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Ch. 4 What looks like a wolf, but isn't a wolf
"Oh shit! You're THAT Clayton Danvers!" I practically screamed as realization dawned on me. Everyone just looked at me like I had lost my mind.
"Teó, this is the guy that wrote that paper on anthropomorphic subcultures in the tribes of Mesoamerica. You know, the one I referenced for my Anthro paper last year?" I said. I turned to the blond named Clayton "Dude, you had SOO many things wrong in that paper!" I said with a grin. Teó silenced me with a look, but I couldn't help but giggle. Clayton (yeah, I guess I had to start thinking of him as an actual human being now that I actually knew him from somewhere, and he wasn't just that random blond wolf/human anymore) didn't seem to appreciate my criticism, and scowled at me with clenched fists. I kept waiting for him to retaliate.
"Please forgive Pía's rudeness" said Teó. "Mamá always did joke that she inherited the spirit of el coyoté in the body of el lobo". Clayton swung his gaze off me and onto Teό, with a look of astonishment. "You mean she was bitten, right?" he asked, calmly trying to comprehend what Teό was telling him. "She survived a werewolf bite?"
"I'm afraid not, amigo. She comes from a long line of leaders of the wolf women tribe" said Teό. Clayton gaped anew at this knowledge. "Come," Teό said reasonably, "let us all get changed and clothed before more people stumble upon us. We can meet up and discuss this more once we are decent for humanity, and have taken care of the dead."
With a smirk, I patted Cayo's side and directed him off to where we initially changed for our run, and left Teό to work out the details of where to meet and how to deal with the wolf corpse. Cayo went begrudgingly.
Teό had suggested meeting an hour later at the Abe Martin Lodge, since it wasn't too far and still inside Brown County State Park and part of Hoosier National Forest's more human attractions. Of course, as this was one of the only restaurants in the park, this meant that we all had to be in human form, wearing human clothes, and driving up in human cars. It rankled my less human side to be so confined to what my Native American ancestors would call the "white man's laws of society", but I soothed the itch to change by reassuring myself that as soon as these meddling mutts were dealt with (and Professor Clayton Danvers thoroughly schooled on how many mistakes he and his colleagues continued to make in their papers), we'd be back out there in the fur, roaming and chasing the wildlife for fun.
This meant my human side got to come out and play in the meantime.
Usually I don't make much of a distinction between human and animal in my personality, but there are times where one has to hold the other at bay. When dealing with humans in large groups, I have often found myself having to keep control over my animal side, lest I start stalking someone and pounce on them unexpectedly due to them having something I want. I found out at a fairly young age that stalking and pouncing your prey as a human was not socially acceptable. Maybe that's why I ended up going to a dozen different preschools… It probably also didn't help that a few of the class pets went missing for one reason or another after I started attending classes there. What can I say? I've always been a predator, even before I could Change, and most class pets (and preschoolers) don't rank very high on the food chain for me. I think mainly I scared them, but who actually remembers everything from when they were 5 anyway?
With my human in charge, I was still a force to be reckoned with. Smart, sassy, and with (at least around here) very exotic looks, most men pretty much groveled at my knees, and most women were too envious or intimidated by me to give me much of a hassle. Or so I liked to tell myself. Whether or not it was true, I'll never know. All I knew was that those few people that decided to stay around me either worshipped my feet, or were too scared to tell me no, or both. Some people just like being walked on, and those types of people always seemed to gravitate to me. So you can only imagine how THRILLED I was to have people around me that weren't exactly jumping up and down to be my best friend.
Not.
Ok, so maybe it was a little nice to not have every man I talked to outside mí familia become a pile of giddy goo at my feet, but the prospect of not getting my way wasn't exactly making me very happy. My sarcastic and witty banter didn't seem to be winning any points with these mutts, even if some of the males were looking a bit unsettled in my presence.
Their female had apparently gotten to the Lodge first with two other mutts, one of which being the boots named Reece. They had managed to sweet talk the staff into letting us have the little room reserved for private parties, and after ordering a banquet of food that was set up in chafing dishes and a few dozen deserts, the staff had left us alone. I can only assume that they were paid extra for the privacy. I can also only assume they were paid for the use of the back door without questions, as no alarms were going off while we had it propped open.
It kinda made me wonder how a bunch of mutts would have that much money to toss around, since it was obvious the female hadn't been seducing anyone to get her way. Not that she didn't have looks good enough to try, but she had that runner style body that wasn't exactly supermodel worthy. Human men seemed to find the combination of my hourglass curves and long limbs more attractive for some reason. Obviously they had different reasoning in choosing a worthy mate than we did. My looks had gotten me and the boys into more places and out of more scrapes than I cared to admit. Maybe they didn't have that luxury, or maybe they decided throwing money at an issue is more effective than talking your way out of it. We never had the luxury of throwing money at it, but que cera, cera. I'd gladly take advantage of the money they seemed to want to show off if it meant we could get this over with, and I could get a decent meal for once without everyone looking at me like I'd sprouted a second head for eating about half my body weight in food.
That's one of the only things that REALLY sucked about being a female changer. I was expected to be a lady and eat dainty little meals that wouldn't even fill up a pigeon, but the boys and all their muscles could eat a half a cow's worth of meat and no one would even bat an eyelash. Growing boys, they were called, where I was called a slob for wanting two cheeseburgers and fries. Totally not fair. I wonder if their female has similar issues…
By the time the last of their group showed up, I had already loaded my plate twice with roasted chicken, veggies, and potato salad. Northern food always tastes bland to me, but food is food, and I wasn't about to complain about a free all-you-can-eat-without-any-judgment meal. And GAWD FORBID Northerners put a drop of sugar in their ice tea. I made sure to supersaturate mine in hopes of making it half as sweet as I normally like it. With everyone present, the "polite society" side of us kicked in, and introductions were made as nicely as could be expected, despite my irritated feeling at being outnumbered and confined. Besides Professor Clayton Danvers and the lone blond female named Elena that was OBVIOUSLY his, there was the boots named Reece, the black wolf named Nick, and another male named Antonio that looked like he could have been Nick's older brother. Teó took the liberty to introduce the three of us to the newcomers, as he's always been the more polite and sociable of the three of us. Cayo and I merely grunted and waved, respectively. Then again, it wouldn't have been polite for Cayo to talk with that much food crammed in his mouth, and Teó had already warned me that if I couldn't say anything nice, I should keep my big trap shut.
"Down to business" growled Clayton. I guess polite time was over. Fine with me, I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible so we could get the hell out of there. "Are you gonna sit there all day, or are you finally gonna explain what the hell she is?" he drawled to Teó, while pointing in my direction. Obviously he didn't know the meaning of patience. Or civility. Or manners, for that matter.
"Hey, I DO have a name, ya know" I shot back. I never did like being talked about as if I wasn't there. My remark was met with glares from both Clayton and Teó. Damn, I think I just violated that order to shut the hell up.
Teó calmly looked at Clayton and began to talk.
"As I started to explain earlier, mí hermana Pía is named among the second youngest generation of the Wolf Women tribe. Our cousin's daughter is the youngest, and as the lineage is maternal, the younger generations are venerated and raised by the older. As the tribe is small, it is usually traditional for all generations to be raised knowing each other, and in many cases, living together. As knowledge of the tribe has been limited, even among other Native American tribes, it is considered important to keep track of all those that might be gifted with Father Wolf's blessing." Teó was obviously starting with the lineage and history. I managed to stifle a yawn, but Clayton looked enraptured at the tale. Oddly enough the other mutts seemed pretty interested too, though Reece and Nick kept enjoying sneaking glances over at me. What a bunch of oddballs.
Teó continued. "It is said that when the woman of the Kitsai tribe named Cries with Night was cast out of her village, she wandered for many days and nights through woods and prairies, until she collapsed at the edge of a spring when she could walk no further. As she lay there, Father Wolf came across her as he drank from the spring, and knew he had found something exceptional. 'Little child' he called to her, 'awake and look at me.' Cries with Night woke at his call, and looked up at Father Wolf with fear, but did not move away. 'Wolf,' she asked, 'will you make me your evening meal? If so, why have you awoken me?' Father Wolf was amused by her question, and impressed by her bravery, and answered her thus: 'My child, I will not eat you. You are my child and you have shown strength and bravery. Tell me, why are you wandering alone?' Cries with Night looked at him with sorrow and explained 'My village has cast me out, and I have come here to die. If you are to end my suffering me, please allow me to have my honor so I may go in peace to the next life.' Father Wolf was taken with her honesty, but chuckled at her request. "Child, I shall leave you your honor, even as I end your suffering. Come, you shall be my wife and I will teach you how to run.' Father Wolf then turned to Cries with Night, and gifted her with his form so that they may run together. The female children that were born from the union of Cries with Night and Father Wolf were special to the land, and were also gifted with the knowledge of the spirits and medicine, and like their parents, ran with the creatures of the woods in wolf form. Their heritage lives on in the Wolf Women tribe, and as the eldest female descendant rules the tribe, their lineage is a continuous unbroken tie to Father Wolf and his human mate."
Clayton's jaw had hit the floor by now, but the female named Elena looked at Teó with skepticism. "But isn't that just an old legend?" she asked. Geez, wasn't SHE a doubting Tom… "Perhaps," replied Teó, "but who can say what is legend and what actually happened? My mother's people tell this story to preserve their history as well as to teach that they are gifted with abilities that others are not. The purpose is served, whether or not the story is completely true."
I smirked at their befuddled reactions. Obviously they weren't sure what to think, and I took pride in being an enigma. I wisely kept my mouth occupied with food instead of talking though, as I might be cocky, but I wasn't stupid enough to raise Teó's ire enough to earn a punishment later.
The female named Elena shot an unreadable look at the male named Antonio and at Clayton, and the three of them got up and walked over to the corner, leaving the other two as guards, I guess. Obviously they wanted a private chat, and not everyone was invited. Too bad supernatural hearing pretty much eliminates that possibility unless they wanted to go chat in whispers several yards into the woods from here. I could clearly hear their hushed conversation from where I sat on the other side of the room. And hell yeah I was listening! They want to have a private conversation on the heels of hearing my family history, then obviously it has something to do with me and I wanna know!
"Could that explain the indian's tale in the Legacy?" whispered the female named Elena. How PC of her… "Maybe," replied the big man named Antonio "but the tale never says anything about the walkers being female." Wait, what the hell are they talking about? "We should be asking more questions," grumbled Clayton, "otherwise we'll never get to the bottom of this, and we'll have a whole new set of mutts to deal with." Bottom of what? And did he just call me a mutt? Oh HELL no! I at least I had the common decency to not verbalize my feelings about THEM… or at least not where they could hear them.
"You might as well come ask those damn questions then, and quit hiding in the shadows trying to be secretive" I called in an irritated tone to the three of them huddled together and whispering. "It's not like we can't all hear you anyway." That's when all eyes in the room turned to me. "What?" I asked. "It's true…" But that's not what the looks on the faces told me. Every last one of them was looking at me with astonishment. Even Teó and Cayo had looks like they had no idea what I was talking about, and those same looks told me they hadn't been able to hear the conversation like I had. Damn. Ok, maybe everyone COULDN'T hear it… Who knew that I had better-than-average super hearing?