“Wouldn’t the non-cooperating packs take that as a declaration of war? What about when we need to travel through their territory?” an Alpha named Jacob asked. “What if our pack members get stranded in their territory during a full moon, or we need their help in some other emergency?”
“What about if they needourhelp?” Grant’s eyes blazed with anger. “We’ve got a mighty big territory. We don’t have to let them travel through, or near it.”
“We might be able to come up with a compromise,” Cliff said. “We get started on the database for those packs that want to join, and hope that the rest of them come around eventually. If any pack wants access to the database – to find mates, Truth-Makers, healers, any other special talents, or criminals – they need to be a member. We still follow the same rules as we’re doing now. We offer emergency aid and support to anyone coming into our territory, whether they join the database or not. I mean, if it’s the full moon and they need a place to change, are we going to deny them and risk having them exposed to humans?”
Talbot and Ford nodded in agreement.
“Let’s get started,” Ford said.
* * * * *
Late that afternoon, Celeste, Jeffrey and Grant sat in a clearing behind the lodge’s main building, with the sun dipping low on the horizon.
Tall, slender trees soared into a sky tinted with oranges and pinks, and the grass where they sat was springy and soft. Just on the edge of hearing, Celeste picked up the babbling of a brook over stones.
“You know what’s not on the menu here, that I really, really want?” Celeste said to Grant and Jeffrey. “Rabbit. I hear there’s a lot of rabbit in those woods back there.” She gestured at the thick forest that rose up in a dense wall a few hundred feet from them.
Jeffrey looked worried. “I don’t know how to catch a rabbit. Are you mad?” he asked Celeste, clenching his fists and looking anxious.
Celeste felt her heart twist. “Of course not!” she said reassuringly. “Maybe I could catch my own rabbits, and cook them for all of us.”
“Ahem. I know a smart, handsome werewolf who is great at catching rabbits,” Grant said.
“Oh, good!” Jeffrey looked relieved. “Who is it?”
Celeste put her hands over her mouth and tried to hide how hard she was laughing.
“Ouch. Me,” Grant said to Jeffrey. “Want me to show you how?”
Jeffrey looked hesitant. “It would make Cel— your mom, happy,” Grant said.
“I guess.” Jeffrey nodded.
He glanced at Celeste.
“Are you afraid I won’t be here when you get back?” she asked.
Jeffrey considered it. “No. If you left, you wouldn’t get the rabbits.” Then he turned back to look at her. “And you wouldn’t leave me,” he said, in a very quiet voice.
Jeffrey and Grant stripped off their clothes and folded them up, handing them to Celeste. Then they shifted. Jeffrey’s shift was abrupt and energetic, the little boy seeming to explode into a wolf cub. He yapped at Grant to hurry up, bouncing impatiently on his too-big paws, his ears flopping adorably. Grant’s shift was more measured. He stretched luxuriously and allowed fur to roll over his body as his face pushed out into an elegant snout and he fell gracefully to all fours.
Celeste turned away so Jeffrey wouldn’t see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
He was right. She wouldn’t leave him, because it would rip his heart out of his chest.
And her own as well.
She was in all the way, and the thought terrified her.
But she made sure she’d washed her face and screwed on a big smile when they came back an hour later, laughing and triumphant, with half a dozen rabbits.
“Mom! Mom! Me and Dad caught so many rabbits!” Jeffrey cried out, holding one of them up. “We areso goodat it! No-one is better than us! We can catch you rabbits every day! Now you never have to leave. ”
He’d called him Dad, and it hadn’t been for the benefit of the CPS worker.
Celeste exchanged looks with Grant, who cleared his throat loudly.
“Something in my eyes,” Grant said in a gruff tone. “Damned allergies.” He blinked very hard, his eyes shiny.
