The Alpha's Mate (15 page)

And she could. When she concentrated on the
sounds around her and eliminated those she noises she was familiar
with, she could hear the soft padding brush of their paws.

The sky had lightened to a pre-dawn grey and
they drifted like phantoms out of the forest above the main trail.
They’re heads hung low and their tails dragged. Elizabeth counted
fifteen. The last was Marshall. Larger than the rest, his head was
up, scanning the open area around the cabin and the encircling
trees beyond. In spite of his erect head, the wolf looked exhausted
and when he stumbled, Elizabeth reached out her hand to him and
whispered his name.

His head snapped around to zero in on her
voice. Tired eyes locked with hers and his lips curled back in a
toothy canine smile. And then she heard it.

“L-i-zzzz-ie.” So soft it might have been a
breeze through the treetops.

She looked at Maggie. If the old woman heard
it, she showed no sign. She was sitting forward in the rocker, feet
planted firmly on the porch, sighting down the barrel of her rifle.
Her eyes were focused on a single spot across the yard where the
remnants of the vegetable garden stood. She moved the barrel
slightly to the left and fired. Something large and heavy fell from
a tree across the way.

The report echoed off the house and Elizabeth
winced, but she brought the shotgun up against her shoulder and
scanned the yard. The night had finally gone quiet. No tree frogs,
no crickets, no soft swoosh of wings, only the whimpering moans of
a man, moving away through the trees.

Another shot sounded from the back of the
house. They heard an animal’s yelp of pain, a short, sharp scream
and two more shots in quick succession.

“Go.” Maggie whispered. She panned the trees
along the sight of the barrel of her gun. Her finger was tight
against the trigger. “See what’s happening. I got this.”

Elizabeth crawled beneath the barrel and
stayed low as she opened the screen and pushed through the inner
door. Her cabin had been transformed. The two chairs that stood by
the fire were now at the windows which were covered with blankets
to block the light. Her table was pushed up against the wall and
every lamp, dish and tray that wasn’t being used was stashed behind
the book cases in the area she called her office. Other chairs were
lined up against the walls and the floors were strewn with blankets
and sheets except by the kitchen door where a blue plastic tarp was
spread.

Milling about the room were a dozen wolves of
various heights and weights. All looked exhausted, but none were
relaxed. They stared at her as she crossed the room to the kitchen
and back door. She bit her lip to prevent ‘Nice doggie’ from
escaping. How could she not have noticed that these wolves were so
much larger than ‘real’ ones?

Brie was at the kitchen window that looked
out over the ravine side of the cabin. It too was covered, with a
towel instead of a blanket and Brie had only a sliver of space
through which to watch.

“Ruby told me to come inside,” she said
defensively, as if Elizabeth might question it.

Elizabeth nodded, but didn’t stop to
chat.

“Leave that here,” Ruby nodded at the
shotgun. She was sitting in a kitchen chair and like Maggie, didn’t
take her eyes from the yard. “Loretta needs you outside.”

Elizabeth nodded again, laid the shotgun on
the dryer and cautiously went out into the yard. A wolf stood to
either side of the stairs; one tall and muscular that she
immediately recognized as Marshal, one shorter, heftier.

“Marshall, Henry,” she said as she passed
them. Henry yipped and Elizabeth was proud she’d guessed right.

Marshall pointed with his muzzle to where
Loretta was struggling to move a prone wolf onto a blanket. Gwenna
stood guard with a rifle tucked into her shoulder.

“Thank the Lord,” Loretta sighed when she saw
Elizabeth. “I can’t get him on the dang blanket by myself.”

At first she thought the wolf was dead, but
then she saw the chest rise and fall. Loretta already had the
blanket part way under the animal.

“Let’s roll him,” Elizabeth said after a
quick assessment. “Then we can shift him raising one side of the
blanket.”

She reached for the animals forelegs while
Loretta took the hind. She lifted and began to roll. Already she
could see the dark pattern of blood beneath the wolf. Suddenly the
beast raised his head, snarled viciously and snapped. Elizabeth
sprang back. Its teeth grazed her wrist.

The wolf that was Marshall sprang forward,
fangs bared. He snarled into the face of the injured wolf. It
immediately lowered its head and whimpered.

“Marshall don’t! He’s injured. It’s not his
fault.” Elizabeth pushed him away from the injured wolf, heedless
of dangerous jaws. “I should have known better. I’ve read about
safety when dealing with injured animals. He’s hurt and trying to
protect himself.”

Marshall snarled again at the wolf. Elizabeth
smacked his snout. There was a gasp from both women and she heard
Ruby give a hoot of laughter. She didn’t care. They didn’t have
time for this.

“Stop it! You’re the big dog. Everybody gets
it. There are other things that need your energy. Are you ready
Loretta? On three.”

She reached for the wolf’s legs again and
counted. They rolled the animal onto the blanket and dragged it to
the steps. It groaned but its mouth remained closed.

Ruby called Brie from the kitchen and kept
watch while the young woman and Gwenna helped Elizabeth and Loretta
haul the wolf into the cabin. Elizabeth directed them to the table
in the living area and when they set him down, Brie left
immediately to take up her post.

“What do you want us to do?” Gwenna asked
Elizabeth. She looked on the verge of tears.

How the hell am I supposed to know?
She had lists for emergencies, but none of them included gunfights
and wolves.

Chapter 15

“Go get wash cloths from my bathroom. There’s
antibacterial hand soap on the sink, alcohol and peroxide under the
sink. Brie! Take a minute and put some water on to boil. Loretta,
go out front and update Maggie and sit down before you fall down.
You’ve done enough. You!” She pointed at Marshall. “Tell your
Wolvers to back off. I can’t think with all these slavering
jaws.”

When they’d brought the injured wolf in, the
others immediately surrounded the table, sniffing at the body and
looking at Elizabeth with blank, staring eyes. Did they think this
was somehow her fault?

Marshall gave a short snarl and yip and the
wolves backed off. Elizabeth inspected the wound which was still
bleeding. She found where the bullet entered the meaty part of the
hind leg and followed it to the exit, a much uglier and open wound
just above the tail. She looked at her hands already dirty and
covered in blood.

“Shit. What am I thinking?” She ran her
bloody hands through her hair. The truth was she wasn’t thinking at
all. She was running on autopilot with bits and pieces of things
she’d read flitting through her mind like butterflies and her net
wasn’t big enough to capture them all. She was on the verge of
tears herself. “I don’t have enough hands.”

Marshall yipped. One of the wolves chuffed in
response and trotted back to the bedroom. Vickie appeared a moment
later.

“If Junior calls, I gotta go. Until then,
what can I do to help?”

“Go wash your hands and I mean wash them
better than you ever have before. You hear that Gwenna? You, too.
We have to shave the areas and clean the wounds.”

She went to the kitchen to wash four times
during the procedure and wondered if she should put latex gloves on
her shopping list or stick with the gallon of hand cream. She’d
sterilized everything the old fashioned way; in boiling water.
She’d shaved and disinfected the area as best she could, stitched
the exit wound and left the entrance to drain. Vickie took care of
the mess as she made it and ran for the things she forgot while
Gwenna laid her body across the wolf’s to hold it still. Elizabeth
heard her talking softly, but paid no attention to the words until
she had done all she could and stepped back from the table.

“There Georgie,” she heard the young woman
say, “It’s okay now. Elizabeth took care of the worst of it and
Marshall will take care of the rest tonight.” She started to weep
softly into the wolf’s fur. “It’s all just beginning for us,
Georgie. You have to hang on.”

Georgie? George? Gwenna hadn’t said a word.
Perhaps she hadn’t thought to. Everyone else must know. Elizabeth
thought about what Max had said about bravery and decided Gwenna
fit the description to a T. These women were teaching her lessons
her mother’s lists never could.

She patted Gwenna gently on the back and
headed for the front door. Something hit her from behind, between
the legs and she squealed and turned angrily. She was tired and in
no mood for play.

Marshall was behind her and as before, he
raised his rump in the air, tail high and bowed low with his
forepaws stretched out before him. He chuffed and drew back his
lips in another canine grin and then barked, sounding very much
like the German shepherd that lived next door to her mother. Every
wolf in the room followed suit including one who entered from the
kitchen and two from the bedroom.

Elizabeth laughed and bowed her head in
recognition of the display. “You’re welcome,” she said. And then
she said a silent prayer that George would be all right.

“Bout time someone relieved us,” was Maggie’s
greeting. “It’s two hours past my breakfast. Don’t suppose any of
you slackers thought to fix something.” She was grinning when she
said it.

“The pickings are pretty slim,” Elizabeth
said, “There’s a dozen eggs in the fridge and a loaf of bread in
the oven. Not baking. That’s where I keep it. If you want more
protein, there’s a half jar of peanut butter.”

“Lord, child, if you’re going to live up
here, you better learn how to set a spread.”

“Maggie, leave the girl alone.” Loretta
turned to Elizabeth. “How’s George? You get him fixed up?”

“Of course she did. She’s smiling, ain’t
she?”

“I did as much as I could,” Elizabeth
admitted, “I hope it’s enough.”

Maggie rose and offered Elizabeth her chair.
“That’s all anyone can ask, child. You gave your best.” She handed
Elizabeth the rifle. “You see that there? That’s the sight. You aim
at his crotch and the kick’ll bring it up to his chest.” She
grinned evilly. “You control the kick and he won’t be passing none
of his evil ways on to the future. Either way, it’s a good thing.
Loretta and me’ll head on in and show you young folk how to make a
meal out of nothing.”

“That was my intention. I figured those
coolers weren’t holding a change of clothes.” Elizabeth took the
gun to her shoulder and sighted down the barrel. “I don’t think
they’re coming back today, but I won’t take any chances.”

“Those coolers are for the wolvers, but I
think I can rustle up some fat meat for you.”
* * *

The day passed slowly. From the sacks came
more eggs, bacon, sausage and the makings for biscuits. Ruby added
flour and milk to the crumbled sausage drippings and made ‘gravy’.
Served over biscuits, it was the best breakfast Elizabeth ever
tasted.

Maggie wasn’t kidding when she said the
coolers were for the wolvers. She had the women empty the contents
on the plastic tarp. They were filled with meat and after Marshall
had taken his choice, the others set to. The tarp, licked clean was
removed to the back porch.

“What did you expect?” Max asked when she saw
Elizabeth go wide-eyed at the snarling and growling. She shrugged
and laughed. “They’re wolves.”

She’d slept late into the morning and now
looked alert and refreshed. In borrowed slacks and blouse, she took
her turn on watch. Her wolf never left her side.

Elizabeth dozed on and off as did the others.
She took her turn on watch, this time at the side of the house
facing the ravine. She sat on a kitchen chair.

“Might as well be comfortable,” Gwenna said
when she dragged it out.

Gwenna had been offering small kindnesses all
morning and Elizabeth knew it was her way of saying thanks. The
chair wasn’t comfortable, but it beat standing for an hour. She’d
been scanning the trees for about ten minutes when Marshall padded
out to sit by her side.

“I don’t think anything will happen until
nightfall,” she told him.

His eyes widened and she thought he might be
asking,
“Why?”

“That’s when you’ll have to expend energy to
change the others back. You’ll spend more precious energy healing
George and anyone at the other hideouts.”

Marshall chuffed.

“You want me to say the other word, don’t
you?” She wasn’t sure how she knew.

Marshall lowered his muzzle in a regal nod.
He was a Wolf King, she decided and it suited him. That didn’t mean
she was comfortable with the term magic.

“Sorry, your Highness, but I’m not one of
your subjects and I’m having enough trouble dealing with your furry
features. So energy it is and if you don’t like it, you can bite
me.”

Marshall gave a little snarl followed by that
silly grin.

“That was a dirty thought, wasn’t it?”

Again with the regal bow. Could a wolf be
sexy? Elizabeth laughed.

“Do you want to hear this or should I just
write it in my journal?”

Marshall gave an exasperated chuff and looked
out at the trees. He was waiting for her to continue.

“That’s better. And no more distractions. I’m
on duty here.” She peeked up at the kitchen window where she was
sure she heard someone snicker and then went back to scanning the
tree line. “If I were running things for the bad guys, that’s when
I would attack. And I’d do it as wolves. You’re still weakened from
last night, Marshall, and after changing the wolves to men and
healing, you’d then have to change your men back. You’d be at a low
point for attack or challenge. What do you think? Am I making
sense?” She waited for Marshall’s comment. None came. His head was
on his paws and he was sound asleep.