Black Wolf (29 page)

It was an
interesting thought; Gisela considered it seriously.

"Point," Lori
conceded. "To us, it looks complicated and restrictive, but last
time I said something about it to Bryan, he shrugged and said,
That's just how things are
. Okay, so Bryan's the world's
most easygoing wolf, but I've never heard him complain. And he
has
made comments like Eva's."

"Diversity is
a wonderful thing," Flynn laughed.

"Jess didn't
grow up with all this, though," Sonja said. "Is he going to be okay
with it?"

"Not right
away, but give it some time. He's learned to deal with everything
else."

"Besides,"
Kevin said, "you obviously haven't actually seen Jess come home
from a run. He's bouncier than Cait, and happier than I've ever
seen him. That'll help a lot. I wouldn't worry about it. The others
will make sure he learns what he needs to."

"And hopefully
they'll finish up the grand procession eventually and remember that
there's still a party
here
," Deanna said.

"Miss a
party?" Nick laughed. "Not likely. They'll be back. And by then,
the dryads'll be well-rested, the elves'll be well-fed, and we'll
all be ready to party all night."

"They won't
take a chance on missing out on the food, either," Cynthia said.
"Not if I know our wolves."

The
conversation meandered aimlessly, comfortably, and shortly before
the sun vanished below the horizon, Flynn said, "Here they
come."

Those who were
dozing—Gisela among them— roused themselves and stretched, and
Kevin got up to check how much food was left.

"Watch it,
they're..." Flynn began.

Five large
bodies poured in through the gate at high speed, eliciting various
yelps and a lot of ducking as the wolves variously dodged around or
jumped over obstacles, people included. Jess cleared Nick and Sonja
easily, and skidded to a stop next to Gisela, panting, but with his
ears forward and his tail waving.

"Don't
do
that," Lori scolded. Bryan just gave her a wolf grin and
ran his tongue up her cheek in a sloppy kiss before collapsing
beside her, sides heaving. Lori made a square of magesilk out of
sunlight and wiped her face with it, then whapped Bryan with it
before letting it dissolve. "Don't do that either."

"Who won?"
Naomi asked.

The
chocolate-furred heap next to Cynthia and Deanna changed. "Not
sure," Bane laughed breathlessly. "But I think it was Eva or
Jess."

Evaline
changed, too. "Less mass to move," she giggled. "By the time you
guys get into motion, we're long gone."

"If the two of
you hadn't been zigzagging all over the place, Bryan and I would
probably have run right over you."

"I almost
did
," Caitryn said, and paused to scoop another handful of
water from the fountain.

Gisela
laughed, and rubbed Jess behind his ears. "Good one, Jess."

"That little
brat there," Bryan said, "is going to lose that pretty black tail
next time he gets it in my face like that." He didn't sound any
more serious than the other wolves did.

"Only if I
don't bite it first," Caitryn retorted.

"No biting the
wolf-cub," Evaline said sternly, and actually managed to hold the
expression for a couple of seconds before starting to giggle
again.

Gisela picked
up sudden shyness from the wolf under her hand.

"Change," she
said softly. "It's easier to talk and stuff." She moved her hand,
so it was only resting reassuringly on his shoulder.

Jess' ears
went halfway back, briefly, and he looked down, then he shifted to
human. The shyness didn't go away, though; he stayed near her, and
quiet, though she could feel the joy singing inside him. She
smiled, let her hand fall so she could close it around his and
squeeze.

"Now that
we've got the rest of the gang here and all in a useful shape,"
Kevin said, "let's get on with this party, shall we?"

23

Jess dropped
the required change in a pay-phone, dialled a familiar number, and
waited patiently for someone to answer.

Caitryn did.
"Hello."

"Hiya, Cait.
It's Jess."

"Hi! How's it
going?"

"Could be
better." There was an understatement. "How 'bout you?"

"Ah, things
are pretty quiet 'round here, you were here for so long last time
that we got used to you. Besides, we're all still recovering from
that party."

No
kidding.
"Is someone from Sundark around?"

"Why on Earth
would you want to talk to Sundark? I'm much more fun. Go away, Kev,
you can have it when I'm done talking to Jess."

"Please? This
is serious."

"Oh, all
right, if it's something serious. You take care." She moved the
phone, and he heard her say in the background, "It's Jess."

Kevin took it
from her. "Heya, Jess. What's up?"

"Can I ask a
favour?" Jesse said quietly.

"Of course you
can."

"Can someone
come get me? Like today?"
And get me out of here?

"Sure, there
has to be someone around who isn't studying for an exam or working
on a major assignment, or attempting to recover from all of the
above. I'll find someone, watch for either van. Directions?"

Jess described
how to reach the apartment from the highway into the city.

"Okay, got it.
Somebody will be there as soon as we can manage it. Are you all
right?"

"Yeah. Just...
there isn't anything here for me anymore. So I may as well come
home and get down to learning everything Bane says I need to learn.
And find a job."

"Worry about
that when you get here. Something will come up, that's how Haven
works. I'll go see who I can round up. Want to talk to Cait
again?"

"I'd better go
get my stuff together. What there is of it."

"See you soon,
then."

"Yeah.
Bye."

Two hours
after that call, Jess was sitting on the steps that led down to the
apartment, the few belongings he cared to keep at his feet; a
familiar green van pulled up. He scooped up his backpack, and
opened the sliding door.

Flynn was
driving, Liam had the other front seat, and Naomi and Gwyn were in
the back.

"It would've
been boring to come alone," Flynn explained.

"Well, come
on," Naomi said, as Gwyn got up to greet Jess affectionately. Jess
chuckled, still not used to being able to understand canine, and
scratched him behind his ears before tossing his things in and
settling himself across from Naomi.

"You're
upset," Liam observed quietly.

Damned
empathic healers. What had Evaline said? Healer gifts were the only
magic wolves had very little resistance to? "I just had a fight
with Shaine that I'd rather not talk about. I'd far rather just
leave this damned city somewhere far behind and start over."

"Wish
granted," Flynn said, turning the van around in a nearby driveway.
"And that may be the most honest thing you've ever said to any of
us."

Jess leaned
back against the carpeted wall; the bewilderment and hurt were
fading a little, here with his friends. Gwyn gave him a hopeful
look, so Jess smiled and stroked his soft grey fur.
I think I
like having friends.

"Liam?" Naomi
said. "Will you read me the rest of that article?"

"What
article?" Jess wondered.

"There's a
newspaper that comes out once a month, called the Quicksilver
Sphynx," Liam explained. "Nick and another friend, Brittany, do
most of the work, and the last thing written every month is Nick's
space to tell everyone the gossip and what's coming up. June's just
came out a couple of days ago."

"How come I've
never seen it?"

"Because it
covers topics like..." He lifted the paper in his lap. "Historical
blacksmithing magic, the origins of the Haven deck of
not-really-Tarot cards, the witches' get-together in May, a
humorous—hilarious, actually—description of werewolf dominance,
uses for magesilk..."

"I get the
picture. I take it this stays inside Haven."

"A few always
end up in the other mixed villages, and a few of theirs always
reach us, but usually."

"Uh-huh. So
which one were you reading?"

"The Tarot
one."

"Go back to
the beginning," Naomi suggested. "So Jess can hear it. Then you can
read the dominance one. We can all use a laugh, I think."

Liam
complied.

Jess listened
in fascination, still petting Gwyn, and stopped thinking about
hurting and about Shaine.

* * *

Shaine,
sitting on the mattress hugging his knees to his chest, listened to
the sounds of the van stopping, then driving away. Taking Jess off
the streets to somewhere he wouldn't need Shaine to watch out for
him anymore, somewhere he had more of a future than living day to
day.

The tears
inside were frozen in ice. When was the last time he'd cried?
Sometime before he found Jess roaming the streets alone at fifteen
and knew he could at least make amends in a small way.

No more Jess
rambling on about street gossip, no more curling up together to
sleep... things were going to be so lonely and cold.

Didn't matter.
Jess would be safe, surely they'd never find him now, he'd have a
home and a family and be happy. That mattered.

Did he really
have any right to ask for more? Even to ask that it not hurt so
bad?

There were
things to do. The rent wouldn't appear out of nowhere, and if he
was going to eat he had to go find it himself.

He rested his
head on his knees, searching inside for some reserve of strength to
take him through this. It wasn't altogether surprising that he
found none. Maybe he'd just stay right here until he felt like he
could face the world again...

* * *

Intent on
trailing a hare, Rebecca wriggled under a cedar-rail fence into a
woodlot, and followed the scent-trail across the rusty-red needles
blanketing the ground. Right through the woodlot, and to another
fence. More wriggling.

The wind
brought her familiar scents; hidden by the brush along the fence,
she paused and crouched flat.

Bane, furform,
stalked a hare grazing peacefully on the lush June clover—quite
likely the one she'd been tracking. Watching intently, a little to
one side, was a smaller wolf, midnight-black.

So. Jesse had
healed after all, had he? And been accepted as part of Bane and
Evaline's pack. Poor whelp, he had no idea what frustration lay
ahead, knowing that he had the potential to live wild and must make
choices that would bind him. Either live here, strangled by too
many wolves, or go somewhere else and have to hide always...

Jesse gathered
himself, and pounced mischievously at Bane just before the alpha
wolf attacked. Bane growled softly as the hare bolted, bit him
lightly over his muzzle in reproof, then licked his ear. The larger
wolf bounded a few yards away, looked expectantly at Jesse, and
heartbeats later they were chasing each other around the pasture,
hunting lessons forgotten. Jesse yelped and stumbled—a rock, a
groundhog hole, any of a number of traps that lay in wait—and Bane
circled back to check that he was all right. He was; he began to
dig energetically. Groundhog hole, then. He'd certainly never catch
it by digging.

Then again,
given the high spirits both were in, he might not be at all serious
about it.

Bane watched,
plainly amused, while his black shadow turned black-and-brown;
Jesse glanced up at him, tail thrashing at the air, then went back
to his digging. Hopefully no one would be putting horses or cattle
in this pasture soon.

Jesse tired of
that, and frisked away, with Bane right on his heels. Halfway
across the pasture, Bane stopped, and howled to the blue sky, to
the sun just beginning to throw long shadows.

Uncertainly,
Jesse paced back and forth a couple of times, then added his voice.
It wavered, then steadied, though Rebecca thought he might consider
pitching it differently. From farther away, other voices answered;
what wolf could resist joining in on a howling session if at all
possible?

She could, at
the moment, though briefly she entertained thoughts of yielding to
the temptation. But it would be better if they never knew she was
here.

All right, so
her last desperate attempt at reclaiming Kevin had failed so
spectacularly that she could no longer deny the truth: she'd lost
him forever and nothing was going to get him back. The whole
situation was infuriating, yet it was so utterly absurd she
couldn't help but see the irony in it.

It would, by
now, be pointless and stupid and pathetic to do anything but accept
that, let go of the hurt and the dreams and get on with her
life.