She Wolf Ch. 03

"It's just as I said. I've never figured out why it happens, but it just does."

"I'm going to tell you something Lydia. I can sense things, and I've been getting a feeling that something is wrong. Something is coming near that shouldn't be. Maybe that's what you have. It's a valuable asset but a bit of a curse, also. It gets you involved in things you'd rather not. Charles can tell you of things I've sensed."

Charles sat on the arm of the sofa. "Do you think it's them? Have they turned south?"

"I don't know if it's them or some breaking off from the main group, but yes, something is out there. I've felt it since this morning. I think that's what Lydia feels, too. It's too much of a coincidence that we sense something at the same time."

"Shit. I've got to make some phone calls. My resources are spread pretty thin right now. I have one of the smallest packs to begin with and they're spread all over New England. We may have to do what we can with three."

"Gray and the others are following. He has at least six."

"But we don't know if the evil ones have gained any strength from their trek across Canada. They could have picked up a dozen more."

Lydia looked from Janet to Charles. "Evil ones? What's going on here?"

While Charles made calls Janet filled Lydia in on what was happening. Lydia's mouth fell open. "You mean such things exist? I always thought we were misunderstood but were basically good. I never imagined the stories about evil ones could be true. What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to make a call myself. We may need Flash and Claw, even if they're getting up in years. They have worlds of experience and Flash can feel things from farther away than I can. I hate to spring this on you, Lydia, but we may need you in this. If not to fight, at least to help with figuring out where they are headed and how many there are."

"Fight? You mean as in a real actual fight?"

"As real as it gets. Tooth and claw. Blood and pain. Even death. Can you handle any kind of a weapon?"

"Not...not really. I mean I've shot my dad's gun a couple of times. I'm afraid I'm not very good at it. Guns scare me."

"We mostly use teeth and claws, but sometimes weapons are useful. Have you ever split wood?"

"Sure. I'm good at that."

"Good. There is a need for some who can wield an axe."

"How can a wolf do that?"

"Wolves can't. That's why fast shift changes are useful to do. I told you it comes with responsibility. Look, it's dangerous. Some lives will be lost, probably on both sides. But this is bigger than just a couple of cats or wolves wandering the woods or raiding barnyards. This is about evil creatures that will harm humans. Charles and I encountered one who set a house on fire with people inside. It was a miracle that we were able to save them."

"You went into a fire?"

"Ordinary fire can't kill us, although it does hurt like hell. That's where our ability to heal quickly is important. Unfortunately the evil ones heal quickly, too. That's where the axes come into use. Loss of a limb is nothing to them, but loss of a head is."

"You mean you...chop off their..."

"Heads. We dispatched three of them in Michigan just before classes started. It's why Charles was late getting back."

Charles put down the phone he had been using. "I've notified everyone I could reach. Most of them have been drawn over to northern Maine and may not get the word of our gathering in time. Janet, we need to run over and get my vehicle. I've got some useful items in it."

"We can leave in the morning and be back before dark."

"It all depends on how this times out. Lydia we may miss some classes and will have to either cancel them or turn them over to the other TA's for a few days. God I hope it doesn't take more than a few days."

Charles' phone rang and he listened, cursed and hung up. "The reason most of the rest of my pack is in Maine is that there's been a disturbance there. Shit, these things are spreading like cancer, and there's only one way to get rid of a cancer like this, and that's to cut it out. Every cancerous cell must be removed. We've got to find them all, especially their leader."

The next day Charles drove to the airstrip to meet up Gertrude and Henry, with the surprise addition of Clark and a terrified Wanda. Gertrude brought news that the evil groups were gathering all over, ready to strike. Packs around the country and through Canada were on alert and preparing for battle.

"We brought your parents with us. I had a bad feeling about leaving them behind. It seems that cat had them targeted, probably because of their connection to you, Janet."

Lydia bordered on hysteria. "You mean my parents could be in danger too? What have I gotten them into? I wish I never came here!"

Janet embraced her. "I don't think the evil pack knows about you. You didn't even know much about yourself. They discovered me through my paintings and it was easy enough to find where I came from." She turned to her parents "It may be good you're here. You can both shoot even if you can't shift, and something tells me that grandma has some sort of plan."

In the afternoon Gertrude had the group gather in a circle and hold hands. "The three of us with the extra sense can feed off each other and magnify our powers. The others make the large circle like a big antenna. Everyone close your eyes and focus on what we are trying to find."

Within minutes Lydia gasped, and Janet's pulse raced as images flooded into their minds. Gertrude spoke softly, but not to anyone in the room. A hazy image of a gray wolf appeared and it seemed to communicate with Gertrude. When that image faded the enemy appeared, gathered together. There seemed to be at least thirty, both cats and wolves. There was something else, too. Something unclear, yet terrible.

When the circle broke, Janet looked at Gertrude. "You've been able to communicate with Gray all these years, haven't you? What kind of power do you have?"

Gertrude shrugged. "I didn't want to overburden you with details until you were ready to hear them. It seems that time has been thrust upon us. You have that ability too, although you don't realize it yet. That is a large group. Gray has picked up a few more as well and has twelve in his pack now. We are five here, with human support. They have the advantage of numbers. Janet and Lydia, did you notice a fuzzy image of a very large cat?"

"I did, Grandma. I bet that's the leader. That lion is a big as an African lion."

"We counter with Fang, the largest wolf."

"I've been going over the images in my mind. I know where they are. I've prowled those woods and know every rock and ravine. It's not far from my cabin. It's me they're after. Did anyone sense anything around Ithaca? If not, they're avoiding Charles and must think I'm the weak link. They're about to find out otherwise."

Charles stroked his chin. "I'd better give the rangers and the police chief a heads up on this. I'd like to meet with them before anything starts up. There's no need for them to come shooting at us. At least they'll recognize Blue Eyes and Fang. I'm afraid we may have to show them who we are."

Wanda and Clark were stunned to discover that not only was their daughter lycan, but that there were so many others.

After dinner Charles and Janet went downstairs and the others went about gathering up changes of clothes since there was the distinct possibility that immediate shifting could be necessary, resulting in the shredding of whatever they were wearing at the moment.

Lydia heard odd noises from the basement and stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring as Janet had her weapons apart, cleaning them. Charles was occupied with sharpening several axes and machetes.

"You weren't kidding when you mentioned weapons."

"If we're outnumbered it may be helpful to incapacitate some with bullets or buckshot. It takes humans to wield the axes and knives, and they can move in to finish off those we manage to fell. I may be shifting back and forth."

Charles looked up grimly. "You should see her in action, Lydia. She can use both teeth and guns. If they think she's a weak link they are sadly mistaken. We'll just spring that surprise on them."

Janet loaded a clip into her pistol and stuffed boxes of ammunition for the rifle and shotgun into a duffle bag. "Ready to load up the vehicles?"

"One more to go. Hacking through necks dulls a blade so I want to make sure they start out real sharp."

Lydia shuddered at the thought.

Early in the morning weapons were loaded into the vehicles and they took off heading east with Gertrude and Wanda riding in the Jeep with Janet, and the others accompanying Charles in his larger Land Rover. They took a roundabout route to arrive in town from the south, giving a wide berth to the area around Janet's cabin, to keep their presence a secret as long as possible.

They were fortunate to find rangers Tim and Frank and police Chief Samuel Travers at The Hen's Nest. Janet and Charles motioned the men over to a booth. Before they began talking, Jason and Ray walked in and sat at the counter. Janet raised her eyebrows questioningly at Charles and he nodded.

Janet tapped the two men on the shoulder and invited them to bring chairs over. As they began to talk Lydia and the others came in from the cars and sat at the counter. Janet motioned over toward them. "That's my parents and grandparents and one of Charles' students. They know what this is all about."

The booth seats were crowded and chairs were arranged in a semicircle around the end of the booth. Charles asked "Have you noticed any increased activity from wolves or large cats?"

The rangers and police chief all nodded.

"We have reason to believe that there is a large group of them nearby and that they mean no good. Ray understands what happened to his house. We think they're after some mischief, but don't know exactly what."

Janet added "I think they're gathering around my cabin looking for me."

Ranger Tim said "I don't know about your cabin, but there have been quite a few wolf and cat raids on farms the last couple of days. People are afraid to let their pets out. Some are even keeping their children inside. We've told them we'd do our best to find the ones responsible, but a lot of them are ready to take up arms and hunt them down."

"That would be a very bad move on their part. There are at least thirty of them, both wolves and cats, but we've had a group tracking them."

"The reason we don't want anyone hunting them is that our trackers are wolves. We don't want to lose any good ones."

Chief Travers stifled a laugh. "You're shittin' us."

Janet looked at Ray and Jason. "Are we, fellas?"

Ray said "We all saw two wolves save my family and my wife's horses, at great danger to themselves. They went into the fire. I watched them do it. I'm inclined to believe it."

"Yeah, well, that can probably be explained."

"Oh, there's an explanation, all right. But you won't believe it until you see it. After we finish breakfast how about all of you pile into a ranger vehicle and police car and follow us out of town a ways. We'll show you what you're up against."

Within fifteen minutes a ranger vehicle and the squad car headed out of town following the Jeep and Land Rover, turning off the highway onto a seldom used dirt fire road. A half mile in they stopped and everyone got out.

Janet said "Ray and Jason have already seen this, but have been sworn to secrecy. The time for secrets is over. Whatever you do, don't draw your weapons. We have enough civilians here that we don't want anyone to get hurt. What we're about to show you is strictly something only a very few of us can do. My parents can't, my grandparents can. Just watch and ask Ray and Jason if what you're seeing isn't real."

Charles and Janet ducked behind the Land Rover and the others could see clothing being removed. In moments two wolves walked around the vehicle and sat in front of the stunned police chief and rangers.

"That's them, all right," Jason said. "The big one is Charles and the other one with blue eyes is Janet."

Lydia said "At the moment their names are Fang and Blue Eyes."

"I'll be damned. This is some sort of parlor trick."

A rustling noise had the men turn and stagger backward. "What the hell?"

They faced three more wolves and saw clothing draped over the Jeep. With another noise they turned to see Charles and Janet behind the Land Rover pulling on clothing.

"This is what you're facing. The thirty out there are like this, but with evil intentions. The twelve wolves following are like us. We are gathering to get rid of the bad ones. Please don't let anyone hunt in these woods for a few days. As far as we know all the cats we will face are in the evil group, as are some of the wolves. But there are a lot of good wolves coming to help us. You may hear gunfire, as we have weapons our humans can use - firearms and axes."

Ray said "They use axes to cut off their heads."

"It's the only way to kill them. You could shoot them all day but bullets won't kill them. Ordinary fire won't kill them. Only removing their heads will kill them."

"Please, give us room to work and we'll stop the raids. And don't shoot. I repeat, bullets can't kill lycans. If you are attacked and have to shoot aim for the head, then get away as fast as you can. Their wounds will heal quickly."

"Anyone foolish enough to come to see what's happening will certainly be attacked. For the safety of the public keep civilians away. We heal when injured, you don't."

"If you see any suspicious large cats assume they're the enemy, but there are wolves on both sides."

The police chief rubbed his chin. "This sounds more like a war."

"That's about the size of it. It's a war we have to win or the country, and I'm talking about the whole country, will be overrun with marauding predators. Predators with the ability to become human and do humans harm as well."

"Like the fire at Ray's farm. Chief Adams knows the fire was deliberately set with Ray's family inside. We tracked and killed the cat that set the fire, but that's what we're up against."

The chief, rangers, Ray and Jason left to make preparations for public safety.

Gertrude assembled the group in a circle once again, holding hands in connection with each other. Janet gasped as she saw a contingent assembled at her house, including the largest lycan she had ever seen or imagined. Gertrude made mental contact with other packs around the country and especially with Gray.

When the circle broke Janet exclaimed "They're at my cabin! They're IN my cabin. What are we up against? I saw a lycan cat as big as a grizzly bear. And it walked like a human!"

Charles was troubled. "That is unsettling. I think it means we are at the epicenter of the attacks and are facing the strongest of their kind. We were probably near that big fellow in Montana, but he has definitely gained strength as well as assembling more forces."

Gertrude added "Packs around the country report unusual activity. The pack in the Ozarks has already been attacked. West coast thinks they have a large number of adversaries gathered, but don't have a handle on how many. I told them not to wait, but to strike first."

"You TOLD them, Grandma? Are you some sort of national leader or something? The more I find out about you the less I think I really know."

"Our foes will certainly be very interested that I'm with you. I'm sorry to say, but I'm the reason they're after you - they're not confident enough to attack me directly. Janet, I think you will find out more about yourself before this is over with." She turned to Wanda and Clark. "You, too. You've always thought you were merely carriers of the trait and, true, you have been that. You're about to find out you are more than that. You are warriors."

Wanda put her hands to her face. "We're WHAT?"

"What did Gray have to say?"

"He is in place with twelve up just over the ridge crest, ready to strike. Stealth and Shadow know how to do the job and have quietly dispatched three wolves that were posted up there to watch for Gray's pack. We have our seven, counting Wanda and Clark. We know where the bulk of them are, and that we are outnumbered, so we must make our attack count and finish off as many as possible in the first strike. As soon as it devolves into a melee we are at a disadvantage. Here's the plan I have..."

Just a dusk they loaded into the two vehicles, with the Jeep in the lead, making no effort to conceal their movement. When the cars turned into the long drive heading to Janet's cabin the Land Rover lagged behind. Janet played Queen's 'We Will Rock You' in her sound system and turned it up loud with all the windows down and the sunroof open, just to make sure they were noticed as they came up the winding drive. Charles and Henry pounded the outside of the doors in time to the beat and they all sang at the top of their lungs. Halfway up the drive the Land Rover stopped and Lydia shifted while Clark and Wanda armed themselves. They quietly crept up the hill while all attention was focused on the jeep.

As they had hoped, a crowd waited for the jeep, led by an enormous walking cat with eyes glowing fiery red. It looked like most of his forces were arrayed beside and behind the cabin. Around the leader were several huge, fierce wolf-like animals, also with glowing red eyes. They did not attack, curious as to the audacity of four confronting nearly thirty. The four shifted and stood before the enemy.

The walking cat leader spoke like a human although his voice was something like a roar. "Welcome. We've been waiting for you, Blue Eyes. Or should I say Celestial. I see you have brought everyone we're interested in destroying. Fang. Claw. Especially Flash. Thank you for making our work easier."

Gertrude momentarily shifted back to human and stood with her hands on her hips. "So, MRKX, you cloaked yourself so we'd be surprised, eh? I had an inkling it might be you. Do you think you're going to take over? You brought a few hell hounds with you. Too bad it won't be enough."

The large creature laughed a hideous laugh. Looking into his eyes was like looking into the belly of a fiery furnace. "I'd like to see you try and stop me. And I look forward to the pleasure of feasting on your flesh. That is, after I make Celestial my mate."

He stared at Blue Eyes, who was confused at the name he addressed her by.

"What? You haven't been told your real wolf name? My, my, Flash. You have neglected her training. Maybe you didn't want her to know she's more powerful than you. No matter. I will mate with her and my powers will be added to hers in our offspring. They will do my bidding and none will be able to stand against us. We will be unstoppable."

Gertrude shifted back to wolf. Fang threw back his head and howled, followed by the other three. The answering howls from behind took the enemy by surprise. MRKX had left sentries up on the ridge, but a snarling pack of wolves came hurtling down upon them, their charge sounding like thunder. Two hellhounds and a number of the evil cats and wolves turned to face the attack from the rear and the impact of the meeting of the two groups could be felt in front of the cabin.

The charging wolves pushed back the defenders and injured several enough that they would be out of action for a time until they healed. One hellhound caught a wolf in mid-leap and tore its head off. Two more wolves jumped the hellhound.

Claw darted to the nearest cat and seized it by the throat. Blue Eyes took on the nearest wolf. Flash took on a hellhound, Fang crushing bones and tossing wolves and cats alike as if they were toys. The four fought their way forward until they reached the heart of the assembled and confronted MRKX.

Howls, yells and gunfire came from the left. As MRKX's attention was drawn away from the larger group Fang attacked. He inflicted damage but was lifted up and teeth sank into him. There was a snap of bones breaking before MRKX tossed him into the underbrush beyond the Jeep. MRKX roared and tossed a bolt white hot liquid fire that struck beside the jeep. The resulting explosion overturned the jeep to roll on top of Fang, and burst into flames. The fireball from the ruptured gas tank set the surrounding brush on fire.