Henry gripped her shoulders and bent down to look in her face. “Who have you told about…?” He gulped. “Us.”
“No one.” She smiled reassuringly. “It’s your life and not my place to out you.”
“Praise be,” he laughed in relief.
“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” she assured him.
“Not if you really are.” He was grinning now. “We’re not. Marshall’s my cousin. His folks took me in when I was five years old and my folks were killed in a car accident.”
“But… but… Marshall said… He commented on…”
“What did Marshall say exactly? No, wait a minute. Let me guess. He made some smartass remark about those living room curtains I brought home, didn’t he? Or no, he called me a sweet little housewife. Yeah, I can see it in your face. He’s been calling me that since we were in high school.” He shrugged. “Just because I like to cook and don’t like living in a pig sty. I keep telling him, ‘Boy, you better catch up with the rest of the world. You’re never going to catch yourself a mate if she finds out you don’t do nothing around the house. Women ain’t as set on keeping house as they once was.’ Shoot, Lucy says she can’t cook at all.” His eyes widened as if he’d just thought of something. “So you don’t know about us at all, do you?”
“Lucy?” Elizabeth asked weakly. She was trying to process this new information and it wasn’t going well.
“Girl I’m seeing over in Galton. She’s from the… ah… Home Depot. I must have bought out half the Home Décor department before she’d go out with me. She can’t cook, but she’s got real good taste.” Henry looked away from her and out into the yard.
“Which brings me to something Marshall spoke of; Miz Elizabeth, I ain’t like Marshall at all. I’m strictly second string and I’m happy that way. I think you must’ve made a mistake about that same as you made a mistake about me and Marshall. Still and all, my heart’s pretty much given to Lucy if she’ll have me. I’m real flattered, Miz Elizabeth, but I ain’t interested.”
“I never… I wasn’t… It never occurred…” Could this get any worse? Elizabeth sat down on the steps with a thunk. She’d been wrong from the very beginning. And shame on her for making unfounded assumptions. Marshall must have thought she was a crazy woman.
She was so sure that someone like him would have no interest in someone like her that she twisted everything he said to justify her own convictions.
“I’m a fool, Henry,” she sighed.
“Well ma’am, I suppose all of us could say that at one time or another. Question is, what’re you going to do about it? Stay a fool or change your ways.”
A howl sounded from the woods followed by a series of short yips.
Henry’s head snapped up at the sound. He listened intently.
“Are they near?”
“Not near enough for you to worry about. They’re out at Coop’s place. I got to go,” Henry said as Marshall called his name.
He pointed his finger at her. “You need to stay out here until Marshall calls,” he said before he entered the house.
Elizabeth sat on the bottom step and stared out into the darkness. Wolves were out there attacking people. Shouldn’t they be calling someone? She was alone here and vulnerable. They could attack here as easily as they did on the trail.
Damn! Why was she sitting out here waiting to be eaten? This was her house and she was on the outside while the big, brave men were safely within. She didn’t even have her broom for protection and the poker was lost down the side of the hill. What’s wrong with this picture?
She marched up the steps, grabbed open the screen door and pushed through the wooden one. She jammed her knuckles into her mouth to stifle a scream.
Chapter 13
A wolf was retreating through the open back door. She only saw the broad hind quarters and the tail, but it was enough.
Where were the men? And Max, helpless in bed? Why was there no screaming, no sounds of violence?
Elizabeth barred the door behind her, ran to the kitchen and bolted that door, too. Next was the bedroom. She was afraid of what she would find and her hands began to shake.
Max was in the bed, just as Elizabeth had left her. Elizabeth tiptoed closer and gasped. Max’s face was no longer battered and bloody. Her eyes almost swollen shut –Elizabeth glanced at the clock on the nightstand- just an hour ago were now closed normally in sleep. Her long lashes rested on pale pink cheeks, shadowy splotches of deeper pink the only sign of the beating she had sustained. This couldn’t be!
Faint movement on the other side of the bed caught her attention. She rushed around the foot of the bed.
And then she did scream.
Marshall lay on the floor, curled in a fetal ball. His body shimmered with a strange golden light. The muscles of his arms and legs bulged, rippled and transformed into the legs of a wolf. His body began to change as well. The light brightened to a blinding glow and she raised her hand against it and the horror of what she was witnessing.
The great silver coated wolf struggled to its feet.
Elizabeth backed against the wall, too frightened to speak or run.
The wolf bowed low with his forepaws stretched out in front and his rear end high in the air. Max was still asleep in the bed. There was no one else in the room, but Elizabeth distinctly heard someone whisper her name.
“Li-i-z-z-ie. Wa-a-a-tch.”
The wolf leapt to the bed and lay quietly next to Max. Her hand reached out until it made contact with fur and then she smiled.
The wolf rose and walked off the bed to the floor in front of Elizabeth.
“M-Marshall?”
The wolf nodded once and headed out the door.
Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed. Her heart was pounding so strongly in her chest, her shirt moved. She watched it, fascinated by the movement of her blood spattered shirt. Blood? It wasn’t hers. It was the blood of the wolves she had killed.
Bile rose in her throat. Those wolves were men and she was the cause of their deaths. In her overwhelmed mind. She felt the thud of the poker as it hit and punctured the soft flesh of the wolf’s side. She heard the crack of the wolf’s spine as it splintered against the trunk of the tree. Yes, she reasoned, her actions were in self-defense and self-preservation. She thought they were wild animals and that was sickening enough, but those were men and their blood now stained her shirt.
A whine from the kitchen drew her from her thoughts. The wolf –she couldn’t quite comprehend that the creature was Marshall- stood at the door. He looked up at the bolt and curled his lip.
“Sorry. I thought you were the bad guys.” She slid the bolt as the wolf ‘chuffed’ in exasperation.
When he was gone, Elizabeth leaned against the counter and breathed deeply several times. In through the nose and out through the mouth. It wasn’t helping. This couldn’t be happening. She was attracted to a dog. She started to giggle.
“What’s up, dog?” she said aloud. “You old dog you. Dog gone it, Marshall, you sure are putting on the dog.”
Her giggle turned into a laugh. She laughed until the tears streamed down her cheeks. She was becoming hysterical. She knew it and she didn’t care.
“Dammit to Hell. I think I have the right to a little hysteria.”
She’d been so relieved to hear Marshall wasn’t gay. Now all she had to contend with was his being a canine. So tell me Dr. Freud, how does having the hots for a gay guy compare to having the hots for a wolf guy? I don’t think there’s a list for this.”
She’d never developed a taste for hard liquor, but she wouldn’t say no to a stiff one right now.
“Bottom shelf, right hand side, back corner.”
Max stood in the doorway. She leaned carefully against the frame. Her skin was so pale and her hand shook as she plucked at the robe she wore, the pale pink one that had been hanging on the hook on the back of the bedroom door.
“Hope you don’t mind. I didn’t think you’d appreciate me runnin
g around in my undies. Not that I can actually run.” She shuddered. “Are you going to get it? Because I could really use one, too.”
“Did you read…?” Elizabeth tapped her forehead with her finger. That was all she needed; a mind reader. “Oh shit, what am I doing? Max, you need to sit down.” Max had started to sway and Elizabeth ran to her.
“You were talking out loud,” Max explained once she was settled in one of the chairs by the fireplace. “Go get the jar.”
There was a quart jar of clear liquid right where Max said it would be. Elizabeth popped the sealed lid off the jar and brought it and two glasses over to Max.
“Just a little and sip it slow,” Max warned. “That stuff of Ruby’s will curl your toes.”
“Are you sure you should be drinking?”
“Can’t put me in any worse shape than I was.” Max held out an unsteady hand for the glass. “Where’s Marshall?”
“Um, Henry heard some howls from the woods. They, um, changed and took off.” Poor Max was in better shape than before, but certainly in no condition to be told she was hanging out with werewolves. Unless she already knew.
“GW? Did you see him? Is he with Marshall?” Max asked worriedly.
“I couldn’t see anything. It was too dark. She told Max about the battle, what she did, saw and heard. “By the time it was over, I was halfway down the mountain. Marshall took off to you and Henry stayed with me. Max, what happened to you? When I left, I thought you were dying and now…”
“Marshall. Marshall fixed me up. Was he man or beast when he left?”
O-o-okay, so she did know. “B-beast. Wolf?” Elizabeth finally took a sip from her glass. She felt the liquid burn all the way down until it landed like a hot coal in her stomach. Whoo-boy! Powerful stuff indeed! Her eyes spurted tears.
Max waited until she was breathing normally again. “At least you didn’t run screaming down the mountain.” She offered a weak smile. “Do you hate me?”
“Hate you? Why would I hate… oh, because you knew about…?”
“Not just knew about. I am one.”
“But you can’t be. You’re a nurse.” Elizabeth’s hand flew to her mouth. That didn’t come out right. She took another sip, this time better prepared for the fire.
“Yeah, amazing isn’t it? We have human brains and everything.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Elizabeth thought Max’s smile meant she took no offense, but then she said, “Good, because I wouldn’t want to rip your throat out over it.”
Max lay back, clearly exhausted. “Just kidding. Females can’t change but once a year. Once a male reaches his full growth, he can change all year long. They can go over the moon alone when it’s full. Other times they need the Alpha. That’s why I asked if Marshall was man or beast. If the moon’s not full, they can’t change without him.”
Once she got past the man-beast thing, Elizabeth’s curiosity took over. “Why Marshall?”
“He’s our Alpha.” Max took a solid drink from her glass and Elizabeth was a little envious that the woman didn’t wince. “Every pack has to have an Alpha, with a capital A. The pack can’t function without one.”
“Every pack? There’s more?” Elizabeth took another sip. This stuff was tasting better and better.
“Oh sure. I was born to the Tall Pine Pack in south Georgia. Traditionally, most females mate outside their pack. I think it was a way to keep the line from inbreeding. Anyway, I met GW when I was home on Spring Break. We had this big Spring Festival every year. You know, games and rides and crafts and stuff, but it’s really more of a chance for the packs to mingle without outsiders taking notice. Folks come from all over and GW came down to take a look see and he saw me. I knew it was a match first time he kissed me.” She sighed happily and Elizabeth envied that, too. “I finished school; we got hitched, and moved up here.” Her eyes clouded over as she looked at the door.
“GW thinks someone is trying to take over the pack. His father says it feels more like a feud, but he can’t figure the cause.”
“Take over the pack? Could someone do that?” These people weren’t the mob and this was the United States of America for heaven’s sake. Then she laughed at her assumptions. The constitution was written for all-human-all-the-time type people. She shouldn’t assume that those rules applied to… “What do you call yourselves?”
“Wolvers. Only outsiders refer to us as werewolves. And don’t go believing all that stuff you read or see in the movies. Nobody goes around biting people. We prefer to maintain our population the old fashioned way.” She tried to smile, but it was a poor effort. Her worried eyes stayed glued to the front door. “What kind of shape was he in?”
“Who?”
Max rolled her eyes heavenward. “Marshall. How did he look when he left?”
Elizabeth almost said, “Like a pissed off wolf,” but she understood Max was seeking something else. “I can’t make that kind of judgment. I wouldn’t know what to look for and when I saw him changing, I was just a teensy bit in shock. All this is little outside my norm.”
“You saw him change? Tell me.”
As best she could, Elizabeth recounted what she’d seen. Max’s face fell and if possible, she looked more worried than before.
“When Henry changed, Marshal couldn’t hold form,” Max whispered more to herself than Elizabeth. “You shouldn’t have been able to see him change. There should have been a flash of light and…” She snapped her fingers. “Wolf. It takes a lot of magic to change and the Alpha uses even more to keep his Wolver troops when the moon’s not full. Marshall’s made the change a couple of times today and then had to heal me. He’s running real low.”
He’d changed more than twice, Elizabeth knew and she suspected it was done to keep her ignorant. She was reminded of Charles’s warning that these friendly people were not what they seemed.
“What happens if he doesn’t have enough?” ‘Magic’ should be an easy step from werewolf, but she couldn’t bring herself to use the word. There was something too surreal about this whole night and she knew when reality hit, it was going to hit big time.
“He can’t change. And if he can’t change, neither can anybody else. They’re not meant to be wolves in the daytime and that’s when they’ll be most vulnerable. If GW’s daddy is right, it could be dangerous. They’ll have to find a place to hole up.” Max’s eyes filled. Her face was no longer pale, but ashy. Her hands shook badly.
“We need to get you back to bed,” Elizabeth said gently. She’d been so impressed with the young woman’s recovery, she’d forgotten the side effects of such trauma.
“I need to wait for GW,” Max said miserably. “He’ll come. He knows about me. He felt it. He won’t hole up. He’ll come.”
Elizabeth nodded sympathetically while she pulled Max to her feet and led her to the bedroom.
“Then you need to be rested when he gets here. The better you look, the less worried he’ll be. Come on, now. We’ll find you something clean to wear and you get some sleep. I’ll wake you if he comes. Better yet, I’ll let him wake you.”
“You were brave tonight and I never thanked you for taking me in.” Max’s eyes were already closing as Elizabeth drew the yellow nightgown over her head.
“I wasn’t brave. I was scared shitless from the moment I saw you in the yard. I’m still scared.” She tucked the covers around Max and because it was something that comforted her when she was a girl, she smoothed her friend’s hair back and kissed her forehead. “Sleep tight, Max. I’ll keep watch.”
Max stopped fighting and let her eyes close. She didn’t speak again until Elizabeth was closing the door. “That’s what brave is, you know. Doing what needs to be done when you’re scared shitless. You’re a good one, Miz Elizabeth, and I surely am glad you answered the call.”
It was a long night. Elizabeth desperately wanted a shower but she knew the noise of the water would smother any sounds she might need to hear. She settled for a quick wash at the
kitchen sink and clean clothes. Brushing what she could out of her hair, she pulled it back into a ponytail.
Then she settled in to wait. She sat by the window looking over the front yard waiting for someone to come with news or for daylight to set them free.
They came about four AM; not the men as she had hoped, but the women. Led by the elderly Maggie, six women crossed the yard. They carried coolers, cloth sacks, and guns. Maggie and the last woman in line carried camp lanterns.
Elizabeth went out on the porch to meet them. The others hung back while Maggie stopped at the foot of the stairs.
“We need to use the Home Place,” she said bluntly.
“Of course, come in.” Elizabeth would always wonder what would have happened if she’d said no. “You’ll need to be quiet. Max was badly injured tonight and I won’t have her disturbed.”
Maggie nodded solemnly. “We know. You need to talk to Gwenna. She’s been elected to tell you some things you need to know. It’s bad timing, but it can’t be helped.”
“About the Wolvers in general or where you’re going to hide them come daylight?” Or are the pixies on the warpath and the elves are getting antsy? She turned her laugh into a yawn. The hysteria was rising again and she stuffed it down. She could fall apart tomorrow. Tonight, she needed what few wits were left.
Maggie grinned and waved the others forward “Come on ladies. She already knows and she ain’t locked and screaming in the bathroom.”
Gwenna and Brie gave her a thumbs up as they entered the house and Vickie grinned. They were followed by Ruby and a woman she recognized as Ma Gruver, who was so kind to her at the fire. She thought her first name might be Loretta.
“Vickie, you take the bedroom,” Maggie ordered. “Brie, side yard. You see a shadow out of place, you call, hear? Don’t go thinking it’s just nerves.”
The young woman raised her rifle in salute and trotted off to the side.
The older woman nodded at Elizabeth and gave her a wink. “I get the front porch where I can rest these weary bones in one of your rockers. Come set a spell and keep me company.”
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