Were-Geeks Save Lake Wacka Wacka

by Kathy Lyons

  The moon.

  But it wasn’t the regular moon. There was a second one. A fairy moon that seemed to illuminate the smoke in a mesmerizing white glow. And deep inside him, his werewolf howled in hunger.

  “Laddin?” Bruce asked, his voice heavy with worry.

  “I’m good,” Laddin lied. Except it wasn’t a lie, because he had it under control, right? It was just a moon. Or two moons. And though his werewolf itched to be free, Laddin was in control. “I’m fine,” he repeated.

  “Then let’s get it done,” Wiz said, his voice hard.

  “You’re getting the people out,” Bruce said, “while I distract the pixies.”

  “No,” Laddin said firmly. “We’re all getting the people out, and then we’re looking around for the demon. No negotiations, no interactions with the fairies. We don’t have anything to bargain with, and they’re busy anyway.”

  “They’re exploding firecrackers on top of people,” Bruce snapped. “People they’ve tied down with burning rope.”

  “What?” Stratos snapped. “Where? All I see is smoke.”

  Wiz squinted into the haze. “I can see it. Maybe. I don’t know.”

  Laddin was beginning to understand. “These are fairies at work. Bruce sees them the best because he’s a werewolf because he ate fairy fruit.”

  Wiz nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “Whatever,” Bruce said as he moved forward.

  Laddin rushed to keep pace with him while Stratos and Wiz followed. “No negotiating,” Laddin said firmly. “No promises, no engagement. Get in and get out.”

  “And find that demon,” Wiz ordered.

  “Yeah,” Bruce agreed. “In and out with the people. Find the demon. No problem.” It wasn’t going to be that easy, though. They all knew it, but that was the goal and maybe they’d get lucky. “And one more thing,” he muttered darkly. “Don’t worry. Be happy.”

  It came out as a command, but it was enough to make the others smile. Not Laddin, though. He was too busy fighting the call of two moons. It had been bad enough on the drive over, when he felt everything stronger. Love, lust, hunger, desire—all of it was ramped up. But now with two moons in the sky, he was desperate to tear through everything for the sheer joy of moving, of eating, and most especially of hunting. His nose twitched, and damn if he didn’t smell something yummy. He didn’t know what it was. There were too many humans, too much fairy smoke, but it would be interesting to taste.

  Bruce made it to the edge of the haze. Laddin did as well, putting his hand up to feel a kind of barrier tingling against his palm. It wasn’t strong enough to keep him out, but it was there.

  “Right through here,” he said to the others. Then he stepped through to what should have been a parking lot before the third checkpoint. What he saw instead was an open field filled with fairy lights and—

  Bang! Boom! Roar! Squeal! Noise!

  He’d heard the booms before, but they were nothing compared to what happened the moment he stepped into the smoke. Sound overcame him—a rolling wave of deafening nonsense all going off at once. He dropped to his knees and covered his ears. Wiz, too, collapsed in on himself the moment he crossed the threshold. The only one who remained unaffected was Stratos. She stood there, her eyes going back and forth as she shook her head.

  “I don’t see anything. It’s just gray to me. Wiz!”

  Wiz held up his hand to keep her back. Laddin was recovering too, thanks to Bruce’s hand holding him strong. But it was Wiz who slowly stood up.

  “We’re inside the barrier. I think it’s a fairy circle,” he shouted. “You can’t see anything?” he asked Stratos.

  “No!”

  He nodded as if that made sense. “You’re immune to fairies. They can’t hurt you, but then you can’t see them either.”

  “Then let me go get the wounded.” She pointed at the nearest body. “There’s a man there.” She squinted. “It’s hard to see. Like I’m in a fog. But—”

  “Go together!” Laddin said. He looked at Wiz. “She has to pull up the white ropes holding people down. They’ll burn you. If she’s immune to fairy magic, then she should do it.”

  “I’ll guide her,” Wiz said.

  “You go left. We’ll get the ones on the right,” Bruce said.

  Wiz and Stratos nodded and headed for the man stretched out on the ground. Bruce and Laddin, however, didn’t get more than three steps before Erin Rodger-Dodger appeared in front of them.

  “You have come, Windy Wolf! Take us to Fairyland now!”

  “Fairyland! Fairyland! Fairyland!” Hundreds of dancing lights erupted into cheers. It was deafening. It was annoying. And it pissed off the wolf inside Laddin.

  Meanwhile, Bruce straightened up to look at the pixie in confusion. “Isn’t this Fairyland?”

  She fell backward, as if she’d been tackled. But her words came through clearly enough.

  “This is Earth Fairyland. Not Fairy Fairyland.”

  Oh hell. This was why they never negotiated with fairies—because their entire world made no sense at all. Bruce echoed the sentiment as he threw up his hands in disgust.

  “I don’t know the difference,” he growled.

  The entire field stilled. The chaotic fairy party went dead silent to stare at them. Which, as it turned out, was a good thing, because there was no interference as Wiz and Stratos carried two people out of the haze.

  Erin Rodger-Dodger got to her feet. She dropped her hands to her knees and glared at them as if they were the enemy. Dozens of tiny glowing fairies hovered behind her. Oh shit, they were going to rush them.

  “Wait!” Bruce called. “I want to help. Just explain. I thought you wanted to come here.”

  “We made this place! Why would we want to come where we already are?”

  Good point.

  “Um… how? How did you make this place?”

  She rolled her eyes. “From your thoughts.” When Bruce stared at her, she pointed at Laddin. “Think of something.”

  Laddin didn’t have the wherewithal to think of anything specific. He was still battling the damned moon shining down on him, making him insane.

  “He does not have enough power. Help him!” she ordered as she pointed at Bruce.

  Bruce frowned. “How?”

  “Give him your power!”

  And finally Laddin understood. “You’re a battery, right? What if you can give your power—your energy—to me?”

  Bruce blew out a breath but nodded. “Okay. But how?”

  Might as well take a stab in the dark. “Hold hands?”

  “And then imagine my current going into you,” Bruce finished, already grabbing hold of him. “Ready?”

  “Yes.” Okay, that was a total lie. His wolf was straining and coiling inside him. His thoughts were on the moon above, not the fairies around them. He had to focus, but there wasn’t time as Bruce grabbed his hand.

  It started out as a warm trickle of energy moving from palm to palm as they gripped hands. It was actually soothing, and Laddin started to relax. But the moment he did, the trickle became a flood. Power burst through his mind, scattering any illusion of control. His wolf surged forward, and before he could stop it, the wolf took all that power and gave it one single focus.

  The moon.

  “Yes!” Rodger-Dodger cried. She held up her hands as if to catch his thoughts, as did the fairies around her. They leaped up and grabbed something out of the air. It was pale white, and it glowed with an eerie beauty.

  Moonlight.

  And then all those fairies rushed together, holding their creamy white glow aloft. They leaped, they danced, and they threw the light together bit by bit. The tiny thing grew and grew until right there in the center of the fairy field was a huge, bright, beautiful moon.

  The light of three moons now converged on Laddin. The one from Earth normal, the one from Earth Fairyland, and now this third one. Right there in front of him, so close he could touch it.

  The transition from man to wolf was
seamless. One second he was a man; the next he was a wolf who gloried in the incandescent light right before him. The moon!

  He touched it. He leaped upon it. He howled out the wonder of it and reveled in the madness. And then everything else was forgotten.

  Chapter 22

  PUPPY PILE!

  BRUCE WATCHED in fascination as the fairies gathered what appeared to be tiny ripples in the air. They caught it in their hands like children grabbing sand, and as the ripples spilled out between their fingertips, they reformed as light. Moonlight, he realized. But that was secondary to the beauty of what he was seeing.

  Until Laddin started to howl.

  It took him a moment to realize that Laddin had wolfed out, abandoning everything to leap onto the glowing orb the fairies were still building. Bruce stared, confused by what was happening until he heard Wiz scream at him.

  “Stop making a moon! We’re werewolves!”

  He watched in dismay as Wiz, too, tore off his clothes in a movie-worthy display before transforming midleap into a wolf.

  “Wiz!” Stratos screamed, true fear in her voice.

  Bruce couldn’t stop it. He’d given the power to Laddin, who had built the thought. He should have taken the time to think it through. He should have realized that the moon was on Laddin’s mind. And now….

  He watched in dismay as Wiz jumped onto the still-growing moon. The two wolves growled at each other, showing their teeth and bristling from nose to tail. Oh hell, they couldn’t fight each other, they were allies! Except obviously they could.

  Then another howl cut through the air.

  Stratos. Already wolfed out, she looked a bit silly in a sports bra and boxers. She leaped up onto the moon as well, adding her fury to the already explosive standoff between Laddin and Wiz.

  Then Bruce felt it too. He wasn’t sure why it took so long to drop into his brain. Maybe because his vision was filled with all the other stuff. But as the fairies put all their energies into creating a moon, the other things around them faded away. There were no more fireworks, no more chaos. Even the rope restraints on the people on the ground disappeared as the moonlight grew stronger and brighter. To Bruce’s relief, the people slowly got to their feet and each headed out of the fairy circle.

  The people were safe. Now he just had to find the demon.

  But he couldn’t focus. His entire vision was filled with that silvery glow. It called to him. He felt the pulse of the light. It sped up his blood and made his mouth pull back into a wolfish grin. Fur sprouted on his skin. He was shifting, and no matter how much he resisted, the pull of that moon was too strong. For others as well, because he heard howls, distant but coming closer.

  The wolves on the moon heard it too, and they turned, bristling and sniffing as they prepared to leap. He couldn’t lose them. He couldn’t lose Laddin!

  He stopped fighting the change. He wasn’t going to win against it anyway, and at least as a wolf, he could run with Laddin. He didn’t care about the others. He needed to stay with his mate.

  His human mind twitched at that last word. A discordant clang that was quickly lost amid the pull of the moon. He dove into the change and emerged a full wolf. This time, when a howl sounded, he joined in. He didn’t know that wolves had language, but in this form, he understood.

  I’m here! I’m coming!

  The others leaped off the moon and bolted hard for the distant howls. He joined in, using all his strength to catch up. It was wonderful, this power in his legs and the way the air flowed through his fur. He leaped over rocks, pivoted past dead brush, and when he took a misstep, he rolled and tumbled, head over tail, until he righted himself with a quick scramble.

  He never stopped moving, and after one last furious burst of speed, he caught up to Laddin, almost tackling him. He was coming in from the side, and Laddin was tearing ahead. Or maybe not so far ahead, because when Bruce thought he was about to surprise his mate, Laddin turned and leaped. He caught Bruce around the haunches, and together they rolled in a joyous scramble of yips and licks.

  Hello! Hello! I’m so happy!

  Me too!

  The sounds were all around them as bodies tumbled about in greeting. There was so much to smell, so much to learn.

  Hello! Who are you? I’m friendly!

  Then he caught another scent, another taste on his tongue.

  Brother. Josh.

  Only Josh wasn’t returning the greeting. Not really. He was prancing slightly but not wagging his tail. His nose twitched, and when Bruce yipped in greeting, Josh didn’t return it.

  One by one, the other wolves caught the tension. They quieted and pulled back. And though everyone was breathing hard, they made no sound as they fell into line behind Josh.

  These were Josh’s friends. Josh’s pack. And Bruce wasn’t part of them.

  Laddin was the only one who spoke. He stood like the third point of a triangle as he yipped twice, first at Josh then at Bruce.

  What’s up? he asked. What’s wrong?

  Bruce let his head dip. He wasn’t part of their pack. He was the outsider to everyone but Laddin, and his own brother was the one holding the rest back. As a man, Bruce would have said something cutting to hide the pain. But as a wolf, he simply dropped on the ground and put his head on his paws in misery. He wasn’t going to fight his brother. Despite the moonlight flooding his body with energy, he was tired of trying to belong. More than anything, he was sick of fighting with his brother.

  So he didn’t.

  Laddin came forward and whined as he pressed his nose against Bruce’s neck. Then he looked up at Josh and growled. That startled Bruce enough that he looked up in surprise. Laddin was fighting for him? Laddin was growling at Josh as if… as if….

  As if Laddin was claiming Bruce no matter what the hell Josh thought. And the joy of that had him rolling to his side to lick Laddin. Wolfish licks conveyed so much, especially as Laddin returned the gesture. Affection. Love. Pack.

  But then a sharp bark from Nero had them looking up.

  Someone was coming. It was another wolf, walking with the slow precision of someone very old or very grand. Bruce barely gave him a second look because Josh was stepping forward. His nose was twitching and his tail was up.

  Laddin let out a low yip. What are you doing?

  Josh didn’t respond beyond a quick flick of his ear. He came forward, his mouth open and his teeth very bright.

  The wolf in Bruce wanted to back away. This was dangerous. Josh wasn’t indicating friend or foe but just kept creeping forward. But the man inside Bruce’s wolf kept his body still. He would not run from Josh. If Josh wanted to take his revenge now, then so be it.

  But he wasn’t going to be crawling on the ground either. He got up onto all fours, but he didn’t run away. Still, he kept his head slightly lowered because he would not fight his brother.

  Josh opened his mouth right in front of Bruce’s face. All around them, the wolves were still. Bruce knew that Laddin was twitching in concern, but all he could see were Josh’s very sharp teeth.

  And then suddenly Josh’s mouth narrowed… and he blew hard, straight into Bruce’s nostrils.

  Ew!

  Hot, wet air went straight up his nose. Bruce flinched back, snorting and rubbing his nose in the dirt. That was gross!

  All around him, the wolves yipped in laughter. Bruce felt himself bristle. They thought this was funny—

  Then Josh tackled him—full wolf, full body—catching Bruce by surprise. He felt Josh’s teeth on his neck, felt the scramble of claws at his belly, and he twisted to get away. He couldn’t. Josh was big and fast, and Bruce didn’t have the leverage.

  He also wasn’t getting hurt.

  It took a moment for that realization to hit him. Josh wasn’t coming in for the kill. He was playing with him. Every time Bruce tried to regain his footing, Josh was there, knocking him down, rolling around with him, and….

  Licking him.

  Hello, you big goober! Hello!

  Bru
ce’s human mind was still trying to make sense of what was happening, but his wolf mind knew just what to do. He yipped and wrestled, then yipped some more while more wolves, more bodies, joined the pile.

  Hello! Welcome to the pack! Hello!

  He greeted them all, and one by one, he put names to the scents. Nero, Wiz, Stratos. Bing, Yordan, and then Wulfric. That slow wolf, the one who joined them eventually—he was Wulfric, and he was as spry and happy as the rest of them.

  Throughout it all, Bruce smelled Laddin. He kept track of Laddin. And he knew Laddin was the one at his side, the one who yipped the happiest, and the one who was, for Bruce, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, always in this pack.

  His pack.

  He had a pack now, and the joy of that filled him to bursting.

  He howled with delight, and every single one of the wolves answered.

  Hello!

  Welcome!

  Pack.

  HE WOKE to the sound of a human female singing. It was a strange music—earthy and wild—and it called equally to wolf and man. There were words, but he didn’t understand them. And yet just as he knew the meaning between a yip and yowl, he knew what was being said.

  Wake up! Come greet me!

  He did, coming awake in his human body, responding with words while others all around him murmured their greetings as well. Some came in the form of words, others in barks.

  “Morning,” he said, his voice thick.

  Laddin said the same, though in Spanish, right next to his ear, because he and Laddin were entwined. The furry body on which they lay barked, and the two others at their feet—one human, one lupine—responded as well.

  Bruce blinked the sleep out of his eyes to see the pack in a huge pile together. Not merely the eight he had names for, but more. The big wolf with the raspy yip, the white wolf who never said a word. The one who smelled of pepper, and the other whose fur curled like a poodle’s and yet smelled like a grizzly bear. He knew them all by scent, even in their human form. And he was amazed at the size of the pack. There were twenty-two of them, plus the woman who walked daintily among them, teasing some with her toes and petting others regardless of whether they were wolf or human.