Chapter Fourty
Andre did not travel unnoticed. On the third day when he emerged from the forest to buy some food and water in a gas station, a woman approached him. She was almost as tall as he was, with strong features and dark skin. She had a lithe, well-formed body. He eyed her, recognizing her Bear straight off.
"Andre Mitchel?" Her voice held traces of a Spanish accent.
He nodded. "And you are?"
"My name is Ibeth. You knew my cousin, Zoe."
Andre tensed. Zoe was the Bear who had introduced him into all of this mess to begin with. It wasn't her fault–she had been trying to help him and Mary escape from the country to be safe from her community. Zoe had hoped, one day, to open a dialogue with the Wolves in order to strengthen all Shifters with the Wolves' knowledge of how to ensure each of their children were born Shifters as well.
Paul Locke had killed Zoe. Shot her in the head for the sole reason that she was with Mary and Andre.
He's the one who started it all.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said stiffly, eyeing her. Would she be like Grant Easton, the Polar Bear who had attempted to destroy the Wolf community? Would she be out for blood?
He wouldn't blame her if she was.
"How did you find me?" he asked as she moved closer.
"After your rather violent escape from our last facility, your description and picture were sent to several other bases. After a few sightings, we were able to extrapolate your destination."
Her expression was calculating. Anger swirled in her eyes, but she seemed to have it well in hand. "Tell me, why is that you fought your way out of our custody to go help a bunch of Wolves that have a reputation for killing other Shifters?"
Andre bristled but glanced at the cashier. "Is here really—"
"The human knows about us, don't you Marcus?"
Marcus nodded.
Ibeth folded her arms. "Answer the question."
Andre hesitated. How much truth should he tell? If he told them that he had warned the Wolves, helped them escape, what were his chances of survival? His heart sank. Would he ever see Mary again? I promised. So I will find a way back to her before the next full moon.
"If you know about me, then you know about Mary."
"Your Wolf girlfriend?"
She's more than just a girlfriend. Andre nodded. Let's not quibble about semantics.
"She was manipulated into going back to the community. She had killed her father, I knew that the Wolves would punish her for that. I had to try to get to her before they killed her. And as for your invasion, Easton told me that everybody over the age of six was going to be slaughtered. I couldn't let that happen!"
Ibeth's eyes narrowed. "The Wolves are planning an all-out attack on Shifters and humans alike. We were not going to slaughter children, no matter what that buffoon told you. We were going to ensure that their soldiers and hunters could not reveal the presence of Shifters to the human populations. We hoped to do so with minimal loss of life."
Andre's eyes narrowed. His Bear growled, but he couldn't trust Ibeth's words at face value. Easton had manipulated him and Mary both. He couldn't trust other Bears simply because they were Bears, any more than he could trust anybody else. But perhaps it was best if he acted as though he believed. Then he might be able to get to Peter's location. Once he was there, he could determine if it was worth trying to free him.
Or maybe he should give it up and get the hell out of here. Go back to Mary and the baby and take them far away from this place.
"What happened to your Wolf? Did you make it in time?"
Andre glared at Ibeth.
Her expression softened. "They killed her, then?"
"Not exactly. But good enough." He would not tell this Bear about Mary! "What's it to you?"
"Zoe thought she could be very useful in our quest." Ibeth tilted her head to one side. "What are you doing here, exactly?"
"Peter Locke killed my wife and daughter. He let his community take Mary from me and then swore he'd tell me where she was if I helped his family get away. He didn't, Mary is gone forever and I want to kill him."
If Ibeth was surprised, she didn't show it. "How did you find where he was?"
Andre produced a worn business card from his pocket. "Easton gave this to me last time I saw him."
Ibeth took the card. She narrowed her eyes, but after a long moment nodded. "We can't allow you to kill him. He has information about the Wolf strategy for when they attack. He has refused to say anything about it, though, other than to laugh at us and tell us that our doom is upon us."
It was Andre's turn to narrow his eyes. Could it be true? Were the Wolves going to attack? He had observed the community for some time, he hadn't seen any indication of such a thing. But he hadn't been looking for an invasion force.
"Perhaps I can convince him to talk."
"Perhaps you can. The real question is whether I should believe you. You had a chance to kill him before if that was what you really wanted to do."
"Not if I wanted to find Mary."
Ibeth nodded. "Well then. I'll give you a ride. We'll see if you can make Peter Locke tell us what the Wolves have planned."
***
Mary woke to the sounds of angry screaming outside her tent. She groaned, rolling over to her other side and pulled her pillow over her head. If the number of times she had been called in the night by a child needing to go potty was any indication, she wouldn't have long until—
"Mary! Simon bit me!"
She groaned, kicking off her sleeping bag. Little two-year-old James had crawled into her tent sometime during the night. He cracked open an eye and gave her a sleepy grin.
"Try to stay asleep," she whispered to him.
"Okay." James pulled the sleeping bag over his head.
Mary couldn't help but smile, her heart melting. James, she decided, was her favorite. He did everything she asked him to do. Even when he pouted, he was adorable.
Why had she left him behind when she ran from home? Maybe I could only think of myself. Maybe I was going to come back for him.
Was her baby going to be so even-tempered?
She emerged from the tent to see five-year-old Simon pulling seven-year-old Tabitha's hair. Julia was trying to mediate a dispute between the eight-year-old and nine-year-old while cooking breakfast. Meanwhile, John and Thomas, twenty-one and nineteen respectively, sat on a log whittling, looking bored.
Mary marched over to the fighting youngsters, detangling Simon's fingers from Tabitha's hair. She took their hands and dragged them over to John and Thomas. The boys looked up when she stopped in front of them, glaring.
"John, you are now in charge of Simon. Thomas, you are in charge of Tabitha. From now on, you make sure they eat, wash, go to bed on time and don't fight."
John laughed a little. "Mary, that's not how we do things. Taking care of kids is for women to do."
"And that's the exact reason I left last year."
Both boys flinched.
"You are both grown men. You can handle taking care of children." Mary nodded, hoping that her words would sink in.
"But you're here," Thomas argued, "and we have to gather wood and go fishing!"
"You're sitting on your asses whittling, expecting your sisters to feed you and take care of all the children. And I'm not staying. As soon as Andre's back, I'm gone." She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to stay calm. "While we're at it, I'm going to make a schedule for who cooks and cleans up. Everybody is going to take their turn and you two need to learn how to take care of yourselves."
The boys looked uncertain, but Mary walked away before they could argue further. How had she ever managed to survive this before? It had only been three days and she was already wanting to tear out her hair.
She quickly ran through her siblings. She was determined that she wasn't going to be the one everybody constantly ran to for everything. Julia could handle Lydia and Susana as they were both old enough to help out with basic tasks. Mary could help with them as well. Matthew was thirteen and didn't need much looking after, so he wouldn't be too much for Amy. Philip could be responsible for little Andrew. Mary would watch James and pitch in with all the others when and where she was needed.
When she told Philip his responsibilities, he shook his head. "I can't."
Mary narrowed her eyes. "Why not?"
"Amy and I are going back to the community."
Her jaw dropped. She had been expecting more of this ‘woman's work’ bullshit that her brothers had been throwing at her for the past few days. But she had not expected this. They had left the community because it wasn't safe! "Why are you going back there?"
A look of surprise crossed Philip's face. "Right. I forgot you wouldn't remember. There is a ritual that expectant mothers go through, to ensure their babies are born with Wolves. Amy was not able to do it yet. Her delivery date is approaching and without a Wolf, her baby will be born dead."
Mary's hand drifted to her stomach. Her gut twisted with unease. Was it true or just what the women were told to make them go through this ritual? Not worth risking it. Besides, isn't this something Andre wanted to know, how Wolves ensure their children are also born Shifters? "When are you leaving?"
"Right after breakfast."
Mary nodded. "I'm coming too."
"What? Why?"
"Because maybe if I go with you, I'll remember and I'll get my Wolf back. I won't have to fear the full moon and the… pain and fear it brings." She shivered. She hadn't even told Andre exactly how she felt while the Wolf had her, with that fear that permeated everything. "Maybe I'll be able to control it."
"That's not how it works—"
Mary didn't want to argue. "Then it's because I'm pregnant and I don't want my baby born dead."
Philip's jaw dropped. His eyes widened and he seemed to be unable to form a coherent sentence. He spluttered for so long that Mary turned away and headed back for the others. She would need to figure out a new system for keeping the little ones watched after since three adults were leaving. Just as long as everything doesn't end up falling on Julia again.
Her arms wrapped around her abdomen. She'd worried for her baby after the full moon. She'd wondered if it would be born a Bear or a Wolf or neither. Well, now I know. It has to be a Wolf, or else…
She straightened herself. Whatever this ritual was, she would do it. She was not going to lose her baby!