by Cara Adams
“Please listen carefully, ladies. True werewolves are not like what you have watched on late-night television.” He scarcely had to pause. All eyes were on him and the women were all listening intently.
“First, no one turns furry and wild at the full moon. Changing into wolf form is a conscious decision which a shape-shifter can make whenever he so desires. Secondly, being bitten by a werewolf will not make you into one, not even if you’re bitten on the full moon. Neither will an exchange of bodily fluids. Werewolves are created by a gene just the way hair color is, and whether or not you can roll your tongue. Any child you bear might or might not be a werewolf. The chance will be fifty-fifty just as for other genes. You nine will be the first humans in our community, the beginning of fulfilling our pledge to provide our unmarried men with brides. This should be a big enough group to even the gender ratio somewhat and you will surely make friends with the werewolf women of similar age to you as well. Now, are there any questions?”
This time he was inundated with questions, but they were not worrying. They just showed the women were thinking and adapting to the situation already. When the questions turned to accommodation he said, “That was my next info bite for you. We’ve cleaned out our community hall and fit it out with beds, closets, rugs, televisions, and whatever you will need for the next few months. Once you marry, you will move into the homes of your men. Most male pairings have already completed upgrading their homes in readiness for their brides.”
“How will it be legal, marrying two men?” asked Esther.
Xola was pleased she’d asked a question, and this was a question he’d expected and was prepared for. “Within our community you will marry both men under shape-shifter law. Then the three of you will decide which man you will marry under American law if you want to be married that way as well, and you’ll have a civil ceremony at the city hall. But the werewolf mating is binding for life in our community.”
There were a few more questions but he could see most of the women were assimilating the information he’d already given them. “If you look out the right side of the airplane we’ll be flying over Coopersville quite soon and landing at Coopersville Airport. A bus will be there to bring us all back to your new home.”
Xola went and sat down. He wanted to stare at Esther but forced himself not to. He knew that Kairu would be waiting for them at home. Likely with most of the other men. All those who could get off work in time to be there, anyway.
* * * *
Kairu had worked through his lunch break so he could leave his job at a wind farm development company an hour early. He wouldn’t have been able to work anyway. He needed to see his woman. The moment he’d seen Esther Johnson in her interview he’d known she would be his bride. His and Xola’s. He wasn’t even sure exactly why. She simply called to his wolf in a way none of the other women did. Several of them made his dick stand up, they were so beautiful, but only Esther stirred his heart as well.
The werewolf community was called Cooper’s Farm and was established several generations ago, so consequently there was a central open area, with various buildings around it. Just as they’d hired a small airplane to bring their women to Coopersville from the regional airport, they’d also hired a bus to bring them right into the community. And the bus would stop right here, in front of the community hall, which the men had spent several months turning into a comfortable women’s barracks.
There’d been several arguments about the redecoration. Maitho had wanted to paint everything pink, but they’d decided to leave the walls a creamy color. However, many of the bedspreads, blankets, sheets, and towels were pink in deference to Maitho’s arguments that the women needed to know their different tastes would not just be accepted, but welcomed. They’d also stocked the women’s bathroom with floral-scented toiletries. Kairu had to confess to opening the tops of some of the bottles and drawing the aroma deep into his lungs, eager for the day when he held Esther in his arms and she would smell as pretty as the shampoo did.
Finally he saw the bus turn down their driveway and come into the compound. Almost the entire community was waiting to greet the women. He hoped they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by seeing such a crowd, although maybe being met by everyone at once would be a good thing, demonstrating how welcome they were.
Kairu had to force himself to stand still and wait patiently. He wanted to run to the bus and grab his woman in his arms. But of course, that would violate her right to choose. And that was his deepest fear. That she wouldn’t choose him and Xola. He couldn’t even bear to think of what he’d do if she preferred another pair of men to them. He had to believe she would be as drawn to them as they were to her.
At first he’d been a little jealous of Xola and Gowan being assigned the task of meeting the women. They would see and talk to them, and hear their reactions to being told where they were going. But then he realized there was a definite downside. They couldn’t give even the tiniest hint of which one they preferred. All the new arrivals had to be treated perfectly equally because all were desperately wanted and needed.
Kairu looked around the crowd and wondered which men had already chosen their woman. What would happen if several men wanted the same one? They had all been told that the woman’s decision was absolutely final. But of course, the men could choose to try to woo her away from one pairing of men to themselves. No, other men wanting his Esther he could deal with. But if Esther didn’t want him and Xola, they had a real problem. She had to want them. She had to feel the connection he was so certain of. It was so real to him it must be mutual.
The bus pulled up outside the community center and the crowd moved forward, werewolves on both side of the bus, staring at the women through the windows. The driver jumped off, opening the doors and unlocking the luggage bay. Immediately men helped haul the luggage out of the compartment, setting it in a neat line on the sidewalk. Kairu made no attempt to help. There were plenty of married men who could deal with the luggage. He had to see his woman. He knew he’d recognize her instantly. But what would she think of the community? What would she think of him?
The first women stepped off the bus. Kairu was holding his breath and had to force himself to breathe properly. He knew their names and recognized each one as she set foot on werewolf soil. Siyandra, Dera, Tanisha, Mailiki, Nala, Shakina, Keisha, Qwera, and Esther. Nine women who held the future of the pack in their hands. Nine women to be loved and cherished. And twenty-four men desperate for a mate. Oh, shit! What if she didn’t choose him and Xola?
* * * *
Esther had stared out the bus window all the way to Cooper’s Farm. The land around here looked rich and fertile. This was no dust-bowl, impoverished community. The yards of the houses they passed were filled with lawns and gardens. There were basketball hoops on garage walls, and children’s bicycles and scooters in the driveways. This was vastly different from the suburbs near where she’d last lived, where the usual lawn ornaments were a crop of straggly weeds and a rusted-out truck. But then, any community prepared to bring in a dozen women by airplane had to have some money available.
However, this wasn’t just about money. It was about creating a genuine future for herself, something that was completely impossible where she’d been living. She’d always thought she’d get married one day and the idea of two men intrigued her. Two wolves was another step into the unknown, but they looked and acted just like men, and they’d approached the problem of getting wives for themselves in the kind of serious, logical way she might have done herself if she’d been in their position.
The women filed off the bus and Esther joined them. In front of them was a large rectangular building of white clapboard with a blue tiled roof. Men were carrying the luggage in there so she assumed it was the community hall where they’d be staying until they got married. Across the open area directly opposite was a general store, and beside it was what appeared to be an office building. Farther away were houses, most with lawns and gardens.
The women
stood in a semicircle in front of the bus, and an older man with salt-and-pepper hair held up his arms in the air. This must be the mayor or whatever they called him, she supposed. “My name is Roderick Cooper, but everyone just calls me Cooper. It’s my pleasure to welcome you all here today.”
Everyone clapped and cheered and Esther couldn’t help smiling. It was exciting to be wanted like this.
“We’ve planned a barbecue for tonight at 7 p.m. That will give you the opportunity not just to eat, but to meet everyone in a relaxed, informal way. We’ve waited with much anticipation for this day when you’ve finally joined us. All our people are ready to ensure you settle in and get to know us and your way around the community.”
The crowd clapped and cheered some more and once again Esther was filled with the warm feeling of being wanted and needed. She followed the other women over to the community hall and they chose their beds. The door opened into what would be their living area. There were armchairs, couches, side tables, a television, and a bookshelf crammed with reading material. Next, behind a curtain, was the sleeping area with six beds on each side of the room. The beds were separated by closets, chests of drawers, and more side tables, giving each one a little bit of privacy. Finally there were two bathrooms. One had evidently been the male restroom, but was now the shower room, and the original ladies’ room was unaltered. As a home, it was by no means luxurious, but it was no barracks either. Care had been taken to give each woman her own little space.
Esther didn’t mind which bed she took, so let other women race up and down, discussing which color bedding they wanted and how near—or far—they wanted to be from the living room and from the bathroom. Esther could see advantages and disadvantages to every position, but any bed was fine as far as she was concerned. She ended up on one in the middle of the row with pink bedding. There were more pink beds than blue, lemon, or green, but really, a bed was a bed. For a moment Esther wondered if she was totally unromantic. She was here for a semiarranged marriage, and wasn’t running up and down the room like a couple of the women were. But she was excited. She was very much interested in seeing all the men and finding out who was paired with whom. If they were all as handsome and polite as the men on the airplane, choosing might be quite difficult. She’d liked Gowan, although Xola had interested her more. But who knew which other men might catch her eye tonight. She took her turn in the showers and changed into clean jeans and a shirt. She noticed some of the women were wearing dresses or skirts, but others were in jeans, which was good. She had a couple of tidy dresses, but wanted to save them in case she needed to go into town for any reason.
Finally, promptly at seven she left the living room to head outside with some of the other women. Some were still in the bathroom doing their hair and makeup, but Esther had left her shoulder-length brown hair hanging loose. It’d been tied up in a ponytail to travel, and she preferred it out.
Already she could smell the mouth-watering aroma of meat cooking.
A tall man with red-brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes hurried to her side as soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk. “My name is Kairu. I know you’re Esther. May I escort you to the barbecue?”
“If I say yes, does that mean I’ve agreed to be your personal guest all evening?”
“I’d really like it if you did stay with me for the rest of the night, but all of you women are completely free to choose any of the twelve pairs of men at any time.”
“Thank you for explaining that. You may escort me for the moment.”
Kairu held out his arm as if he were leading her onto a dance floor, but Esther hid her grin and laid her arm on his to walk the short distance across the open area and around behind the building she’d mentally dubbed the office block. “What’s in that building?” she asked.
“That’s where all the work of running Cooper’s Farm takes place. Cooper himself has an office and a secretary in there, and so do the people who schedule the farm work, and do all the maintenance of the farm and the buildings. This barn here houses all the communal trucks and farm machinery. Even though most of us are employed in Coopersville, this is still a working farm,” he explained.
“What crops do you grow?” Esther knew absolutely nothing about agriculture, but if this was to be her new life she was ready to learn.
“Cabbages and onions mainly. Nothing very exciting, I’m afraid. But they’re very good, steady crops which bring in a decent income to help us continue to hold our land here.”
“And are useful when you have a cookout,” Esther added, as they approached long tables holding bowls of coleslaw, potato salad, and corn on the cob.
Kairu drew in a deep breath. “Yes. Nothing smells better than steak and onions on the grill.”
He led her across to a group of chairs where a couple of other women sat. “What would you like to drink? Beer, soda, or water?”
Esther wanted to keep her head clear, so beer wasn’t an option. And she’d spent far too much of the past year with only water to drink. “Soda, please.”
“I’ll be right back,” he promised.
“They’re all so attentive,” said Keisha.
“It’s wonderful to meet men with good manners. And did you see the body on Gowan? Yum, yum,” added Dera.
As long as they stay courteous once we get to know them a bit.
Chapter Two
Kairu stared at all the different flavored sodas and realized he’d forgotten to ask a vital question. Which flavors Esther liked. Going back and asking her would make him look stupid and possibly embarrass her, too, for not explaining to him. Kairu stared at the row of bottles, then picked up a tray of empty glasses. He filled each one of the glasses with a different soda—cola, lemon, orange, raspberry, lime. He carried the tray back to Esther and offered it to her. “Which one would you like, Esther?”
She lifted her sparkling amber-green gaze to him, and grinned wickedly, before picking the glass of lime soda. “Thank you.”
Lime. She likes lime. “Would either of you ladies like a glass of soda?” He held the tray out to other two human women. Each took a drink, then he returned the tray to the drinks table, only remembering at the last minute to grab one for himself.
Kairu hurried back to Esther and found her still sipping her drink, with Xola at her side, and half a dozen other men surrounding the three women. Thank god Xola’s there.
He relaxed a little when he realized the conversation was very general, with some of the women asking about Cooper’s Farm and its history. He listened to the conversation, but kept his gaze fixed on Esther. As he and Xola had noticed in her video interview, her eyes changed color as she spoke. When she was pensive, they were more brown, and when she was laughing and happy, they were green or amber. He’d never known anyone whose eyes changed color so much. Everyone’s eye color became lighter or darker at times, but not like Esther’s did. It proved to him she was very special indeed. And his. Mine! Ours!
“Ladies, come and get your steaks!” a voice yelled from beside the grill.
Kairu wanted to stay by her side, but knew better than to try to steal an advantage over the other unmated men. So he smiled and watched as Esther took a plate, pointed to the meat she wanted, then was served grilled onions, corn, potato salad, and coleslaw as well.
The human women were directed to a row of lawn chairs and the werewolf women and children were served, then the seniors, and finally he could go collect a meal. There was a lot of food left for him to choose from. The wolves would never let anyone go hungry, but he wanted to be with Esther, learning all about her. Learning how to please her and bind her to him with the strong tie he’d felt the moment he saw her face.
He was pleased to see the werewolf women talking to the human women. He knew some of them, especially the stay-at-home moms, and the women who worked on the farm were as eager to spend time with the new arrivals as the bachelors were. He supposed it must have been hard for them growing up with so few other female wolves their own age to interact with.
Out in the world the wolves hid their differences and pretended to be human for their own safety’s sake. Here on the farm they could relax and be themselves. But whereas the men had plenty of companions with whom to run and play in wolf form, for the women, there wasn’t that much choice.
“Your idea of putting drinks on a tray and offering them to the women was a smart one. What say we make a tray of coffees and take them to the women?” Xola had appeared beside him without him realizing it.
“Good plan.” Kairu followed Xola across to the coffee table and they made a variety of drinks and took their trays over to the women. Xola held out his tray at one end of the group, so Kairu started at the other end. Most of the women were pleased with their suggestion and took a mug.
Finally he and Xola had a chance to talk to Esther. “What is your favorite thing to do?” he asked her, hoping she’d say something they could do with her.
“I used to think being able to lie in bed and sleep late was wonderful. But after being unemployed for so long that’s lost its thrill. I don’t really know anymore. Maybe just being surrounded by friends and loved ones, all relaxing together.”
“I hope that’s how you’ll come to think of times like this. I hope that soon being a part of Cooper’s Farm will bring you peace and happiness,” he replied.
