Her worry turned to fear, and I wanted to howl in frustration. How could she go from wanting to touch my tail to ready to run that quickly? My pants still didn’t fit right.
Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my arms around her and sent her a wave of reassurance.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said. “I hate when you worry this much. You can tell me whatever you want or keep it to yourself. I won’t be upset with you either way. Just stop worrying like this.”
I lightly rubbed her back, and she slowly relaxed.
“I can control people with just a thought,” she said without pulling away.
Tucking her head under my chin, I held her more firmly.
“I know. Winifred told me. She and I talked after the first time we saw what you could do. We thought it was tele-whatever, where you can move things with your head. When you told her it was something else, she told me.”
I frowned as I felt annoyance brushing our connection.
“Don’t be angry,” I said. “She told me because she had to. She’s responsible for all of us. Keeping information to herself about the possibility of someone in our midst who could control us could have killed her.”
“What?” She lifted her head to look at me.
“Like I said about Grey, Elders serve us, not themselves. If Winifred knowingly did something that could jeopardize us, she would die. She does want to protect you. She believes that you’re a key to our future and will do what she can to keep you safe. That’s why she told me what you can do and asked that I keep an eye on you. Besides, I saw what you can do. It’s impressive; and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason to worry. The damage you can do to us is no worse than when we challenge each other.”
A mixed of emotions crossed her features, and I didn’t miss the well of terror she felt just before she pulled me down for a kiss.
She was afraid of something. Whatever it was, she was desperate enough to try to cover up her fear with a kiss. I willingly let her, putting everything I had into helping her forget.
Without breaking away, I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up. Her chest pressed against mine and she wrapped her legs around my waist. When she moaned into my mouth, I knew I’d done my job.
I wouldn’t be able to run home though.
****
The next morning, I still watched her hungrily. I carefully kept what I felt in check, however. Since her terror the day before, she seemed a little tenser than usual.
Last night, she’d taken over an hour to fall asleep. I’d thought setting my head on her chest would help her relax. Hearing her heart had been comforting and having her breast under my cheek, heaven. It had taken all my control to keep my breathing slow and even.
Instead of relaxing, she’d continued to worry in the dark.
When she’d said “What next?” I’d thought she’d been talking to me. I moved a little and she’d immediately guided me back to my position and ran her fingers through my hair. Part of me thought it was a yes, and I almost turned my head to kiss her. Since her hands were in my hair, though, I waited.
Her breathing had evened out several minutes later, leaving me wondering what that had been about.
Now, she turned away from me and bent down to pick a shirt out of the basket. Her jeans stretched over her backside, and I almost whined. I withheld it, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment.
She straightened and handed me the shirt.
She’d woken in a fair mood, and I hadn’t objected when she asked to help weave after breakfast. The task only frustrated her though. So, when she moved away and started gathering dirty clothes, I offered to help her with the wash so Mary could keep making baskets.
A thread of frustration grazed my mind.
“Weaving’s not for everyone,” I said as she handed me the next shirt.
“What gave me away?” she asked.
“Your frustration. It felt the same now as it did in there.”
She wrinkled her nose at me. I grinned until I heard the faint rumble of a truck. It didn’t sound familiar.
I think a human is approaching sanctuary, I sent Winifred.
Tell me why, as soon as you know.
Human is approaching sanctuary, I sent to the pack. Tell everyone. No fur in the yard.
I let Leif and Reed know, Mary sent back.
I’m heading out the back to find the others, Gregory sent.
I’m with Anton. We’ll stay away, Carl sent me.
I turned to watch a light blue and white truck roll into the yard. Charlene kept pretending to hang laundry, but I could feel her curiosity and worry.
A man behind the wheel looked at me as the truck stopped and the engine died. I moved toward the truck, and he opened the door. The screech of metal on metal filled the air.
“Afternoon,” I said as he stepped from the truck.
He smelled like cattle and sun and wind. A farmer.
“Afternoon,” the man echoed. “Sorry to come in here without warning. Am I interrupting something?”
He glanced over my shoulder at Charlene. I could hear her hanging the rest of the clothes.
“Just laundry,” I said.
“Not a shirt left to wear, huh?” he said with a smile as he glanced at my bare chest.
I wasn’t sure how to answer so I stayed quiet.
“Yeah, the Mrs. lets it pile up at my place, too,” he said. He looked around then met my gaze again. “I’ve seen your smoke for a few weeks now and wanted to stop in and warn you. We’ve been seeing some wolves around. They’ve left our livestock alone so far and don’t bother the dog none, even though that thing yaps up a storm.”
“Wolves? Which direction did you say?”
“I live a few miles to the west. It’s a farm just off the road.”
Winifred, he said he spotted wolves by his farm just a few miles west of here. We need to find out who it is.
With humans creeping further north, it was impossible to avoid their land, but it wasn’t impossible to avoid being seen.
She sent out a call asking whoever was in our area over the last few weeks to report back to her.
“And you saw our smoke from your place?” I asked the man, keeping up with our conversation.
He laughed.
“Not from my place. I’ve seen it when I go to town for supplies.”
Having a nosy neighbor would make sanctuary less of a haven for our kind. But there was nothing I could do to discourage him without looking suspicious.
“Thank you for letting us know about the wolves,” I said pleasantly. “We haven’t seen any yet, but we’ll keep watch and let you know if we do.”
“It’s no trouble,” the man said. “It’s nice having neighbors again. Thought the lady who bought this place from the hippies was just going to let it rot.”
“That’s my aunt,” I lied. “She was thinking about it but asked me and a few of my friends to move out here and start fixing the place up. Might still rot.”
Charlene picked up the basket and walked inside. The man glanced at her.
“A few friends?” he said.
Tell Charlene to stay inside, I sent Mary.
“Yeah, a group of us working together. We don’t have much right now. An overgrown garden. An empty coop. So it might not work out, but we’ll try.”
No one has come forward, Winifred sent me just as Mary reminded me to shake the man’s hand when he left.
He nodded. “We have chickens by us. I can bring by a few young hens for you to get you started.”
“We’d appreciate it but don’t want to trouble you,” I stuck out my hand, trying to hurry the man on his way. “I’ll send out a few of the guys. They’re good hunters and wouldn’t mind looking at the tracks.”
We shook, and he moved to open the truck door.
“Sure. Wouldn’t mind showing them those tracks. They’re bigger than any I’ve ever seen.”
He closed the door and waved. I watched until the taillights disappeared down the road.
It’s clear, I sent the pack as I moved toward the building.
Charlene was near the table when I entered. I went to stand behind her and set my hands on her shoulders, relieved the man hadn’t seemed overly interested in her but worried about what he’d said.
“What part bothers you?” she asked. “That someone came here or that he thinks I don’t do laundry?”
“That there are wolves to the west.”
“I don’t understand why that’s troubling.”
“Winifred says there are no wolves to the west.”
“Could it be some of your pack trying to cause trouble?” she asked.
I could feel where they were because of our connections.
“No. Most of them are to the north or the east.”
“Maybe they’re just real wolves,” she said.
Not when he’d said they were the biggest prints he’d ever seen.
“Maybe.”
Over the next week Charlene and I worked hard to get ready for the males we knew were coming. I sent Hem and Carl to the farmer to get the chickens and check the tracks. They confirmed what I’d suspected. The faint scents they caught were not normal wolf, and we started monitoring the areas around sanctuary more closely, which was easier to do since the man at the salvage yard told the males they weren’t needed again until spring.
The money they’d earned would be missed, but we’d managed to put enough aside to buy seed for the hens throughout the winter. The hens, in turn, produced enough eggs to allow Charlene and the women to start making bread to go with the meals.
In addition to more varied meals, the women also had pillows and mats in several of the empty rooms. When two more families appeared, we were ready.
Baskets of vegetables hung from the rafters in the main room, helping make the first impression of the new sanctuary as a bountiful place. Charlene’s welcome and the prepared rooms had put the families at ease, and they’d settled in and began helping right away.
When Winifred came with supplies Saturday morning, that first meal had felt like a celebration until she quietly told me that Grey would soon come to stay at sanctuary permanently. I knew that meant he was taking the final steps to becoming an Elder. I feared for him and hoped we were all making the right choices.
The following week, things started coming together as we fell into a routine. Half the males went out to hunt each morning. Half stayed back to help in whatever way they could, usually repairing or improving something on the building. Instead of draining the tub by hand, we were digging under the room to allow the water to drain away much like the sink in the main room. In the room next to Charlene’s, we started to fit the stove. Hem and Carl continued to raid the junkyard at night to piece together more tables and chairs.
During the days, the women worked together to care for the cubs, prepare meals, and create anything they could from the spare cloth Winifred had managed to supply. Curtains started to appear in many of the unboarded windows.
By Thursday, sanctuary looked truly lived in, inside and out.