Marked In Flesh (The Others #4) - Anne Bishop Page 0,140

and some—or all—of the land would be reclaimed and become part of the wild country again.”

“The terra indigene who none of you will talk about.”

“The Elders.”

Meg nodded. “The Elders. Are they going to reclaim all of Thaisia? What’s going to happen to people like the Intuits at Ferryman’s Landing? They aren’t the terra indigene’s enemy.”

They walked in silence. Finally Simon stopped and looked around. Meg wondered how much more he could see than was apparent to her.

“Do you know why Wolves howl?” he asked.

“To say, ‘We are here.’”

He looked at her and smiled. “Yes. We are here, keeping watch. We are here, thinning the weak from the elk and deer herds, from the bison. We are here to defend the wild country that borders on the human places.” The smile faded. “But the terra indigene who are Namid’s teeth and claws are coming to deal with the invasive predators, and where there are no Wolves to sing to the night sky . . . I don’t know what’s going to happen in the places that are filled with silence.”

“It won’t be silent in Lakeside. You’ll tell them you are here and you’re still keeping watch.” Meg thought a moment. “What about Ferryman’s Landing or the River Road Community? None of the Wolfgard live there.”

“The Coyote and the Fox live there. And there are a few of the Beargard on the island, and now there are Bobcats and Lynxes and a Panther at the River Road Community, as well as the juvenile Sanguinati. Different songs but the same message.”

He stepped closer and put his arms around her in a tentative hug.

Meg tensed, not sure what to do. The assault of male hands. Her body still reacted to the memory of her life in the compound. But this was Simon, and Wolves just liked contact with members of their pack.

She put her arms around his waist and allowed her body to relax against his.

“We were attacked here too, so I don’t know how much of Lakeside will be standing when this is done, but I think our pack will be all right,” Simon said quietly. “I don’t think the girls at the lake will let things get too bad in the Courtyard.”

“When?”

“At least one of the storms will reach us by tomorrow.” His arms tightened around her as he rested his cheek against her fuzz of hair. “You’ll be all right, Meg.”

“We’ll be all right.” She wanted to believe that, but would believing it be enough to make it true?

CHAPTER 46

Watersday, Juin 30

Jesse Walker opened the general store’s door, glad to have even that much relief from feeling closed in. She’d pulled the shutters over the store’s windows just before the storm hit. Prairie Gold hadn’t lost electric power—yet—but the lights kept flickering and annoyed her enough that she’d shut the damn things off, preferring the twilight and the reassuring hum of the refrigerated units to the constant reminder of how much food they could lose if the power went out in town.

“Arroo!”

“Rachel, honey, that’s enough. Come in now.”

The juvenile Wolf had shown up shortly before the storm hit and had stood outside the general store howling and howling. And her howls had been answered by two Wolves who had arrived in Bennett the day before—the new leader and dominant enforcer of the Prairie Gold pack. Jesse had expected them to continue on to the terra indigene settlement once they reached Prairie Gold. Instead, they had taken one of the rooms at the truck stop motel.

The howling of the wind and the howling of the Wolves started at pretty much the same time.

“Rachel?”

The Wolf looked at Jesse, then resumed her howling.

Jesse stayed in the doorway to keep Rachel company and because she had a feeling she would learn something important if she did. Besides, the wind had finally quieted and the rain was more a drizzle.

Gods above and below, no one would be able to travel on the dirt roads until they dried out some—assuming that the roads hadn’t washed out completely. At least the storm had passed over them quick enough. She saw some trash that had blown into the street, and a few shops had a shutter or two missing, but it didn’t look like too much damage.

“Arroo!”

A shimmer in the rain was the only warning that something moved out there. More than one. Intelligence and power. She’d felt that when she’d taken the human children and terra indigene youngsters to the hiding place in the hills. That same sense