Silver-White (The Great North Woods Pack #1) (12 page)

When Erica returned with the pizza, Evie
ate ravenously. She had been hungry to start with, but as she’d read the
account of the mysterious island, she’d felt a nervous energy growing within
her—the uncertainty of her family history nagging at her—and the nerves had set
her stomach to grumbling fiercely.

“Crazy stuff, right?” Erica said.

“It is,” Evie said between bites. “But I
still don’t see a clear connection.”

“It’s not scrolled across the page in
bold letters. You have to connect the dots.”

“Fine. What’s your theory?”

“The Snows are
old
, the pit is
old
, and I
think the Snows, or whatever they were called before Snow, were definitely
involved right from the start. Either they were the owners of whatever was
buried there, or at least the guardians appointed by the owners. I mean, look
at how elaborate the design of that pit is. Who goes to all that trouble for
something
not
priceless? And if
you’ve got something priceless to hide, who better to protect it than a pack of
wolves? They never tire. People are naturally afraid of them. And who but an
army would dare mess with them?”

“Good point,” Evie said, remembering the
short speech her grandfather had given her.
Guardians
and
Watchers
flashed in her head.

“There are lots of theories as to what
the treasure could be. But, whatever it is, I don’t think it’s necessarily
on
the island. Not anymore. Maybe it
never was. Maybe the pit that floods with sea water and that strange stone are
just distractions to keep people from the real treasure.”

“Maybe,” Evie said thoughtfully.

“No maybes, Red. Here’s what I do know
for sure. Grandpa’s relatives have definite ties to that area. From there they
moved to Maine, before it was even called Maine, where to this day Grandpa still
owns all of that property. Most of those areas are still unofficial,
unincorporated towns. Off the map. Off the radar. Nothing happening.
That
was the appeal for Grandpa’s father
when he moved there from Acadia when the revolutionary war was heating up and
port towns were at risk. And even though times have changed and Grandpa is
based firmly here in Ludlow
now
, he still
seems to give Maine a lot of attention.

“The logging,” Evie said.

“Yes,” Erica admitted. “There’s no
denying that; most of his lumber comes from there. But the Snows have always seemed
to have way more than logging money. And Grandpa’s brother, the great uncle we never
see and barely hear about, still lives way out in one of those old logger
villages. Supposedly he’s an even bigger wolf than Grandpa. ‘Scary as hell,’ is
how Matthew put it.”

“All right,” Evie said, rubbing her
forehead. “So you think they brought the treasure with them and hid it in the
back woods of Maine?”

Erica nodded. “I think so.”

“And the scary brother still guards it?”

“It’s perfect!” Erica blurted. “Don’t
you see? It was far away from the island and all the turmoil of the times. Hundreds
of years later, there’s
still
no one
around the area but moose and squirrels. It’s perfectly safe. And in the off
chance someone did snoop around, they’d run into the Maine branch of the pack.
No
one’s
getting that treasure.”

“I don’t know” Evie said, feeling
suddenly overwhelmed. “Maybe we shouldn’t guess at this stuff. We should just
ask Papa what the heck is going on.”

Erica’s eyes widened to the size of golf
balls. “You’re kidding me!”

“
No
.”

“We can’t just
ask
. That’s not how family secrets work.
That’s not how
any
secrets work.”

“Since when am I an expert on family
secrets?”

“You know you’re a wolf now. That’s
beyond question, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, the family secret goes beyond the
wolf itself, I can promise you that.”

Evie said nothing. She knew Erica was
probably right—or at least somewhat on the right trail.

“If we want to find out the truth, we
can either wait around for fifty years to be let fully in on the secret … if
ever. Or, we can try our best to figure it out. I don’t see the harm in it.”

Evie leaned back in the chair and closed
her eyes. She’d never been the Nancy Drew type; she didn’t feel like starting
now. “Yes, I am curious,” she said. “But two days ago I thought I was normal,
and I was okay with it. This is a
lot
at once, Air. And I still have tons of other questions besides. You’re telling
me Papa’s over a hundred years old?”

Erica gave no answer. She paced the room
muttering under her breath. “You’ve been the wolf,” she finally said, stopping
before Evie. “I haven’t. For almost two years now I’ve had the door slammed in
my face on all but the barest details. Every night the others go out running
and patrolling, and here I sit, waiting around like a kid, working at that damn
diner like the happy little waitress I’m supposed to be. Grandpa wants us to
appear as a quaint, dull little town. Well, that’s great for them, but it’s not
enough for
me
. The only thing that’s
kept me from going crazy is trying to figure this thing out. The wolf is the
outer layer. I want to know where we came from, and why.”

“Okay,” Evie said, opening her eyes and
facing her cousin. “I understand all that. But we can only handle so much at
once. For now, why don’t we set the mystery aside and focus our energy on
helping you change? Like you said, I’ve been the wolf. Trust me; there is
nothing
to compare it to.”

“Sure,” Erica admitted. “That would
satisfy me … I think. But we can’t force it, if that’s what you mean.”

“Maybe we can,” Evie said brightly.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried? I’ve been
obsessed with it ever since I found out what I was missing. Believe me; we can’t
force the change.”

Evie stood up fast, suddenly energized.
“Maybe we can’t force it, but who says we can’t coax it along a bit? Even Papa
said that it’s
us
who makes it
happen.”

“After the initial change, yes.”

“Just listen to my idea.”

“Oh God,” Erica said. “What do you
expect me to do, run naked through the woods, howling?”

Evie grinned. “You won’t be making fun
when it works.”

-9-

“Seriously,” Evie said. “I didn’t know a
thing about wolves or mysteries before I changed.”

“You were lucky, Red. The Snow gene just
happens to be strong in you. You weren’t even looking for it and you got it
anyway. That’s why I was jealous.”

“
Was?
”
Evie whispered under her breath.

“Don’t give me any crap.”

“Fine,” Evie said, “but listen up. You
heard that I changed, but you haven’t heard the whole story of how it started
for me.”

Erica sat down on her bed. “All right. Go.”

“Maybe it was just my time,” Evie
admitted. “I don’t know. But I know for sure where my mind was the night it all
started. It was here in Ludlow; on Papa’s land to be exact.”

Erica shrugged. “Okay.”

“I say we go to Papa’s, jump on the
four-wheelers and ride the trails till dark. Get your mind
off
solving the mystery and
onto
having fun. Wolves, I can tell you,
love
running in familiar places where they feel free and at home and can just enjoy
being wolves. That’s where my mind was at before I changed, missing y’all and missing
this place. I was angry with myself for not coming up in August and I couldn’t
stop thinking about it.”

“Really?”

“I swear. I was missing everyone and everything,
and next thing I knew it was morning and I was sprawled out naked in the bark
mulch.”

Erica tried very hard not to laugh. “You
know, we keep robes handy in every household to avoid those situations.”

“Ha-Ha,” Evie scowled. “If someone had
been sweet enough to warn me, maybe I would’ve been prepared.”

“Okay,” Erica said, standing up from the
bed. “I get your point and I’ll try it. I haven’t really been out in those
woods much since you were here last summer. Maybe it’ll do me some good. And if
it doesn’t help, at least it’ll be fun. Like old times again. Right?”

Evie smiled.

“There’s only one problem,” Erica said. “I’m
guessing Grandpa will wanna go with us. If he does, I’m sure he won’t approve
of what we’re trying to do. As leader, his role is to keep us all accountable.
He runs a tight ship.”

“We’re not gonna force it,” Evie said
with a smile. “And it’s good if Papa’s there. Just being around him, you can
sense the wolf in him. It’s a win-win.”

“I’m around wolves all the time.”

“Just try it,” Evie sighed.

“Okay, we’re running out of daylight,”
Erica said. “Let’s go.”

The family was gathered in the great
room when the girls arrived at their grandparents’ house. It had been agreed
during the drive over that Evie would do most of the talking, being excited to
be in town and revisit old haunts; Erica would play it off as going along
indifferently.

Evie went right to work on her
grandfather, and within fifteen minutes the three of them were speeding down
the trail. Evie led the parade, followed closely by Erica, and their
grandfather brought up the tail.

As she drove, Evie tried not to think of
the previous night’s run. Her grandfather had warned her to be mindful and
self-controlled, not to become lost in the sensation of speeding through the
woods and shift by mistake. She was still too inexperienced to be allowed to
shift during daylight—the remembered incident with the moose drove the point
home in her own mind—and he had felt it would be insensitive to reveal her wolf
to Erica, knowing how envious she had been.

On top of everything else, a newer issue
now crowded its way into her head.

In the brief time Evie been in the
house, she’d had yet another bomb dropped on her—this time to do with her
mother. Janie had announced that she was leaving Ludlow, flying back to Alabama
first thing in the morning. As she’d spoken, it had dawned on Evie that in the
confusion and pace of the preceding days, she’d barely spoken more than a few
clear words to her mother. Now she was leaving, Evie was staying indefinitely,
and the internal conflict that had been boiling within her rose nearer to the
surface.

Her mother and home were in direct
competition with the northern family, the woods, and the undeniable call of the
wolf. Deep down Evie knew who the eventual victor would be. In fact there
wasn’t a doubt in her mind regarding that. But her mother’s simple presence was
a comfort. The announcement of her departure seemed to rule out the option of a
smooth and gradual transition. Plus, she would just plain miss her; she wasn’t
accustomed to being away from her for long.

Moving down the trail with all this on
her mind, Evie felt herself struggling against the wolf and its desire to run
freely. The quad felt slow and heavy. It turned awkwardly where, as the wolf,
Evie knew she could slice the turns with sharp precision. Just a year before these
ATV’s had felt like rocket ships. Continually she had to remind herself that
this had been her idea. She could run after dark. Now was her chance to help
Erica.

When the trail forked Evie turned left, northwest,
in the direction of the old logging cabins. This stretch of trail was not as heavily
worn as the one that lead to Oak Hill. For the first time in her life, Evie
understood why.

At the cabins Evie slowed and cut the
quad’s engine. Her cousin and grandfather rolled up alongside and did the same.

“Having fun?” Evie asked as she removed
her helmet.

“Yeah,” Erica said. “I forgot how creepy
it is out here.”

“Imagine it at night,” Evie said.
“You’re all alone. And then this massive wolf steps out of the dark.”

“Show me where you were,” her Papa Joe
said.

They climbed from the four-wheelers and
began walking through the old logging village. Evie was in the lead.

“I ran all the way here,” she said. “I
slowed down and walked through this open area, just like we are now. And then
here, I stopped. Then I saw him. He stepped right out of the dark as casually
as could be.”

“We call him Ruach,” Erica said proudly.
“He was the first of our kind.”

“That’s right,” their grandfather said.
“We’ve been meeting him for thousands of years.”

“Why such a strange name?” Evie asked.

“Tell her,” he said to Erica. “You’ve
been waiting a long while to speak freely with her.”

“It’s Hebrew,” Erica said, and Evie could
tell by her tone how happy she was to share. “It pretty much means spirit. Apparently
our ancestors started using it as the name for the spirit wolf who calls us. If
he has another name, no one can remember it anymore. He’s ancient, so of course
it’s a bit of a mystery.”