any other group like them. It wasn’t close to the full moon. They were planning on leaving about three days before. When they didn’t come back down by the full moon, I got worried. Geoffrey started calling me, but I couldn’t find their campsite.” Haley crossed her arms like she was scared of something. “I couldn’t find Gaia and Titan to ask if they had seen the wolves either. The next time we saw them was…when we found them.”
“So, first, the wolves go missing without a trace, and the only ones who could have possibly found them showed up dead two weeks later,” Heath muttered, shaking his head. “We pretty much already knew that.”
I had an idea, but I knew if I didn’t get it done in one day, Hasan would be furious.
“Can you take me to the territory line? Drive me closer to where one of them lived? I might be able to learn something.”
“The other guy, he had a weird name, asked for the same thing,” Gina informed me, looking down. “We took him up there, and he seemed really spooked or something. He just started walking out into the woods with his stuff and hasn’t…come back either.”
“Yeah. His name is Jabari, and he’s got a one-track mind. I promised someone important not to go into the woods.” I ran a hand through my hair, realizing my ponytail wasn’t holding up. I readjusted it and looked at Heath. “What do you say? Want to check out something closer to the area?”
“We don’t have much of a choice. At least, I don’t. I’m going to have to go into the woods at some point.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “You promised to find the wolves.”
“Why didn’t Geoffrey send anyone out?” John asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Are you one of his?”
“No. I’m a friend and came into town with Jacky to figure out what the hell is going on. He wasn’t going to send anyone out until he knew what was going on with Gaia and Titan, and I can’t blame him for that. Why didn’t you tell him they were dead?” Heath eyed the group in front of us.
“We…we didn’t know if he did it or not.” Haley shrugged. “It wouldn’t be hard for wolves or anything else to get out here, and we wouldn’t have any idea. The last thing we wanted was for the wolves to overrun our mountain…Gaia and Titan were important to us. They helped rescue humans, brought them back if they got lost or hurt. They also kept other…things like you out. And sure enough, now that they’re gone, we’ve had two other werecats and a werewolf show up, so far.”
“I’m sorry,” Heath said, calm and composed, nothing bothering him.
I wasn’t calm or composed. These humans had enjoyed a very close relationship with two very reclusive werecats, who had been out there saving people. Did they make sure to do it in human form, or would I find some weird local legends about a big cat that was a benevolent spirit?
“Look, we can bust out some four wheelers and take you up to the trail we used to get to Gaia and Titan’s shared home. Visiting their private homes…we normally park at their shared home and hike in opposite directions. It’s not easy, but you can probably see one of their houses and get back before nightfall.” Gina motioned for us to follow her, and the other two rangers backed off as we stepped forward. She pulled out a map from her pocket and began pointing at different areas. “This is where they would sometimes live together. This is where Gaia lived. Her territory included Mt. Baker. Titan held more territory, reaching down past Glacier Peak. He was a lot harder to visit.”
“Let’s just…get toward their territory.” I was getting more of a feeling as I got closer. The set-up of the land and mountains made me wonder if these werecats didn’t have circular ranges. It was entirely possible they’d had something a bit more unique. The only reason my territory was as clean of a circle as it was? I was lazy and didn’t feel like finding better lines. Their centers would still be their homes, and it would be a sizable distance from any borders. I drummed my fingers on the hood Gina had used as a table for the map.
“I wonder how they used the natural geography when it came to marking their territories…”