Chapter 14
“Can I get you something? Coffee? Tea?” Elizabeth wasn’t sure what the protocol was here. What were the requirements of a hostess whose house had been commandeered at 4 AM by armed women?
“Gwenna’s got that handled. You come set. I hear you had quite a night.”
The windows behind them suddenly went dark. Elizabeth could hear the women inside quietly moving things around.
Maggie took the rocker closest to the door and with the clearest view of the yard. She placed her rifle across her lap and bent to open the duffle she had placed beside the chair.
“Brought you a present from Marshall.” She grinned as she pulled the shotgun from the bag. “He figured you were already cozy with it.”
It was the one from Marshall’s mudroom. Elizabeth returned Maggie’s grin. “Sure as hell beats a broom.”
“That it does. Don’t have the range of a rifle, though.” Once seated, Maggie never took her eyes from the yard. “You ever shoot one?”
“A rifle?” Elizabeth laughed and patted the shotgun. “I never held a firearm of any sort until I held this one.”
Maggie sucked on her teeth obviously thinking something over. “It’s gonna hurt to do it,” she said finally, “But I owe my brother an apology. When he told me about you I thought he’d plum lost his mind. I figured you to be some fancy miss too good to get her hands dirty. Figured you’d run right back to where you started at your first sight of a mouse.”
“Max told you!”
“Honey, you a-waling’ on those poor creatures with that broom of yours was a story too good not to pass along. She said you looked like the young David marching to do battle with Goliath. She acted your part during the tellin’ and I laughed so hard I wisht I’d been there to see it for myself.”
“This is so embarrassing.”
“No more’n me chasing Roy naked in the street. Just makes you one of us.” Before Elizabeth could comment, Maggie used her thumb to point at the shotgun. “Your job is to catch the ones I miss.”
Remembering the story in the Dizzy Dish, Elizabeth said, “I hear you don’t miss much.”
Maggie gave an unladylike snort. “That I don’t, but these eyes have dimmed a bit over the years. I might just miss one.”
The older woman took her eyes from the yard to look Elizabeth up and down. When she did, Elizabeth’s eyes automatically slid to the yard to take up the watch.
“I think you don’t miss too much either,” Maggie commented. There was approval in her voice. “You might need a bit of interpreting, but you don’t shut your eyes.”
Elizabeth shrugged and frowned, keeping her eyes on the yard. “I missed a lot, a helluva lot.”
“Give yourself some credit, girl. You only been here a week. Most city girls would’ve high tailed it out of here that first night. Hell, most any girl would’ve. But you stuck it out, did what needed to be done. Folks saw right off what you’re made of. You don’t run.”
“Only because I don’t have a car.”
Maggie suddenly turned her head toward the opening of the trail, listened for a few seconds and gave a slight nod of her head. When she seemed satisfied there was no threat, she continued.
“Some of our men, our beasts, will be here come sunrise. Others’ll be going somewhere else. I don’t know where and it’s best that way. Mothers and children are hunkered down at the church.”
Elizabeth immediately understood. The women standing watch over her house were childless. “Miz Maggie?” Elizabeth had already learned that Miz was a term of respect. “I don’t understand about the guns. Why didn’t Marshall just shoot the wolves when they were at his barn? Why weren’t he and Henry and the others carrying guns tonight? Why are we carrying them now?”
“Pack Law. If another pack wants to take our territory, it has to be in wolf form, else it won’t be recognized. Marshall Goodman won’t break Pack Law. If an alpha wants to challenge Marshall, it’s got to be in wolf form; else another alpha in the pack will step forward to fight.”
“There’s more than one alpha?” This wasn’t what she’d read about wolves, then again…
“There’s alphas and there’s The Alpha.”
Elizabeth nodded. It made sense. If something happened to The Alpha, someone would have to step up and take his place. “So why are we sitting here with guns?”
“Because whoever these wolvers are, they’ve already broken Pack Law. They burned Shirl Cooper’s place tonight. Martha and the twins were in bed. Shirl barely got them out. One of the boys got burned bad.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and swallowed hard. It didn’t take much to figure this one out. “Women and children are off limits. That’s why the others are at the church.” She looked a Maggie wide-eyed. “You’re afraid they’ll break the Law and attack as men against wolves. You’re going to shoot them as men.”
“Yep.”
“I don’t know if I can shoot a man.”
The old woman cackled. “Can’t shoot ‘em, but you can wallop ‘em to death with a poker.”
Elizabeth blanched. “That was before I knew they were men.”
“Man, beast, don’t matter. Something aims to kill you, your kin, your friends, you kill it first. You weren’t carrying that poker to protect yourself against no wolf.”
They sat in silence for a while; Maggie watching the night, Elizabeth lost in thought.
“They did this on purpose,” she said when she finally had it worked out in her head.
“What’s that hon?”
“They beat Max. I thought it was random. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She thought I interrupted their plan to toss her down the ravine, but they never intended to. They dumped her in my yard on purpose. Everyone knows I have no phone. They knew I’d go for help and they waited on the path.” She stopped and revised. “No, Marshall knew she was hurt. He was already on the way.” She paused for Maggie’s confirmation.
“Yep. The Alpha can feel every member of his pack. It’s part of his burden to know their pain and sorrow. It’s his obligation to use his magic to heal them if he can.”
Elizabeth nodded. It all made horrible sense. “They knew he’d come and they ambushed him. Maybe they thought they could kill him, but I don’t think so. They would have sent more wolves to make sure the job was done. No, they wanted him to shift and shift again. They knew he would to keep the truth from me. They beat Max with a purpose, Maggie. They hurt her as badly as they could without killing her. They used her to drain Marshall. Then they went to the Cooper’s, knowing he would shift again. They were hoping someone would be hurt and he’d have to heal them, too. This was all part of the plan.”
“Eugene knew what he was about when he sent you here. Like I said, you don’t miss much.”
“Do you have any extra shells for this thing?” Elizabeth hefted the shotgun.
Maggie reached in her pocket and placed a handful of shells on the table between them. “You think you’re going to need them?”
“I’m not a very good shot, but I promised Max if I found the men who did this to her, I’d kill them.”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Not only said it, but meant it. Men, wolves, it didn’t matter. To do this to women and children as a means to an end, whatever that end might be, was warped and evil. She almost suggested they call in the State Troopers, but what could they say?
Maggie cocked her head to the side; a very canine movement that Elizabeth was coming to realize was common to them all.
“They’re coming, aren’t they?” she whispered.
“Listen.” Maggie raised her finger. “Concentrate. You can hear them, too.”
And she could. When she concentrated on the sounds around her and eliminated those she noises she was familiar with, she could hear the soft padding brush of their paws.
The sky had lightened to a pre-dawn grey and they drifted like phantoms out of the forest above the main trail. They’re heads hung low and their tail
s dragged. Elizabeth counted fifteen. The last was Marshall. Larger than the rest, his head was up, scanning the open area around the cabin and the encircling trees beyond. In spite of his erect head, the wolf looked exhausted and when he stumbled, Elizabeth reached out her hand to him and whispered his name.
His head snapped around to zero in on her voice. Tired eyes locked with hers and his lips curled back in a toothy canine smile. And then she heard it.
“L-i-zzzz-ie.” So soft it might have been a breeze through the treetops.
She looked at Maggie. If the old woman heard it, she showed no sign. She was sitting forward in the rocker, feet planted firmly on the porch, sighting down the barrel of her rifle. Her eyes were focused on a single spot across the yard where the remnants of the vegetable garden stood. She moved the barrel slightly to the left and fired. Something large and heavy fell from a tree across the way.
The report echoed off the house and Elizabeth winced, but she brought the shotgun up against her shoulder and scanned the yard. The night had finally gone quiet. No tree frogs, no crickets, no soft swoosh of wings, only the whimpering moans of a man, moving away through the trees.
Another shot sounded from the back of the house. They heard an animal’s yelp of pain, a short, sharp scream and two more shots in quick succession.
“Go.” Maggie whispered. She panned the trees along the sight of the barrel of her gun. Her finger was tight against the trigger. “See what’s happening. I got this.”
Elizabeth crawled beneath the barrel and stayed low as she opened the screen and pushed through the inner door. Her cabin had been transformed. The two chairs that stood by the fire were now at the windows which were covered with blankets to block the light. Her table was pushed up against the wall and every lamp, dish and tray that wasn’t being used was stashed behind the book cases in the area she called her office. Other chairs were lined up against the walls and the floors were strewn with blankets and sheets except by the kitchen door where a blue plastic tarp was spread.
Milling about the room were a dozen wolves of various heights and weights. All looked exhausted, but none were relaxed. They stared at her as she crossed the room to the kitchen and back door. She bit her lip to prevent ‘Nice doggie’ from escaping. How could she not have noticed that these wolves were so much larger than ‘real’ ones?
Brie was at the kitchen window that looked out over the ravine side of the cabin. It too was covered, with a towel instead of a blanket and Brie had only a sliver of space through which to watch.
“Ruby told me to come inside,” she said defensively, as if Elizabeth might question it.
Elizabeth nodded, but didn’t stop to chat.
“Leave that here,” Ruby nodded at the shotgun. She was sitting in a kitchen chair and like Maggie, didn’t take her eyes from the yard. “Loretta needs you outside.”
Elizabeth nodded again, laid the shotgun on the dryer and cautiously went out into the yard. A wolf stood to either side of the stairs; one tall and muscular that she immediately recognized as Marshal, one shorter, heftier.
“Marshall, Henry,” she said as she passed them. Henry yipped and Elizabeth was proud she’d guessed right.
Marshall pointed with his muzzle to where Loretta was struggling to move a prone wolf onto a blanket. Gwenna stood guard with a rifle tucked into her shoulder.
“Thank the Lord,” Loretta sighed when she saw Elizabeth. “I can’t get him on the dang blanket by myself.”
At first she thought the wolf was dead, but then she saw the chest rise and fall. Loretta already had the blanket part way under the animal.
“Let’s roll him,” Elizabeth said after a quick assessment. “Then we can shift him raising one side of the blanket.”
She reached for the animals forelegs while Loretta took the hind. She lifted and began to roll. Already she could see the dark pattern of blood beneath the wolf. Suddenly the beast raised his head, snarled viciously and snapped. Elizabeth sprang back. Its teeth grazed her wrist.
The wolf that was Marshall sprang forward, fangs bared. He snarled into the face of the injured wolf. It immediately lowered its head and whimpered.
“Marshall don’t! He’s injured. It’s not his fault.” Elizabeth pushed him away from the injured wolf, heedless of dangerous jaws. “I should have known better. I’ve read about safety when dealing with injured animals. He’s hurt and trying to protect himself.”
Marshall snarled again at the wolf. Elizabeth smacked his snout. There was a gasp from both women and she heard Ruby give a hoot of laughter. She didn’t care. They didn’t have time for this.
“Stop it! You’re the big dog. Everybody gets it. There are other things that need your energy. Are you ready Loretta? On three.”
She reached for the wolf’s legs again and counted. They rolled the animal onto the blanket and dragged it to the steps. It groaned but its mouth remained closed.
Ruby called Brie from the kitchen and kept watch while the young woman and Gwenna helped Elizabeth and Loretta haul the wolf into the cabin. Elizabeth directed them to the table in the living area and when they set him down, Brie left immediately to take up her post.
“What do you want us to do?” Gwenna asked Elizabeth. She looked on the verge of tears.
How the hell am I supposed to know? She had lists for emergencies, but none of them included gunfights and wolves.
Chapter 15
“Go get wash cloths from my bathroom. There’s antibacterial hand soap on the sink, alcohol and peroxide under the sink. Brie! Take a minute and put some water on to boil. Loretta, go out front and update Maggie and sit down before you fall down. You’ve done enough. You!” She pointed at Marshall. “Tell your Wolvers to back off. I can’t think with all these slavering jaws.”
When they’d brought the injured wolf in, the others immediately surrounded the table, sniffing at the body and looking at Elizabeth with blank, staring eyes. Did they think this was somehow her fault?
Marshall gave a short snarl and yip and the wolves backed off. Elizabeth inspected the wound which was still bleeding. She found where the bullet entered the meaty part of the hind leg and followed it to the exit, a much uglier and open wound just above the tail. She looked at her hands already dirty and covered in blood.
“Shit. What am I thinking?” She ran her bloody hands through her hair. The truth was she wasn’t thinking at all. She was running on autopilot with bits and pieces of things she’d read flitting through her mind like butterflies and her net wasn’t big enough to capture them all. She was on the verge of tears herself. “I don’t have enough hands.”
Marshall yipped. One of the wolves chuffed in response and trotted back to the bedroom. Vickie appeared a moment later.
“If Junior calls, I gotta go. Until then, what can I do to help?”
“Go wash your hands and I mean wash them better than you ever have before. You hear that Gwenna? You, too. We have to shave the areas and clean the wounds.”
She went to the kitchen to wash four times during the procedure and wondered if she should put latex gloves on her shopping list or stick with the gallon of hand cream. She’d sterilized everything the old fashioned way; in boiling water. She’d shaved and disinfected the area as best she could, stitched the exit wound and left the entrance to drain. Vickie took care of the mess as she made it and ran for the things she forgot while Gwenna laid her body across the wolf’s to hold it still. Elizabeth heard her talking softly, but paid no attention to the words until she had done all she could and stepped back from the table.
“There Georgie,” she heard the young woman say, “It’s okay now. Elizabeth took care of the worst of it and Marshall will take care of the rest tonight.” She started to weep softly into the wolf’s fur. “It’s all just beginning for us, Georgie. You have to hang on.”
Georgie? George? Gwenna hadn’t said a word. Perhaps she hadn’t thought to. Everyone else must know. Elizabeth thought about what Max had said about bravery and decided Gwenna fit the
description to a T. These women were teaching her lessons her mother’s lists never could.
She patted Gwenna gently on the back and headed for the front door. Something hit her from behind, between the legs and she squealed and turned angrily. She was tired and in no mood for play.
Marshall was behind her and as before, he raised his rump in the air, tail high and bowed low with his forepaws stretched out before him. He chuffed and drew back his lips in another canine grin and then barked, sounding very much like the German shepherd that lived next door to her mother. Every wolf in the room followed suit including one who entered from the kitchen and two from the bedroom.
Elizabeth laughed and bowed her head in recognition of the display. “You’re welcome,” she said. And then she said a silent prayer that George would be all right.
“Bout time someone relieved us,” was Maggie’s greeting. “It’s two hours past my breakfast. Don’t suppose any of you slackers thought to fix something.” She was grinning when she said it.
“The pickings are pretty slim,” Elizabeth said, “There’s a dozen eggs in the fridge and a loaf of bread in the oven. Not baking. That’s where I keep it. If you want more protein, there’s a half jar of peanut butter.”
“Lord, child, if you’re going to live up here, you better learn how to set a spread.”
“Maggie, leave the girl alone.” Loretta turned to Elizabeth. “How’s George? You get him fixed up?”
“Of course she did. She’s smiling, ain’t she?”
“I did as much as I could,” Elizabeth admitted, “I hope it’s enough.”
Maggie rose and offered Elizabeth her chair. “That’s all anyone can ask, child. You gave your best.” She handed Elizabeth the rifle. “You see that there? That’s the sight. You aim at his crotch and the kick’ll bring it up to his chest.” She grinned evilly. “You control the kick and he won’t be passing none of his evil ways on to the future. Either way, it’s a good thing. Loretta and me’ll head on in and show you young folk how to make a meal out of nothing.”
The Alpha's Mate Page 11