Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) (15 page)

Becca kept watching the machines in the trees until she knew what to do. She moved forward, ignoring Erin’s frantic nip at her shoulder. As silently as she could, she slid past the arc of the first camera. Then she hid again in the shadows while she watched the moving machines, studying their patterns as if they were prey. She gauged how far she was from the barrels and her human brain told her wolf self what to do. She gathered herself for one big run that would take her through the camp to her target.

But the humans were moving around the fire now, grabbing their guns and looking out into the woods. She wondered what Shelly had planned and where the others were. Whatever they were doing, she hoped it would be a good distraction.

Then one of the men looked at a glowing machine in his hand and shouted. He pointed back into the woods, over by where she and Erin had left the rest of the Pack. The humans began to split up, pointing their guns out into the trees as they left their camp.

Becca knew she had to act now before they found everyone else, before it was too late. She shot out of her hiding place and dashed around the tree where the closest camera was mounted. A thin beam of light sliced through one branch over her head, then another. It began to burn a trail in the dirt behind her as she ran. She raced toward the barrels, moving faster than she could have ever imagined her middle-aged body could move, even on four legs.

A bullet whizzed past, followed by a second and a third. The humans had seen her and were firing at her now. She dodged as best she could, then threw herself at the first of the barrels with all her strength, knocking it toward the fire. Then she slammed into the second and shoved it toward the fire too. An instant later, she gathered herself into a huge leap that would take her away from the rolling barrels and the flames and back into the safety of the woods.

A sharp pain burned its way through the fur on her shoulder and she yelped and staggered. There were more shots, then she felt a second burning sensation in her back leg. She went down with a whimper. The bullets felt like they were fusing with her blood, freezing her in place. She couldn’t even move when one of the humans approached.

“Well, we got one of you anyway,” Oya’s voice was thick with satisfaction and bloodlust. There was a click from her gun and Becca knew she was done for. She closed her eyes, letting herself drift off as waves of pain swept through her.

Then there was an explosion of flame, and a ball of fire knocked Oya sideways. She hit the ground and rolled away with a shout, “What the hell is going on?” The air around Becca was glowing against her closed lids, the wind a hot tongue on her fur and skin. Then Oya spoke again, “Holy shit, it’s you.” Her voice was soft.

Then there was a vicious snarl and Becca could hear Oya go down under the weight of an angry wolf. She was shouting and the air was full of bullets. Then the thicket was a blur of wolves. There were screams from near the fire, the sound of guns firing. Then a second explosion.

Becca could feel herself being picked up by someone who smelled familiar. She couldn’t feel her legs anymore. Instead, it was as if she was suspended in a black velvet pool. She sank in as whoever was carrying her started to run.

There were also bandages around her middle and her thigh just as she’d expected. Now that she was fully awake, there was a fierce ache that ran from her midsection down through her legs and up into her chest. She rattled the chain again in complete disbelief. “What the hell is going on?”

The door opened and a dark-skinned young woman in a blue uniform poked her head in. “Oh good, you’re awake.” She bustled in and began checking a machine next to the bed. Becca could read her nametag once she got closer to the bed. It said “María Hernandez.” But the name didn’t ring a bell. Had they taken her to a hospital outside the valley?

“Listen,” Becca said, clearing her throat to get the woman’s attention, “I don’t mean to be troublesome, but where am I? And why the hell am I chained to this bed?” Becca chided herself silently for the “hell” but then, these were pretty extraordinary circumstances.

The nurse or whatever she was raised an eyebrow and stepped carefully back out of reach. “It’s standard procedure, ma’am. Let me get Dr. Green. He can explain it better than I can and he needs to check up on you now that you’re awake.” She vanished out the door without, Becca couldn’t help but notice, unlocking the cuff. When had she become a dangerous criminal element?

That sent her thoughts in a spiral. Had she killed someone else, maybe someone who didn’t deserve it this time? But she couldn’t have. They’d shot her before she could have done anything like that. She was in an agony of impatience and sheer terror by the time the doctor showed up.

When he walked in, Becca started. The studious looking youngish man with his round spectacles could have been Shelly’s younger brother. She squinted against the light from the blinds behind him. He smiled, with a flash of white teeth, and she realized who he was. Shelly’s cousin, Dr. David Green, had moved back to Wolf’s Point from the West Coast a few months back. This must be him.

“María said you were awake.” He picked up her wrist and checked her pulse, then reached toward her face. She jerked away, then forced herself to sit still while he shone a penlight into her pupils. Whatever he saw must have reassured him because he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cuff.

Becca tried to pull her newly freed foot up to check it. “Ow! Why did you chain me up like that?”

He frowned then looked puzzled. “You don’t know? It’s standard procedure when a Pack member comes in. Doctor Chin always did it when she ran the clinic, just as a precaution. Shelly will be in soon to explain it a little more, if you like. How are you feeling otherwise?”

Becca stared up at him. Did the whole town know that they all ran around the woods on all fours every full moon? This was getting ridiculous. She couldn’t quite bring herself to ask. Saying it out loud to anyone would make it more real than it already was.

There was a noise in the hallway just as he pulled out his cell. Sheriff Henderson strode into the room, his face set with a stern frown. Lizzie Blackhawk was on his heels, her sunglasses resting on the end of her nose. “Hello, Miz Thornton.” Henderson’s eyes went everywhere but to Becca’s face. He fidgeted like he was embarrassed to be there. “Dr. Green.” The sheriff’s head bobbed in a nod like it was on strings.

He cleared his throat, his discomfort clear in the sound. “Nice to see you’re awake, Miz Thornton. We’re wondering if you’re doing well enough to tell us what happened the other night. Between the fire and the broken cameras in the trees, it looks like you were on to something with your campers.” From the way he was looking at the doctor, he seemed to be waiting for more of an answer from him than from Becca herself.

She frowned and started to give him a piece of her mind when Lizzie caught her eye. From behind the sheriff, the deputy tilted her head forward and closed her eyes like she was falling asleep. Then she looked back up and winked. Becca smothered a smile as Dr. Green answered for her. “She just woke up, Sheriff. I think we might need to give her a bit more time. Right, Ms. Thornton?”

All at once, Becca realized that she really was exhausted. She yawned, only remembering to cover her mouth at the last minute. “Honestly, Sheriff, I can’t remember much right now, just an explosion and a lot of chaos. I was out for a walk when it happened. But I’ll probably remember more after I get a little more sleep.”

The sheriff scowled, but nodded as if this was what he had expected. “I can see that, ma’am.” He sighed heavily, then seemed to start to say something else. Dr. Green cleared his throat.

Henderson looked at the wall. “I’ll send Lizzie around tomorrow to collect your statement, Miz Thornton, if the doctor thinks you’re ready.” He shook his head. “Haven’t seen this kind of craziness in this town since I was a deputy. I think we’ll need to call in the State Patrol on this one,” His mouth drooped, giving him the look of an old dog that had just been woken up and wanted nothing more than to lie back down again. “All right. Ma’am, Doctor.” He nodded and strode out. Lizzie glanced back and gave Becca another wink and a nod as she followed him out.

Becca closed her eyes while the doctor fussed over her. It seemed like it was just five minutes later when Shelly walked in, but the light through the blinds was dimmer now. Much dimmer, so it must be almost nightfall. Shelly frowned as she saw Becca open her eyes. She seemed to be on the brink of saying something not too pleasant from her expression.

“Well, it looks like we’re on the road to recovery.” Erin leaned against the open door frame. Shelly and Becca jumped at the same time, and Shelly turned on her heel to face her. Erin met Shelly’s glare head on.

“You know I can’t let this go.” Shelly’s voice had the shadow of a growl running through it. “We’ve got two more Nesters in the hospital as it is. I think I know what you intended to do, Becca, but sooner or later, someone’s going to be wondering about some very sophisticated wolves. And every time someone starts wondering, we’re in danger.”

“I should have stopped her. I’m the one who’s supposed to be training her. That makes this mess as much my fault as it is hers.” Erin tone was neutral but Becca could see her body stiffen from across the room.

Becca cringed a bit; she might’ve gotten someone burned pretty badly. This wasn’t the time for feeling too guilty to speak up, though. “Not that I don’t love everyone talking about me like I’m not here, but it seems to me that I’m responsible for my own actions.” Becca couldn’t quite sit up yet, though the sharp ache had faded a lot since she’d woken up earlier. Instead she put as much weight as she could into her words even though her heart was racing in something approaching pure terror. What if they kicked her out for this?

Both women turned to look at her and she had a disturbing flash of wolf eyes in their human faces. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Whatever was coming next, she could handle it. Right? She forced her eyes open and looked at Shelly just in time to meet her stare head on.

Shelly’s lip curled for an instant and the wolf looked out from her dark eyes. From somewhere deep inside her, Becca felt a growl building. It surged up her throat and tumbled out from between her lips before she could stop it. Shelly growled back and Erin stepped forward, moving to put herself between them like she couldn’t help herself.

Becca realized what she’d done at the same instant and clapped her hands over her face. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbled through her fingers. “I’m still feeling like crap and I barely know what I’m doing. I know I shouldn’t have run into their camp like that but I was so worried about all of you, about the Pack. I was only thinking about stopping them.” She dragged her hands down into her lap, and looked up, not quite meeting Shelly’s eyes this time. “Go ahead. Tell me what happens to me now.”

She could feel the tension ease from the other women like it had been uncorked. For a wild instant, she wondered what it would be like to touch Erin and feel her taut muscles relax.
Not now, not now.

Shelly cleared her throat, “This is where we talk about why I’m the alpha. For one thing, did it occur to you that I had a plan, one that didn’t involve you running wild by your lonesome and getting shot?”

Becca stared down at the blanket. “Honestly, I didn’t think. I saw the lasers and the barrels and I got scared and mad. I just reacted.”

Shelly nodded. “As it happens, none of the rest of us got more than a few grazes and burns. The Nesters got burned when one of the barrels blew. At this point, the Sherriff realizes that it’s more than an out of control campfire so we’ll have to help him find a few Nesters. As for you, here’s what happens next: you don’t go anywhere without one of us at your side in either form. Not work, not home, not for strolls down by the river. Are we clear?”

Becca looked up, unable to keep from frowning. The whole babysitting thing was going to get old fast. It wasn’t so much that she loved being alone as it was that she was used to it. It gave her time to think about what was going on and to plan what was going to happen next—were they going to be moving in with her next?

Then she found herself wandering down a different mental path. She remembered what Oya had said the other night about her family, though it seemed like ages ago now. From the look on Shelly’s face, this probably wasn’t the time to ask and she buried it back down in her mind for later. It had a lot of company, right now; she wondered how she was ever going to get it all straight in her head.

She managed to croak out the one thought that was uppermost. “For how long?”