by C Zinnia
Dana tried to console her, but Mel moved away in an awkward backwards crab walk. Mel nearly fell over from the action.
“Don’t touch me!” Mel yelled. “You fed me all of these lies about wanting to know the truth about me when you weren’t honest about yourselves! You poked and pried my wounds for all of my secrets but still kept yours! You all deceived me!”
Dana looked like she wanted to cry. She nodded her head and didn’t try to get near Mel again.
Lee immediately stood by Dana; arms wrapped around her protectively. “We just lost our home, Mel,” Lee said. “All of our things are gone. You are not the only one suffering.”
Mel tried to listen to reason, but she was too wound up. No amount of deep breathing was going to calm her down. “I am sorry about your home. I am. But my logical brain is taking a backseat at the moment to my survival brain. How would you feel if you watched a Sci-Fi occurrence happen in real life?” she said. “I didn’t grow up being taught humans could turn into wolves! And it just happened! Oh! And apparently, there are people in the world who hunt these wolves! And apparently, this guy didn’t mind the thought of killing one in front of me! Or blowing me up! Does that mean I’m a target too? How am I supposed to protect myself when I can’t turn into a wolf? I’m willing to bet all of you can change just like her!” Dana didn’t deny it. Mel added; “You can’t begin to imagine what I’m going through.”
Lee crouched down so he was eyelevel with Mel. “Please, understand, Mel,” he said. “You were never supposed to know. Bill wasn’t supposed to know. We never thought something like this would happen.”
She could barely hear him talk. It was the fact that she watched his mouth move that she could put together what he was saying. It bothered her. “Which part? Trixie turning into a wolf or Bill going on a sudden shooting spree? He attacked me last night, remember? They were unpredictable from the beginning! Their ability to turn to violence in a heartbeat was transparent to anyone with a brain! What if Jim and Thomas hadn’t left? A poor baby would have been killed!” she said.
The fact that Lee was able to remain so calm bothered Mel. Mel was always the pragmatic one in situations. Instead, she was feeling hysterical. “Bill waited for them to leave,” Lee said. “Bill had planned this. He hunts werewolves, not humans.”
Hearing the word “werewolf” aloud made it all the more real for Mel. “In case you haven’t noticed, Lee, I’m not a werewolf!” Saying “werewolf” made her feel absurd. I shouldn’t be having this conversation , she thought. “So, why did he do it while I was here?” she demanded. “He wouldn’t want to leave any witnesses, Lee. I’m as good as dead!”
Lee slumped. “I don’t know, Mel. I don’t know what he was thinking,” he said.
Mel slowly got up. She turned away from them and walked back to where the chuck of house nearly crushed her. How did I move it? she thought. She held her hand towards the chuck and tried to will it to move. Nothing happened. Did I imagine it?
She glanced back to find Lee and Dana were talking, but she could barely hear what they were saying. How much hearing have I lost? she thought.
She nervously paced around the yard. She tried to pretend what happened had not happened, but the smell of smoke was real. The soot covering her was real. Her eyes burned. Her throat was raw. Her hearing was still off. Her burns, cuts, and scrapes were stinging. Her right shoulder throbbed. It was all real. “I have to get out of here,” she said. She quickly stumbled to the parking lot. She saw her car and fell to her knees.
A large chunk of the house had landed on her car. It was completely destroyed.
What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of here? Mel thought.
Lee said something, but Mel couldn’t hear him.
“What?” she asked as she turned towards him.
“You can’t leave yet, Mel,” Lee said softly. “Not until after you talk to Bruce and Silvia.”
“And who is that?” she asked in a snarky tone. She was more than ready to give them a piece of her mind.
“Our alphas,” Lee said.
The word “alphas” was the final straw for Mel. She felt what tiny bit of sanity she had left fall away from her and into the rubble. She laughed hysterically, collapsing to the ground as she laughed. They had meant alpha, not Al , she thought. “The leaders of your territory, right?” She laughed even harder.
Dana and Lee looked at each other, concerned over Mel’s delirium. Dana slowly walked to her and knelt beside her. She placed a soothing hand on Mel’s arm.
Mel stopped laughing as she looked at Dana’s hand. Mel couldn’t fathom the thought of Dana’s hand turning into a paw. But it can, she thought. Even with that knowledge, Mel met Dana’s gaze and saw nothing but love and compassion. She leaned into Dana. She’s being so kind even after losing her home. She hugged Dana.
“I’m sorry, Dana. My brain knows you’re a good person,” Mel said so softly, she couldn’t even hear herself. “And I’m still glad you and Lee are alive.”
Dana nodded. “I know,” she said.
Mel was able to compose herself somewhat. All of this is ridiculous , Mel thought. “How do I know Bruce and Silvia won’t kill me as soon as they see me?” she asked. “As you said, I’m not supposed to know about any of this.”
Lee was miffed by Mel’s question. “They won’t,” he said stiffly. “We are civilized, Mel. We don’t just kill people, especially when they’re innocent bystanders.”
“Like a werewolf hunter doesn’t kill in front of humans?” Mel retorted.
Lee opened and closed his mouth, not knowing how to respond.
“Do you trust me?” Dana asked.
Mel started to nod her head, but it made her dizzy. “Yes,” she said.
“Then trust that we won’t let anything happen to you,” Dana said.
“I’ll try,” she said.
“Let’s go,” Dana said. “I’m sure the fire department will be here soon and we don’t need them to find Trixie’s body.” She squeezed Mel’s arm reassuringly before letting go.
Lee and Dana walked toward what was left of the front of the house to pick up Trixie’s body.
Mel trailed behind them. Mel didn’t want to follow, but she also couldn’t stay away. It was like a horror movie turned real.
Trixie had remained in wolf form. There was a bullet wound in her chest with a large exit wound in her back. Her eyes and mouth were open. Her eyes were already clouding over. Her tongue hung uselessly out of her mouth. Mel looked away. She could smell the piss and shit that had escaped the corpse.
Lee grabbed a tarp from their intact car.
“Really? You just happen to have a tarp in your car?” Mel asked. Her lips twitched as she fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity.
“I’ve never used it for a body before if it makes you feel better,” Lee said.
Mel looked up at the sky. “Why did you save their car and let mine get destroyed?” she asked out loud. There was no answer from above.
Lee and Dana wrapped the body in the tarp. They put the body in the trunk.
“Come on, Mel, we have to leave,” Dana said.
Not knowing what else to do, Mel dazedly allowed Dana to guide her to the car. Mel got in the backseat. She tried not to think about what was lying just behind her or sitting in front of her. A dead body and surrounded by werewolves. Just the vacation I wanted , she thought sourly. Fuck you, intuition!
Lee said something, but Mel couldn’t hear him.
She jumped when he tapped her knee. She looked up at him to see his concern.
“Did you hear what I said?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
Her answer worried him. “Seatbelt,” he said.
God forbid I die in a car wreck from not wearing my seatbelt when I could instead get killed by some alpha werewolf, Mel thought. Mel complied. She did think Dana and Lee would try to protect her. But if their alpha decides I have to die, then what?
Chapter 19
; As the car pulled out of the driveway, Mel’s eyes felt heavy. She knew her adrenaline was wearing off. She managed to keep her eyes open as they drove deeper into the country. She couldn’t keep track of the different roads they took. Even if she had managed to commandeer a car, she would have spent the entire time driving around until they found her or until she ran out of gas. I am really screwed, Mel thought.
They travelled for half an hour before they pulled into a long gravel driveway. It led to a gravel parking lot beside a small village. There were dirt paths and the buildings were built in a way that was energy efficient. There were solar panels on the roofs and large tanks beside the houses to collect rain water. Most of the houses had garden troughs.
Ecofriendly werewolves, Mel thought. Makes sense.
Lee and Dana got out of the car. Dana opened the backseat door and escorted Mel out. They walked towards the largest house in the village.
There was a group of people sitting on the porch, laughing and talking.
They all look so human, Mel thought.
One of them looked over.
“Hey, Lee! Dana! It’s nice to see y’all over here. I figured y’all didn’t remember we were still here,” a man said. He noticed Mel. “Well, lookie here. Did you find a stray-” He froze.
Mel felt him study her. He quickly realized she was human. He looked from Dana to Lee. He sniffed the air. “Why do y’all smell like smoke?” the man asked. His eyes widened as he really looked at them for the first time. “Y’all are covered with ash! What happened?”
“I’m afraid we need to talk to Alpha Bruce and Alpha Silvia before we say anything,” Lee said.
He couldn’t believe Lee used the term “Alpha” in front of Mel. He whistled. “That bad,” the man said. “Yeah, you need to talk to them first, they’re in the kitchen.”
“Thanks, Paul,” Lee said to the man.
Paul nodded. He gave Mel an encouraging smile. “I don’t know what happened to you, darling, but I’m sorry and I hope things get better,” he said. The amount of sympathy he showed told her that she looked terrible.
A nice werewolf. That’s a good sign, right? she thought. Mel tried to smile back, but it felt awkward. “Thanks,” she said.
Lee, Dana, and Mel went inside. Lee and Dana took off their shoes, so Mel did as well. Like taking off shoes makes a difference when we’re trailing ash around, Mel thought as she looked at her filthy socks.
The living room was crowded with people watching a boxing match. They noticed Mel but knew better than to say anything.
Lee and Dana led Mel into the kitchen.
A man and a woman were cooking together as they laughed. An elderly couple was sitting at the table drinking hot tea.
They were all stunned when Lee, Dana, and Mel came in.
Mel recognized the man from last night. He had stood in the center of the ring with an older man. This must be Alpha Bruce, she thought.
The woman beside him felt just as powerful as Bruce did. Alpha Silvia, Mel thought. She was shocked when she realized half of the woman’s head was shaved. She was a blend of the older couple sitting at the table. The older woman also had the side of her head shaved.
Hipster grandma werewolf? Mel thought. She had to fight off a round of giggles.
Silvia was worried as she focused on Dana. She stopped cooking and walked over to Dana. She took Dana’s hands. “Are you okay?” she asked. “What happened?”
“And why is she here?” Bruce asked, gesturing to Mel. He was trying not to be angry, but Mel could still feel his anger. She couldn’t help but flinch from his power. She had noticed his energy was strong last night, but having it directly focused on her was overwhelming.
Mel felt her palms sweat and pulse increase as her sympathetic nervous system kicked into overdrive. She felt her fear pool into her hands, causing them to pulse. The fact that he was a redhead made Mel nervous. Aren’t redheads supposed to be prone to tempers? she thought.
“I’m sure they have a good reason. They are filthy and reek like they got caught on fire,” the older woman said. “Can’t you see how shaken up the poor girl is? Come over here, dear, and sit with us. Silvia, make this girl a cup of tea.”
As Mel glanced at Bruce, she refused to move in case it angered him further.
The older woman was talking again, so Mel looked at her to watch her mouth. “It’s okay. Come over here, dear, and sit with us,” the older woman repeated. Mel didn’t move. The older woman sighed.
“Bruce, tell her it’s okay to come over here,” the older man said. Mel was relieved somewhat to see him.
Bruce nodded gruffly.
Keeping an eye on Bruce, Mel immediately sat down beside the older man. The older woman seemed slightly put out that Mel didn’t sit beside her. “My apologies,” Mel said to her. It hurt to talk and she still could barely hear herself in her right ear. “But it’s nice to sit beside the only other human in this mix.”
The older man pretended to be offended. “Are you assuming I’m human because I’m Thai? We have Thai shifters, you know,” he said.
Mel blankly stared at him. She didn’t want to think about how many different forms one person could turn into. “Actually, I know you’re human because of how your energy feels,” she said.
“Oh,” he said. He grinned. “Well then that’s okay.”
She felt the suspicion in Bruce’s energy as he said something. She turned towards him. “What?” she asked.
He was bewildered.
“It appears Mel’s lost some hearing from the blast,” Lee said loud enough for Mel to hear her. “If she’s not looking at you, she doesn’t hear as well.”
Lee saying it out loud made the situation more real for Mel.
A few tears slipped down Mel’s cheeks. She haphazardly wiped them away as she asked; “Do you think it’ll be permanent?”
They all looked at each other.
“We’re not as familiar with the rate and level humans heal,” Dana said. “We may need to take you to the infirmary to get assessed.”
“She’s not going anywhere until she answers my questions. Now, you can sense if someone is a werewolf?” Bruce repeated.
Mel froze. She felt like she was treading on thin ice with him. “Not exactly,” she said, her voice squeaking.
Silvia gave Bruce a reprimanding look and his energy immediately backed away from Mel’s. Silvia smiled reassuringly at Mel as she brought over a cup of tea for Mel.
“Thank you,” Mel said meekly. She hesitated before taking a small sip. What if it’s poisoned? she thought. There are worse ways to die. The liquid warmed her belly. She was able to still breathe, so she took it as a good sign that she wasn’t poisoned.
“I’m Barbara, but you can call me Nana and that handsome man you’re sitting beside is Phichit,” the older woman said to Mel.
“And you can call me Papa,” Papa said.
“What’s your name?” Nana asked.
“Mel,” Mel said.
“That’s a pretty name,” Nana said.
“Thank you,” Mel said.
Mel noticed Silvia was very pregnant. The fact put her somewhat at ease. Maybe Bruce will be merciful because of his joy of being a soon-to-be father, she thought.
Lee wrapped an arm around Dana and guided her to the table. They sat down together, arms still holding each other. Lee told them what happened. Bruce’s eyes widened when Lee said Trixie transformed into a werewolf.
“In front of her?” Bruce asked, indicating Mel.
“Yes,” Lee said.
“Crap,” Bruce said. “Continue.”
By the time Lee was done, Bruce was fuming. He opened the door to the living room. “Someone get Samuel, now!” Bruce ordered. There was the sound of people scurrying and the front door opening and closing. He closed the kitchen door. “We need to dispose of this hunter before he finds us.”
“We lost everything,” Dana finally said. She buried her face in her hands and cried. “Our pictures. Our clothe
s. Our home. Everything.”
Mel felt her perceptions shift. Seeing Dana cry made Dana seem more human and less like a barbaric werewolf. It also made Mel feel like a jerk. Dana had accepted Mel for who she was and Mel hadn’t done the same for Dana. I’m such a hypocrite! Mel thought. And an ass.
Lee soothed Dana with hugs and kisses. A few tears escaped him, but he ignored them as he focused on his wife. His gratitude that his wife was alive was palpable. If it had just been a few seconds sooner, I would have lost my light, Lee’s thought entered Mel’s mind.
“I’m so sorry, Dana,” Silvia said. She patted Dana’s shoulder. “All of you will stay here until we can figure out what to do next.”
“I have to go back to the B&B,” Lee said to Dana. “The fire department is probably there trying to figure out what happened and I need to influence their conclusions. Are you going to be okay?”
Dana nodded. “Yes,” she said. She tried to laugh as she wiped away her tears. “I just got caught up in everything.”
“You have every right to be upset,” Silvia said.
“Lee, I’ll go with you after I speak with Samuel,” Bruce said. “We’ll figure out a good story.”
A short stocky man came into the kitchen. He had short greying hair and pretty hazel eyes. He held himself as though he had former military training.
“Good to see you, Samuel,” Bruce said.
“I came as soon as I could,” Samuel said. He glanced at Mel, but showed no reaction to her presence. “What’s going on?”
Bruce told him what happened. Lee gave Samuel a description of Bill.
Samuel shook his head. “I know Trixie’s parents,” he said. “They’ll be heartbroken, but her mom had said Bill was no good. I’m sure she won’t even be shocked to find out he was a hunter. I’ll call and let them know.”
“The body’s in the trunk,” Lee said. “I’m sure they’ll want to come get her.”