Loving Lucius (Werescape) (33 page)

Older. So much wiser for it. Still filling out but absolutely capable among others his age. Otho could easily replace Augustus if he was old enough when our sire stepped down from leading the clan. "Thanks. Bring the saddlebags?"

Ortho nodded and tugged the reins, leading the horse's black tail away.

"Mated, eh?" Trajan grinned the most ridiculous accusatory grin.

As if I had broken some secret code. A pledge between brothers to remain united until the end. But he'd understand one day. He had many years ahead of him to spend in the great struggle to find a female to mate. And so few lived out here in The Wild. But when he did, his Wolf would make his mark. Take a mate. He'd understand then. "I would hope you find your mate much sooner than I did."

We headed toward the lodge's wooden door.

Night's close. There isn't much of a rush to secure the outpost. Just what is Hostillian up to? "Whose turn is it to secure the gate?"

"Jaguar will when he mans the wall."

Now, our cousin was another interesting youth. Still full of enthusiasm to learn. To strive for a better future free of alien overlordship here on Earth. "Well the job should suit him. Jaguars especially, them being nocturnal."

"Hostillian also put Panther and Quake on scarecrow duty this month."

Why man the wall with two Shifters in the fields at night? What did it matter? I'm not in charge. "Well, sounds like everything's covered on the Western Fields." I planted a boot on the only step leading to the small decking running the length of front of the lodge.

Jaguar shoved the creaking door wide.

Yellow firelight lit the interior infused with the smell of seared fish, sautéed onions, and a hint of smoke from bacon fat.

Making my mouth water enough to keep Wolf busy contemplating a meal. I might actually have a pleasant evening visiting with Hostillian and his teenage crew. I stepped through the doorway into the warmer air of a lodge being warmed by a hearth.

Didius and Geta looked up, grinned a youthful greeting, then continued hustling around the long table flanked by two long benches. Each placing cups and forks, lighting candle wicks inside two shallow bowls, preparing for the evening meal before the night shift set out on all fours to guard the crops in the moonlight.

Movement to the far right, running the space between the floor and ceiling in an open doorway lit with muted light, caught my eye.

Tall. Silent. Self-confidant. Commanding. "Hostillian." I nodded.

He crossed the kind of arms that could lift a mountain, both cloaked in camouflage as if he feared he'd terrify his charges with the mere sight of his strength when concealing them didn't matter, and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe.

Suspiciously. You'd think he'd be glad to see an adult warrior who didn't need to be nagged to shave his head and drag his tail out of bed once or twice seven days a week. But that's why Hostillian was the best Shifter to oversee one of the wheat fields. Hostillian didn't take shit off anyone. Especially teens required to learn how to grow a cash crop. I scanned the bustling exhibition of teenage self-control and returned to Hostillian's arched black eyebrow. "I see you have everything under control."

He didn't miss a heartbeat. "So you've been sent to evaluate me?"

Not one soul in the room dared to pause and stare at the subtle accusation. "No, my friend. I've brought that combine part somebody requested from Augustus." I stepped casually across the wooden planking between him and I. "I'll be leaving at sunrise."

"Oh?" Hostillian's dark eyebrow fell back into its line of indifference. "Why the hurry?"

"Lucius mated," Trajan laughed.

Hostillian leaned slightly to peer around my shoulder beyond my back. "Don't you have something you should be doing, Trajan?"

The man's slow and steady voice could move mountains more than his solid build. Chuckling would have hurt my little brother's feelings though. So, I choked down the sensation and tried to focus on Hostillian's poker face.

Hostillian straightened back into his position, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe and slid his curious gaze to me. "Mated?"

Well, most Shifters jumped at the chance. Maybe not Hostillian when the gorgeous little female set out to claim his tail. But most did. And since the discussion suddenly veered in the perfect direction to aide my mission… "Oh yes. You've heard the stories. My Wolf got one whiff of her and that was all she wrote. Maybe he wrote."

Hostillian's lips split in a controlled grin. "That's what they say." He chuckled a deep almost haunting sound, stepping toward the table. "Well, come eat with me." He dropped his arms and waved me over to where a tray of biscuits and bowl of cooked carrots waited among the hand-carved wooden serving dishes.

Like I'd earned his trust enough where he could drop the Gods-be-damned protective wall he'd decided was a waste of his time to hold up because I have nothing to hide from him. Hell, we'd spent most of our lives together. Albeit, his sire lived in another Territory. Sent him here to educate him in Augustus' lab. Just like Panther and Jaguar. Many Shifters requested Augustus admit their sons into his scientific program. So many that we never had a shortage of males available to help with growing wheat, hunting, processing meat and hides, pouring bullets, and scouring dead cities for supplies our storage room might need. I descended onto the end of the bench across the table from Hostillian who leaned his shoulders back against the wall.

"Expecting yet?" Hostillian asked.

Mate
, Wolf whimpered.

Quiet, Wolf
. Leave it to Hostillian to bring up the wrong subject. I wagged my head. "Too soon." A lie wouldn't shut Wolf up. But I'd make do. "It won't be long."

Trajan claimed the seat beside me.

"Is it ever long?" Hostillian didn't bother looking at him. "Any other news?"

Well, since I had the floor and the window of opportunity just opened wider… "Tacitus mated."

Hostillian's eyebrows arched as much as they did when he'd heard I mated.

"Yes. My mate's sister." Time to jam a two-by-four beneath the open window of opportunity. "A feisty redhead. Just what Tacitus needs."

Hostillian broke into a low methodical chuckle. "Needs? They're relative, my friend."

Not a good reply. But I'd gotten him talking about mating. "Well, we all can't be as self-sufficient as your independent Wolf."

His chuckle died and he sucked in a sharp breath. "A Shifter who can't leash his Wolf is a man with problems."

Oh. Bad. Bad for Josie. "Maybe. Or maybe not. You've got to learn to respect your inner beast. Know he's in it for your best interest. That he makes the best decisions for you and the rest of humanity. Or you'll never know whether or not you missed the one true chance to do your duty for Earth."

"Duty?" Hostillian's shoulders straightened just enough to indicate his question was a challenge. "Duty's in how you define saving Earth and humanity. Is taking on a distraction certain to keep you focused on anything but extraterrestrials going to help drive them from our world?"

Well, Augustus better ditch the little plan haunting him. Hostillian has no use for Josie's antics. Perfectly stated. Even if it was a roundabout way to put me in my place. At least, I'd managed to phrase the subject in such a way that I looked like I defended my choice to mate. Hostillian didn't appear too concerned. I'd just return to my mate, pass on what I'd learned, and be done with the insanity of my sire's matchmaking.

****

Violet and the code consumed the afternoon and evening after school each day while Lucius was away. I'd take her down to Augustus in his lab. We'd pour over her scrawlings. With Augustus completely awestruck. Me, wishing I could crawl into bed and sleep away the exhaustion clouding my mind. Langston's doctor called it brain fog. I could call the mind-numbing ache brain fog, but the fatigue wasn't cool and misty. No. It was more like a penicillin-induced inability to think simply because all the steps required to process penicillin could smother every ounce of enthusiasm in a person. Just knowing how one of your mistakes created a poison could keep you up all night. But I tried to pay attention to Violet and Augustus. Tried to focus on my sister's codes he tried to break. Attempted to help find a special code as much as possible. But possible seemed impossible when all I wanted to do was rest my head on the cold soothing hard black countertop.

"Augustus?" Violet piped.

"Yes?" His voice held nothing but respect for my young sister.

"I overheard some Shifters speaking today. They say the aliens might be looking for healers like Elise and I who can heal the sick from that Shifter fever."

Who spoke about something so terrifying around a young teen?

"Oh?" his voice didn't alter a hint. "I'd be surprised to find that to be true. I think the fever is some mutant germ. Nothing more. We would be wiser to worry about storing food for winter than to dwell upon some crazy theory about aliens hunting healers."

"Do you think the fever can kill Cougars too?"

I hadn't thought of that yet.

He hummed contemplatively. "I don't know." A little introspective something tainted his words.

Apparently, Augustus hadn't wondered about the fever affecting Cougars either. But they were a different kind of Shifter. Females.

The achy fog in my mind began burning away on some strange second wind as quickly as it had rolled in.

"Do you think the fever could have been here hunting for Cougars, Augustus?" Violet continued.

"I'll have to think about that."

"We won't let anyone die. Will we, Elise?" Violet begged.

Oh. Why did she have to think so much? I opened my eyes and rubbed my temple.

Violet and Augustus stared at me, both perched on tall stools across the black countertop.

With large round eyes begging me for an answer. What do I know? "Of course not." I tried to sound sincere.

To ease her overactive mind. But alien DNA seemed to make one's thoughts run away with just about any subject. The strange fever. Coding. Your fears. But what could be the purpose behind the fever?

Violet stared at me as if her gaze would shake the ultimate answer from my subconscious.

"I don't want anyone to die," she suddenly said.

Because we're healers. Death is painful enough to witness. Throw in the power to heal and we have more to lose. Maybe her declaration was supposed to gain her permission to heal from us adults. She'd do so in a heartbeat knowing her. "We won't let anyone die."

Violet's heart-shaped mouth stretched into a warm smile. She shot a beaming glance at Augustus who instantly showered her with his full attention like she was his own coveted daughter.

Good. Because we're orphans on a hostile planet filled with scared people who feel genetically inferior. Every ally gained, especially one who treated us like kin, is all we have to protect ourselves.

"We have quite a bit of time left before dinner." He smiled at both of us, turning his gaze to Violet in the end. "Why don't you show me how you weave those words in various directions among the sentences of your original message? That's pretty amazing. I'd like to see how you manage it."

Augustus apparently thought it best to veer away from theories of a healer-locating-disease strategy adopted by the aliens. But what about Cougars in the mix? Just how are they part of the bigger picture?

Violet went back to work scribbling her odd symbols from left to right. Augustus' gaze followed her pencil back and forth across her white paper.

Violet froze, shot me a curious glance, and eyed Augustus. "Cougars are different from werewolf Shifters, right?"

"Yes." He nodded.

Probably to encourage her to return to her writing.

"I've heard things about them. Probably things people made up because they are afraid of them," Violet stated, completely candid in her discussion with the biochemist. "Why would the aliens make them different? To protect them from this fever?" Her questioning gaze slid across the countertop to mine.