“A songbird at night?”
“I’m not sure the bird was related to the path by night. That’s a good question.”
Jason licked my hand.
“You all got enough to eat, didn’t you?”
“Sure we did. Everything all day was tops, Cass. Could we have more tomorrow?”
“More barbecue? We’ll be on the trail. But also a good point. Instead of pounding out of the cabin at dawn and living on a carrot all day, let’s become breakfast eaters for tomorrow and find an all-American diner with a cowboy breakfast. We’ll do our best to fill up before we hit the trail.”
“Sounds brilliant.” Zar kissed my neck.
Kage watched him, ears forward, eyes narrowed.
“You all need to try a good, old school burger joint, and a steakhouse.”
“Do they serve barbecue?”
“Jason? Have you ever had authentic New England clam chowder with cream and big chunks of clam?” To Zar, twisting away to see his face. “Ever had a pizza the size of a truck tire? Or chicken fried steak? I’m just saying, don’t get carried away thinking that now you’ve had barbecue and Midwest frozen custard you’ve eaten all there is to eat here.”
“Cass? If you married me, by mundane laws, would I be able to stay in this country?”
Zar’s peers were not going to take that sitting down. Jason scrambled forward to nose in at my face, licking my chin. Kage bounded to us, almost knocking me over as he tried to wedge his wet and aromatic self between Zar and me.
“Kage—”
He licked across my ear.
“No—get back, you’ll ruin my shirt. I packed light—”
Zar also shoved him. Kage growled.
“I don’t know if it’s legal in Utah, or somewhere, for me to marry all three of you, but it wouldn’t solve legal problems anyway. Melanie still has issues with time she’s allowed in the UK, and not working there, and stuff… I don’t know what all. Not sure how it would be for you in this direction. Do you all get married? By mundane laws, I mean?” Pushing Jason’s face away and looking to Zar.
“It depends on the couple and the lifestyle. Diana encourages incorporation into the human world. A lot of Sables are legally married. The Aspens don’t go in for that sort of thing. Real traditional. We have our own ceremonies and customs but they don’t help with immigration.”
“No … or work benefits, I suppose. We need to get going. I’d love to hear about those customs later. Do you two want to change? Or come back to the trail like that? We can carry your things. We should have brought one of your new backpacks.”
Kage flattened his ears. Jason tried to lick me again.
“Don’t be sour about the packs,” I told Kage. “You’ll trade off. We can’t go hiking without taking your clothes. You’ll still be free to run. It’ll just be an extra workout. And Jed!” I could feel it again as I whipped around, yanking my hand from Zar and scrambling to my knees so my back was to the pond, facing the forest. “I said stop it!”
There, almost invisible among the trees, the big, dark wolf sat staring at me. He pinned back his ears as everyone else looked around. Then he very deliberately looked away to his right, otherwise unmoving.
“Argh—what is up with you?” I scrambled to my feet.
Jed was the one I’d thought would be off like a rocket. The one who was actually looking forward to this trip—eager, excited, couldn’t wait to be here. So what was the deal? His first moment to spend a couple hours in fur, all getting our feet under us here before an early night, and he thought it would be fun to stare at me all evening?
Zar stood with me and we gathered their things.
I didn’t realize someone had already been working the case until Isaac found us starting out for the trail.
The white wolf—a match in size to Kage and Jed, yet seeming larger because of his shocking white coat—jogged up, panting, with the relatively scrawny red wolf trotting nonchalantly at his heels.
Kage snarled at him while Andrew turned his head to follow a bird flitting past.
Isaac paced up to me, his bearing regal, ignoring everyone else, and touched my hand with his damp, black nose. His green, cattish eyes looked up into mine.
“Everything all right?”
Isaac turned, glanced back at me, and I followed him instinctively. Andrew stayed out of the way but the other four moved where I did.
Through the forest, we skirted the pond, climbed a rough, wooded ridge that was tough going, then looked into a valley thick with shade from one jutting mountain edge already having blocked out the evening sun.
Isaac stopped, gazing across this valley to the next ridge. At first, I saw nothing. Nor did anyone else, though all were sniffing. Then Zar tensed, his hold on my hand tightening. An instant later, I saw it too:
Movement of coyotes watching us from the craggy shadows.
Chapter 5
My heart seemed to stop mid-beat while I stared.
Just like that? We’d come out here and just like that there were coyotes?
“Wah… Isaac…?” I couldn’t speak.
Isaac did not share my stupefaction. He didn’t even seem excited. Merely wanting us to see or sniff them.
“You didn’t…” I looked from the distant coyotes to him.
Isaac returned my gaze. Their faces were remarkably expressive and Isaac seemed sad, pensive as he met my eyes.
“They’re not shifters,” Zar said just as I was reading the same message in Isaac’s eyes.
“No…” Remembering those range maps, I felt foolish even for having thought it for a second. “Of course not. Total coyotes.”
Zar nodded. Isaac, along with the rest of the wolves in fur, looked to the ridge. I’m not sure how good their eyesight was in this form at a distance. Kage’s eyes seemed to have made full recoveries in the past days, but Andrew’s needed corrective lenses in skin and I knew sight was not their strength in fur from the start. It was only motion that had clued them in.
The coyotes had picked us up as well and, after a moment peering silently at us, they eased back and seemed to melt straight into the shadows without a trace or any disturbance. They might have been ghosts.
“I’ve never smelled one,” Zar said, just as softly, still watching the spot.
Dieter and the drugs. They had to smell it to know it.
The perfect starting point: find the total coyotes’ scent and know the difference when they caught the trail of a shifter coyote.
“Of course,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking about that. Thank you, Isaac. You’re brilliant for finding them.”
All eyes turned to me. Their stares were hard.
“What?” I looked around. “You were fishing—even though you just ate enough barbecue for a wedding reception—and staring at me and knocking people into ponds. Which is fine. We’re only out here for a couple hours to unwind before bed. I’m glad. But what do you want? You’re all important here. Just … give Isaac some credit for a second, okay?”
They looked away.
“Want to go on and check out their trails, where they were? You should all have a thorough grounding in total coyote scent.”
Kage and Jason, then Andrew, started off down our slope. Zar pulled my hand.
“I don’t need to fight my way through brush to get over there. You go. Even like this you have a great nose.”
“I’ll stay with you, Cass.”
I started to argue but was distracted, again, by his brother. “Jed!”
He pinned back his ears. Glaring, averting his gaze, he followed the others.
Zar glanced at Isaac, who stood impassively beside me like an ice sculpture. Zar did not paw me or nibble my neck beside him, only held my hand.
We had to wait some time for them to reach the spot and roam around, reading coyote stories. Then Andrew popped out of the trees to my right, though I’d been expecting him straight ahead. He trotted to me and flopped on his back on my new walking shoes from Brighton.
&nb
sp; “What is that about? Are you pledging allegiance?”
I recognized a submissive gesture, yet he didn’t look submissive. He was lashing his tail, waving his white paws at me. Isaac had to take a step back to avoid being kicked in the nose.
“Belly rub?” I released Zar’s hand to be able to bend and scratch the red wolf’s chest while we waited. “Isaac? I have your things. Why don’t you change and tell us what you found out while we head back?”
Isaac dressed at a little distance from us as the others returned. Kage showed his teeth the moment he came into sight but Andrew sat against my legs and leaned into me. Innocently.
“All right.” I straightened up. “Let’s go. Anyone else want to change?”
No takers. The three of us in skin and four in fur started back, first around the pond, then heading for the trail. I had no fears of losing our way since the wolves could follow our own trail. Watching them, I thought of paw prints, compasses, vision quests, and journey’s made by moonlight—finding one’s way, even in the dark.
Isaac told us about the musky, wilderness smell of the coyotes, and the ease of finding a trail. Then on with interest about the cross pattern of living things here. It was fascinating hearing them say what it was like in fur. In fact, it was something I’d meant to ask Jed more about—the only thing he seemed to enjoy talking about. Tonight, though, the day, and yesterday, and jet-lag, were all catching up. I couldn’t really follow Isaac’s talk of sharp versus smooth aromas, or one-day trails versus three-day trails.
It was twilight, stars visible all across the sky, navy mountain peaks jutting toward them, before we reached the camp cabin. Six of us in skin, while Jed lurked and waited out of sight in the forest until he was given the all clear to join us.
The cabin was a single room with an efficiency kitchen, a built-in table and benches like an RV, then a bunk bed to each side of the sleeping space and a sofa and shelves beyond that. The sleeper sofa was already pulled out and made up, as per my booking request, leaving us six sleeping places and as much space to move around as an ant track.
The bathrooms were fifty yards away—restrooms and shower stalls for the cabins and campground—though this place at least had a kitchen sink with running water, a couple of burners, and a toaster oven. I’d have booked us two, they were so tiny, but this was all they had left by the time I’d tried. Anyway, it was just for a night.
While Zar waited outside for our neighbors to quit chatting and go in so he could whistle for Jed, the rest of us sorted through packing our gear for the next days. I could hardly pack or think through my brain fog.
At least one wolf would stay in skin with me on the trail. He was the pack mule and the reason for that one proper hiking backpack: tent, sleeping bag, water, emergency gear. I would carry my own food and clothes, etc., in my normal travel backpack. Then we had the two Malamute sacks—as my pack called them—for two wolves in fur to carry at any given time. These would have all of their own clothes and shoes.
Straightforward enough, but I was glad Isaac and Kage managed the packing operation and oversaw we had everything we needed. Kage even continued to see to the list I’d provided him at Whole Foods, checking things off and asking me if I had my gear in order. Jason slipped the nylon leash into one of the Malamute sacks but kept the prong collar out. Not to return to the van, where we would be storing what little we were leaving behind in the parking lot overnight, but to wear it.
Kage also led the sleeping argument tonight.
“Why would I cram in there with you?” I asked from sorting out the last of my packing on the foot of their sofa bed. “You and Jason have this and I’ll take a bunk like everyone else. Six people, six sleeping spots.”
“This’ll be more comfortable,” Kage told me.
“Have you ever slept on a sleeper sofa? Believe me, you’re getting the short end of the stick. I’ll be fine on a bunk. Everyone already has a spot sorted out.” I gestured around, almost hitting Jason as I did so, the space was so tight. “Andrew and I can take upper, we’re the lightest. Isaac and Zar have lower, you two have the sofa. Jed will sleep on the floor. Simple as that.”
“Could fall off—”
“That’s enough.” I flapped my hand at him.
“Got those water tablets?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
He checked them off.
Zar and Jed came in. I headed for the bathrooms.
Returning several minutes later in pajama bottoms and tank top, I made a final check of my pack and clothes for the next day while others were also away for bathrooms or else already in bed.
Andrew lay in the other top bunk, earbuds in, looking at something on his phone. Jed sprawled in the middle of traffic in the kitchen area, chewing meditatively on the T-bone he’d liberated from the garbage last night. Jason sat up in bed, working out how to open the prong collar.
All were soon back and accounted for—stepping over Jed. Isaac kissed me goodnight. Zar asked anxiously if I was okay with my sleeping place.
Lights were being turned out when I climbed up to my bunk. So, so tired. Not sure if I was dreading or looking forward to tomorrow.
Thoughts muddy as I pulled myself up the few steps into the rustic wood bunk. And plowed my face straight into a spider web.
I screamed and leapt back, thrashing, any idea of clinging to the ladder totally forgotten. Zar, just having been sitting down on the bunk below, and Isaac, still standing by his, grabbed me and kept me from falling. I dashed for the sink, blindly tripping on Jed, catching the counter, and turning on the water to scrub and flail at my face with the spray and paper towels.
By the time I looked around, all six wolves were staring. Andrew had even removed an earbud.
“What?” I gasped. “It was a spider. There’s a whole … huge…” Holding out my arms, breathless. “Big enough web to catch a cat.”
No one said anything.
Then Andrew flopped back down. “Jolly good,” he murmured. “Remember, wolves, this is the witch who’s taking us camping.”
“It’s no lost hunt to be nervous about something,” Zar said kindly. “There was one on the slats under here. Want me to search your bed and chuck them out?”
“Chuck them out? So they can crawl back in the moment the light’s out?”
“Well…”
“There was a web up here al—” Andrew started.
“Don’t! Why are you telling me about more spiders in the beds? Maybe I should sleep in the van…”
“They’re not in the beds,” Kage said, settling back. “In the bunks. Proper arachnid funhouse, isn’t it?” He drew a crisscross with his hands, demonstrating all the angles. “None over here. It’s all open.”
Which … hmm. Which was how I ended up in bed with them anyway.
Chapter 6
With the lights out, Kage seemed to assume this was the same as being alone. I had anticipated as much. Facing him with my knees drawn up for a block, I allowed only a kiss, then moved back to the edge of the bed.
“No,” I said gently as I could.
Kage didn’t answer, following.
I placed a hand on his chest and Jason also held onto him from behind.
“I told you these beds were awful,” I added as I shifted, trying to get that bar to land anywhere other than my hipbone.
Kage ignored this as well.
Andrew was still watching something on his phone. How? Did he have service here? I didn’t. Must be on the phone, not online.
Isaac and Zar talked over the drought and fire danger in the area. Zar had taken the spider-infested upper bunk on our side so Jed could hop up on the lower one if he wished. I couldn’t see the lower bunks without sitting up in bed, but perhaps he’d accepted because I couldn’t hear chewing anymore. Jason hadn’t said anything, although he’d certainly noticed that Jed magically had a steak bone today.
Now he was talking to Kage about the coyote smell while Kage was craning his neck to kiss my lips.
; It had been bad enough with Zar asleep in the same room with Isaac and myself last night. This situation was not even worth discussing. Unless you were Kage. I remembered all too clearly his and Jason’s own openness about their sex lives.
“Kage—”
“Just being friendly,” he said.
I laughed and turned my face into the scraggly pillow, shoving him at the same time. Being able to share an inside joke with him made me think how much we’d been through lately. It made me want to wrap my arms around him, tell him I loved him, slide out of my pajamas. But not in a busy bunkhouse.
Kage caught my fingers in his teeth. I was glad to let him keep that much, a pacifier, as I again tried to find a comfortable spot on the sofa bed. Should I go back to that lower bunk? Had to be more comfortable…
But thinking of Kage, aside from spiders, kept me in place.
We had windows open to the summer night, yet the sort of summer it was, and the place we were, was brought home to us as the temperature was already plunging. Just right to snuggle up together…
Yyyaa eeey… A sharp, shrieking yelp and cry split the night.
Kage jumped—freeing my hand. So did everyone else: a scramble, a thunk of Isaac’s head hitting the slats of the bed below Andrew.
“What the hell?” Kage scrambled onto his knees to see out the window as yapping continued.
“It’s all right.” I reached for his arm. “It’s just coyotes.”
“That’s coyotes?” He looked down at me—only a shadow with soft moon and starlight from outside. Andrew’s phone screen also still cast a faint glow against the wall.
“Yes. I used to listen to them in New Mexico. Probably the same family we saw today.”
“Sounds like they’ve got their tails caught in meat grinders.” Kage subsided.
“Give them time. They might do a proper howl for us here in a minute. Their songs aren’t like wolves, though.”
“There’s nothing wrong with them, then?” Zar asked from the upper bunk. He, too, must have thought we were hearing the fallout of a terrible accident or attack.
“They’re fine. Just chatting. Wait until you hear a mountain lion scream. We had cougars out there also. Something for you all to watch out for. They’re dangerous.”
Moonlight Journey: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (The Witch and the Wolf Pack Book 6) Page 4