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“Wicked,” Petra said, “as in the Beast is selective about who it eats.”
“What do you mean, ‘selective’?” Connor asked. “It only eats the plumpest, most tender humans?”
“A tried-and-true plan of attack, but no. It’smorallyparticular. The Beast’s victims have always done evil deeds. There was a deer poacher, an insurance fraudster, a lady who ran a Ponzi scheme and bilked a dozen Minnesotans out of their pensions.”
Connor just rolled his eyes. “So the Beast was punishing white-collar crime.”
“You sound skeptical,” she said, her tone entirely reasonable. “And I understand that. But if you’re going to believe in human-eating North Woods beasts, better they do a good deed along the way by ridding the world of the wicked.”
While I was still 90 percent convinced the Beast of Owatonna was nonsense, she had a point.
Maybe Loren’s attack had been random, the result of some animal we hadn’t yet identified. But if it wasn’t random, wasn’tjust an attack, then someone had selected him. Someone had attacked him on purpose. Why? Because of something he’d done? Something he knew? Something the attacker was afraid he might do?
I thought about the violence that had been done to his body. It looked like punishment. So who would want to punish Loren? And for what? And did Paisley have something to do with it?
“Thanks for taking a look,” I said after a moment. “We appreciate it.”
“You find any more evidence, send it along. And, Elisa?”
“Yes, Petra.”
“Beware of government types in ill-fitting black suits. You never know who else may be looking for the Beast.”
She ended the call then, a nice bit of dramatic flair for theX-files-worthy send-off. I slid the screen back into my pocket, cleared my throat before looking up at Connor. And seeing the expected know-it-all expression on his face.
“We had to ask,” I said. “And notwithstanding the Beast, she’s ruled out any native animals. So it’s progress. And we’ll keep an eye out for the feds, just in case.”
He just rolled his eyes.
***
There was more magic in the lodge today, spilling beneath the closed doors like smoke from a very energized fire. It wasn’t broken, but it did have an edge of heat that said discussions about Loren’s memorial were not going smoothly.
The shifters hadn’t even made it upstairs, but were clustered in the lobby—Cash, Georgia, and Everett standing in front of the fireplace as shifters around them yelled out their concerns.
We worked our way through the edge of the crowd, Georgia giving us a small nod in acknowledgment, and watched as a young shifter did the same on the other side of the horde. Maybenineteen, tall and on the lean side. He was pale but had sun-kissed skin and dirty-blond hair that was combed forward to flop over his face. Brown eyes topped by thick brows, a square, narrow jaw, a wide but thin mouth.
“Loren doesn’t deserve a memorial,” he said, eyes hard. “He brought nothing but trouble to the clan.”
“Kid’s name is Traeger,” Connor whispered.
“Loren was an elder,” Cash said.
“Not because the clan wanted it,” Traeger insisted. “He’s not even a wolf. That means he’s not Pack. Not really.”
Even I knew that wasn’t the rule; the Brecks were panthers, and Jeff Christopher was very much a tiger. All of them were Pack. But there were murmurs of agreement in the crowd.
“I’m coyote,” Everett said. “That doesn’t matter, either, and you know it. We’re family as far as family’s concerned.”
“He’s Pack,” Georgia agreed. “By choice and by blood. The Pack isn’t just wolves.” She looked at Connor for confirmation.
Connor glanced at Cash, doing him the courtesy of getting his approval before entering the fray, and when he got the nod, he looked at Traeger. “She’s right,” he said. “Pack is geography, self-identification. He’s a shifter in our territory, says he’s a Pack member, then he’s a Pack member.”
“Fine,” Traeger said. “So he’s Pack. Then he’s notclan. He’s not part of our family. Not by blood. He married in. That doesn’t mean shit.”
“These are all technicalities,” Cash said, frustration clear in his voice. “We get that you had issues with him, Traeger. But he was part of our community, one of our elders. He did his part to work for the clan, and his death was violent. The least we can do is give him honors in death.”
Traeger made a sound of frustration, shook his head.
