Werewolves and Wranglers

by Kristen Banet

  She had read about it once, just once, as part of her education growing up. It wasn’t until she came to Redstone that she saw the awesome and terrifying power of the wereanimals, canine and feline. Two creatures cursed to fight a war against each other. The gods that started each curse were lost to time. The magic was irreversible. There was nothing she could do to help them all. Her potions were just temporary relief.

  Redstone was the only place on the earth where they defied their curses and helped one another, all trying to survive the brutal environment that was the Wild West.

  “Are you ready for tonight?” Easton asked softly.

  “I am. What were you up to last night when I got home? You haven’t given me a real answer yet.”

  “Nothing important. Just walking through the werecats’ protections for tonight. I didn’t last time and found myself curious as to how they handle this.”

  “Chains in a basement. The wolves stand guard. With guns, if necessary.” It had been a long time since either group had to lose someone to the night, but it was always a possibility.

  “How does such a small number of felines deal with the wolves? I know the wolves use their numbers as a deterrent from trouble with the cats.” Easton—always looking to know something new, it seemed.

  “They’re more powerful, and the wolves have a hard time breaking out of their chains. Some of the wolves are allowed to roam as well, as long as they stay on the property, which they have more of. Why do you think they have so many cattle? They like to hunt and have given themselves prey that’s easy and will grab their wild side’s attention.” She and William had talked about that a few times. As a shifter, William could relate a little to the animal natures that took over the wereanimals during their transitions. She had found it fascinating. She still did, but now she had even more respect. She couldn’t forget the run-in she had with that out of control and feral werewolf. That was the fate of those who couldn’t regain their human minds at the end of the night. Wolf or cat, it didn’t matter.

  I really hope it doesn’t happen tonight. I’m not sure my aim is good enough for a fast as lightning werecat. It would bruise my ego to shoot at one and miss.

  She checked her revolver before sitting down in her chair. She pulled her rifle into her lap and began the night-long wait. It was going to be a long night, and not one she could distract herself from.

  Easton didn’t sit yet. “And they use the bank because it has the vault.”

  “That’s right.” She sighed. “They can lock the strongest members inside the bank vault. They normally divide the Pride in half. It leaves them vulnerable to the wolves taking them out. It wouldn’t be hard, but Lawrence and Felicity like each other. There won’t be a war. Maybe an accident, but not a war.” For that, she was thankful. Lawrence was on duty for this as well, like he always was. He never missed a new moon to help the werecats. He handled Felicity in her private office himself. It was a show of strength on his part to maintain power over his pack. It was a sign of respect for Felicity. She did the same for him on the full moon.

  It began to rain, and Adalyn mumbled obscenities under her breath. She should have paid attention to the clouds brewing while she was watching the sky. It was a hard rain, on top of it. It came down in big droplets, kicking up dirt until the earth was soaked.

  “Remy put the horses in, right?” she asked.

  “He did.” Easton was serious now. “Will the rain change anything?”

  “No,” she answered. Then she corrected. “It shouldn’t, anyway. Just bad luck, really.”

  “I’m just trying to account for everything,” he explained. “Sorry for the twenty questions.”

  “It’s fine. Someone has to be thinking of everything. I’m just wondering if I’m going to have to shoot a friend tonight.” She sagged back into the chair. “When I signed up for this job, I expected…better.”

  Easton began to chuckle. “The job still looks good on you. You’re better than most sheriffs I’ve had to deal with as a bounty hunter.”

  “I just thought I would be dealing with demons or anything else. Bank robbers.” She shrugged. “I’m adjusting.”

  “Do you think you aren’t doing good enough?” Easton was concerned now, but he didn’t turn away from the rain and look at her.

  She snorted. “No, I think I’m great at this job. I’m not afraid to tell these idiots what they need to do and when to do it. I’m fine tossing some magic around to handle things. I can mediate…sort of. I like leaving that one to you.” She smiled innocently until he looked at her and began to laugh.

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “It still feels like William’s,” she answered honestly. “Like I’m trying to be him.”

  “We’ll have to fix that, then. You are Sheriff Adalyn Lovett. You’re a wild magic witch that half the town is scared of, and I’m pretty sure the other half just doesn’t know how to handle you, so you end up running them over. I’ve seen it. You somehow have gotten a Nephilim to answer at your beck and call.” Easton paused. “And his hellhound friend. Let’s not forget Remy. Maybe you’re trying to be William the sheriff and not Adalyn the sheriff.”

  She frowned. Was that the problem? There was really only one type of sheriff, right? She filled out paperwork. She handled the drama around town. She was the one they all called on when they seemed to have lost their minds. Was she trying to be William instead of finding some other option?

  “What do you suggest?” she asked.

  “Be Adalyn. There’s a reason Remy and I wanted to be here, and it wasn’t to be deputies.” Easton winked, of all things. She raised an eyebrow. “We stayed for you, if you didn’t catch my meaning.”

  “Oh, I caught it.” Loud and clear. Now I just need to figure out what I’m supposed to do with it. “Have I not been ‘Adalyn’ enough for you?”

  “I think you’ve been letting this change you in ways you don’t like. Growing more serious when all you want is to let your hair down and do the work with your own style.”

  “And how do I do this in my style, Easton? Please. Let’s stop beating around the bush.”

  “I don’t know yet. We’ll figure it out. We’re in this together, right?”

  “We are. Somehow.” She firmly thought that one day they would go or move out or something. She wasn’t ready for it, but it would happen. But for now, they were in this together.

  His head snapped to look at the bank. She heard a vicious snarl and a screeching of one of the felines.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “That’s just how it is. They turn and get pissed off that they can’t get out.”

  “How does anyone sleep through it if they live in town?”

  “They don’t.” She tightened her grip on her rifle. The windows were dark, but she knew everyone who lived in town was waiting for something bad to happen. Until the sun came back up, they could only hope the wolves kept the cats inside. The full moon wasn’t as tense, not even close. They were all kept out at the Ranch and only the occasional werewolf would get out. She’d had to handle a juvenile that one time. Frustrating, but not the end of the world. If it had been someone like Lawrence, now that would have been a problem. Lawrence was a big boy in his werewolf form.

  They just waited. She began to sing to herself in her head as boredom took hold. Her leg started to bounce to her silent beat. She rocked back and forth and began to move as if she was trying to dance sitting down. She didn’t do well with boredom. She liked to be doing something, even if it was tedious work. Easton reached out and grabbed her knee, forcing it to stop. She glared at him until he let go.

  Finally, a werewolf walked out and lit a cigar. He was kind enough to wave at them.

  “How are things going?” she called out. She was desperate to hear anything except the angry growls of the werecats inside the bank.

  “Good. They’ve been easy on us tonight. Lawrence and Felicity are pretty quiet, too. It’s a good night. I think the rain has got them calm. You know cats
. They hate the water.” He gave them a crooked smile and she just put up a thumb for him.

  Perfect. That means tonight should go off without a hitch.

  It was nearly midnight. Easton was finally sitting, looking tired and bored himself.

  “How’s not sleeping?” she asked, trying to fill the silence. “I mean, I never really ask. You normally lie with me as I fall asleep.”

  “I like to relax. I get tired and need to recharge, but sleep isn’t what I get.”

  “Have you ever slept?”

  “No. Not a single second of my life. I’ve never been knocked unconscious either.”

  “Have you ever tried?”

  “To sleep?”

  “No, to get knocked unconscious.” She wanted to laugh as his eyes went wide.

  “No. That’s never crossed my mind.”

  “So you’ve never had a dream,” she realized. “That doesn’t sound appealing. Well, you don’t have nightmares either, but not dreaming doesn’t sound appealing.”

  “Oh, I dream,” he whispered, looking away from her.

  “Wrong type of dream,” she corrected.

  “It’s all I have.”

  “What do you dream of?” she asked softly, realizing this was the most he’d ever admitted to. First that they had stayed in Redstone for her, and now this? She wanted more.

  “I dream of having—”

  “HELP!” The scream cut off whatever Easton was going to say. “Help! There’s been an attack!”

  Adalyn jumped and looked into the dark, trying to find whoever was yelling. Finally, Easton pointed out a lone rider in the rain.

  “What happened?” she yelled, running out into the rain. Easton was right behind. “Hey, what happened?” She tried to grab the horse’s reins when she got close, but it evaded her. The rider slid off the horse and Easton grabbed him before he hit the dirt.

  “Humans, back at the Ranch. I came for Lawrence. We need all hands. They might be gone by the time we get back. They hit us while we didn’t have our numbers! Nearly half the pack is here.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Adalyn snapped. “Easton, get him inside. I’m going to the Ranch to help out. Tell the wolves here if you want, but they have to stay. I’ll help the pack at their home.”

  “Be safe,” he told her. “I’ll try to send what help I can.” She nodded and grabbed the reins before the horse could get away again. Dark Prince was at home and she didn’t have time to get her stallion. She swung up and got moving at a full gallop, yelling to help spur the horse into action.

  So much for tonight going without a hitch and learning anything new about Easton.

  The rain hit her face as she rode. She had no idea whether that werewolf had been injured or not. She trusted Easton to deal with it.

  Before she made it to the Ranch, she heard hooves behind her and turned to look over her shoulder. I really don’t need any more trouble right now. I have to assume they’re human and could take me out.

  Two dark shapes were trying to catch up with her. She pulled her gun and aimed as best she could. She fired once, a warning shot to get the other riders to identify themselves or back off.

  “Adalyn, it’s us! Tobias and Valen!” She could barely hear it over the rain. She pulled on the reins to slow her ride down to let them catch up.

  “What the fuck are you doing out here?” she demanded as they caught up.

  “Easton contacted me!” Valen called out, trying to talk over the rain. “We’re here to help. The werewolf was hurt pretty bad, and Easton is tending him in the office.”

  “Fuck.” She pushed the horse back into a gallop. Easton had said he would send help. She just hadn’t expected these two. “Well, I’m glad to have you!”

  “Glad to be here,” Tobias replied, keeping his horse at pace with hers.

  Together, they rode hard for the Ranch. She could hear gun fire as they drew closer. It was like déjà vu in the dark. She jumped off the horse, slapping its flank and sending it running who knew where. She pulled her gun and took aim, hoping to take out a human causing her werewolves problems on possibly the worst night of the month.

  “Don’t make me blow you all to pieces!” she roared, running closer. She tripped and looked down, seeing an injured werewolf. “Shit, my apologies.”

  “Get down,” the werewolf mumbled. “Can’t see them. They’re taking blind shots. This isn’t all of them, but we can’t see them. They’re keeping us pinned here at the houses.”

  “Why?” She went to a knee, looking the werewolf over. He had one gun shot to the leg, and it seemed she was going to have to pry the bullet out. Valen and Tobias covered them, firing blindly into the night. “Sorry for this,” she said, hoping her face was in any way reassuring. Then she dug her fingers into the man’s leg and found the bullet, yanking it out. The guy literally howled in pain and grabbed his leg. “Sorry!” She tossed the bloody bullet to the side. “I know I just hurt you real bad, but it’s for the best. Now, do you think you can answer my question?”

  “Don’t know why. Could be stealing our herd for all I know. Wouldn’t put it past them, since we killed a few more of theirs the other day.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me you found more of their cattle on your property?” she hissed out. Shaking her head, she knew that was a question for Lawrence at the end of the night. First, she had to deal with the humans. “Tobias, do you know a light spell?”

  “No. Not something I do.” He frowned back at her then ducked as a bullet hit a wooden post next to him. “Shit. This is what being one of your deputies means?”

  “Um. Yeah. What did you think it meant? Just sleeping with me?” She gave him an incredulous look before looking out to the woods. She opened her palm and focused her magic into a ball. She thought of the moon and its glow, and formed a pure ball of cool white light, almost with a blue tint. She tossed it out towards the fields, letting it light the way. Someone tried to shoot it. She made a second and threw it at a different angle. “Shoot them if you can see them,” she ordered her friends.

  Valen and Tobias took aim again, now with the advantage of the light. She could see humans peeking out behind cover—those damn massive hay bales the wolves left out for their cows. She didn’t want to risk the magic to blow them up this time. There could always be werecat problems back in town, or they might need more light.

  Why does this shit always happen at the same time?

  A howl filled up the night, and she could hear the muffled screams from the humans about how there was no moon and how it should have been safe.

  She knew it wasn’t a werewolf about to descend, but they didn’t need to know. The howl already had them retreating. In the dark, running down the road, she could see him. Hellfire wasn’t put out by the rain.

  Remington Coldwell was coming, and he was coming fast. On all fours with those bones and horns, he was a terrifying visage of Hell itself. There was foam in his mouth as he passed them and went after the humans, who were retreating, thinking a werewolf was about to kill them.

  Sorry, humans, but the hellhound is worse. I would rather be dealing with the werecats than Remy in that form on a night like this.

  She thought it was cute when he was rolling around her porch. Cute in a really fucked-up and morbid way. She didn’t find it cute when he was tearing through the field and tackling a human to the ground, one who screamed for mercy until Remy was done tearing him open.

  She pulled up her rifle and fired at some of the runners. She had a feeling they weren’t going to catch any survivors, but she wasn’t really trying to. She was just hoping tonight would be enough to end this little war. She didn’t have much patience for these damned humans, and this was testing what little bit she had.

  Together, they fended off and chased away the attackers. She looked down at her charge once there were no humans in sight. She whistled, hoping Remy heard it and came back. She didn’t want him chasing them down and getting hurt. “How are you?” she asked the werewolf, kne
eling down again.

  “I’ll live. Healing already. Thanks for getting the bullet out.” He gave her a weak smile.

  “No problem. Valen is going to get you inside somewhere. Is that okay?” She took charge of her friends without giving them much of a choice. Valen didn’t say anything. He helped the werewolf up the moment he agreed and began to help the man limp to a house. “Tobias, help me find other wounded.”

  “Okay.”

  They walked around the Ranch and she found herself directing the healthy werewolves to help the injured ones. Many of the women and children had stayed inside hiding. She knew it was because the females would protect the young. They could breed, but they didn’t have many children and that made them precious, and the females were rabidly protective. Adalyn had to convince them to come out and help their men.

  “You don’t want them to die, right?” she asked the lead female.

  “No.” The answer had taken longer than Adalyn expected it to. Harsh. “I’ll come out with a few of the women. I’m leaving most to protect the children.”

  “That’s fine. We just need extra hands. Tobias, how many injured have you counted?”

  “Eleven,” he answered immediately.

  “Lawrence is going to lose his mind.” She shook her head sadly. This was bad. This was very bad.

  “You can go,” the female told her. “Go tell our Alpha what happened once he’s done at dawn. I would rather it be you than anyone else.”

  “Why me?” She wasn’t really up for that. Easton could let him know. Lawrence was going to be tired, possibly injured, and in a bad mood. She didn’t want to deal with that ass, especially since he wasn’t keeping her updated on the situation with the humans.

  “Because he likes you more than your hellhound, and he doesn’t really trust your Nephilim. He won’t kill you, which means he won’t get in trouble.” The female huffed and waved a hand. “You two. With me.” Before she walked away, she looked back at Adalyn. “Go, and take your men with you.We can handle the rest here for now. We’ll send someone else to town with an update on our status later in the morning.”