He hurt; I could feel just how much. But he wasnt going to show it in public.
River marked, Gordon said. He looked over to where Fred was exploring the back of Hanks head. I do see why you are asking. There was once a place where a band of Indians lived. Dont go to that village; they are marked by the river, the people would say. If you go there, you will not come back. They will feed you to the river. All the people of that village wore a brown mark on their bodies, and they obeyed the hungry river in all things. Ive forgotten the rest of the story.
Check Hank, Adam said, his voice only a little more breathy than normal. He didnt strike me as the shoot first and negotiate later kind of person. Even those crazy jarheads usually need a reason to pull the trigger.
Fred didnt protest the slur, just stripped off Hanks jeans and shirtand found a dark brown oozing sore across Hanks back that looked a lot like what my calf had looked like before Gordon and his salve had come along.
I jerked up my pant leg.Looks like what Ive got.
Could have happened when he was coming onshore with our boat last night, said Jim. He didnt say anything about getting hurtbut Hanks like that. Coyote walkers are immune to the effects?
Gordon grunted.This coyote walker, evidently.
And when Hank groaned and started to move, Jim added,I have a rope in the truck. And he jumped up to get it.
We dont want the pack here, Adam said very quietly to me, explaining why he hadnt let me call Samuel, I thought. Firstwolves dont do well in water. Secondjust think what this thing could do if he controlled a pack of werewolves.
Wouldnt pack magic stop that? I asked. If the river devil could control Hank, another walker, maybe it wasnt the walker part of me that had kept it from doing that to me. Maybe it was the packor even my mate bond with Adam.
Adam shook his head.Maybe. But Im not willing to risk it. Not unless things get a lot more desperate.
You heal fast, said Jim neutrally as he returned with a rope.
Werewolves do, I saidand remembered that one of the side effects of rapid healing was an even larger than usual need for food. Adam needed to eat meatlots of it, the rawer the better. He was holding on to his control, which couldnt be easy, with his wound exposed to all of these possibly hostile strangers. Alpha wolves cant afford that kind of weakness. He hid his pain well, but they all knew hed been shot and they could see the blood.
Ill get some food, I told him.
No, Adam said, holding on to my arm before I could go. Not yet. Well get this meeting over with first.
He didnt want to betray any more weakness among these people. I supposed I could understand it, but it didnt make me happy. But he was Alpha, and I was his mate. Id argue with him in private … Okay, who was I kidding? Id argue with him in front of the pack. But not in front of strangers. Not when he was hurt, anyway.
He glanced at the others, who were mostly working on restraining Hank with Jims rope. Gordon had gone over to supervise the others.
Adam raised his good hand to me, and said quietly,Give me a hand up.
I did, and tried not to show how much strength it required to get him on his feet. He walkedonly a little stifflyto the picnic table and leaned a hip on it. Apparently, he was satisfied with the job Fred was doing because he didnt say anything until Fred had finished hog-tying his brother.
It is difficult to tie up a person so he cant escape. When I was about ten, a whole bunch of us kids in Aspen Creek, inspired by some movie or other, spent a whole month tying one another up at recess with jump ropes until Bran came and put a stop to it. He probably wouldnt have bothered if we hadnt left Jem Goodnight tied to the swing set after the bell rang. We felt pretty justified because Jem told us that no girl could tie him up in such a way that he couldnt get out of it. Girls, hed pronounced, cant tie knots.
It had taken us three recesses to get it right, but after a half hour of working on it, it had taken Brans knife to finally free Jem. I could tie knots, girl or no. Bryan, whod once been a sailor on the tall ships with sails, had worked with me since I first tied my own shoes.
Adams phone rang, and he glanced at the screen before he answered it. With a grimace he opened it, and said, Im fine, Darryl. Just a misunderstanding. Pack bonds could be a nuisance sometimes, like when Adam had been shot and didnt want the pack to come running.
Youre hurt, said Darryls voice, and I think the only person who didnt hear him was Jim.
Its minor.
Felt like you got shot, Darryl said dryly. I know what a bullet feels like. You had a misunderstanding on your honeymoon that resulted in your getting shot? We could be there in a couple of hours.
It was a misunderstanding, growled Adam, speaking slower, as if that would make Darryl more compliant. Stay where you are. Ill call you in if I need you.
There was a pause.Let me talk to Mercy.
Who is Alpha? Adams voice was a low threat.
You are, I told him, and snatched the phone out of his hand. But this is payback for your making poor Darryl watch out for me when you were in D.C. Hey, Darryl. He got shot with a .38 in the shoulder, lead. Were not sure exactly whats going on right now other than the excitement is over for the night. If we need you, well call you. Right now, thats looking like it might not be a really good idea.
Boss man is okay?
Grumpy, which was shorthand for hurt, which I wouldnt say, and Darryl would understand that. Wolves never admit how badly theyre hurt. But hes okay. We are safe and not in need of rescue.
Good enough. Im keeping the bags packed in case something changes.
Hows Jesse? I asked. Has she been throwing parties and living wild? Jesse made a good change of topic because both Adam and Darryl relaxed as soon as Darryl responded.
She dyed her hair orange, and it has these glittering purple strings in it, he said, sounding moderately aghast and intrigued at the same time. I figured since she does it when Adam is in charge, he wouldnt kill me. Does she know that too much dyeing could make her hair turn green?
I snorted.Her hair was green. Did you miss it?
I forgot, he said. Maybe not having kids is a good idea after all. Tell the boss all is okay here.
Will do, I said. Good night.
I handed the phone back to the wolf who was my mate.Theyll stay home.
He put his phone away without a word, but I could see his dimple peeking out. Jesses disconcerting the intellectual and physical giant who was Adams second was pretty funny to think about.
Sorry, Adam said to the others. Urgent business, unless you want to be neck-deep in werewolves.
He knew you were hurt? Fred asked.
Hes pack, Adam told him. Then, maybe to forestall questions about things Bran didnt want the public to know about werewolves, he continued briskly, Heres what we need to figure out about whatever is in the river. How much harm is this creature doing? We dont really have a lot of data to go on other than a lot of scary talk about monsters. As the sole representative of monsters here, it is my …obligation to make certain we are looking at this with a balanced perspective. I am sorry that Bennys sister was killed and Benny injured. However, people are injured byhe hesitatedbear attacks, too. Just because something is dangerous does not make it evil. Was it defending its territory? Are we correct that it is a single beast? How intelligent is it? Can we bargain to keep people safe? Should we kill the last or near last of its kind because it has killed a woman and hurt her brother? Is there a way to salvage this situation with no more deaths?