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Kennedy…

Once both men were at work, Red at the shop, and Terry at the clinic, where he needed to order supplies for the upcountry farm, Kennedy found herself at odds about what to do with herself. The library was a tempting place to go, but she turned right instead and drove past the diner. She knew Terry’s mother lived in town down this way. It couldn’t be that hard to find her. A few words spoken into her phone and she had the address.

Kennedy’s skin prickled as she thought about her haunted eyes. At the property, she had seemed back in her right mind, but she had no way of knowing if it was just a veneer. She dropped her hand to her belly.

There was so much she didn’t know. She thought of the haunted house she had visited by the lake, abandoned and overgrown. The way her men had spoken about the place, she hadn’t had the heart to share with them that she had gone inside. She thought of the stuffed animal resting in their mother’s room, taken from there.

Had she instigated their bad luck by taking it with her? She wanted to understand why the child’s room had been set up with so many locks. The hand-stitched animals that hung from the mobile of the crib had been painstakingly made. Love had been in those hands.

With a shudder, Kennedy remembered Terry’s mother coming down from the mountain to warn them, looking like a witch from a children’s fairy tale. She might not care for what the woman would say, but so far, of the shifters she had met, Terry’s mother had been the most brutally honest with her. She might need Tylenol after they spoke, but she would know more.

...

Jeremiah…

Jeremiah was sitting in Councilman Ansel’s office. They’d found the home of the man he had seen at the coffee shop and were discussing what to do when a call came that was put straight through.

“We need help!” a panicked youthful voice cried out. Ansel put the youth on speaker.

“Slow down. This is Clover group?”

“Yes. We were attacked.”

“By what? How many of them did you kill?”

Ansel pressed the mute button and said to Jeremiah. “We’ve had groups of youths attacked by adult humans before. We might have some cleanup to do. There might be human bodies to get rid of. Let me find out how many we need to deal with.”

There was discussion in the background on the other end of the line. “None. We ran from the dogs. They treed Blossom.”

“A wild pack of dogs attacked and chased you?”

“Trained dogs, hunting dogs. There were men with them. Four. The humans treed her and took her. Those creeps shot right up into the tree and she fell.”

“Is she alive?”

“I think so. We killed two of the dogs that chased us. The twins avoided the path of the animals and saw the humans leave with her. The Bear took off after the man who shot her. They had two ATVs.”

“The dogs were chasing you?”

“Yes, as if they knew our specific scent. It was no mistake. They must have treed her intentionally. Can we hunt Blossom and get her back?”

“No, I will send more a more seasoned team. Stand down, others are coming.”

“But we are here and she is one of us.”

“You are not ready for this particular hunt.”

“That is unfair.” Anger and frustration were sharp in the youthful feminine voice. “You don’t trust us, because we are young.”

“I trust you. And I need you to survive. We need to understand everything you saw. It’s important. If you die pursuing rescue of your friend, then we lose that information that we very much need.”

“It’s unfair.” The youthful voice was plaintive with strain.

The other wolves in the room were already on their phones. One left abruptly out of the door. Another pointed at a location on the map on Ansel’s desk and did the hand signal for go. Ansel repeated it and nodded. “Help is already on the way. Are any of the humans still in the area?”

“Two remained to gather the dogs, but after they recalled them, they left. The twins are tracking them. They didn’t even seek the bodies of the dogs we killed.”

“Bury them. We are coming for you.”

“Sir…”

“Her partner, the Bear…What about him?”

“He followed the humans.” The kid swallowed audibly. “Last we saw of him, he was running hard in his bear shape, trailing their ATVs.”

...

David…

David had stolen some items off an older couple’s clothesline. He was decked out in some old guy’s fit. A polo shirt and golf pants were not his best look. He felt like a clown as he crept toward the cabin they had taken her to. Anger boiled his blood. She was just a baby.

Permission or not, he planned to eat the human’s livers. Ba would understand. Limp and pitifully small, they’d carried Blossom into their ridiculous excuse for a cabin. Sprawling across the forest floor, the place was some rich guy’s idea of a hunting retreat. There was a manicured lawn and a pool. He bristled, thinking about what they were going to do to a child. Staying in human form was a struggle, but it was easier to approach the house and make a plan. David watched them through their ridiculously large windows.

They had dumped her on a leather couch as if she were a sack of trash. He had circled the home twice before he approached it, sniffing for staff, or other innocents. They had his friend. The dogs had been kenneled, but he was certain they would announce the wolves when they got here.

Not that he couldn’t take out four human beings alone if he needed to. Their bodies were shockingly fragile. David pressed his fingertips to the glass window pane and pushed upward to see if it was locked. It resisted his touch. The four men had moved to the kitchen without glancing at the girl. If he could slip in, she would be easy to carry out. With as much adrenaline as was in his body, she would be a feather in his arms.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She had a kitten named Apple, two little brothers, and a hatred for math. He shuddered to think about what human beings did to children. He edged around the house toward the French doors. When two of the four came out onto the porch with beers in hand, he pulled his body close to the wall.

“Well, that was easier than I expected.” The clean-shaven one slumped into one of the fancy deck chairs. “Cary, did you see them in their Wolf shapes fleeing through the woods?” He was the one who reminded him of the sketch he had seen. Mr. Good Neighbor.

“Balor is not thrilled about the loss of two of those damn dogs he’s paid so much for.” Cary considered his seating options. His hands were graceful, like a piano player.

Lips quirking into a smile, the clean-shaven one said, “Worth every penny. We need a dozen more.”

Cary leaned over and clinked his glass bottle against his friends. “Entertainment for tonight is set.” He kicked his feet up. “Honestly, I didn’t believe it would happen.”

The clean-shaven one preened. “Told you I am lucky.”

“But… what were the odds? Today, of all days.”

“We had the most successful test run ever.” Lucky scratched his neck. “I thought it was a group of 4H kids camping at first.”

“The day got too hot. I started to sweat chasing after those dogs of his.” Cary pressed his cold beer bottle against his neck. “Where do you suppose those kid’s adults were?”

Right here. David thought. Right damn here, about to tear your throat out.

Lucky shrugged. “Off making out, or on their phones? That’s what I did when I was a camp counselor. I’m surprised we didn’t end up at their camp sight following the dogs.”

“How many kids do you think there were?”

“I don’t know Cary, 12, maybe 13.”

“Are we certain the one we have can change shape?”

“Didn’t you see the wolves through the trees? The dogs weren’t wrong. Some of those children transformed as they fled.”

“I can’t spin my head around it. An entire flock of them, all kids.” His smile was evil. “I’m a little disappointed that we only treed one.”

“One will be enough to make tonight magical.”

“Even the most skeptical of our followers will believe.” Cary grinned.

“The masses will see in real-time, my friend.” They clinked their bottles together in celebration.

...

Kennedy...

Kennedy almost chickened out at the front door. Terry’s mom probably wouldn’t even be home. She lifted her hand to knock for a third time and her knuckles paused in the air inches from the door.

“What the hell are you doing, girl?” Kennedy snapped her head to the right, startled by the woman’s voice. Terry’s mother stood at the corner of her house with a hose in her hand. These people were too damn quiet. She hadn’t heard her moving at all.

Kennedy pressed her fingers to her chest, over her fluttering heart. “Why the hell are you sneaking up on people?”

“It’s my damn yard. I can’t sneak up on anyone here. You should expect me to be here. I’ve been retired for four years.”

“What did you do when you were working?”

“Not that it’s any of your business. I was the vice principal of the middle school.” She set the hose on the ground and wiped her hands. “Give me a moment to turn this thing off. All I need is for it to spring a leak and start driving up my water bill.”

Kennedy gripped the railing as she stepped down the steps and followed her around the house. His mother had turned off the water and was reeling the loose hose into the backyard like some domestic snake charmer. Her cottage was well-tended.

His mother grumbled, “Are you going to tell me why you are out here bothering me? I have things to do, girl. Being gone made my yard go to shit.”

Kennedy looked around. Terry’s mom’s yard was nicer than the one Kennedy had grown up around on its best day. She’d planned to ask about baby supplies, and what she would need for a shifter baby when their little werehampster arrived. Instead, she said, “I went into the Bell’s Property, out by that big rock with all the names carved in it.”

Stunned, the older woman paused with the last bit of hose in her hand. “I should turn this back on and spray you with it.” She shook her head. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“It was before I met Terry… before I met any of them.” The way she was looking at her made her uneasy. “I was looking for signs of my parents. The picture I had was a shot from their backyard.”

“Kid’s for generations have been slinking into the Bell’s backyard to jump like lunatics into that damn lake. I doubt your people were any different.”

“I thought they might be from the Bell family.”

“Girl, there ain’t nobody living from that family, not for several decades.”

“I took something from there.”

“You complete idiot. Did your parents feed you lead paint chips at snack time?” She threw down the hose. “You are the worst luck my family has ever encountered. Why on earth would you go inside that god forsaken place? No one goes there, not even after the tax men posted things on the door. They tried to sell it at auction, but no one would buy it. That forsaken place kept rolling back into the hands of the city.” Terry’s mother ripped open the back door to her covered porch. “Get in here before the neighbors hear you and understand how stupid my grandchild is likely to be.”

Feeling like a little kid in trouble, she followed her onto the pleasant, enclosed porch. Two fans lazily spun. There was comfortable furniture, the cushions decorated with tiny pale yellow flowers, but Kennedy wasn’t sure if she was allowed to sit down.

The older woman looked her up and down. “I suppose you will want something to drink.” His mother pointed to a specific spot. “Sit.”

Not sure what else to do, Kennedy sat down where she had been instructed to.

When she returned, the woman had two glasses of iced tea. She placed one in front of Kennedy and the ice merrily clinked.

“I have to keep reminding myself that your stupidity isn’t your fault.” The woman said the words as if she was being magnanimous. She took a breath and smoothed the fabric of her slacks across her thighs. “Tell me you took nothing from that unfortunate family’s house.”

Kennedy sank into herself a little.

“You didn’t…”

“Just one thing…” Kennedy lifted her glass of tea. The cold glass helped her focus. “Not important to anyone. I took a stuffed bear from the nursery.”

Terry’s mother spit out her tea. “I swear I should have shot you when you showed back up at the cabin.” She wiped her mouth and swept the droplets from her clothing. “What on earth would make you do that?” She paused. “How on earth did you even get in the mother’s room? That has been sealed since the last incident in the late fifties. That place is one to be avoided.”

“People talk about it, like it’s haunted. When I was there, it just seemed sad and neglected.”

“It’s cursed by the first mother who lived there. She killed her entire family trying to get to the child she thought they had locked away from her.”

“There were no remains in the nursery.” Kennedy grimaced, remembering the unease she had felt when she drew the blanket back. “I checked. There was a whole line of locks on the inside.”

“I know. The child didn’t survive birth, but she refused to accept the loss. You never should have gone into that room.”

“It wasn’t easy. I had to break open the wall.”

His mom blinked and her brow furrowed. “Why the hell didn’t you just open the door?”

“All the locks had been set from the inside.”

The older woman shuddered. “And you don’t think there are ghosts? And that was the place you took something from?”

“The toy looked forlorn.”

“So you set free whatever was locked in there?” His mother pressed her fingertips to her forehead and uneasily looked around her. “You might as well have called her spirit back from the stars to stalk you and curse our lives. Where, for the love of the night, is the item?”

“In our mother’s room.”

She looked at her as if she was the most stupid creature in all of creation.

Kennedy couldn’t resist asking. “So no one has lived in that house since then?”

“Let’s go now. Do you have my son’s truck with you?”

“I do. But I want to know. Are Bears just that superstitious?”

“Four families,” his mother said, “years apart.” She shuddered again. “All was fine until a member of the family became pregnant.”

“Did they hear noises? See things.”

Terry’s mother stood. “No stupid girl. That wouldn’t be enough to run someone off from such a fine property and a solid house.” Her voice was grim. “The entirety of each family died.”

Fear prickled across her skin. “Four times?”

“As I said, it’s a fine property. Bears are persistent.” She waved her hand. “There were years between attempts. Grab your purse, we are returning that damn bear to where it should remain. Our family’s luck is bad enough.” She marked her fingers against the edge of the door before she took their glasses inside.

Quietly Kennedy asked, “Why do you do that?”

“It’s an old ward against evil. My mother taught me.”

Pausing in the doorway, Kennedy said, “Show me how.”