by Cathy Clamp
His passenger drummed his fingers on the armrest. “For hunting, go with something they can’t resist. With Rachel, we used chipmunks and white mice. She couldn’t get enough of store-bought mice. For the bears, we could put some live salmon in the lake or some honey up in a tree if there’s time to set up the course. The trick is balancing the amounts so they don’t just sit and gorge and forget they’re in a race.”
The details were starting to sink in. “Fish are smelly and I noticed all the bears liked the smell of roadkill on the way here. They’d open the windows wide every time they saw something dead on the side of the road. Once we had to stop just so they could sit there and breathe in the smell, the way other people stand in front of a bakery when bread is just out of the oven.” He began to drive again. “Could you help the Council members set up a course by tomorrow morning?”
“Phew! Not asking much, are you?” He shook his head. “That would take all night. Maybe if I had all day tomorrow to work on it—”
The lake was in sight. No doubt he was going to be chewed out, or lose another strip of hide, for taking so long. “No good. People are supposed to train on it tomorrow.”
“That’s not a problem. It’s the same land and, really, they’re not supposed to know the configuration until they get there. Doesn’t make much sense for them to memorize it. Mostly they just need to be in shape for it. Climbing, flying, dodging, and searching. The details are up to the race masters. Always have been.”
When Dalvin pulled up, he was glad to see that Rachel was no longer bound. She was sitting on the dock, swinging her feet under her, chatting with Anica, Bojan, and Suljo. Larissa and Zara were huddled together near a tree, talking, with their hands close to their mouths. He looked for the alphas, then decided they were probably in the other SUV. Knowing them, the Bosnians would be in one set of seats and the Serbians in the other, with the privacy pane raised between them. Tamir stood guard, staring at nothing and everything
The Council members were watching the others, standing near the edge of the parking area. As soon as Dalvin came to a stop, Councilman Kuric walked up to the car; Dalvin rolled down the window before turning off the engine.
“I presume he was difficult to find?” It was a casual way of asking, What took you so damned long?
“Not very, no. But there are things that you two need to discuss. Do you drive?”
That actually made the councilman smile. “Yes, I drive. I enjoy it. I’m a mechanic too. I’ve built a few hotrods from scratch.” He reached a hand past Dalvin’s chest. “Rabi Kuric, liaison to the Council. You’re Officer Vasquez?”
“Chief Vasquez,” Dalvin corrected. “Field promotion of sorts.”
“Oops, my bad.” He dipped his head, instantly transforming into an entirely different persona—closer to the person he’d been in the police station on the first day. “Chief, of course.” He opened the door. “Okay, Dalvin, you hop out and make sure everyone plays nice, and I’ll drive around with the chief, so we can talk.”
Ray was looking at Kuric with interest, like he was trying to get a handle on the man. Good luck with that. Dalvin sure hadn’t yet. He unbuckled the seat belt and got out of the driver’s seat; Kuric slid in, buckled up, and started the engine. Once they were gone, Dalvin took a moment to study the scene around him. He wanted to talk to Rachel but knew he shouldn’t. It was better not to even make eye contact. God only knows what emotions would fill the air if I looked at her too close.
If he even thought about her too much, he’d remember the feeling of her hands on him, her lips. She’d driven him insane without even trying.
Steeling himself, he walked over to Larissa and Zara and touched Larissa on her uninjured shoulder. “Are you okay?” Kuric had been pretty heavy-handed earlier, and both she and Anica had been screaming in real pain.
Her eyes were angry, but there was fear in her scent. “I have never experience something like him. It is no wonder people fear the Council.”
He rubbed her shoulder. Should he try to explain why that had been necessary? Growing up, his father had explained that people only respected the rules for two reasons: an internal moral compass that pointed to good, or a fear of retribution by someone bigger and tougher. Too many Sazi felt they were above the law and, being stronger than humans, preyed on them. Not always physically … moon magic could have a powerful influence on the human mind. But Larissa wouldn’t understand that Kuric was trying to impress the Alphas. She just knew it hurt. “Yeah, sometimes they can be real asses.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amber raise an eyebrow at his comment. He’d probably be hearing about that later. He hoped she’d understood why he said it. None of this mess was the girls’ fault. They deserved a little sympathy. His concern must have been evident in his scent because Larissa leaned into his arm—not enough for anyone to notice unless someone was watching very closely, but enough that he could definitely feel the pressure.
“Thank you for caring,” she said softly.
Did he? A little … yeah. How could he not feel something for her? She’d shared his bed, laughed at his jokes. He supposed she could have faked everything. Part of him wanted to believe she was faking so he didn’t feel guilty about what he’d done with Rachel. But the other part wanted to think she cared. It was probably time to change the subject. “When you shift on the moon, do you know it? I mean, are you conscious of your human self after your Alpha helps you shift?” The more he thought about what Ray Vasquez said, the more it made him question the whole Ascension concept.
Larissa looked at him a little oddly, but Zara seemed interested too. “Yes, I am curious like Dalvin. We speak of it little, I know. But I have wondered how you will run in this race when you shift. When we hunt together, you talk very little. Sometimes, when I tell you of berry bush I see, or salmon, you seem … as if you don’t hear me. But you follow me when I go there.”
Larissa made little movements of her shoulders and hands, her scent an odd mix of smells—fear, anger, frustration, but comforted somehow. “I do not think of it much. I remember hunting with you. Seeing and smelling fine berries and my claws sinking into salmon. I enjoy our hunts.”
Zara shook her head, her scent growing more frustrated. “But while we hunt? Do you hear me when I call your name?”
Larissa nodded but was confused. “Of course. I hear you speak. I have ears.”
Zara looked over at Dalvin. “You understand what I ask … yes?”
He nodded and touched Larissa’s arm. “When Zara talks to you during hunts, says your name, do you understand that Larissa is your name?”
Zara nodded enthusiastically, her face finally showing something other than annoyance to Dalvin. “Yes, this. Do you know the word ‘salmon’ means the fish to look for? Because sometimes you bring up trout when I talk of salmon.”
The dark-skinned woman furrowed her brow, really thinking. “When I am bear … I think light sweet or dark sweet. Dark sweet taste better. Fish are fish. Some are big, some are little.” She thought a second more, then shook her head. “They aren’t raspberries or blackberries. I mean, I know they are when I remember. But they are just light sweet or dark sweet during hunt, and trout are just littler fish. Salmon are bigger fish. I like taste of big fish, but smaller fish are easier to catch. But whole family shares, so I always get some big fish.”
Zara looked at Dalvin, realization animating her face. Worry replaced curiosity in her scent. “How she run race? Papa speak of colored markers and clock for speed and weights of fish.” She turned and ran toward the SUV. He and Larissa followed. Amber noticed the procession and motioned Tamir over. Zara knocked on the window, hard and fast. When her father lowered the glass, she began to speak quickly in her native tongue, pointing at Dalvin and then at Larissa. Tamir had his hand next to Amber’s ear, likely translating.
The longer Zara talked, the more concerned the Kasun Alpha looked. At one point he said something that she apparently disagreed with, because she shook her
head strongly. Larissa jumped into the conversation, and moments later Mustafa was out of the car and knocking on the back window. Draga Petrovic rolled down the window.
Perhaps because of the audience, Mustafa Kasun spoke to her in English. “Which of you turns Anica?”
She shrugged and looked at her husband. “Sometimes Zarko. Sometimes me. Why?”
“I have not thought of this until Zara ask me, but does Anica think as human after shift?”
“Think as human?” Zarko leaned past his wife to join the discussion. “How do you mean this?”
Mustafa paused for a moment to think, perhaps deciding how best to phrase his question. “After I shift Larissa, I direct her, keep her with sloth. I pull her … use magic to keep her close, like horse pulling cart. Is same for you?”
Zarko nodded. “Yes, of course. I make sure Anica stays close to one of us, or her brothers. She wanders off if we do not tie her to us.”
Mustafa raised his hands; his frustration made his magic spike and spill out over Dalvin’s skin. “Then how they race?” He pointed to himself and then to Zarko. “It will be you racing me, through them. You see? How this solve our problem? Is not our blood feud. They must race each other.”
Zarko’s face went slack. He sat back heavily into the seat, blinking as he tried to process what he’d just heard. He leaned over his wife again, who was sitting calmly, perhaps not fully understanding what was being said, and called out, “Anica!”
The dark-haired woman turned her head and trotted over from the dock. Rachel and the others followed.
Amber stepped into the mix, her eyes watching the Alphas intently. “I think Tamir has brought me up to speed on the issue here.” She turned to Anica and Rachel. “How human are your thoughts when you are in your animal form?”
The bear shifter stopped to think. Rachel said, “In the past, I didn’t remember anything. The whole night was a blur. I’d wake up and not even remember shifting. But since I joined a parliament, I have more conscious thoughts. Not every month, but some nights I can fly over the forest and see a deer and think, ‘Oh, pretty deer,’ instead of thinking of it as food or not food.”
Dalvin remembered what she’d said when she was yelling at him—now that made a lot more sense. What would it be like not to remember shifting? Not to remember the sensation of flying, of the wind through your feathers? There were things he’d like not to remember, of course—his talons sinking into flesh, ending a life because his animal demanded it. Biting the heads off mice because it was fun. That part might be a blessing not to remember.
Now Anica nodded, her dark eyes filled with understanding. “Yes, I am like this too. Some moons I can look at sky and think stars are pretty. Some months, they are little lights, not stars.” She turned to Larissa. “Do you see stars or just lights?”
“Stars,” came the confident reply. “They are always stars. And the moon is always the moon. It has a word for it. But not everything does. It’s … I know the words, but I don’t know if I could always think of the word if I was asked. Just as speaking English is hard to remember what word goes with a thing sometimes.”
“Okay,” Amber said, her eyes wide with surprise. “This is a real issue.” Everyone heard a vehicle bouncing down the road and turned to see the missing SUV heading back. Kuric was alone in the front seat. “Tell you what … let’s call it a day and let me talk with the Council. I know everyone agreed to do this Ascension thing, but that was before this came up. I will let you all know what we decide. In the meantime, think of some other options. What else would be acceptable that included all three participants? Or, what would make the current contest fair and not just a battle of wills between the Alphas?”
Dalvin shuddered, remembering other disputes that had turned into emotional battles. If that happens, the lives of the Omegas might be considered nothing more than collateral damage.
CHAPTER 14
“What would you like for dinner, Anica? I don’t have much in the house.” Rachel held open the refrigerator door, peering at what little remained. She’d almost emptied the fridge and pantry in preparation for leaving for Spokane.
Anica came out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel against her wet hair. She smelled of soap and herbal shampoo. “Do you have fish? Any kind is fine. I haven’t eaten since some grapes this morning.”
Rachel tried the freezer. “Um, a half box of frozen fish sticks.” A quick look in the cupboard yielded a thin can. “Or sardines. Sorry. I was about to leave town when all this happened.”
Anica sat down and adjusted the jeans that Rachel had loaned her to wear after her shower. She was shorter than the owl, so the pants dragged on the ground. The bear shifter turned up the legs in narrow bands that soon reached midcalf, like capris. She looked cute, like a ’50s throwback, wearing blue jeans and a long-tailed man’s white dress shirt—one of Rachel’s favorites—with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She crinkled her nose. “No, freezer and canning ruins fish. Not to worry. I am not very hungry after the day’s events.”
“Yeah,” the owl shifter replied with a snort, leaving the kitchen to sit across from her guest on the recliner. “I get that. It probably wouldn’t hurt me to miss a meal either.”
There was a knock on the door. A quick sniff was all it took for her to recognize the visitors. “C’mon in. We’re decent.” She looked over at Anica. “Friends of mine. You’ll like them.”
Her reassurance made the girl’s expression shift from nervous to relaxed. The door opened, and a heavenly scent wafted in, followed closely by Scott, Alek, and Claire.
Scott raised the boxes like a trophy. “Pizza boy! Anyone hungry in here?”
He was carrying three boxes; one of them, Rachel knew, would be sausage and mushroom, her favorite. “You are the best! I’m starved.” Anica let out a chuckle, making her shrug and grin. “So I lied. I was trying to be a good hostess.”
A broad smile lit Anica’s face. “My mother, she does this too. She say, ‘No, no, you eat. I am not hungry,’ when no more food in house and guest has not eaten. You are good hostess.” She sniffed the air. “What is food? It smells good.”
Scott put the boxes on the coffee table between the couch and chairs and plopped down on the floor. “Pepperoni with extra cheese, veggie supreme and, for the lady of the house, sausage and mushroom.” Claire passed out paper plates and Alek put a six-pack of cold beer on the table before he joined Scott on the floor. Scott took the first slice of pepperoni. “Since I helped you throw out the food in the fridge, I figured I’d bring some back to put in.” He took a bite and then closed his eyes in appreciation as he chewed. “If it survives the night, that is.”
Anica looked at the boxes with eager anticipation. “I have never had American pizza! Which should I try?”
Claire reached for a piece of the veggie supreme. “This one has mushrooms, peppers, onions, and olives. Under that there’s tomato sauce and melted cheese.”
“This one,” Rachel said, putting two slices on her own plate, “is pork sausage with mushrooms.”
Anica smiled and reached for a slice of that. “I like sausage. My cousin Rudolph makes pig blood sausage. Very spicy. And mushrooms are wonderful when I dig them out from the forest.” She took a bite and chewed slowly. Once she swallowed, she smiled. “Oh! This is very good. We need pizza in my town!”
“Pizza,” Scott said, “bringing about world peace since 1900.” He took another bite and sighed.
Claire sat down next to Alek and touched the side of his face, smiling warmly. It was nice to see that they were still happy together. Rachel aimed a floppy slice of pizza Alek’s direction.
“Hey, any word on a new motorcycle? Have you heard from the insurance company?” The mayor had destroyed Alek’s bike the night Claire had arrived in town.
He shook his head, swallowing before he replied. “Yeah, but they say it isn’t covered. Well, it is covered, but the deductible and age chewed up the payout. I got about five hundred, which will almost buy me
one wheel and a headlight.” He made a mock swipe of his fist through the air and smelled of frustration. “Boy, that policy was worth every penny, huh?”
“Oh. Sorry. So I guess the trip to Russia to find Sonya is off too?” Claire had told her a few weeks before that they planned to use the money from the insurance to buy tickets to go find his sister.
Claire responded with a little sigh. “Temporarily. Amber helped us write a letter to the pack leader, telling them we’re working at coming over. But it’s still not even certain that the girl is Sonya.”
Scott reached for his beer from the recliner, causing his hair to nearly fall in the pizza carton. He caught it just in time. “I have faith. As soon as Denis finishes his sentence, the money will happen. It’s all about destiny.”
Anica looked at him and cocked her head to the side. “You have very long hair for boy. Are your feathers long too?”
Scott was chewing and very nearly spit out the bite of pizza in an abrupt laugh. “That would be great, but no. Just regular feathers. But wouldn’t it be cool to have long peacock-length feathers?”
Alek chuckled. “Nah. They’d get caught on the tree branches and it would take hours to get the bark out. And can you imagine them in a rainstorm?”
“Feathers actually shed water, unlike wolves’ fur,” Rachel said. “When you guys get wet, you’re soaked for hours. And we laugh, because we’re warm and dry.”
Claire stuck out her tongue, which made Anica grin again.
“You are right, Rachel,” the Serbian said. “I like your friends. I never know Wolven people except as mean. Is nice that birds and wolves can be relaxed, laughing.” She sighed. “I wish I could be friends with other bears. Bojan is very nice.”
Alek nodded. “He seemed nice at the banquet. Great chef too. Do you like to cook, Anica?”
She leaned back into the couch and curled her bare feet under her. Alek offered her a beer, but she waved her hand. “I do not drink alcohol. I can cook enough not to starve, but I do not like cook. Not like my mother. She cooks for hours just to have femily eat in very short time. Then cleaning. Pfft. Not for me. I will eat raw before I cook when I am alone. Even before I am bear.”