Chapter Fourteen

A choice of perception

A chance of redemption

Instantly, the weight was thrown from her as Athair shoved the wolf away and lifted her tenderly in his arms. "The wolf is Rath. Can we trust Steve?"

"Completely." She clung to him and tried to get her breath.

"Rath, return to yourself." He gave the order when he saw Rath cornering Steve against the wall next to the door. Steve was so terrified by the stalking wolf that he didn't realize the door and its dubious safety was no more than a single step to his right.

Hope pulled herself from Athair's arms and watched Rath's form waver and grow into that of a man. A man easily described by the word dangerous. He trembled with barely suppressed rage. He had been a nearly black wolf. Now he was a man with dark hair and dark olive skin, dressed in black leather pants and a jacket. She wanted to ask Athair why Rath had clothes on after a change, but he didn't. She'd ask him later. For now, it was more important to get everyone calmed down and inside the house.

Athair took control of the situation by placing himself between Rath and Steve, who still cringed next to the wall in shocked silence. She felt Athair sending out calming, soothing waves as he spoke aloud. "Rath, I am very glad to see you are well."

Quickly recovering from his speechlessness, Steve mumbled something that earned him threatening growls from both Rath and Athair. That was enough to send him scurrying into the house. Hope stepped inside to ensure he was unhurt. Then she returned to the doorway.

Athair had moved close to Rath and held him by his muscular forearms. She suspected they were communicating silently, but she couldn't tell what about. She wondered if Rath was alone. "Athair, has Dàn come also?"

"Yes, Dàn is behind the house. He will join us directly."

"Would you like me to do something? Prepare some drinks, perhaps?" Hope asked. She was uncomfortable, but she wanted to help Athair, even if only by escaping to get refreshments. Anything to ease the tension in the air.

"Please, Hope. Coffee would be good. Will you take it to the back porch?"

She agreed and left them. After a slight, tense giggle, she thought, at least they hadn't greeted each other by smelling butts.

Athair restrained a smile at Hope's thought, and then focused his attention on Rath, who was still only barely in control of himself. Quietly, calmly, he asked, "What happened?"

Something had gone terribly wrong. Rath was usually very controlled and never acted violently, like he had reacted to Hope and Steve. "Please calm yourself and tell me of the last three days."

Rath took several deep breaths, as if gathering his thoughts. "The drobh attacked us as we made our escape through the forest." Drobh was a derogatory term for clan members that meant a vicious, uncivilized pack of animals. "They did not take us back to Lakeside. They attempted to force us to help them find you."

That puzzled Athair. "How would you know where I was?" It only took a moment for him to find the answer without a word from Rath. "Dàn?"

"Yes. But it was only an excuse to cause us pain." Rath looked defeated at his inability to protect his friend. "They hurt Dàn. He told them nothing." The last he said with pride.

"Dàn is here, though? He does not answer my call."

"To my shame, I would have told them anything, just to make them stop."

Athair found that very hard to believe. Rath was a strong and determined young man with a rebellious nature. He would have resisted helping them simply because of their methods.

Rath continued, "I didn't know how to help him. Healing is not my strength, and I was too weak."

"How did you get away?"

"Sgrios." Rath said with a satisfied snarl. "He tore the cowards apart, helped us get away, and started Dàn's healing. Sgrios is very powerful." His expression softened. "Dàn comes."

As he said this, Dàn edged around the corner of the house. His lean body was obviously still in great pain. He moved with deliberate care. His face was pale, and all his visible skin showed a roadmap of faint white lines from his recently healed wounds.

Even more startling was the crackling emanations of power that wavered over him, and hints of an odd red haze. Athair had rarely seen this before and was not encouraged. His people were always struggling to maintain a delicate balance between their natural and supernatural elements. In theory, any outside trauma could throw off that equilibrium with disastrous results. If the trauma was great enough, it was thought that the resulting imbalance could literally destroy an individual, not to mention a large portion of the surrounding area. While Athair knew he could continue the healing of Dàn's body, he suspected that he could do little for the boy's magical instability.

When Athair would have gone to him, Dàn held out a hand to stop him. "I am fine," he said quietly. He would not step any closer or meet Athair's questioning gaze. "I would like to meet Hope."

He waited at the corner while Athair and Rath walked past him and started around the side of the house. Dàn followed them at a slight distance.

They did not talk while walking to the rear porch, yet they accepted the strength that came from being together. It was a sharing of magic that could, to a certain extent, provide strength and healing to one, without taking from the others. It soothed each of them. And it went a long way to calming Rath. To a smaller degree, it helped Dàn maintain control over his wild magic.

As they came into sight of the porch, Steve jumped up and moved back into the kitchen. Athair worried that Steve would never get past his fear of Rath and their people enough to ever trust any of them. That could make him dangerous, despite Hope's assurances.

Hope waited for them with a tray holding the coffee cups. After setting down the tray, she bravely faced Rath and held out her hand in welcome. "Hello, Rath. I'm Hope. Athair has mentioned you."

Rath stared at her hand for a moment, and then met her gaze. His golden brown eyes were a strange combination of fierceness and warmth. His body was mostly relaxed, yet he vibrated with restrained emotion. He enclosed her small hand in his larger one.

"Hello, Hope," he said in a resonant tone that slipped through her, accepting and welcoming her. But overall, he frightened the daylights out of her, because he seemed on the verge of losing control.

Hope gently pulled her hand away and stepped to Athair's side. Not understanding her response to Rath or his intentions, she sought Athair's comfort. "Athair?"

He didn't answer her, but simply placed his arm around her shoulders in a supportive, or perhaps possessive, gesture. And he might have he said something directly to Rath using telepathy, because Rath nodded at her with a humorless smile.

It was hard for Hope to see the intimidating man as Athair's adopted son. Athair was warm and friendly, while Rath was hostile and abrasive. And when it came to age, Athair looked more like an older brother with only a few years separating them.

Athair drew her attention to Dàn, who stood at the base of the steps not quite within the light from the kitchen. "Dàn, please come meet Hope. She helped save my life."

Stepping into the circle of light, Dàn said, "Thank you. Your courage and actions may yet save us all."

At the sight of his appalling injuries, Hope felt an overwhelming need to comfort the young man. He must have suffered the injuries while protecting Athair. He was tall, but slightly built, compared to Athair and Rath. He seemed much younger and more vulnerable than the others, even though she remembered that he was only a year younger than Rath. He shouldn't have to carry his burden alone. Hope left Athair's side and reached up to cup Dàn's face in her palm.

Athair gripped her arm and pulled back her hand at the same time Dàn flinched as if burned by her touch.

"No…" Dàn moaned, in a pain filled voice.

She watched as the red mist around him thickened and swirled over the skin of his arms, throat, and face. His image fluttered. With each flicker, a strong shock wave of energy rolled off him and vibrated through the others. Each wave raised their hair, caused their muscles to tense, and their skin to tingle. Dàn's body stiffened, and his vivid blue eyes rolled back in his head. The mist swirled in agitation, shooting tiny sparks in every direction. His shoulders trembled violently. Then, soft as a sigh, Dàn collapsed, his body seeming to simply fold in upon itself.

Before he hit the ground, Rath leapt to his side and caught him. With a low growl, Rath carried Dàn tenderly to the padded bench against the wall of the porch. Athair and Hope hurried to assist him, but stopped short when Rath ordered them to stay back.

"We cannot help him with this." Rath explained, as he held out his arms showing horrendous burns where he had held Dàn.

"He will not allow even you to touch him," he said to Athair.

"Perhaps the healing ritual—" Athair began. Maybe he could do little for Dàn, but he could help Rath. He reached for one of Rath's arms and began healing his burns.

"No ritual." Dàn said from his prostrate position.

"He fears the ceremonies will cause further instability," Rath said. "The healing that Sgrios started was done while he was still unconscious. He believes his trauma has begun some sort of change in him." With a half-hearted smile at Dàn, he said, "And we know how weird he was to begin with."

Dàn gave a slight nod and opened his eyes. Hope gasped at their strange new appearance. They were now an iridescent, sparkling blue. Still vivid in color, but almost pulsing as if the previously fluctuating power was now contained within them. It was a relief to all when he let his eyes drift closed again.

Regretting her impulsive act, Hope told him quietly, "I'm sorry. I only intended to comfort you."

"Please save your healing touch," he said, his voice becoming slightly stronger. "My injuries are from within, and from within they must be healed. If they can at all."

"I don't have any magic," she said.

"You do not yet know what you can do. But in time, your strength will grow."

His response confused her. She didn't have any magic, regardless of what had happened during Athair's healing ceremony. What had he meant by saying his injuries were from within? Had he done all that damage himself? Surely not. She thought the other ones had hurt him. In his own way he was much scarier than Rath.

She needed to regroup and check on Steve. "Athair, I'm going to see how Steve is holding up. Call me if you need anything."

As she entered the kitchen, she thought about what had just happened on her porch. What had she just seen? What were these people? How was she supposed to deal with this? She had given up the promising excuse that she'd lost her marbles after last night's ceremony. So, this must be real. Weird, but real. Really, really weird.

How was she going to explain this to Steve? She didn't understand any of it herself.

Okay. They were werewolves. But not like in the movies. Not dangerous.

It might be a little hard to convince Steve that they weren't dangerous after having one of them attack him. Which meant they were dangerous, but only when trying to protect each other. That might be a good spin for the story. Werewolves with morals.

She decided she'd better not mention their true ages, or the whole thing with Dàn going nuclear on the porch. It would definitely be better for her to start with small details. She would help Steve learn about them one step at a time. It would be easier that way, to start with less of the scare-the-snot-out-of-you information. More of the they-are-just-like-us type. If she could convince Steve they were good guys after what he'd seen, she might have to start a career in politics.

Steve wasn't in the kitchen, the living room, the den, or the bathroom. Where was he?

Aha. Voices could be heard in Granny's apartment. Steve was talking, and he sounded stressed. Way stressed, and with very good reason.

There were three werewolves hanging out on her back porch.

So maybe the direct approach wouldn't be best. She knocked lightly and opened the door.

"Hey Steve." She smiled at him, and then turned to her grandmother. She kissed Granny on the cheek like she always did, as though the world were the same today as it was yesterday. "How was your day, Granny?"

"Very nice. Athair is such good company, even if he didn't know any card games. I tried to talk him into strip poker, but he said he wouldn't play until he knew the rules better." Granny shared with them a look that was the next thing to a leer.

Steve stared at them like they were two nuts from the same tree. Then he turned to Hope and confronted her. "Athair is a werewolf."

Okay then, he wanted it direct. "Yeah, he is."

Steve continued with an accusing tone, "He's the wolf, isn't he? The one we hit with the car and patched up?"

"Yes."

"Who's the other one?" Steve's glance darted to the door. "One of his friends?"

"Sort of. It's his adopted son, Rath." Should she mention Dàn? No. Not yet.

"Wrath. Good name! I can sure picture him on a vengeful rampage," Steve ranted. "So, the wolf, I mean Athair, is already healed? He probably didn't need us to do anything. Did he?"

"He would have died without our help, and he's not completely healed." At least she got that impression.

"They can be killed, then?" he asked with a hopeful look.

Granny interrupted him with a snort, "Why would you want to do that? Steve, it isn't like you to want to harm anyone. Athair makes such a nice man. So what if he howls at the moon now and again?"

Hope thought that might be oversimplifying the matter, but she was glad for any reinforcement to fight Steve's fear. Maybe she should try another path. "I'm glad you know now. I hated keeping the truth from you."

"At least there are only two of them. We should be able to get away from them if we work together."

"Steve, Athair and his sons are my guests. Athair has not tried to hurt me or Granny. And Rath had his reasons for what he did."

"What reasons?" Steve challenged. His eyes widened and he added, "Sons, as in plural?"

In for a penny, in for a pound. She might as well explain it all. Or as much as she had figured out anyway. "Rath and Dàn were tortured. They were trying to find Athair, and Rath was worried that we had hurt him."

"Who is Dàn?" Granny asked with interest.

"Another of Athair's adopted sons," Hope answered.

"How many does he have?" Steve shouted.

"He told me that he and his brothers raised eleven children after their parents were murdered. I suppose some of them would be girls, though," she answered honestly.

"Oh!" Granny said as she sank into the nearest chair.

"It's a shame they weren't all killed," Steve said.

Granny exclaimed, "What awful people would do such a thing to the poor little ones?"

"Poor little ones, indeed. Ella, they're werewolves!" Steve complained loudly.

"Children are children." Granny said stoutly. Hope could have told Steve not to waste his breath. The protection of children would not be anything less than a priority to Granny. The protection of animals would fall no lower than second. Athair and his children apparently qualified on both counts. It was quite a relief that Granny had accepted this so easily. A relief, and more than a little suspicious. Hope wondered if Athair had told her any of this during their day together.

"Except these children come in litters and see us humans as snacks."

Hope started to reply, but stopped when Athair opened the door.

Granny immediately smiled a welcome to him, "Come in, Athair. We were just talking about you and yours."

He managed a half smile in return, and then spoke to Hope. "Steve must stay inside the house, and you probably should also. My brother comes."

Steve jumped up. "See, Hope! We're prisoners. Hell, we're probably their buffet!"

Athair looked like he had finally had enough of Steve's nonsense. Hope ignored Steve's comment and asked, "Which brother?"

"Sgrios." he answered Hope in a grim tone. In response to Steve's opening mouth, he growled at him, "He makes Rath look like the overgrown pup he is. You will stay inside, out of Sgrios' path, or I will not be held responsible for your death."

"I am sorry for all this. Rath is much calmer now. They had tortured Dàn in front of him."He gave Hope an invisible caress to her cheek before leaving.

Steve continued to sputter incoherently.

Hope knew from what Athair had told her about Sgrios that his coming to her house would not improve the situation. She also knew that the threat to Steve would be certain if she couldn't convince him to keep his mouth shut. He could irritate even a saint. And by all accounts, Sgrios was far from attaining sainthood.

Grabbing Steve's arm in a determined grip, she pulled him down onto the sofa across from Granny for a serious, down-and-dirty, time-for-the-truth, talk. "Steve, you need to listen to me about this. They are good people, but very different." Before he could interrupt her, she went on to tell him nearly everything she knew about Athair and his family, describing Sgrios as a crazy uncle, pointing out that all families have their crazies. Athair's just had bigger teeth and a shorter temper.

Hope watched Steve as he began to relax and finally got himself under control. He asked, "So we can leave now if we want to?"

He would pick that question. "I think you could, but it probably isn't a good idea right now."

"Why?"

"Because, the evil, um, people that are searching for them wouldn't hesitate to hurt us or anyone else to get to them."

"Couldn't we just give them up?"

"I suppose we could, but I won't do it. I don't want Athair, or his family hurt any more than they already have been."

During all this, Granny listened from her seat across from them.

Hope continued, "You saw what they did to Athair. They did even worse than that to young Dàn." At Steve's somewhat compassionate expression, she was encouraged. "Dàn was tortured in front of Rath. So, you can see why he was so violent. We all have limits when we have been pushed too far. He had reached his."

"Even you can understand that." Granny added.

Steve still looked skeptical, but he no longer appeared terrified.

Granny brought up the part that Hope had been planning to skip. "Besides, you now know enough to be dangerous to them. I'm quite sure they won't allow you to ever be a threat."

After dropping that bombshell, she turned to Hope. "I think Steve needs some time to sort this out. And I would like to meet the young ones before Athair's brother, the Big Bad Wolf, gets here." With that she stood and left, not waiting for Hope and Steve to follow her.

Hope did. Steve of course, did not.

She and Granny went to the back porch where Athair and Rath stood chatting beside where Dàn lay. Granny walked directly to Athair's side and put a fragile looking hand on his arm, effectively interrupting his quiet conversation.

"Ella, you shouldn't be out here," he chided with a worried frown toward the forest.

"I wanted to meet your boys before your brother arrives." She smiled at him. "And I would like to also meet him. I am much too old to be banished to the house like a child."

"I believe you are about to get your wish, since he is coming across the field now," Dàn said without opening his eyes. He sat upright, carefully leaning back against its back. He looked tired, but at least that strange mist was gone.

"I presume you must be Dàn." Granny smiled. "I'm Hope's grandmother, Ella. You may call me either Granny or Ella."

Dàn opened his extraordinary eyes to study Ella for several long, silent moments.

"You are not what I expected," he said.