Deceived By the Others

by Jess Haines

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, I woke up before Chaz. I lay there for a bit, curled up against his side and listening to the soft sounds of his breathing and heartbeat. His body was radiating warmth like a furnace. As the fire he’d started last night had burned down to only a few hotly glowing embers, it was welcome.

  Rain fell in a soft, muted pattering on the roof. The little sunlight trickling through the gap in the curtains was dim and subdued. It was difficult to even consider moving, but hunger eventually goaded me into getting up.

  Chaz mumbled something and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head when I turned on the light. I chuckled and put the covers aside to tug on some heavy wool socks. It didn’t do much against the chill in the air. Next I tossed a couple of pieces of wood onto the embers in the fireplace. It took a bit, and I had to throw on another match, but soon they caught and started blazing cheerily away.

  Coffee, being an essential staple of my diet, was obviously next. Once it started brewing, I turned to Chaz. “You want me to make you a cup?”

  He mumbled something unintelligible from under the pillow.

  I grinned and walked over, rubbing his shoulder. “Come on, sleepyhead. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about missing breakfast?”

  A little “eep” of surprise was startled out of me when he twisted around lightning fast to grab me around the waist and pull me onto the bed. My heart was doing a tap dance in my throat, his low laughter rumbling in my ear as I squirmed to escape.

  “You do make it hard to get any sleep. Why don’t you just stay right here with me? It’s not like we’ve got somewhere to be today.”

  I gave him a gentle poke in the side, mock frowning at him. “Says you, mister. I’d like to start meeting the rest of your pack today.”

  “What’s the rush?” He started doing things to my neck and collarbone that had me squirming and laughing before long. “We’ve got the whole weekend ahead of us. They can wait a little longer.”

  “Mm, I just wanted to get an early start. I’m curious; I don’t really know anything about them.”

  “If you insist.” He sighed dramatically, urging me to get up before swinging his legs around and standing with a yawn and a stretch. “I’ll take some coffee, but I’m going to grab a quick shower before we head up there.”

  I headed to the kitchen, and poured myself a cup. Normally I’d want cream in it, but since all they provided was the powdered crap in the little basket of goodies on the tiny counter, I’d take it black. “Okay, hurry up then. I’ll hop in after you.”

  He nodded and headed into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack. Cradling the hot mug, I walked over to the front door and tugged it open, intending to get a breath of the fresh mountain air and see what the rest of the place looked like.

  Heavy mist swirled through the trees, clinging low to the ground. A bird was warbling off in the distance, muted by the rain. The creek was rushing along somewhere out of sight, and I couldn’t see much more than hints of the cabins on either side through the trees and fog. I stood in the doorway, safe from the rain under the eaves, seeing what I could of the mountains out in the distance. Their shapes were indistinct, for the most part hidden by clouds and mist, but I could see them outlined against the meager sunlight filtering through in patches here and there.

  A flutter caught my eye, and I glanced at the door. There was a piece of graph paper with torn, ragged edges folded in half and pinned to the door with a small pocket knife. Frowning, I tugged the knife out of the door and took the damp piece of paper inside, shutting the door as I opened it. The writing at the top done in thick, black marker had started to bleed down the page from the humidity.

  ATTN: THE KNUCKLE-DRAGGING MOUTH-BREATHER IN CABIN 12 GO BACK TO THE CITY YOU ASSHOLE!

  Below that was another line written in jagged pencil, the writing more hurried and smaller than the carefully plain block letters of the first.

  GTFO!

  “The hell?” I muttered. “‘GTFO’?”

  With a shrug, I folded the paper back up and put it and the knife down on the table, putting it down to more of Seth’s shenanigans. Chaz would probably be pissed, but I doubted he’d do much more than growl and huff over it.

  I enjoyed the rest of my coffee in bed while I waited for Chaz to finish up. When he walked out of the shower in nothing but a towel around his waist, I got up to give him a kiss and a few words of warning. “Don’t get mad, but it looks like Seth and his buddies left a little love letter on the door.”

  “Christ, I wish they’d been taken in by another pack.”

  f I shrugged, finishing off my coffee and setting the mug aside. “Like I said last night, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. They’re just being rowdy, disrespectful teenagers.”

  He walked over to the table and picked up the note, puzzling over it like I had. At least he seemed more confused than angry over it. “What the hell is ‘GTFO’ supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care. I’m going to take that shower, then let’s grab some food.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I didn’t take too long to get ready, and soon we were walking arm in arm through the light drizzle up to the lodge. When we got inside, we followed our noses to the dining hall, more than happy to find that we weren’t too late for breakfast. There were only a handful of people in the dining hall: a trio of geeky looking guys who watched us groggily over cups of coffee from the corner furthest from the windows; one or two lone diners; and a bunch of Chaz’s pack gathered by the big picture windows, laughing and chatting. Thankfully, Seth and his buddies were nowhere in sight.

  A stout older woman with blue-gray hair and an apron was laughing along with what someone at one of the tables was saying. She smiled and waved us over with her notepad, gesturing for us to take a seat at a round table with four other Sunstrikers. I sat down next to a slender woman with a ponytail and a tan, Chaz next to a guy with a number of gold piercings and a couple of tattoos visible where he’d rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. The scent of Were was heavy in the room, not unpleasant, but bordering on overpowering mixed with all the food.

  The older woman who had waved us over—Mr. Cassidy’s wife—beamed at us. “Good morning! Can I get you two started with some orange juice? Maybe some coffee or tea?”

  “Coffee would be great,” I said, returning her warm smile as I settled back into the seat Chaz had pulled out for me.

  “Shiarra, right?” asked one of the guys at the table as Mrs. Cassidy hurried off to get the drinks. “I’m Sean. This is Nick, Paula, and Kimberly.”

  We all shook hands, me leaning over the table to reach across to Sean and Paula. Everyone seemed pleased enough to meet me, if a little bleary-eyed. Nick, the one with the tattoos and piercings, looked to be nursing a bit of a hangover. I was willing to bet he’d stayed up late to watch the game with some of the other guys at the bar. They all seemed younger than Chaz and me, perhaps in their early twenties, and were all wearing loose jeans or sweatpants and warm sweatshirts. The girls’ stuff was not nearly as ratty as the guys’ clothes, but they were still the kinds of things you wouldn’t necessarily mind shifting in.

  “Thank you for coming,” Paula said, her cheeks dimpling with an impish smile. “Maybe having you here will keep these yahoos in line.”

  “Hey! We’re not that much of a pain in the ass,” Nick protested.

  “No more than Seth, anyway,” Kimberly said.

  “Have you seen him and his cohorts?” Sean added. “They came in here this morning and were complaining so loudly about the food that Mr. Cassidy came in and told them they’d better go find someplace else to eat, or he’d personally whup their asses from here to Jersey. They slunk out of here with their tails between their legs and took off for town. It was great!”

  “I’m not surprised,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “He and his buddies seem like nothing but trouble.”

  “Don’t you get started, too. It’s bad enough I
have to justify keeping them in the pack to the rest of the Sunstrikers.”

  I leaned over to kiss Chaz’s cheek, ruffling his damp hair. “Don’t be grouchy. You’re the leader, right? I’m sure everyone else will listen if you put your foot down.”

  Kimberly laughed, her warm brown eyes sparkling with humor. “It’s not quite like that, hon. If there’s too much dissension in the ranks, someone could challenge him to take his place. It doesn’t happen often, but if Seth gets enough people behind him, he might try to oust Chaz.”

  “‘Oust’ him? Why would he do that?”

  “Not everyone is happy with having Chaz lead us. He’s not made many friends by calling us in to help the Moonwalkers before, especially since we never really got anything in return. And working with that leech, Royce? Not a popular move either. Seth’s young, so he can get away with some open opposition, but there’s grumbling in the rest of the ranks. Not everyone agrees with having you here, either. Just the way it is.” She laughed again, Paula snickering along with her. “At least, until he cracks some heads together. Then it might settle things down again. For a little while anyway.”

  I frowned at her, not finding the idea particularly funny. “Is that true, Chaz?”

  He was giving Kimberly a pointed look that she was just as pointedly ignoring, sipping her OJ. “Sort of. The ones who disagree are in the minority. Seth won’t get too many people willing to back him up against me. I’m still the alpha, and he knows it.”

  The laughter and knowing looks faded under the bit of emphasis Chaz put to that last statement. Sean cleared his throat to break the silence, and then smiled encouragingly at me. “Don’t worry. We won’t let anything happen to you. Just be careful once everyone shifts, and stick close to the cabins and lodge at night.”

  “Yeah, don’t wander off into the woods alone. I heard there are a couple other shifters in town. Don’t want to tempt them,” Nick said.

  I made a face. “No worries of that. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere without Chaz.”

  He slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close enough to brush a kiss over my temple, some of the tension in his frame filtering away. “I’m going to have to do some work with the pack while we’re here, but it shouldn’t keep me away too much. If I’m not around, any of these guys can help keep an eye on you and show you the ropes. Right?”

  There was hurried agreement from everyone else, and we all quieted down a bit as Mrs. Cassidy returned with our drinks. As I sipped my coffee, I took a look around at the others, thoughtful. Paula’s pixie cut made her look innocent and cute, but her laughter at Kimberly’s mocking comments about Chaz’s enemies made me wonder if those two were among those not happy to have me here. Kimberly seemed nice enough, if a bit brazen. She offered me the cream for my coffee when she saw me searching for it, reaching over to give me a light squeeze on the shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you. Whether it’s Seth or someone else, we’re behind Chaz all the way.”

  I smiled thinly at her. “I think I’ll be okay.”

  Mrs. Cassidy chimed in, leaning over to give Nick a refill on his coffee. “Oh, are you a norm? Sorry, my dears, couldn’t help but overhear.”

  I shrugged uncomfortably, flushing at the amused looks the others were sharing amongst themselves. “Yeah, I’m here with the Sunstrikers, but I’m not a Were.”

  “Oh, lovely, lovely. So good to have you here. If you run into any trouble with any of our guests, you just tell me or Bruce, and we’ll set it to rights.”

  I was starting to feel like I was surrounded by overprotective parents. I already had two; I didn’t need any more. “Thanks, Mrs. Cassidy. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  We ordered breakfast and got to know each other. Sean was a waiter at some diner and was taking college classes through the Internet to get a business degree. Paula was an interior designer with aspirations to get a regular part on one of those home makeover shows. Nick was a tattoo artist, and Kimberly a massage therapist whose office was next to the gym where Chaz and I worked out. She had met him when she signed up for one of his cardio classes. I couldn’t recall having seen her around, but she wasn’t particularly surprised.

  “I keep odd hours,” she explained. “Especially since I got infected with lycanthropy. It changed everything.”

  Amen to that.

  Chapter 5

  Nick and Sean offered to take me out hiking tomorrow once the rain cleared up. Chaz was going to be busy dealing with some pack politics and helping their newest member cope with some of the pre-change weirdness his body was going through. Ethan had accidentally gotten caught up in a scuffle between two Weres that became too heated. One of them nicked him with its teeth when he tried to rush off, and he’d been too afraid to go to the hospital to get the vaccine.

  This was not altogether surprising. Most of the big hospitals report lycanthropy infections to a database that’s only supposed to be accessed by government and law enforcement agencies. Theoretically, the database would help lead to the culprits of any unauthorized Other attacks, since a good ninety-five percent or so were by newly turned vampires and Weres who hadn’t mastered their hungers yet.

  However, the number of Others who had disappeared over the last couple of years—even accounting for violence by groups like the White Hats and the Anti-Other Alliance—had caused enough comment and speculation that few Others were willing to risk going to hospitals. There was even some paranoia about going to private practitioners, since some of them reported their findings as well. The problem was that the major hospitals were the best source of the vaccine that could, if administered quickly enough, halt the spread of lycanthropy infection. It didn’t work every time, but if it meant the difference between staying human or becoming part of a Were pack, most people would damn the consequences and take the medicine.

  Ethan had been infected and had waited too long to treat the virus. A couple days ago, one of the other pack members had found the poor guy freaking out in the parking lot outside a doctor’s office. Someone inside had just delivered the news that he was beyond treatment. The Sunstrikers had taken him in, made him part of the group, and would help him through his first change.

  This was as much for their protection as his. Without a mentor, Ethan could have gone rogue and ended up injuring himself or, worse, some innocent human, in the process of the change. No Were or vampire likes to hear the news that innocent bystanders got hurt by one of their own. It was bad publicity, made it harder for them to bolster their ranks, so the majority of the time they’d take in the strays. Plus, the rash of panic and angry hunters that inevitably followed in the wake of a newly turned Other with no experienced mentor to guide them or rein them in made life hard on all the rest.

  I’d heard stories about what some of the vamps did to their own after unsanctioned kills. It was the stuff of nightmares. The only time I’d ever witnessed it happen, it had turned into a bloodbath. Max Carlyle had negotiated his way out, but I’m reasonably certain the only reason he wasn’t toast was because Royce would not have been able to kill him without too much cost to himself.

  Weres were more understanding, but no more tolerant. They were as likely as vampires to hunt and put down one of their own who made an unsanctioned kill, though perhaps they did it a little more cleanly.

  Ethan was currently holed up in one of the cabins with a couple of other pack members. Chaz had promised to check in on him frequently and had cautioned me to stay away from him until after the height of the lunar cycle was over. They weren’t so concerned he would accidentally Were. The problem lay in his becoming attuned to my scent and trying to hunt me down the first time or two he was shifted. Curious as I was about him, that was deterrent enough to keep me away.

  Through the rest of the day, I met a lot of Sunstrikers whose names I did my best to keep straight. As Chaz had mentioned, they were people, too. Every one of them came from a different background and walk of life. Some of them were as friendly and cor
dial as I’d been promised. Others did not seem so happy to meet me and, I was sure, only shook my hand because Chaz was standing next to me.

  Later in the afternoon, just before dinner, we were hanging out in the game room playing pool with a bunch of Chaz’s buddies. Seth and his cronies swaggered in, trying to look tough in their piercings and leather jackets. Mostly they looked like teenagers trying too hard to be cool. We ignored them, getting on with our game, chatting amiably as we took turns at the two pool tables. The foosball game across the room was free, and the four troublemakers headed over there, not bothering the rest of us—probably because there were three times as many of us as there were of them. A few too many for them to pull anything obnoxious.

  I sat on the edge of one of the chairs lining the room while I waited for my turn, talking quietly with Paula and Kimberly. They were a lot nicer and more willing to chat than I’d thought they would be. Turns out they were both fascinated with my job, about as much as I was fascinated with the fact they were Weres, and we were having a great time swapping stories between turns.

  “How long have you been doing the P.I. thing?” Kimberly asked, sipping her beer. Chaz kept glancing over, clearly listening in, but I wasn’t quite sure what he was so concerned about. Aside from the comments earlier, she and Paula seemed nice enough.

  “Since a few months after I graduated from NYU—about six years ago. My friend Sara put up most of the collateral, and together we started H&W Investigations.”

  “Wow, that long? I’m surprised Chaz has let you keep doing something so dangerous for so long.”

  I frowned at her, not liking that turn of phrase at all. “‘Let me’ do it? It’s not his choice; it’s mine. Besides, I’d been at this since long before I met him, and the type of investigative work I do isn’t as dangerous as the books and movies make it out to be.”