Chapter Fourty Four
Andre frowned, pondering Chani's question. He was aware all the Wolves were waiting anxiously, but he took his time to make sure he knew what to say. Finally, he met the old woman's eyes again.
"I observed the community for some time before… everything happened. While I fully believe that Paul Locke was capable of wanting to wage war on other Shifters, I saw no evidence in the community that there was such a thing planned. There was no hand-to-hand training, no weapons practice, nothing to indicate they were preparing for a war."
Chani nodded at him once to continue.
"I assume you know my past with the Lockes." He inclined his head towards Philip and Peter, who both stiffened and looked away.
"I do."
"It has taken a great deal of… self-control isn't exactly the right word, though that is a part of it…" Andre lapsed into silence, trying to think exactly what he was trying to say. Mary squeezed his hand and he sighed. "It has taken a lot of effort and self-reflection in order to come to the point where I am. I can't speak for all the Wolves in that community, but I can say with reasonable surety that the Locke children are not threats to the world's Shifters. In fact," he continued, his voice lowering, "I think it took a great deal of strength for them not to become like their father."
He glanced out the corner of his eye at Peter and Philip. The older Wolf looked grateful, the younger shocked. I'm only telling the truth, Andre thought resentfully.
Chani cleared her throat, calling attention back to herself. She moved a little closer. "It was only a few days ago that there was a Wolf attack in a city. At a Denny's restaurant."
Andre felt Mary shiver and shifted his chair closer to hers to put an arm around her. He quickly explained what had happened. He explained to Chani that he and Mary were going to her siblings after Easton attacked them, and that neither of them expected her Wolf to be called forwards by the moon though that was exactly what had happened. As he spoke, Peter's face blanched.
"It wasn't her fault," he cried. "If you're going to punish anybody, punish me. I could have done more to—"
"Peter," Mary whispered. "No. Nobody was hurt, and I have my Wolf back now. Don't tear yourself up over this."
"It was an isolated incident," Andre put in, noticing the sharp glance Chani shared with Ibeth. "It wasn't part of any attack on the world and it won't happen again."
"As we expected," Chani said. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. Despite her tiny size, power exuded from her form. "I have to say, you caused us quite a bit of trouble. The government was not pleased with your public transformation."
"Government?" Mary's brows knit. "What government?"
"The government of the United States of America. We have a relationship of sorts with them. But we had quite the time convincing them that it was, in fact, an isolated incident."
Andre's jaw dropped. He had always assumed that all Shifters kept themselves hidden from humans, the way he and the Wolves did. But this Bear organization worked with the government? For how long?
No wonder Zoe could find out all she did and get us passports to leave the country.
"As for you," Chani focused on Peter. "We have you on record stating that there was going to be a Wolf invasion—"
"Easton told me he would kill Amy if I didn't."
Andre nodded–that made sense. Amy made a whimpering noise.
Chani's shoulders slumped. "I wish I could say that was against his character, but we have unfortunately received many such allegations of late. There will be a thorough investigation. And we will require you to facilitate communication between us and other Wolf families—"
"When we heard that the Bears were coming, we went to ghost town," Peter interrupted. "Families all go their separate ways and there is no communication between them."
"Then you will find them," Chani said firmly. "There is much yet to be discussed and decided, but we may be able to convince the government to set aside some land for a secondary Wolf community, for those of you that wish to build a new society."
Andre's lips twitched into a smile. He knew they had been watched in that prison cell.
"We will require many things from you, including your fertility secrets. Once we know how all your children are born with Wolves, we can bolster the fading Shifter communities around the world. We will expect you to prove yourselves in your new community, but the rewards will be well worth it."
Peter frowned a moment, then nodded. "I can't speak for all the Wolves in my community. But as for myself, I would gladly take part in this, for a chance to make up for my past sins and to give the next generation a chance to be better than we are."
His hand rested on his wife's belly.
Andre looked away. His Bear grunted, but in sadness, not anger. He didn't know if he'd ever forgive Peter for what he did, but he agreed with the sentiments the Wolf just stated. He wanted his and Mary's baby to be a better person than he was. The darkness inside him should not be passed to the next generation.
He smiled at Mary, taking her hand in his. He wanted the baby to be more like her.
"Well," Chani said. "Let's get started then, shall we?"
***
Five months later, Mary lay in bed in the house she and Andre had moved into some time ago. So much had happened in the last few months that if she thought about it all, her head spun.
They were now living near the new Wolf community, although there were just as many humans in the area as there were Wolves. There were quite a few Bears as well. Things were tense at times, but it was more the awkwardness of clashing cultures than the fear and potential violence that Mary had expected. Several families, including the Miltons, Monroes, Fennings and Amy's family, the McGintys, had all settled down in this new community. And new Wolves arrived every day.
Most older Wolves refused to stay, but there were many young adults and older teens that broke away from their families for this chance at a new life. The fact that all children were enrolled full time in schools, with grants being organized to send the older ones to college and university was certainly a big draw for the Wolves of that age.
Those that were not interested in further schooling were provided jobs and places to live with human roommates in the town. All the humans knew who they shared their lives with.
After some discussion, Mary and Andre had chosen to live on a farm ten minutes from the town. It was fairly small, and both knew it was going to take a lot of hard work to get to the point where they could be independent, but they were also excited about the prospect.
Mary had already decided she wanted a half dozen goats, so she could make goat milk soap to sell. Andre agreed, at her insistence, that they would be her goats and her responsibility. He was researching what crops grew best in their climate and in the meantime had taken a translation job online.
Someday they planned to move to Quebec, where he grew up. In the meantime, things were good.
The baby kicked, and Mary watched as her belly rolled with its movements. Everything felt squished up inside, as she eagerly awaited her due date.
She smiled as Andre slipped into the room. "They're all in bed?"
Andre nodded, laying down beside her. His hand rested on her belly and the baby kicked at him at once. "Five children under the age of eight. Soon six. How are we going to do it?"
Mary sighed. With her parents dead, she was concerned for her brothers and sisters welfare. Peter and Amy got their own place in town, where Peter worked as a mechanic. Her other three adult brothers were all studying for college. That had left eight minors who did not want to be split up. Eventually, it was decided that Andre and Mary would take the younger five while Julia, Matthew, and Lydia lived with Peter and Amy and their daughter.
"We'll manage," Mary promised. "It's not the life I wanted, but I've basically been raising them already."
"And it overwhelmed you so much that you ran away," Andre whispered. "Do you really want to take on this much responsibility again?"
"I have you now. And you're great with them." Mary propped herself onto her elbow and kissed him deeply. "I just don't want too much to be put on Amy and Julia, you know? I want them to have time to continue their studies, especially since Peter's decided to go to university."
"And what about you? I know that you want to finish high school. Can you really do that when we're taking care of six little children?" Andre's expression was worried. "And then farm work is never done—"
"We'll make it work," Mary said forcefully. "There's free daycare in town if we need it."
Andre nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we're going to make this work. I'm just worried about you is all."
"I'll tell you if it gets to be too much," she promised. She paused a moment, the feeling of his heat against her body stirring up the desire that her pregnancy had made somehow more powerful. A sly grin crossed her face. "You're sure they're asleep?"
Andre caught her meeting and nodded. "Let me lock the door so they don't walk in on us."
Mary giggled, slipping her underwear off and propping a pillow under her lower back while Andre rushed to the door. They hadn't had much time for lovemaking since they moved to their new farm. Mary's Wolf barked playfully, and as Andre returned, she felt his Bear reply in like.
It didn't take long for their souls to merge. As Mary gazed up at her soulmate, grasping at his body while his hands roamed hers, she knew–this was all she wanted.
Life, for now, was perfect.