“Petal!” Troy shouted, shoving his hands between the bars, open and grasping for Reed who was about a foot out of his reach. He wore a pleading expression but was also smiling like he was having a great time.
Canyon and Timber looked amused and relaxed, ready to watch a fight. Heather stepped closer to Ella, and the wolf pup and the fire baby stared into each other’s eyes, neither moving, like they were speaking some secret, silent language.
“Everybody stays out of it,” Reed snarled, jabbing splayed fingers their way. “This is between me and Miss Judgy Bitch.”
The ground split open with the sound of roots and dirt tearing, and rocks falling in a cascade. Roots meshed together and shot into the air, putting a living fence between Reed and Rogue and the rest of them.
“Reed, no,” Ella called. “It’s not worth it.”
Rogue surveyed everyone caught on the other side of the fence coldly. She reached her hand into her right sleeve and unbuckled something, drawing out a knife. Sage gasped, but Rogue threw it to the side, sticking the blade in the ground. She did the same with her left sleeve, throwing another knife into the ground, and then she put her fists up. “Let’s go then.”
“Rogue, she’s pregnant,” Ella shouted.
Rogue dropped her hands, but Reed moved in like a cat and swung on her. Rogue blocked the punch and put her fists back up, and the two females circled like boxers.
“I’ll only hit her in the face,” Rogue snarled.
Ella gasped and so did Dahlia.
They circled and circled, but Rogue didn’t advance. Reed tackled Rogue around the waist but couldn’t take her down. Rogue pushed her to the ground. Reed bounced up and circled Rogue again.
“Troy,” Ella urged. “Talk to her.”
Troy looked back at Ella, then shifted inside his clothes, sat on his haunches, and howled. “Aroooooooooo.”
From the direction of the house, a tiny, “Arroooooo,” answered, and then a black blur streaked down the aisle between the two houses.
Troy shifted back into a man, righting his clothes, shouting, “Go to your mama, Track.”
Track ran to Ella and jumped straight through the ‘bars’ of the tree cage. Ella caught him, and pressed him to his sister, talking fast. The two pups turned their attention on Rogue and Reed.
An invisible hand grabbed Rogue around her left ankle and lifted her into the air.
“What the hell?!” she shouted, flailing.
Reed was also lifted but stayed upright, then fell backwards like she was on a giant, invisible pillow. The pillow set her gently on the roof of a cabin, while Rogue was deposited on her head in the grass and had to somersault away. She got to her feet, brushing herself off.
Sage stared, mesmerized. She clutched Canyon’s hand with both of hers, her midsection tight.
“You two need a time out,” Ella scolded. Track and Treena swung their furry faces towards her, their heads cocked and their ears flicking. Ella shook her head. “Not you two. It’s Aunt Reed and Aunt Rogue who need a time out.”
“What's going on here?” a male voice said. Sage looked that way, adrenaline spilling into her gut when she saw Deputy Chief Wade Lombard and Lieutenant Trevor Burbank walking their way, big males, tall, broad, and strong looking. Trevor was in his 30s, wearing a KSRT uniform, and Wade was twice that age, wearing the department dress blues uniform, his badge on his chest.
Troy’s tree cage sprang open like a gate at a racing track. He jumped out and ran to help Reed off the cabin. The tree fence sucked slowly into the ground, leaving a grassy rip in the earth as a reminder. Sage moved behind Canyon. He reached back and took her hand, then pulled her beside him, giving her a sweet smile.
“My bosses,” he said, his voice low.
“Wade Lombard and Trevor Burbank,” she said, her heart triple-timing in her chest.
Wade saw her. His face tightened and he headed their way, a sneer on his face. When he got close, he stopped short, his nostrils flaring. All eyes were on them, and everyone was silent. The tree cage hung unnaturally open.
“She doesn’t scent like afoxen,” Wade said, his expression suspicious.
Sage pulled herself up to her full height and released Canyon’s hand. She took a step forward, looking up at Wade, suddenly incensed. He hadn’t even greeted her or addressed her. “I’m Sage White, and I’mfoxen, whether I scent like it or not,” she snarled.
Wade dismissed her and addressed Canyon, his hands behind his back, his expression hostile.
“Have you claimed her?” he asked, his voice low and brimming with threat.
