the morning meal. The space smelled like fresh-baked bread and eggs. Despite how she felt and what she’d had to do, Jerrica’s stomach growled.

  “I heard that,” her mom said with a smile. “Sit down. Breakfast is ready.”

  Once everyone had sat and had food in front of them, her dad looked at Jerrica. “Okay, now you can tell me what’s happening with Calan.”

  “I don’t know. It’s almost as if he’s another person.” She paused. “He said he didn’t want me as his mate anymore. I found him sleeping in wolf form with Becca. He told me he wants to be with her and that he’ll no longer defend the settlement from zombies. I will have to do that by myself.”

  Her parents didn’t say anything right away after Jerrica had finished talking. They looked at her—her mom with pity and her dad with anger, which she knew wasn’t directed at her.

  “What is wrong with him?” her dad asked angrily. “Why on earth would he push you aside for John’s daughter? Becca has to be the reason he won’t do his job as a Werewolf Defender.”

  Jerrica shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. It’s as if he suddenly got a new personality—and not one for the better. I have no idea how to fix it, either. It was Becca. Supposedly, she was the one who convinced Calan that he’s been taken advantage of for far too long.”

  “Have you tried contacting one of the shamans?” her mom asked.

  “No. I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway. The shamans are the ones who have contacted Calan and me, not the other way around.”

  “Maybe you should try. They might know what’s going on with Calan and what to do to get him back to normal.”

  “I guess I can, but I doubt they’ll hear me. The only time Calan and I have seen them was when we were sleeping.”

  Her mom reached across the table and squeezed Jerrica’s hand. “Maybe they’ll sense something is wrong and come to you. You’re one of their Werewolf Defenders, after all.”

  “Maybe.”

  Jerrica finished eating, then went up to her loft bedroom to get ready for the day. As she ran her brush through her hair, the image of Calan and Becca in bed together rose to the forefront of her mind. It still hurt to think about it, but it also left questions that she had no answers to. Calan had known what Becca was, had even been ticked off when she’d accused him of being a threat when he’d saved her from zombies just because she’d frozen and he’d had to shove her out of the way so she wouldn’t be bitten.

  She pulled her hair up into a ponytail. Jerrica looked at her reflection in her dresser’s mirror. If Calan truly would no longer take on the duties of a Defender, she didn’t think she could do it all by herself, like leaving the settlement to go to other places to end zombies. The farthest she’d gone beyond the safety of the walls before his arrival had been the field and orchard. To date, that had only changed by about a mile to a cave he’d shown her and where they’d gone to train that first time. She wasn’t ready to venture out into the wide world alone.

  Chapter Seven

  Two days had gone by since Jerrica had ended her first small herd of zombies. She and Austin had just come through the gates inside the walls. They headed for the open space that was the center of the settlement. They’d spent the day patrolling, which had turned out to be uneventful.

  Jerrica’s steps slowed when she noticed the others around them staring at her and whispering. More than a few gave her pitying looks. With her sensitive hearing, she heard her name spoken. She turned in the direction it’d come from. The woman who’d said it hurriedly walked away once she saw Jerrica had set her gaze on her.

  Austin must have noticed as well, since he kept looking around. “Why are they s
taring at you like that?”

  “I don’t know. It’s almost as if they feel sorry for me for some reason.”

  “Jerrica Barnes!”

  Jerrica shot her gaze to the woman who came rushing toward her. It was Becca’s mother. Jerrica wasn’t thrilled to be singled out by her, and, from the smug expression the woman wore, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t like whatever Becca’s mom wanted.

  “Yes?” she asked, as Becca’s mother reached her.

  The woman swept her gaze up and down Jerrica with hate-filled eyes. “I wanted to be the one to tell you. Your family may have taken my family’s place in the settlement, but we’ve gained something better. Calan and Becca are to be married. The ceremony will be in a week.”

  With that said, Becca’s mom gave her a smug look again before she turned on her heel to walk away. Jerrica didn’t move. She heard the whispers around her, but she couldn’t make her feet work. How much worse could her life get?

  Austin took hold of her elbow and set her into motion. “Let’s go. You don’t need to be put on display for people to gossip about.”

  Jerrica allowed Austin to guide her to the road that would take her to her family’s cabin. She was numb. The news of Calan and Becca’s impending marriage shouldn’t have come as a shock, but it was. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d hoped Calan would eventually see what he was doing and want to be her mate again. Once he took Becca as his wife, that would definitely be the end of her and Calan.

  Austin steered Jerrica through the yard and up the steps to the porch. He opened the cabin door. There was no one there. Her dad must be somewhere doing leadership duties, since she hadn’t heard him in the barn when they’d walked by. Her mom was probably at Hunter’s cabin, visiting her grandson.

  “Are you going to be okay, Jerrica?” Austin asked.

  It wasn’t until he’d spoken that she’d realized he’d followed her inside. She turned toward him. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.

  He put his arms around her then pulled her in for a hug. “I’m not trying anything. I just think you need someone to hold you right now.”

  What Austin said opened the floodgates to her tears. Jerrica held him back and cried. She hated that she was doing, but she couldn’t stop. He silently let her cry, which was what she needed. She didn’t want him telling her everything would be all right when it wouldn’t. How could it?

  Jerrica heard her mom come into the cabin behind Austin. Jerrica hiccupped as she tried to pull herself together. “Jerrica? Honey? I just heard,” her mother said sadly.

  Austin gently pulled out of her embrace. “Now that you aren’t alone, I think I’ll leave.” He met Jerrica’s watery gaze. “If you need me, I’ll come.”

  After he left, Jerrica wiped her eyes and looked at her mom. Her mother quickly wrapped her in a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Jerrica. Hunter came home from the orchard and said how Becca’s mom had made a point of being the one to tell you about Calan and Becca. That woman is a real piece of work.”

  The settlement being as small as it was, it didn’t surprise Jerrica that Hunter had heard what had taken place at the center of it. Word had probably spread seconds after it’d happened.

  “Where do you think Becca gets her meanness from?” Jerrica said on a sniffle. She gave her mom a hug, then stepped back. “I don’t understand any of this, Mom. I love Calan, and he said he loved me. Then, in what seemed like overnight, his feelings changed and he’s going to marry Becca, the one girl who has always hated me.”

  “I know, hon. I’m sure we aren’t the only ones who think Calan has lost his mind. I guess you haven’t had any luck contacting the shamans?”

  “No. They aren’t answering when I call to them—mentally or out loud—and they haven’t visited me in my sleep. I can only figure they aren’t watching.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “There isn’t anything I can do, so there’s no point in trying. Calan won’t listen to me. Even if he did, I doubt I could get through to him. All he cares about is Becca. He seems to have forgotten that, thanks to her, he’d been kicked out of the settlement.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he’d been brainwashed or something. The change over him is so drastic.”

  Jerrica shook her head. “I don’t think so. Becca wouldn’t know how to do that, even if she wanted to try.”

  “Then it’s something else.”

  “If only that were true. That way I’d have an explanation and a course of action to bring the old Calan back.”

  * * * *

  The days passed with Jerrica’s normal routine of waking up, patrolling the field and orchard, returning to her family’s cabin, then going to bed at night. Calan and Becca’s marriage loomed ever closer. Jerrica did her best not to think about it. If she happened to see them around the settlement, she ignored them and walked the other way. She wouldn’t give Becca the chance to gloat.

  All too soon there were only two days before the ceremony was to take place. Jerrica and her parents were at home, eating their dinner, when someone knocked on their door. With her father the leader of the settlement, there always seemed to be someone coming to the cabin to talk to him.

  Her father opened the door. A look of surprise flashed across his face as he stepped back for the person on the porch to come inside. “Les, what can I do for you?”

  Becca’s uncle nodded politely at Jerrica and her mom. “Sorry to interrupt your dinner.”

  “It’s okay,” her dad replied. Les stared at him with an uncertain expression. “What’s the matter, Les?”

  The other man hesitated to answer, as if he were unsure of himself. Jerrica had only ever seen Les as one of the ex-leader’s family members, who walked around the settlement as if everyone else was beneath him. Seeing him now, she wouldn’t have guessed it was even the same man. His demeanor was so different.

  Les glanced at Jerrica before he set his gaze on her dad. “Geoff, firstly, I need you to understand that I had no foreknowledge of this. If I had, I would have stopped them.”

  Her dad’s brows furrowed. “Les, I have no idea what you’re talking about, so how can I understand?”

  The other man nodded. “You’re right. I guess the best way to do this is to just come out with it. It shames me, though.” He paused. “I think I know why Calan is acting the way he is.”

  Before Les could say anything more, Jerrica got up from the table and went to stand next to her dad. “Tell me.”

  “Earlier today, I heard my sister-in-law and niece talking. I’d stopped at their cabin to see if they needed any help with the last of the preparations for the wedding ceremony. They spoke of how Becca’s failed attempts to poison Calan had worked to their advantage. How, instead of killing him, what they gave him made it easy for Becca to hold sway over him. They figured they’d gotten the better of your family by stealing the first Werewolf Defender away from you.”

  Jerrica felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It wasn’t anything good that Les had told them, but it now explained what had happened to Calan. He hadn’t voluntarily decided he no longer wanted her. In a way, he had been brainwashed, as her mother had suggested.

  “How and what did Becca start giving Calan?” Jerrica asked as she focused on Les.

  “Monkshood or, as it’s known as well, wolfsbane. Becca first used it in the sandwiches she made for Calan. She’d prepare it at home then bring it with her so Maria wouldn’t know what she’d done. After Becca and Calan became closer and he began eating all his meals with her family, Becca put it in his food all the time.”

  “How is Calan not dead?” her dad asked the room at large.

  “Because he’s immortal,” Jerrica answered. “Wolfsbane obviously doesn’t affect a Defender the same way it would everyone else. I have a feeling Calan became addicted to it. He told me he craved Becca’s sandwiches. He couldn’t wait to get another one. That could be why he’s with her now.”

  “She’s h
is supplier,” her dad said softly.

  “I’m so sorry,” Les said. “I know my family has done some things that haven’t been appropriate, but I think Becca and her mother went too far.” He looked at Jerrica. “I’ve been watching you. I’ve seen how negative this has been on you, and how you’ve grown as a Defender.” He set his gaze on her dad. “My niece’s and sister-in-law’s behavior has made me question a lot of the things John told me about other settlers over the years. Geoff, you had every right to exile my brother and nephew. Plus, you have made a great leader. I never would have been good at the job.”

  “How did Becca get wolfsbane in the first place?” Jerrica asked. “It doesn’t grow around here.”

  Les sighed. “The first of my family who settled here brought a huge amount of seeds when they bugged out of the city they’d lived in. For some reason, they also brought seeds from poisonous plants. Wolfsbane was one of them. Becca’s mother grew some near their cabin. She bragged to her daughter how no one even knew about it or where it was.”

  “Did she grow something that’s the antidote?”

  “Apparently not. My niece and sister-in-law had a good laugh over it.” Les looked angry about that when he scowled.

  Jerrica turned to her mom, who had come to stand behind her. “Do you know of anything?”

  Her mother shook her head. “No. I’m better than some when it comes to the local herbs that grow around here, but I wouldn’t have a clue what would combat wolfsbane poisoning.”

  “You said it was as if Calan was addicted to it,” her dad said. “What if we were to separate him from Becca and get him off the wolfsbane? Maybe once the poison has left his system, he’ll return to his old self.”