six-year-old, I thought, might be one of Kelly’s. Unusually, for a werewolf, Kelly had four children under the age of twelve.
“And in a huddle all the guys pat each other’s butts,” she finished smugly.
“Makaya,” Hannah, Kelly’s wife, called out in mock anger. “No ‘butts’ in public.”
The little girl giggled and hurried away.
Kyle and Zack watched her with mixed reactions of longing and amusement. Both of them. But Zack’s eyes were sadder.
“I’m not going to pat anyone’s butt,” I announced.
Makaya’s voice said, “Mercy said ‘butt,’ Mommy. Why can’t I say ‘butt’?”
“Thanks, Mercy,” Hannah said. “I always appreciate it when you help me like that.” Presumably to Makaya she said, “Mercy is old. Old and grown-up. Her mommy didn’t teach her not to say ‘butt’ in public—and now she’s too old to change. Poor Mercy.”
I get no respect.
“A meeting is boring,” said Zack. “And nine times out of ten, when Adam calls a meeting, the meeting itself is a punishment for someone being stupid. Peer pressure usually makes sure that person doesn’t do the stupid thing again. It’s amazingly effective, and I’ve never seen another Alpha werewolf do it.”
“Army training,” I said.
“A huddle,” he continued, “is what you do when you are in trouble, but you have a plan that might get you out of trouble. But you have to all come together in a safe place, so that the enemy doesn’t know what you intend to do.”
“Yeah, well,” I said, feeling the weight of the world, which had lifted after seeing Kyle on the doorstep, drop back on my shoulders with a thump, “I’m not even sure we have a problem—”
“Witches,” called Sherwood from the basement. He’d taken all the boys under fifteen (two of them) downstairs to play video games.
“—an immediate problem,” I said. Then I got a momentary mental flash of something.
“Mercy?” asked Zack.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Just a flashback to a dream I had last night. Which is pretty stupid considering that I don’t remember what I was dreaming about.” I might not remember it consciously, but something about it was trying to wiggle out.
“Was it a Coyote dream?” asked Zack.
I gave a surprised look. “Yes,” I said—though I had intended to say no. And it had been. “Oh damn,” I said. And I still didn’t know what I’d dreamed about.
My phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket so fast that if it had been a match, my pants would have been on fire. But it wasn’t Adam.
I hit the green button. “Uncle Mike?” I said.
“Ruth Gillman has come to us at the pub,” Uncle Mike told me gravely. “Best you come, Mercy, and hear what she has to say.”
“Put her on the phone,” I said.
There was a pause, and I could hear Ruth’s agitated voice in the background saying, “I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.”
Uncle Mike’s voice was dry. “Do you hear that? All she has told us is ‘They are all dead. I have to tell Mercy.’ In my considerably educated opinion, she has been cursed. If you come, we’ll make sure you are safe in our place—but I would bring Adam or someone who can have your back. A lot of somethings about this smells like a trap.”
I had a momentary panic attack when he said “they are all dead,” but the pack bonds were still in place and healthy. I couldn’t tell anything else from them, because the bonds are pretty hit-and-miss for me, even my mate bond.
“Okay,” I said, happy to discover that none of the flash of panic came through in my voice. “I’ll be right down.”
I hung up the phone.
“No,” said Sherwood.
“No,” said Zack.
I raised an eyebrow at them both. “You aren’t the boss of me,” I told them. “I am the boss of you.”
I turned to Kyle. “We have a clue,” I told him. He didn’t have a werewolf’s senses, so he couldn’t be an übereavesdropper.
“I heard,” he said, and at my look of surprise, he continued, “Uncle Mike’s voice carries.”
“You’re not the boss of me, either,” I said.
He raised his hands. “I’m with you. You need to go talk to her.”
I pointed at Sherwood. “I elect you to come with me.”
Joel barked insistently.
“I would love to have you with me,” I said. “But I can’t afford to leave this place undefended. I need you and Zack to keep everyone safe. Kyle.” I turned to him. “You are in charge.”