“What was that guy talking about?” Alex whispered to Joel. “What’s the K-9 plague?”
Joel looked at her in shock. “You don’t know about the K-9 plague?” Alex shook her head. “I figured you would have learned about it in school.”
“I didn’t go to school remember. We were all homeschooled by Hera’s mom, Shirley, and she never talked about the weares. Never.”
“The K-9 plague was a horrible virus that infected thousands of female weares across the country a while back. They found ways to combat it, but still haven’t discovered a cure. I think they still lose a lot of their females to it.”
“And that’s why they started taking human women?” Alex said. “That’s why our numbers started dwindling?”
“Exactly,” said Joel. “And we’ve both been struggling to get our female populations back on the rise ever since.”
Alex opened her mouth to ask a follow up question, but her train of thought was derailed by the sudden commotion on stage. Sheriff Brown was out of his chair, pointing an angry finger at the weare council, and yelling like a madman. “Are you suggesting that I have not been doing my job, councilman? You have some nerve accusing my men of not conducting thorough investigations into these missing persons cases.”
“Sheriff, I assure you, that was not what I was implying.” The councilman remained calm and in his seat. “I was simply stating a fact. According to numbers I obtained from making a call to your department, 100% of all the missing human cases from the past five years have been deemed, and I quote, ‘most likely animal attacks’. Are you telling me that in five years, not a single kidnapping, abduction, or murder was committed by another human?”
“We had concrete evidence for every one of those cases, pointing the finger at your kind.”
“Ah yes.” The councilmen opened up the bright red file he’d brought with him. “The concrete evidence against my people. Let’s see here. In one case, the only thing listed under evidence was a small bloodstain, roughly the size of a watch head, found on the victim’s pillow. In another case, there was no physical evidence at all whatsoever. Your officers ruled it an animal attack simply because the victim’s wife claimed she’d heard what sounded like a howl coming from the woods the week before the abduction took place. Tell me about those cases, Sherriff.”
“Without having the original case files in front of me,” said Sheriff Brown, “I am not at liberty to discuss––”
“What about Hera Wendell?” Alex nearly dropped her plate. The sheriff looked just as shocked as she was.
“What do you know about Hera Wendell?” the sheriff said, sounding for the first time since the meeting started, deeply nervous.
“I know that she was not abducted.” There were a few murmurs in the crowd, but the councilman continued. “I know that she, in fact, ran away from home deliberately.” The sheriff stuttered and tried to respond, but was cut off. “She left a note, too. Which explained everything. It explained how she had fallen in love with a weare, but that she knew her family would never understand. She knew they would try to hunt him down if they ever figured out who he was. That’s why she stole away in the middle of the night and sought refuge here. In our territory. What ever happened to that note, Sheriff? Why didn’t her parents ever receive it? Why didn’t the good people of Swan City ever hear about it?”
The murmurs in the crowd grew into full on arguments as the tension in the room seeped into the attendees like steam into open pores. Some people yelled at the sheriff, demanding answers. Some started fights and got out of their seats. Alex remained in stunned silenced.
“You have no proof!” the sheriff screamed over the noise.
“You’re right, Sheriff. I have no way of knowing the truth of what happened that night. But I know someone who does.” The councilman stood up and waved to someone offstage. A tall, olive-skinned woman with freckles and hazel eyes slowly walked across the stage. “I would like to introduce you all to Hera Wendell.”
The Brothers Armstrong
She was taller, more muscular than Alex remembered, but it was definitely Hera. It took a long time to get the crowd to settle down after she arrived on stage. She didn’t speak for long, just told her story, thanked everyone for listening, and then was gone.
After that, the meeting descended into chaos. Most of the humans left, calling the whole thing a dramatic spectacle and claiming wolves had hired an actress to play Hera. About half of the weares stayed behind to talk to the remaining dozen or so humans and potentially get some face time with the council.
Alex had left Joel at the snack table and frantically searched for Hera as the people started to exit the great hall, but her friend must’ve slipped out the back door and into the night. Disappointed and heartbroken, she went back inside.
Joel was talking and laughing with a young, attractive weare. The council members were huddled together in a group, speaking in hushed tones. Alex scanned the room, looking for any sign of where the bathrooms might be, and her gaze landed on a familiar face.
Charlie smiled and waved her over, where he and two other handsome young wolves were sitting.
“Hey, you made it!” said Charlie as Alex took one of the empty seats next to them.
“This is that girl I was telling you about,” he said to the other men. “The one I practically tackled in front of the library.”
“It’s nice to meet you, library girl,” said the dark haired one.
“My name’s Alex,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward and flushed.
“It’s nice to meet you Alex. My name is Xavier.”
“And I’m Theodore, but just call me Teddy,” said the shorter, but stronger looking one.
“They are my older brothers,” said Charlie.
“Ah, okay.” Alex started to see the resemblance. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, which she filled by asking them how the felt the gathering went.
“Honestly,” said Xavier. “It went better than I expected.”
Teddy laughed. “Agreed. I mean, no one even got bit! It’s a miracle!”
“Dad’s not going to be too pleased though,” said Charlie.
“Oh, your dad is here too?” said Alex.
“Yeah, he’s right over there.”
Her eyes followed Charlie’s gesture all the way across the room, where the head of the Swan City Werewolf Council was saying goodbye to the other members.
Alex’s demeanor had shifted entirely after she realized these three were Bartholomew’s sons. She’d been raised in one of the poorest Swan City neighborhoods, and had rarely interacted with anyone outside of the Secret Sister’s club and their families. These men – these weares – were probably the most powerful individuals she’d ever had a conversation with. Alex was suddenly made aware of how shabby her clothes looked and cursed herself for not taking a shower that day. She tried to sit up as straight as possible in her chair, and ran her hands through her messy hair once or twice, but none of these fidgets did much to calm her nerves.
It didn’t help that Charlie kept glancing over at her with his penetrating green eyes and smiling like a goof. He liked her, she could tell.
The other brothers were cordial and they seemed to appreciate that she was willing to stick around and talk to them. Joel joined the four of them a short while later.
“You almost ready to go?” He eyed the three weares with a bit of suspicion.
“Joel, this is Charlie, Teddy, and Xavier.” Alex pointed to each one as she said their names. “They are the sons of the head of the council.”
“Oh, wow.” Joel wrung his hands and laughed awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you all. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’m Joel, Alex’s dad.” Xavier’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead and Joel quickly added. “Not her real dad. I’m married to her mom, but Alex isn’t my biological kid. Obviously.”
“Actually, before you guys take off.” Charlie stood up. “I would love to introduce Alex to our father. Considering.” He scanned the
nearly empty great hall. “She appears to be the only human woman who actually stayed. I’m sure dad would be very eager to talk to you.”
“Oh, well.” Alex stood up and started pulling on her shirt as if that would magically make the men’s XL tee fit her better. “I’m not exactly dressed to meet the head of the council. Plus, we should really be heading home soon. My mom is probably worried sick.”
“I understand,” said Charlie. “It’s just...”
Teddy stood as well and put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Charlie, don’t push it. Our honored guests would like to leave, and contrary to what some humans might think about us, we are not interested in keeping anyone against their will.”
Joel nodded and stuck a friendly hand out in Charlie’s direction. “It was great meeting you. Hopefully you guys can put on another event like this soon.”
They shook hands. The other two Armstrong brothers nodded to Joel politely, said kind goodbyes to Alex, and walked away. Charlie lingered, shuffling his weight from one foot to the other. Alex, picking up the weare’s energy, shot Joel a look.
“Well, er, um,” Joel stuttered. “I’ll just, go wait outside then.” He seemed hesitant to leave Alex, but did so anyway.
“I really should get going,” she said once Joel was out of earshot. “My mom barely agreed to let me come tonight. If we’re not home when we said we’d be, she’ll totally lose it.”
“She doesn’t trust us?” Charlie finally brought his gaze up from the ground. “Weares, I mean.”
“She doesn’t trust anyone.”
“That’s wise.”
“It was nice seeing you again. Joel was right; you guys should try to put on another one of these events. Maybe if you got different snacks, or had different human representatives, it would be less of a...”
“Disaster?”
Alex laughed. “I was going to say less of a debate and more of a conversation.”
“That was what we were going for.” Charlie sighed. “My dad has been planning this for months. He really thought he could make a difference.”
“He did!” said Alex. “I’ll bet he changed a lot of minds tonight. Besides, the fact that any humans willingly crossed the border into weare-territory, unarmed, and entered a room full of you guys without exactly knowing why is amazing. This.” Alex motioned around the room. “It’s progress.”
Charlie’s eyebrows lifted and his face appeared to soften. “My dad will be happy to hear you think so. I really wish you could meet him. I know he’d like you.”
Alex glanced at the door nervously. “I’m sorry, but my family is waiting. Next time?”
“There will be a next time?”
“Sure.” Alex paused and again went to fix her hair. “If you want there to be.”
“I do. I really do.”
“Okay, well, uh, here.” She spotted a pen and clipboard sitting on the table nearby. She grabbed them both. The page attached to the clipboard was a blank signup sheet for the Weare Council newsletter. “I will put my information down on here, and you can call me, you know, when there is a new newsletter, and then we can arrange to meet up so you can give it me.”
Charlie nodded, playing along. “Right. Okay. And since my dad puts out the newsletter himself, it would probably just make the most sense that you come over to our house.”
The idea of going over to the Armstrong house filled Alex with a fluttery apprehension. Her mother’s voice echoed in her head, “Don’t go anywhere with a man you don’t know. Ever.” She’d followed that advice her whole life, and never once felt the desire to go against it. But now, staring into Charlie’s forest eyes, his mouth in a half smirk, Alex worried that she would go just about anywhere he asked her to.
“I should head out.” Alex handed the clipboard to Charlie.
“Of course.” Charlie glanced down at the piece of paper and smiled. “I’ll call you. Soon.”
“Sounds good. Bye, Charlie.”
“Goodbye, Alex.”
Phone Tag
Charlie called the next day. Alex was working at the time, so it was Uma who answered. Their conversation, Alex later found out, did not go well.
“What did you say to him?” Alex asked her mother at dinner that night, after Uma had revealed she’d spoken to Charlie earlier in the day. “What did he say to you?”
“Now wait just a damn second,” said Uma. “I’m the one asking the questions. You didn’t tell me anything about giving your number to a weare last night! I can’t believe Joel let you––”
“He wasn’t there, he was waiting for me outside.”
“He left you alone!” Uma dropped her fork onto her plate. It made a loud, clattering sound, which served to underline just how angry she was.
Clark, who was sitting next to her, put his hand out and covered hers. “Sweetie, let’s just give Alex a chance to explain.”
“Mom, you weren’t there. You don’t understand how kind the weares were. And Charlie––”
“Charlie?” said Uma.
“The one who called,” Alex clarified. “He’s the same guy who gave me the flyer in the first place. He’s very nice, and his dad is the head of the weare council –– he’s the one who set up the gathering. He wants there to be peace between all Swan City residents. He’s trying to bring us together.”
“And I suppose he’s going to start by bringing you together with his sweet-talking son!”
“Sweet talking?”
“If the head of the council thinks I’m just going to marry you off to his son.” Uma let out a manic chuckle. “Then that Bartholomew clown has another thing coming!”
“You’re being ridiculous! He does not want to marry me off to his sons.”
“There’s more than one?” Uma took her hand out from under Clark’s and brought it to her forehead, massaging her temples. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you go. What was I thinking! Of course they were going to try to solicit you, a pretty healthy thing like you.”
“Mom, stop!” Alex slammed a fist down on the table. “Just stop it. Do you even realize how insane you sound, not to mention bigoted? These people invited us in good faith, so that they could make an attempt to find common ground with us. I’m glad I went, and I’m glad I made friends with Charlie. I am an adult and I can make my own decisions. If you can’t handle that, then maybe it’s time I move out.”
The words came out of Alex’s mouth before she could even process them. She didn’t mean to threaten her mother with something like this, but once she said it, there was no taking it back. She excused herself from the table and went to her room.
It was easy enough to figure out Charlie’s number. Barely anyone ever called the landline, so there were only two numbers listed on the recent calls list. Alex called the one with the Weare-territory zip code. It rang two, three, and on the fourth ring Alex hung up. What was she going to say exactly? Hi, Charlie. Sorry my mom freaked out on the phone earlier, it’s just that she hates you and your kind.
No, that won’t work.
Alex paced her room, trying to come up with the perfect apology, when the phone rang. In a panic, she let it ring for quite a while, then realizing her mother might pick up from downstairs, Alex quickly pushed the green button.
“Hello?”
“Uh, hi, Alex?” It was Charlie.
“Yeah, hey.”
“Oh, thank god it’s you.” Charlie let out a big breath. “Did you just try to call me by chance?”
“I, umm, no. That wasn’t me.” Why am I lying! He has caller ID, idiot! “I mean, yes. I did. Er––”
“I’m glad you did. I was thinking about calling you, again, but...” Charlie paused. “I was sort of afraid your mom might answer. Did she tell you I called earlier?”
“She did.”
“Right. Sorry. It seems I may have gotten you into some trouble.”
Alex shook her head, forgetting he couldn’t see her. “No, that’s okay. It’s not your fault. She’s just overprotective.”
>
“I get that. My dad would kill me if he knew I was calling a human girl right now.”
“Really? But I thought he was all about human-weare communication.”
“Well sure, but not like this. It’s really dangerous for me to be calling you. Your police monitor any call made from weare-territory to someone in the human neighborhoods. If something were to happen to you, or to your family, these call logs will lead the investigators right to me.”
Alex frowned. “What exactly would happen to me?”
“No, I didn’t mean... That sounded bad. Damn, see this is exactly why my dad has a rule about this. When you’re one of us, you have to be so careful what you do and say around humans. Everything can be taken out of context and used against you, especially when people fear you to begin with. Like your mom.”
“She didn’t used to be like this.” Alex laid on her bed and stared at her ceiling. “But I think seeing all these young girls she knew, that I grew up with, get abducted or taken advantage of, has really hardened her. She’s just so scared for me, and probably for herself a little bit too.”
“But you heard my dad. A lot of those abductions are done by humans! And what about that woman Hera? She wasn’t abducted at all. She came willingly.”
A lump formed in Alex’s throat. She hadn’t told her mom about Hera, and she’d made Joel swear not to say anything either. Not until Alex could figure out the best way to tell her.
“Did I say the wrong thing again?” Charlie asked, interrupting Alex’s mini mental spiral. “I didn’t mean to suggest that us weares are never at fault––”
“No, it isn’t that,” said Alex. “It’s just that I used to know Hera. She was my best friend, before.”
“Oh.”
“We all thought she was dead. She just disappeared one night, and the police told us it was a wolf. We had no reason to think they were lying.”
The BabyMakers’ Shared Property Page 4
