His troubling words weighed heavily on my mind as he turned and jogged to the woods.
That made me think of the family we found I sent to Grey who was beside me. Do you think something similar happened to his female?
I don’t know. You should have Gregory ask Mary about it…see if she had a sister.
I sent that message to Gregory then continued the search for something to hold water.
Well before the Mated pair returned to the kitchen, we had three steaming pots on the stove and a pheasant roasting on the fire beside a pot of rice which Charlene stirred. While Ann and Mary talked quietly near the double doors, Leif joined us by the window. We were watching the males outside continue to sort and repair the items in the yard.
“How long until the cub arrives?” Grey asked, looking at Ann.
“A few weeks. Less than a month, most likely. Thank you for allowing us in your territory.”
“Our territory?” I said, confused.
“We asked which pack was holding it. The male I spoke to said it was you,” he said, looking at me. “Since the other pack of three was listening to you.”
The other pack of three had to be Henry, Paul, and Mary.
“You’re welcome for as long as you’d like,” I said.
“It’s a relief to have some trusted males to help watch over her,” he said, lowering his voice. “That’s why I agreed to come.” He nodded toward the other corner of the room, away from the window. The heat was almost unbearable, but we moved with him to hear what he had to say.
“A few days back, we heard a courtesy howl. Normally, I go to check alone but Ann’s been more nervous because of the cub and wanted to come with me. The male was sick. Bones jutting from his patched fur. When he shifted to his skin, he looked even worse. He asked for permission to pass through my territory. The scent of his grief was overwhelming. I granted him permission to pass through, wanting him gone, but Ann felt pity for him and shifted to her skin to offer him food. He took one look at her belly and started crying. He was looking for his Mate. He said she was pregnant like Ann and had just disappeared. He was trying to find her. ”
“Disappeared? No scent trail? What about their bonded link?”
“There was a trail, he said. But it was mixed in with other males. He thought someone took her. He tried reaching out to her, but…there was nothing.”
No one spoke. Nothing meant she was no longer alive.
“Did he report it to an Elder?”
Leif nodded.
“We’ll watch out for each other,” I said, setting a hand on his shoulder. Females were too precious not to protect. I glanced over to the stove to look at Charlene, but she wasn’t there. There was a pile of clothes inside the door. Just then, two males came in carrying a table, followed by a male with several chairs.
“I better go check on Charlene,” I said, as Mary slipped out the door. “We’ll all work together to keep an eye on the females.”
Leif nodded his thanks.
Outside, I spotted Charlene and Mary near a table that held a pile of different metal objects. They were watching some of the males move the pieces from the table to a spot near the path that lead to the road.
“Does anyone think we can build our own ladder? Something tall enough to reach the high windows so we can start boarding them up?” I heard Charlene ask as I walked toward them.
Several males disappeared into the trees, and Charlene turned toward Mary.
“We need more dishes. Bowls and spoons first. If we work together, we should eat together.”
Mary agreed and yelled out loud enough for the men in the trees to hear that they needed to find a bowl and spoon if they wanted to eat with Charlene.
From the trees, a thunderous crash echoed into the clearing, making Charlene jump a little as I joined them.
“Just the ladder,” I said.
She jumped again and spun to look at me.
“Where did you come from?”
“Inside,” I said, grinning at her startled expression. “What’s next?”
She tilted her head to study me, a very wolfy movement, and I grinned wider. If she was rubbing off on us, we were doing the same to her.
“When it’s just your pack, what do you do every day? What’s your routine?”
“We tend to sleep most of the day. At night, when it’s safer to move around, we scout the area and hunt.” I didn’t explain that my pack needed to move around only at night because of what we typically hunted.
“So coming here changed your sleep patterns?”
Unsure why she cared about our sleep, I shrugged and watched the males still in the yard. Since coming here, we’d adapted to Charlene’s patterns, unwilling to miss an opportunity to spend time with her.
“Some will leave for brief periods during the day to nap in the woods. We still prefer to hunt at night.” Because, despite Charlene, the danger humans presented remained. And now, it seemed, there was a growing danger from our own kind.
“All right. Then, what we do next is plan.” She turned and looked at the building. “This is going to be a lot of work, but once your kind hear what’s happening here, I think we’ll see more couples like Ann and Leif. We have eight rooms slightly weatherproofed. It would be ideal to replace the glass in the upper windows first to make more rooms habitable. For the rooms that are finished, we should try to have them equipped for whoever might appear. Blankets are a must. We should also try to put in some type of heavy curtain or drapery to keep out the cold.”
I didn’t miss the concern in her eyes when she mentioned the turn in weather.
“You seem very worried about the cold that is still months away,” I said.
“Time moves quickly, and I would prefer not to be caught unprepared. If there are spare furnishings, we can put them in the rooms, too. But my biggest concern is food. We’ll need a lot to keep everyone fed… if everyone is staying.”
“I think that will depend on whether or not you’re Claimed by then.”
She didn’t comment on that.
“Collecting metal to add to our recycling heap will help a bit with money, but we should think bigger. There are a lot of repairs this place is going to need. Any brave souls among you should try to find summer work with builders and carpenters.”
The movement in the yard slowed until even the birds fell silent. I could feel the disbelief and anger coming from some of the males. She seemed to sense it, too.
“We need to think of more than just today or tomorrow. Who knows how to make the windows airtight? Who knows how to replace the shingles when the roof starts to leak? Who knows how to create a wooden bed frame? Who knows how to add decorative carvings to furniture? None of you, I’m guessing. And why should you? Where’s the value in that knowledge for people who sleep during the day and hunt at night? There is no value for those people. But there is value for those who want to spend their winter building things to sell in spring. For people who want more than a life in the woods. For people who want to do more than just exist.”
Several males turned and walked away into the woods.
“You push too far,” I said quietly.
“I’m not pushing at all. I’m questioning your purpose and giving you ideas for possibilities. Only you decide your purpose. Not me.”
She gave me one last look then turned to walk away with Mary. I reached out to Winifred, knowing Mary would have already shared what was said.
How many have demanded she leave? I asked.
Three so far.
And your response?
It hasn’t changed. I’ll continue to encourage males to find jobs and integrate with humans. As for Charlene, she’s a potential Mate. I do have concerns about her intent, but it does not yet outweigh our need for her. None of this would be an issue if she were Claimed and Mated.
I’m working on that. I haven’t given up. The bite should have worked.
You goaded her into it. Humans are different. They need to be handled more gently.
I’m trying.
Try harder. For all our sakes.
I walked back inside and rejoined Grey and Gregory.
“I think she’s right,” Grey said softly.
“Who?” I asked.
“Charlene. Look at what we did,” he said, motioning to the stove, “because of what we’d learned from our study of the humans. Imagine what we could do if we purposely learned from them.”
“I’m not saying she’s wrong,” I said. “But our hate of humans runs too deep to try to push us toward being like them. Winifred’s been trying that for years and it hasn’t won her any favor.”
Grey looked over at Charlene.
“You’re right. Charlene won’t have won any favor with what she said. But, it works to your advantage. She just thinned your competition.”
****
Grey’s words proved true when only twelve men came inside for dinner. Charlene stood by the pot and ladled out a portion to everyone. Leif, Ann, Gregory and Mary sat together at a table and ate. The females talked and every male in the room listened. Just the sounds of their voices made the meal comfortable.
When we finished, we left our bowls by the sink and went outside with the rest. The tall trees muted the glow of the setting sun, casting the clearing into an early dusk. Gregory, Grey and I stood off to the side, to study the progress.
Zerek, who’d already been working on a tree, came over with two other males.
“Is there a way to make this sharp again?” Zerek asked, holding up his ax.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Gregory said.
He and Zerek started toward the building that held the tools, and the two other males turned toward me.
“While I was out pulling the next tree down, one of the mutts who left approached me,” one said quietly. “He’s trying to gather males who want her gone.”
Her. It was no mystery which female the males wanted to leave. Charlene had angered more than a few with her suggestion of work.
Grey, find Henry and Paul and see if you three can talk to those who are still angry.
He nodded and started north where the pair usually hunted.
“How many were with him?” I asked the two as Charlene stepped outside.
The man turned and watched Charlene walk toward the metal pile at the far end of the clearing.
“There was just the one,” his friend said.
Just then, a large group of furred bodies sprinted from the trees, the lead wolf’s gaze fixated on Charlene. A silent snarl pulled back his lips.
Grey, I need you, I sent as I rushed for Charlene.
Despite my burst of speed, I knew I wouldn’t reach her in time. The first of the wolves had already fallen upon Bine and the males by the downed tree. As their snarls and growls filled the air, the lead wolf closed in on Charlene.
I watched in helpless panic as he hit her from behind. Her blond hair seemed to stream out behind her as she fell forward. The leader reached out for her hair, not yet finished with her. I snarled and launched myself at him, covering the last ten feet in the air.
Charlene landed hard on her stomach. Her face bounced up from the ground as his fingers closed around her hair.
His focus cost him. He never saw me coming.
My impact caught him from the side, knocking him off her back. The momentum carried us a fair distance. We rolled in the dry grass and came up snarling.
Keeping my gaze on my opponent, I saw Charlene move and look around. She was safe, but her face was bleeding. Rage filled me. Today was supposed to be a better day.
I launched myself at him again and brought the mutt down to the ground. Around us, sounds of fighting escalated. A wolf cried out.
“Her blood, your death,” I growled, fitting my clawed hand around his neck.
“Charlene!” Mary yelled distantly.
A hot jolt pierced my heart. My head clouded, and I blinked.
When I opened my eyes, I was looking at Charlene, who was on her hands and knees and vomiting on the ground. Disoriented, I glanced around the clearing. Males, some bloodied and some naked, stood around the clearing. They seemed equally confused.
We’d been fighting. I remembered the way she’d fallen. I remembered my fury. Why weren’t we still fighting?
My gaze stayed locked on Charlene. And a dangerous suspicion crawled into my head. Had she done something?