Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) (19 page)

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 watching 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.”

“Why not just tell him the truth? Seems like a big chunk of town already knows.” As soon as she said it, she tried to imagine the sheriff’s reaction, or the mayor’s for that matter, to the notion that many of the women of a certain age running around Wolf’s Point turned into wolves from time to time. It was hard to say whether or not it would be better to be believed or disbelieved at that point.

“Well, on the offhand chance that he didn’t call your family to see if you could be committed, there’s the greater likelihood that he’d lock you up and throw away the key. Amazing how many people around here suddenly have drugs in their car or their garage when they’re starting to cause trouble.” Lizzie grimaced and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Becca sat there looking at her with her mouth hanging open for what seemed like a solid minute. “You know this and you work for him?” She finally sputtered out.

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on the department and he wins elections. Besides, a lot of the time, he’s right about the troublemakers. Not as often as the wolves are, mind you, but often enough. Man’s just not the believing type when it comes to this sort of thing though. So that leaves you and me giving him something he can believe.”

“Boy Scout reunion gone wrong?”

“Now there’s a thought. Tricky to explain about the obvious gasoline burns in the woods though. However, he might go for a camping trip for potential meth heads looking to case out the area. He’s already got us checking for that. We could claim you saw some stuff just before something blew up,” Lizzie studied her speculatively. “Any chance he’d buy the notion that you have a thing for bad boys?”

Becca rolled her eyes as Erin appeared behind them, making them both jump. “Probably not. He’s likely to have met Ed at some point. Why not fall back on the old ‘kids in the woods fooling around until responsible adults stumble across them, accidents happen’ version of events?”

“Because we used that the last time these clowns came to town and it didn’t go over that well then.” Lizzie rolled her eyes. “They’re a little old for the kid defense anyway.”

Becca glanced past her at the rest of the room. Shelly was back in the center of the circle, now considerably emptier. Becca realized that people must have started leaving once they had their orders. Or requests, depending on how you wanted to look at it. In fact, it was down to just the Pack and a few others, including Pete and Lizzie. She wondered what their orders were going to look like.

No one had to spend much time wondering. “All right. Some of you know or at least suspect that there are ways to use the magic of the valley against intruders. And you’re right. But there are a couple of problems, the first one being that we’re not sure how to do it, seeing as we lost the archives when the Women’s Club burned down. I’ve been meeting with my mom and the other elders but no one remembers all of the rituals, just bits and pieces that worked at one time or another. The second problem is the price for calling on that magic. Legend says that every wolf who did it in the past didn’t live to see it work.”

A cascade of whispers and muttering filled the room. Erin murmured, “Great,” in a slightly sarcastic tone. Becca gave her a sidelong grimace and wondered what else had been in the “archives.” Lizzie raised an eyebrow as she glanced at both of them.

Shelly drew in a breath and scanned the room. Everyone fell silent again. “I know what it sounds like, but it’s an option we may need to explore. In the meantime, we need to step up our patrols. Today, we’ve seen that Sara and her followers are a clear danger to us no matter what form we’re in. We need to know where they are and what they’re doing at all times. And if there’s a way to split them up, maybe scare off a few at a time.”

“Guess I’m off house arrest,” Becca muttered to Erin, without thinking. Her voice was louder than she’d expected and she went beet-red and clapped a hand over her mouth a second later. It wasn’t soon enough to avoid Shelly’s cold stare though, and she hung her head as she looked down at the rug.

“Erin will be handing out the team assignments. We patrol in pairs and stay in radio contact as much as possible. It’s more reliable than cell coverage around here. See Adelía if you don’t have a radio already. She and I will patrol tonight until one
am
. Be careful, everyone.” She nodded and was immediately surrounded by women asking questions.

Erin pulled out a clipboard. “All right, I’ve got Gladys and Mei on for tomorrow morning. Then it’s Molly and Carly from afternoon until evening.” She looked around to make sure she was being heard and caught Becca’s inquiring stare. “Me and Becca tomorrow night from dark until one
am
.”

She kept calling out team names but by then, Becca was too flustered to hear her. Should they be out patrolling together? Wouldn’t that be too distracting? She fretted so much that she very nearly forgot that before she started turning into a wolf, she’d been going to bed at ten sharp. The wee hours of the morning were starting to look pretty normal now.

At any rate, before she could ask about it, Adelía came by and handed her a radio. A few minutes of instructions on how to use it followed and then she moved on to the next team. Lizzie tapped her shoulder, “I’ll come by the store tomorrow and we can talk then. I’m guessing the sheriff will want some names so you may want to pick a favorite Nester to rat out. See you then.”

Becca watched her walk away and thought about secrets and lies and how many more of them she was living with lately. It wasn’t as if she thought there was much point in telling the sheriff the truth, but that this didn’t seem like the life she saw herself leading when she grew up. She wasn’t sure what was anymore.

Erin poked her gently in the ribs. “You still with us? We need to get going. Pete and Shelly want to hit the hay for as long as they can.”

Becca got up obediently, noticing for the first time that her knees had stopped hurting when she got up after sitting for awhile. It seemed like the aches and pains she’d had for the last few years were dropping away, little by little. She looked down at her body and frowned. “So…did you stop hurting, in that, you know, creaky middle-aged sort of way once you started to change?”

“Just noticed that part, huh? Yep. It’s one of the best of the side effects, in my humble opinion.” Erin started moving toward the door. “Funny, I figured you were going to ask about what happens when we get too old to change any more. You do realize that we’re not immortal, right?”

“Ummm…” Come to think of it, why hadn’t she asked that question? Probably because they’d mentioned “elders.” Odd how no one ever defined who they were. Did you just wake up one day and discover that you were now an elder werewolf or what?

Becca rubbed her cheek and frowned back at Erin. Life was just one long series of questions these days. She wondered if there would have been so many if she’d stayed as she was. But then, middle-aged single divorcees who didn’t transform probably had a different set of questions of their own.

“So we have elders, as you’ve heard us mention,” Erin continued, just like she had asked the question out loud. “You probably noticed some of the women around the dining room table?” Becca nodded as if she actually had noticed and tried hard to remember. There had been a group of elderly women at the table, that much she was clear on.

Erin went on, “Those are some of them. When we get too old to change without side effects, the magic lets us go, more or less. I will say that they’re the healthiest, sharpest bunch of old ladies I’ve ever seen, even without changing. We’ll have to go by Circle House so I can introduce you to them.”

“Circle House?” They were outside now, and the wind was picking up. Becca thought she could smell something, just the tiniest whiff of a smell that wasn’t wolf or tree or regular nighttime at Shelly and Pete’s place. She turned her head first one way, then the other, sniffing.

“Circle House is just what we call it. It’s up at Shady Oaks, kind of a retirement community for the Pack within a retirement community for everyone else. We’ll definitely stop by later on in the week. In the meantime—what’s up?” The last question was in a much lower tone of voice, one that it would have been hard for nonwolf-enhanced ears to pick up on.

“Not sure,” Becca answered in the same pitch. Now she was sending all her senses out into the darkness, listening for anything out of place while she peered into the shadows beneath the trees. All of the Pack and their visitors had cleared out by now so there was a good field of sight all around the house and the yard.

Not that it helped. The light scent on the wind vanished as soon as it had appeared. She couldn’t hear anything or see anything moving.
Maybe being a wolf enhances my imagination too, lucky me,
she thought. Even so, she found herself beginning a big circle that would take her around the house and yard.

Erin fell in next to her and didn’t ask any questions, which Becca was glad of. It made her feel like her judgment might be worth something. Even if the Pack beta couldn’t sense anything wrong, at least she was willing to trust Becca’s instincts.

They slipped quietly through the shadows, avoiding the dry leaves and small breakable sticks where they could. Still, they were so noisy to Becca’s wolf hearing that she held up her hand and stopped them both when they got to the trees that ringed the backyard. Her gut told her something still didn’t feel right, but the harder she listened and sniffed and looked, the more normal things seemed to be.

Finally she dropped her hand with an exasperated slap against her thigh. “I’m just being a nervous Nelly, I guess. There’s nothing here.”

Erin caught her arm, her expression turning serious in the moonlight. “Don’t ever question your instincts, Becca. If something felt wrong, it felt wrong. There could be lots of reasons for it, but your first thought was to check it out and that’s the way it should be. Okay?”

Becca could feel an odd tingle run through her arm into the rest of her body. For one mad, crazy moment, she thought about kissing Erin again. Then she shook herself and nodded instead. This wasn’t the time or the place. Instead, she followed Erin back to the car in silence and they drove back to town. Erin dropped her off and pulled into her own driveway.

Becca watched her go inside before she let herself into her dark little house. Maybe it was time to get a dog or a cat for company. If Shelly could manage to have pets without eating them, so could she. But then, she might not be living here that much longer, at least if Ed had his way, and it would be harder to get an apartment if she had a pet. Or so she’d heard.

Her spirits felt incredibly heavy, nearly unbearably so and she was too agitated to go to sleep. She made herself a cup of decaf tea and wondered what to do next, finally settling on sitting in front of the TV. She channel-surfed until she settled on watching late night comics. The sense of unease finally ebbed as she got sleepier. Eventually, she fell asleep on the couch, dropping into a dreamless sleep until morning.