How to Run with a Naked Werewolf (29 page)

I, on the other hand, grew more twitchy by the day. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew these days wouldn’t last. A sense of inevitable doom had hung over my head ever since I’d filed the paperwork for a restraining order, using the e-mails and that he’d hired a private investigator to find me as proof of Glenn’s bad intent. I’d also refiled my divorce paperwork with the help of Nate Gogan, the sole attorney in Grundy. My divorce proceedings were complicated by the fact that I’d run away. He had earned his retainer that week.

The papers included my current address. It was only a matter of time before Glenn showed up, and I couldn’t imagine that would end well for either of us.

Glenn’s lack of reaction after being served with the restraining order didn’t exactly make me feel better. I contacted Red-burn to update her on my situation and ask her to keep an ear out for any Glenn-related information on the Network’s channels, but there had been nothing.

Glenn was unstable, but he wasn’t stupid. He would know better than to show up here the minute he received a restraining order, particularly if that sudden appearance preceded my sudden
disappearance
. That didn’t mean he wasn’t planning. I knew how his brain worked. He’d probably researched every resource he could find for information about my new address. Hell, he probably had a full geological survey of the valley by now. Somehow, knowing he was out there scheming was almost worse than his storming the front door. I kept a game face for Caleb and the pack, even when I felt as if I was unraveling. But in private, when Caleb was running or playing cards with his cousins, I indulged in a little brooding.

I was sitting on the front porch of Caleb’s house, wrapped in blankets, enjoying the sight of thick, new-fallen snow, when Maggie, in wolf form, came trotting onto the porch. She was a sleek black female, small but, somehow, still very intimidating.

Other than the fact that she was carrying one baby instead of the expected werewolf multiples, Maggie was enjoying a perfectly normal werewolf pregnancy. Nick
was over the moon and insisted on documenting every moment of the pregnancy, videotaping the consultation and the ultrasound. Maggie resisted confiscating his camera until he mentioned taping the stirrups portion of the exam.

I gave wolf-Maggie a weak smile and rubbed behind her ears. In a flash, an irritated, naked young woman was sitting in front of me, glaring at me.

“If you try to pet me again, I will bite your hand off.”

I snatched my hand back. “I’m sorry. It’s just a reflex. Caleb likes it when I scratch behind his ears.”

“I’m going to bite you anyway now.”

“Can I offer you a blanket?” I asked her.

“No. Stop running,” Maggie said.

“I’m right here.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “But you’re still running. You’re waiting on the first sign to take off. It’s not fair to my cousin. He loves you. And any idiot can see how much you love him.”

As much as I hated to admit it when Maggie was insightful, she’d just nailed me. I wasn’t being fair to Caleb. He had committed fully, and I had one foot out the door. I was letting years of baggage keep me from judging the situation for what it was. If I was in trouble, I had Caleb. If Caleb was in trouble, he had me and my baton. I was safe. I was protected. I was loved. I would enjoy these precious days of quiet to their fullest. It was time for the rabbit to put away her running shoes.

Something must have changed in my expression, because Maggie added, “That’s as mushy as I get. I will
tell you that we have double patrols around the boundaries of the valley, which we can afford to do now that we have so many extra paws around. I took those photos Caleb printed for us and posted them at the community center. Your asshole ex is our first-ever wanted poster, thank you very much. And we let Buzz know that if anyone shows up in Grundy asking questions about you, he needs to call us. He’s the closest thing they have to law enforcement over there, and it’s time for him to earn his piddling part-time salary.”

“Is that how you put it when you asked him for a favor? Because statements like that could be part of the reason people don’t like you.”

Maggie scoffed. “People love me.”

I frowned at her but chose not to respond to that. “So, clearly, you have the in-person issues covered, but what happens when Glenn starts monkeying around with your records online or brings the authorities sniffing around, asking awkward questions about pregnancies that only last four months and an inordinate number of injuries related to bear traps?”

“You mean, what do we do when he tries to bring the pitchfork-wielding mob of humans to our door, screaming for the monsters’ heads?” Maggie asked, her toned laced with unholy glee. “We just put on our best human faces, all innocent eyes and guileless smiles that say, ‘Oh, gee, Mr. Health Official, I don’t know how our paperwork got so messed up. We’re just sweet, unpretentious country folk who don’t understand them fancy computers.’ ”

“Your smiles say all that?”

“You’d be surprised how often it works,” Maggie assured me. “I mean, really, who’s going to believe that my aunt Winnie is a werewolf? People want to believe what they know to be true. They’ll grasp on to any rational explanation we give them. And if they don’t buy it at first, we just keep pushing, finding new stories to tell, until they do.

“I’m not saying it wouldn’t cause complications or problems, but as smart as your husband is, he’s not enough of an evil genius to blow our cover. We’ve faced better operators than him over the years. We have devious, slightly more violent methods to deal with him that are best left to your imagination.”

“Probably not.”

“We can take care of him. Of course, you would have known this if you’d told me about it.”

“Hindsight and all that.”

“Now comes the part where I threaten to kick your ass from here to Ontario if you hurt Caleb.”

I nodded. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“Seriously, I’d fix it so they’d use your carcass as bait on that
Deadliest Catch
show.”

“So to make me feel safer and calmer, you’re threatening me with graphic, grievous bodily harm?”

“Yup.”

“Little too far there, Mags.”

With my real
birthday on the horizon—not the birthday listed on the “Anna Moder” paperwork—the werewolf aunties insisted on hosting a big joint celebration of my thirty-fourth year and Caleb’s permanent return to the pack. It was the first opportunity for the pack to put on a big spread since the first hard frost. I didn’t mind being used, as long as it meant Aunt Winnie brought her hash-brown casserole.

So one not-so-special Friday evening, when the roads were clearer than usual, every aunt, uncle, and cousin jammed into the community center to stuff themselves silly under a jungle of tissue-paper flowers produced by Samson’s mate, Alicia. Even Mo and Cooper made the treacherous snowmobile trip with their toddler, Eva, to welcome us back into the fold. They were the last of the relatives I’d “fooled” with my false identity. I liked Mo quite a bit, and I hated the idea of
her shunning me as a result of perfectly justified hurt feelings.

I should have known better. Mo adjusted to my news the way she had adjusted to most things pack-related: smoothly and with style. She just grinned and threw her arm around me when she and Cooper had made their way through the throng of noshing werewolves.

“Well, now that I know who you are, I’m a little ashamed of myself. I thought I knew another Southern transplant when I saw one,” Mo said, grinning, shifting the sleepy-looking toddler so she could extend her hand as if to reintroduce herself. “Leland, Mississippi.”

I shook her outstretched hand, and the handshake turned into a hug. “Jackson, Tennessee.”

“I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re back. Eva bit the new doctor at the Grundy clinic, and now he’s less than enthusiastic about seeing her for her checkups. The big sissy.”

“She did break the skin,” Cooper pointed out, though there was a note of pride in his voice.

“Well, that was the only way she could express ‘I do not appreciate the intrusion of your booster-shot needle’ with the emphasis she felt was necessary,” Mo said primly.

Cooper rolled his eyes but only slightly. “We’re glad you’re back, Doc.”

“I’m glad to be back,” I told him.

“And I’m glad you dragged my idiot cousin home with you,” Cooper added. “If anybody can straighten his stubborn ass out, it’s you.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I hope I’m up to the challenge.”

“Oh, you know you are,” Mo said. “If he’s anything like Cooper, he’d hand you the moon and stars if you looked at ’em twice. They’re shamelessly devoted to their mates, all of them. Even Maggie.”

Maggie overheard this and sent a rude gesture Mo’s way, which Mo returned without breaking her verbal stride.

“Maggie told me you’ve had some trouble. And for Maggie to tell me anything means that she’s worried. Let them help you, Tina. Trust in them. They’ll stand for you until the very end; it’s in their natures.”

I nodded.

“And if they don’t, I’ll just knock the hell out of your ex with a fire extinguisher. It’s sort of my thing.”

I snickered, pressing my lips together to keep from ruining this bonding moment. Mo was known for her prowess with both kitchen knives and fire-suppression equipment, having knocked Maggie unconscious with a fire extinguisher when her sister-in-law had gotten just a little too close to wounding Cooper in a street brawl.

“We gals are in the same boat when it comes to being mated to these yahoos,” she said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “We humans have to stick together. Maybe we can form a club or a support group. Nick would be perfect for organizing that sort of thing. Hey, Nick!” She called after her brother-in-law, who was in a corner, holding a digital recorder in Caleb’s face. Mo easily handed her daughter off to Cooper, who watched his wife scamper off with a bemused expression.

“Runs at a mile a minute, my mate,” he said fondly. “And her brain runs even faster.”

“I really missed you all,” I told him, letting Eva play with the beading on my sweater while she leaned her head against her daddy’s shoulder. I stroked her sleek blue-black hair, still marveling at the full mane this toddler managed to grow. She was only two, and it was almost down to her waist. “I know I was only gone a few months, but I feel like I missed so much. Eva’s getting so big!”

“But not too big, right?” Cooper asked, anxious. “She’s where she needs to be growth chart–wise?”

“She’s perfect,” I assured him as my fingers brushed over her forehead. I paused. She was a little warm. I checked her nose, which was predictably runny and flush with thin mucus. Her lymph nodes were slightly swollen, and from the way she draped herself against her daddy, you could tell she wasn’t exactly bounding with energy.

“Everything OK?” Caleb asked, anxious again.

“Well, it looks like she could be coming down with a cold. Has she complained about her head or her throat hurting?” I asked.

“No, but she’s napped a lot today, more than usual,” he admitted, rubbing her back.

“Well, it’s in the early stages yet, and at this age, she can’t really articulate headaches,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. “Hey, Uncle Dan, do you have your Maglite?”

Dan proudly held up the little flashlight he kept in a holster at his hip, an idea he’d latched onto after watching
too many episodes of
CSI
. “I told you it would come in handy!” he crowed.

“Yes, your moment of triumph has arrived,” I retorted, taking the offered flashlight and gently prying Eva’s mouth open. I shone the light into her throat and winced at the sight of red, inflamed tissue. “Oh, yeah, that’s some sinus drainage you got there, sweetie.”

“What do we do?” Cooper asked, his voice slightly panicked. “Do we need to take her to the hospital? Should we call nine-one-one?”

“This is why Mo handles most of her checkups, isn’t it?” I deadpanned.

Cooper grumbled a bit. “Yes.”

“It’s going to be fine. Right now, it’s probably just a little cold, one of many little colds she’s going to have over the course of her life. But just to be sure, take her back into Maggie’s office, and I’ll do an exam. I just have to run over to the clinic to get my medical bag and some of the medications she might need. You keep her in here where it’s warm.”

“Shouldn’t we come to the clinic with you?” Cooper asked. “You have all of the equipment there, those defibrillator paddles and the intubation stuff and . . .” He trailed off as I gave him an amused look. “We’ll just go wait for you in the office.”

“OK, then,” I told him, patting his arm. “Let Caleb know where I went?”

Cooper nodded.

I quietly slid into my coat, hoping not to attract the attention of aunties with second helpings. I stepped out into the bitter cold, refreshed by the untouched air,
even as it slapped against my cheeks. It was a bit of a relief to get out of the crowd and the noise. As much as I loved the pack, it would take some time before I was used to their exuberance again.

Shivering, I stomped out onto the street, watching for patches of black ice under the shin-deep blanket of snow. The last thing I needed was to bust my butt on slick pavement and lie there in the dark for hours while the party raged on.

Who was I kidding? Caleb would notice I was gone within a few minutes and organize a full-on search party.

I shivered in my jacket, my steps slowing as I crunched through the snow to listen for . . . what? The sound of the whistling between the buildings along the main street? Fat white snowflakes splatting against the windshield of Maggie’s truck? I shook my head, trudging forward, only to stop a few steps later and peer down the street toward the north ridge of the valley.

There was something off. Some organic, nervous alarm skittered up my spine and had me turning on my heel to go back to the community center. I shouldn’t be out here on my own. I needed the pack. I needed—

I’d just passed Maggie’s truck when I heard soft, steady footfalls behind me, with none of the natural grace of the Grahams. I shuddered, my breath coming in short white puffs in the frigid air. Shards of icy panic wormed their way through my stomach, making it hard to breathe or think.