At Sixes and Sevens

by M. A. Church

  “There’re only seven wolves here. And I smelled eight.”

  At first Carter’s words didn’t register, and when they did, a cold fear washed through me. Eight? There were eight werewolves? “Oh goddess,” I whispered.

  A strident terror-filled howl echoed across the landscape…. A cry for help. My fur stood up as I jerked toward the direction of that frightful howl. It was from the direction of the pack house. Scared calls drifted upon the nighttime wind as the other wolves heard what I did. Carter howled. Something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. The only ones left at the pack house were the wolves watching over the pups.

  “We have to get back!”

  Carter grabbed my hand. “Just one second, babe. Just one, okay? I need to know what we’re getting into. Going into a situation blind can be deadly too.”

  “Shit.” Darius hurried to check on the werewolf Carter had tossed into a tree. “This one is barely breathing. I’m not sure he’s going to make it.”

  Wes backed away from the wolf he had subdued, and shifted. “Good.”

  “Fine.” Carter turned to the werewolf Wes was guarding. “Shift. Now.”

  Even though the other werewolf was not part of our pack, the power in Carter’s voice was hard to ignore. A moment later a naked man crouched on the ground. Carter jerked him to his feet. “Why?”

  “Fuck you.”

  Carter picked up the guy by the neck, shook him like a rag doll, then dropped him. “Thanks for asking, but no. Why attack us?”

  “Go to hell.”

  “Carter, we need to get back to the pack house.” I shifted from foot to foot, unable to shake the bad feeling I had. “You don’t have time to make him talk. Bring him with us and deal with him later, but we really need to get back to the pack house.”

  “We’ll be going in blind, but since I have the feeling you’ll try to return without me, we’ll move out.” Carter faced Temple. “Temple, bring that wolf. Try to meet up with the rest of the pack so you’ll have help. Tell them what’s going on. I’ll meet you there.” Carter pointed to the rest of us. “Everyone else? Move out and keep your eyes peeled.”

  Right before we shifted, Carter grabbed my arm and spoke softly. “No matter what we find there, I need you to check on Keegan and the pups. It’s not that I think you can’t handle yourself, but I need to know they’re all okay.”

  “Got it. I’ll deal with them, and you deal with whatever we find there.”

  Everyone shifted but Temple and the non–pack member werewolf. Carter howled a warning to other pack members, and those with us fell in behind. We pounded through the woods, not waiting on the other members as we raced toward the pack house. Were more strange wolves at the pack house? Fury unlike any I’d ever known washed through me.

  Heart trying to beat out of my chest, I scented the breeze but couldn’t smell anything. As we bolted toward home, I found the earlier run we went on was nothing more than a leisurely stroll. Carter hadn’t traveled as fast as he could with me along, but this time, he wasn’t playing around.

  The cries and howls of our pack echoed around us as we drew closer to home. The stench of an unknown werewolf was like a slap in the face, and I hissed. I stumbled to a halt next to Carter, the pack house in view. My heart pounded as I stared at the listing front door. The thing looked like it had been ripped off most of its hinges. Everyone shifted.

  I pushed the shift as fast as I could, but Carter still beat me. “Shit.”

  The ominous growl coming from Carter raised the hair on the back of my neck. “Remember, don’t engage, Aidric. Find Keegan and the pups.”

  “I will.”

  “Missy, Darius, and Fanny? Check around back.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” Darius whispered, and the three of them disappeared into the shadows.

  Jack and Wes stood next to us. I followed the three of them up the steps toward the broken door. Dead silence met us. My heart thudded. My mouth was dry, and I couldn’t swallow. I refused to imagine what we might find in there.

  “Holy shit,” Jack yelled, pushing through into the room.

  Dread filled me as I stepped out from behind the three of them. The main floor of the pack house where everybody gathered during the evening looked like a tornado had swept through it. One of the floor-to-ceiling windows was shattered, and there was glass everywhere. Furniture was overturned and shredded, the stuffing spread out across the floor.

  The big-screen TV lay shattered on the floor. The pool table was broken in half, and there were several body-size dents in the walls. The smell of blood was thick throughout the room. I struggled not to heave, not because of the metallic scent of the blood, but from the gruesome macabre visual of a strange werewolf pinned to the wall.

  Baylor sat propped up against one of the overturned couches, his crossbow at the ready across his lap. Now I understood why Jack had yelled. There was a cut on the side of Baylor’s head that dripped blood. One eye was already turning black, and bruises were quickly darkening. His clothes were ripped too.

  Jack dropped to his knees next to Baylor, reaching out, then hesitated. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”

  Baylor sighed tiredly. “It looks worse than it is. But yes, I’m okay.”

  A harsh growl came from another werewolf guarding the one with the crossbow arrow through it. “Who’s that?” I asked Carter.

  “Shirley. One of our cooks, remember?”

  “Right. Okay.” I moved closer to where Jack and Baylor were talking softly and knelt. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m grateful Jack and I mated, otherwise things could’ve been a lot worse. I may not be able to shift, but I did inherit their werewolf strength and other senses… like hearing. That came in real useful.”

  “Gods, Baylor, what the hell happened here?” Jack asked, his voice spiking.

  Missy, Darius, and Fanny rushed in from the back of the house and shifted. Missy growled as she and Darius dropped down next to Jack. Fanny hurried over to check on Shirley.

  I glanced over to where Carter was standing in front of the enemy werewolf. “Just hold up on that. I want to hear this too, but I need to check on Keegan and the rest of the pups first.”

  “Well, this one certainly isn’t going anywhere.” Carter nudged the dead werewolf with his foot. “You knew exactly where to hit him from the side so the arrow would pierce his heart, didn’t you, Baylor?”

  “I was raised in the country. I grew up hunting animals for food and protecting the land from predators,” Baylor said. “So yeah.”

  Shirley shifted and pointed at the staircase that led up to the top level. “The pups are upstairs in your bedroom. I herded them up there when things went to shit down here.” Shirley rested her hand on my shoulder. “They’re safe. Really they are, Aidric.”

  I was trembling and hadn’t even realized it until she touched me. “Thank you. Tell Carter I’m going up to check on them.”

  Shirley grabbed a blanket thrown on the floor and wrapped it around her. “I’ll come with you. I’m sure you want to get back in here as soon as possible.”

  I had to swallow twice before I was capable of answering. “Thank you so much.”

  Leaving Carter to deal with the mess, Shirley and I hurried up the stairs and down the hall to my and Carter’s bedroom. In my fear, I barely stopped myself from barging in the room that held all the pups. I was sick with worry for Keegan, and the rest of the pups, of course, but Keegan…. He’d already been through so much. What kind of condition was I going to find him in?

  I tapped on the door. “Keegan? It’s me, Aidric. Carter is downstairs dealing with the intruder, so I came up here to check on you guys. It’s safe now.” I grasped the handle and wasn’t surprised to find it locked. “Shirley is here too. Can you scent us? I promise it’s okay to open the door.”

  I glanced down, holding my breath, and as I watched, the doorknob unlocked, then slowly turned. Keegan opened the door, and never had I been so relieved to see someone in my entire life.
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  “Oh, thank the goddess.”

  Keegan moved out of the way, eyes averted. “You’re naked.”

  Oh dammit, I’d totally forgotten. I rushed into the bedroom, grabbed a pair of jeans I’d thrown over the end of the bed earlier, and slipped them on. Then I turned to Keegan and dropped to my knees, holding my arms open.

  He flung himself at me, and the force knocked us both over. The endless fear finally backed off, and the tears I’d been fighting since I first heard the unknown wolf howl let loose. Laughing and crying, I held him close as I struggled to sit up with him in my lap while the other pups bounced around us.

  “I got you. I got you.”

  “I knew you’d come.” Keegan sniffed and raised his head. “Where is Uncle Carter?”

  “He’s downstairs dealing with the werewolf that broke into our pack house.”

  Shirley sat on the floor and drew the other pups around her. She took a moment to touch each and every one of them.

  “Are they okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. Just scared,” Shirley answered.

  Keegan sighed. “I don’t think I’m going to be allowed to come down and see what’s going on, am I?”

  “Maybe not quite yet. But Carter is worried about you and the other pups. Will you stay here while I return downstairs and find out what’s going on? I promise, just as soon as it’s safe, I’ll come get all of you. I know you want to see him.”

  “I can’t wait to grow up.”

  I hugged him tightly. “Don’t be in such a rush. Being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” I placed a kiss on top of his head and stood. I hurried to the walk-in closet and found a pair of jeans for Carter, and then I walked to the door. “Shirley? I’m going to shut the door for the time being. Would you please lock it until one of us returns?”

  “Sure thing,” she said.

  I practically ran downstairs, but nothing much had changed. I threw the jeans to Carter, who dressed. Wes and Jack also were wearing sweatpants. I didn’t see Missy, Darius, and Fanny.

  “Are the pups okay?” Carter asked. “Keegan?”

  “Stressed and anxious but fine. I asked Shirley to keep them upstairs since….” I waved my hand at the destruction. “Keegan would be down here in a heartbeat, but I asked him to stay with Shirley and the other pups for now. Ah, where did the clothes come from?” I asked.

  Wes shrugged as he tried to tighten the waist of the sweatpants. “We keep extra clothes at the pack house for emergency situations. That’s not to say they always fit.”

  “Are we going to remove the arrow?” I asked, glancing at the dead wolf.

  “Not yet,” Carter said but didn’t add anything else. “I can hear our pack. They should be here in a couple of minutes. Baylor? What happened?”

  “I was at home, waiting on Jack to return after the run, and I heard Shirley howl. Jack told me earlier a couple of pack members always stay back with the pups. Since Shirley was howling, I knew something was wrong. I grabbed my crossbow, my quiver, and hauled ass over here.”

  Carter glared at the wolf still pinned to the wall. “Thank you.”

  Baylor tilted his head. “Least I could do, Alpha. Anyway, I knew there weren’t a lot of wolves left at the pack house. When I got here, Shirley and that other one were fighting. It looked like she’d been fighting him for a bit before she finally howled in desperation. Since I didn’t recognize the scent of the other wolf, and, seeing the destruction, I shot his ass.”

  “Good.” There was a wealth of emotion in Carter’s voice.

  “By the way, werewolves aren’t allergic to silver, right? That’s what Jack told me.” Baylor moved the crossbow off his lap. Jack was sitting next to him with a wet washcloth he found from somewhere, trying to clean the blood that dripped down Baylor’s face.

  “No. Why?” Carter asked.

  “Because the arrows I use with my crossbow are silver-tipped.”

  “Why?” Frowning, Carter stared at the crossbow next to Baylor.

  “I can answer that, I think,” I said. “The way to kill a Vetala is with a silver knife to the heart. Marshell said when he was first attacked, a hunter fired a crossbow at him. That was you, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. I assumed an arrow with a silver tip would slow him down since a silver knife would kill him. I was wrong, thank God. Anyhow, all my arrows are silver.”

  Carter shot me a look. Yeah, silver would kill a Vetala. There was more to it than that, but I wasn’t mentioning exactly what it took in a room full of paranormals. “I see.”

  Carter turned a chair right-side up, and I sank down on it. No sooner than I sat, I heard our pack arrive. Moments later Temple shoved the wolf he was guarding inside, with numerous pack members crowding in behind him. There were still more on the front porch.

  Temple shoved his prisoner to his knees. I glanced at the unknown wolves. There was something about their scent….

  Shea followed Temple, scanning the main room, horrified. “What the fuck happened in here? Who the hell is that, and shit, Baylor? Did you shoot that asshole?”

  Baylor chuckled painfully, still resting against the overturned couch. “Don’t worry. I’m only shooting wolves who aren’t pack.”

  “Thank fuck,” Shea mumbled.

  “Where is Darius?” Carter demanded, throwing Temple a pair of sweatpants, then some to Shea. “Here, Shea. Get dressed too.”

  “Thanks.” Shea slipped on the sweatpants. “I didn’t think about grabbing the clothes I left on the porch.”

  “He was right behind me, and… and here he is.” Temple pointed.

  “I’m here, I’m here. Missy and I stopped by the house to grab me some clothes. Fanny is with us too.” Darius crowded into the main room. Other pack members pushed into the main room, looking in horror at the devastation. Most of them were also dressed.

  Carter stood and walked to the prisoner Temple escorted. “I’m going to ask you questions. It’s in your best interest to answer them. I’m pissed, so I’d highly suggest you take the easy way here. What is your name?”

  The unknown werewolf glared at Carter. “Faulkner Gains.”

  Carter took a deep breath and frowned at the prisoner. “Okay, Faulkner. What pack are you from?” Carter’s voice was mild. Even pleasant. But I wasn’t fooled. He was seething with anger. The power rolling off him electrified the room.

  Faulkner didn’t immediately speak, but when Carter took a step toward him, he spit the answer out. “Blue Hills.”

  “And now the million-dollar question.” Carter crossed his arms over his chest. “Why did you attack us?”

  Faulkner growled, his eyes quickly turning yellow. He didn’t answer.

  “Fine. Hard way it is.” Carter reached for Faulkner.

  I turned my head, reminding myself yet again that werecat culture and werewolf culture were not the same. The sound of flesh hitting flesh bothered me, but considering this wolf attacked a pack house where the pups were while we hunted under the full moon, I got over it.

  “Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you,” Faulkner screeched.

  I turned back to see Faulkner was in much better condition than I thought he’d be, but Carter had still worked him over.

  Faulkner raised a shaking hand and pointed across the room. “Ask Sabrina. She’s the reason me and my friends were here.”

  Gasps echoed around the room.

  “Son of a….” Carter dropped Faulkner and prowled across the room, growls erupting from his chest.

  Carter’s eyes were already yellow, and his claws lengthened. This could be really bad, but I didn’t interfere. Not yet.

  Shaking, Sabrina held her hands up, palms out. “Wait! Alpha, please. I don’t know what he’s talking about. Please!”

  Carter stopped in front of Sabrina. “Then why did he call you by name? Why did he point you out? Of all the reasons he could’ve come up with for this attack, why did he point to you? Not any other wolf in here, but you.”

  Shea shoved his way toward her
. “Gods, what have you done, Sabrina?”

  “Um, guys? Can I interject here? How about we don’t automatically take this asshole’s word for why he’s here,” I put in.

  Sabrina spun toward Shea, ignoring me. “But, but… I haven’t done anything. I swear, Shea!”

  Pack members grumbled and stepped away from her. Several pairs of yellow eyes turned toward her as Sabrina wrung her hands. I stayed in my chair, unsure if my legs could support me. I’d said not to take the enemy wolf’s word, but what if Sabrina had done this?

  I prayed she hadn’t. When I first met Sabrina, I thought she was possibly a threat, but nothing came of it. Had she been plotting all this time? Outside of seeing her around, she hadn’t said or done anything to me.

  “Alpha?” Delaney stepped next to Sabrina and took a deep breath. “Gods help me, but I know Faulkner. I think… I think I may be responsible for this.”

  Sabrina latched on to Delaney’s arms, her claws piercing his skin. “But… how?”

  “Yes, how?” Carter snarled, advancing on Delaney.

  Delaney paled. “I was so pissed at how I thought you treated my sister. I couldn’t get over the fact you threw away someone as smart and beautiful as she is for a damn werecat.”

  I hissed, but Carter’s growl drowned me out.

  “I…. There’s this bar—a dive, really—outside pack lands. I started going there because… well, I could see the pack was beginning to accept Aidric. It pissed me off. I wanted somewhere I could go, where I could—”

  “Blow off steam?” I asked.

  “More likely badmouth you and not have to worry about Carter getting wind of it,” Temple snapped, disgusted, as he glared at Delaney.

  Delaney swallowed hard. “I—yeah. I’m sorry, Alpha. I knew how you would react if you ever heard. So I went off our territory.”