Feral

by Nicole Luiken

  The brewing fight made Chloe glance around nervously. There was no one in sight, but they were still in town. Anyone could drive by.

  She elbowed Judy. Do something, she mouthed.

  Judy cleared her throat. “Mr. Scout? We weren’t expecting you so early. Why don’t you do as Coach suggested and chill for a few hours, maybe have a bite to eat, while my parents make arrangements to billet you.”

  Judy was good at smoothing things over when she wanted to be.

  Scout cast one more fulminating glance at Coach, then addressed Judy. “I’m sorry if my early arrival is inconvenient. I can stay in a hotel if need be.”

  “I’ll talk to my parents,” Judy said again.

  Scout nodded to her, pointedly excluding Coach, and threw a leg over his bike. The engine roared to life, and he motored away.

  Judy sagged with relief.

  Coach turned on them, blue eyes glittering. “Listen up, this is a serious matter. Outsiders can’t be permitted to find out how weak the Alpha is. That means no talking to Scout on your own. He’ll be trying to catch you in a mistake. If you see him sniffing around where he isn’t welcome, inform me or Nathan. Got it?”

  They all nodded.

  “Go home. Practice is cancelled.”

  Three hours later, Chloe and her family arrived at the Alphas for an impromptu barbeque in honour of the visiting werewolf.

  Apparently, the Alphas had decided to bluff it out. Judy’s mother wore a heavy sweater—not too out of place on a cool fall evening—and sat on some cushioned patio furniture close to the firepit. She looked like she was relaxing while her husband grilled the meat, instead of being too weak to do anything. Her black wig still seemed super-obvious to Chloe, but maybe a man wouldn’t notice. The other women fetched for Olivia, making a subtle show of deference to her rank instead of fussing like nurses.

  Chloe’s mom took one look at the aggressive postures of Scout, Coach, and Dean’s dad, who was Nathan’s Beta, and tsked. “Curtis, you better go over there and defuse things. Ask about something neutral before those idiots ruin everything.”

  Chloe’s dad ambled over. “Scout, good to see you.” After a brief handshake, her father said, “Any news on Paul Riebel?”

  No, no, no! Don’t bring up the feral! Now everyone would be reminded that ferals were dangerous and should be shot on sight.

  “You could say that,” Scout said. “A mauling occurred up near the Manitoba-Ontario border. A hunter was attacked by a wolf while field dressing a deer. A wild wolf would have fled at the sound of rifle fire.”

  Her dad winced. “A black wolf?”

  “Yup. The hunter says it came out of nowhere, took him down and ripped away his gun. Left him bleeding. He thought the wolf was going to tear out his throat, but the wolf went after the deer carcass instead, and he managed to crawl away.”

  Chloe’s horror grew. Not just for the poor hunter, but for what this meant for Marcus.

  “When the Churchill Pack Alpha heard about it, he sent out a hunting party to take Riebel down. But there’s a lot of bush and wild land up there so they were spread pretty thin. It took them two weeks, but they found Riebel and cornered him in his den. By all reports he was thin as a rail and mad as a rattlesnake. Riebel went for the weakest of the Pack and mauled her pretty bad. She almost bled out before Mitch broke Riebel’s back and finished him off.” Scout shook his head. “Ferals are nasty business.”

  “At least they got him,” her dad said grimly.

  Sick to her stomach, Chloe moved away, not wanting to hear any more.

  Her mother beckoned her.

  “What?”

  “Go pay your respects to the Alphas.” Her mother gave her a little push.

  Right. Since she’d screwed up so badly over the teddy bear incident, she needed to be ultra-circumspect and polite.

  Chloe said her hellos. Olivia replied graciously. Nathan grunted at her—still angry about the infringement on his territory. Chloe ducked her head and quickly excused herself. She wandered around to the backyard.

  The other Pack kids, including the rugrats, were playing a game of lawn darts, which she normally enjoyed. Today, she didn’t even try to get in on the game, leaning against the wall of the house instead. She prepared to be bored out of her skull for the next hour, fiercely wishing her parents hadn’t insisted that her cell phone stay in her pocket.

  To her surprise, Kyle excused himself from the game and marched up to her. Chloe straightened, his body language making her wary.

  “Can I talk to you? Alone?” Kyle jerked his head toward the woods.

  Oh-kay. Curious, Chloe followed.

  Kyle vibrated with anger, but he waited until they’d walked a quarter mile from the house before stopping in a small clearing. Hmmm. Should she be nervous? But this was Kyle. She remembered him as chubby tagalong.

  “Is it true?” Kyle demanded. “Dean said you think Marcus is alive.” He looked torn between hope and anger.

  No point in denying it. “Yes,” she admitted, “but he’s having trouble Changing—”

  “We never saw Marcus’s wolf. How do you know it’s him and not Paul Riebel?”

  Chloe bared her teeth. “Didn’t you hear? Riebel’s dead, killed up by Churchill. Plus he’s the wrong colour.”

  “If you’re so sure it’s Marcus, why didn’t you tell me?” Kyle demanded.

  “Gee, let me think. Could it be because every time I’ve seen you for the last five months you coughed ‘Dud’ into your fist?”

  Kyle flushed. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  She waited.

  “Could you take me to him? Please?” His voice verged on a wolf’s whine.

  She relented, her throat aching in sympathy. Abby had been her best friend; Marcus had been Kyle’s. She knew what it was like.

  “I can try. He’s not always around.”

  They started down the path to her house.

  “Do you have anything of his?” she asked. “I’m trying to spark his memories, give him a reason to Change back to human.”

  Kyle wrinkled his brow. “Not really. A hockey biography I borrowed.”

  That wouldn’t work. “Anything more personal? Anything with a scent?”

  “Sorry, no.” Kyle frowned. “Wait a moment. Is that why you stole Abby’s teddy bear?”

  “Yes.”

  “Judy made it sound like you were trying to get her goat.”

  “I’m sure she did.” Chloe couldn’t care less about Judy. She focussed on Marcus. There had to be some way to reach him …

  Inspiration hit her. “Do you know if Marcus ever had a girlfriend?” A girlfriend could give Marcus a reason to Change back.

  Kyle raised an eyebrow. “No girlfriend, but he did have a crush on a girl. He got all googly-eyed whenever she was around.”

  Huh. Chloe didn’t remember that. “Who?”

  He snorted. “That would be you.”

  The wolf lifted his head from his paws. She had come.

  Only one female mattered in the wolf’s world: She. He could get drunk on her scent alone. She was beautiful, her voice lilting. Her hands in his fur made him want to roll on his back.

  But this time She had brought another werewolf with her. A male.

  The wolf’s hackles rose. He didn’t want other males anywhere near her. He rose to his feet and loped forward, determined to drive off his competitor.

  chapter

  8

  Marcus had had a crush on her.

  Chloe’s throat thickened with guilt: she hadn’t paid enough attention to him to even notice he liked her that way.

  When she thought back, she could see the clues—he’d often hung around when she was visiting Abby—but they hadn’t registered. He’d just been Abby’s brother to her, Abby’s baby brother. And besides, Chloe had been infatuated with Dean at the time.

  She shook her head and straightened her shoulders. Marcus had bigger problems now. His feelings for her didn’t matter. Or, rather, they only mattered in
that they might make his wolf trust her more and enable her to help him.

  Chloe slowed her steps as she and Kyle reached the stand of pine where she’d most frequently encountered the feral. “Marcus?” she called softly. “Kyle, maybe you should give me some space. He might be shy.”

  But in the next instant a growl ripped out, and the feral rushed toward them.

  “No!” Chloe stepped into the wolf’s path. He tried to deke around, but Chloe threw herself on him bodily and hugged his middle until he stopped. Here’s hoping, she hadn’t just done something monumentally stupid.

  He continued growling at Kyle, but didn’t snap at her.

  “Marcus?” Kyle’s voice cracked. “Marcus, it’s me. Kyle.”

  “Stay back,” Chloe said. “Give him a moment to catch your scent.”

  “Maybe it isn’t him.” Kyle’s face had turned so pale his hair looked even redder.

  “He howled when I showed him Abby’s bear. He helped me when I fell into the ravine and broke my leg. It’s him,” Chloe said with conviction.

  She stroked the werewolf’s fur, then turned his head toward her. Holding his gaze, she closed his jaws like dog trainers did.

  “Jeez, Chloe,” Kyle said. “Do you have a death wish?”

  “Marcus wouldn’t hurt me.” She met his pale blue eyes. “Marcus, this is Kyle. Don’t growl at him. He’s Pack.” Then to Kyle: “Give me your hand.”

  “And let him bite it off?” Kyle muttered, but he gave her his hand.

  “What are you worried about? You’re a werewolf,” Chloe teased him. “You’d heal.” Slowly, she moved their joined hands up to the feral’s nose and let him get a good sniff.

  Under her arm, the wolf’s muscles went suddenly rigid. She tightened her hold, fearing he intended to bolt. But after that one quiver he relaxed and politely licked their fingers. His back haunches went down and he sat.

  “I think we’re okay now.” Chloe released Kyle’s hand, but continued to stroke the wolf’s head and back. After so long alone he had to be starved for touch.

  “Well, there’s definitely no way a wild wolf would let you pet him like a dog,” Kyle said.

  Duh.

  “Talk to him,” Chloe said impatiently. “See if you can convince him to Change.”

  Kyle knelt in the leaf litter. “Hey, buddy, it’s me, Kyle. Your friend. We used to play baseball together. You’d pitch and I’d hit. Remember the time you accidentally beaned me in the forehead and I got a concussion, and we were too scared to tell so we pretended I had the flu?”

  Marcus tilted his head as if listening to Kyle’s anecdote. He stretched his jaws in a wolfish smile while Kyle told stories about some of their stupider mischief.

  After a few minutes, Chloe glanced at her phone’s clock. “We have to get back soon or we’ll miss the barbeque.”

  “Change and come with us, bro,” Kyle pleaded. “Just think, juicy hamburgers loaded with bacon and cheese. You can eat until you’re stuffed. Come on, Marcus.”

  The wolf whined. Another shudder went through him, then he suddenly turned and ran off, tail down.

  “Crap.” Chloe stood, brushing off the knees of her jeans. “I thought you were getting through to him.”

  “Yeah, so did I.” Kyle’s shoulders slumped. “He didn’t even try. What if he’s stuck forever? What if he really is feral?”

  “We just have to keep trying,” Chloe said sharply. “He’s not hurting anyone.”

  “Okay.” Kyle nodded. “I’m not giving up. Let’s—” He stopped and tilted his head.

  Faintly, in the distance someone called their names: “Chloe, Kyle, supper!”

  They broke into a run.

  Everyone had formed a line, dishing up. Chloe tried to slide in, unnoticed. She grabbed a paper plate, but before she could do more than plunk a bun on it, her dad called her. “Chloe, come here a moment.”

  Her dad was sitting beside the guest of honor, Scout, and their plates were full. “Scout, this is my daughter, Chloe.”

  “We’ve met,” Scout said, smiling. Gold glinted off one of his earrings.

  “Chloe, tell Scout about the feral you saw last week.”

  Crap.

  She needed to be so careful here, to mislead without lying. Chloe deliberately relaxed her muscles as if the question meant little to her. “Actually, I’m not sure it was a feral.” Because she believed Marcus could be saved. “And I only saw it for a few moments.” The first time.

  “Just tell us what you saw,” her dad said. “Scout travels a lot for his Pack and may have heard gossip about missing members.”

  “It was a juvenile.”

  “Was it white?” Coach asked, unexpectedly inserting himself into the conversation.

  Chloe blinked, astonished that Coach was taking her claim seriously. “Not white. He had a black back and a cream underbelly.” She shrugged again as if she weren’t sure and didn’t mention Marcus’s most distinctive feature: the line bisecting his wolf’s face.

  “So it was a male, then?” her dad said.

  Whoops. “I think so.”

  “Juvenile male with black and cream fur,” Scout repeated. “It’s not ringing any bells, but I’ll ask around, see if anyone has any runaways.”

  Coach scowled. “If the werewolf is from another Pack, they’d better get their asses down here and pick him up. We won’t tolerate intruders.”

  Chloe bit her lip to keep from defending Marcus. She met her dad’s gaze. He nodded permission to leave. She started to return to the buffet line, but Scout’s next words stopped her dead.

  “If it wasn’t a juvenile, I’d worry that your territory was being probed.” Scout instantly had all the adults’ attention. He paused to sip his beer.

  “By who?” Dean’s dad demanded.

  “Word is that the Quesnel pack may be fracturing.”

  “Because of their size?” Chloe’s dad asked.

  “Partly,” Scout said. “The Quesnel Pack must be at least three times the size of your little Pack here.”

  More tension as inner wolves pricked up their ears. Two subvocal growls vibrated in the air.

  Scout pretended not to notice; maybe he enjoyed stirring the pot. “But most of the problem is their land. Remember how they were forced to pull up stakes and move when the government proposed a hydro dam that would flood their territory?” Everyone nodded. “I don’t know if you’ve been following the story on the news, but after years of being stalled by Aboriginal groups and environmental protesters the dam’s construction is underway. Some of the Pack, led by the female Alpha, want to go back, blow things up and declare all-out war against the government, and some want to go north or east and find better territory. Nobody seems to be happy with the new site: it’s too close to the city. The only thing holding them together right now is the male Alpha. But Thomas is getting on toward fifty and has a couple of strong Dominants nipping at his heels.”

  All of this made very bad news. If the bigger pack fractured, they might well decide to take over a weaker Pack, or drive them away entirely. It became critical that Quesnel not learn about Olivia’s illness.

  Her dad cleared his throat and changed the subject, asking how his old Churchill Pack was dealing with the problem of polar bears being driven southward by the melting ice caps into their territory.

  Chloe went back in line and filled her plate. Brian, ahead of her, was on his second helping. By the time she found a place to sit, the adult talk had drifted to old news: the ‘information session’ the logging company was holding at the school, the boycott some of the townies were talking about instituting against the Pack—as if they could afford to lose so much business. Blah, blah, blah. Chloe finished her food and disposed of her paper plate.

  Restless, Chloe wandered around the backyard. The other teens had gone down to chuck rocks at the pond. As Chloe passed by, Dean declared, “I’m bored. Let’s race.”

  Judy pouted. “Where’s the fun in that? You have the longest legs, you always win
. Let’s play a game.”

  “Like what? Hide-and-seek?” Dean scoffed.

  “How about a decathlon?” Chloe spoke without thinking. Silence fell like a door slamming in her face, a forcible reminder that she was still persona non grata. A blind need to make them accept her made her push on. “We could do running plus high jump, etcetera.”

  Judy wrinkled her nose as if she’d bitten into something sour.

  “How about an obstacle course?” Kyle said, carefully not looking at Chloe. “Run, climb ropes, dive through the tire swing, that sort of thing.”

  “Ooh, good idea,” Judy said.

  That’s practically the same as my idea. Chloe didn’t say it. In fact she kept her mouth shut while the others hammered out a course. Excitement began to pump through her veins. She was the best hurdler and pretty good at rope climbing. She might not be able to beat Dean, but she wouldn’t come in dead last. She had a chance to prove herself.

  “Excellent idea,” Coach said from behind them. “Let’s show our guest Pine Hollow style. I’ll be the official timer. Everyone goes through the course twice, first as a human, then as a wolf.”

  Judy groaned, but Kyle’s ears perked up. He had a faster Change than Dean and might gain an advantage. No one protested.

  Bastard. Red hazed Chloe’s vision. Her hands clenched into fists, and she wanted to spit. He’d changed the rules on purpose to humiliate her and get her to drop out. Well, screw that. She’d run the route, beat everyone’s time and show them.

  Everyone worked together to lay out the circular course and all too soon it was time to start. The adults drifted over to the start/finish line to watch.

  Chloe’s mom looked furious, her pale complexion flushed, her back rigid. She beckoned Chloe over to her, but Chloe just shook her head. She wouldn’t be shut out. She was doing this.

  “I’ll start everyone out at one minute intervals,” Coach announced. “We’ll do it in age order. Dean, first, then Brian, Chloe, Judy and Kyle.”

  Shirtless, Dean toed the line.

  “On your mark, get set, go!”

  Dean sprinted fifty yards to the homemade timber and tire swing across the yard. He lifted the tire over his head and let it drop down, then stepped out. Jumping up, he caught hold of the adjacent rope and climbed hand-over-hand.