Novice Defender

by Marisa Chenery

  “I have no idea,” she replied.

  “Did you two have a fight?”

  “Yeah, but it wasn’t anything serious. At least, I didn’t think it was.” She peered around Mathias at the sound of Calan laughing.

  Mathias put his hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention back to him. “Ignore them. I don’t know why Calan is doing this, but I’m sure Becca is behind most of it. Don’t let it get to you. He’ll realize what an ass he’s being and come back begging for you to forgive him.” He chucked her under the chin and smiled.

  Jerrica could only manage a small grin. She couldn’t deny that it hurt seeing her mate with Becca. If that was what Calan intended her to feel, then it was working.

  Mathias walked away, calling for everyone’s attention. Calan and Becca continued to speak to each other. Jerrica had to pull her gaze off them. She couldn’t stand to look at them anymore.

  “Mathias is right,” Austin said. “Don’t let them get to you.”

  Jerrica had almost forgotten that Austin was there. She turned her gaze to him. “That’s easier said than done.”

  “I know. Just remember that I’m here if you ever want to talk to someone—about anything.”

  She nodded. “I will.”

  The gates opened, and the wagon went through it with the workers following. Austin went to join the group. Jerrica hung back a bit, waiting to see what Calan would do. So far, he hadn’t made any move to head out to the field.

  Once Jerrica was close to the pair, she said, “Calan, aren’t you coming?”

  He turned his head toward her and kept his arms on the tops of Becca’s shoulders. “I’ll be there in a minute. I’m sure you can handle everything until then,” he said in a put-out-sounding voice.

  Calan focused back on Becca and continued talking, dismissing Jerrica as if she were a nuisance. Jerrica walked toward the gates again, feeling hurt and angry at the same time. What the hell was wrong with Calan?

  A half hour after Jerrica had taken her place on the lookout hill, Calan finally came through the gates in wolf form. Instead of joining her, he went to the very end of the field and sat on his haunches. She clenched her jaw and forced herself not to look at him. She swept the area with her gaze. If he wanted to be like that, then fine. She’d ignore him as well. There was no way she’d let on that what he did bothered her. She wouldn’t be the first one to break whatever this was. Calan had started it, and he could be the one to apologize.

  The day progressed with them patrolling separately. Jerrica ended up going wolf and keeping to that form, since she could run faster like that between the field and the orchard. Calan actually didn’t even go to the latter, leaving her to check on the workers alone. His behavior more than confused her. He’d never shirked his duty before. He’d always been so dedicated. For some reason, that had all changed—and not for the better.

  At lunch break, Jerrica remained on the hilltop as the workers formed a line behind the food wagon. It didn’t surprise her that Calan was almost at the front of it. Becca was there. Instead of moving to the side to feed him the sandwich she’d made him, Becca turned to the back of the wagon and took out a basket. Calan, still in wolf form, went down on his belly for her to climb onto his back. He then ran to the field before entering the tree line.

  Jerrica couldn’t hold back a low growl. How dare Calan do that. Only she rode on his back while he was a wolf. She’d even learned how to shoot arrows while she did it. It was their thing, not his and Becca’s.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Jerrica watched Austin climb the hill. She turned to look at him. He carried two sandwiches.

  Once he stood in front of her, he offered her one. “Here. I got yours. You need to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she said telepathically.

  “You just think you aren’t. Don’t let Calan know he’s getting to you.”

  “He left with Becca, so he wouldn’t know if I ate or not. And I doubt he’d notice if he was here.”

  “Calan might not, but Becca will. When there is a sandwich left over, she’ll figure it was yours. Do you really want her to know that seeing her with Calan is affecting you? That’s what she wants.”

  Jerrica sighed. “You’re right. I’ll eat.”

  She shifted to her human form, tightening the harness on her back before she took the sandwich from Austin. They sat side by side on the grass and ate. Austin didn’t push her to talk, for which she was grateful. Her life had changed so drastically, and the one for whom she’d done it suddenly no longer wanted to be around her. It wasn’t as if she could go back to being the old her.

  Jerrica had just swallowed the last of her food when the wind shifted direction, and she detected the scent of a zombie. She sniffed the air. There was only one. Not much of a threat and something she could easily handle on her own. That didn’t stop her from gazing at the forest to see if Calan would appear to end the undead. He was nowhere to be seen.

  She stood and pulled her bow off her back. Austin looked up at her. “A zombie?” Jerrica nodded. “Where? I don’t see or hear one.”

  “I can smell it. It’s headed toward the field from the trees. Only one. Stay here.”

  She ran down the hill and to the spot where she figured the zombie would appear. Jerrica could just hear the creature’s moans. She reached over her shoulder and drew an arrow out of her quiver. Once she had it nocked, she pulled back on the string and waited for the undead to appear.

  With her keen eyesight, Jerrica was able to see the zombie before it was within range for her to shoot. The thing that had once been a man shambled closer toward her, its gaze dead and its body well into decomposition. The shirt it wore was in tatters and looked to be rotting away. A low moan pushed past its almost nonexistent lips with every other step.

  Jerrica took aim at its forehead. She blew out a breath, then let the arrow fly. It landed with a sickening thud where she’d targeted, and the zombie collapsed, as if a puppet master had cut its strings.

  She stepped into the trees. The sound of someone following had Jerrica looking over her shoulder. It was Austin. She shook her head. “I thought I told you to stay on the hill.”

  “You said there was only the one. Right?”

  Jerrica sniffed the air and nodded. “Yeah, there was only the one.”

  “Then I’m perfectly safe. You took care of it. I’ll get your arrow.”

  Austin walked past Jerrica to the undead. He made short work of pulling out her arrow before he cleaned it on what remained of the zombie’s shirt. He handed it to her. She shoved it into her quiver.

  After motioning for Austin to step back a bit, Jerrica waved her hand over the zombie. It instantly burst into blue-green flames, then quickly burned until there was nothing left but ash. She turned then headed toward the field.

  Austin fell into step beside her. “Do you think Calan will come back soon? Lunch break is almost over.”

  Jerrica shrugged. “I have no idea. And, right now, I don’t much care if he does or not.”

  He nudged her with his arm and grinned. “It’s a good thing we have the new Werewolf Defender to stand guard over us. I know you’ll keep us safe.”

  She didn’t say anything in return. She was good when it came to a zombie or two, and she could take them out with her bow and arrows, but anything more… She was a failure.

  * * * *

  Calan didn’t put in another appearance until the work day was almost over. He dropped Becca off at the gates before he took up his spot at the end of the field. Jerrica ignored him. There was no way she’d acknowledge that he’d basically spent the time doing nothing with Becca.

  Once Mathias called it quits for the day, Jerrica waited until the workers were almost at the gate before she ran in the direction of the orchard. Her father would be out there. Even though he was now the leader of the settlement and no longer had to take on his previous job, he continued to go there before the workers left to see how the harvest of the ripe fruit had gone that
day.

  She waited until her dad had finished talking to one of the boys who worked there before she came up to him. He smiled when he saw her. She shifted to her human form.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “What’s up? I would have thought you would have been with Calan, heading home for dinner.”

  “I thought I’d walk home with you and have a talk.”

  “Okay. What about?” He started walking in the direction that would take them to the gates. Jerrica kept pace beside him.

  “It’s Calan. He’s not acting like himself. He seems to be getting…close to Becca.”

  “What do you mean by ‘close’?”

  “Like…really close. This morning he was at the gates with Becca, acting as if she were the only one there. And at lunch break he went off with her on his back while he was in wolf form. He didn’t return with her until a little while ago.”

  Her dad’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t sound like the Calan I know. Why would he go off with Becca?”

  “I have no idea. He’s acting as if he’d rather be with her than me.”

  Her father put his hand on her arm to bring her to a stop, then he turned her to face him. “You can’t think that. You’re his mate. He changed you so you’d be just like him. And you are the only one he could change.”

  Jerrica met her dad’s gaze and had to hold back the hurt that Calan had caused from rising to the surface. “I don’t think he cares about that anymore, especially since he let Becca ride on his back while he was in wolf form. That was supposed to be something he only did with me.”

  Her eyes burned with unshed tears, even though Jerrica tried her best to hold on to her emotions. Her dad put his arms around her and gathered her close in a tight hug. Jerrica pressed her cheek against his chest as a tear, then another rolled down her face. He patted her back and kissed the top of her head.

  Jerrica wiped her cheek. “I shouldn’t be crying. I’m a Werewolf Defender. I have to be strong.”

  “You might be an immortal werewolf, but you will always be my girl. If you want to cry, then cry. It just makes you human like the rest of us.”

  She stopped fighting the tears and let them come. Jerrica cried as her dad held her like he always did when she was hurt or upset about something. She knew he’d be there for her whenever she needed him.

  After her tears ran dry, her dad said, “If you want, I can have a chat with Calan and see what’s gotten into him.”

  Jerrica pulled out of his embrace and wiped the wetness from her face. “No. Please don’t. I’ll handle it. I’m going to give him a few days then see what he does. I’ll confront him if nothing changes.”

  Her dad put his arm around her shoulders and set them to walking again. “My offer still stands if you decide you do want me to talk to him.”

  “I know.” She smiled.

  To be honest, Jerrica didn’t know what she’d do if Calan did decide that he no longer wanted her as his mate. If he moved on to the next settlement, leaving her behind—or, God forbid, took Becca with him—it would devastate her.

  Chapter Six

  A week went by and Calan remained distant. If anything, he seemed to grow closer and closer to Becca. Jerrica had yet to confront him, even though she’d told her dad that she would. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want to set herself up for more heartbreak. Calan wasn’t being nice to her when their paths did happen to cross. He looked at her the same way Becca did, as if Jerrica were nothing but a bug to be squashed or mud on their boots that needed to be scrubbed away.

  Calan no longer bothered to show up to help patrol the field and orchard. That job was now solely Jerrica’s responsibility. Luckily, the zombies that did make an appearance came in ones or twos. She easily ended them with her bow and arrows, though surely it was only a matter of time before a herd of them showed up. She didn’t know what she’d do then.

  Her family didn’t bring the subject of Calan up very often, for which Jerrica was thankful. She had a hard enough time coping with everything as it was. Mathias had assigned Austin to help her stand guard, without saying too much about it. Austin now brought his own bow and arrows with him to the field. He ended up not being too bad a shot, and he improved with some help from Jerrica.

  The harvest was in full swing. The workers picked peas, beans and other vegetables to distribute throughout the settlement. Jerrica’s mom kept busy doing the canning that would have to last them through the winter months.

  * * * *

  Jerrica had been in a deep sleep when someone pounded on the cabin’s door. She glanced toward the window. It was still dark out, but it had to be a few hours before dawn. She rolled onto her side to go back to sleep. But when the pounding came a second time, she heard her father’s heavy footfalls head toward the door. There was a murmur of voices before her dad called to her.

  “Jerrica, wake up. I need you to get dressed and come down here.”

  She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Okay. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  It didn’t take her long to climb out of bed, then pull on some pants, a shirt and her boots. Jerrica left the loft and met her dad at the door. One of the settlers who stood guard on the walls during the night was on the porch.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Her father answered. “Tony here needs your help. There’s a small herd of zombies milling in front of the gates. They have to be taken care of before the workers can go out to the field and orchard.”

  Jerrica swallowed. “How many of them are there?”

  “About fifteen,” Tony replied.

  “Did you go to Calan’s cabin to talk to him about it?”

  Tony snorted. “Yeah, but he told me not to bother him with it—to go ask you.”

  Her dad met her gaze when she looked at him. “It has to be done, Jerrica. We need the workers out there, and if we don’t clear the herd, they could wreck the crops in the field. You know they don’t care where they walk.”

  “Right.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Calan first. If he still won’t do it, then I will.”

  Tony nodded. “I’ll let the others know you’ll be coming.” He turned then left to head back to the gates.

  Jerrica took another deep breath. The thing she dreaded the most had finally arrived, unless she could get Calan to do it. Fifteen zombies would be the most that she’d ever faced at one time. There was no way her bow and arrows would cut it. She would have to take them out as a Werewolf Defender in wolf form. The big question was whether or not she could get over her fear to accomplish that task.

  “You can do this, Jerrica,” her dad said, drawing her from her thoughts.

  “Even if I don’t feel as if I can, I have no choice. The settlement has to be protected. I am going to Calan first and see if I can talk some sense into him.”

  “I’ll meet you at the gates.”

  Her dad headed to his and her mother’s bedroom. Jerrica stepped outside before she closed the door. She jogged out of the yard and onto the road that would take her to Calan.

  Once she reached the cabin, Jerrica didn’t bother to knock. She opened the door then stepped inside. She swept the space with her gaze until it landed on the bed. She jerked at what she saw.

  Calan lay on the bed in wolf form, sleeping. He wasn’t alone. Becca lay next to him, also sleeping, curled around his furred side. The mattress no longer was bare. There were sheets and a quilt on it. Becca lay under the latter with Calan on top.

  Jerrica stared at them, shocked to her core. She’d known Becca had gotten close to Calan, but she’d had no idea the other girl actually spent the night in his cabin—in the same bed. Had they done more than just sleeping? She hadn’t thought he could hurt her any more than he already had. Obviously, she’d been wrong.

  She grumbled before she said loudly, to wake the pair, “Calan, get up. Now.”

  Calan lifted his head, then curled his upper lip as a low growl rumbled out of him. Becca threw back the q
uilt and sat up. She glared in Jerrica’s direction. At least she was dressed.

  “What do you think you’re doing, coming in here without knocking, then waking us up?” Becca demanded.

  Jerrica ignored Becca and looked at Calan, who remained in wolf form. “There is a herd of zombies at the gates. You need to end them.”

  “No,” Becca said.

  She set her gaze on Becca. “You don’t have any say in the matter.”

  “Yes, I do. Besides, Calan already knows about the herd. He sent Tony to you for a reason. Calan is no longer going to do that anymore. You’re a Defender. You do it.”

  “My mate can answer for himself.”

  The other girl laughed with no humor. “He is no longer your mate. He doesn’t want you. He wants me. You’re nothing to him now.”

  Jerrica narrowed her gaze to Becca. “Just because you say so doesn’t make it true. Calan changed me into a Defender, and he was only able to do that to the one who is his mate. Me.” She looked at Calan. “Can you please come over here and talk to me.”

  He jumped off the bed and padded to where Jerrica and Becca stood. He stayed at Becca’s side. A bright light surrounded Calan’s body as he shifted.

  “Just leave, Jerrica,” he said, with exasperation lacing his words. “I’m not going to take care of that herd. Becca is right. I’m done killing zombies because everyone expects me to since I’m a Werewolf Defender. It’s time I looked out for myself.”

  Jerrica glanced at Becca before she set her gaze on Calan once more. “Can we talk alone?”

  Calan put his arm around Becca’s shoulders and pulled her close to his side. “No. Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of Becca.”

  Becca smiled smugly.

  “Is what she said true?” Jerrica asked softly. “You no longer want me as your mate?”

  He met her gaze then spoke. “Of course it’s true. Changing you was a mistake. Why would I want to spend the rest of eternity with you? You can’t even do the job of Werewolf Defender properly. Plus, I found someone who’s shown me how much I’ve let humanity take advantage of me. Becca has opened my eyes to how badly I’ve been taken for granted—unlike you, who are just like the rest. You expect me to be on call day and night, not thinking that I need to live my life the way I wish. So no, I don’t want you as my mate anymore.”