Pack of Freaks: Beasts Among Us - Book 2

by Jennifer Zamboni

  “All right, thanks again! See you later.”

  She waved me off, and I returned to my big, pretty monster, stuffing knitting needles and yarn into my saddle bag.

  I’d bet I made one pretty picture racing down the road on my bike with a little wisp of yarn waving around behind me.

  Excited to show off the start of my scarf, I headed straight for the kitchen where Percy, Hades, and Doug were seated around the table.

  I instantly lost my smile when I beheld Percy’s face and the buzz-killing atmosphere.

  “Someone kill your puppy?” I asked, flopping my project on the table in the midst of coffee mugs and tea cups.

  “Sit down, Gretchen, we need to talk.” Percy pushed out a chair for me to take.

  “I didn’t do it, whatever it was.” I did as I was told and took the tea that Percy slid down the table.

  She sighed and folded her hands primly in her lap. “No, it definitely wasn’t you this time. It was vampires.”

  “What! Here? In Maine?” I froze with my mug halfway to my lips. I told Lacey-Marie what I would do if she ever came back. I warned her.

  “No, not exactly, though I’m sure they’re here, but no. This is bigger than a couple of unexplained disappearances, this was big and public, involving a beach party in Florida last night. Gretchen, the fae have been exposed. It was a vampire family that engineered it, probably because they’re just as sick of hiding as the rest of them. But now more humans are coming forward, talking about their funny neighbor or the school teacher who can make her kids behave. Stories are coming out of the woodwork.”

  “In other words, we’re screwed.” I set my mug down on the table with a thud, sloshing hot tea over my hand, which I didn’t notice until it had sat there for a moment. “Ow hot,” I muttered and wiped my hand on my shirt. My pants were leather and not good for sopping up hot liquid.

  “Yes, as you so eloquently put it, we are screwed, in a very, very big way.” Percy’s own tea sat untouched in front of her, except to wrap her hands around it for warmth.

  “Well, I’m screwed at least. How many of my clients, or at least the people that have come to me and pissed me off, aren’t gonna go, ‘Hey, there’s something shady about that chick. Maybe she’s fae?’ Everybody loves you, Percy, I think you’re pretty safe unless someone who already knows for sure what you are rats you out.” I lifted my tea and sipped, hoping the calming lavender infused through it would do its job.

  This was the one thing I did not need. I was already low on clients, and if they found out that I was a werewolf, instead of just crazy, the rest would probably go away as well. Plus there was that little matter of the letter I received from that Montana mother wolf. Should I even think of taking on a teenager right now? Could I?

  Maybe she was better off wherever she was, hidden in the woods somewhere, instead of attempting to live a civilized life like me.

  “Oh, and I forgot to mention, you got mail.” Percy got up and fetched a letter with the same handwriting I had just been debating, and placed it into my somewhat unwilling fingers.

  Great, just great. Teach me to consider things.

  I handed it to Doug, he was the acting alpha, letting him open it and read the pleading mother’s words.

  “It’s a place, date, and time to meet. She says they’ll be in this particular national park for about a week.” Doug glanced up at me after skimming the child-like handwriting I knew adorned the ripped notebook paper.

  “What national park would that be, Doug?” I was sarcastically peppy.

  “Yellowstone. It covers a lot of land, Gretch, I bet it’s a pretty safe place to meet since there are real wolves there too.”

  “Hey, I am a real wolf.” The joke felt weak, even to my ears.

  “You know what I mean.” His eyes flew to the ceiling in exasperation.

  I raised my eyebrows. “Are you saying you think we should go?”

  “I’m saying I think we should hear the woman out, see if this kid is in real danger.”

  “And if she is?” I asked.

  “Then we bring her home with us.” His tone was certain and his face set in determination.

  Lordy.

  “Right, have you talked to Percy about this?”

  “No, he has not. What exactly is going on?” she asked.

  I filled Percy in on the first letter I received. “So if she needs our help, is it all right to bring her here?”

  “Of course, where else would you take her? We’re all set up for savage beasties. If the poor child needs a home, I’m not opposed to giving her one.”

  “Anyone else have any objections?”

  Hades shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He probably didn’t care either way. Being the god of the dead, he was probably fine with nature taking its course.

  Since we were now the only ones living in the house, that ended the voting.

  “All right then. I suppose Doug and I should leave tomorrow before we can’t move due to however the government decides to shut things down.”

  “Actually, we should probably leave tonight,” Doug interjected. “The sooner we can get this show on the road the better, I don’t want to be on the road when things get nasty, and they will.”

  Right, give the world a chance to scratch their collective heads, until they decided what to do about this burst in paranormal population. Well, it had always been there, but they didn’t know that.

  After our little impromptu meeting, I plotted a careful trek to Yellowstone. All right, so I went on Google Maps and printed out directions, so what? I had a dumb phone, so I couldn’t very well have an obnoxious robot tell me what to do the whole trek there.

  I carried my yarn ball and mini scarf up to my room, depositing them on the middle of my bed, and sighed. So much for relaxation. I was possibly going to take a pup away from one death threat and perhaps create another one for her. Who knew if I could actually handle a kid during the second most tumultuous time of my life: the revelation of the fae to the real world. The first time being when I discovered that I was a werewolf after having killed an entire building full of people.

  I checked my outfit: leather pants, biker boots, leather jacket, and a red tank top. Looked like confident, butt-kicking gear to me. Now, I just had to convince the pack.

  “Percy!” I shrieked from my place in front of my mirror.

  It was only a minute before she came running in.

  “What? What?” She stopped and looked at me before shaking her head

  “Could you make up some E-ZPasses for the motorcycles?”

  “Gretchen—”

  “Please? It’s a long trip to Montana, lots of tolls.”

  “I’ll make copies of mine and Hades’s. You really should think about getting passes of your own.”

  “I know, I will.” I smiled toothily at her.

  “No, you won’t,” she muttered and disappeared through my door again.

  That taken care of, I patted my inside jacket pocket for my wallet and was satisfied it was zipped up where it belonged. My deft fingers tamed my wild hair into a no-nonsense French braid. I wasn’t going to be packing anything, so the neater I could keep it in the meantime, the better.

  I took a deep breath. Was I actually nervous? Why? Because I was going to meet another strange pack of wolves? Because the fae had been exposed? Because I might be taking on a cub? Can I get D, all of the above?

  After being on the road for almost two days, I was looking forward to getting some sleep. It was evening when Doug and I entered Yellowstone. We’d only made a couple of stops for catnaps, pee breaks, and snacks, and now I wanted to sleep, just for the night, before facing whatever it was we were getting ourselves into.

  I looked over at Doug, and I had no doubt that he’d agree. We were driving slow enough so I could shout over to him. “Let’s find a place we can hide the bikes, hike in towards the lake, and get some shut-eye.”

  Fully clothed shut-eye. I had a feeling my dear, darling fianc�
� had high hopes for this trip, but I was sticking to my guns, plus: cranky.

  “Food?” His look was pleading.

  I dug into my jacket and produced a Clif Bar, and tossed it at him, which he caught with a scowl. Too bad, buddy, it was bedtime. I scarfed down one as well, then dug out two more for us, thinking they ought to hold us over for a bit. Plus, they were peanut butter flavor, so they were pretty yummy.

  I opened my throttle and drove until the lake came into view, then drove off-road, which, I might add, my bike was not meant for. But there was a decent outcrop that looked to be a likely hiding spot for the bikes.

  There wasn’t a whole lot of cover, but we did the best we could with some tree branches, careful not to scratch the paint.

  As tired as I was, I was determined to get us off the beaten path as much as possible. I wanted to sleep, and not get interrupted by hikers, or partiers. And at this point, if anyone touched my bike, I just might eat them.

  I didn’t even look to see if Doug was behind me as I began my hike.

  “Ah, hun?”

  I heard his voice behind me but didn’t respond. I was going to sleep and that’s all there was to it.

  “Hun, hun? You have to stop. Gretchen, stop!” He growled.

  I halted in my tracks, gritting my teeth. I tried not to snarl as I turned to face him. “What?”

  “I think we came in through the wrong entrance.” Doug was waiting, a few paces behind me, wisely giving me some space.

  “What?” I asked again. I got what he was saying, but I didn’t want to believe him.

  “Look at your map. The lake is on the Wyoming side of things, we came in through the East Entrance, instead of the Silver Gate Northeast Entrance. No lake up there.”

  “But that’s impossible,” I protested, sitting down on a bare patch of earth. “I followed the directions I—”

  Doug just stood there and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Are you friggin’ serious?” I shoved my head down into my palms and buried my fingers into my dark feral curls. The braid I’d put it in when we departed hadn’t lasted nearly as long as I’d hoped.

  “Uh, yes, I am. We have to head north if we want to end up in the pack’s territory.”

  I groaned and my fingers contracted into fists still clenched in my hair. I felt him approach but didn’t move. His forearms came up under my armpits, hauling me to my feet.

  “Come on, let’s go. If we run, it won’t take that long.”

  “I’m not a vamp,” I muttered, getting my bearings now that I was upright again.

  “Neither am I. Come on. I’m tired, I’m really, really hungry, but mostly, I just want to get this all over with. So the closer we are to that pack, the closer we are to going home.”

  I felt like whining some more, and just dropping and curling up in a ball right there, but I didn’t. I put on my big girl pants and dealt.

  One cranky bitch, coming right up.

  Doug took the lead, heading north along the shore of the lake, and following up the river.

  I didn’t really know where the boundaries between the states were, and I doubted that Doug did either, not actually being American, but I supposed he was right. Better safe than sorry. Better in the territory we’d been invited to, sort of, than unannounced on another pack’s land. I was willing to bet there was more than one pack living in the national park.

  We hit a road and followed it over the bridge, which allowed us to stay dry. Then we headed a little farther north, off the highway, and found a nice patch of trees to camp out under. Which meant Doug ungracefully collapsed in a heap, and I did the same, practically on top of him. Sleep was immediate, without even a suggestion of sex from my significant other.

  Our wake-up call came way too early, in the form of a foot to my ribs.

  I sprang to my feet, catching the next foot between my hands, sending the unwelcome alarm clock onto its back.

  The appendage belonged to a young looking, barefoot were, who looked bewildered as to his new predicament. Apparently, fight training hadn’t been a part of his personal daily repertoire of activities.

  Doug also had a pup by the ankle.

  They could have been any age really, but they smelled new, 20 years at best. How I could know that, not actually having been a part of a pack for most of my life, I have no idea, but I did.

  “Uh, you’re on our territory, wolf,” my guy said, still flat on his back, as I had ratcheted his foot above my shoulder.

  “I was summoned here, as was my mate.” I glared haughtily down at him.

  “No, our alpha specifically instructed that we get rid of the intruders,” he protested.

  I bared my teeth at him. And growled.

  “It wasn’t by invitation of your alpha that I’ve come here, but by his mate. Take us to your pack, and I won’t hurt you, got it?” I yanked his foot up so that he hung completely upside down.

  I was definitely having a Buffy the Vampire Slayer moment. Only with puppies.

  “Yeah, all right, just put me down!” He was twisting around, trying to get a hold on any part of me. His comrade was wisely keeping still and quiet.

  “Sure.” I dropped him on his head, then straightened my clothes.

  Both of the wolves leapt to their bare feet and dusted themselves off. Their clothes were threadbare and somewhat holey. The haircuts? Definitely not professional, probably done with a knife. I could cut hair with a knife if need be, and would definitely do a better job than that. Sloppy. How were they supposed to blend in with society? Or was this their way of coming out as something other than human? Baaad timing.

  They took off at an easy jog, and Doug and I kept pace. I tossed him another Clif Bar and ate another as we moved. No reason to go into whatever this was starving.

  Of course, us starving might not make much of a difference. If those two wolves were anything to judge by, I was betting the rest of the pack wasn’t in terribly great shape. Those two could definitely use some meat on their bones.

  “Hey!” I called ahead to them, digging more energy bars from my pack.

  They turned, and I tossed them the wrapped goodies, which they promptly opened and chowed down on, no “thank yous” forthcoming.

  Oh well.

  I could have sworn that Mara had mentioned staying at a campground, but we never passed any signs, or saw any campsites. Instead, we came upon a clearing filled with weres. It was a large pack, due for a split, but without an additional alpha personality to create one, the current alpha was overburdened to keep his pack clothed and fed. Especially without any money, or so it appeared.

  The alpha was easily recognizable because he was one of the two wolves wearing shoes. He was a large man, I’d easily place him at 6-foot-3, high faded light brown hair, dingy tank top, worn out jeans, bulky. As a human, this would be a man to be reckoned with. As an alpha, I had yet to decide. That there were only two pack members wearing shoes didn’t sit well with me.

  Every eye was on Doug and me as we entered the clearing.

  “I told you to get rid of the intruders, not invite them for breakfast,” the alpha barked as he stalked forward, every inch a predator.

  “Actually, they fed us.” My wolf spoke meekly, his eyes glued on the ground, as was probably proper in wolf etiquette.

  I don’t know wolf etiquette, so I stared the man in the eyes, trying to force him to look away. I’ll give him this: he was a tough bugger. He didn’t look away until our staring contest was cut off when the other sneaker-wearing werewolf set herself directly into our line of sight.

  “I take it you’re Mara.” I studied the woman before me and assessed that she could be a threat if she wanted to be. After all, she had won the favor of this hard-ass. She was dressed in the same sort of clothes, in a more womanly shape, and a much smaller size. Her blonde hair was ragged, dirty, and hung to her shoulders.

  “And you must be Gretchen, the Maine alpha.”

  “I actually don’t know if there are any other packs in
Maine, but mine’s just Doug and me.” I indicated my mate. “We’re co-alphas.”

  I earned a blank stare on that one.

  “We’re on equal footing,” I clarified.

  “That’s possible?” Mara whispered.

  “Well, we’re pretty evenly matched, now that we’re mated. The whole lone wolf thing wasn’t going to happen. But that’s beside the point, we’re not here about us, we’re here about your little girl.”

  “Yes, my daughter, Evangeline. Emery, get your sister, she’s off wandering. I need her here, now.”

  A teenage boy, maybe 15, took off running. He had his father’s hair color and cut, and seemed to be nearly grown, though still gawky. He was obviously going through a spurt. His jeans fit like high waters over his bony ankles. He was easily my height at the moment.

  “What is this? Mara, you tell me what’s going on.” The alpha turned his attention to his mate.

  I stepped around the woman to confront him. “I received a letter from your mate, not long ago, concerning your daughter, and the fact that there was talk of you putting the child down. I’m here to see what exactly the situation is and to deal with it if need be.”

  The hard look in the Montana alpha’s eyes told me that there was trouble brewing. I’d deflect it if I could, but I was going to accomplish what I’d come to do, and get out. I’d deal with the consequences as they came.

  I did my best not to lock gazes with the man, it was a challenge I knew I couldn’t back down from without looking like a chump. Doug’s full attention was focused on me as if the other pack were below him. Of course, I knew that wasn’t the real reason, the real reason was to see if I was going to start wolfing out and send everyone into some kind of frenzy.

  It was a possibility. Percy’s obedience training was helping a little bit, in the communication between my humanity and my wolf, but not enough for any sort of control.

  I let my eyes follow the adolescent disappear into the foliage. It was only a minute before he returned with a teenage girl in tow. She was petite, as ragged as her mother, and way too thin, even in comparison to the rest of her pack.