AN: Nati is a character I introduced in Wolf Moon. She and her pack helped Eliot learn how to get control of himself as a werewolf shortly after he was changed.

The Irish phrase Nati uses is Súile Dé – God's eyes.

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CHAPTER 4

Know Your Enemy

(About the time Eliot and Parker are out for a morning run.)

The buzzing of the hotel alarm clock woke Nate. With a grunt he slapped a hand blindly across the top of the bedside table trying to stop the alarm.

"Make it stoooppp." The whined plea came from under Sophie's pillow.

"Yah, yah, I got it." Finally awake enough to sit up Nate found the button on top of the clock and stopped the buzzing.

Nate staggered off to the bathroom and tried to shut the door as quietly as possible. A few minutes later he emerged wrapped in a fresh bathrobe and sporting wet hair. But at least he was awake enough to press the start button on the coffee maker as he settled into a nearby chair and placed his call. After several clicks and long pauses there was finally a ringing sound that said his international call had made it through. On the second ring the call was picked up and a woman's voice answered the phone.

"Aye."

"Is this Ms. Ossory?"

"Sure'n who's this?" Natali's pleasant Irish lilt reminded Nate of his childhood.

"This is Nate Ford."

"Oh aye. You'd be one of Eliot's boys."

Nate grinned at her wording, no one had referred to him as a boy for several decades. But supposing Eliot had told him the truth the woman he was talking to was over eight hundred years old, so in her eyes he was a child. "Right. Ms. Ossory I'm calling because, well, as I understand it you are one of Eliot's friends and I'm hoping you might help."

"Our boy hasn't gotten himself into some kind of trouble again has he?"

"Yes. Actually the trouble came hunting him."

"The long-leggedy beasty kind of trouble I imagine." Nati let out a sigh and settled herself down for a long talk with this friend of Eliot's.

"Have you ever heard of Peter Griswold, Ms. Ossory?"

"Call me Nati. And yes I know of Peter. If that's whose hunting our boy, then Eliot's in real trouble."

"What can you tell me about him?" Nate had already collected a handful of facts from Jarod Terebessy, but at best Terebessy could only be thought of as a neutral party. Nate needed someone who actively liked Eliot and would be willing to provide the best intel possible. That was what had led him to get up at this ungodly hour so that he could speak to Nati.

"Peter became a wolf somewhere in the mid-1500s. I think it was 1580-something that he was caught and put on trial for being a wolf and making deals with the devil. How much do you know about the witch hunts Mr. Ford?"

"Call me Nate. I know a little but why don't you tell me about it." It was one thing to know history, he imagined that it was considerably different to have lived it.

"Well Nate, I can tell you it was a very scary time for everyone. Everyone was scared of the supernatural, and when you start looking for ghoulies and ghosties when you are that scared you're apt to see them everywhere. Even in your neighbors who wouldn't recognize the supernatural if it bit them on the nose. A lot of innocent people were brought up on suspicion of being a werewolf or a witch and were tortured into confessing things that they'd never done."

"Are you saying Peter was innocent?"

"Súile Dé, no! He was everything they accused him of and probably worse."

"So you knew him?"

"No, but word travels, and even had I thought him innocent at the time, his actions since have proven truth to the charges. I would guess that he wasn't a stable personality before he became a wolf and the change can be very hard, horrific even, when you believe as the common people did back then. So likely he became more unstable after the change and he couldn't control the wolf. The killings were so out of control, and so many, that his neighbors couldn't help but notice. So he was brought up on charges and put to the wheel. Do you know about the wheel?"

"Yes. It was a particularly gruesome and torturous way to kill someone with a large wagon wheel if I remember correctly." Nate found the taste of his coffee suddenly too bitter and set his cup to the side.

"You've got the gist of it and I've no stomach for the details. So anyway, Peter was put to the wheel and confessed. He was left to hang on the wheel overnight before being mercifully beheaded at dawn the next day. But when the executioner went back to the plinth at dawn the wheel was empty. It was supposed that black practitioners stole the body for satanic rituals. However, Peter has turned up now and again since then. And what I've heard is that he is quite mad."

There was a long pause as Nate processed Nati's story. A lunatic with all the enhanced abilities that came from being a werewolf, was actively hunting Eliot and by extension Parker, and Hardison.

"What makes you think that Peter has set his sights on Eliot?

"Rumor is that Peter Griswold is in Portland. And dead animals have been left at the Brew Pub. The animals are clearly a message, a very threatening message, and I don't believe it is coming from any of the packs nearby."

"At least it is only animals. I heard that he once left an Alpha's human daughter as a message to her father and his pack."

Nate tried to suppress the shudder as his mind helpfully envisioned finding Parker or Hardison slaughtered on the steps of the pub instead of the rabbit. "Why hasn't anyone put a stop to this guy? I thought Eliot said something about werewolves basically policing their own."

"The one lesson Peter seemed to learn from his torture in the 1500s was discretion. He hasn't drawn the kind of attention that would stir up the public." Nati paused in thought. "He's become a zealot of sorts. Apparently he targets wolves that he believes are drawing too much attention or Alphas he thinks are too weak to keep their pack in order. He's…"

"He's psychotic! How is leaving dead animals discreet? Or a dead girl?" Nate put a hand over his face and reminded himself to keep his voice down for Sophie's sake.

"Occasionally, like with the girl, the police believed that they were onto a killer but he's never stuck around long enough to get caught. From what I understand he makes a point out of whatever wolf has drawn his attention and then he moves on. Humans these days will find all sorts of excuses before they'll think of a supernatural cause." She drummed her fingers on the table she'd sat down at. She needed to find a way to explain why no one had felt Peter's actions were so out of line as to require punishment. "If any of the pubs employees had called the police what do you think human authorities would assume?"

Nate could tell she was leading him to the answer but that didn't mean she was wrong. "Dead animals are usually the first sign of a premeditated killer working up the nerve he needs before trying something larger, something human."

"Right. They aren't going to look at the poor creatures and wonder if it's a mysterious message from a werewolf."

"So because the police aren't having their noses rubbed in the supernatural and aren't openly hunting a werewolf no one in the werewolf community is going to put a stop to this?"

"'Community' might be overstating things a bit. Werewolf packs tend to be insular. As long as the neighboring pack or the lone wolf isn't attracting the attention of the human authorities we tend to ignore each other." Nati sighed. "This Peter is a rogue and I agree that something should be done about him. But he's never given me cause to hunt him myself and frankly I have plenty to do in my own backyard."

"So you won't help?" Nate wasn't sure when he had gone from just asking for information to wanting her to help in a more proactive way.

"If I left this minute do you think I would be in time? Would your Alpha appreciate my interference in his territory and your circumvention of his authority?" Nati knew that Eliot tried to shield his pack, his human pack, from a lot of the things that-go-bump-in-the-night, because they are human but in a situation like this it left them vulnerable to missteps. "I know that you and the rest of Eliot's pack are human, which still boggles the mind, but you need to know that you should be more careful. I would never take such advantage because of my love and friendship for Eliot but, had a wolf from another pack done what you have just done I would know that their Alpha was weak and didn't have the faith of his pack. You are human and so a lot of this must be explained I guess. Eliot tells me that his bonds to all of you have become much stronger recently, but he says that most of you don't feel the same connection." The last sentence was a statement but a question was implied.

"True." Nate felt uneasy at her chastisement but he knew that Eliot trusted her. He also had to admit, at least to himself, that Eliot would be pissed if he found out that Nate had been sneaking around behind his back when it came to werewolf business. "This pack bond thing seems to be only one way. We don't feel this connection that he seems to have with us."

"If you were wolves much of this would be instinctual. You would know that requesting the help of another Alpha, or any other wolf really, would be seen as lack of confidence in your own Alpha. I've come to appreciate the very odd relationship that you all have with Eliot. And I know it would break him if you were all forced into a traditional pack structure and behavior. But much of the way he allows you to act on your own and interact with him makes him appear weak to the 'werewolf community', as you call it."

Nate thought for a moment or two. "So what should I do?"

"Stand with him. Eliot appreciates loyalty above all else and other wolves will respect it." Nati smiled as she thought of Eliot. "And if you truly think he needs my help, I and my best wolves will come. It would be my honor."

"Thanks for the lesson on werewolf politics." Nate could see why Eliot liked Nati so much. "I appreciate it, and the clearer picture you provided on Griswold too."

"Truly my pleasure. And Nate?"

"Yes?"

"Call again sometime, or better yet stop by."

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Eliot watched the red lettering 'Too Weak to be Alpha' fade to black on Hardison's screen. "Do we know who left this little candy-gram?" The sarcasm was growled from between Eliot's clenched teeth. If looks could kill the phone that had been taped to the van would have been ashes.

"Yes I do." Hardison flipped his laptop around and hit a few keys before flipping it back. "This is Peter Stubbe, aka Abil Griswold, or most currently known as Peter Griswold. The phone is registered in his name. The face that I ran last night kicked out a match on our way over here; Swiatek PoÅomia." Hardison struggled with the pronunciation of the bad guy's last name and made a hand gesture that clearly communicated 'whatever, doesn't matter.' "He's wanted, well, by lots a different authorities. Most recently for murder in Kentucky. He was seen begging near a church and a convenience store in the same neighborhood where a fourteen year old girl was found dismembered on her father's porch. The father blamed Swiatek and they found his prints at the scene."

"But they didn't catch him?" Parker squinted at the mugshot on Hardison's screen. The man had long light brown hair and a long unkempt beard. His eyes seemed very cold for all that they were a dark brown.

"The whole thing got weird when a few days later the girl's father and several of his associates just disappeared." Hardison brought up a newspaper article that showed police tape on the porch of a small house.

"Theodor Livey." Eliot grunted. "Met him a few times. Good man. Heard about his disappearance. Everybody who knew about it was sure it was Griswold and his pack."

"So you know Griswold?" Parker asked

"Know of him. Heard he's, well he's not good news." Eliot looked at Parker and Hardison and bit his bottom lip in concentration. "I want you both to head to London. Meet up with Nate and Sophie, and I'll give you the all clear when it's safe to come back."

Parker punched him on the shoulder as hard as she could in the tight quarters. The movement almost toppled the box of bunnies and caused several panicked squeaks from within.

"Ouch." Eliot grabbed his arm and glared at Parker.

"Don't be dumb." Parker returned his glare.

"We work better together. Like Voltron!" Hardison smiled.

"Voltron the name of one of your little orc friends?" Eliot quirked an eyebrow at him. Something settled in his chest when he knew that they weren't going to let him send them away.

"How can you not know this? Whatever. Just whatever!" Hardison flipped his computer back around and started searching through a new program. "Age of the geek baby that's all I'm sayin'."

"Hardison can you tell if that phone was the only way that they're tracking us?" Parker's phone vibrated and she glanced at the screen. "Eliot do you know of anyone else that might be with Griswold? And we need food. Hardison is hungry." The phone vibrated again. "Be right back, got to get rid of the bunnies." Parker hopped out of the van with the box of bunnies.

Eliot shook his head as he watched Parker walk a couple of spaces down the parking lot to meet Zoe. "That girl." He shook his head again and pulled out his phone to see what restaurants were nearby.

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Hardison ran several scans and was fairly certain that there was nothing else on Lucille that was trackable. Eliot picked up the large breakfast order he'd placed at a restaurant across the street and now they were headed vaguely toward the safe house in Clackamas. Eliot had already decided not to go directly to the safe house just in case there was something that they had missed on the van. There was no point in risking another safe house because they were too lazy to take precautions.

"Hardison don't you dare get syrup on any of my stuff." Eliot glanced at Hardison in the rearview. Even Parker couldn't miss the bags rustling as Hardison fished around in them.

"Did you remember pancakes?" Parker glanced over her shoulder at the bags Hardison was still digging through.

"Of course I remembered your pancakes." Eliot pulled over midblock. "Drive carefully and take your time. I'll see you guys in twenty minutes."

Parker slid over to the driver seat and pulled back into traffic. Eliot waited until Parker turned through the intersection before he crossed the street and headed down the closest alley that would open out onto the next street. Eliot knew that if he hurried, he should be behind Parker and Hardison in ten minutes. He jogged at human speed until he got to the somewhat less busy warehouse district. Sticking with alleys as much as possible Eliot ran a circuitous route to the safe house at much faster than human speed. When he was sure he wasn't followed he made his way to the warehouse that was their safe house in Clackamas.

It took Eliot a long minute to get through all of Hardison's security measures so that he could get into the warehouse. Inside on the ground floor was a wide selection of vehicles. A few of Eliot's personal vehicles were here but most of them belonged to his pack. When they had first discussed what vehicles they should keep here Hardison had recommended every top of the line car there was. Parker and Eliot had seen the need for more practical vehicles. Eliot walked down to the section Hardison referred to as the junker section. There were a couple of older model SUVs, a beat up pickup truck, and three very unremarkable sedans. He had momentarily considered using the newer Lucille that Hardison had on standby but on second thought he decided on one of the sedans.

Eliot didn't exactly speed but he wasted no time as he caught back up with Hardison and Parker. When he spotted their van a little over a block away he settled in to follow them to the meeting place. This would give him the chance to make sure they weren't being followed and since he knew exactly where they were going he wouldn't have to get close enough to be an obvious tail himself. He followed them to a nearby strip mall where they were supposed to park Lucille towards the back of the lot and wait for him.

Eliot parked down the street from Lucille where he could keep an eye on the van. He wanted to wait another moment or two to see if anyone approached them or if there was anyone that paid them special attention. Eliot turned on his earbud. "Alright guys, grab the gear and get ready to move." Eliot pulled into the lot and parked next to Lucille. At this point almost everything they needed was in one go-bag or another so it didn't take long to transfer everything to the old blue sedan. Eliot drove them back to the safe house by a different route that included two roundabouts and going the wrong way down a one way street for one block.

After they'd settled in on the second floor of the warehouse and Eliot had reheated and served the breakfast he'd ordered, they started to get down to planning for how to take care of this newest threat.

"Do we have a way to figure out where to find Griswold?" Parker glanced at Hardison as she poured syrup over her pancakes.

"Working on it. So far he hasn't left much of a digital footprint but he bought the phone with a debit card that belongs to a known alias so I think I'll have something soon." Hardison licked the bacon flavor off his fingers while he arranged things on his plate.

"Look for Jacques Roulet." Eliot tested the firmness of the scrambled eggs with his fork. "I've never met him but I heard he might be associated with Griswold. Probably a lawyer or something to do with the law." Eliot grabbed a triangle of toast and Parker slid him one of the butter packets. Eliot eyed the packet for a moment before he went to the refrigerator to get his preferred butter.

"So did you hear about Griswold and company from Terebessy?" Hardison grabbed the butter packet that Eliot had refused.

"No, Theodor Livey told me about them. Theo was… well he was a character." A smile crossed Eliot's face for just a second. "He was turned into a 'Werewolf for God' back in 1680-something. He…"

"Excuse me. Did you just say 'Werewolf for God'? Like a title? Like that's actually a thing?" Hardison had choked a little on his orange juice in the middle of Eliot's story.

Eliot couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled up. "Yep 'Werewolf for God'. He always said it just like that." Eliot sipped his coffee. "He said his original pack was created by a rascal, and then he'd wink and tell you the rascal was the local Lutheran priest, he was one of the last wolves added to the pack. I think they were somewhere near modern day Poland or maybe Lithuania I don't remember. Anyway someone noticed that Thiess who was in his eighties looked more like he was in his late twenties and reported him and several other lay brothers to the church in another town. Most of his pack escaped but a few of them including Thiess refused to run. I think he was the only one that survived the trials there but he was exiled and sent as an indentured servant to the south of France. I think that's where he first met Griswold."

"So you are talking about the same guy from Kentucky? The one that disappeared after his daughter was murdered?" Parker asked around a mouthful of pancake.

"Yah, Sarah Beth, she couldn't have been more than six when I saw them last." A look of regret crossed Eliot's face. "Theo told me a few stories about Griswold and his pack. Nasty stuff mostly." After a pause, while things he didn't want to share flitted across his mind's eye, he suppressed a shudder. "So can you find Griswold or one of his pack so we can stop playing defense?" Eliot looked at Hardison.

"Just waiting on the search results." Hardison tilted his head at his laptop that was running silently in the corner.

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AN: Peter Stubbe/Griswold (1590), Jacques Roulet (1598), Swiatek PoÅ,omia (1849), and Thiess of Livonia (1692), are all historic people. All were accused of being werewolves. Jacques Roulet and Thiess did survive their trials and convictions for being werewolves. Jacques argued his case, that his testimony was given under duress, and he was given a lesser sentence of two years in a mental institution. Thiess was one of very few that admitted to being a werewolf without being tortured into the confession, he was quite adamant that he was a "hound of God". He was scourged and banished but I don't know what happened to him after that. Swiatek and Thiess didn't have a formal last name that I could find so I used their place names and took rather a lot of license with Thiess.