Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,52

as sheriff’s deputies or other first-responder types of positions. Police, firemen, ambulance workers, emergency medical technicians, and the like. Those were all good places to put dominant wolves who felt a strong compulsion to protect and serve.

Giving the subordinate dominant wolves respected places within the pack hierarchy also helped to keep the peace and the cohesiveness of the group. Joe was a smart and generous Alpha. He gave the other strong wolves in his group a chance to show their stuff, rather than subduing them into compliance. Experienced Alphas often had such power structures. That was often the mark of a very successful Pack.

Jim was gratified to discover that his initial impressions of Joe and his people were correct. The scent trails told the story. This was a tale of dominant wolves sharing space and authority for the good of their Pack, and an Alpha who knew how to best help his people, by letting them be who they were born to be, without forcing them to suppress their own strengths. Joe was old enough, and wise enough, to let them all be the best they could be and use those talents for the good of the whole.

Jim’s brother, Brock, was trying to do the same. With guidance from both Joe and their Uncle Arch, Brock was guiding Jim’s home Pack into the successful model Jim saw working here in Big Wolf. Jim was thinking about this as he went along, not really finding anything that concerned him as far as his mission went but learning a bit more about the town and its people from the age and frequency of the different scent trails. Until suddenly… All scent was gone.

In wolf form, Jim stopped short and backed up. Was the problem with him or the area? He retreated a few feet and cautiously put his nose to the ground. Relief hit him when the scents he had been following greeted him once more.

Step by cautious step, he advanced, making special note of any change in scent, but there wasn’t any…until… Abruptly, again, the scents just disappeared. What in the world could cause something like that?

Jim sat back on his haunches just shy of the area where everything stopped to think it through. He started thinking about some of the things Jack Bishop had told him about the black magic encounter he’d recently had in that paper mill in West Virginia. Black magic was hidden magic. Unseen. Deceptive.

The man Jim had been tracking from that paper mill to here might well have been a devotee of the black arts, as well, even though it was a rare discipline because of the patience and time it took to master. At least, that’s what Jim had always heard. Personally, he didn’t know anyone who dabbled in such things himself. Black magic was, in general, practiced by those pursuing evil ends, and Jim was firmly on the other side of that fight.

Very carefully, Jim explored the bounds of the area where the scents all disappeared. It corresponded to the legal property line of the old feed mill, almost exactly. That couldn’t be a coincidence. In fact, it could only mean one thing.

Evil had taken up residence in that abandoned property. With a low growl of anger, frustration, and determination, Jim turned tail and headed back to town.

With every step of his four paws, he began to strategize ways to deal with this newest obstacle, but first, he had to report what he’d found. Then, he’d find a way to penetrate the dark shield around that old mill and discover what lay within.

*

Helen was already awake by the time Jim got back to the suite. He’d seen Joe walking into the local diner when he was heading back to the B&B and had stopped to let the Alpha know what he’d found. Joe had invited him inside, but Jim had declined breakfast, opting for a simple cup of coffee while the Alpha got his enforcer, Sheriff Shane, to drop by so they could both hear the sit-rep.

Jim left them after they had heard his report, promising to call his contacts to see what he could learn about combatting black magic of this kind. Neither the Alpha nor the sheriff had ever come across anything like what Jim described, but they had both pledged to be there as backup, should Jim need more firepower behind him when he made his move on the place.

Entering the suite, he could hear Helen humming in the bathroom. He