by Laura Ryles
“So, I thought we would start with some of the pack elders, like I said,” Lark began. “The closest one to us is Liam Caldwell. He’s about 10 miles down the road. The rest have spread out even further since most of the pack has had to move off our land. I guess we’ll see the four closest ones and then go see the town and have lunch. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!” Drew answered, staring dreamily into Lark’s eyes.
“Yeah, Lark, that sounds good.” Tala grinned at her lovestruck friend. This was going to be a good day, she thought.
Lark turned up the radio after that, saying, “Well, let’s hit the road then.”
When they pulled off the road onto a small wooded path, Lark spoke up again. “Okay, so Liam is a little eccentric. He doesn’t live in a house. He literally lives in the woods like a hermit. Not that he doesn’t like people or anything. He just prefers to live alone in the woods. He mostly stays in tents, but he has been known to stay out in the elements for days and sometimes even weeks at a time as a wolf. He’s pretty cool. Just don’t be shocked when we’re sitting on a bunch of tree stumps instead of chairs, or if he starts sniffing dirt or something.”
“Expect wolf-like behaviors. Got it,” replied Tala. They finally stopped near a small campsite. There wasn’t much there. A fire pit, a tent, a cooler, a line hanging in between two trees with a few items of clothing hanging from it, and just as Lark had predicted, stumps spread around the fire pit for seating.
“What’d I tell you.” Lark smiled at her passengers. She and Tala both opened their doors at the same time. Somewhere close by there was a low howl. Tala and Drew both jumped when Lark howled back from right beside them. Out of the trees nearby came an old man, with two dead rabbits in one hand and a bucket of water in the other.
“Lark, my girl. How are you? Where’s your old man?”
“Hi, Liam. I’m doing okay. Pops is at home. I actually brought someone to meet you.”
“Eh, who’s that?” Liam answered, turning his head towards the other two people standing in front of him.
“Liam, this is Tala Woods, Clay's daughter. And that’s her friend, Drew.” Liam stood there for a minute staring at Tala. Then suddenly, he dropped the rabbits and the bucket of water on the ground where he stood. He walked right over to Tala and wrapped his arms around her. He held for several seconds and she could have sworn that he sniffled a little before he let go.
“Tala,” he said with a new softness in his voice, as he backed out of their hug and held her by the shoulders. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Thanks,” she said, a little confused. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
“You never act like that when I show up,” Lark crowed at him.
“Well, pretend you don’t exist for twenty years and maybe I will.” Liam laughed as he pulled Tala toward the fire pit, stopping to pick up his rabbits and water bucket on the way. “Come on, have a seat. Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, there’s not much to tell really.” Tala thought about it for a moment and decided to start with the shifter part of her history. “I turned for the first time on my eighteenth birthday a few months ago and I had only found out that I was a wolf two days earlier. So, before that, I just lived a regular old human life with my mom.”
“So, your dad never said anything about being a shifter? You never wondered why you were named Tala?”
“No. Why?”
“Tala means wolf,” Liam laughed. “I bet he thought it was a good joke.”
“Well, I have to say it hasn’t felt very funny. Other people seem to know more about me than I do. I was kidnapped because of him and almost had to marry a psychopath that wasn’t my mate. And now my own pack is mad at me for what he did.”
“Nah, I don’t believe that about your dad and you shouldn’t either. I never thought he would do that to our pack and I never will believe it was him. Something happened. He would never sell that land.”
“Okay, maybe he didn’t sell the land but what about Dag? I’m pretty sure he gave his unborn child away to a monster.”
“Now that I do remember. Your dad and I were very close back then. Most of the pack was close when your dad was the Alpha. I remember the day Dag showed up, puffed up, and trying to bully your dad into a fight. He wanted your dad to take the bait and fight him, but your dad wouldn’t. Instead, he met with us elders to come up with another solution. He agreed to give up his firstborn daughter because, quite simply, he didn’t think that he would ever actually have any. Dag couldn’t argue with an offer that essentially gave him a bride prize of another pack without him having to sacrifice any of his wolves. Not two years later your dad had met your mom and they had fallen in love and she was pregnant.”
“Wait, she was pregnant before he left the pack?” Tala asked.
“Only a few of us even knew that he had been seeing a human in secret. Most of the elders were privy to it. It was even more taboo back then than it is now.” Tala noticed Drew and Lark cast quick glances at one another when this subject was brought up. “He had been trying to talk the elders into changing the rules about human-wolf relations but when she turned up pregnant, he eloped with her. Most of the pack just believed that he had run off to be with some human. Only a couple of us elders knew that it was really because he feared the deal he had made with Dag. He was terrified that you would be a girl, and so you were. I still say hiding you was the best thing he could have done. An Alpha can’t go back on his word. He would have caused a war between the Timber pack and the Tundra pack. He did the only thing he thought he could do. He took your mother and hid. Quite well, I might add. The pack never got wind of you.”
“So, he left everything he knew, and gave up his seat as Alpha because of me?”
“Not because of you. For you, for his love of you. There is nothing stronger. Many wolves think that a pack gets its strength from the strongest wolves in the pack, but the truth is, what really binds us together as a pack is love. It was one of your father’s greatest attributes. He loved us all, but he loved you more and there is nothing wrong with that. A father should love his daughter.”
“Whoa!” Drew cut in with his mouth hanging open. “That’s deep.” The mood immediately lightened, and everyone had a good laugh.
“Drew, you’re such a dork,” Tala retorted. They sat around the fire pit talking about the pack and talking about her human life for a little while before Lark reminded them that they had a few more places to go before lunch. So, they all said their good-byes. Liam hugged Tala close again before they left.
This time he whispered in her ear, “It’s a good thing that you’ve come back. They might not realize it yet, but this pack needs you to claim what’s yours. When you’re ready, let me know.” Tala was a little shaken by his comment, but nodded, just the same. She hugged him back for a moment and then headed for the truck. At least some of the pack seemed glad to see me, she thought as she hopped in the passenger side of the truck.
Chapter 6
Their next stop wasn’t very fruitful. Lark said that the wolf they were there to see was named Arlo. When they knocked on the door of the two-story farmhouse, Tala could have sworn she saw the curtains of an upstairs window move, but no one ever answered the door. They waited on the porch for about ten minutes before deciding that their time might be better spent moving on to their third stop.
They seemed to be driving in the direction of the town because Tala noticed that the houses were moving closer to the road and they even passed a school and a small grocery store. Eventually, they did enter the city limits but it wasn’t much of a city. A few small businesses, a government building, a Dollar General, library, and a courthouse comprised the entirety of its claim on the word township. Lark pulled up into a row of what looked to be run-down duplexes. She stopped at the very first one and shut the truck off.
“Okay, just a little context for you newbies. This is Ms. Dawn and Mr. Reed’s place. They are the oldest couple in the pack. And they ar
e both elders. They’ve had it a little worse off than most, since having to move from our pack land. They’ve always been like the pack parents, I guess you could say. We all used to play at their house when we were kids. It was one of the first tracts of land that the development company seized after the sale. They ripped their house down in front of them. Years of memories for them, gone. Now, this is their home, no room to run, the landlords a jerk and it costs almost all their monthly pension checks to live here, in this dump!”
“Well, they are probably going to hate me then, since it’s my dad’s fault. He sold their home right out from under them.” Tala said looking at the small apartment in front of her.
“I doubt that. They are really very sweet. They aren’t the type to hold grudges. Plus, they called my Pops and asked that we make this one of our stops this morning. They want to meet you.”
“Really? Why, do you think?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they just want to meet their old Alpha’s daughter. My dad said that they took your dad in after his parents were killed. Maybe they just want to see how his kid turned out. Why don’t we go in and see?”
“Okay,” Tala said. She reached for the door handle and shoved hard with her shoulder to knock the door open. The three of them jumped down out of the truck and headed for the small apartment. Before they got even halfway there, a small gray-haired woman opened the door and walked out onto the stoop with a huge smile on her face. Following right behind her was a much taller, gangly, bald man with an equally large grin of his own. They waved at the three young people walking up their sidewalk.
“Oh, Reed, just look at her. Doesn’t she look just like Clay?” The little woman said excitedly as the group reached the porch. Lark came out in front of Drew and Tala and made all the introductions. Then Ms. Dawn waved them into the house. “Come in, come in! Do you want something to drink? We have water and tea, but that’s about it.” Ms. Dawn offered.
“Tea is fine,” said Lark.
“I’ll take a glass,” Drew answered
“I’m fine, thank you though,” Tala said.
“All right, I’ll be right back, have a seat on the couch.” The group walked over to the dilapidated sofa and sat down. The sofa groaned under the weight of three healthy, heavy, young adults. While Ms. Dawn fixed the tea, Mr. Reed brought in lawn chairs from outside for him and Ms. Dawn to sit across the coffee table from them. Ms. Dawn returned and set the glasses down in front of them and handed Mr. Reed a glass of his own. Then they were all sitting around the coffee table looking at one another.
“It really is wonderful to meet you.” Ms. Dawn broke the silence with a sweet smile on her face. “Reed and I, we’ve been so worried about the future of this pack. You just don’t know. We’re getting older, and there’s not much we can do anymore, but now that you’ve come, maybe we can get things straightened out before we’re gone.”
“I’m sorry, what do you mean straightened out?” Tala looked back and forth between Ms. Dawn and Mr. Reed, puzzled.
“What she means is,” this was the first time Mr. Reed had spoken, “we want to make sure you get championed for control of the pack. You are, after all, our Alpha. Or at least you should be.”
“I appreciate that, sir, but I really didn’t come find you all so that I could walk in and take over. Besides, this pack has an Alpha. Orin is…”
“Orin is not good for this pack. The longer he’s in control, the more he lets it go to his hea,.” Mr. Reed interjected. Ms. Dawn nodded in agreement from her seat. “He leads for his own greed and his own glory. Not for the pack’s.”
“It’s true.” Ms. Dawn chimed in, “A leader should lead for love of the pack, Orin only loves himself.” Tala couldn’t believe how openly they were speaking out against Orin’s regime. If he was so terrible, why were the wolves following him, she wondered? She decided that that was a question worth knowing the answer to.
“So, why is he the Alpha? If he is so bad for the pack, why are all the wolves following him? I don’t think everyone feels the way that you guys do. At Red’s last night, no one seemed to want me in the same building as them, let alone for me to take over their pack.”
“No, of course not, dear. Wolves are loyal. We stick to what we know.” Ms. Dawn said, the worry lines in her brow furrowed a bit. “The lower pack members will follow him blindly until shown another way. That’s what they are born to do… follow the Alpha, no matter what. As long as he holds that title, that’s what they’ll do.”
“So, you’re saying you want me to fight Orin for the title?”
“That’s likely the only way you’re going to get it. Unless we turn the pack against him somehow.” Mr. Reed answered.
“I can’t do that. I just met the man. Besides giving me some sleazy vibes, he hasn’t done anything to me. He took over the pack out of necessity when my dad left. He was there when my dad left all of you blowing in the wind, right? How bad could he really be?” Tala contended.
“Not that my opinion matters much, but I agree with Tala.” Drew jumped in. “Why should she take on a fight that isn’t necessary? Against a man who has never done anything to her. And who is older and probably stronger, and has an entire wolf-pack at his back?” After he finished, he turned his eyes to Tala and gave her a look that said, ‘I got your back’.
This bucked up Tala’s courage a little more, so she also added, “Right, I didn’t come here to fight, I came to meet my pack, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Tala, no one wants you to have to fight him. In fact, if you can prove that he’s done something untoward, then the pack will remove him for you.” Ms. Dawn said with a sly note in her voice.
“Untoward?” Tala asked.
“Yes, something that hurt the pack. Mr. Reed and I have a theory. Now, it’s just a theory, and we haven’t seen any proof, but we’ll let you judge how much sense it makes. After all, you’re the only one who might know.” A silence came over the room as Ms. Dawn sat forward a bit like she was going to tell them a secret. “Tala, how much money did your father get for the sale of that land before he died?” Ms. Dawn questioned.
“Well, I don’t know. I don’t remember there ever being any extra money. I mean we didn’t struggle too much, but we weren’t rich.”
“Don’t you think that’s odd?” said Mr. Reed.
“Well, ... I guess. So, what are you saying? He didn’t get the money. Then who did?”
“Exactly,” said Ms. Dawn. “I don’t think your father sold that land. He loved us. Even if he did leave, Reed and I know that he ran away to save you, not because he didn’t love the pack. But it makes you wonder, who else might have sold that land, and who else would have possibly had any rights to it?”
“You don’t mean Tala, do you? ‘Cause she would never,” Drew intruded for his friend once again.
“No, she means Orin,” Lark said, her eyes growing wide with understanding. Up until now, she had been sitting quietly on the other end of the couch, but now she sat up close to the edge and hunched forward. “Are you sure, Ms. Dawn? Orin?”
Ms. Dawn shook her head, “I don’t have any proof, just a feeling in my gut, but Mr. Reed has the same feeling, and so do a lot of the other elders. We’ve just all gotten too old to do much about it. Orin would take any of us down in a heartbeat if we were to utter a word of this to the pack members. That’s why I’m telling you, Tala. You have a legitimate claim. If you don’t believe me, look for proof yourself. If you find it, we can help you take Orin down.”
Tala shook her head. Confused and angry, she stood up, “I didn’t come here to take anyone down! I didn’t sign up for this. It was nice to meet you both, really. And I do appreciate your kindness and willingness to support me, but you don’t even know me.” When she finished speaking, she walked back to the front door, turned the handle, and walked out. By the time Drew and Lark had said their good-byes and their thanks to the couple inside, Tala was already sitting in the truck. Drew climbed silently into the middle sea
t beside her, and Lark pulled herself up into the driver’s seat.
“Let’s just go,” Tala said before either of them could say anything about what had just transpired.
Chapter 7
Lark drove further into town and stopped outside of a small diner called Cindy’s Eats and Sweets. Tala had been gathering her senses a little on the ride over, and when they parked, she lifted her eyes and felt a sense of relief.
“Good. Food. I’m glad you decided to bring us to get lunch instead of going to see the fourth elder. I’m not sure I could take any more right now.”
Lark looked a little guilty as they all piled out of the truck again in front of the diner. “Sorry to disappoint you, but this actually is the fourth person. Oh, but we are going to eat here too. This is Terra’s place.”
“Terra? But the sign says Cindy’s,” Drew commented
