by Geonn Cannon
She held up a finger to silence them and listened. “Not yet. Okay. I walked in here because I know you’re going to leave before I do. You’ve got some packing to do.”
“This is our town, Miss Willow,” Girard said. “We’re not leaving because you came in and glowered at us, little girl.”
“It was your town. For a very long time. You sunk your claws in and held on tight, and that’s commendable. But it’s over. See, a couple of years ago, I walked into a room on behalf of every wolf in Seattle and talked a bunch of bullheaded humans to lay down their weapons and stop hunting us. I put an end to a war and saved countless canidae lives. I did it selfishly, really, to protect myself and my friends, but every wolf in Seattle... every wolf in the world, really... benefited from it. I don’t have an ace up my sleeve, Mr. Moreau. I finally cashed it in.”
The sound of a siren was building outside. Ari grinned and held her finger up again.
“There it is.”
At that moment it became clear that the sound wasn’t a siren; it was a howl. But even that was inaccurate, because it was a fluid and shifting tone which could only have come from multiple throats. The windows were closed but the howl was loud enough to be heard clearly through the glass. It echoed off the buildings, reverberating through downtown Seattle as pedestrians stopped and drivers turned down their radios to try pinpointing the origin of the sound. People on the ferries heard it as well. For anyone in or near Seattle that afternoon, it was impossible not to hear the unmistakable sound of dozens, if not hundreds, of howling wolves.
“You wanted a wolf,” Ari told the partners. “You’re getting every fucking wolf in town. Or as close as we could get on short notice. Milo and my mother had to move fast to spread the word. One thing I learned in prison is that I’m pretty popular among canidae. They felt they owed me a debt. I’m not comfortable with that kind of thing, so I was more than happy to get rid of it for a good cause.”
Gilles actually looked wary. “Are... do you plan to have us torn limb from limb?”
“No. I’m really not a killer, Lou. Not when there are other options. You’re going to leave. All of you. Don’t bother packing up, just take whatever you have on you and go.”
“Where, exactly, would you have us go?”
“I don’t care. This is my town, and I don’t want you in it anymore. I don’t want you deciding who goes to jail for what, or who has to die so you can live. Shannon Lisa Hardy. She was taking business classes. She was working here to pay her tuition, and you turned her into a pawn. You treated everyone who worked here like your personal chess pieces. It’s done. Go somewhere else. Good luck starting over from scratch without your firm to hide behind.”
Girard bared her teeth. “You said you’re not a killer.”
“When there are other options. I’m choosing not to kill you, but to put you in a situation where you’ll probably shrivel up and die a normal death. Just like anyone else in the world. You could try to find new victims, but I don’t think you’ll have much luck with your accounts frozen.”
Shock passed across Moreau’s face. “Pardon?”
“Oh. Yeah, apparently when you go to the police with evidence that a law firm has engaged in the systemic coverup of multiple homicides over the years, the police tend to freeze any money the partners of that firm might use to flee. Hope you hit the ATM this morning.”
Moreau rounded the table, one hand extended for Ari’s throat. She turned to face him, arms still at her sides.
“I walked into this building with a homicide detective, you stupid motherfucker. You three are boned even without me turning up dead in your conference room.”
He glared at her, face red, nostrils flaring, but he dropped his hand without touching her.
Girard kept her voice level and measured. “If we are to have a chance of avoid arrest, we should most likely make haste.”
“Sure, cops,” Ari said. “Personally, I’d be more worried about how many wolves it had to take for that chorus you just heard. They’re down there in the street and they didn’t sound too friendly. Look, you don’t have to run. I personally think it would be the most entertaining trial in the world. Who do you think would flip on you? Cecily? Elise Gilpin, of course, is already prepared to talk now that it looks like you guys won’t be around to honor the deal you made with her sister. So please. Stay. Fight.”
Gilles was backing toward the door. All amusement had drained from his face. “We spent a century building this firm.”
“And you threw it all away by going after the wrong bitch.”
Gilles fled first. Ari watched him go, the roll of his hips becoming more pronounced as his trot turned into a run. Moreau paused at the conference room door to sneer at Ari before he followed at a gallop, his long limbs making him look like a giraffe. Lillian Girard stepped closer to the table and regarded Ari for a long, silent moment.
“We could have changed the world together, Ariadne.”
“Sure. Run.”
Girard smiled, turned, and strolled from the room. Ari waited until she and the other two had a chance to board the elevators and descend to begin their retreat. She went to the window and looked down to see if she could spot any of the canidae who had provided the howl, but she couldn’t see anything amiss. She took her phone from her pocket and sent the “all-clear” to Dale. A few seconds later, she got the reply.
“Mom+Milo okay 2. Come down.”
Ari left the conference room and walked through the offices of GG&M. Most employees were on the phone or engaged in a panicked conversation. The rest were in glass-fronted offices shredding whatever papers they could fit into the machine. The floor was filled with the sound of machinery slicing papers into unreadable ribbons, the chirp of phones going unanswered, and worried demands for answers. Ari didn’t slow down as she walked through the chaos.
She had to get downstairs to get her girl.
Chapter Thirty-One
By the time Ari got downstairs, Milo and Gwen had arrived and were waiting by the car with Dale. Gwen tried to keep her expression neutral but, by the time Ari reached them, she had started crying. Ari smiled and hugged her.
“Careful, Mom. You have to look cool in front of your girlfriend.”
Gwen laughed and kissed Ari’s cheek. “Are you okay?” She lightly touched one of the wounds on Ari’s cheek. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m good.” She took Gwen’s hands in her own to keep her from pawing at her. “I talked to the partners. I think I convinced them this was the end. They looked pretty spooked when they ran out. But I think we should probably keep our eyes open for a little while, just in case. Mom, maybe you could spend some time in England with Milo?”
Milo said, “You could help me pack.”
“Pack... for...?” Ari looked at Milo and raised an eyebrow. “Pack as in... pack up your home?”
“And come back to live here.”
Ari looked at Gwen. “Live here?”
“With me.”
“With you,” Ari repeated. She looked between them again. “It’s about time.”
Gwen smiled, relieved. “Are you really okay with it?”
Ari said, “You’re both adults. And I recently got a very hard lesson in what it’s like to be separated from the person you’re dying to be with. I’m not going to be the thing standing in the way of your happiness. Not after everything you gave up for me. If you feel like you need my blessing, you have it. But she doesn’t get to go in my room.” She turned on Milo. “And whatever happens, I am never going to call you ‘Mom.’”
Milo said, “I guess that’s fair enough.”
“Then okay. I’m happy for you. Both of you.” She rubbed her mother’s arm. “And I know you probably have some big dinner or something planned, but can we maybe postpone it? I’m exhausted and all I want to do is curl up and sleep for a few dozen hours.”
“Actually,” Gwen said, “we do have a little party planned, but Dale already convinced us to put it off until
the weekend. She had something she wanted to do first.” She kissed Ari’s forehead. “Good job, Ariadne. You made me proud today.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Gwen hugged Dale. “Take care of my girl.”
“I will. I love you.”
“Love you too, Dale.” She looked at Ari and then scanned the street. “You should have seen this place about five minutes ago. There were about forty wolves scattered all up and down through here. People were filming with their cameras.”
Milo grinned and affected an American accent. “Hey, man, where were you when all them wolves started howling downtown? Man, that was, like, totally insane!”
Gwen and Ari exchanged a look. Gwen whispered, “I’ll talk to her about the accent.”
“My accent is great.”
“Okay, honey.” Gwen looped an arm around Milo’s shoulders and guided her to their car. She blew a kiss to Ari. “Just remind me again which state you were aiming for...”
Ari and Dale were left alone on the street. “Hey,” Dale said.
“Hi there. I seem to remember you saying something about kissing me whenever you wanted. Does that also go for whenever I want you to kiss me?”
“Maybe.” Dale stepped forward and kissed her. “You ready to get out of here?”
Ari nodded. She walked around the back of the car and got into the passenger seat.
Dale said, “If you wanted to nap, we have a bit of a drive ahead of us.”
“We’re not going home? When Mom said you had something planned tonight, my mind went to a dirty place.”
“We can go home if you want. But I did have something else in mind.”
Ari said, “Okay. Do your thing, Red.”
Dale rubbed Ari’s leg and started the car. She drove north and, as she crossed the floating bridge to Eastside, Ari took her up on the offer to get some sleep. She wouldn’t say the car seat was more comfortable than the prison bed, but it was familiar and it meant she was free, so she wouldn’t have traded it for anything. She never fell into a full sleep but remained aware of Dale’s presence beside her. About half an hour into the trip, Dale turned on the radio and sang along quietly with the music.
When Ari woke and looked at her phone, she saw they’d been on the road for an hour. She looked around and only saw thickly-wooded forests. The road was flanked on either side by steel guardrails, but otherwise she couldn’t see any signs of civilization.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re almost there.”
Ari accepted the non-answer. Eventually Dale pulled into the spacious parking lot of a small brewery and pulled up next to the dumpster in a spot labeled for employees.
“Did you get me a job?”
“Hush, puppy.” Dale unfastened her seatbelt and got out of the car. “I talked to the owners and they’re going to let us park here for a couple of days.”
“A... wait, a couple of days?” Ari followed her to the back of the car, where she was unloading a tent, sleeping bags, and two backpacks stuffed to capacity. “What are you doing?”
Dale hesitated with her hand on the trunk. “I wanted it to be a surprise. But now I’m thinking you might just want to spend a night in your own home, in your own bed... shit. I may have fucked up.”
“Just tell me the plan,” Ari said.
“I thought after prison, anything with four walls would feel like a jail to you. Even if it was your home, even though you can’t wolf out yet. I don’t know. I thought the idea of closing a door and locking yourself up inside... I thought you probably had enough of that the past few weeks. So I found a spot where we can camp. It’s going to be kind of cold, but that means we’ll have the spot all to ourselves. But if you want to go home--”
Ari kissed her. Dale leaned into the kiss, letting one of the backpacks fall so she could put both hands on Ari’s hips.
“You’re my mate,” Ari whispered.
“And you’re my pack,” Dale said.
They kissed again. When they stepped back, Ari picked up the bag Dale had let fall. She slipped her arm into the strap and let it hang off her shoulder.
“Okay,” she said. “Lead the way.”
They split the supplies between them, including a cooler full of food, and headed into the forest. The fresh air tasted delicious, and her muscles loosened up almost as soon as they started walking. It wasn’t the same as a run, but the knowledge she could keep walking forward for as long as she wanted was enormously intoxicating. The trees closed behind them and blocked the brewery from view, which meant there were only trees, rocks, and brush in every direction. She was in the wilds with only Dale for company, and it was euphoric.
Ari braced herself for a long journey but Dale started to slow down after less than half a mile. She headed off the trail until she found a wide outcropping of rock. It was large enough for a tent and a campfire, flanked on two sides by winter-bare trees and on the other by a rocky shore of a lazy stream. On the other side of the water was a small hill covered with evergreens, hemlocks, and maples covered with red-orange leaves with moss on their trunks.
Dale put down her bags and faced Ari. “What do you think?”
“It’s a bit of a commute,” she said, “but I’d be willing to move here if you are.”
Dale smiled, and it lit up her whole face. She was absolutely gorgeous, Ari realized. She’d fallen in love with Dale and started taking her for granted, had stopped seeing her a stranger might, but now she could see it. Their time apart had shifted her perspective just enough that she could see just how jaw-dropping she was. Her breath caught in her throat and she found her eyes burning with tears. Dale’s smile wavered.
“You okay?”
“Okay?” Ari scoffed and looked at the trees. “Okay. Okay. No, Dale, I’m not ‘okay.’ I’m feeling humble and unworthy and... and touched. This is finding me a home that feels like a wolf’s den all over again. You found this place and you brought me here, and I’m going to remember that for the rest of our lives. Thank you.”
Dale ducked her head. “Imagine how I feel. A woman who can summon every wolf in Seattle to help her out at a moment’s notice? That’s a lot to be worthy of.”
Ari closed the distance between them and took Dale’s hands. “You’re worthy. You’re... everything I’ve ever wanted or will ever need. Trust me, I’ve literally had everything taken away from me. Our house, my job, my wolf. The only thing that truly broke my heart was being away from you. You always come first. And you always will.”
“Same.”
Ari hugged her, eyes closed so she could focus on Dale’s scent and the sounds of the wilderness. It was exactly what she needed after the cold brick and steel of the prison. Even though the drug was still in her system and her ability to transform was still paralyzed for a long, long time, she finally felt like she was completely and utterly at peace.
#
Dinner was sandwiches and chips, which was actually a step down from what Ari had gotten in prison, but it tasted gourmet. When the sun started going down, Dale went to the backpack and pulled out a small camp lantern. Ari watched, a little dumbstruck, as she chose the best position for it and turned on the small blue light.
“We didn’t already own all this stuff, right?” Ari asked. “I don’t remember owning any camping supplies.”
“No, I bought them for this trip.”
“When?”
“Uh. About a week after you were arrested, I guess? I don’t remember the exact day. I just knew you’d get out soon and you’d need to camp out for a while.”
Ari got onto her knees and leaned forward as Dale turned back toward her. Their lips met and Dale smiled, one hand coming up to rest on Ari’s collar as she tilted her head into the kiss. Ari moved closer but stayed on her knees. Dale pulled back but kept her first two fingers hooked under Ari’s collar.
“Want to get in the tent?”
“Yes,” Ari said, trying not to sound too eager but also rising to her feet and almost flinging herself i
nto the tent. Dale had already put down a foam pad and Ari scooted to the center of it as Dale joined her. She straddled Ari and settled onto her lap as she resumed their kiss. Ari was desperate but also eager to make what was about to happen last as long as possible. She wanted to appreciate Dale like it was their first time, wanted to remember every amazing thing about being with her.
But at the same time, it had been over a month.
Dale’s shirt was tossed, slapping against the wall of the tent and sliding down. Ari nuzzled Dale’s breasts and reached behind to undo her bra, and Dale ran her fingers through Ari’s still-shockingly short hair. She kissed the top of Ari’s head, gasping when Ari’s tongue found a nipple and began teasing it mercilessly. Dale managed to get Ari’s shirt off as well, and Ari dropped one hand to blindly work at her belt and the button of her jeans. Dale did the same.
“You planned everything else so perfectly,” Ari whispered, “you couldn’t have worn a damn skirt?”
Dale chuckled breathlessly. “I didn’t know... I thought I’d have more time to prepare. I was going to seduce you.”
“I’m easy prey.”
Ari lifted up, pressing her lap between Dale’s legs, and together they muscled her pants down. She kicked them away and dropped back onto the pad. Dale had to reposition to get her pants off, but Ari felt it was worth losing the weight of her for a second when she dropped back down. Ari sighed as Dale’s naked thighs slid across hers, eyes closed and smiling as she dug her fingers into the warm skin and pulled Dale closer.
“Eager puppy,” Dale whispered.
“You’re damn right.”
“Fingers,” Dale requested, and Ari brought her hand up. Dale took it and closed her lips around two fingers. Ari groaned quietly as Dale sucked them, then guided Ari’s hand back down between her legs. They looked at each other in the dark, the light from the camp lantern glowing eerily against the wall of the tent to make them both look bluish-green, and Dale’s breath caught in her throat. Ari bit her bottom lip as she moved her fingers and extended her thumb. Dale shivered in her arms.