by Joey W. Hill
The young man’s hair was short, not long. The hair on his arms and chest, visible through the neck of his shirt, was a light covering. No dark fur on him, no bulked muscles that would smell of earth and wolf…
Cai put that aside and thought through the best approach to take his quarry down with minimal fuss and noise. He glided along, stealthy as a snake. The male unconcernedly whistled his way out to his pre-dawn chores, probably intending to milk the cows Cai could hear lowing in the barn.
Yet as he closed in, Cai found himself hesitating. He thought of Rand, and the vision of his boy against his hip. That male could have grown up to be a young man like this, his father proud simply to look upon him. A young version of Rand.
Fuck. Do not let that fucking wolf fuck with your head and your meal. He needed the blood strength if he was going to stay sharp for Dovia.
Cai took the male when he had circled to the back of the barn to retrieve a couple buckets. Cai was an efficient hunter, no wasted movement, no chance for the quarry to make a sound. Usually in this kind of circumstance, he snapped the neck and fed swiftly before the blood could get that death tang to it he disliked.
This time he went with pressure on the windpipe, rendering his prey unconscious. As the man slumped in his arms, Cai pulled him into the shelter of the woods and ripped open the shirt, fanning his palms out on nice farm boy flesh. Tight nipple buds, but yeah, only a baby fine covering of hair on the chest. Plus, his scent was wrong. No, not wrong. It was fine enough, apples and pine wood. Just not wolf.
He struck at the male’s throat. He drank and drank, taking that nourishment, but found himself stopping short of the fatal amount. Just. When he sat back on his heels, wiping his mouth with his hand, he studied the unconscious man. He could finish it, drink the rest. But he wouldn’t.
He carried the male back to the barn and left him there. Before he took off, he fired a rock through the front window of the house. It made a large crash, and resulted in lights popping on in three windows. Then he disappeared into the woods. They’d get him medical help, a blood transfusion, and he’d be fine. He’d taken as much as he could without killing him, and he’d make do with that. Didn’t know why the hell he hadn’t taken the amount he normally would. Not efficient.
But he felt better for it, when he thought of Rand and his kids. For about a minute, before he called himself an idiot. Then he simply missed Rand.
When Fane and Lynn had come through Colorado years before, their two litters were aged nine and sixteen, a total of seven pups. Now the first litter was in their twenties and the others in their teens. Lynn could still bear children, and since shifter females had a stronger constitution for later pregnancies than human women, it was possible she and Fane might decide to have one more litter to further strengthen the pack. Or, since they also had a handful of daughters, the honor might go to one or more of them.
However, it was fortunate no one was currently pregnant, because if that had been the case, Rand knew Fane wouldn’t have invited him home, no matter how much he believed Rand’s story about Grey. Male shifters became more aggressively protective when one of the pack females was pregnant, and even more so when it was the alpha female. When she was no longer able to hunt, the male alpha would bring back and present the day’s kill to her. Once she accepted it, it would be prepared and eaten by all, but the male alpha would bring her plate to her, not allowing anyone else the honor.
During her pregnancy was also the one time when she would take lead role in the pack, calling the shots on hunting schedule, location, and where they’d “den,” so to speak, when it was time to have the pups.
Even when not pregnant, Lynn was still a strong-willed woman and wolf, though the bond between her and Fane was a loving one. She respected him as the head of their pack, a lead the others followed both from her example and because he’d earned it.
Because Fane’s birthday had been mid-week, Rand had the pleasure of meeting pretty much the whole family, who’d come to stay for the weekend and celebrate their alpha’s birth date. The young adult shifters—Stalker, Sangra, Todd and Cilya—viewed Rand with some wariness, but when his welcome was confirmed by Fane, that was all it took for them to relax. The teenagers—Darcy, Windrunner and Chad—were even more accepting, despite the odd vampire scent upon him. Fane told Rand he’d wait to explain that after dinner, along with the reason for him being in their area.
No matter the late hour, wolf hospitality demanded that a guest be fed a meal. In a house of wolves, especially growing teenaged ones, there was no lack of enthusiasm for a “second dinner.” Rand was amused by the mix of pajamas and daily wear he saw around the table. Pajamas for the teens, mostly day wear for the adults.
They had a spacious two-level cabin. It had been built by the hands of everyone at the table, and they were excited to share what each had contributed to their home, laughing and speaking over one another, but in that amicable way that siblings did. The energy of it soaked into Rand’s body, putting him at ease.
There were several at the table who were not Fane and Lynn’s offspring. Idris was the mate of their daughter, Sangra. They’d met while she was away at school. Sangra was a nurse, which complemented her brother Todd’s specialty of veterinarian medicine. He was part of a practice in the town fifty miles away and had an apartment there, though he came to the woods to be with his family most weekends. His wife was human, something that obviously concerned Lynn, though she was friendly enough to Zelda.
Mated to a shifter, Zelda could apply to be bitten according to ritual, and become one of the pack. Perhaps Lynn’s concern was that Zelda didn’t want to do that.
It wasn’t unusual for shifters to choose human professions and blend into that life. It was what had kept them mostly invisible to the world for so long, not just vampires. And yes, some did mate with humans, though the relationships often didn’t work out long term. Partly because shifters were as paranoid as vampires about hiding their existence from humans. Which meant many shifters who mated humans never told them, instead figuring out how to live a double life.
Fane’s other adult daughter, Cilya, was divorced. Though the reasons for that weren’t discussed, Rand wondered if that was part of the cause. She had only arrived an hour before he had, having had a work commitment in the city that had run late.
While Todd had revealed his identity to his wife, the other challenge to a shifter-human relationship was children. As difficult as healthy births were for shifters who were born wolves, the percentages were even lower for a transformed human female. And a human female who didn’t want to become a shifter couldn’t conceive with one.
That issue didn’t seem to concern Todd and Zelda presently. The two were obviously still in a honeymoon phase. And Todd seemed comfortable with the human life he led.
Whereas during his grieving period Rand had rarely wanted to shift out of being a wolf, there were shifters who stayed in human form most of the time. Some eventually embraced their human side and only ran as wolves…well, once in a blue moon.
Unlike the wolf shifting side, there seemed to be no permanent effects to a shifter staying human for long periods of time. They could become wolf anytime they wished, though Todd joked that, when he did have time to shift and run in some of the more wooded parks near his home, sometimes his joints felt like they needed WD-40.
Wolf shifters didn’t have many of the limitations vampires did to blending into society, Rand realized. They could be out night or day; when they were human, they looked human. No oddness to their eyes, or a preternatural stillness or deliberation to their movements like Cai had. That eerie yet compelling scrutiny that made someone want to get closer to him.
On that note, he’d noticed Cilya watching him more closely than the others. She was attractive and well put together, with straight hair to her shoulders in a soft bob, large dark eyes that seemed to miss little, and a pleasant mouth. Because she’d run late from work, she still wore her work clothes; slacks and a sleeveless blou
se that complimented her curves. A pretty necklace of thin wire and sparkling stones was tucked into the V-neckline.
Polite conversation revealed she was a dean at a middle school. There was an insightful intelligence and firm directness to her that reminded Rand of Sheba. None of the pups had been able to get a lie past her, or would even try. She valued integrity and had instilled that in them. Cilya seemed to exercise the same code toward her charges. Rand liked the entertaining stories she told about mentoring her at-risk kids, and when he chuckled a couple times, she looked his way and seemed pleased that she’d made him laugh.
She sat beside him at the table, and the relaxed contact of wolves, her hand touching his when the food was passed, or the brush of her hip, was not unwelcome or overly forward. Just wolfish.
She and Lynn were the cooks in the family, and Rand appreciated their efforts, especially at the late hour. Dinner was generous platters of venison, with cornbread muffins and collards, the latter dutifully eaten under Lynn’s sharp eye. She firmly reminded everyone that human health had to be tended as much as wolf health. When Darcy pointed out impishly Cilya had put an artery-clogging amount of butter into the greens to make them go down better, Cilya swatted her head with a smile, admonishing her not to be a tattle-tale.
Rand commented on the crops they had growing to supplement income and asked if the milking cows had ever seemed spooked by the underlying wolf scent that other animals could detect, even when a shifter was in human form.
That set off a rash of anecdotes about mishaps the younger ones had had when they were learning to control their shifting.
“Though Darcy did it deliberately once,” Todd said, shooting a teasing look at his younger sister. The girl, with a vibrant, dyed-red mop of corkscrew hair, and twinkling brown eyes amid a scattering of freckles, gave a mock scowl.
“There was a storm coming and I needed them to get into the barn. They were being stubborn, so I shifted and chased them all in.”
“She was as good as a border collie,” Chad added. “I said we should enter her in a competition so she could bring home blue ribbons to compete with my track trophies.”
As the banter continued, Rand tried hard not to let it happen, but the scene blurred, and it was another family sitting around him, the give and take of conversation between those who knew and loved one another. Family. Those with hopes and dreams for futures that would never come.
Even a five-year-old could have strong opinions. Maple wanted to be an astronaut. Teague was like Fane’s Stalker. He just wanted to be a wolf and a farmer, never going anywhere near a human city. Cira, she’d been undecided, changing her mind from day to day, depending on what book they read together at bedtime.
And Shy… She’d curled in her father’s arms and said she wanted to be his little girl forever. Something only a little girl would say.
At a touch on his arm, Rand tuned back in to realize, mortified, that every eye was upon him, and he had tears rolling down his face. It was Cilya’s hand upon him, her dark eyes filled with kindness. Fane was on the other side, his palm molded over Rand’s shoulder.
“It’s all right,” Lynn said softly. She was across the table, and had moved her foot to press it against Rand’s. “We understand, Rand. How could we not? I’m so very sorry.”
He nodded. “I’m uh…going to…”
He struggled to get up, free himself from the confines of the picnic table style seating of the big dining table. Fane rose to give him room, which made Rand feel more self-conscious. Once he managed it, aware of the hands reaching out to steady him, he mumbled something he hoped was polite and appropriate and left the kitchen. He and Fane were supposed to go check out the Trad camp after dinner, but he could come back later for that.
Rand kept going until he reached the front door, the porch, the steps, and he was out into the night, away from the house. He needed to breathe.
Fortunately, Fane understood, for no one followed him. Rand took deep gulps of air. He wondered what Cai was doing, where he was.
But then he wished he hadn’t thought about it. A cold knot formed in his belly. Cai thought he might be alone tomorrow night, that Rand would change his mind about backing him up. The vampire didn’t count on anyone to stay true to their word, even himself. And, assuming he’d be alone, Cai would want to be well fortified with blood. He’d gone to kill.
No. Not tonight. But I did get myself a big meal. And I didn’t doubt you’d keep your word. I just hoped you’d think better of it.
There was a momentary silence, where Rand felt like Cai was even deeper inside him than he was himself, seeing things Rand couldn’t face. Like Cilya and her ability to intuit the needs of the young, only Cai’s insightfulness was targeted right at the man, and what they knew about each other.
I’m about a mile away, if you want to come to me, wolf. I’m here. I’m sure you can pick up my vampire stench.
Rand took off his clothes, left them folded under a tree, and shifted. He took off, not dwelling on why he went away from that warm cheerful light and happy family, toward a surly vampire who wouldn’t know what a pack and family meant if his life had depended on it.
Well, his life had depended on never counting on anyone, right? So that made sense. Yet when Cai told Rand where he was, Rand heard two things in the information. Not just an acknowledgement of where Rand’s head was, what he might need, but what Cai himself might be wanting.
He found the vampire lying on his stomach in a moonlit meadow, hands stacked and pillowing the side of his face. He had his eyes closed as he apparently digested his meal. Rand sat down next to him, pressing furred warmth against his cold side. Cai didn’t act cold, but Rand was glad to give him warmth and he wanted the contact. He laid down, resting his big head on Cai’s back, between his shoulder blades.
“Good boy,” Cai murmured. No biting sarcasm to it, no teasing. It made Rand feel odd, but not unpleasant, so he kept lying there. The male had no shirt or shoes on, just his jeans.
“I’ve hung out at a bunch of libraries afterhours,” Cai said. “Books say grief heals after a while. And it helps when you’re around people who actively help with the healing process. Rather than those who live their own miserable, solitary existence.”
Rand rubbed his face against Cai’s back.
“Do not get your drool on me.” The male’s shoulders lifted in a sigh. “Not talking to me tonight, hmm? Staying deep in that wolf head of yours.”
Rand rolled to his side, putting the aforementioned head on the small of Cai’s back and rise of his ass. He stretched his paws out before him. He didn’t want to feel sad. He just wanted to feel like a wolf.
“Okay. Don’t let me sleep through sunrise. That would suck.”
Cai didn’t say anything else but that. They both slept for a time, though Rand thought they alternated staying semi-alert to their surroundings, so he was aware when Fane approached. Cai’s eyes opened, but Rand rose to handle it.
When he padded to the edge of the clearing, Fane met him there. The male was in his human form.
If he was offended that Rand had left his hospitality to be here, with Cai, he didn’t show it. But he could understand, couldn’t he? They had seven children, and every parent thought about the nightmare of losing them.
“Stalker and I checked out the Trad camp.” He shook his head at Rand’s laid-back ears. “We risked nothing but the vampires scenting a couple wolves, and we were well out of range of their vision. But a female vampire is there. Young, like you described.” Fane hesitated, his jaw tightening. “I also thought I detected human female, but the life signs were faint, masked somehow. Perhaps old prey. It was hard to tell.”
So Cai’s instincts had been right. Goddard had her. Rand just wished it wasn’t so close to dawn, so that they could go now.
The Trads have to sleep through daylight as well, Cai reminded him. And before you think it, no, you trying to take her after sunrise won’t work. She’s too young to survive being transported durin
g daylight hours, since we don’t exactly have a road to bring in a fancy vehicle like that van. Goddard’s also old enough that, below ground, he could still wake up and fight you, even in the middle of the day. And I couldn’t help you until the sun went down.
It was logical, but knowing she was so close was maddening. Rand wondered if Fane had known that and tried to ease the burden on him by doing the verification reconnaissance with Stalker instead.
Rand communicated his thanks with a wolfish rub against Fane’s leg and hip. When Fane brushed his body against him in response, dropping to a squat to affectionately butt heads, Rand tried not to let his heart twist into knots at the double-edged sword of welcome, long-overdue contact, the rich body language of another wolf.
“When your task is done, you come and run with us, Rand,” Fane murmured. “You have had your grieving period. You now need to heal fully, and for that, you need your own kind.”
Fane paused, his hand resting on Rand’s back. Human eyes met wolf ones. “Lynn remembers Sheba’s strength and kindness,” he said. “She told my mate that you were one of the strongest and most noble wolves she’d ever met. If you get into trouble, you may turn to us for help. I don’t know what response I’ll be able to muster, but I don’t wish you to come to harm.”
Rand was moved, and transmitted it with another head butt that had Fane chuckling, though his expression remained serious. But as Fane himself had pointed out, this wasn’t about wolf kind, nor wolf kind’s fight. Rand wouldn’t risk a single member of Fane’s family, no matter that he, Stalker and Idris were all formidable-looking men, which usually translated into a similar-sized wolf. Todd and Chad had a slimmer build, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t fight just as well. Same for Cilya and Sangra. Fane was a good fighter and he’d have taught those skills to all his young.
Rand’s response was easy enough for Fane to read. The male set his jaw. “You call for aid if needed. Grey’s pack spread their lies and, in your absence, I didn’t trust what Lynn and I knew of you. I owe you a debt for that. Cilya’s already taken me to task. She told me that your integrity was as obvious to her as one of her students declaring he hadn’t eaten candy, while chocolate was still on his face.”