by Keri Hudson
Edith shrugged. “He’s a very prideful man. And he doesn’t like his staff overstepping their bounds.”
“The grounds are well kept,” Caleb said.
“Indeed,” Edith said with a mean glare at Abigail that didn’t need any explanation to Caleb.
Abigail said, “He just killed four coywolves, Edith. I can’t imagine a more capable caretaker.”
Edith nodded, not seeming to need to add another snide remark. So she asked, “What about this bear?”
Caleb shrugged. “It doesn’t seem interested in coming back.”
“Then perhaps your work here is done.” Edith turned and waddled back into the house, leaving Abigail and Caleb to share a glance and return their attention to Daniel.
Abigail asked, “What are you going to do about that bear, just… let the whole thing go?”
Caleb surveyed the woods and shook his head. “Not sure. But… something’s coming, I can feel it.”
Abigail nodded, resting her hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Yeah, I can feel it too.”
“I’m gonna go check those traps,” Caleb said, “make sure nothing stepped into them, a deer or some other innocent animal.”
“Alone? No, Caleb, don’t you dare! I won’t let you!”
He cracked a little smile. “I’ll be fine, Abigail. I’ll bring the gun.”
“Then we won’t have it here! Caleb, stay… please?”
“It’s part of my job, Abigail. Look, if some fawn or something is stuck in one of our traps, that’ll only bring in more predators.” She seemed begrudgingly convinced, green eyes looking downward before he kissed her pale, freckled forehead. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
Caleb brought the shotgun, though he did it mostly for Abigail’s sense of wellbeing. He didn’t expect to need it. But as he walked cautiously through the woods surrounding the property, something told Caleb that he’d need a lot more than just a shotgun. He’d been right that any local coywolves that were inclined to come after him wouldn’t do it during the day; they were nocturnal predators. But bears weren’t, and the black bears in the area were becoming less and less afraid of humans. Caleb knew that he could handle any normal bear in his lupine form, but he didn’t want to shift if he didn’t have to, or kill an animal he didn’t have to. It would only leave him with another carcass to dispose of, another signal to other predators. And he could kill a hundred black bears and it wouldn’t solve the problem of the shifter, a problem that was nagging at him more and more. He’d found no clues as to who the shifter might be, and without that information, his investigation was stymied. He reviewed it as he walked through the woods, checking one trap to find it empty and still set.
The shifter must have been here first, Caleb reminded himself, that’s what brought my brother in, to kill it. Could it have been this Master Armstrong? Is he the shifter? Maybe he’s not really in Europe at all. Maybe he killed his wife and my brother and he’s still lurking around, waiting to kill me.
But… why?
A loud crack caught Caleb’s attention. He looked around, goosebumps rising as he surveyed the maples and cedars around him. There was no sight of any living creature, but that was little solace. Using only his human senses, he could be easily fooled by a wily predator; even a big bear had ways of concealing itself until the moment of ambush.
Caleb moved on, but his instincts were telling him that there was a big predator nearby. It could even be the shifter, he thought, even more alert as he pushed through the willows and conifers. His heart beat a little faster, cold sweat collecting along the crevice of his spine. Another loud crack sent a grackle flying out of the canopy above him. Caleb looked around again, finding no trace of any predator or prey anywhere in the woods.
Abigail’s scream was shrill and muffled by distance, but it cut through the woods and found Caleb’s ear. His instincts pushed his body to spin and run through the woods and back toward the house. The terror of the scream was clear, Caleb knowing without question that something terrible had happened in his absence.
Through the red pines and past a white oak, Caleb ran onto the property, shotgun in hand. Things seemed quiet, until Abigail screamed again, this time clearly from inside the house. The back door was shattered; something huge had breached the house, and it was about to kill Abigail, Daniel, and everyone else in Armstrong House.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Caleb tossed the shotgun onto the living room sofa. There was no time to take off his clothes and no real need. He shifted quickly, body increasing in size and tearing the pants and shirt and leaving rags to fall to the floor. His feet stretched out and tore through his shoes, hind legs bending and twisting into their lupine form. His snout sprang out, sharp fangs reaching out of his pink gums, jowls curling, ears long and hairy, black hide sprouting.
Caleb’s body surged with his lupine strength, greater than any wolf or human, or almost any known creature. But Caleb was facing a creature unknown to modern science, still hidden in the shadows of institutional ignorance.
Abigail’s new scream came from upstairs, and Caleb leapt up half the flight in a single bound, racing down the hall to find the ursine shifter stalking down the hall, its back to him. The musky stench of the shifter was thick in Caleb’s nostrils, triggering a growl and a bark before he charged into an attack.
Caleb bit into the ursine’s anus, a favored lupine attack strategy. Working as a team, a pack of wolves killed their prey most often in that fashion, disemboweling their prey and eating them alive.
And some natural laws were the same for shifters as for any other creature, and one of those truths was that an ursine had incredible advantages of size and strength over any lupine. Lupines were pack predators just the way wolves were, and ursine shifters lone predators like their contemporary cousins. A one-on-one contest between the two favored the ursine in every way.
But there was no choice. The thing had to be killed before he devoured Abigail and Daniel, its clear targets. Caleb couldn’t be sure why, but there was no time to reason it out. There was time to think about only one thing—defeating the murderous shifter who killed his brother and threatened his new family.
But the ursine was quick to repel the attack. It spun hard and fast, slamming Caleb against the hallway wall as he clung to the bear’s rear. Caleb let go and backed up, glad enough to have diverted the ursine’s attention away from its intended victims. Caleb retreated slowly, his head low, eyes on his adversary, a low growl promising a terrific fight. The ursine swiped at Caleb, and he couldn’t help but recall the dream of his brother’s fateful battle.
And Caleb knew he didn’t stand any better chance than his brother did. Carl had been his older brother, he had always been the better fighter. But even if there was no chance, there was still no choice. Caleb didn’t doubt that his brother had fought under similar circumstances, no choice but to pit his wit and will and wiles against a bigger adversary with deliberate intent to destroy.
The ursine drove him back, past the staircase to the open stretch of the second-floor hallway. Caleb’s instincts were triggered by a moment of vulnerability, his hind legs sending him springing forward and into the ursine’s exposed throat. His jaws clamped down on the big beast’s throat, head shaking to tear the flesh from its bony carriage. But the hide was thick and fatty and hairy and even Caleb’s lupine strength couldn’t pierce it without more force and more time, and he had little of either.
The ursine tried to rear up but Caleb held on, his paws lifted off the floor as his enemy tried to free himself. But his weight shifted and the two fell to the side, smashing through the walnut banister and falling to the first floor below.
The ursine landed first, but Caleb hit the hardwood floor with bone-cracking force. Caleb saw his opening and returned to the ursine’s throat, ripping and pulling and tearing to increase the damage he’d already done. But the ursine’s massive paws at the ends of his powerful forelegs delivered slashes to Caleb’s side as he tried to push the lupine off of that death
grip around its throat.
The ursine seemed to realize it was up against a more vigorous opponent than it expected, and it tried one of its species’ most favored defensive moves. The ursine rolled, hoping to crush its lupine adversary with its sheer weight and size. It was one of any ursine’s best defenses, but Caleb was ready for it, just as his brother had been. So Caleb released his grip on the bear shifter’s throat and backed up, the two eyeing each other from the distance of a few feet as each scoped out the best place to attack the other.
The bear charged Caleb with a series of strikes, as he had Carl. One good blow could daze him, and that would be all the opening that ursine bastard would need. But Caleb had more room to maneuver, and he drew the ursine into the living room before leaping up and finding purchase on the ursine’s back. Caleb bit in hard, shaking his head to tear at the flesh of the neck, digging in to find the spine. One good bite between the vertebrae would paralyze the ursine and end the threat once and for all. But of course his adversary knew that, and it was hellbent on surviving and prevailing. One of them was going to die, that seemed certain to both.
The ursine shook its great shoulders and neck and head, Caleb’s body shaking with his adversary’s power. Unable to shake him, the ursine roared out and jumped through the window into the backyard, glass shards flying and cutting into Caleb’s hide. It was quick to heal, but the bear shifter quickly rolled forward, another attempt to crush Caleb to death. He sprang out of the way just in time, the beasts squaring off again.
Caleb circled, looking for another rear attack, the bear swiping at him to keep him at bay.
Blam!
The ursine took the shotgun blast in the face, Caleb looking over to see Abigail holding the big gun, walking toward the bear shifter without fear as she cocked the shotgun and then aimed and shot again.
Chk-chk, blam!
Caleb leapt for his opening, biting in again at the ursine’s bloodied throat. Shifters were quick to heal, but there was still considerable damage that could be complicated with just a few hard tugs if Caleb could get a purchase on that fatty throat.
Caleb latched on, digging in deep and shaking hard, the ursine’s throat near to collapse in his powerful jaws. In the corner of his eye, Caleb saw Abigail approaching, cocking and aiming the shotgun again.
Chk-chk, blam!
Caleb could almost feel the impact of the shot on the big shifter’s head, jutting to the side. The shifter roared and reared up, even with Caleb’s tremendous weight locked onto its throat. The ursine roared and spun, throwing Caleb from his neck and hurling him at Abigail. She turned the shotgun to block him as his huge body smashed into her, the two of them tumbling back.
Abigail screamed and Caleb turned his attention back to the yard. The shifter was already in full retreat, disappearing into the woods around Armstrong House. Caleb nearly gave chase, but he knew he was lucky Abigail’s shotgun fire had helped drive the thing off. It was strong enough to retreat and it would be strong enough to go on fighting if it had to, and taking it on alone was something Caleb knew he couldn’t do.
Caleb turned to see Abigail’s terrified face, looking at him with that empty shotgun held across her chest, panting her horror as she waited for what was sure to be her grizzly death.
Caleb shifted again, back to his human form. He stood in front of her, those pretty green eyes wide, mouth open, before she finally fainted, collapsing in the yard. Caleb took her upstairs, Daniel looking on with wide-eyed wonder. He’d seen what had happened from upstairs. He knew Caleb’s dark secret. But he seemed able to digest it even at his tender age. Caleb carried Abigail to her bed and laid her down, Edith approaching and taking Daniel in her arms as if to protect him.
Caleb said nothing, leaving Abigail in her bed before walking calmly down the stairs and out to his cottage to clean up and put on some fresh clothes. There was a lot of explaining to do, and Caleb knew that would be dominating the rest of the evening.
Edith served up some leftover stew, clearly trepidatious about even being in the same room with Caleb, given what he’d revealed of himself to all of them.
Abigail shook her head, taking another hearty sip of red wine. “I… I just don’t understand.”
“Shifters,” Caleb repeated. “Some are bear-like, called ursines; some are wolf-like, called lupines. Some call us lupes, but that’s a derogatory term.”
Abigail sat amazed; she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. “Like… like werewolves?”
“Not unlike it,” Caleb said. “We inspired all those crappy movies and stories; there’s always a kernel of truth in any lie, Abigail.”
“So you admit that you’re a liar!”
“I… no, I never lied. You never asked me if I was a shifter, after all.” Abigail clanked her fork down on her plate and rolled her eyes. “I wanted to tell you,” Caleb went on, “but I didn’t think you’d understand. I can see now that I was right.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but… this just isn’t the kind of thing a girl expects to hear! I mean, married or gay or whatever, that’s one thing. But… you’re a fucking werewolf?”
“I know how you feel, Abigail, and you’re right. My kind, we… we’re forced to live in the shadows, to deny who we are. We can’t live freely the way you and the other normalos can. Believe me, I wish I could, but… well, you’re right anyway. It’s a violent life, not one you’d be suited to.”
Abigail seemed impossible to please. “Excuse me, but if I hadn’t shot that thing’s fat head, he’d have taken you apart!”
“Yes, and I’m grateful for your help.”
After a tense silence, Abigail seemed to give it some thought, head tipping this way and that as she shrugged those pretty, pale shoulders. “But if you hadn’t turned up when you did, things would have been pretty bad. So we owe you our gratitude.”
Daniel nodded, surprisingly well adjusted under the circumstances.
“We worked together,” Caleb said, “and that’s what we’re going to have to do.”
Abigail clearly struggled with digesting all the new information, Edith and Lulu looking on from the kitchen door. Caleb waved them over to the table. “Please, ladies, join us. This is something we all have to face as a family.”
Edith and Lulu shared a skeptical glance before stepping out of the kitchen and sitting down at the big dining table.
“The first thing you all have to know is that I’m here to protect you; you have nothing to fear from me.” Nervous glances all around were followed by nods, eyes wide with trepidation. “That thing that hit us today was a shifter, an ursine, a bear-like shifter. I’m from the lupine line, wolf-like. There’s been a… a war brewing between the lupines and the ursines for generations, ever since any of us can remember. The ursines are loners, they’re harsh and cruel and they’d wipe out the lupines if they could. They’re stronger, bigger, but we’re greater in number, stronger in community.”
Abigail asked, “And you can change whenever you want? What about a full moon?”
“You can thank Universal Studios for that. It’s no more authentic than buried treasure, parrots eating crackers, or Burt Reynolds having his own hair. That shifter, that’s the thing that killed my brother.”
Abigail shared a worried look with Daniel, Lulu, and Edith, then asked Caleb, “What about the coywolves? I don’t understand.” Daniel clung to Abigail, his little arms wrapped around her waist, face buried in her bosom.
Caleb took a deep breath and traced events back as far as he could with what little information he had. “The big shifter… he must have been here first; that’s what drew my brother in, I’m certain of that. Once my brother was killed, it came back for its true target. But that couldn’t be me. No doubt it sensed I was here, but… I couldn’t possibly be its primary target… my brother either, I don’t think.”
Edith asked, “Then who is?”
“Somebody in this house,” Caleb said, eyeing the others.
Abigail aske
d, “What about the coywolves? We haven’t seen them around, then they show up after your brother gets mauled?”
Caleb nodded. “Alpha predators hate shifters of any sort. They know how dangerous we are, and instinct drives them to want to kill us whenever possible. Once my brother was dead, they sensed a vulnerability and moved in.”
Abigail seemed to give that some thought, her face turning to a frightened mask. “Wait, if they want to kill shifters, and they moved in after your brother died… so, he was a shifter.”
“Yes,” Caleb answered.
“But… he was already dead! I… I’m still confused, Caleb.”
“It means there’s another shifter here,” Caleb answered. “If the coywolves were predating, and there’s a bear shifter hitting this place, it means there must be a shifter here worth killing, one that was here before my brother arrived.” Caleb looked into the eyes of Abigail, Lulu, and Edith. One of them was likely a shifter, and the target of the ursine.
But there were other possibilities too.
“This Master Armstrong,” Caleb said to Edith, “he’s looking for his lost wife. Why did she run, because of some man?”
Edith nodded. “So I understand.”
“But you might have misunderstood,” Caleb said, “or have been lied to, the way you lied to Abigail and told her the woman was dead.”
“I did as I was told,” Edith offered.
“Exactly. So it’s possible that this woman isn’t in Europe,” Caleb went on. “She could be here, having sent her husband on a wild goose chase. It wouldn’t be hard.” The others exchanged worried glances before returning their attention to Caleb. “Could be she’s out there right now, defending her child against what she sees as a shifter threat.”
Abigail deduced, “You mean… she’s a shifter?” Caleb nodded, and Abigail looked down at Daniel with a new and clearly frightened perspective.
“No need to make any assumptions,” Caleb said, clearly meaning to spare the boy and everyone else any unnecessary suspicions about the boy’s inherent nature. “I’m just postulating theories.”