CHAPTER 17

Explanations

Eliot saw the panicked look on Julio's face and there was no missing the scent of fear in the air. He heard a whine come from behind him and he held an arm out to the side to make sure that Hardison and Parker were mostly behind him. "Hardison, focus on Parker and get yourself under control. You're half shifted, and I need you to get a handle on things." Eliot kept his words slow and even. He didn't want to set off the baby werewolf behind him or the panicking people in front of him.

"What are you?" Julio looked back and forth between Hardison and Eliot.

"We aren't going to hurt you. I'm still your friend. Still the same guy you've known for years." Eliot spoke soothingly and tried to send calmness through the bonds as well.

Parker tapped lightly on Eliot's shoulder. "Uhm Eliot, I think Hardison is stuck again."

"Stuck?" Chrissa leaned a little to the side to get a better look at what was happening.

"He's still learning to be a werewolf and sometimes he gets stuck." Parker shrugged.

Chrissa had spent most of this week, during her spare moments and every evening, praying for Eliot and his people. Praying for someone almost always made her feel connected to them and more compassionate toward them. So maybe it was the time in prayer, or maybe it was the sleepless terror filled night. One way or another she didn't seem to have any fear left for this situation only a curiosity she couldn't ignore. She stepped to the side and before Julio could do much about it, she was past him. "You're Eliot's friend, the one that came and helped wash dishes at the shelter for Thanksgiving, right?" She kept her eyes on Hardison and took another step closer.

Hardison nodded.

"Would it be okay if I got closer?"

Eliot and Parker had automatically closed ranks in front of Hardison when Chrissa stepped past Julio. Eliot and Parker exchanged a look and Eliot looked over his shoulder at Hardison. "Are you okay with this or do I need to get you out of here?"

Hardison's eyes were still yellow when he looked at Chrissa and nodded. "It's okay."

Chrissa took a few more steps and Julio followed her. "May I?" She reached for Hardison's hand.

He lifted his hand slowly so that she could get a better look.

"I know we're all God's creatures, but I never thought I'd see something like this." She ran a thumb over the fur on the back of his hand and touched a finger to one of his claws. She turned his hand over and smiled at the very human look of his palm and the underside of his fingers.

"I thought the church people believed werewolves are demons?" Parker stage whispered to Eliot.

Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Parker…"

"I'm sorry." Chrissa smiled up at Hardison. "I guess I'm being kind of rude."

Hardison noticed a change in the scent in the air and he couldn't help the look of confusion that crossed his face.

"You're smelling her emotions change. She's not scared of you anymore. It's a good thing." Eliot said quietly and gave Hardison's shoulder a squeeze.

Hardison started to smile but remembered his fangs at the last moment and clamped his mouth shut.

Eliot looked at Julio who had been completely silent since his questioning what they were earlier. "Julio, are you okay man?"

Julio stared blankly and then it looked as though he wanted to say something but there was no sound.

Chrissa went back to Julio and wrapped her arms around him, and he automatically wrapped an arm across her shoulders.

"Eliot, what is this?" Julio looked back and forth between Hardison and Eliot.

"Remember when you came to the pub a few nights ago and you helped me clean up all of that blood?" Eliot could feel Hardison and Parker focus on him. They hadn't known about the bloody mess that had been left in the wake of Eliot's attack on Hardison.

Julio nodded.

"I told you it wasn't a murder and that was the truth, just not all of it. Hawthorn, that man that brought you guys here, stabbed Hardison and left him to die in front of me. It would have been murder but…"

"But I asked him to turn me into a werewolf." Hardison spoke softly and clearly.

Eliot glanced back with a half a smile. Apparently, all Hardison needed was the focus off of him for a moment so that he could pull his form back to completely human.

"So, you're a …" Julio couldn't seem to get the word out.

"Werewolf." Eliot nodded. "I have been for a long time now. I wasn't a wolf back when we served together. That happened later." Eliot took a deep breath when he felt the tension in the room finally dissipate. "I want to talk with you guys about all this but first I gotta get things squared away. Would you mind if Parker takes you back to the pub while I get things taken care of?"

"Is she?" Julio gestured at Parker.

"No. She's human, just like you. You're safe." Eliot nodded at Parker.

Parker paused by Hardison and whispered the word "Pretzels." before she walked into the hall. "Uhm, Eliot?" She called back through the doorway. "How do you want to get them down from here?"

Eliot put a hand over his face when he remembered his destroyed staircase. "Right. There should be one of your spare harnesses in my bedroom closet."

It didn't take long to get Julio and Chrissa from the second floor to the ruins of the living room and out to Lucille. When Parker and company were into the trees Eliot got Hardison's attention. "So, what happened?"

"When your stairs blew up the whole house rocked, and I lost my footing. I managed to grab the window frame when I fell but I was having a hard time getting into the room. Julio helped drag me in and then I saw that some guy had grabbed Parker." Hardison felt the prickling on his skin and took a deep breath. "I lunged at him, and I guess that's when…" Hardison gestured at his arms and face.

"But you didn't kill the guy, so you weren't totally out of control." Eliot leapt from the first floor to the second. "Can you run over to the Miller's and ask if Tom will loan us his truck. Tell him I'll get it back to him by tonight. And ask for a tarp!"

While Hardison went for the truck Eliot made quick work of zip tying the wrists and ankles of the two men upstairs. He dropped them one at a time to the first floor and then hopped down after them. He drug the two men to the clearing where Hardison would bring the truck and went back to look for Hawthorn.

He found Hawthorn several feet from where he'd left him. Hawthorn had crawled, and from the look of him, rolled partway down the hill until the zip tie on his wrists got caught on a tree root. Eliot shook his head and punched Hawthorn hard across the cheekbone. When Hawthorn slumped over unconscious Eliot scooped him up and took him to the clearing where he dropped him with the others.

Hardison pulled up in Tom's truck and Eliot bent to pick up Hawthorn when he heard someone call his name. "Toss these guys in the back and pull the tarp over them. I'll be right back."

"El, your shoulder." Hardison pointed at the bloody furrow across Eliot's shoulder that was showing through a tear in his shirt.

"Damn, gimme your coat." Eliot pulled at the tear in his shirt and knew it would be noticeable without the coat. Hardison pulled his coat off and Eliot shrugged into it. The arms were too long, and the hem was somewhere near his knees but at least it covered the blood. Eliot zipped the coat as he jogged down the hill.

Standing at the end of the dock where Eliot had torn the gangway off was Travis Easterling, Eliot's closest neighbor. Eliot waved when he got close.

"You okay over there? Patty and I thought we heard something earlier. Sounded kinda like an explosion or something." Travis looked down as if he'd just noticed the missing gangway.

"Yah it was actually. I've been outa town for a few days and when I got back the house was cold so I went to turn up the heat and the thermopump just blew." Eliot shrugged. "Already got a call in to the insurance company."

"Wow, I've never heard of such a thing!" Travis shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heals. "I'd offer to come over and help you clean up but looks like it'd be a long walk."

Eliot knew that Travis had a small skiff and would no-doubt sail past very soon to get an eyeful. "Yah, I don't know what happened to the gangway. Looks like everything fell apart while I was outa town. But don't worry, I already got things cleaned up. Mostly the thermopump was all noise and not much else."

A car horn honked in the trees behind Eliot. "Sounds like I'm bein' paged. Give my best to Patty." Eliot smiled and with a wave he turned and jogged for the trees.

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They were nearly to the pub when Julio finally broke the silence. "You're the one that called the other night and said that Eliot needed help?"

"Yes."

"You seemed pretty surprised when Eliot mentioned me helping to clean up the blood. So, if you didn't know about it, what did you call me for?"

Parker glanced at Julio a couple of times but decided that there was no harm in telling Julio everything since Eliot was being upfront about other wolfy things. "When I called you, I thought Hardison was dead and so did Eliot. He needed someone to be there for him."

"Where were you?"

Chrissa scowled at Julio.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to sound like an accusation or anything. I'm just trying to put the pieces together." Julio patted Chrissa's knee.

"That's okay. I like when people are straight forward." She slowed the van for the corner because Eliot almost always complained that she took the corners too fast. "Eliot made me leave when he agreed to turn Hardison into a werewolf. I couldn't come back until he said so, but I knew he needed someone to be there for him and I remembered you."

"So, why did you think Hardison was dead?" Chrissa turned a little in her seat to get a better look at Parker.

"Because I felt him die. His heart stopped and his connection to us was gone." Parker wiped at a tear and looked at it as though she was surprised to see it there.

"How…?" Julio and Chrissa asked at the same time.

"We are Eliot's pack, and we share a connection with each other. Right after I'd called you, I felt Hardison's connection come back but I thought Eliot could still use a friend."

"I'm glad you called." Chrissa patted Parker's arm.

"Why? I didn't call you."

Julio coughed to try to hide a laugh.

"Because you are right, everyone needs a friend sometimes." Chrissa elbowed Julio.

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"Is there anything else we need to do?" Hardison asked when he saw Eliot come between the trees into the clearing.

"Nah. I got the blinds on the windows closed so no one going past on the river will see anything strange and with the gangway in the water I doubt anyone will check out the front of the house."

Hardison started driving. "So where are we going?"

"Private airstrip. Take a right when you get back to the main road." Eliot pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialed a number from memory. "Joey?" Pause "Yah, it's been a while. Listen you remember that favor you owe me? I need a delivery to Juarez." After another minute Eliot hung up.

"Are you really sending these guys to Juarez?" Hardison couldn't help his smile.

"Yep. The other two have probably left by now or they will when they figure out that Hawthorn is gone. And if not, I'll take care of them later, but I doubt they'll be a direct problem with their boss out of the picture." Eliot leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Call Parker and let her know we should be back in an hour."

Hardison checked in with Parker and after assurances that everyone was okay and that they'd be back as soon as possible, he hung up. They continued on down the highway in silence for a little bit and Hardison began to think that Eliot had fallen asleep. He thought over the recent events and that made him remember the bite wound. He put a hand to the back of his neck and was surprised to feel scabs. He wanted to ask, but Eliot still had his eyes closed and he didn't want to wake him for something so trivial.

"You should go ahead and just ask instead of sitting over there worrying about whatever it is." Eliot still had his eyes closed.

"What makes you think I was worrying about anything besides finding this mysterious airstrip of yours?"

"I can smell it."

"That's such a cheat."

"You can do it too. It just takes practice." Eliot opened his eyes and sat up straighter. "So, what are you worrying about?"

Hardison glanced at him and away. "Nothing really. It's not important."

Eliot raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

Hardison tried to ignore the fact that Eliot was still looking at him but started to feel the need to squirm. "I've seen you get little cuts and things and after you shift, they're gone, but the punctures on my neck didn't disappear. Is it just because I'm too new at this?"

Eliot thought about how odd it would be to be in Hardison's position. To have preconceived notions and expectations about being a werewolf. Eliot hadn't known that werewolves were real before he became one, so he'd had no idea about what to expect. "It's my fault." Before he could finish his explanation, he saw Hardison roll his eyes. The eyeroll made him growl. "It's because I'm your Alpha. Bites and scratches from other supernaturals take longer to heal than normal but not usually much longer. That bite mark would take an extremely long time to heal though, because I'm the one that did it. From what Nati has said I'm thinking that it was probably used as punishment by most Alphas. They could inflict a wound and prevent it from healing."

"You said would take longer not will?"

"I'm sorry I haven't fixed it yet, but I will. If you can stand it though, would you mind waiting until after we've had something to eat?"

"So, you can make it heal faster or stop it from healing?"

"That's what I've heard from Nati, but I don't know. I've never done this before." Eliot shrugged.

"Sometimes I forget that you're still figuring things out too."

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Parker pulled to a stop at their loading dock behind the pub, next to the Mendoza's car. "Come on up and I'll get you something to eat." Parker knew that Eliot always liked to feed people and since he sent the Mendozas with her she imagined that he would want her to feed them.

When they all got out of the van, she saw Julio hesitate by his car. "Please come inside. It's really important that Eliot talks to you before you go home."

Chrissa nodded and held her hand out to Julio and they went up the stairs of the loading dock together. Parker ushered them into the back entrance and into the seldom used elevator. She held open the door that led into their living area and followed them in. "Eliot should be here in an hour or so." She stared at them for a moment because they just stood in the middle of the room. "You can sit down if you want."

She went to a drawer that she knew Eliot kept the menus in for the takeout places that he approved of and pulled a small stack of menus out. She tossed a couple of them on the counter before she came across one for a Chinese restaurant that she recognized. She pulled her phone out and dialed the number from the menu.

"Hi, I want to place an order for a delivery." She waited until the man on the other side asked what she wanted. "Do you have a standard order for a guy named Eliot? How about Jack Baker?" She waited until the guy came back to the phone. "You do have a regular order for Jack? Good. I'd like two of whatever Jack normally orders. You can bring it to… Yes, that's the right address. Thanks." She put her cell phone back in her pocket and looked up to see the Mendozas staring at her.

"Who is Jack?" Julio still holding Chrissa's hand walked to the stools near the kitchen island and climbed up to sit on one.

"Eliot."

"What?"

"Jack is Eliot." Parker shrugged.

"Can I ask a few questions?" Chrissa leaned forward with her elbows on the countertop.

Parker wanted to point out that Chrissa had just asked a question, but she knew that Sophie said that was rude, even if Parker just thought it was obvious. "Sure."

"You've all been pretty upfront about the whole werewolf thing."

Parker waited for the question.

"Why now? I mean I know we saw Harrison,"

"Hardison." Parker corrected.

"Hardison." Chrissa repeated. "We saw Hardison looking…" She couldn't seem to find the word she was looking for.

"Looking furry?" Parker offered. "I don't know for sure why Eliot told you instead of trying to hide it. He's pretty good at making people believe that they didn't really see what they saw." She shrugged.

"So, you're human but you're okay living with were…werewolves?" Julio stuttered over the last word.

"They're my family."

"But Hardison hasn't been a werewolf for very long. Just this week, right?" Chrissa Started to yawn.

"Right." Parker looked at Julio thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm sorry I pulled you into all of this. I just wanted Eliot to have a friend with him when he needed one. I didn't think it would get you into trouble."

Julio snorted. "Don't be sorry. And don't take this the wrong way but, after you called, I really thought about just going back to bed. I didn't know who had just called and at that point I didn't know what Eliot you were talking about, so I nearly went back to sleep. But you had sounded so upset that I stopped to pray for you and then I just felt like I had to get up and do something to help. It wasn't until I was already walking down the street and asking God just who this Eliot was that needed help, that God answered my prayers, and I knew it had to be Eliot my old army buddy." He shrugged. "So, it wasn't you that got us into anything."

"You prayed for me?" Parker wasn't sure how she felt about that. She certainly didn't understand prayer, but it sounded like Julio meant for it to be a good thing.

"Hasn't anyone ever prayed for you before?" Chrissa asked.

"I don't think so." Parker was relieved to hear her cell phone ring. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw Nate's face on the screen. She answered the phone as she walked toward the living room. "We're all okay."

"I'm glad to hear it. Did you get Hawthorn taken care of or did he get away?"

"Eliot and Hardison are taking care of Hawthorn and his guys. Hardison said they were taking them to an airstrip and Eliot's sending them someplace." Parker climbed up Hardison's bookcase in the corner while she talked to Nate.

"And what happened to Eliot's friend Julio?"

Parker had hopped from the top of the bookcase to grab the handhold on the exposed rafter above and swung herself up. "They're here at the pub with me."

"Why? Did something go wrong? Or are you guys trying to keep them from calling the cops?"

"Hardison accidentally let the werewolf show when he was protecting me, and they saw him." She pulled her knees up so that she was completely on top of the rafter.

"Well, damn…How'd they take it?"

Parker chuckled. "Better than Sophie but not as good as you." She could see Julio and Chrissa talking quietly where she'd left them. "Why would Eliot tell them? I mean I know they saw Hardison with fur on his arms and claws on his fingers, but we convince people all the time that they saw something they didn't or didn't see something that they really did. So, why did he tell them?"

"Think about it Parker. Remember what Eliot was like when we first met him?"

"Stompy and growly. But he's always that way."

Nate chuckled. "True. But he's been changing little by little over the years. Mostly because of you guys. You and Hardison, whether you know it or not, give him the chance to be the good guy and not just someone to be used and used to do bad things. Now he's reconnecting with Julio who was a friend that might have known him before…"

"Before he became a bad guy and killed people for money?"

"Right." Nate groaned at Parker's bluntness. "So maybe this was his chance to reconnect with Julio without the secrets getting in the way."

"But…" Parker didn't know how to explain the knot she felt inside when she thought about Julio.

"It will be okay."

Parker hung up but sat for a little longer in the rafters.