Erin cleared her throat and tried again. “I know you’re really freaked out about everything that’s going on. I realize this is a lot to take in.”
Becca leaned back against the door. “So that excuses me making a pass at you and running away?” She snorted. “I would have thought that I was old enough not to let my hormones run away with me, but I guess not.” She crossed over to the counter and looked up at her neighbor. “What happens now?”
Erin looked baffled. “Well, what do you want to happen? I’m not going to deny that I think you’re an attractive woman and that I’m interested in more then being pals but I can see where coming out as a werewolf and coming out as queer in the same three-month time period would throw a gal for a loop. I can wait for an answer.”
Becca’s stomach mixed itself up. This was the moment to say what she wanted, whatever that was. Instead, she barked a laugh. “Yeah, you can say that again. It’s been one wild ride so far.”
Erin rubbed a hand on the back of her neck and looked at the floor. Finally, she asked, almost like she wasn’t ready to hear the answer, “So did you mean it?”
Becca gave her an incredulous look. “No, I go around kissing just about anyone who shows up on my front porch. Didn’t the Welcome Wagon lady warn you about that when you moved in?”
Pete’s sudden appearance in the storeroom doorway came as both a shock and a relief, as far as Becca was concerned. “Oops, didn’t mean to interrupt. Just want to let you know that I’m on my way out, Becca. Evening, Erin.” His ears, as he turned away, were the pinkest that Becca had ever seen them and she couldn’t suppress a quiet snort of laughter.
“Sure thing, Pete. Thanks again for understanding. I’ll get the till counted out and bring the deposit over to the bank.” Becca walked behind the counter and pulled out the cash drawer as Pete vanished. Then she made herself meet Erin’s gaze. “How about you help me get everything closed down here and we go for a run after I stop by the bank? Then we talk.”
Erin gave her a baffled look but nodded back. She pulled the shades and ran the broom around while Becca finished counting up the money and prepped the deposit. The companionable silence felt better than the strained conversation and Becca could feel both of them start to relax. A night run would feel great after this. She could almost feel the cool air on her skin and the breeze in her hair. Everything would be clearer after that, or at least she hoped so.
“Hey, wake up in there. You about ready to go?” Erin had put the broom and pan away. She was cocking her head to one side when she asked questions again and Becca smiled at the familiar gesture.
“Yep.” They slipped outside and Becca locked the door behind them. She took a deep breath of dusk-filled cool air and coughed at something else that the wind carried. She shook her head, baffled by the weird burnt smell. There was something else out there tonight and it wasn’t anything she recognized.
From the way Erin was looking around, she could smell it too. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started punching in a number. Becca couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary except for how deserted the street was. The other stores were already closed but usually there were still people going home or at least driving past. But tonight, they seemed to be the only people in Wolf’s Point.
The sense of menace or whatever it was didn’t seem to be caused by anything obvious beyond the quiet. Nothing was on fire and the streets weren’t crawling with armed Nesters. From behind her, she could hear Erin calling someone, her voice soft as she asked something about “patrols.”
Becca hoped she was talking to Lizzie. If anyone in this town could help them deal with what was going on, it was the deputy. She smiled at the thought; a few months back and she would have thought of the sheriff first. A lot of things were changing.
Erin clicked off her phone. “Was that Lizzie?” Becca asked as they moved carefully down the street, bodies tense and alert for whatever might be coming next.
Erin shook her head but starting hunting for the deputy’s number on the little screen. That was when the white van swerved around the corner, tires screeching against the pavement. Becca saw Scott, the ex-wolf, behind the wheel. His expression was cold and focused.
Adrenaline kicked in and she shoved Erin into the recessed doorway of the clothing store behind them. She let her momentum take them backward. There was a hollow smack as they hit the glass, but the window panels held.
The van raced past and one of the Nesters hung out the side and aimed a gun at them from the passenger side window. He fired and something flew toward them, then a second something as they dropped to the ground. Becca flinched and Erin covered her head as the things flew over their heads and bounced off the glass behind them. The van screeched away and Becca could feel her knees shake so hard she thought she was never getting back up. “What the hell was that?” She panted her words, her heart racing too fast to breath properly.
They both looked down at the things the Nester had shot at them: tranquilizer darts. They were filled with a clear liquid. Becca’s stomach turned. Evidently they could accept Oya’s “cure” on their own or she’d force them to try it.
“Keep watch.” Erin stood up slowly and pulled a small plastic bag from her pocket and used it to scoop up the darts without touching them. At Becca’s incredulous look, she added, “It was from my sandwich at lunch. I don’t have a full forensics kit on me or anything.”
Becca snorted and slid forward cautiously on her butt. She poked her nose outside the doorway for a very wary look around. The white van was nowhere in sight and the street was still deserted. She stood carefully, leaning against the window for support. Then recognized that she was sniffing the breeze too. Well, no point in not being careful.
She looked down at the dart in Erin’s bag and shuddered. This had gone too far. It was time to tell someone what Oya had been telling her. “I think I know what that is. It’s their ‘cure.’ ”
Erin started, looking up at her in complete astonishment. “Their cure? For what?” Realization dawned a moment later. “For us? For turning into wolves? What the hell, Becca, how long have you known this?”
“Not long.” Becca could feel herself start to flush and resigned herself to another round of hot flashes. “At first, I thought it was just some crap that Oya made up. But I guess…it isn’t. Or at least they think it’s real.” Her voice faltered as she spoke. “I met some guy named Scott with her today, the same one who was driving the van just now. He said he used to be another kind of wolf from someplace else. I’m guessing he’s the bitten kind?”
“There are just us and the kind from the Lugosi movie, as far as I know. And there’s a few things that make them helluva lot scarier than us, at least in my biased opinion. Transmission by biting turns out killers, Becca. Is Oya seeking you out every couple of days to play Truth or Dare or what? Why didn’t you tell one of us?”
Becca rolled her eyes. “Hello? Been a bit preoccupied with other things and since I didn’t believe her anyway, I haven’t been exactly dwelling on it.” The lie burned in her mouth. Pack law said that she needed to be truthful with other Pack members. It was one of the first things that Erin had told her. Yet here she was, breaking yet another rule. Who knew being a part-time wolf would get so complicated?
“Right.” Erin was searching her phone for another number. Her expression was set and grim as she stood up.
Becca knew she was calling Shelly and a little thrill of fear went through her. How badly had she screwed up this time?
The bag of store cash banged into her leg, reminding her of more mundane concerns. Erin trailed after her as she walked the final two blocks to the bank and dropped the money in the night deposit slot. Looking at the bank reminded her that she needed to try and talk to them about refinancing her house loan. She doubted that she could do anything to stop Ed and Pamela from selling the place but she should probably try.
When Erin caught up with her, she was leaning against the bank’s limestone doorway,
rubbing her temples with her fingers and sighing. Becca jumped a little when Erin’s hand rested lightly on her shoulder. “Sorry I jumped down your throat. I can see why you wouldn’t believe her. It sounds pretty crazy.”
“Unlike, say, turning into a wolf yourself?” Becca grimaced. “Shelly coming here or are we going to her?”
“We’re going there. She needs to get her mom settled for the night. Molly’s calling everyone else together; sounds like it’ll be quite the confab.” Erin tugged carefully at her arm. “Come on, I’ll drive. We’ll get take-out on the way and redeem ourselves in her eyes.”
Chapter 19
~
Becca followed Erin to her car and wondered what she could have done differently. What if she had gone to Shelly right after she spoke with Oya? What could the Pack have done except what they had already done? Short of killing a Nester or two, preferably Oya herself, what more could any of them do?
She mulled it over as they stopped off to pick up Mexican take-out at the place on the highway out to Shelly and Pete’s place. Erin’s phone beeped and she glanced down at it before she pulled out of their parking spot. “This just got bigger than I expected. Looks like Shelly’s called the whole Pack and the elders and all our allies together. Hopefully, we’ll be able to come up with a plan.” She sighed, then hit the steering wheel hard. “I hate those damn Nesters! First the Women’s Club, now all this.”
Becca jumped at her unexpected vehemence and mumbled her agreement. She wondered what else had been in the club besides their meeting space. If they had any weapons besides their teeth, she hadn’t seen them yet. Something like a rocket launcher could come in handy, if any of them knew how to use it. The whole thing with the Nesters got more depressing by the week, like a macrocosm version of her own life. She could feel a splitting headache coming on and rubbed her temples slowly in an effort to stave it off.
Erin drove quickly, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror with enough frequency that Becca eventually looked back herself. Erin responded to her questioning look, “Probably nothing or else it’s one of us headed for Shelly’s. Just unusual to see the same pair of lights out here for any length of time.” Then she exhaled. “There, they turned off.”
Becca could hear the relief in her voice and helped herself to a bite of burrito. Her stomach growled its enthusiasm. That must be why she was getting so shaky. She nibbled at her dinner carefully, making sure not to spill anything on Erin’s faded upholstery.
Her eyes were drawn, not behind them, but upward toward the moon. It was only a half full, but its glow called an echo from her blood, making her heart pound. She wanted to follow it and howl her frustration and anxiety out in the woods somewhere.
Or maybe, just maybe, part of her wanted it all to be over with instead. Maybe she really wanted Oya’s cure and that’s why she hadn’t said anything about it to Shelly or Erin. Maybe she just wanted a nice man and a white picket fence and none of this craziness. Her headache got worse.
They pulled up to Shelly and Pete’s place, a split-level ranch on a few acres outside town. The horses were out in their pen and they nickered into the darkness while the pack of dogs that roamed the place barked greetings. Becca noticed that all of them got very submissive when Erin glanced their way, bowing their muzzles into their paws or rolling over to expose their throats and bellies. Her, they jumped on and licked. It figured.
There were a few other cars already there and several more pulled up as they walked to the front door. As people got out of their cars, the mood felt pretty serious and no one said much. Becca suspected that there wouldn’t be margaritas this time around either, more’s the pity.
Lizzie Blackhawk opened the front door for them, her deputy’s uniform replaced with jeans and a t-shirt. Even the ever-present sunglasses were missing. At Becca’s surprised look, she shrugged. “Shelly thought it was time to call in reinforcements. Unofficially, in my case.”
Becca smiled, relieved that she wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines. Maybe the Pack had a “Girl’s Auxiliary” of some sort; Erin had mentioned something about allies. Certainly the living room and kitchen were filling up. Erin herded her into the innermost circle of chairs, clearly reserved for Pack members, and put the food on the table. Shelly was already sitting there, surrounded by people who were sitting on any surface they could find.
The sight was enough to make Becca’s heart swell with relief. They weren’t alone. In fact, just about everyone had brought someone else, with the exception of her and Erin. I need to start recruiting, she thought as she glanced from Mrs. Hui’s teenaged son and daughter to Adelía’s husband to the young man sitting behind Molly, his hand on her shoulder. One of the library assistants was sitting with them as well; maybe that explained the werewolf-themed books she’d been noticing.
A few more folks trickled in and Shelly stood up and stayed standing, her presence stilling the room to listening silence. “Welcome. Welcome, all of you. We have gathered here tonight, Pack and friends of the Pack, to confront a danger greater than Wolf’s Point has ever known.”
Becca looked around, noticing a few more familiar faces. Her original guess that half of town knew about the wolves before she did wasn’t too far off. The clinic nurse nodded to her from behind Shelly. Dr. Green was at her side, his arm around an older man who she didn’t recognize. Green smiled at her and after a moment, she smiled back before turning her full attention back to what Shelly was saying.
Erin handed her the baggie and Shelly continued, “What I’m holding is a bag containing darts which were fired at two of our members tonight. Becca Thornton, please stand up.” Her tone made it clear that it wasn’t a request.
Startled, Becca stood, her knees trembling a little. What did Shelly want her to do? “Hi.” She gave the crowd a weak smile.
“Please tell us what Sara Hunter told you.”
This is going to be fun. Not. Becca cleared her throat. “Well…she said that the Nesters had developed a cure. One that would make us stop being wolves.” There was a shocked murmur around the inner circle and she glanced at them with a slightly cynical eye. Hadn’t any of them ever thought about being normal again? That seemed unlikely. “And today, she told me that not only is she a cured wolf, but one of the Nesters with her is another kind of cured wolf.” There were more shocked murmurs, this time with an undercurrent of disbelief. “He smells like a wolf still, a sick one,” she added.
“Did she say why they were here?” Shelly asked the question like she already knew the answer.
“She said something about wanting to cure us all, and suggested that it would be one way or another. I thought she was crazy at first and I didn’t believe her.” Becca found herself shivering a little. “But I think I’m starting to. I realized today that she used to be one of us. Though I don’t know how she could have changed as much as she has if that’s true.”
Shelly patted her shoulder and she took that as a signal to sit back down. She watched people’s expressions shift back and forth between anger and flavors of disbelief, plus a few other things she couldn’t read. Several hands were raised and it was clearly due to Shelly’s commanding presence alone that no one was just shouting out their questions. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shelly nod, acknowledging the hands but not ready to let them speak yet.
Instead, she turned and handed the bag with the darts in it to Dr. Green. “Can you try and figure out what’s in these things?” He nodded and she turned back to the rest of the room. “All right, so now we have an idea of why Sara and her people have come here. They’ve attacked us, they’ve burned down the Women’s Club and now they’re threatening us with annihilation. We’ve struck back a few times, but it’s not enough to stop them. I’ve asked you all here tonight to talk about our next steps. Erin?”
Erin rose and moved easily to Shelly’s side, managing to simultaneously tower over her and still make it clear that the other woman was in command. Becca felt an odd sensation go through her watch
ing them. They had probably never taken a minute to wonder if there was a cure, or if such a thing was worthwhile. She felt ashamed that it had ever crossed her mind. Maybe the magic was wrong and she shouldn’t have been picked. Maybe there was some other woman in the Valley who should be here instead.
Erin’s voice jolted Becca out of her reverie. She had already missed the introduction, but what Erin said next sure got through. “We’ve got to get rid of them before they get rid of us.” Did that mean what it sounded like? Becca found herself staring up at Erin, praying that she wasn’t going to be told to go out and rip the throats out of some stupid would-be wolf hunters. And Oya? True, she didn’t like the woman and she had ample reason to bear a grudge but that didn’t mean that she was ready for more extreme measures.
What came next brought some comfort. “It’s not like we can win an all-out battle with them. They’ve got us outgunned and I don’t think we can do much about that part. So we’ve got to use what we have. We’ve got to make sure that they’re not welcome. No one sells anything to them, no one tells them anything. That van of theirs suddenly doesn’t run any more. Maybe there’s a flood or fire at their campsite. It keeps up, anything and everything we can do short of actual bloodshed to drive them off. And in the meantime, Shelly’s got some other plans that we’ll be working on.”
This time, there were nods around the circle. Order was being restored and uncertainty banished. Becca could feel it in her bones, feel the wolf inside stirring itself into hunting mode, ready to do whatever the Pack needed. The moment that realization sank in scared her more than anything else that had happened all day. Would she blindly follow her alpha, no matter what? She’d never been much for that kind of obedience before; just how much was this changing her?
Erin and Shelly were going around the room talking to different people now. It was clear that they were being told what their roles were. Lizzie moved over to Becca’s side. “How are you feeling? I still need to get together with you to coordinate our story for the sheriff.”
Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) Page 14
