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"I got a report that she's made her way to the main road." He looked accusingly at Andy. "You should have caught her. You're too busy daydreaming to keep your mind on the job at hand. If she returns with others and attacks us, it is your fault, and any death or loss of property will be on you." He was going full-on dramatic, yelling and pointing his finger in Andy's direction.
Andy didn't doubt he believed what he was saying. He was so immersed in the paranoia that Ford had been peddling around the pack these last few years that Billy saw enemies everywhere. He didn't bother to respond because anything he said to the contrary would be dismissed as always.
"Go back to the encampment. Maybe you can be of some use there." He snipped at him angrily and turned away, heading back to where Ford and the others were standing. Billy loved to embarrass him in front of the others; it made him feel superior and in control, but everyone knew that it was Ford who made the decisions.
Ford was a master manipulator, but Billy would never see or accept that as truth. The one time he tried to warn Billy that Ford was taking over, Billy slapped him hard, called him jealous, and said that Ford was more of a brother to him than Andy would ever be. It was ugly, and Andy has never ventured an opinion on the subject since.
He wasn't sorry he helped that lady; she was not going to hurt them, and he wasn't going to stand by and let them hurt her. He didn't know her story, and he didn't care. She was gone, and someone else's problem now. Andy headed back to the encampment, a fortified compound consisting of a main lodge surrounded by several smaller log homes and wooden structures. It wasn't attractive by any means, but it was functional.
“What was the fuss all about?” One of the younger members ran up to walk with Andy.
"The vampires were warring with some outsiders, and Billy wanted to make sure nothing spilled over onto our lands," Andy explained it as best he could while keeping his brother in a good light.
“Are the vampires going to war with us?” The boy asked, clearly concerned.
“The vampires have no cause to war with us.” He stated.
"They hate us." He said with a conviction that was troubling, but that was the lesson that Billy and Ford were teaching the young ones.
"We aren't exactly friendly either, so what do we expect." Andy countered.
“You like the coven?”
“I neither like nor dislike them; I don’t know them.”
"I don't like them." He finished and walked away. Andy did himself no favor by sparring with the boy, for he was certain to tell his father, who would tell Billy.
Andy went straight to the medical center, which was just a small, makeshift hut, to see if he could be of assistance. They were always in need of help. Billy did not see the value in providing medical aid to the sick or injured, so they were the last to receive any support. They made do with volunteers and handouts.
There were no doctors or nurses, just people trying to help in the best way they knew how, and that included Andy. He volunteered at the medical center often. Billy viewed it as a drain on time and resources and believed the sick or injured either healed on their own or they died, and it was nature who made that decision. Andy wondered if that would be the prevailing opinion if it were Billy or Ford who needed the care.
Andy stopped at his small one-room cabin to grab a bite to eat before heading over to the medical center. He used to live in the main house, which was large and grand. It had all the comforts and conveniences, unlike the rest of the encampment. Andy was moved out of the main house two years ago when Ford became second in command and took over Andy's rooms and insisted that it would be better if only the leadership of the pack resided in the main house.
Ford has slowly, through pressure and manipulation, changed a lot of things about the pack, and not for the good. The money that comes in is used almost exclusively for defense, and anything that's left is placed in the leadership account, which is then used at the discretion of Billy and Ford with no accountability required.
It was never an ideal living situation, but Ford's interference has made things a little worse. The cougar shifters were always looked down upon as reactionary, primitive, and belligerent, with little empathy or intelligence, and Ford's leadership is making that assumption a reality.
Schooling, apart from half-assed homeschooling, is dissuaded or rejected out and out. Any form of emotional training or interpersonal skills are also rejected and considered weaknesses. The young are being done a massive disservice, but Andy is one man with no power, and the pack is tired, having not yet recovered from the exploitation of the magics.
CHAPTER TWO
Dallas continued with surveillance of the cougar encampment for several days following the incident with the woman, Emily. He found himself intrigued by the actions of the young cougar. He'd studied cougar activity in the area for years and never witnessed one do what that young man had done. The shifter put himself in danger to save a stranger; perhaps he had underestimated their capacity for compassion.
He didn't see the man again but witnessed others behaving in a manner expected of a cougar shifter. They were short-tempered, angry, abrupt, and aggressive, and that included some of the young people. Dallas was wondering where the kind fellow came from and who he was. The desire to know more about him struck Dallas as odd, but the urge would not go away.
Dallas had spent the morning surveilling the cougar encampment, at least that's what he put in his report, but actually, he was looking for the cougar shifter who had saved Emily. Unfortunately, he never spotted him; the guy must not leave the encampment very often.
Archer and Kevin were spending a few days at Kevin's cabin, which was en route back to the Palace, so Dallas decided to stop and see if Archer knew anything about the young cougar he was interested in.
"I never directly dealt with any of the cougars apart from Billy Burns, and I have never observed a cougar being decent. They're always arrogant and uncouth.” Kevin said as they all sat outside on the porch that he and Archer had built onto the back of the cabin.
"I think I know who you're talking about," Archer spoke up. "He's Billy's younger brother, his name is Andy. He left the encampment a few years ago and went to university in Ann Arbor. I think he's the first of the forest cougars to get an education beyond high school."
“What did he study?” Dallas asked.
"Not sure, but I think it was agriculture or farming or something to do with food production."
“That would be valuable for a pack that subsists in the wilderness.” Dallas was impressed with the young man’s vision and desire to help his people.
