He liked watching it.
“That’s a lofty goal, Char,” he finally answered.
“It’s the goal I have. So, are we going to go up there, find the remains of the men, scavenge a few things, and then get the hell out of there?”
“I guess we should. I’ll go first. I don’t know why, but I trust you. I trust a fucking Werewolf. By the way, since I know, aren’t you supposed to kill me now?” he asked, smiling playfully.
“We’re allowed to keep pets, so I’ve claimed you and Clyde. I hope you don’t mind?” Terry shook his head, slowly, wondering if she was kidding or not.
“What do we have to fear from the pack?” Terry asked over his shoulder as he nosed his horse into the brush to follow Blaine’s trail.
“Judging by what we find up ahead, probably a great deal,” Char replied.
Terry looked at the valley before him as he rode unerringly toward it. The sense of doom was overwhelming, and Terry didn’t know why. He believed that the Werewolves had moved on. He shook his head as if that would help.
It didn’t.
They’d shared their secrets. They’d both known, but neither trusted the other enough to be open. They’d dodged and parried, but now that they knew…
What would change between them?
And that was what darkened Terry’s mood. He didn’t want anything to change between he and Char. He’d grown used to having her counsel and her heightened senses nearby. He also found it comforting to have one of the deadliest fighters he’d ever known on his team. He considered himself in the elite category, but Char’s speed and unnatural strength gave her an edge unmatched by any normal man, even one enhanced such as himself.
And then there was the healing that both he and Char enjoyed. Which reminded him, now that he could ask.
“They shot you, didn’t they?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked in reply.
“When we fought with Sawyer Brown’s men. You went off by yourself and the next time I saw you, you had two bullet holes in your clothes,” he clarified.
“Well, of course they shot me, but they didn’t hit anything important. I think they shot you, too, didn’t they?”
“Yes, but in my case, they did hit something important. That bastard shot my .45. Thank you for bringing up such a painful topic!” He gave her his best angry look.
“Me being shot wasn’t as painful as losing that stupid pistol. Is that what I just heard come out of your mouth?” She urged her mount forward so she could ride alongside Terry in order to give him her own angry look.
Terry checked his rifle and wouldn’t look at her.
“You know that won’t help, right?” she asked.
“Silver bullet, in the head? I think it’ll put a hurt on them.” He wasn’t sure what she was after.
“They are my people, and they are my friends,” Char whispered.
Terry stopped, forcing Char to stop and turn, “And they are killing my people. Whatever we need to do to stop that, I’m going to do. Just let me know what it is. Why did you come into town Char? What’s your game?”
She thought about it, then decided that she didn’t want to lie. “To check you out. Find out if the town was going to be a threat. They’ll want to know that you aren’t a danger to them. That’s what I’ll tell them, anyway,” she offered.
“Are you going to leave us?” he asked, instantly unhappy at the thought.
She paused, “I don’t think so, not yet. Clyde would miss me, wouldn’t you, boy?” Clyde had rejoined them from his foray into the brush and was jogging along happily between the two horses.
Terry simply nodded. His ears perked up. “You said they weren’t here,” he growled angrily as he heard a snort and growl from the trees ahead.
“Bear,” she replied.
“What?”
“Bear… A BEAR!” she yelled as the large black bear broke cover and scampered toward them. Terry snap fired, then aimed and fired five more times. The bear ploughed ahead, even though Terry was certain he’d hit what he was aiming at. The horse pranced as the bear closed the last ten yards.
A pistol cracked once, twice beside him and the bear rolled in a heap. A smoke tendril escaped the barrel of Char’s Glock. Terry climbed down from his horse and checked the bear.
Both eyes had been shot out.
Most of his rounds had skipped off the bear’s skull. Two rounds had hit the bear in the chest and would have eventually killed it, but not before it had mauled both the horses and the humans.
“You’ve been practicing,” Terry said, still looking at the bear.
“Maybe I was a good shot before,” she suggested, smiling.
“I’m sorry, Char. I’m sorry I thought you tricked me, fed me to the wolves, as it may be.” He turned to look at her for a moment, ”But that wouldn’t be a very nice thing to do to your pet, now would it?” Terry examined the bear, looking for anything odd, but no. It was just a large black bear.
“No worries, TH. It’s you and me against the world, isn’t it?” Char asked, leaning forward in her saddle, purple eyes sparkling.
Terry hung his head, then turned his attention to the valley spreading before them. “I have two friends in this world. One is an old lady who beats me with her wooden spoon and the other is a Werewolf. What in the holy jump the fuck up and down is my world coming to?” He finished looking around before continuing. “Let’s go find the hunters and then be on our way. I bet if we backtrack the bear, we’ll find something. And we’re coming back for that,” he stated, pointing to the bear and nodding. “Black bear is some good eating!”
“I know, but you’ll want to cook it, won’t you?” Char toyed with him.
“If you want, I can go ahead and you can stay here and snack a bit. Don’t think I hadn’t noticed how much damn venison you’ve been eating. Have you seen Margie Rose looking at me? She thinks I’m the one sneaking it in the middle of the night.”
Char held her finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”
She waved TH forward and they both headed into the valley, climbing as they passed through the thinning pines. Hills turned into mountains. It would have been a pleasant place had the circumstances been different.
The smell was obvious and not far away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Marcus hit the pavement at the edge of town and slowed to a walk. He strolled casually, looking at the variety of buildings still standing but unoccupied. He stopped and closed his eyes, sniffing the air, reaching out with his senses.
So many people.
Wildlife even. Horses. But no Werewolves. “Where are you, Charumati? Where the hell did you get off to?” Marcus asked the sky. “I guess that I’ll have to ask someone, you fucking bitch! I hate asking humans anything. I can’t wait to get my paws on you, teach you some manners.”
Marcus fumed as he walked toward the center of the small town. He smelled the power plant and it reminded him of long ago, of New York City, where he’d lived most of his life. He even spent some time as a stock broker. The others never had a chance with him on the trading floor. The other traders thought they were cutthroat, but they had no idea what that term really meant.
Civilization. He longed for it. His descent toward barbarism was his way of dealing with the absence, but what if?
“Maybe the whole pack needs to come here. Timmons is an engineer by trade, could probably help them get up to speed more quickly. And then nightlife. Booze. Music. Fun. Sonofabitch,” he cried. “None of that stuff is coming back. Two seconds after I find you, Char, we’re leaving this place. Let the humans wither and die in this hell hole.” Marcus stomped his feet and stormed around in a circle. His fists were clenched and his jaw started to ache from clenching it so hard.
He yelled at the sky, then continued walking. He meandered until he found someone.
“Excuse me, is there someone in charge here that I could talk with? I’ve only recently arrived and need to get my bearings,” Marcus said pleasantly, whil
e his yellow eyes glared at the young man before him.
Unnerved, the man didn’t speak. He only pointed to a nondescript house not far away.
“Thank you,” Marcus added as an afterthought, having already walked away, making a beeline for the indicated place.
When he arrived, he knocked on the door and waited. Then he knocked harder, almost pounding on the door. When it opened, the initially angry face quickly transformed into a radiant smile as the beautiful woman looked up at him.
In human form, Marcus was a beast, towering toward six feet eight inches and built like a professional wrestler. His massive frame was topped with short black hair. He had bushy eyebrows under which his yellow eyes peered. He held out a hand into which Felicity’s dainty counterpart disappeared.
“I’m looking for someone in charge. I’ve just arrived and have some questions.” Marcus smiled graciously. He wouldn’t mind adding this one to his stable. It had been a while since he’d had a human woman, usually they couldn’t handle his vigor, but this one seemed to glow with a certain energy.
He’d consider it.
“You’ll want to talk with Billy Spires,” she drawled slowly as she looked him up and down. It had been a long time since anyone showed such appreciation. “I didn’t get your name, handsome stranger?”
“I’m Marcus. And you, beautiful stranger?”
“Felicity, and my, you are something. Follow me,” she said, swinging her hips as she turned and headed inside.
“My pleasure,” Marcus flirted, feeling a little of his old self returning.
Felicity made a show of opening the door to the study and smiled seductively as he made his way past her, locking eyes with the smaller man at the other end of the table. Marcus trailed a finger along Felicity’s arm as he squeezed by her in the doorway. He felt her shiver.
Good.
He’d never taken his eyes from the man she’d called Billy Spires.
Billy looked back through narrowed eyes, trying not to be intimidated by the immense being who had just walked into his office.
Marcus pulled a chair from the table, spun it around, and sat on it backwards as Terry Henry often did.
“Billy dear, this is Marcus. He’s newly arrived and has some questions for you.”
“Leave us. Close the door on your way out,” Billy ordered, ice forming on every word. Felicity hesitated for only a moment, scowling darkly at Billy from behind the safety of the newcomer. She left and gently closed the door, hoping that Marcus appreciated her dignity and grace.
* * *
TH took a knee next to the remains of the hunter. There was almost nothing left of the horse beside him. At least it was cool enough that the stench wasn’t overwhelming.
Terry looked at how the man’s chest had been torn apart by the jaws of an animal and noticed the bear’s tracks around in the dirt. “This wasn’t our bear, was it?”
Terry could see that the wound wasn’t fresh.
Char had turned a milky shade of white as she looked at the body. She leaned closer and sniffed.
Were saliva. Marcus’s saliva. None of the others. They had eaten the horse, but only Marcus had eaten the man.
“The alpha, my mate, he did this.” Terry’s lip curled in disgust thinking of Char with a Werewolf that would stoop to tearing out a human’s heart.
“The pack ate the horse. Let’s find the other. I can smell him, up ahead.” Terry sniffed and couldn’t smell anything except the rotting remains of the man and horse at his feet. Terry found the rifle a few feet away and some loose shells. They recovered their horses, tied a short distance away because the animals shied at the smell of death.
Terry and Char rode forward quickly, stopping when they got close, and for a second time tied off the horses. This site was different as it had not been disturbed by the bear.
Char sniffed the area and walked around it like a crime scene investigator. “Were blood. I suspect the hunter shot one of the pack, maybe two. The blood is old and mixed with the horse.” She smelled puke, not far off. Sue. Finally she kneeled next to the man, with Terry leaning over her shoulder. They both studied the injury to the man’s chest. A knife wound, followed by ripping and tearing. The heart had been pulled out.
Char cried gently, her shoulders drooping as she hung her head. Clyde nuzzled her with his hackles raised. He could smell the Were strangers, and he didn’t like it.
“He changed into a human and ate this man’s heart like that, one man eating another. This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen, ever even heard of.” She choked out the words.
“And that answers my question. This isn’t normal. What the fuck do we do, Char?” Terry couldn’t look at the man’s remains and not feel fear.
He turned to the mundane, digging the man’s rifle out from beneath his body. He didn’t find any extra ammunition. The bolt of the hunting rifle was locked back, showing an empty chamber. Were blood. At least the man went down fighting. “Fucking A, my friend.” Terry said, “Fight back with all you have.”
Terry assumed the position of attention and saluted the man. Char didn’t understand.
“He’s dead,” she said simply.
He slowly dropped his salute, “And he died as a warrior, fighting past his last bullet. He deserves to be honored. It is the least we can do for him, because I’m not staying here to bury him. He’ll be food for the birds, the scavengers, until his bones disappear into the ground in the decades ahead,” Terry replied, returning to his horse to stash the rifle with the other. “Let’s recover that bear. We still need to eat, and I want that hide as a rug in Margie Rose’s living room. That floor is going to be cold this winter.”
Char started to smile as if she had a good comeback, but then looked at the mess her mate had left behind, reminded of the mess that he’d become, and it sickened her. Terry put a hand on her back and rubbed gently, feeling that her muscles were tighter than usual.
“Come on, Char. We have stuff to do and none of it is here…”
* * *
Felicity stayed outside the door, listening as Marcus wove an elaborate tale of his storied past, of travels through the mountains, following the elk for food. And then he dropped the big one.
He’d become separated from his wife and wondered if she’d made her way into town, a tall woman with purple eyes.
Felicity’s jaw hit the floor. She couldn’t see, but suspected that Billy was equally shocked. Why, that little vixen never mentioned a husband, and a strapping one at that, Felicity thought.
Billy recovered quicker than Felicity.
“Why yes, she showed up quite a while ago. She is safe, as my security chief is protecting her,” Billy said, trying to be diplomatic. Despite Terry’s denials, Billy was convinced there was something going on between those two. But he had just grown accustomed to Terry Henry and didn’t want to lose him. There was no way anyone could survive a fight with the monster that sat at the other end of Billy’s table.
“I hope you are pleased that she is quite safe and healthy. She’s been an important part of our community ever since she arrived, even helping us immensely with an issue regarding our neighbors to the south,” Billy said cryptically, not wanting to offend the man by telling him they had put her on the front lines of their battle with Sawyer Brown. That kind of protection would not be well received, Billy expected.
“She is always so helpful. If you can tell me where she is, then I’d like to collect her, and we’ll be on our way.”
Collect her, Felicity repeated to herself, liking the big man less and less by the moment.
“She’s not here right now. They took two horses and went north, to check out a new hunting ground up that way,” Billy said, smiling to put Marcus at ease, but the big man’s yellow eyes narrowed and his brow furled. His lip quivered as it turned into a snarl.
“When will they be back?” he growled.
Billy was under no illusions that he could defend himself from this man. Billy had grown used to
Terry Henry’s presence and had stopped bringing a firearm into the room where he met with the townspeople. He was unarmed and faced a man easily twice his size.
“I don’t know,” Billy said, barely above a whisper.
Marcus closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He could smell the female just outside the door. Her pheromones had changed from intensely sensual to fear.
Pity.
When he opened his eyes again, he had calmed himself. No better place to wait than with the man who seemed to know what was going on. “Tell me about this place. How did you come to build such a civilization from the ruins of the world? You have electricity! You should be proud of yourself, Billy Spires, for what you’ve accomplished. I’d like to hear more, if you would be so kind.”
Billy hesitated, but started with his early life. It had been a while since he told anyone the stories. They weren’t very impressive. He survived and that was that, but this was an opportunity to embellish, work on his legacy as the first mayor, governor, maybe even president in this new world. Once Billy got rolling, there was no stopping him.
Felicity went upstairs, shaking her head the whole way.
* * *
Terry was a madman cleaning the bear, flying through the process because he wanted to be on his way. He gutted it and cut off the head and feet, then split the beast in half. It took their combined strength to put the front half of the carcass behind one saddle, then the back half behind the other. Clyde seemed to be right at home around the bear. He nipped at it, barking and playing. He helped himself to some choice tidbits from the entrails.
“Damn dog!” Terry said, still chagrined that Clyde wouldn’t taste his beer.
Char’s mood hadn’t changed. The darkness of what happened in that valley hung over her head like a storm cloud.
Once the bear was loaded, they rode downhill quickly, reached the road, turned right, and headed toward New Boulder at a quick trot.
“I wonder if Blaine made it back,” Terry said, trying to make small talk, but Char wasn’t having it. She kept her thoughts to herself as they rode toward town.
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