“Linda,” she began. “After you spoke to Tom about what had happened down here, he called me, as I may have a particular interest in part of your story. Would you mind going over what you told him, giving me the details directly?”
Tom, the current National Secretary and therefore main point of contact between the packs and the head organization, had called her as soon as he’d hung up with the Bitterroot alpha. He would have done that anyway, due to the problem the pack was having, but he’d also been excited to share the news about the unknown wolf.
“Of course. It started a few weeks back. One of the pack ran across a wolf that was acting sick. We thought rabies at the time. She had to put the poor thing down, and brought the body back.” She glanced nervously at her husband.
“We considered destroying the body,” Michael said, his back straightening.
Myra knew if he’d been in wolf form she’d see his hackles rising.
“But if there really was a rabies outbreak happening, the town needed to know.”
She nodded her agreement and the couple’s tension level eased down several notches.
“Animal control said they didn’t actually find rabies, had some odd test results but couldn’t say anything definitive,” Linda continued. “He wouldn’t confirm poison or drugs, said he needed to run more tests. We put the word out to the pack to be on the lookout for any other odd wolf behavior, and not to eat anything they weren’t sure of, for fear of poison, but nothing happened for another week.”
“Except,” Michael jumped in, “the vet received another dead wolf, which he also confirmed was rabies-free.”
“But we didn’t know that at the time,” Linda finished. “What happened next was one of our own wolves got sick. A few of the teens had gone out for a run, and this one, Denny, came back on his own, acting wildly out of control, completely unlike himself. Our first was able to subdue him until Michael showed up.”
“He was sick, running a high fever, sweating, breathing hard.” Michael stood and began to pace. “They said before Jake was able to calm him down he’d been attacking whoever came near, even our third.” He gestured to where Simone had left the room. “Which is crazy, he’s nowhere near strong enough to challenge a member of the hierarchy. Once I got there he was able to calm down even more and went to sleep for about twelve hours. When he woke up he barely remembered any of it, thought it had been a nightmare, or a fever-induced hallucination.”
“Jake was the first to comment on the similarity to the sick wolf,” Linda added.
Michael sat back down, took his mate’s hand in his. “The next night, another of my wolves, a sixteen-year-old who I think will likely be hierarchy one day, turned up the same way. Out of her head, threatening anyone who came near. When I got there, I could tell that she was just barely hanging on to her control. Actually, once she realized I was there, she lost her control and attacked. We had to hold her down so I could force her submission. Once she submitted, it was just like it had been with Denny. Liv was sick, she slept, she barely remembers.”
Shaken by the story, Myra considered. She’d never heard of such a thing. “Would you know if natural wolves up here were acting rabid?” Myra asked.
“Yes. No question. There are enough hunters, ranchers and farmers in the area who hate that the wolves are protected. They would jump on any excuse to have that protection stopped. It’s why we hesitated before going to animal control, but if there really had been an outbreak of something…”
Myra nodded. Some areas of the country had a much more delicate balance with the hunters and local population than others. “And then you met the lone wolf.”
Michael glanced at his wife but she motioned for him to continue the story. “He showed up in town yesterday, walked up to one of our wolves and asked her for her alpha’s phone number, or for her to call and give us his number. Linda and I went right out to meet him. Said his name was Adam and he lived not too far away.”
“Wouldn’t say where, exactly,” Linda interjected.
“Wouldn’t say where,” Michael confirmed, “but said he had some acres and kept to himself, but he was concerned about the sick wolves. Said he’d heard we’d had a couple of sick kids, as well, and wanted to see if we had any new info to share.”
“I’d like to know how he knew about the kids,” Linda said, the anger in her voice clear. “It’s not like it’s something we were talking about freely.”
“You guys didn’t like him,” Myra said.
Michael winced.
“He wasn’t…” Now Linda hesitated. “He knew he was expected to let us know he was living here, he wasn’t ignorant of the rules, he just didn’t care. Blatantly.”
Michael nodded. “But on the other hand, whether it seems like it right now or not, Linda and I, our hierarchy, we have a good handle on our region. We may not have known he was there, but we for sure would have known had he been making any trouble.”
Linda pursed her lips. “I didn’t like him, you’re right. Doesn’t sit well with me that he’s out there all by himself, avoiding us for years. It’s not natural. It’s not wolf.” She sighed. “But, I did believe him that he’s been behaving himself, and that he’s trying to help figure out this problem.” She glanced at her husband, got a nod from him. “The other thing is, well…he’s stronger than us. And it’sreallynot natural for a wolf that alpha to not want to be pack. So, what’s he doing out here, all by himself?”
Myra debated how much to tell the alpha pair. Ultimately, the matter couldn’t be swept under the rug. Pretending it hadn’t happened wouldn’t make sure it never happened again. “I got a call a couple of weeks ago from Mountain Pack, in Northern Idaho. Seems their alpha found his mate, a woman named Hillary. She told him that she’d been attacked and turned, four years ago.”
Linda gave off a gasp and Michael gaped at her.
“I know. It gets worse. An entire rogue pack had formed in Phoenix, Arizona. Led by a man named Ken Cage, who was related to the alpha pair in the Mesa Pack.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger that burned even now, weeks after bringing those wolves to justice. “Cage liked to find humans and convince his pack that they could be turned. Then attack them, and if they were female, which they mostly were, rape them, until they died.”
Linda looked physically ill and Michael looked confused. “That doesn’t make any sense, that’s not how wolves are turned. Besides, anyone strong enough to live through that isn’t going to stick around with the idiots who turned him.”
“Exactly. So, not only was Cage a crazy bastard, he was also an idiot. And you’re right, both wolves who survived escaped once they turned. The others didn’t survive. To add insult to injury, the bastard couldn’t even remember his other victim’s name.”
