He grinned wide at my belligerent assumption, and for a moment I felt more like a potential snack than a packmate. “I’m not questioning your loyalty, Mage.”
“Oh.” I shut up and waited.
“I’ll give it a go. You’re responsible for keeping them out of our minds. Figure out what they’re up to and kick them out if they’re not a threat. They’re not welcome here no matter what. If you can’t assess or control the situation for any reason, we’ll take no chances. Work with Matthew and his team. Teach them and learn from them.”
“I’ve wanted that for a while,” I admitted.
“What is Kato hiding from me?” His question caught me off guard.
I didn’t know enough to answer the question anyway, and my confusion showed through naturally. Still, I could only give a half-truth. “Kato may be my mentor, but I feel like I’m in kindergarten most of the time. I know he had a vision before he went cryptic and quit talking, but I don’t know what he saw. I can sense the visions but not see them. He doesn’t usually share them with me.”
“Half-truths again,” He warned me. “I’m Alpha of this pack. Kato gets away with it because he’s older than dirt. You’re not.”
“I trust him.”
“You know more than you’re admitting,” he informed me correctly. “Don’t push me, Mage.”
I grinned mischievously, needing to lighten the mood. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a controlling son of a bitch?”
“Many times. They don’t usually live to say it twice.” His eyes shined with sadistic humor, and I smiled. Our normal squabbling felt like solid ground.
“I’m supposed to be grabbing food. Want to help me so they don’t think I’ve annoyed you into ripping my throat out?”
“Don’t give me ideas,” he suggested.
The normally overflowing refrigerator lay nearly bare when we opened it, so we pulled together a peculiar assortment of food and snacks. Billie glanced up as we came out onto the patio, our arms full. Through our constant mental connection, she sensed the argument but stayed out of it. No longer concerned for my safety with Jason, she let us work our differences out on our own.
I didn’t fill her in just yet. I didn’t think our Alpha would appreciate sensing mindspeech, so I gave her a reassuring half smile instead. Kato, still in wolf form, locked eyes with me. He had something to talk to me about, but his mental voice didn’t fill my mind. He waited, too. I hoped the three of us would have a private conversation soon.
The Wolves fed their insatiable appetite while I nibbled just to have something to do. We barely spoke as we relaxed in the waning sunlight. Sierra looked exhausted, and after eating, she announced her intentions to retire. Kato and Kathryn followed her inside, and I watched them go. I’d talk to the old Wolf later.
Only Jason, Richard, Billie, and I remained outside. For once, the silence didn’t hang heavy and awkward between us. We stared out into the foothills, and I knew the Wolves felt the urge to run. More than an urge. They needed to run, to be a wolf for a while. My own desire to spend time in the wilds paled compared to theirs. I’d grown to love the outdoors as a retreat from Humans and my loneliness. For the Wolves, the wilderness was home.
“You know you can’t go home until this is over, Richard.” Billie told her friend. “You’re welcome here of course. But I was going to ask Kathryn to stay at Ruth’s before this happened. They need her.”
“I’ll stay with Kathryn at Ruth’s. The pack is stressed and except for Sierra, the worst of it is there.” He glanced at me discretely, and I doubted he’d have chosen to stay with us.
“You should run.” I spoke the words on everyone’s mind.
“It’s not safe right now,” Billie told me longingly.
Richard countered. “Tensions are rising. We’re starting to jump at shadows. That’s not safe either.”
“We’re being attacked from the shadows,” Billie growled. “Give me a hard fight over this any day.”
“You win every fight,” I told her, amused at her preferences. “Of course you’d rather that.” I realized I should have phrased it differently when I sensed Jason’s reaction. No one mentioned that he’d lost two fights to Billie recently. His Beta outmatched him in skill, and his pride could barely take it.
“We run,” Jason decided. “Right now Graham’s probably licking his wounds and tending to his dead packmate. This is our best chance until he’s gone.”
“Just the ones who need it most,” Richard advised.
“Graham won’t attack a stronger force.” Billie considered the options. “Jason and me, Phil, Matthew and Owen. Glenn can watch over the injured. William is with most of the rest.”
“And I’m the all-in-one Walkie-Talkie and perimeter alarm. Billie and I can communicate any problems between the groups,” I offered.
Jason approved of the developing plan. “We’ll leave from here and stay close. Can you shield us from Human eyes?” He asked me, and I assured him I could. “Anything out of place, and you contact Billie. We’ll come right back.”
“If you stay inside my range, I can warn you if they head your way,” I reminded them.
“Richard, you’re coming,” Billie told him. “Amy too if she’s willing to leave Nathan. Kathryn has to stay with Sierra. She needs it, but she can’t run on that leg yet.”
Richard perked up at the invitation. “She can speak for the Pack while we’re gone if need be.”
“Who else needs it?” Billie asked.
“Everyone,” Jason reminded them. “The rest will have to wait. We leave after sundown.”
Billie pulled out her phone and texted those who would run as well as those who would stay behind to stand guard. I wondered how her injuries would fare during a run. I’ll take it easy, she promised me. Don’t spread yourself too thin tonight. If you can’t cover everyone, watch over our packmates here.
I should be able to cover it all, so long as you don’t go too far. Jason studiously ignored our mental exchange.
We waited. Matthew and his team arrived towards sundown. Two attacks and an injured packmate in less than a week had their hackles up. Graham’s tactics grated on them largely because they worked. They hadn’t faced a better opponent in as long as anyone could remember. Graham didn’t have a stronger fighting force. Yet he’d successfully staged two attacks against us, and twice we’d barely escaped without losing someone.
They wanted someone to fight instead of this cat-and-mouse game. Running would help, and they eagerly waited for the sun to set.
Deliberately placed trees and fences protected the backyard from onlookers and neighbors. Inside the city, it was no guarantee. I raised an illusion around the house so they could begin shifting into wolf form. Darkness fell, and Jason addressed his Wolves. “The Montana Pack attacked us today for the second time. We will defend ourselves, but we will not take part in a senseless Pack War. Do not retaliate. Do not break my promise.”
Billie looked at every Wolf. “I’ve heard you grumbling and growling, wanting to put them in their place for trespassing and threatening our packmates. I want the same thing. But a Pack War threatens our packmates more than these skirmishes.”
Jason continued, eager to be wolf for a while. “Tonight we run. No singing and stay together. If we’re needed here, Billie and Sadie will do their mindspeech crap. We’ll come right home.”
Billie’s face glowed as she shimmered into a grey wolf. Jason towered over her even on four legs. He gave me a look, and I extended the illusion to the foothills beyond. “No one can see you. You’re clear until you’re out of sight of the houses,” I told my four-legged packmates. They raced out of my backyard and into the night. After the last Wolf disappeared from view, I dropped the illusion entirely.
Glenn stood beside me, a look of longing on his face as his packmates ran without him. I barely knew more than his name. Billie had welcomed every packmate since long before I came into her life. It was our home now, and the open-door policy hadn’t changed. I
didn’t want it to. Weary from the long day, I needed sleep. But I’d promised to watch over everyone and had to stay awake to do it. I could sleep when they returned from the run. “I want coffee. How about you?”
Glenn accepted the offer and followed me into the house. Amy chose to stay with Nathan, and they slept upstairs. He’d lost enough blood to kill a Human, and it would take a couple of days to regain his strength. Sierra and Kathryn dozed in the living room, Kato awake by their side, all three in wolf form.
I didn’t have the energy to play host, and Glenn didn’t expect it. Obviously comfortable in my home, he pulled out some potato chips and started making coffee. Kato, chin resting on Sierra’s good leg, distracted me. How is she doing? I asked him.
She sleeps. Kato never stated the obvious, but it took me a moment to catch his meaning.
You’re soothing her dreams? He had done that once for me when distressed.
Yes. She must be as strong and courageous as possible for the days to come. As must you. He looked at me with solemn eyes.
What did you see, Muso? I asked him. Glenn watched me closely, still unused to mental conversations. He seemed uneasy and only slightly guarded as he followed my every move. What’s going to happen?
I saw little of the current conflict, and some of its outcome. Much is unclear and what once was clear is no longer. What will come with my granddaughter’s Pack is near. From its wake we will have either enemy or ally with the larger war between Wolves and Mages. To win that war, we must have trust and alliance with other Wolves.
The burden weighed on me. Everything I did had long-term implications in the Mage-Wolf War. Lives depended on me: Pack and family, loved ones, and strangers. How could anyone in their right mind think I’d accomplish the impossible? Somehow I had to. How do we gain their trust? We’d asked that question many times, and we still didn’t have a solid answer. How do you trust someone who can make you believe or think anything on a whim? How could I ever expect others to trust me?
Be Pack. Wisdom must win against anger and trust must override fear. You are both subject and object in this.
I think I understand, I told him thoughtfully.
You have been alone your entire life until now. You understand, but it is not an easy task for you or for your packmates. It is not in your nature to live as Pack, and it is not in the Wolf’s nature to accept you as Pack. Yet it is happening. You are the bridge.
How do I earn Jason’s trust when I’m keeping things from him? He knows it, and he called me out on it earlier.
Our Alpha does not trust easily and seeks reasons to distrust a Mage. Even one who has proven her loyalty and resolve.
There has to be something I can do, I asked my mentor.
Be Pack. Learn what that means from your packmates. Be true to your own nature while respecting theirs.
Be a Mage among Wolves, not a Mage in Wolf’s clothing? I translated, ensuring I understood.
Yes. My brother said you would do what others would not and accomplish what others could not. You are capable for what is coming. Trust yourself. Others will come.
Three others. Who are they?
He blinked and stretched his neck before replying. The Three are obscured from me. They will come. Of this I am sure. I am one of many Sages who seek to fulfill the prophecy. Another will find and bring the three who will aid you. Your packmate wants to believe you are not like others of your race. Go, be with him. I nodded and turned.
Glenn stared at me from where he leaned against the wall in a very Matthew-like manner. I could smell coffee brewing, and he pulled out two mugs. “What did you and Kato talk about?” he asked as he handed one to me.
“Oh, you know. Wolves and Mages. How not to get killed or get anyone else killed in this insane life I’ve jumped into. The usual,” I replied, grinning briefly before it faded. “That seems to be the only topic anymore.”
“It’s not always like this,” he assured me, dispelling the Matthew reference with his easy personality.
“Only since I arrived?” I asked, filling my mug with the fresh brew.
“You know how to make an impression,” he told me.
His statement reminded me of Phil’s. I gripped my coffee mug with a sudden realization. I’d sensed him before I ever met him. “That’s why you’re familiar. You helped clean up that first night.”
He nodded, adding cream to his coffee before meeting my eyes. “That was a nightmare.”
I thought back to that night with a shudder and repeated what I’d said many times since. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
“I have a hard time calling nine bodies an accident.”
“Ever wished someone would drop dead?” I asked him dryly.
“Many times.” He sipped the hot brew and eyed me closely.
“Did it ever happen? Did they just keel over and die because you thought it?” He got my point. “I didn’t know it was possible before I did it. Now I know.”
“I disagreed with Jason’s decision to let you live. Loudly,” he admitted and waited for my reaction.
Chills ran down my arms. “What about now?”
“Now I don’t know what to think about you.” He sipped his coffee.
“That sounds like an improvement. What changed?” I asked him.
“My son was in the hunting party. What he told me made me question my stance about you. The Alpha would never ask you to stand guard over our young and injured if he had any reservations about you.”
I hadn’t thought about it quite that way. “I’m glad. I’m still not used to all of this, and I don’t want to get used to some of it.”
“It heats up sometimes, but it always settles down.”
“Promise? I would really enjoy some nice normal days. You know, a double date hiking trip with Amy and Nathan. Lots of food, a nice creek, and sunshine. They can run while I ...” I stopped mid-sentence as I listened to myself. “It’s pretty amazing what’s become normal in a few weeks. People transforming into wolves didn’t even enter my mind until recently.”
“I wonder what the next few weeks are going to bring.” His lip curled up slightly at the edges and his eyes twinkled, his sense of humor coming out.
I pointed a finger at him threateningly. “Oh, my God, don’t you dare. If any more weirdness becomes normal in my life, I might implode.”
He held his hands up and nodded at my finger with mock wide eyes. “I surrender. You can put that away. You’re right, though. Having you here is pretty weird. It’s thrown all of us for a loop.”
I looked at the loaded finger and holstered it with a sigh. “It’s crazy all around. And I’m exhausted, which isn’t helping my attitude. I could use some of this Wolf stamina.” I waved my hand at the room and stopped it midair. Every Wolf in the house except one had fallen asleep.
Glenn saw my expression and suggested, “Why don’t you catch some Z’s too?”
“I can’t. I have to be awake to keep watch like I said I would.”
“I thought that’s why I stayed behind.” He’d rather run and didn’t like wasting the opportunity.
“It is. If they come, I won’t fight them. But I can give you a heads up and inform Billie.” He looked intensely thoughtful for a moment, and I wondered what I’d said. We sat at the dining room table, and he searched the horizon. “They’re a few miles out,” I told him.
“How does your perimeter alarm work?” he asked curiously, and I chuckled. “What?”
“That didn’t take long. I just agreed to train you and the rest of the team to fight Mages.”
“It’s going to be a long night. We may as well make the most of it. Let’s begin.”
“Well, the first thing you should know is Jason’s lifting the kill-on-scent order.” His eyebrows hit his hairline. “I’m not unique. I’m the only Mage living with Wolves, but I’m not the only one that isn’t out to conquer the universe. Not all Mages are dangerous, and if anyone comes into our territory, I’ll check them out myself. If the
y’re dangerous, we’ll deal with them accordingly. If not, we’ll boot them out of town.”
“Jason agreed to this?” Glenn asked, shocked.
“Yes. He said not to take any chances. If I can’t take care of it for any reason, they’re all yours. I’ll figure out what they’re up to and whether or not they’re a threat. We’re not all bad.” I asserted my point once again, hoping it would save an innocent life.
He looked like he’d swallowed a chicken bone. “I’ve seen too much carnage at the hands of Mages to like it.”
“I heard about your mate,” I confessed shyly.
He didn’t respond to my admission at first. “Mages took two of the most important people in my life.”
“And you don’t want to risk more. I won’t let what happened to your mate happen again,” I promised him, thinking of Nathan and the Mages I’d recently met.
“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” he warned.
“I can promise to free anyone who gets collared. Without that looming over your heads, you can lighten up on Mages in general.”
He shook his head, the entire idea bewildering. “I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Here or anywhere. You should take a Wolf with you as backup any time you confront a Mage.”
I’d come to the same conclusion. “I should anyway since it’s Wolf territory.”
He listened intently as I explained my race’s abilities. He’d seen Mages in action even before I came around, but I gave him a much better understanding of my people’s mental powers.
After a while, he rose to fill our coffee cups and asked almost offhandedly. “I heard you’re unemployed. How do you feel about security work?”
“It’s never been a career goal,” I admitted and thought about it. “A job would be nice. What would I be doing?”
“Just the lighter stuff: mind reading, perimeter alarm, illusion. Most of the employees are Human. We have to keep our Wolf talents under the table, but we use the advantage. It would be the same for you. I have to clear a new hire with Jason, of course, but I think he’ll go for it. Will you do it? After we’ve ended this Pack War. We’re all on PTO until then.”
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