This is part 2 of 'Changes' and continues on from both Anne and Selene's perspectives. :) To get how we got here, feel free to head to that story... or the one before that, Hunted!
Full Summary:
Anne thought that 'werewolf justice' would take care of the problem, thought it would be over when the disease in the supernatural world was cured, thought she could go back to being a mother and lover to her mate and husband. When one of her pack was murdered and the body taken for a 'skin', a new race comes and the youngest, Selene, is targeted, when the disease mutated and started to affect the human world, her best friend is broken in a way she can't repair and when her youngest babies became heirs and are suddenly wanted by the sorcerer world...
Selene's always seen things that no one else can see. It's apart of life for her and one she's gotten used to not talking about. She thought that when these strange people, with their strange energy, came into her life it was the end of hiding and the start of something pretty fricken awesome. Then suddenly she witnessed a creature she'd only seen in nightmares, saw a woman get murdered, and the reality of that 'strange energy' and that face in her nightmares isn't so fricken awesome after all. Suddenly she wishes it was all in her head, those things she sees in her dreams, those things she sees on the street, all of it...
It's clear that it's not over. It's only just started.
We had to go home. We had to go back to Stonehaven. The sooner the better, apparently, because as soon as Elena decided this we were already packing things into boxes, bags, suitcases, getting ready to leave as soon as it got dark.
Karl joined Antonio who volunteered to drive the moving truck we'd hired. There were apparently road blockades, so to speak, places the police were 'checking' for sick people. None of us had to worry about that, we were all healthy now, but with myself and Reece looking the way we did it was going to take some explaining. It made sense to let the most level headed... so to speak... be in the truck itself.
Nick, Reece and myself were going to be in the car behind. It was no more a car than the moving van was a compact though- it was a mini-van, big enough for up to eight people. Or three adults and five babies. I had assumed it was hired for a few hours, petrified about the idea of taking three toddlers and a couple of babies in a hired car, aware that we were all too good at trashing them. They'd stop hiring them out to us soon. But apparently no, this was my car. I owned a car. Okay, it was a van, not a car but …according to Antonio I was going to need it. Need a baby mover, as he put it, half amused and half exasperated. This explained why I'd found a bag of condoms in the tray thing in the front of the car. Apparently the twins were going with Pav and Vi this time, Vi wasn't taking chances with my babies, she wanted to fly straight to Stonehaven. Elena had agreed that was a good idea.
I watched them finish off the truck, told to stop lifting things, trying to stop worrying for a few hours and just enjoy the sight like any hot blooded woman should have. Elena sat beside me. It was a nice sight all right- six male werewolves, Antonio, Jeremy, Reece, Nick, Clayton and Karl. All with incredible bodies, incredible shirtless sweating bodies, hoisting heavy objects into the back of the moving van.
With this spectacle going on it wasn't long before Hope appeared with Selene. It kind of shocked me to see what had happened to Hope in the two days that'd gone past and see the bruises that'd come out. She looked delicate at the best of times, being so short, but now? Half her face was yellow, purple and red, parts of it puffy, probably where the branch had broken through the window and struck her face, not to mention the cut. Now covered with a big white bandage. She leaned on crutches and her eyes were fixed on Karl, no shock to me.
In comparison, Selene leaned against the window, her arm in a sling, just as bruised and battered looking. Selene looked a bit overwhelmed by the sight of six half naked werewolves. Who could blame her? I felt a bit overwhelmed.
Vi came out and stared at us. "What is so interesting?"
I pointed.
Even she looked a bit taken back by it. Clayton snorted, shooting us a look, and Elena just waved. There was a small smile on her face as she watched him, eyes fixed on him, leaning back as she watched. Enjoyed the sight. Nick glanced up at grinned at us, a big smirk, only to be knocked back as Reece threw a heavy box at the dead centre of his chest.
We didn't really need them to do it. We didn't need to take it easy. Not really. But if they insisted, why would we argue?
"You want that big ice chest in?" Clayton called as he stood up, the curls sticking to his damp forehead, glancing over to us.
"Yeah. Then we'll cover it with the regular things." Elena nodded, standing. "Want me to..."
"You sit down. We'll do it." Clayton jumped off the back of the van and strode inside, pulling Nick along behind him.
"Good to be Alpha." Vi muttered. She didn't look angry though, just amused, shooting the men a look as if she was half tempted to go on over and out-do them. "Do you want us to bring our suitcases back there?"
Elena sat back down. "May as well bring them all down now. The testosterone in that truck is making them pack faster than I expected."
I glanced up to the window, grasping for Vi's hand, just as she was stepping back. "Is Hope and Pav coping upstairs? I can go up."
"You were told to get a few hours rest." Vi's eyes went over me. Now that the twins were safe, now that we were safe, she had calmed down. The anxiety, the restlessness, it was almost gone. Almost. She knelt beside me, stroking my leg, that kind of sadness there. "They are doing okay. The triplets are eating dinner. The twins have just been fed. Let yourself rest for a moment. Enjoy the sight." She leaned up to kiss my cheek and jogged away for the inside before I could try an argument.
Elena pulled me back down and we went back to watching the men do all the hard work. The ice chest was big and, I had to guess from their faces, they hadn't thought to empty it before they moved it. Werewolf strength or not- it'd be pretty heavy.
"Should we suggest they empty it?" I asked softly, meeting Elena's blue eyes, and she grinned.
"Why?" She leaned back again, watching Clayton with open affection, which seemed to just make him even more stubborn about getting the others to do it. It was cute to watch. I rarely saw this side of him, this side that was all about Elena, all about their kids, he kept it hidden. It was kind of innocent, kind of sweet, and it amused her.
Nick on the other hand was trying to get my attention. He grinned when I met his eyes, nearly dropping the heavy chest as they tried to get it into the van safely, Antonio whacking him across the head.
"Is the minivan ready for the trip?" Elena asked as we watched them.
"More or less. Car seats in, snacks in the back, my handbag's already in there. Some books. It just needs the people. I can't believe ..." That they'd bought it. Crazy. My own car. It even had a DVD player!
"When you learn to drive it'll be useful." Elena smiled. "Take some DVDs. It might help. Do you mind if Matt comes in our car?"
I shook my head. "Course not. I suppose the truck might be a bit squashed."
"That's what Jeremy thought." Elena agreed.
We watched them as it got dark. The ice chest was in, they were covering it in towels to keep it cold longer, and loaded up 'regular' things. Mostly boxes of toys, clothing, random things that Antonio didn't particularly need anyway. It was to cover the food if the back of the van was searched, unlikely but with the paranoia around, Elena didn't want to take chances I suspected. There was a lot of food. I wondered how Elena had got so much.
Finally it was done. Finally we could move. Vi and Pav got the twins ready to go, the 'plane people' taking the hired car back to the airport with them, and it showed how much I trusted them to let them take them. But of course I did. Jeremy, Hope, Selene, Jamie and Alan were going to be going with them. Paige was staying here for a few more days. We ate dinner together, leftover things from the fridge, and Antonio went around the house locking things up, checking everything, Nick going around with him. He'd hired a house keeper he knew and trusted to come in to stay in the place. It wasn't a bad job, house keeping, living in a place like this.
Elena and Clayton went with Pav and Vi, the three big kids in the car with them, they'd stay with them till they were safely on the plane. I glanced back at the house, Reece's hand in mine as he waited with us, watching as the small parade of cars vanished down the road. Then it was just us with the toddlers in warm jackets waiting inside.
"Okay. Let's get them in and get going." Antonio clapped his hands, went inside, and the triplets happily followed him out. We lifted them one by one into the back seat of the new car, Reece hopping into the middle seat, and I joined Nick up the front.
When we were ready, Antonio drove the moving van out of the driveway, waited for us to leave, and hopped back out to lock everything up.
I understood why we were doing it at night as we made our way slowly out of the city. It was quieter, streets emptier, the usual reasons but something else too. There were checkpoints. People checking for illness. The lines in them weren't small either and I had to assume that during the day it was longer. Getting out of the city was a little harder than getting in, apparently, and I was glad that the triplets were happy to sleep anywhere. Reece made sure that they had something to block the light out as we sat there.
There wasn't much issue though. We had to let them check our temperature, no problems, we saw the moving van go past without so much as a check in the front seat, and we had to answer some questions. When it was clear we weren't sick, though they did question Reece and myself a bit on my injuries, we were let out of the city. Or maybe they let us go because they'd woken the triplets and, where one grumpy toddler was scary, three grumpy toddlers was a horror story all of its own. The doctor was eager to get out of the back while they whined, and grumbled, and Susie even started to cry, she was tired and they weren't leaving her alone with the poky thing in her ear. I had to slide into the back seat with Reece to help sooth them back to sleep.
He wasn't okay. I knew I kept thinking it, tried to not think it, but in the darkness I saw it. I felt it. Nick glanced back at him frequently too. It was hard to explain. I knew Nick hadn't been 'okay' after Lillian's funeral, knew he was still struggling, but it was a different sense from him. He was healing. Maybe I'd helped by seeing her after the funeral, maybe, maybe it helped him to know that she was more or less drifting around trying to stay involved.
Reece was different. I felt uneasy about him, uneasy about even letting him sit alone with the triplets, just ...strange. He'd had to drink a sedative just before the checkpoint so he was aware that he wasn't okay, that wasn't it, it was something else. Reece was restless, drumming his hands, not meeting our eyes. It felt like he was itching for a fight. Something. I didn't know. I told Clayton, even if it seemed a little like 'snitching', let him know. He'd done a good job with me when I'd been unhappy, beating me up, and while that sounded like the kind of thing that'd give a therapist a heart attack... for me, as a werewolf, it worked. It'd snapped me back out of it.
Clayton was quick to text back and agree that something was going on. He and Antonio had both noticed. They were leaving the airport now and he'd deal with it. I apparently had permission to cage Reece if it seemed like he'd harm himself or do something stupid, like run onto Forestwatch's land searching for the skin-walker, a possibility I couldn't deny was there after our chat earlier.
Physical contact had helped so I slid across to him, closer, wrapping an arm around Reece's shoulders and drawing him into my side. He sighed, shut his eyes, relaxing as his heart slowed. It did seem to do some good.
"Your smell." He muttered, inhaling slowly. "It helps."
"Good." I muttered. I pulled out a sandwich from the bag in front of us and held it up to his nose. "How about this smell?"
Reece inhaled, grinned and snatched it. "That too."
I passed one to Nick and slid around to check that the triplets were okay. They'd fallen asleep again now that the car was moving, eyes shut, barely aware or caring where they were. It'd only become a problem if they were woken up again. I'd gotten a DVD of 'peaceful things' for them. It was apparently for meditation. It worked for toddlers too. Bored them to sleep.
It wasn't the last checkpoint on the long drive. Each county had one. I didn't even know there were so many. Australia didn't have these. We had shires or councils. It was probably the same thing, except that there were less in a state. I thought. I wasn't sure all of a sudden. But it made for some very cranky toddlers as they were woken up again and again over the long drive, as apologetic people prodded things into their ears, checking for disease. The DVD suddenly became very useful.
About four hours in Clayton called and asked us to stop at the next fast food place and wait for them.
"Something wrong?" Nick asked, glancing back us. Clayton's voice was hearable, even without speaker phone.
"Na. You're an hour ahead of us. Figured your babies might want a sleep after the humans harassing them." He sounded like this was the real reason. I wasn't sure it was. Was he wanting to keep an eye on Reece? Or something else? Either way, there was no point to argue, because he was right. An hour of sleep for the triplets would be perfect.
We stopped at a place and Nick went in to get a small army's worth of hot junky food. It was three times more expensive than usual, naturally, but they were still allowing people to buy large amounts if they had the cash to burn. We didn't. But I didn't tell him off, we did need the food, anything we could 'store' would be a good investment when we had to cut our own food down and rely on hunting. A 'fat' wolf was a happy wolf and so could overlook the prey. A hungry wolf was not and noticed every injured, sick or scared 'prey' in the area.
"Mutts are going to cause us some problems." I muttered as we sat there in the back seats eating, Nick having sat down and pulled me into his lap, my legs across Reece's legs.
"Yeah, I know." Reece answered. "Rations for humans. They're going to be hungry."
"There's not much we can do." Nick nuzzled against my neck as he ate a potato wedge covered in cheese. "They're not helpless. They'll have to go hunting for animals like us."
"Yeah, or humans." Reece muttered. He gazed out the window. There was that dark look back on his face. I nudged him and he blinked, staring at me, reaching out to stroke my leg. "But we're not letting them."
That wasn't totally true. Pack policy was to allow it, more or less, if they 'cleaned up'. We didn't like it, we didn't promote the idea, it was pretty clear to all mutts that we loathed them if they were mankillers... but we couldn't check every murder or dead body found in every state of America. Couldn't hunt each mankiller down unless he drew attention to himself. Then we'd deal with him. With a shortage of food suddenly this may become a reality more and more. Hungry mutts trying to survive.
I fell asleep against Nick, shutting my eyes, and only woke when I felt myself half lowered between them on the middle seat, both of their arms across me or my back.. It wasn't a romantic gesture. They were wanting a free hand to eat while I cuddled up to them. I just ignored this little fact and went back to sleep.
The door slid open, cold air and dampness coming in, Clayton shoving Nick to one side. I ended up in Reece's lap as Clayton sat down beside us, yawning, reaching over to check the paper bags.
"Didn't save me any?"
"Go buy your own." Nick yanked it out of his hands. "Everything okay?"
Clayton scowled at him and glanced at where Elena had gone in with Matt trailing after her. "Wanted Matt out of the way so I could explain. Hope didn't remember how they crashed but apparently it came back on the plane."
"I take it, it wasn't a good thing." I muttered as I shifted on Reece's lap, trying to get comfortable, his arm coming between my back and the cold window.
"Not really. That thing apparently scared her. The car crashed because she was serving away from it." Clayton scowled softly. "She texted me, luckily, I didn't want Matt to overhear that. We'll drive together and if anything happens..."
"It won't." Nick added
"...then there's another car. With help. Ain't loosing any more pack." He frowned. Clayton glanced at the restaurant as Elena came out with the bags of food, Matt close at her heels with another couple of bags, his face softening. "So we'll lead. Reece, I want you to come in our car. The twins will come sit in here. You can follow us."
We were protecting them, in other words, guarding them while Clayton drove ahead.
"Matt will notice that." I said softly and he scowled.
"Yeah, he will. Can't help that. He doesn't have to know why I do things. He's just got to follow my orders." He stood up and swung the door open, jumping out. "Be back in a moment."
I got off Reece's lap and he got out, jumping after Clayton onto the ground, following him to the smaller faster car. We got out and stretched in the dark cold night, Nick's hand grasping mine again, Clayton and Reece returned moments later, each with a sleepy kid in their arms, Logan and Kate barely knowing or caring why they were being swapped. They trusted their dad. Or maybe it was because we had a DVD player. I saw Kate had a DVD in her hand and my lips twitched as she crawled in, yawned, and asked if she could watch it with Logan.
"There's headphones in here." Nick reached in to open up some kind of storage compartment I hadn't noticed. "Use them so the triplets don't wake."
"Okay." Kate yawned again and put the DVD on, Logan shutting his eyes beside her, Clayton throwing a woollen blanket across their laps. She looked like she'd go back to sleep soon anyway.
"Let's go." Clayton met Nick's eyes and Nick nodded, Clayton and Reece jogging back to his car, the two of us sliding into the front seats of the people mover. Nick put the locks on, glancing back, and I saw it... this protective look, probably because the kids were alone back there.
Clayton pulled out and we followed him closely, easily done on the empty roads, his driving slowing as our heavier car struggled to keep up with his fast one. Matt waved from the back seat and I saw him curl up against Elena's side in the back, her silvery hair standing out through the tinted windows.
We went back to the driving, road check, driving, road check routine. They were even more sympathetic now, even more willing to get out of our hair, now that we had two kids as well as three toddlers. Clayton got held up a bit longer each time. We frequently had to pull over and wait for him. Once we had to go around a county completely- apparently it was in curfew, like the city, and we couldn't go in. This added to the stress and I was amazed at how focused Nick was, his eyes on Clayton's car, no trace of tiredness. This was what he was great at. Following orders and sticking through with it.
At one point I fell asleep, only to be startled awake by the smell of burning rubber and Nick swearing softly. I stared around, heart racing, trying to see the danger. No danger. Clayton had gotten a bit too far ahead for his liking and had braked too fast, which had caught Nick by surprise.
"Wolf man 1, this is wolf man 2. Stop doing that. I repeat- stop it. " Nick hissed into his cell.
Clayton just swore at him over the line, something about not using the phone while driving, and hung up without bothering to comment on the 'wolf man' line.
The toddlers were slightly less grumpy though, now that Kate and Logan were there and a DVD was playing silently, though I knew they were getting exhausted from being constantly woken up. The next few days would be hard till they'd caught up.
Finally we caught it- the smell of familiar lands. Nick's shoulders tightened and Clayton sped, just a fraction more, but he slowed down again when he started to get too far. We'd gotten here. No more road checks, nothing, just home. Stonehaven was always home for the pack, it would always be, always that central point of the territory. We were safe here.
I breathed out slowly as Nick pulled into the driveway behind Clayton, pausing as Reece got out to shut the gates, and then we made our way slowly down the dark driveway. It was starting to rain again, cold winter-like rain, but the lights on in Stonehaven cut through the drizzle. Jeremy and Antonio were waiting on the porch. The moving van was here.
"Here we are." Nick pulled up and glanced back to the kids, half asleep. Clayton was already at the door, quietly pulling it open, and Jeremy took Kate as Clayton lifted up Logan. They were asleep now and didn't even stir as they were carried through the rain inside. Matt wandered in behind Reece, yawning, probably trying his best to keep up with the adults.
My door open and Antonio pulled me out into his arms, ignoring my protest of 'I can walk', carting me inside like I was injured. I was dropped gently onto the couch and he vanished to help Nick and Jeremy bring in the three grumpy tired babies.
I stood up and went upstairs, breathing in, trying to find Vi's scent. Followed it to the room the babies were in. I went in and breathed in slowly, deeply, drawing their scents into my lungs until I was drunk with the knowledge that they were safe. Here. Sleeping peacefully. Vi was sleeping in here with them. She raised her head, gazed at me through the dark, and waved her hand at me... trying to shoo me. Maybe she'd only just got them to sleep.
Nick was waiting when I came out. I glanced into the room the triplets would be in, expecting to hear them fuss, but they were asleep. Maybe they'd worn out to the point of sleeping through everything.
"Come on, wife. Let's pass out." Nick yawned, tugging me down the hallway to our room, and we did just that. Stripped and passed out on the bed, arms across each other, the sheer relief that came with being here flooding over both of us.
Several weeks passed without incident. Alan and Selene went to Forestwatch to be with their 'family'. Karl and Hope stayed in town. Somehow, even with all the bullshit going on, we managed to live a fairly normal life for those few weeks.
The problem with the borders closed meant that Alan could not get all the 'Elders' together. The few that'd taken over Forestwatch, now offering us rent for it, refused to talk with Elena until they discussed this amongst themselves face to face. This meant that they had to apply to get into the state. Which meant time. Elena took this well, this delay, Clayton not so much.
Forestwatch was now off limits. I didn't get much say in the matter. I still didn't mind so much, particularly when they let me know that they'd actually gotten the building checked over, didn't use the bedrooms- they had tents or something- and they were repairing the roof as repayment, but it was still frustrating. Matt minded big time. That was his home. His terrorirty. He was really pissed off about it and he only stayed calm because Clayton was more or less his hero and Clayton was good at pretending to be okay with it. I doubted Clayton was okay with it. Forestwatch was connected to Stonehaven now.
I spent the weeks basking in poop, vomit, food, mess and dirty clothing. I loved being a mother, sort of, loved that it wasn't involve blood or mess or limbs breaking. Okay, it was too much, these kids were too many too fast, but right now I didn't care. Neither did Nick. And the old 'Pack help' was never far, even if it was only Antonio throwing one of the frozen dinners in the microwave or throwing a load of washing in for us while we were chasing half naked toddlers through the house while trying to feed hungry babies in our arms. It was crazy though. Crazy how much I missed a conversation that did not involve bowl movements, the wiggles, cooking or the naughty step.
This was not improved by our need to go into town once a week. The town closest to Stonehaven wasn't that big and with so many sick in town, with the disease crowding it all around, it'd become suspicious, petty, watchful. Not of me. Apparently because I was a mother they knew, because my triplets were a known sight around town, I was excused from suspicion and Nick was more or less in the same free ride. Elena and Clayton weren't quite at the same level of 'We know them, they have kids, they're married' mindset, not with how little they liked to interact, but they too were more or less accepted in town and weren't stared at or followed around. This was probably largely to do with Kate and Logan returning to school with Matt. Anyone else, no luck. Even Jeremy had issues with being given refused service or cold shoulders. Karl and Hope were followed, Vi and Pav with their accents were given open suspicion particularly when they made it clear they were a couple, and in the end Nick and myself did the shopping. This disease had made people stop hiding their hangups and fears about people. Racism, sexism, it was back out in the open, barely concealed under the 'we might get sick' fear.
It wasn't everyone. It was only a handful of the town that were that bad, really, but a handful were enough to get others afraid, to harass people we knew, to drive Karl nuts when Hope and their toddler was apparently was cornered one day and told to 'Go back where you come from' even though she was very clearly raised in America. The two of them ended up coming to stay at Stonehaven. But when Antonio called and told me that Reece had been thrown in the cage, I knew he'd done something really stupid.
Selene
Alan used to talk about his 'family' sometimes. When he said it I had always expected it to be a bunch of guys that'd gone to college with him. Either really drunk idiots, hinting that he'd been a normal guy once, or really serious nerds, proving that he'd always been a bit boring and unimaginative.
I hopped out of the car at this house they were staying at, Alan and 'the family', and found that it really was some kind of family. Old people. Adults. No one as young as me but they weren't a bunch of thirty year old college guys either. They shook hands politely, didn't really say much to me, introduced themselves and then went back to doing stuff.
I'd been recruited to go into the bigger city nearby for a list of stuff they wanted and had driven back with a trailer of it. Mostly stuff to do with repairing the roof. Alan said that they'd hired the place in exchange for repairing the roof and doing some handiwork around and they weren't just doing that, from the looks of the list, they'd wanted other things like bullets and soil and seedlings. There was some garden beds being made along the front of the house and I saw them planting a big lemon tree out in the backyard.
Still, it was a bit funny to see, because they weren't actually sleeping in there. There were tents all over the clear spots and some in the shadows of the trees. I stared around as they unloaded the car and unhooked the trailer. Tried to ignore the stares right back. It was like a Yeti wandering out of a cave into a human town and going 'Hey, interesting choice of shelter...' as it gawked at their houses. Same thing. I didn't get the most friendly looks when I stared at their tents.
"Thanks. Here." Alan handed me a wad of cash and another list. "There's a walmart in the town nearby. Can you get this for us?"
This list was huge. I stared at the trailer they'd unhooked and wheeled to one side, thinking how I might need it again, but they clearly wanted it here.
"What about the shop?" I asked as I folded up the long list. "Rent's gonna kill us if we don't ..."
"I hired some people to take care of it. Go on and get that list. Don't talk to anyone, Beth, they're a little suspicious here. Here. These are all of our ration cards." He piled those into my hand as well. "See you soon."
I frowned at his words, a little hurt, but Alan was already turning away and heading into the house to talk with another man. He'd paid me to manage and run the shop and it wasn't a bad life. Reading, serving customers, ordering books, while he trusted me with the budgeting. Whatever Alan did, something to do with IT in one of the bigger companies, it never left him time to run the book store. So this was pretty much me getting fired. I hoped this thing didn't last.
I wondered what he meant by 'don't talk to anyone' as I drove back for the town. That odd little 'suggestion' almost overshadowed my annoyance with his refusal to use the name I'd chosen in collage. Well, given, I was given the name. My friends had always caught me staring at the moon and matched it with my love of all things spooky... Selene had been their idea of a joke and I liked it. It stuck.
Talking wasn't really something I could do though. The list was huge, really, I got a pen out, divided it into three parts and tore it into thirds... just so I didn't go mad. Mostly stuff relating to more handywork, and I found that Walmart didn't have a lot, they'd sold out. It was frustrating. He'd just have to accept it though, unless he expected me to go into the city again, and if he did he'd have to wait or go himself. I couldn't refill the car till tomorrow because of the fuel rations. I loaded up the trolley three times with each third of the list, more soil, bullets again, clothing in sizes, towels, hammers, soap, coal, stuff like that. Some random stuff too though. There were a lot of vitamins they wanted and the cost had doubled so I ended up using my own cash to get the last of the lists. Alan would repay me.
Once the car was loaded I made my way to the town hall where they were giving out rations, pushing the trolley, aware that I was being stared at . It made my skin crawl. This town, these people, they stared at me like I was a stranger on a wanted poster. The staring got worse when I got a tickle in my throat and dared to cough.
I'd forgotten my mask. It was in the car. I'd been so busy thinking about cutting lists into thirds and …
And people were following me too. It was this sudden realisation, like being doused in icy water, that I had people following me. Why? How long? I didn't know. I had a job to do though. Ration cards. Lots of the stupid things. They were like credit cards so they'd know I wasn't trying to scam. The computers would record each swipe.
I left the trolley outside and stood in line, heart thumping a bit as those guys that'd followed me now stood outside, and I saw them take it away. Trolley police? Or just idiots trying to cause trouble? This meant I had to do a few trips. I could probably carry two boxes at a time which meant it'd be... I counted the cards in my pocket, scowling. nine trips. Lots of 'family' were apparently leaving me with the chores of rations. Fantastic. That was … a lot of people! Okay, so maths without a calculator, not my strong point.
"Ahem."
Oh. I blinked, smiled sheepishly, as I realised I was at the start of the line. The woman raised an eyebrow, all cold and untrusting.
"Do you live here?" She asked. She didn't even wait for the cards to come out. "Residential collection only."
"Yeah. I rent a house here." Mine was in town. Theirs, I hoped, would be 'registered' at that Forestwatch place. If not then I'd let Alan know. "It's on my card. My, uh, family. They're repairing a house so I have to collect for everyone."
"Card." I handed her the first two cards. She handed one back. "One card at a time. You'll have to line up for each card." She swiped it and I saw something come out, a pre-packaged box and a cold box. "Bring the cold bag back next week or we'll charge you five for a new one."
It was a bit heavy. I lifted it up, sliding the used card into my other pocket, and made my outside slowly. Should have parked closer. Those idiots were following me again, muttering something to each other, but they stayed back. I carefully lowered the box into the front seat, cold box in the back, and walked the five minutes back to the town hall. Lined up again.
I had to line up for each person. Eighteen cards. Eighteen times in the line. It got past lunch, the line grew a little more, and the idiots vanished for a while. I just tried to hold my head up and do this stupid thing. But it was too much. Alan would have to find a better way. The looks I got, like they were tempted to pull me aside and question me like I was a criminal, when I kept coming back with new cards... I accidently gave her a used card and saw her head go up like 'Ah ha!'. I may have even felt a bit like crying when she lectured me, fumbling with cards, remembering that actually the unused cards were in the other pocket. Handed her one. It shut her up but … they were so suspicious. Other people got to get multiple boxes at once, I noticed, even had help carrying them out. I guessed they were locals.
My arms ached as I carried the last pair of boxes through the darkness, relief flooding through me, making my way carefully across the wet ground to my car. Only five hours of lining up. It'd gotten dark while we were doing it and I'd only just gotten in before it closed the doors.
Someone yanked at my arm suddenly from a gap between buildings, the boxes falling and exploding open everywhere, and I was shoved into a tiny alleyway and nearly into a big stinking bin. Those idiots from before towered over me and glared at me, while one of them took the food off the ground, throwing it into a car that'd been parked in the alley.
"Give me your keys." The guy closest to me, the one really bending over me, was not asking nicely. He was all ready to hit me. "Bitch, give me your keys. Only people from here get that food."
"I live here." I tried to say, cringing as his arm shifted, but it was just to gesture to his mates to hold my arms. They held me there as he searched my pockets, taking the keys and the cards, throwing them to a friend nearby who vanished out of the alleyway.
"Bitch, don't lie to me. We've been here our whole lives. We know who lives here. This is our town. We don't need you or your kind bringing that sickness here." He leaned hard over me, pressing me into his friend, his breath on my face. I was petrified. I didn't want to be beaten up over this.
"I was just … getting food. For my family. We liv-"
That fist that'd scared me now found my stomach and I gasped, winded, pain exploding in the soft tissue there. His hands grabbed me and threw me down against the bin, as his friend stepped back.
"Dude, calm down." His friend actually looked a bit shocked, as his eyes met my wide ones. I reached up to find blood trickling down my head, feeling dazed. This was all over food? This was mad. He reached out for his friend, only to be shoved back. "Seriously. We got the food. Calm down."
"Go make sure no one's coming." He snapped, ignoring his friend. "Make sure this bitch knows what'll happen if she comes back. Teach her a lesson. Don't need them spreading that sickness here anymore."
"Seri-" The friend was shoved back and he turned, heading down the alleyway, glancing back at me with a look that might have been regret. I didn't know. My attention was on the idiot again.
He shoved me down as I tried to stand, shoved me hard into the wet ground, and I saw what it was he wanted to do. I struggled then, struggled as he tried to get my skirt up, pleading, "Look, you got the food and the cards, just … my brother's coming."
I got a hand covering my mouth. He swore as he tried to undo his pants, his breathing hard, swearing at me as if it was my fault that the belt caught. A fist meeting my face. I fell backwards, seeing him throw it to one side, looping it around my wrists and forcing them up above my head. Button, I saw him reach for the zipper, trying to unloop my hands from the belt and... a dark shape tore him off me, tore him off by the hair, throwing him a good five metres. The growl, this deep feral growl, it shocked and scared me equally as much as the idiot himself.
The Australian. Reece. He went after the guy, the growl coming from him, smelling faintly of alcohol. I got up, sliding the belt off and throwing it aside, trying to stand.
He was beating him up. Over, and over, and over, a fist finding the guy, or a foot, this Australian who'd seemed so friendly, suddenly something else. The friends of the idiot rushed in and he turned his attention to them, to my horror, the guy lying there in a pool of his own blood. I felt a shock of horror when I saw he wasn't' moving. Had he killed him?
Another man came in, grabbing the Australian, holding his arms as he tried to strike them. They were throwing the cards at me, trying to grab their still friend, one of them with a huge bruise on the side of his face already from the Australian. Babbling apologies.
I saw my car had been set on fire, saw it through the alleyway, and them vanishing in a couple of cars with my food. This was overshadowed by the two men, Reece still trying to tear himself free of the older man, and when his eyes met mine, the intensity in the, the rage, the ...I didn't know. Like he was about to come for me. It and the smell of alcohol on him scared the crap out of me. His friend … she'd died, because he had to come back to help me. Did he blame me?
I backed up fast and ran for it, leaving the cards behind, heading straight for the taxi that'd just come around the road. It nearly ran into me. The man swore at me, just for a second, till he saw Reece charging after me, blood all over his face and hands.
"Get in."
I did, the taxi driver skidded away, leaving the mad Australian behind. Called Hope. She was there at the apartment just minutes after me, with her baby and that partner, and while she calmed me down, he stood outside and made calls.
Anne
I found Reece drunk that night. Drunk out of his head in our bedroom, realising that for the past two weeks I'd more or less ignored him. It wasn't on purpose. I had assumed he was with Antonio, I saw them together a lot, assumed he'd come when he needed me.
He apparently needed me right now. He curled up on my side of the bed, the empty beer cans showing he'd been there some time, still with plenty of full ones to keep him going. Nick froze as the door as the stench of drunk Reece and beer drifted over, glancing at me, sliding over to the spot beside the door. He'd keep watch just in case.
Reece glanced up as I shrugged off the jacket, Nick sliding in and closing the door behind us, but staying out of the way. His eyes were bloodshot, face wet, and instantly I knew that he wasn't safe. Maybe he was with me. But not for going into town. Not for a while maybe. That near-fight was just a warning as to what he might do if he was on his own.
"Thought you might want ...some fun." He swallowed the last of the can, trying to stand, but swayed and flopped back on the ground. Reece didn't look like he wanted 'some fun'. He looked too drunk to stand.
"Reece, you're drunk"
"No fucking kidding, woman." He groaned and rubbed his head. "I know I'm fucking drunk. Want to get drunk?"
"Not really." Not with him like this. I flopped beside him, ignoring Nick's gesture to come back, Reece's arm going across my shoulders. He was a pretty ugly drunk. I ignored the hand groping me, knew it was just the alcohol and the grief, and let him stroke my face as he tried to focus on me.
"Want a kiss?"
"In the morning." After he'd brushed his teeth. I gently pushed his head sideways as he came for me. "What's wrong?"
"What the fuck do you think?" Reece snapped. But then he blinked, staring at me, regret as he'd realised who it was he was snapping at. "Sorry. I'm drunk."
"That's not an excuse." Nick muttered from the doorway.
"Talk to me." I urged him gently, kicking the beer away with a foot, pushing it under the bed and out of Reece's reach. "Here I am. Yours. All night, if you don't keep trying to get me in bed. Drunk guys aren't good in threesomes."
Reece scowled, but he didn't argue, leaning against me as he breathed in and out slowly. The tears had started to come back.
"Daniella?" I asked softly. The look in his face at her name was all the answer I needed. I wrapped my arms around him hard, Reece's chest heaving as I felt a soft sob come from deep inside it, the broken part raw and exposed now that he was too drunk to try and hide it.
"I gotta... gotta go." Reece tried to stand again. Pushed me back and tried to stand, the tears running down his face, trying to hide it. He didn't want me to see him crying. "I got to go."
"You're staying here till Nick gets Antonio."
"No. Don't... don't get him." Reece stood up, unsteady, hand crushing the empty can in his hand. But it wasn't empty, I realised with dread, smelling and seeing the foul cheap beer seep onto the carpet and bed."Daniella wasn't my mate." He swayed, clutching for a curtain, dropping the can. I ignored it as it fell and spilt, catching Reece before he could tear the curtain down, his body slumping over my shorter one. Tears fell freely onto my head and shoulder as he stood there, shaking, reeking of beer.
I somehow backed us up to the bed, trying to get him to sit down, and he flopped there with his arms around my middle, head against my chest, breathing in and out fast and shallow.
"She wasn't my mate. She kept trying to tell me. No. I had to push it. I had to push her till she had to push me away." He hiccuped, big sobbing hiccups, leaning against me as Nick stayed where he was, watching Reece carefully from the bathroom.
Slowly I turned his head up, the devastation in his face breaking my heart all over again. Reece had loved her. Mate or not, he'd really loved the woman.
"You just cared about her."
"If I hadn't forced her to push me away, Anne, if I hadn't … she would have stayed my friend. I would have been friends. I would take friend any day. I wasted so much time waiting for something that wasn't going to happen. I wasted it." Reece started to cry again, head against my chest, the grief rocking his body as he struggled to breathe. "She didn't have to run from me."
"No, Reece. She did care. It wasn't you she was running from." I sat down carefully in his lap and nodded for Nick to leave. It was okay. He wasn't violent and he wasn't to try and force me to sleep with him. It was just his attempts to hide what was really going on.
Nick nodded and vanished out the door, glancing back, as the big guy clung to me like a baby, his sobs heaving.
"She wasn't my mate. But she was ...she was mine. I didn't ...think about it." He was struggling to talk. "I didn't think... I just knew she was mine. I woulda' married her. Would have spent my life. Don't... don't care if we had no babies. Don't care." Reece's head hid in my hair, holding onto me. "But she wasn't my mate. It was... wasn't her. I thought it was. It made sense. The wo... the world revolved around her."
I wondered if she'd known. Maybe she did. Maybe it'd scared her. I wish I'd have been there to ...I didn't know. I'd been raped and I remembered each time, remembered it much too clearly, but she said she'd been raped and had lost count. How much did you have to suffer before you couldn't mentally hold onto it anymore? When your brain sacrificed memory for sanity? Reece clung to me as my own grief re-surfaced. Not just for her, but for them, and for Daniella's child. She'd only mentioned it once.
"She's with her baby." I murmured against his neck, breathing hard now, trying to breathe and be strong for him. "She's okay."
"Her ..." He inhaled slowly, shutting his eyes tight. "Yeah. She is. She's with that baby they killed."
Maybe she was.
"I was so distracted, Anne. I let her down because all I could … I promised her, how ever angry she was with me, I'd always be there to protect her. They'd never hurt her again." Reece leaned back, his eyes meeting mine, that devastation there. That grief that almost made him look mad, that made the inner wolf in me nervous and anxious and watchful, that anger at himself. "But I was distracted."
"There were a lot of people attacking." I tried to comfort him, kissing his face, stroking his hair, ignoring the beer and the tears and the snot.
"No. I was distracted by her." He inhaled slowly. Shut his eyes. "I... should have gone outside. Apologised. Said I was sorry to her. I should have said sorry to Daniella. She was right. She wasn't my mate. I was … obsessed with Daniella when the other one was … waiting. There. Just waiting for me. Drooling on Twilight."
Wait, other one? He hadn't told me he...
Suddenly I got it. That look he kept flashing Selene when we'd met her, like she'd just pressed his 'charm on' button. The way he kept trying to stand up for her when he really didn't have to. And why he'd nearly lost his cool today when they'd harassed her. "Selene?"
"Yeah. It was like... the world. It snapped to her. Like a magnet. And I dream about her. It's not like that." He muttered, when I raised an eyebrow. "Just us. Alone together. In the forest. Running. I never see her but I ...I know it's her running beside me. If I had ...if I had said to Daniella. I was sorry. She was right. She might have … we might have been friends. She needed me as a friend. I kept pushing for more." He squeezed his eyes shut, pain flooding his face, so much regret. "I should have said sorry. She ...she hates sex. But she did it with strangers over and over, because I followed her, because I kept trying, and she was trying to make me go away. She hates sex. She would have hated it."
"I'm sure she knows." I tried to say.
"I loved her. I loved her so much." He was getting softer. Quieter. Reece's tears were still running fast but there was a heaviness in his chest now, his arms loosening. The alcohol was putting him to sleep. "She would have liked her. Selene. I scared her."
I didn't know what exactly had happened. Just that he'd lost his cool and some guy was in hospital. Reece was nearly asleep though.
"I'm sure she'll be okay."
"Looked at me like I was a monster." He shut his eyes, leaning against me, the crying fading but the heavy heaves in and out still there as he tried to breathe. "Scared her. Should have seen her face. I scared her. Daniella would have beaten me up for that. Not run. I ...don't know how to handle her. Someone who's ...who's not ...scary."
"I know. Daniella's probably somewhere waiting to hit you. We'll talk to Selene. Stop drinking first." The joke did what it was supposed to do. I saw his lips twitch, a sad smile there, and we sat there a long time as he fell asleep, leaning against me, his arms loosing their grip and flopping to his sides. I glanced up as the door opened quietly. Antonio came in, quiet, as Reece leaned against me, his breathing slowing.
"Found the beer?" Antonio said softly, Reece's head swinging up. "Come on. Let's go downstairs."
Reece nodded, I stood up, and he stood with some assistance from us. He was unsteady as Antonio led him away, leaning against him, barely able to keep his eyes open. Nick came back in with a wet cloth and we tried to clean up the beer, quiet, his hand brushing my arm as he caught the glint of dampness on my face.
"Remember. They're alive." He said quietly. "We just have to wait."
I nodded. He pulled me against him, nuzzling against my neck, and I let his warm scent close around me.
"I don't want one of us to go like that." I murmured against his neck, holding onto him, the two of us flopping down and pulled my legs across his lap.
"Neither of us are going anywhere. And we promised. No secrets." He nuzzled against me.
"We did." I reached up to stroke Nick's face, drinking it in as if it'd be the last time I saw it. He always took my breath away and that intense look he gave me, that look that scared me sometimes with how serious this was. It wasn't a fling. "Truth? You're incredible."
"So are you." He grinned, leaning down to nip my throat, his curls brushing my skin. "You're sexy."
"You reek of beer."
Nick tossed the smelling rag aside, rolling his eyes, and stroked my legs. "You want to try for that baby?"
"Not now." I shoved at him, smile fading, and I saw the humour in his face go. I knew he'd said it to be playful. But it was a bit soon. "Not for a few years."
He stroked my face. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. I was just ...trying to hit on you. Badly." Nick sighed as the smile didn't return to my face. "Can't help it. You just have to look at me and I'm seconds from trying to get you in bed. When does the marriage slow us down?"
"When we have to take it into the spirit world." I muttered. When I smiled a fraction he grinned, and I couldn't help it, I relaxed and smiled back. "She said I was contracted to have this child."
"How about we try and have one for once? In a few years." Nick leaned back, relaxing against the wall. "Stop having surprise babies."
"Ten years. I know you didn't want them..." I muttered. Nick shrugged.
"Say you're never going to do something and that's what the fates do. Throw them at you. Remind you that it isn't your choice." Nick rolled his eyes. "Still... ain't complaining. You see what we can make? Our babies are incredible. We made them. I can't believe I could ever make something like that, led alone three of them. And then you come along with two more that are just as amazing. Nothing like the man who ...they're all you." He smiled somewhat, the love obvious, shutting his eyes. "So ten years. Agreed. I'll put it in my work schedule. Maybe for once we can plan it. Not just get another stork throwing one at us."
I laughed softly and he leaned down to kiss me, gently, pulling me closer. We sat there and after a while tried to clean up the beer, change the sheets, working together quietly, and flopped back into our bed when it was done. I lay there as sleep came back, aware of how lucky I was, gratitude flooding me for what Nick had come with. He was right. No matter how unexpected it'd been with him, however unplanned most of it was, it was all incredible. The problems were nothing.
I wished Reece could find it. Be happy. I leaned against Nick, shut my eyes, pain for Reece coming back.