Code of the Wolf

by Susan Krinard

  After so many other shocks, Serenity found this one remarkably easy to accept. It all made sense. Jacob had admitted at the beginning that he knew of the Reniers. But there had been an odd note in his voice then, a heaviness that had suggested he was hiding something important. And he’d said werewolves sometimes killed each other.

  But there was more to this than a feud between families. The Reniers could have come after her and Jacob because they’d found out Jacob was hunting them, and this feud Zora spoke of would give them even more reason to want to hurt him. But what if it was personal? What if Jacob had harbored his own reasons for wanting the Reniers, and her own quest had only made it easier for him to go after them?

  What if the same men who had attacked Tolerance seven years ago had also killed Jacob’s wife? What if they’d always intended to kill him, too?

  She brushed the painful question aside. Jacob’s motives, and his decision to keep them hidden from her, didn’t matter now. She couldn’t say anything to make the situation better. But she could act to save the people she loved.

  “What did they do when you didn’t answer their questions?” Serenity asked, deathly afraid of the answer.

  “They threatened us. Then my father and Virgil asked if Grace and I could leave if they remained. Their leader was going to refuse, but Virgil said he could lure Jacob Constantine to Tolerance without trouble.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “We tried to reason with Virgil, but the leader had already agreed. He said he would keep us in the house until Virgil brought Jacob to a place where his men could catch him. Before he left, Virgil was able to tell me and my father that he would see that you were safe.”

  So Virgil had betrayed both her and Jacob, seeing that betrayal as a chance to protect his own people.

  And if he could hurt Jacob at the same time…

  “That’s why he locked me up in the shed to keep me safe?” Serenity asked. “Did he know if I’d realized what was happening, I would have tried to stop it?”

  “Thee could not have saved us even had thee tried, nor can Jacob. It is not right that he should have been asked to try. We do not sacrifice others for our own safety.”

  But Virgil had been willing to sacrifice Jacob. And now, if Jacob was still alive—and Serenity refused to believe otherwise—it was still one man against six, unless one or more of the outlaws had been killed or injured in the fight.

  Jacob might be badly injured himself.

  “What about the fire?” Serenity asked, trying to think.

  “The outlaws told Virgil to set it after he brought you back. I do not know why.”

  Serenity did. The smell of smoke would have made it impossible for Jacob to detect strangers in the settlement. God knew what Virgil had said to lure him in. She had an idea it might have had something to do with her.

  “Did these men know my name, or who else rode with us?” she asked.

  “They did not mention it.” Elizabeth frowned. “Why would thee be of interest to them if their grudge was with Jacob?”

  Serenity ignored the question and wondered how the outlaws had known where to go in the first place. Had someone in Bethel told them of “Jack” and “Sally’s” pursuit?

  If they saw her again, would they remember the girl they’d once held captive, that pathetic creature broken in body and spirit?

  Serenity laughed grimly. She’d stolen a substantial portion of their loot when she’d escaped. That alone would give them cause to remember.

  Would they want her back to punish her for that theft? Want her badly enough to give her an advantage in doing whatever she had to do to help Jacob and the Friends?

  Zora, Caridad and Victoria wouldn’t hesitate to help her, but Serenity wasn’t about to underestimate her enemies. She knew them too well. This wasn’t like the incident with Leroy’s gang. A direct attack by four humans against God knew how many werewolves would be doomed to failure. The outlaws would know they were coming as soon as they approached the house.

  Unless they were sufficiently distracted.

  Serenity gulped in several shallow breaths. Her legs felt hollow, and her ribs seemed to be squeezing her heart so tightly that it could hardly beat at all. If she followed the plan that had just come into her head, she wouldn’t be facing the Reniers with gun in hand and Jacob at her side. She would be surrendering herself as surely as if she were willingly locking their collar around her neck.

  She glanced at Zora and the other two women who stood with her. “The men Elizabeth speaks of are the ones we’ve been hunting,” she said. “I can’t ask you to put yourselves in more danger because of Jacob and me. It would be better if you left now.”

  Victoria shook her head, and Caridad laughed.

  “Do you think we wish to miss the fun?” Cari asked.

  “We will not leave,” Zora said. “But Elizabeth and the children should be taken to a safe place.”

  Once again Serenity was reminded why she loved these women. “Elizabeth, is there somewhere you can go where no one will look for you?”

  “There is an abandoned cabin a mile west of here, away from the road,” Elizabeth said.

  “Victoria, will you take them there?” Serenity asked.

  Victoria nodded and ran into the trees, returning with three of their horses. “Two children can ride on each of these horses,” she said, indicating two of the geldings, “and I’ll ride with you and the littlest one, Elizabeth.”

  Victoria, Caridad and Zora helped the children up, reminding them to hold on tight, while Serenity took the toddler from Elizabeth. She held the child while Victoria mounted her own horse, sliding back on the animal’s croup and then, with Zora’s help, pulling Elizabeth into the saddle in front of her. Serenity handed the child up to Elizabeth and stood back.

  “I’ll return as soon as I can,” Victoria said, taking the reins of the children’s horses from Caridad. She urged her mount into a fast walk, picking a path heading west through the woods, well away from the road.

  “What now?” Caridad asked, lovingly stroking the polished black handles of her guns.

  Serenity turned to face her. “Will you follow Victoria a little way, just to be sure no one sees them?”

  Caridad nodded and trotted off the way Victoria and her charges had gone.

  Once she was out of sight, Zora said, “We should also leave this place before those men smell us.”

  “But that’s exactly what I want them to do,” Serenity said. “I want them to smell you and hear you, Zora. But not until we’re ready.”

  Serenity explained her plan. It wasn’t really a plan at all, just a desperate ploy that was more likely to fail than succeed. So much depended on the behavior of the Reniers and their greed, and her own ability to convince them that they would soon be facing enemies of their own.

  And she had to pray that Jacob was not too badly hurt to take advantage of any opportunity she could give him. He would fight if he could. She just had to do whatever she could to make that possible.

  Even though that meant delivering herself into the hands of her enemies all over again.

  JACOB THOUGHT he was dreaming.

  He opened his eyes, the lids swollen from repeated blows to his face, and struggled to clear his vision. He thought he smelled Serenity, felt her footsteps in the soles of his boots, heard her voice.

  But that couldn’t be. She wasn’t anywhere near Tolerance. Once Serenity had returned to the river, Zora would have given her some excuse for Jacob’s absence and led the others away immediately.

  Still the voice persisted, joined by others: Virgil’s and Lester’s raised in protest; laughter, crude and disbelieving. Jacob tried to smell the air, but his nose was too clogged with blood and mucus to detect any scent at all. Blurred human shapes began to appear in his line of sight: the Quakers, Renier’s men, Renier himself, his back to Jacob as he stared at someone on the other side of the room. Jacob blinked several times, praying that his eyes were playing tricks on him after the repeated beatings.

&
nbsp; But he couldn’t deny it. Serenity was standing there between Harl and Rayburn, chin raised, legs braced as if for battle. She was unarmed. There was almost no color in her face.

  Jacob tried again to rise, ready to spend the last of his strength to snap his bonds and go to her. But then Serenity met his eyes across the room and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

  Had she refused to believe Zora’s necessary lies? Had she escaped and come looking for him after he hadn’t returned? She would never have come to Tolerance if she’d known the Renier gang was here. She had suffered too much at these men’s hands. And Zora would never have let her. Still, she was here, and she must know now whom she faced. Maybe the Reniers hadn’t recognized her. She couldn’t look anything like the sheltered Quaker girl they had tormented seven years ago.

  That was probably too much to hope for, but Serenity’s brief acknowledgment had been deliberate. She’d managed to keep her head and was clearly determined to stand up to her fear. She must have some kind of plan, though God knew what it was.

  Jacob knew that she was going to need his help, though—and soon. He had let Renier hit him because he’d figured any resistance on his part might endanger the Quakers, but he couldn’t sit by any longer. He focused on gathering his strength, pushing aside the pain of his cut and bruised flesh. If he could weaken the ropes, he could move that much faster when the time came.

  “…don’t remember me?” Serenity was asking as he focused on her again. “Do all your kind have such poor memories?”

  “Remember you?” Lafe Renier drawled, ambling toward her. “I think I’d remember a body like yours.” He licked his lips and grinned. “I don’t remember sending for any whores, but we’ll be happy to give you what you want. We might even pay you for it.”

  There were appreciative murmurs of agreement and several crude jokes.

  Jacob jerked on the ropes and reminded himself to work slowly. All attention was on Serenity now, but that might change at any time.

  “She is no whore!” Virgil said, moving closer to Serenity. “She is one of us.”

  Renier’s expression cleared. “So she’s the one,” he said. “A Quaker who shoots up saloons. Where’s your gun now, little lady?”

  “We have a bargain, Renier,” Virgil said, drawing on some hidden reserve of courage. “You have the man you were looking for.”

  “Bargain?” Renier said. “I don’t remember no bargain about this bitch. She was ridin’ with Constantine.”

  Virgil clenched his fists. “You would rather torment a woman than face a man in a fair fight?”

  For the first time Renier showed some emotion other than smug satisfaction. “You?” he asked incredulously. “You challengin’ me, Quaker?”

  “I’m the one challenging you,” Serenity said.

  Renier’s gaze snapped back to her. He looked her up and down, and the mocking smile returned. Jacob knew the exact moment when Renier recognized her.

  “As I remember,” the outlaw said, “you was never much of a challenge. But I can see you’ve changed.” He walked around Serenity, examining her from every angle. “You Constantine’s whore now, bitch?”

  Jacob’s wrists were already bloody, but the rough fibers of the ropes were beginning to give one by one. He knew he didn’t dare let Renier think his relationship with Serenity was more than one of convenience, even if the truth came out about her purpose in riding with him. Somehow he kept his mouth shut and his head slumped against the chair back, reminding himself again how he would make Renier suffer once he got free.

  “Mr. Constantine was escorting me home,” Serenity said.

  “Then why was you askin’ about us in Bethel?”

  Renier demanded. “Don’t deny it, ’cause we know all about it.”

  Serenity didn’t so much as twitch a muscle. “I hired Constantine to find you so I could kill you.”

  The outlaw widened his eyes in a mocking imitation of terror. “Kill me?” He glanced around the room, expecting derisive laughter.

  One man guffawed, and another snickered. The others said nothing.

  “How do you think you’re going to kill me? All of us?” Renier asked. He jerked his head toward Jacob. “Did you think he’d do it for you? Did he tell you he wants us dead, too?”

  “No,” she said.

  “Well, let me let you in on a little secret. We killed his wife, same as we did your kinfolk. His family and mine go way back, and it ain’t been a friendly relationship. I reckon he hates us just about as much as you do. But he ain’t much use to you now, and he’ll be even less when he’s dead. Or do you want to beg for his life?”

  “I don’t care what you do to him,” Serenity said coldly. “He is only a hired man. He lost your trail in Bethel, and I learned I was needed here, so I stopped looking.”

  Renier stared at Serenity through narrowed eyes. “That almost sounds like truth.” He gestured toward Virgil. “But he said you didn’t ‘fit in’ no more. Guess you was damaged goods and these pure folk couldn’t have you around to remind them what could happen if we came by again someday.”

  Serenity held his stare. “It doesn’t matter what they think. I have a deal to make with you. I’ll give you something you want in exchange for leaving these people alone.”

  Dropping back into his chair, Renier stroked his stubbled chin. “Now what could you bargain with, I wonder? I can take you anytime I want. Hell, you’re still the best-lookin’ woman in this town.” He snickered and crooked his finger. “Maybe, if you’re good enough, I’ll think about letting some of these sheep go.”

  Serenity stayed where she was. “I have something better to offer,” she said. “You think you took everything from me. But I stole something from you, too. Didn’t you ever wonder what happened to those bags of money? Your money.”

  Abruptly Renier’s demeanor changed, and he was all wolf, predatory and bristling with rage. He jumped out of the chair again.

  “Where is it?” he snarled.

  “I’ll tell you—if you agree to my terms.”

  His hand shot out, ready to lock around her throat, but Serenity deftly moved out of his way just as Virgil lunged forward to stop him.

  “Get your hands off her!” Virgil shouted.

  With a casual gesture Renier struck Virgil across the face, sending him reeling across the room.

  Jacob clenched his teeth with such force that he nearly bit through his tongue.

  If he moved too soon…

  Renier swung to face Serenity again. “You must think you’re pretty smart, comin’ in here like you have some chance of gettin’ out again.” He grabbed for her shoulder, and this time Serenity wasn’t fast enough to move out of his reach. Renier twisted a lock of her hair around his finger, pulling hard enough to hurt her. “You say you still got our money?”

  Serenity stared him in the face without the slightest trace of fear or pain. “I hid it after I escaped. Most of it is still where I left it.”

  Renier yanked her toward him. “You’re lyin’.”

  Jacob tasted blood in his mouth. God help him, in a few seconds he would lose what control he still had. But Serenity glanced at him again—a glance of complete indifference—and he forced himself to stay still. He moved his wrists carefully and felt the ropes begin to separate. There were only a few strands left holding them in place.

  Just one sign from Serenity. Just one.

  “What would I gain by lying?” Serenity asked. “I can prove it to you. I can lead you right to it…if you leave these people alone.”

  “You think we can’t kill everyone here and still make you take us?”

  “If you hurt anyone,” she said, “if you so much as touch a hair on a single Quaker head, you’ll never see that money. I’ll kill myself first, and you won’t be able to stop me.”

  Renier started to laugh again, then stopped and abruptly let go of Serenity’s hair. “Maybe I should take a couple of these sheep along with us, just to make sure you keep to your ‘
bargain.’”

  “I said you’ll get nothing if you touch anyone in Tolerance.”

  “There were three other females with you. We’ll find them, and then you won’t be singing so pretty.”

  “You might as well slit my throat now, Renier, because I promise I won’t ever sing again.”

  That was when Jacob witnessed a miracle.

  Renier backed down. He opened his mouth to threaten again, but the words never came out. He stalked away, glaring at everyone in the room, and spat on the once-spotless floor.

  “You’ll pay for this, bitch,” he said. “Once you’ve taken us to our money, you’ll suffer. You think the last time was bad…” He found his grin again. “You’ll never be off your back.”

  “I don’t care what happens to me,” she said in a voice bare of emotion. “I’m already dead.”

  “Then maybe you won’t mind watching us kill Constantine before we go.”

  “Do whatever you want with him, but don’t take too long.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I think pretty soon you’re going to lose your chance to come with me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  AS IF AT SOME UNSEEN signal, a howl rose outside the house. It came from the direction of the road, and no werewolf could mistake its meaning.

  For it wasn’t a common wolf crying out to its pack mates, but another werewolf, and not one of the Reniers. They all turned to stare at the front window.

  Jacob forgot to breathe. It had to be Zora. But what did she think she could gain by attracting the Reniers’ attention? A distraction? They would slaughter her once they caught her, though they might pause to abuse her first.

  The howl broke off, and there was a long silence. Renier signaled to his men, drew his gun and ran to the door, where he dropped into a crouch.

  “I saw them when I was coming to the house,” Serenity said. “There were about ten of them.” Her mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “One of them found me watching the house and asked me if I was the woman who had been traveling with Jacob Constantine. He said his family was at war with the Reniers, and Jacob had sent his kinfolk in the North a message from Bethel saying that he’d found where Lafe Renier and his gang were hiding.” She shrugged. “I guess they must have followed us when I asked Constantine to bring me here.”