Chapter Twenty Nine
Andre Mitchel glared at Peter Locke. "How long ago was her Wolf purged?"
"Two days."
Andre paced from one end of the barn to the other. It was nearly empty with piles of hay swept against the walls and tools sitting neatly on the shelves that lined the wall. The door lead into a muddy yard. He glared at the two Wolves that sat on a hay bale watching him. Peter's wiry frame was slumped, defeated, while his sister Julia twisted her hands in her lap.
With a grunt, Andre strode towards them. Both tensed and Julia yelped. The Bear thrust the rifle he had taken from Peter into her hands.
"Does that make you feel better?" he demanded.
Julia's pale features reddened. "You have no right to be angry at me for being frightened of you! It's only been a few months since you tried to kill me!"
Andre flinched. Some of his anger trickled away. "I'm sorry. I know that isn't enough, but I truly am sorry."
He didn't feel like justifying his actions. At the time of the attack, her father had burned down his house and slaughtered his flock of sheep, leaving their bodies as a reminder of how he had slaughtered Andre's wife and daughter. A frenzy of hate had consumed him.
His eyes flickered to Peter. His Bear rose, snarling, wanting to crush the life from the man, but he forced his rage down. He had lost Mary to his desire for revenge once already. He would not make the same mistake again.
"You should go," Peter said. "If anybody else finds you here, you'll be killed."
"Where was Mary sent after her Wolf was purged?"
"What does it matter? Her memories are gone. She won't remember you."
"I don't care!" Andre roared, advancing. Both Wolves flinched and he retreated again, chest heaving as he fought to control himself. "Are you stinking animals still hunting me? Is that why you won't tell me where she is? You think that I'll be putting her in danger?"
"Bears are dangerous." Peter's voice was cold. "Even if you aren't being hunted, how can you say that you can protect her? She told me about the Bears that captured the two of you while you were on the run. This Grant Easton that she talked about. The one that was going to kill you both because our father killed one of his she-Bears. Can you say that if you went back to her, he wouldn't come after you again?"
Andre stopped his pacing. He sucked in a deep breath, letting the scent of alfalfa hay itch his nose. The scent was calming. It reminded him of his childhood on a farm in North Quebec, and of his own little farm where he had lived with his late wife and daughter for many years.
"Easton isn't interested in me or Mary," he said. "He's interested in this community."
Julia paled. "Why?"
"Because your father was a murderer," Andre snarled at her. "He killed more than just my wife and daughter. The whole Locke family has a reputation as killers. Wolves from this community always flit off around the world, murdering other Shifters. Children! Do you know how many children your father killed?"
Julia stared, eyes wide. She shook her head rapidly, the rifle shaking in her hands. "No. No, Father was a good man."
"He was a bastard." Peter's voice was low. He stared at the floor, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "He deserved what he got."
"Peter!"
The Wolf got to his feet. "If Easton is interested in the community, he used Mary to find out where we are, didn't he?"
Andre hesitated a moment but nodded. A huge part of him just wanted to find out where Mary was and leave, but he knew he couldn't. There was innocence among these Wolves and it deserved protection. "Yes. He's planning an attack. He'll find out how all your children are born with Wolves, then kill everybody over the age of six."
Peter swayed on the spot. "Julia, go to the house. Put ghost town into effect. Phone the Millers and Greenes."
Julia skirted past Andre and ran. He was left staring at the Wolf that had helped to kill his wife and daughter. It would be so easy to embrace his Bear to attack. Rip him to shreds. There was nobody to stop him. He longed for revenge so badly he could already taste the blood on his tongue.
But Peter Locke was his only chance of finding Mary.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
Andre roared, leaping forward. His Bear started to push out and his fingers turned to claws as they wrapped around Peter's throat. "Tell me where she is or I'll rip your head off!"
"I don't know!" Peter choked out. His fingers grappled with Andre's grip, but the Bear just squeezed harder. "They were afraid I'd try to help her get her memories back. They wouldn't tell me where she went!"
Andre tightened his grip until Peter's face was blue and his limbs began to go limp. With another roar he dropped the Wolf and walked away, digging his hands into his hair. Stay calm. Stay calm.
Peter coughed on his hands and knees, drawing in wheezing breaths. Eventually, he looked up at Andre. "If I knew where she was, I'd tell you. She doesn't deserve to be punished like this for defending herself."
The Bear closed his eyes, pulling in a deep, calming breath before speaking. He had to remain clear-headed for Mary's sake. He would not be able to look her in the eye when he found her if he had killed her brother, despite everything he had done. It was clear that Mary cared for him. His death would be so much harder on her than her father's had been.
"Why did you let it happen if you didn't think she deserved it?"
Peter rubbed his throat and stumbled to his feet. He leaned against the wall of hay bales, still gasping. "If I had let her escape, her punishment would have been transferred to me. I need the land and reputation my father left me in order to get the rest of my sisters and brothers out of this hellhole. It's what Mary wanted."
Andre's chest heaved, but the words rang true. Mary did want to prevent her sisters from being treated the way she had been. "And how do you plan to do that?"
"By starting a new community that encourages interaction with the world, instead of isolating everybody from it. By bringing change to our social structures. By sending our children to university, instead of cutting them off halfway through high school." Peter rubbed his throat. "How much time until the other Bears get here?"
"I don't know." Andre felt a shiver of trepidation run down his spine. If Mary was here, she would want him to help her siblings escape. "I have a car. I can drive some of your siblings away from here."
Peter's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "Thank you."
***
In the end, the eight youngest of Mary's twelve siblings were piled into his car. The four oldest, all boys, stayed behind to help with the evacuation of the community. Andre pulled away from the Locke farm, his head was swimming. Less than a year ago, he had been planning on attacking the Wolf community, just like Easton was, though he had no intention of killing the women and children.
I was still going to kill men who weren't involved in any deaths as far as I knew. Would children have been caught in the fight? If it wasn't for Mary, would he be just as bad as Easton?
The little ones wailed and the older ones tried to comfort them. Julia, the oldest of the bunch at sixteen, directed Andre where to go. They went from the majestic scenes of the Rocky Mountains to the flat, dry land of the prairies.
Dawn was rising on the fourth day when Julia finally told Andre they'd arrived. They were well off the beaten path, in a little town that looked deserted.
He pulled into the parking lot of an old inn, next to a couple of mopeds. The building was shabby but not falling apart, and the grounds had the look of recently being tended to.
As they all piled from the car, a heavily pregnant woman stepped out of the inn.
"They took him!" she sobbed, running to Julia.
Andre watched the Wolves, feeling uncertain. His Bear grumbled in his chest, but it was angry with him and no amount of coaxing would draw it forward. He felt alone and vulnerable. Yes, he'd helped Mary's siblings get away from the massacre, but where was Mary? He had wasted so much time!
Not wasted. Julia had been able to overhear where Mary was being sent. He had a starting location, at least.
"Took who?" Julia asked as Andre turned back to his car.
"Peter."
Andre stopped. The Bears had taken him? He couldn't deny that he approved. Perhaps if Easton had the murderers in his custody, he would let the rest of them go.
The pregnant woman sobbed. "Philip, John, and Thomas arrived just before you did. Peter turned himself over to those Bears. He said something about facing justice. What am I supposed to do?" She wailed. "How can I go on without him?"
Andre turned his back on the Wolves. They were no longer his concern. He slid into the car and headed back for the highway. He had to find Mary.