Chapter Fourteen

June

I decided to take a walk through the village, gaining a sense of direction while locating Dom. It also gave me a chance to keep an eye out for some of the weirdness that Carmine mentioned. I had a scrap of paper from one of the crossword books and a pen in my pocket to take notes in case I ran into anything.

On the surface, Moonpeak looked peaceful enough. But I wasn't about to let that lull me into a false sense of security. I kept my eyes sharp and my ears open. Linda's road led to the main street. I walked to the crossing and looked around. A few people were out and about, and from here I could see several wolves running in the grassy area near the pack house. I shivered, still getting used to the sight of them. Then I turned my head in the other direction. If I passed the general store and kept going, I could make it to the trees and eventually to the pond where I last saw Dom. Was he there now? Could I talk to him? Was it allowed?

Well, no one said I couldn't, so I started walking.

Now that I was here and thoroughly convinced I had to settle in for a vacation ending with me sprouting fur, Dom was going to give me some answers, and give back my phone while he was at it. Not that I could make a call from out here, but at least I'd have my music.

Hands in my pockets and shoes to the gravel, I kept a good pace. I smiled and nodded to anyone I passed, making it as casual as possible. Outside I tried to look calm, but inside my heart was beating fast. I didn't know why it felt like I was doing something I shouldn't, but it did. I was almost to the edge of the trees when a voice behind me made me nearly jump out of my skin.

"Where are you going there, girlie?"

I spun around to find Smokey, naked as the day he was born, scratching his beard and waiting for an answer from me.

"To see if Dom is at the cabin," I answered.

Smokey gestured to the grassy fields away from both the direction I was heading in and from town. "Walk with me."

I looked at the trees where the road turned to dirt, and where I knew the cabin would be if I kept going. But I sighed and followed Smokey instead.

"The boys are busy right now, Alpha needs to see 'em."

"Oh," I said. There went that plan.

"What's on your mind, New Bite?" Smokey asked as we walked down the gentle slope. There was plenty to admire here. Tiny flowers bloomed in the grass. There were even a few butterflies making their lazy way from blossom to blossom. The view was phenomenal, and I could really get used to it.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I've got a lot of mixed feelings about this wolf stuff."

Smokey hummed. "But it seems to me like you don't got a choice. It's your reality now, and if you don't embrace it you're not going to turn in your first couple of moons. Hell, you may not turn at all."

I winced. "And if I don't turn . . ."

"You die," he said simply. "Life moves on, you were never cut out to be a wolf in the first place."

"What can I do to shift faster?" I asked.

"Far as I can tell, and I've only seen a handful of bites in my time, you need to accept it. Embrace that wolf, girlie. It's in you now, and it's going to come out. Don't fight it." Smokey shrugged.

"A wolf in me?" I asked.

Smokey chuckled. "You'll figure it out soon enough. Tell me about yourself, New Bite. You ever been in a fight before?"

"A fight?" I asked. "I'm not much of a fighter."

"No warrior, then." Smokey scratched his chin. "You much of a runner?"

Yes. No. Used to be. "Not really," I admitted.

"You got any other special skills?"

"Physical therapy and first aid," I said. "When I go home, I'm finishing my PT degree."

Smokey stopped in his tracks and laughed. He laughed so hard that he held a hand to his lower back for support and started coughing at the end of the laughter.

"Go home? Girlie, this is now home. You ain't going anywhere until you shift, and who knows when that will be." Smokey chuckled, wiping the corner of his eye. "You aren't gonna be the same person on the other end of that shift, you hear me? So if you want some advice, if you're smart you'll wait to make any plans until you know who you are afterward."

"I have a life to get back to," I said. "An apartment, a roommate, and my job."

"You might want those things now, New Bite," Smokey said. "But you're not doing yourself any favors by holding on to those so tight. Life out here, she's slowed down. Tell me, do you know how to live in the moment? Enjoy yourself? When was the last time you really felt free to live how you wanted for a day?"

My throat tightened, remembering the wind pressed against me and a track under my feet. I didn't know why Smokey's words painted an image from so many years ago when I'd finally let go of my running days, but it was an unwelcome reminder.

"Look, Smokey, I'm tired and overwhelmed by all this new wolf stuff. All I really wanted to do this afternoon was get my phone back from Dom and ask a few questions."

Smokey crossed his arms. "Dom is occupied, but I'm not. If you have wolf questions, I'm here. Believe it or not, I do care about you. Even if it's only for now, you're Moonpeak, and that means I'm here to help you."

The little houses of the village atop the hill were picturesque. The sky was crystal clear today, the breeze playing with the tall grasses on the slope, as though everything was trying to remind me to relax.

"Okay, Smokey. I need someone to talk to. Linda is nice but—"

"She tiptoes around things like she doesn't want to step in a pile of shit," Smokey finished.

I laughed. "Not my exact words."

"Linda's a peach, but she's too gentle for a wolf. I'll tell you how it is, and you can take it or leave it. So, shoot, New Bite, what's on your mind?"

"Something happened, with Dom and the others. I want to know what's really going on."

Smokey grunted and gave a sharp nod. "At least you're not a dimwit.

"Amelia and the kids left after our last alpha was killed," Smokey started. "I'm guessing that's part of what Linda wouldn't talk about."

I nodded.

"Figured as much. There's only one way to become an alpha. You've got to belong to the pack, and you challenge the current alpha to the death. You better have some complaints about him, too, because if you don't have a reason to challenge him then the pack won't back you, even if you win."

"Oh," I said. "What was wrong with the old alpha?"

"Wasn't anything wrong with him for years. Decades. Liam was a good wolf. Strong. Fair. Ran things well, kept us in the budget. No one went hungry." Smokey scratched his chin. "But in those last few months, we had a bunch of weird shit happen. Rogues were coming in, and Liam made some bad calls. Got good wolves killed.

"Which is why Evander challenged him. Now, Evander wasn't from Moonpeak. Wandered in one day and joined the pack after a while. Said he was bitten but didn't get on with the rogues that did it. Pretty strange for a bite to be strong as an alpha, but who knows why the moon does what she does. Anyway, Evander challenged Liam over all this mess, and he won. No matter how much the rest of us didn't like it, we had no grounds to complain. Evander did it all by the code, and that was that."

"Wow," I said. "So Alpha Liam got killed, and Evander moved in?"

"That's how it works, girlie," Smokey said. "Now, by the book as it was, we didn't make it a week before Evander started rubbing people the wrong way. He didn't want people talking about Liam anymore, even though they were still grieving him. That didn't set with the old luna or the beta. So they challenged Evander too. Both lost, both died. Pretty sad shit."

"Oh my god." I put a hand over my heart. "They were still grieving! He didn't let them off easy?"

"Nope. Now all three are dead in the ground, and their kids ran off in a rage," Smokey said.

"Their kids ran off—" My eyes grew wide. "Amelia and Dom? And the others?"

"Amelia was Liam's oldest," Smokey explained. "Dom was Beta John's only one."

Quiet overtook me for a moment while I absorbed everything. "Thanks for telling me."

"Don't mention it. And if you want to talk more, Linda can point you my way. See you at the picnic tomorrow."

"Picnic? Oh, right." I remembered Alpha Evander saying something about it.

"Now, go on before you're late for dinner," Smokey said. Then he walked off to shift into his shaggy gray wolf.

I waited long enough to watch him bound off into the trees. A strange guy, but a friend. I thought. Some of my questions were answered but I was left with a host of new ones. What exactly was this place I was getting mixed up in?