The Wolf You Feed Arc (26 page)

 
24

Three Years Later, Spring 1994.

“Hi honey, I’m home,” Tore dumped his gear in the mudroom and walked through to the kitchen.

Mmm, the place smelled delicious. Kachina must have baked again. She stood at the stove stirring a large pot of rich stew. He wrapped his arms around her warm body and she handed him a spoonful of the hot mix to taste.

“God, Kachina that’s delicious, as always!” He kissed her neck.

Despite the aromatic cooking smells, she smelled of lavender

“It’s quiet. Where are the kids?” There was usually at least one of them underfoot, demanding to be fed.

“Oh, Rune and Kjell are out. Science project I think; something about frogspawn. Johan and Eveline were here a moment ago.” She looked over her shoulder. “Ah, there you two are! Now go and wash your hands ready for dinner and call your brothers.”

Tore watched as the two jumped down from the table.
 

How did he miss them sitting there?
 

As Eva passed him, her baby sweet scent hung around her. Johan’s woodsy aroma was also strong as he walked by. He inhaled. Their scents sat prominently in the kitchen. If nothing else, that should have made him notice the kids there. He must be more tired than he thought.

Kachina’s perfume became stronger, making him forget about the children’s sudden appearance. He moved closer to breathe it in, “You know, we could have an early night tonight.” She’d deepened the scent knowing how he would react to it. Tore trailed soft kisses up and down her neck. She giggled and turned to face him. His hand drifted to the edge of her blouse. “What do you say, honey? Why don’t we send the kids for a sleep-over with Jessie and Liam?”

Tore’s fingers went under her shirt, seeking out her flesh. His other hand dropped to her bottom and squeezed as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. Her breath hitched and her body melted at his touch.

“Daddy, what are you doing to Mommy?” Eveline made Tore jump back like a startled teenager caught fondling his girlfriend behind the back of the woodpile. Her talcum powder scent filled his nostrils, too late for Tore to realize she’d crept up on him again.
 

“Jeez, Eveline, where’d you come from?” His daughter and her brother were back sitting at the table.
 

“We’re just sitting here.” She tidied her crayons.

An amused Johan looked away, smirking.

“I swear we need to buy that girl some clogs or put a bell around her neck. She’s always sneaking up on me.” Johan giggled. “I might have to do the same with you too, young man. You’re just as bad as she is. I swear you two appear out of thin air.” Tore went over and mussed up his hair.

Johan laughed and shrugged him off, “Dad, I’m too old for that.”

“Since when is eleven, too old?”

“So do we get to go and sleep over at the Lodge?” Johan asked.

“Oh, goody!” Eveline, clapped her hands together. “Sophie said she’ll let me use her lipstick and put rags in my hair to make it curl next time we stay over.” Eveline was seven going on seventeen!

“Let me check with your uncle first. Now, did either of you call your brothers for dinner?”

Tore turned his attention back to Kachina, while the two scamps went in search of their siblings.

“Those kids have the making of good trackers. You see how they sneak up on me? I’ll be damned if I know how they do that.”

Kachina turned her big brown eyes to his. Her face turned serious and he knew what was on her mind. Damn he should never have mentioned tracking. “Let’s not talk about this now.”
 

Tore squeezed her around the waist trying to distract her, not wanting to lose the mood. The last thing he wanted to talk about were her fears that Eva and Johan had inherited her skin walker abilities. She’d been bringing it up more and more recently. But from what Tore could see, it was all in her head. Neither of their children had shifted into anything, nor did they show any signs of doing so. Tore suspected she wanted him to tell them about their wolf’s heritage. She harbored romantic notions that they should embrace their uniqueness. That was something he couldn’t do. The odds of their kids having the Lycan gene were minuscule, so Tore was happier keeping the family secret from them.

When he looked at his little girl, Tore could not imagine her transitioning. He was positive it wouldn’t happen to Johan either. It was a relief, to be honest. The thought of his kids sharing the same genes as his murderous brother repulsed him. It was bad enough that Rune and Kjell had no choice over their destiny. If his youngest two didn’t need to know, he’d protect them from their cruel ancestry.

***

After Tore dropped the kids off at Liam’s, he shared a glass of wine with his wife and they made out on the sofa. As things started to heat up they moved to the bedroom. Tore closed the door behind him and turned the key. Kachina laughed, “Why the lock, Tore?”
 

“I want to make sure there is no chance of Eveline or Johan appearing at the foot of the bed, while I ravage their mother!” He’d been only half joking earlier about needing an early warning system for those two.

She smiled and patted the bed next to her. Tore didn’t need any further invitation.

***

Kachina sipped her wine and stared into space, her book forgotten. She seemed distracted.

“You okay, baby?” Tore put his own book down and slipped his arm around her shoulders.
 

“Mmm.”
 

But he knew she wasn’t. “Is there something bothering you, my love?”

She bit her bottom lip. “Hey, what’s the matter, Kachina? You haven’t crashed the truck or anything have you?”

She smiled. “No, it’s nothing like that…” She looked around the room before making eye contact. “It’s just…” He pulled her in tight and pushed their books away. Giving her his full attention, she continued. “Tore, I don’t want you to get mad or anything, but…”

“I won’t get mad. How much did you spend?” She’d probably been on a shopping spree with Jessie. She always worried that she spent too much, but she never did.

She shook her head.

“No, it’s not that. It’s Johan and Eveline.” He frowned at her. “I know you said you didn’t want to tell them about… you know… the wolf thing and everything, but…”

He sighed. Why she was bringing this up again! They’d just spent a great couple of hours exploring each other and now she was going to ruin the moment. “Kachina, I’ve said all I’m gonna say about this. You agreed it’s for the best. They were born human. There is no way they are going to transition. There is no need for them to know this stuff.”

“But Tore…”

“Kachina, do we have to go through this again? Look Russell will be seventeen in another year; let’s see what happens to him. If our nephew transitions, I’ll reconsider, but I don’t want to discuss this anymore.” He picked up his book, his good mood gone.

“Tore, I think you’re wrong. I know what you believe, but look at them. They each have both of our genes in them. They might not follow you, but they could follow me.”

“Damn it, Kachina, will you drop it? You told me it was rare for skin walker abilities to pass down. Why should we burden them with this stuff? They’re just little kids who don’t need to know any of this.” Why was she so persistent tonight?
 

“But Rune and Kjell are only a few years from transitioning. They’re gonna find out by accident or overhear a conversation between you guys. What if they see you or their brothers shifting? You’ll scare them and…”

Anger welled up inside him. He hated it when she brought this up, and she knew it. He’d explained everything to her at Johan and Eveline’s birth. When they were born human, she agreed it would be best if they didn’t know about their Lycanthrope side.
 

“So you want me to tell them? It will ruin their world if I tell them they are wild animals? How much do you want me to say Kachina? You want me to tell them how dangerous they’ll be? How evil their uncles are? Should I also tell them how my brother killed Annike?”

“No, I don’t mean all that stuff, Tore you know, just the…”

“But where do we stop? What secrets do we keep and what do we tell? If it’s okay to tell them they’re Lycans, won’t it be okay to tell them about the commune and the killers that live there? They’ll want to know where I’m from, where they come from too. Do you want Eveline knowing that stuff? You want Johan growing up resenting me? My family? Run the risk that he will hate them too. Or worse, hate me?”
 

He saw tears beginning to spill from her eyes, but she’d hit a nerve and there was no way to stop himself. “And what about you? Will you tell them that they could be like you too?”

“That’s what I want to talk about. You see…”
 

By now, Tore wasn’t listening to her. “Do you want them to know what you are? That you’re a witch and so is their grandfather? Will you tell them that people will fear them for the magic they can do? Will you tell them that everyone will hate them? Which do you think they would prefer, Kachina, to grow up into a werewolf or an evil witch?”

As soon as Tore said it, he regretted his words. Tears slid down Kachina’s cheeks. He should have pulled her into his arms and begged her forgiveness but he didn’t. He knew she didn’t deserve what he’d just thrown at her. He was being cruel and obtuse.

Unable to face her, he climbed out of bed and unlocked the door.

“Tore, where are you going?”

Ashamed, he stormed out of the house, shifting to wolf as soon as his feet hit the Lodge lawn. He sensed Kachina standing at the door to their home, knew she watched him as he slunk off into the woods.

***

When Tore returned several days later, he was exhausted. He’d been living in the forest in his wolf form. At first the anger inside him kept him away. Then, as that subsided, it was his stupid stubbornness. Later still, he was terrified that his words had driven a wedge between them.

Tore found his wife sitting at the kitchen table working on one of her projects. She looked tired and miserable. “Kachina?”

She threw down the dream catcher and ran to him. Flinging her arms around his neck, she held him to her and sobbed into his chest. Tore held her back and hung his head in shame.
 

She lifted her head and dried her eyes. Pulling him to the table, she sat him down.

“I’m so sorry, Tore.” She held his hand. “I never wanted to hurt you. You’re right. Let’s not tell the children. The chance they’ll become Lycanthrope or skin walker is so minimal. We have more chance of winning the lottery. We’ll let them grow up in peace and if, for any reason, we see signs that either Johan or Eveline have yours or my genes, we’ll find a way to deal with it then.”

25

Two Years Later, May 1997.
 

“Jeez, Rune, what happened?”

A moody, seventeen year old Rune shrugged at Tore. He’d let things slide. His report cards never featured many A’s but things had gotten away from him this last term.

“How the hell do you get an F in Phys. Ed? And a C in wood shop! Rune that was your easy A.”
 

Rune had to admit it was pretty hard to fail P.E. But the damn thing was unfair. The three projects he didn’t turn in seemed to have taken precedence over acing all the fitness tests. But wood shop wasn’t his fault. The last project took longer than he’d expected because the marquetry had been intricate.

“It was just Mr. Bronson being pig headed. My piece was only two days late, but he still gave me only half credit. It’s not fair. Even if I’d handed it in unfinished, it would have been twenty times better than anything else the other kids produced. Mr. Bronson can’t recognize skill when he sees it. I’ve been selling my stuff for the last three years. The guy just has it in for me.”

Tore shook his head. Rune knew it wasn’t worth reeling off his excuses, but his mouth had run away with them anyway. He felt uneasy, shuffling from foot to foot. He hated disappointing Tore.
 

Kjell smirked and handed over his report card.
Now you’re in for it. You’ll be grounded for half the summer.
Kjell was careful to use their private frequency when he bated Rune, so his dad wouldn’t hear.